I’m starting to get faster and faster. It’s all about practicing and it’s all about having people to feed in order to practice. Don’t worry, I’ll get to where I want to be but I’m not there yet. Until then, enjoy celery, onions, and just about anything else that needs to be minced, julienned, fine julienned, batonyed, etc…..
Don’t ever buy garlic salt again.
It doesn’t get much easier than this. Take a clove of garlic then mash into a nice paste with a knife or place it in a mortar and pestle then grind it down. take the clove of garlic then mix it together with 1 tablespoon of kosher salt. Ta-da, garlic salt. It will keep for a week and is much better than the stuff you buy in the stores. If you’re like me then you always have an extra garlic clove or two hanging around the kitchen so put it to use!
Eric
These recipes are adapted from the Art Institute’s: On Cooking Textbook. These are from my notes and I will be revising the information as I do more research.
(From left to right; Espagnole, Veloute, Bechamel
Mothers I’d Like to Cook. Mother sauces that is.
This week is sauce week so of course I am starting with the 5 mother sauces. Last week I went over stocks which will be an essential ingredient for most of these sauces so if you haven’t made some stocks yet then get on that, you’re behind already! Sauces are very important with great food. Have you ever eaten a meal and didn’t feel like it was “finished”, well that’s probably because there wasn’t a sauce on the plate (nappe). Here are the 5 mother (basic) sauces so learn these and then make your variations! On Wednesday and Thursday we will be making all of these in class so I will be posting pictures and revisions to these sauce recipes.
Bechamel
(picture)
Ingredients
8 ounces white roux
2 1/2 quarts milk
1 onion pique- 1 onion with a bay leaf held together on the onion with two cloves
Salt, White Pepper, Nutmeg to taste. Add this before, during, and after.
Pour your white roux into the pot then gradually whisk in your milk 1/2 cup at a time, this is very important. Heat to a simmer don’t boil then add the onion pique while you season, remember to season again. Simmer on low for 1 hour. Season the sauce again then strain and present on a warm plate with 2 ounces of sauce (use 2 ounce ladle).
Veloute
(picture)
Ingredients
8 ounces blond roux
2 1/2 qt white chicken stock
salt, white pepper to taste before, during, and after cooking
Bouquet Garni- thyme, bay leaf, and parsley stems wrapped in leek leaves
Pour the roux into a high sided pot then temper (add slowly while cooking) in the chicken stock 1/2 a cup at a time. Bring to a simmer and skim for skin periodically, make sure you do check for skin early on in the process! Add the Bouquet Garni then let simmer for 1-2 hours. Season, strain, then present!
Espagnole (Brown Sauce)
(picture)
Ingredients
8 ounces dark roux
2 1/2 quarts brown stock
1 lb. mirepoix, medium diced
Red Wine 1/2 cup or 1 cup
Bouquet Garni-thyme, bay leaf, and parsley stems wrapped in leek leaves
1 tablespoon tomato paste
optional: tomatoes, mushrooms
Make the roux then add mirepoix and caramelize in roux. Add the tomato paste and toast (pince). Deglaze the pan with red wine then temper in the brown stock. Add the bouquet garni then simmer for 2 hours, remember to skim. Strain the stock then present.
Tomato Sauce (Italian Style)
(Picture)
Ingredients
Onions
Garlic
Tomatoes
Extra Virgin
Salt, Pepper to taste
Basil and Parsley
Simmer all ingredients for 20 minutes then run through a food mill.
Tomato Sauce (French Style)
Ingredients
8 ounces white or blond roux
1 lb. mirepoix with matignon (ham, bacon, or salted pork)
2 1/2 quarts white stock
Tomatoes
Bouquet Garni
Make the roux then add the mirepoix. Temper in the white stock then add tomatoes and bouquet garni. Simmer for 1-2 hours then strain and present.
Hollandaise (French Version)
(picture)
Ingredients
4 egg yolks
1 lb. butter
Peppercorns
White Wine
White Wine Vinegar
Shallots, minced
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp water
Take a large pot then heat up water to 180F. Melt butter and bring to temperature between 100-120F. Pour the peppercorns, white wine, white wine vinegar, and shallots in a small sauce pan then reduce mixture by 1/2 (cuisson). Add the lemon juice and water then pour all contents into a mixing bowl then add the butter. Heat mixing bowl over the large pot of boiling water (double boiler) then whisk in the egg yolks slowly. Present once you have a light fluffly sauce.
