Mohegan Sun Casino, with its beautiful Hotel and Convention Center Complex which just opened last year, is an amazing place to see, even if you are not into gaming. In architectural design it is a modern depiction of Mohegan Sun legends and myths which might be called an “unnatural natural.” With glass, fiber,lights, wood, and manmade simulated rocks the architecture replicates trees, waterfalls, the heavens,and depicts Native American tribal legends.
In the Casino of the Earth, the older part, the four seasons and the associated religious beliefs and customs and rituals are incorporated in the round, so that you follow the yellow brick road to each different area of the casino, denoted by patterns and modern art of each season. In the newer casino, the Casion of the Sky, you’ll find more open feeling with the artificial and constellations, with a romantic and quiet bar near the starry ceiling. A bit smokier than most casinos today, they even have a large bus terminal to nearby cities. Many big name shows at the Casino are free, and for others there is only a nominal $15 – $25 ticket price. And 10,000 seat sports arena with various venue draws is alsopart of the complex.
There is excellent fine dining at Todd English’s Tuscany Restaurant, which offers a posh menu that includes seafood and beef dishes among the Italian specialties.
Growing up in the shadows of Atlantic City, Chef Jeffrey Steelman started his career as many of today’s accomplished chefs have as a dishwasher at a local restaurant. At the time, that first job was just a way to get a new surfboard, but in reality it was the beginnings of a culinary career. From high school he went on to St. Thomas in the Caribbean where he worked for two years learning the skills of his new found passion. Upon returning to the States, Chef Steelman worked as a sous chef at a small California-style café before moving onto the Atlantic City Hilton. It was there that he first worked for his mentor, Chef Michael Luboff. While at the Hilton, Chef Steelman worked in three gourmet restaurant over a four year span before taking the opportunity to be a part of Mohegan Sun Casino’s One Billion dollar expansion in Uncasville, CT with Chef Luboff once more. For the past three years Chef Steelman has worked for many of this property’s outstanding signature restaurants, most notably as Restaurant Chef of Todd English’s Tuscany. A collaboration between Mohegan Sun and Todd English, Tuscany is the centerpiece restaurant found behind a towering waterfall where Chef Steelman’s skills and personality are a perfect pairing for New England celebrity chef Todd English’s restaurant.
The chef shared his secret salad recipe with us…a wonderful treat:
White Bean Salad with Char Roasted Rapini
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Cannellini Beans, soaked overnight
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Onions
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Carrots
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Celery
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Garlic, whole head
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Rosemary Sprigs
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Bay Leaf
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Radicchio, quartered
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White Bean Flommus –
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(cooked white beans, tahini sauce,
garlic, lemon juice, olive oil)
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Rapini bleached
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Oil for Cooking
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Pour beans onto sheet tray and pick
through of any foreign
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Cover with water in plastic container
and soak overnight.
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Strain water and reserve.
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In saucepot combine onions, carrots,
celery and oil.
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Add beans (soaked) and water,
double the volume.
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Add rosemary sprigs and bay leaf.
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Cook until tender about 1 hour.
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Strain, reserve liquid, chill stock and beans separately.
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In blender add white beans, tahini, garlic,
lemon juice, olive oil and puree until smooth.
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Toss rapini and radicchio in oil, season
with salt and pepper, grill over open flame.
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Combine all ingredients in a large bowl,
beans, radicchio, rapini, white bean and hummus
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Real Travel Adventures 