Trying New Foods

I take it you're rather new to Arizona then?

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaneohegirlinaz 
Now we need to find brioche.

Forget brioche. Find yourself a Filipino bakery and get some ensaymada. It's like brioche x100. The first one will blow your mind.Try the macapuno and ube versions too.

It's amazing how different parts of the U.S. have such diverse culinary offerings.  I live in NY and I wouldn't recognize a babka if it was sitting in front of me, though I'm pretty sure it's something I can find here.  You have inspired me to seek it out. 

I remember when I first moved to NY and discovered what a real bagel was all about.  It was an unforgettable experience, I still love those little evil round things. 

When I lived in NY over 25 years ago every Jewish Bakery made Babka.  The best Bagel Bakery was H&H uptown NY. And Pizza was best at any dirty Brooklyn place.

"And Pizza was best at any dirty Brooklyn place. "" "'  """    

Hey! Watch it! My Family resembles that comment!

Too much salt in the water, and a touch to much magnesium!  XD

I moved to Seattle about a year ago now and I tried Indian food for the first time and I LOVED it. I also had very traditional Thai food in our international district and that was an amazement for the taste buds. I love to try new things, unfortunately with my salary as a line cook here, I am not able to adventure out as much as I could in Phoenix. I make a very good wage for what I have heard here for my experience also. I do not know how you all do it personally, however I do live in a very nice part of town. Good thing I have a suga-momma! 

All in good time I suppose. 

Try brining them.

Most people overcook chicken breast one way or another. If you pound them a little first so that the breast is even in shape , it will cook evenly. Most are to well on ends and outer perimeter and not cooked enough in center. Make sure you start cooking them at room  temp NOT out of fridge., as this will take the heat longer to penetrate and hasten over cooking on outside . Marinades will help the flavor and slightly tenderize them in some cases, but the real trick is do not overcook.

And forget the USDA temperature recommendations. 180F=shoe leather.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaneohegirlinaz 

REALLY do not care for chicken breast (too dry), but gave it a nother go tonight on the grill.

They came out ok, not over done and spiced nicely.

KG, I developed my own procedure on both chickenbreast and porkloin. Both are notorious easy to overcook and dry out. I never use a grill on these, it's always overcooked.

How I cook my chickenbreasts but keep them still moist?

- Flavor them first; dry them with paper kitchentowel, cut some fresh tarragonleaves and sprinkle over the meat. Use whatever herb(s) you like, but tarragon and chicken are a perfect match. Cut a clove of garlic in slices and sprinkle over. Some good turns of the black pepper mill (don't use the finest position). NO salt!! Pour a little sunflower oil over the meat, rub and and let all those flavors get transmitted by the oil into the meat for 15 minutes or longer. Time doesn't matter. If you do a longer marinating, put this preparation in a plasticbag in your fridge.

- Use a non-stick pan and bring it to a normal high heat. Add no more than a few drops of sunflower oil. Take the slices of garlic from the chicken but leave the rest on it, especially the oil. Put the meat in the pan with a small tbsp of marinating oil and DO NOT move the meat around, simply don't touch it. Turn after a good minute and leave again to get a nice crust.

- Reduce the fire to a normal low (let's say 20% of the available power) and cover the pan with a large sheet of aluminiumfoil. It does not need to be sealed entirely!! Cook this way for another 10-15 minutes. Push your indexfinger on the meat regurlarly. When it gets somewhat ferm, it's done.

- Take the aluminiumfoil and roll the chickenbreast in them for the time to make a sauce... =5 minutes at least! Your chicken will be perfect.

- Want the quickest sauce? Sweat a chopped shallot in the same pan. Deglaze your pan with a dash of white wine and maybe half a cup of chickenstock and let reduce a few minutes on high fire. If you don't have chickenstock at hand, use water instead with a tbsp of light soy sauce and/or break a small corner from a Knorr chicken bouillon cube and put it in. Add half a cup of cream and reduce. Taste for s&p. Maybe some extra tarragon in it or chives or parcely or... whatever you like. Also try spices like a pinch of ras al hanut or garam masala (delicious on porkloin!)...

As I said, I use the same procedure for porkloin when cooking it on the stovetop. I use fresh or dried sage on it instead of tarragon.

They don't do this for us or for taste. They do this for pure greed and profit. Its either pumped in (Butterball) or if frozen glazed . It adds to the weight.  At $2.99 a pound they are selling you saltwater, anywhere from 5 to 18%. Another corporate rip off.