Lots of information, get to work!
Eric
These recipes are adapted from the Art Institute’s: On Cooking Textbook. These are from my notes and I will be revising the information as I do more research.
Blond Roux
In order to make a great sauce you need to start with a great roux. Basically a roux is a mixture of 50 percent fat and 50 percent flour. In class we will be using butter as our fat but when I lived in Louisiana they used lard. Roux’s will make your sauces thicker so you get something that will stick to your food instead of running off into a saucy mess. Each roux requires the butter to be melted in the pan then having the flour whisked in….lumps are bad! You just need to achieve a nice paste then you allow them to fluff and achieve the desired color. You’ll want to use a pot with high sides to do this. There are three different types of roux and the only difference between them is the length of time they are cooked.
White- A white roux is achieved by cooking the flour and butter mixture for 1-2 minutes.
Blond-A blond roux is achieved by cooking the flour and butter mixture for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Brown- A brown roux is achieved by cooking the flour and butter mixture for 10-12 minutes. Careful not to burn, stay brown my man, stay brown.
Each sauce that I will be showing you shortly will contain a roux with the exception of the Hollandaise and Tomato Sauce.
I will be adding pictures of these roux’s once I make them in class on Wednesday/Thursday.
These recipes are adapted from the Art Institute’s: On Cooking Textbook. These are from my notes and I will be revising the information as I do more research.
Cooking Time: 8-10 hours
Equipment:
Large stock pot
Sautoir
Ladle
Skimmer
Chinois
Ingredients:
BONES: 25 pounds of beef knuckles
VEGETABLES: 3 pound of mirepoix
AROMATICS: Bouquet Garni, thyme, bay leaf, and parsley stems wrapped in leek leaves
COOKING LIQUID: Cold water
Take a large roasting pan and place the beef knuckles in the roasting pan and cook at 400F until the the meat starts to smell like a lovely roast beef. Remove the bones from the pan and place in a large stock pot. Pour cold water in with about four inches to six inches to cover. Take the roasting pan that previously contained the bones and deglaze the pan with red wine, this will remove the fond (those tasty little brown bits). Clean, scrape pan, and reserve the fond for later. Next, turn the flame to high and simmer the stock with a “lazy boil”….remember never to let your stock boil violently and never stir it either. In a pan (don’t know which kind yet) toast a bit of tomato paste (don’t how much), this is called “pince” which adds acidity to the stock. Then deglaze that pan with your previously made fond or red wine. Reserve the toasted tomato paste and add after 4 hours of cooking. Add the Bouquet Garni during the last hour of cooking or longer depending on how strong you want the herb taste/smell to be, Chef suggests a longer time, I agree with Chef. Cool the contents in an ice bath to 70F then place in a refrigerator that will be able to cool the rest of the stock to 40F within two hours. Cooling the stock is key because you don’t want to let it get in the danger zone, between 41F-140F, which will cause bacteria and other food borne illnesses to occur. Finally, cover the stock and label it with:
Class Name
Stock
Date that you cooled it down, not the date you started it. If you have not frozen it within 5 days then you will need to re-start the process all over or dump it.
Instructor
Chef Critique
Eric
These recipes are adapted from the Art Institute’s: On Cooking Textbook. These are from my notes and I will be revising the information as I do more research.
Cooking Time: 4-6 hours
Equipment:
Stock Pot
Ladle
Skimmer
Chinois
Ingredients:
BONES: 12 pounds of chicken carcasses
VEGETABLES: 2 pounds of mirepoix (click here), instead of carrots use turnips to keep the stock “white”.
AROMATICS: Sachet D’Epice which consists of garlic, peppercorn, bay leaf, and clove. We will not be using the clove in class.
