Wikis tagged with cooking-articles

Holy, Wholly bagel by: Chef Jim Berman My earliest memory comes from sharing bagels with my grandmother. It always seemed liked a Sunday morning when we would sit at her foil-speckled topped diner table with a tub of margarine and a brown bag on its side with the warm bagels spilling out. And the bag was always the stiff, cardboard-like paper bag. The piping hot bagels were never packed in plastic, as the just-baked bagels would surely melt flimsy packaging. The bagels came from the back seat of my parent's car just after sunrise. My mother explained that the bagels were not allowed to...

By Pam Grant      As professional and non-professional cooks, we all have one thing in common here in our Cheftalk community, we love to cook, or at the very least talk about cooking. Ok some of us just like to eat, but no matter the severity we are all tied together somehow by food. I would be willing to wager that many of us have another love in our lives besides food. The one thing that keeps you warm at night, greets you warmly when you come home at the end of the day, and waits anxiously to see what wonderful culinary masterpiece you will bestow upon them each day. That right , I am...

Original from India, basil gets it's name from the Greek word Basilikos. Basil is characterized by strong sweet flavor which is slightly acidic, and large flat leafs. Commonly used in Italian cooking Basil goes well with a multitude of dishes but is most commonly paired with tomatoes.         Basil Variety: Purple Basil, many variety of Sweet Basil, Dark opal, Indian Basil, bush Basil Part use: stems, leaves and flowers Actions: stimulant, digestive, tonic, antiseptic   Apothecary   Internally: Good to use for settling upset stomach, relieving nausea, ease digestion, with a...

by: Chef Jim Berman I am simple. I treasure that which holds great significance without pretension. Fussy-less, wrinkle-free, add water and stir. Old denim jackets, well roasted turkey and one comfortable chair that fits my bottom just so. I like to look at the stars without knowing a thing about Orion or Vega. Crisp mornings, crunchy leaves and nowhere to go. Pocket-sized novels, earmarked for the tenth time. Well-worn brown leather shoes with but a trace of the lining left for the wear. There is a lot to be said for complexity, rich knowledge and the dynamics of everyday life. But it...

by: Chef Jim Berman I have often debated aloud as well as alone the one troublesome question that just about every cook worth his or her grease stained apron has asked at one point or another: For whom am I cooking? Do I prepare food as I would art? Is it self-expression - each dish a work borne of my own insight, hard work and wonton desire? Or is cooking a medium for which to deliver food and turn a profit? This can be tumultuous if you are one of those 'type a' personalities, like myself, that likes to work with a clear goal in mind. More aptly put, when working in a restaurant and the...

#REDIRECT [[unveiling-my-familys-secret-recipe-for-homemade-hot-dog-relish]]

by: Chef Jim Berman The rise of contemporary television chef-dom has done little for the classics. Prime time recipes must fit neatly into their allotted time slots, sans commercial interruptions, but allowing for the back-up bands and viewer questions. What could be a forum for intense discussion and demonstration has evolved into a few minutes of splash, bam and shaaaaazam; it is entertainment with some instruction as garnish. Not to say all is lost, as there are some fiercely talented chefs creating some fantastic food. Unfortunately, to keep pace, and ratings, dishes must be full of...

Written By Chef Peter Martin  In Part I of this article I discussed how to choose the perfect steak for grilling, now it is time to discuss what to do once you are home and ready to cook.  From preparation to plating, I will cover all you need to know to Grill the Perfect Steak.   About 30 minutes before you are ready to cook you need to light your charcoal.  Sure you could use a gas grill and skip this step, but gas doesn’t provide as much flavor as charcoal, in my opinion.  That is why I own 2 grills.  A gas grill for convenience when I want to quickly grill up some burgers or...

by: Chef Jim Berman When I pondered this article, this tackling of creating fresh pasta, I was as nervous as a school boy on prom night; So many questions, so much anticipation for a fulfilling experience. Everyone does it, Would I live up to the expectations that, undoubtedly, were had of me? Would I be able to capture the right combination of movement and genteel touch that would pay off with visceral and guttural satisfaction? How would I compare to those that have tried before me? Due diligence wins, here. This is not a lexicon on the idiosyncrasies of 'all things' pasta. No...

Written By Chef Peter Martin When it comes to Thanksgiving, I admit it, I am a staunch traditionalist.  Fluffy mashed potatoes, glistening ruby red cranberry sauce, sweet potatoes slumbering beneath a blanket of toasty marshmallows  and stuffing redolent of sage, all surrounding the centerpiece, a beautiful golden turkey with crackling skin and moist, tender flesh.  In my opinion it doesn't get much better than that.     As a chef I have often times been tempted to try and improve on this theme by bringing new techniques and exotic ingredients to the Thanksgiving table.  And while...