KY. 

 Today was a lazy sought of day for me and I watched TV and saw a food show about famous sandwiches of the world.  They had the Chef and GM of The Brown Hotel on and they were  explaining orgin  of the Hot Brown Sandwich.  

    He started with the traditional butter flour roux. Then added 3/4 milk  1/4 heavy cream. S & P to taste. Then Fresh Grated Parmesan Cheese only. They used and said have always used Roast Turkey Breast  placed on bread in a skillet, then poured the sauce, sprinkled more cheese  then into med. oven till slightly brown. Take out 2 wedges of Tomato 1 each side.    Thats out of the 2 horses mouths  ???

Doesn't surprise me, Ed. I remember one of Bobby Flay's Throwdowns, which was a Hot Browns challange done at The Brown, against the executive chef and, if I recollect correctly, his sous.

They, too, made a version that was not quite the same as the original.

It's kind of crazy, because this is a fully documented dish, with precise records of when and how things were done. Check the history and you'll find:

1. They are correct about the cheese. It was done, originally, just with parmesan.

2. They are incorrect about "always turkey." The dish started life using poached chicken, and later evolved to turkey.

3. They are incorrect as to the use of tomato as a garnish. The original used mushrooms.

4. The original was also garnished with bacon, and I've never had any version (even some gross ones using country ham & turkey swimming in an orange cheddar sauce) that didn't include it. Did they not mention that?

5. The bread isn't just dropped in. It's arranged in a precise manner. Did they mention that? The guys who fought Flay at least knew about that, and made a point of it with their version.

6. I've eaten, literally, hundreds of Hot Browns, made all sorts of ways. Not once was I served one made in a skillet. Not saying it couldn't have been done that way. But the arrangement of the bread almost dictates an oval baking dish, and not many restaurants stock skillets in that shape.

What I suspect is that, even at The Brown, somebody along the way modified the recipe. He passed that down to his successor, and so on. The guys working the kitchen today, therefore, make the version that was handed to them, but have never checked the records to see if it differs from the original.

That recipes evolve, and change, and are put a personal spin on by chefs is a regular part of our industry. Normally it doesn't bother me. But when an iconic (yes, I hate that buzzword---but, in this case I'm using it precisely) is presented at its point of origin I feel they should get it right. At The Brown I would expect a correctly made Hot Brown, just as I would expect a correctly made Waldorf Salad at the WA.

Well actually the WH. Interned cold table 40 yrs. ago.

When I served my apprenticeship  (  over 43 years ago), one of the hotels they sent me to was the Waldorf for about 8 weeks. They did serve the trditional Waldorf salad there. They insisted on green apples mixed with red delicious.. The same guys made it all the time, all the mis en plac was sent from the vegetable room where 10 or 12 older woman  all dressed in white with hairnets sitting at a long table. peeled and prepped everything.

     The new chef was Eugene Scanlon who was the first American to ever hold Ex. position. Self taught  in French language he came from doing a stint at the Fountainbleu in Miami where he was Ex. Sous. He later went on to become Corp Ex Chef and F&B manager for Hilton International . Great guy.

WA=Waldorf Astoria---which, I guess, is really showing my age.

What is WH, Panini?

I'm screwing with ya. It was actually the Waldorf Hotel. They later named it Astoria. I could be way off though.. Can't really remember what I had for B'fast. LOL Chemo Brain.

Ed is exactly right. Ed do you recall Beatrice?

I shadowed Chef Santi. Chewed me out almost every day.

The original Waldorf was at 34th street, near where Empire State Building is now. It later moved to 50th Street and Park.  Astoria was named after John Jacob ASTOR the millionaire who at one time financed it. Cant recall Beatrice, but remember Claude Phillipe who was Ex Chef  before Scanlon and who used to visit the place after Gene took over as Ex. Chef. He would sit in Chefs office and have GLASSES of wine and had trouble walking out.  Do you remember an Afro American Chef named Roosevelt who made all the Ice Creams and frozen desserts from scratch ??  I then went to old Manhatten Hotel Marce Hanzler was chef  and A Jewish Guy named Herb Barrith who I learned a lot from . Herb won the medal of French Government for Garde Manger and Decorateur work and one both  Competitions  at the Nat. Hotel Show at the old Couliseum 2 years in a row , when he was at the Manhattan and the New Americana Hotels.