Kingfish chef pulls together a world of tastes

A mix of the sweet, the hot and the tangy is on the menu for the latest segment of “Emerald Coast Chefs.”

Chef Julio Lucero of the Kingfish restaurant at the Bay Point Marriott is the guest on the Beach TV series at 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Sundays through June 8. He’s fairly new in Panama City Beach, and he got there by a roundabout route.

Lucero is a native of Mexico, and he has a degree in industrial engineering. When he decided to switch from quality control in factories to quality cooking in kitchens, he mastered English in a move to the USA.

His background as a chef includes experience in Palm Springs, Calif.; at Seville Golf and Country Club in Gilbert, Ariz.; and as executive sous chef at Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort.

On “Emerald Coast Chefs,” Lucero and host Margit Bisztray prepare Grouper with Maple and Jalapeno Glaze, with a side serving of Herb Risotto, finished off with Wild Mushroom Balsamic Viniagrette Sauce.

It’s an enticing combination that Lucero says is a new item on the menu at Kingfish.

He starts with the glaze, which calls for about a cup of genuine maple syrup and one fourth of a jalapeno pepper — seeds and all.

While the glaze comes to a boil and then is set aside to simmer, Lucero and Bisztray prepare the risotto.

It takes time, as the cooked Italian Borio rice absorbs liquid from onions and shallots in olive oil. Lucero says a half cup of onions and about one-fourth cup of the sweeter shallots lend just the right balance.

After glazing the mixture with white wine, he adds herbs including rosemary and Italian flat-leaf parsley. Then comes the enrichment that gives the risotto heft: Cream, Parmesan cheese and butter.

The grouper takes a bit of salt and pepper, then a searing in olive oil with a coating of the maple-jalapeno glaze. Steamed asparagus cooks alongside the grouper in the pan.

The vinaigrette sauce calls for chopped shiitake and portobello mushrooms, shallots and garlic, simmered in olive oil just enough to cook the mushrooms, and glazed with balsamic vinaigrette.

To finish, the grouper gets another coating of maple-jalapeno glaze. Then Lucero serves the fish, the asparagus and the risotto with a healthy ladling of the vinaigrette, garnished with chopped red peppers and thyme.

It’s a complex blend of the tart, the sweet and the spicy, brought home in particular by the maple-jalapeno glaze. “You taste first the maple and then the heat,” Lucero says.To pull it all together, he has a wine recommendation: Chardonnay.