Sense of a Chef

Some of My Favorite Things…

2010-01-30T14:05:00.001-08:00

Tongs

KitchenAid-I use this for everything, Pasta, ice cream, etc.

Silpat

Timer

Chef Knives (Duh!)-I prefer Henkels and MAC

Pairing Knife-such a simple thing but I love this little knife

Fish Spatula

Kunz Spoon-I use this spoon everyday, mainly for saucing plates or tasting. This spoon was given to me by the one and only Richard Blais when I worked for him at One Midtown Kitchen. It has become some what of a good luck charm.

Baking Powder vs. Baking Soda

2010-01-10T15:02:00.001-08:00

Do you ever wonder why recipes call for baking powder and baking soda? I mean what is the point? What do they mean? What do they do to our food?

Baking Soda a.k.a. sodium bicarbonate, is a leavening agent that when mixed with an acid gives off carbon dioxide which enlarges bubbles in the batter helping them to rise. When I say acid I mean something like buttermilk, yogurt, sour cream, etc. Do you remember the classic erupting volcano in science class? Well that was generally achieved by mixing baking soda with vinegar (acid) and VIOLA an eruption (rising).

Well the same thing happens with those lemon-blueberry muffins I make in the café. The buttermilk used in the recipe with the addition of baking soda helps those scrumptious morning pastries rise to perfection. I was never much of a science buff but it is pretty fascinating how science determines food's final products.

Baking Powder is the whole package. It is a leavening agent containing baking soda and acid (cream of tartar). So why not just use baking powder you may be wondering? Well sometimes you need flavor. See baking powder needs a liquid (buttermilk) to activate it's leavening powers and sometimes it may use up too much of this liquid so you need the soda to balance it out. That is why baking recipes are so exact it is all about the perfect balance. Try this Lemon-Blueberry Muffin recipe…

Lemon-Blueberry Muffins

2 cups flour, all-purpose

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup butter

1 1/4 cups low fat buttermilk

1 egg

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)

Preheat oven to 350°.

Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (flour through salt) in a mixing bowl; cut butter into small pea size pieces and mix into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal.

Whisk together buttermilk, egg, and rind in another bowl. Add to flour mixture; stir just until moist, do not over mix. Gently fold in blueberries.

Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups lined with muffin liners. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the batter comes out clean.

remove muffins from pans immediately, and place on a wire rack to cool.

The Perfect Roast

2009-12-27T17:18:00.000-08:00

You hear the term roast; what does it mean??? Roasting is a dry cooking method which is actually a slow process that can be achieved by low heat or high heat. Contrary to popular belief roasting and baking are actually the exact same method; the only difference is what you are cooking. Generally desserts, batters, pastries etc. are referred to as "baked" goods, anything else is being roasted. Why they decided to have two titles is beyond me but if it makes it is easier to relate to so be it. So how do you roast you ask...

Let's take the below recipe (lemon-herb roasted chicken) nothing too fancy about it but what if I told you how to make the perfect roasted chicken; would you be interested? Sure, most home cooks can roast a turkey or chicken and have it come out edible but that does not mean it was cooked correctly. People aways ask me, "how did you make that chicken so moist" or "how do you make it taste so good"? It's not magic, I FOLLOW THE RULES!

Rule #1 Brine the Chicken.
A brine is, "water saturated with salt used to preserve vegetables, fish, and meat in a process known as brining" blah, blah, blah. All you need to know about brining is that it introduces extra flavor and moisture into the food you are brining. Think of it this way, the high concentration of salt in a brine and any other flavor added to it absorbs into the meat adding extra moisture. There is a whole science behind brining but that is for another blog.

Rule #2 Use the Best Ingredients.
I know you have heard me say it before, but a chef is only as good as their ingredients. This is true in any recipe you a preparing. You should always select the freshest ingredients at your disposal. Begin by selecting a free-range chicken (if possible) from your grocery store; I normally like to go with Whole Foods, or Whole Paycheck, as my Aunt likes to call it. Sure Whole Foods is more expensive but the ingredients are of better quality and it shows!