In our last class session, we considered the importance of stock, discussed the fundamentals of stock making, and studied white stock in particular. In today's class, we will still be discussing stock, but will shift our focus slightly, concentrating on brown stock. Like white stock, brown stock has an extremely important role in cooking. It is indispensable and always on hand in all fine professional kitchens. Visualize the pungent brown sauce that accompanied a sautéed or grilled piece of red meat the last time you ate in your favorite upscale restaurant. Think of a delectably tender...

The lowly olive is one of the world's greatest and most historically coveted foods. Throughout history, the olive tree has been the subject of mythology, a sign of longevity, and a source for excellent wood. From the olive flows olive oil, a precious commodity that was used historically for food, fuel, the anointing of kings, industrial lubricant, medicinal balm, soap manufacture, and polishing finely cut diamonds.   The fruit of the olive tree, the olive itself, has been eaten for centuries (ever since people learned how to tame the raw, inedible olive and make it edible by removing...

  A Lobster Treatise A few nights ago I killed a lobster...a lot of lobsters, actually. Ten dozen to be exact. I didn't carry out this gruesome task alone. Steve, a friend and fellow culinarian helped me. I'm not bragging about this; it had to be done. It's part of my work. It's not that I enjoyed doing it either, but I have to admit that I've become somewhat desensitized. There is something very primitive in killing in order to feed people. It's easy to forget that, unless you're vegetarian, something must die for you to eat. Professional cooks are less removed from this than the...

A classic way to enjoy figs is as preserves, and chefs throughout coastal South Carolina make them since the area has a prime climate for bumper fig crops. They start turning ripe in July, and the crop continues through August. Pastry Chef Tina Spaltro of the Marina Inn at Grande Dunes in Myrtle Beach, with encouragement from Executive Chef James Clark, figured out how to turn a lot of figs into delicious batch of sweetness. Making the preserves during the late summer of 2009, she says, was a spur-of-the-moment project that turned out well. "It was just a whim because James went...

#REDIRECT [[preserving-the-gardens-bounty-in-a-jar]]

Holy, Wholly Bagels, v2.0 by: Chef Jim Berman It is really difficult to write about food, a dining experience or other kitchen foray, let alone revisit that writing. Putting into words the experience is a labor of love; articulate a feeling about something so endearingly personal is much akin to going to the gynecologist with your daughter; everything is out there, in the open, waiting to be examined and, with bated breath, holding out for some intensely personal reaction, in a voyeuristic sense. My relationship with the kitchen is deeply intimate. I get hankerings to experiment with...

Stock. It is essential to serious cooking. Walk into any restaurant that aspires to prepare fine cuisine and you will undoubtedly see a large pot of stock gently bubbling somewhere in the kitchen. In French cuisine, stock is so important that it is called "fond," which translates into "foundation." Chefs frequently compare cooking (and culinary training) to building a house. As any architect knows, a strong foundation, while never really seen, is of greatest importance. If the foundation is weak, what is built on it will be unstable--especially if it is destined to be a tall and...

When I was training in some of the great restaurants in France, I was amazed that all the scallops we purchased were in the shell, much like you would buy an oyster or mussel. They were beautiful specimens--tight and extremely sweet. It was all a romantic picture until I had to open and clean several cases of them as fast as I possibly could (the only working speed in these kitchens). Don't be misled--it's a tough job that ultimately yields a proportionally small amount of scallops. But what a prized delicacy it is. What we actually eat is only a small part of the scallop's innards. We...

by: Chef Jim Berman The sweet, syrupy smell of falling aspen leaves, barely crinkling under your feet. Overly juicy, ripe-right-now Fuji apples exploding all over your chin. The wash of tingling of somebody saying "I really like you" for the first time. The closet-fresh, just-risen-from-summer-hibernation comfort of your favorite sweatshirt with the threadbare sleeves and stretched head opening. Coffee with a splash of hazelnut liqueur topped with way too rich whipped cream. Two slices of squishy-in-the middle, gently tanned French toast with each little pocket over filled with warm...

by: Chef Jim Berman The seventeenth century was a turning point for soup. Bisque was no longer made entirely of pounded pigeon or boiled game and garnished with crayfish. In fact, the crayfish took center stage. And, not surprisingly, the color of this classic soup turned pink. To get it straight, a bisque is defined as a cream soup, usually seafood-based and, classically, thickened with rice. There. I said it. I acknowledge that there should be some type of crustacean swimming about and rice, in one form or another, holding the goods in place. However, like the laws emanating from our...