Wikis tagged with Cooking-Techniques

Dishes prepared with fresh herbs will have more flavor than dishes made with dried herbs. Whether you’ve grown your own herbs or purchased them at a farmer’s market, you might be unsure how to prepare fresh herbs for cooking. Luckily, using fresh herbs in your cooking is not difficult. While there are several methods of preparation that will work, each herb does have its own preference.   Basil Best known for flavoring Italian tomato sauces, pizzas and grilled vegetables, basil is best used as whole leaves or torn by hand. While the flavor is generally described as spicy and almost...

Chefs can spend many hours of the week in the kitchen chopping onions. While it is a common kitchen chore, many people are intimidated by the task. Luckily, anyone can easily learn to properly chop an onion, and without a tear in sight. To begin, gather an unpeeled onion, a cutting board and a chef’s knife that is at least twice as long as the onion. Make sure your working space is well-ventilated. It is the build-up of sulfuric compounds that causes tears.   Place the onion on the clean cutting board. Place the vegetable so that both ends – the root and the stem – are...

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 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...

Welcome back to class. During the next several class sessions, we will be exploring the different methods of cooking food. These methods are classified as dry, moist, or a combination of dry and moist. Dry methods include sautéing, roasting, grilling, deep frying, and are defined by the lack of a water based cooking medium. Moist cooking methods, poaching and steaming, rely on water to do the cooking. Combination cooking, principally braising, employs both dry and moist cooking methods. In this class session, we will focus on sautéing. The literal translation for sauté in French is "to...

by: Chef Jim Berman Springtime is sensational for reinvention. All around us there are new vegetables poking up there first little leaves of the season. The gift wrapping is an early morning shower, shrouding the plantings in a damp haze. There are wonderful fruits hitting the market from closer rather than further away. Different specimens of ingredients are afoot. With invention comes innovation. And improvisation. So, with so many delicious components for our meals, it is meaningful to play with your food rather than simply prepare it. Look at those lime-green leaves, gently dusted...

by: Chef Jim Berman  "They are a hash smoking culture" Robin Williams quipped, "and anybody who is a friend of the hooka [hash smoking pipe], knows Pop Tarts are exactly what you want". Robin Williams was explaining the reasoning why hunger relief included Pop Tarts in the air-drops for the Afghans. And, I thought, naively, why not just drop hash? How hard could it be for our Army cooks to whip up some hash? They are a talented bunch, preparing thousands of meals a day, surely they could muster the forces necessary to get the potatoes peeled and meat diced to make a massive quantity of...

by: Chef Jim Berman The best thing about making your own ricotta is the cost. It is less expensive, ounce for ounce, than the commercial stuff. Even with the ups and down of the milk market, you really can not beat the economics of making your own. Perhaps, though, even better is the flavor of the finished product. You are in complete control of that signature ricotta 'twang.' From mellow and luscious to grapey and tangy, the impact is your own design. The texture varies from the plastic container stuff; the curds can be a grainy soft spread or elastic pebbles. Although, there can be an...

by: Chef Jim Berman Mar- latin, sea, pool. "Marinara (noun): sauce for pasta; contains tomatoes, garlic and herbs (http://define.com/marinara)." So, where does the sea fit into the picture? In discovering the land of tomato sauce invention, marinara takes us to Naples, on the west coast of Italy. Coast. Sea. Tomatoes do not grow in the sea. Rather, the fishermen whom were fed pasta with marinara made their living on the sea. Marinaro, sailor. Or so goes the tale. Makes sense, though. Sure, tomatoes were a South American, specifically Peruvian, import, but that is ancient history. Really....

Written By Chef Peter Martin Let's face facts; we have all had our fair share of kitchen disasters, even us “professionals”, though we might not admit it.  From food being too salty, to scorched soups, to broken hollandaise, disasters do, and will, happen.  The good news is that many of these so-called “disasters” can be fixed relatively easily, with only a few that are beyond salvaging.  Below is a list of some of the most common kitchen disasters and how to fix them. Too Salty From thinking the recipe said tablespoons instead of teaspoons, to being distracted and salting something...