Rule #3 Cook at 2 different temperatures.
You want to start out at a high temperature (500) to achieve a brown crust. Remember that perfect "sear" I mentioned in the first post? Well this is one of the ways to acheive it. Starting out cooking at this high temperature yields in a deep brown chicken locking in flavor. You then want to reduce the heat to finish roasting slow as the method is intended to prevent the bird from drying out.

Rule #4 DON'T FORGET YOUR COMMON SENSE!
This is probably the most important thing to remember when cooking and it will not be the last time you hear me say it. You can write a great recipe but it is almost impossible to follow it as acurately as the author. I could cook a perfect beef tenderloin in my oven, documenting every step, so that you (whoever you are) can try to replicate it at home. This sounds all warm and fuzzy but you are forgetting one important thing, WE ARE NOT COOKING ON THE SAME EQUIPMENT! You see I could tell you to cook that tenderloin for 3o minutes to acheive a perfect medium rare but your oven may cook at a different rate than mine and by the end of the 30 minutes you have cooked that beautifully tender filet of beef into shoe leather. It must have crosssed your mind, at least once, that the beef looked overcooked. However people insist on throwing their common sense out the door because, "that's not what the recipe said". Try this recipe and think of it only as your guideline. Let me know how it goes...

Lemon-Herb Roasted Chicken

4-6 lb whole chicken, rinsed, giblets removed
1 brine recipe (see below)
zest of 1 lemon
3 fresh rosemary sprigs
6 tablespoons of unsalted butter
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt and pepper (about 1 teaspoon of each)

For the brine:

1 gallon water (2 cups hot, 6 cups cold)
1 cup kosher salt
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup orange juice
4 garlic cloves, smashed
2-3 fresh time sprigs

-mix 2 cups of the hot water and dissolve the salt and sugar into it. Then add all remaining ingredients and stir. Cover chicken with brine until completely submerged and refrigerate for 4-6 hours.

Remove chicken from brine, rinse, and pat dry with paper towels. Pre-heat oven to 500 degrees.

Mix olive oil, lemon zest, and garlic in a small mixing bowl forming a paste. Pour mixture all over the chicken. Place butter under the skin (the fat helps in promoting browness) and massage into the chicken. Season the entire bird with salt and pepper.

Place chicken in a roasting pan with rosemary and roast at 500 for 10 minutes. Remove chicken from the oven and reduce temperature to 350, continue roasting for an additional 40-50 minutes until browned and a thermometer inserted into the breast reads 165. If you do not have a thermometer, pierce the chicken with a knife, if the juices run clear your chicken should be done.

The Difference between a Cook and a Chef

2009-12-27T08:55:00.000-08:00

Some people do not realize that cooking is a science. Anyone can cook and by cook I mean, "to make food appetizing by heating or preparing it in order to become ready for a meal". This can be achieved by throwing some favorite ingredients together, hitting it with some salt and pepper, and viola you have a meal. What most people do not realize is there is so much more to food than what meets the eye. If food is prepared correctly a mediocre dish becomes a sensational dish. You may wonder why that steak you had at Bones was so delicious and the very thought of re-creating it at home seems impossible. It's because steakhouses such as Bones, Rathbun's Steak, Chops, and the chefs that cook there take pride in what they do and handle the meat correctly. They know how to perfectly "sear" the steak resulting in that succulent crust you dream about. They know that a steak needs to "rest" before cooking and after to achieve perfection. These are some of the techniques that separate the cooks from the chefs. I have "cooks" that work in my restaurant and by "cook" I mean someone who comes in and "gets it done". They know how to prep, slice, chop, work the line, etc. but they have no finesse as I like to call it. They listen to what I say and they know how to make food taste good but they lack in the technique department.

In the next 52 weeks I am going to teach you (hopeful readers) how to become a better cook. Every week there will be a new technique and recipe to help you achieve that perfect roast, sear, or meal!

Nexy week's topic...
The Perfect Roast