Written By Chef Peter Martin In Part I of this series on food thickeners we looked at a variety of different items that can be used for thickening.  In this part we will be focusing exclusively on flour, as a thickener, as that is what most people turn to when something needs thickening.  As stated in Part I, flour is not the thickener of choice for everything.  Fruit sauces, clear soups, certain meat glazes, and many pie fillings are just a few examples of items that do not do well being thickened with flour.  On the other hand gravies, many sauces and a whole variety of soups are best...

Braising can take the chill out of winter I am not a winter person.  But I must admit, there’s nothing like a hearty winter meal followed by a good brandy or a hot cup of tea in front of the fireplace.  Historically man consumed rich and robust fare in winter to counter the cold and add some thermal padding.  Culinary anthropology aside, I simply love spending a cold winter Saturday or Sunday preparing soul warming fare that fills the house with its embracing aroma. It starts with a technique called braising.  Braising refers to cooking food, often meat with vegetables, in a relatively...

How Do I Thicken My Soup?We rarely think when it comes to thickening soups and sauces.  We usually just reach for that box of cornstarch are whip up a quick batch of roux, never really thinking of what we are doing.  But do you really understand when to use one thickening agent over another?  Why do most gravies use flour or a roux and why do many fruit desserts use cornstarch, arrowroot or tapioca?  In part I of this series we will examine the myriad of varieties of thickeners out there and when you should use each.  In part II we will focus completely on the use of flour as a thickener...

Welcome back to class! Hopefully you have had a month of successful grilling! What have you grilled that was really great? Today, we are going to turn our attention from dry heat cooking methods (sautéing and grilling) and begin looking at moist heat cooking methods. Moist heat cooking methods use liquid or steam to transfer heat, thus cooking the product. In this class we will focus on one particular type of moist heat cooking--poaching. Poaching is certainly less practiced today than the methods covered in previous classes, sautéing and grilling. But poaching is full of creative...

To look in any dictionary under the word "roast" will most likely yield a definition such as "to cook foods using dry heat in a contained oven or near an open flame". Sounds simple, right? As with anything though, a roast can be made as uncomplicated or elaborate as one decides. I personally like to keep things simple. Once, while taking a course on French Cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, I witnessed a chef roasting three capon. As simple as it sounds it was one of the most beautiful yet laborious roasts I had ever seen. First he slid the thinnest slivers of black truffle under the...

Sweetbreads, the Supreme Offal We've seen everything good today ...... we even ate pancreas! - Ferris Beuller Sweetbreads are the ultimate organ meat, highly prized by chefs and connoisseurs for their mild flavor and velvety texture. They are the most versatile of offal meats and can be prepared using virtually any cooking method. They can be sautéed, braised, poached, grilled, fried, and even roasted. In addition to center of the plate entrees, sweetbreads can figure prominently in hot or cold appetizers, stews, salads, pates, terrines, and sausages. These tender and delicately...

Historically, feasting on lamb was a traditional means of ushering in the spring season.  The natural breeding cycle of sheep produces lamb in the months of March and April; hence the term spring lamb.  This however, is an informal definition.A lamb is a sheep less than one year old.  A baby lamb is six to eight weeks old while a spring lamb is three to five months of age.  After a year it is referred to as a yearling and once it reaches its second birthday it becomes mutton.  As the sheep ages its meat will become darker colored, develop a stronger, gamier taste, and be less tender.  A...

Stuff ThisThere is something almost irresistible about sausage. Maybe it's the aroma it creates as it sizzles and sputters in a hot skillet. Or possibly the way its distinctive flavors permeate the most meager soup or stew, turning an otherwise simple meal into something sublime. It's like haute cuisine for the masses. The mere thought of it is enough to make one salivate. But, unfortunately, sausage is often a misunderstood food. It seems to have a bad rap, and is sometimes viewed as unhealthy and thought to contain certain "mystery" ingredients.  While it is most likely true that some...