COOKING LIQUID: Cold water
Place the carcasses in cold water in a large stock pot with about 4-6 inches of water above the carcasses. Set the temperature to high then blanche then bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Take the stock pot over to a sink then dump the water. Rinse the carcasses with cold water to remove undesired fats, pieces, and chunks. Place the carcasses back in the empty pot then add water about 4-6 inches above the carcasses. DO NOT STIR THE STOCK, EVER!!!! Bring to a “lazy boil”, meaning you should have a soft bubble happening and not a violent boil or else you will ruin the stock…..the key here is low and slow. Skim and de-fat the stock then cook for 1-2 hours then add the mirepoix. During the last hour of cooking add the Sachet D’Epice. When done cooking strain the stock through fine mesh (chinoise). Cool the contents in an ice bath to 70F then place in a refrigerator that will be able to cool the rest of the stock to 40F within two hours. Cooling the stock is key because you don’t want to let it get in the danger zone, between 41F-140F, which will cause bacteria and other food borne illnesses to occur. Finally, cover the stock and label it with:
Class Name
Stock
Date that you cooled it down, not the date you started it. If you have not frozen it within 5 days then you will need to re-start the process all over or dump it.
Instructor
Chef Critique
Eric
These recipes are adapted from the Art Institute’s: On Cooking Textbook. These are from my notes and I will be revising the information as I do more research.
Stocks people, that what makes your food taste great when you go to a restaurant. Not bouillon cubes or canned stocks or broths. If you want to make great food then you need to start from scratch. Yes, it’s easy to just pop something in the microwave (click) but at the end of the day it will make you feel empty or hungry or whatever term you want to use for food not being great, ha.
Back on track I go! There are 6 stocks you can make:
White-
which consists of Beef, Chicken, Fish, and Veal. This is a 2-4 hour process. This is a delicate almost clear stock that has a nice golden color, think Chicken Soup. The way you keep the stock nice and pale is by blanching the bones, I will explain this in the recipe. (CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE)
Brown-
which consists of Beef, Veal, and Poultry. This is a 6-8 hour process. The goal here is to achieve a caramelization with the vegetables you will be using, this will give you all those tasty bits that will later help develop the ultimate taste for your stock. (CLICK HERE FOR RECIPE)
Neutral-
Chicken Stock, this is most the most commonly used stock in restaurants because of its ease of use. It’s the middle point between a white and brown so you don’t have to walk a fine line with it. (I will post more information about this once I read a little more into it). We will not be preparing this at the time
Vegetable-
Made by simmering vegetables. It can be a specific type of stock like a mushroom stock or it can be mixed vegetables or it can be used for a Court Bouillon (I will post more information about this once I read a little more into it). We will not be preparing this at this time.
Fish/Seafood-
which consists of white fish, specific types of fish like a monk fish head or fish heads, or shrimp and crab stocks. I’ve made these before with shrimp and crab stocks. Commonly, what you would do is take the shells from the shrimp and cook them with water then add them to a roux for something like gumbo, etouffe, or cajun cooking.
Each one of these stocks consists of these things in order for them to be called a stock:
Bones(unless it’s a vegetable stock)
Vegetables (mirepoix click here)
Mirepoix consists of 2 parts onions to 1 part celery and 1 part carrot
The Mirepoix is used in a 8:1 ratio in a stock. 8 pounds of bones to each pound of mirepoix.
Aromatics-
These are my favorite part, I’m a spice freak after all. This is where the herbs, spices, and peppercorns come into play. They are adding during the last hour of cooking. In order to create a clean stock use a Bouquet Garni, Sachet D’Epice or a tea infuser (like I have used in the past).
Cooking Liquid-
You have to start this with something, use water for now!
Now you know a little thing or two about stocks, so let’s make a couple of them!
Eric
(Click each picture to make it larger)
A week ago I made rather large piece of pork (click) so I had a rather large piece of bone left over. Now, I could have done a few things- #1 Throw it away #2 Give it to Blue (our dog) or #3 Make some stock! I chose option #3 of course. If you look in my freezer I usually have 2-3 different stocks in there, Chicken stock, Beef stock, and a shrimp stock (more on this one some other time).
Most people don’t normally use a pork stock because of the grease but I’m not like most people. I hate throwing away food and I don’t treat grease like it’s the worst thing in the world so this pork stock is perfect for me. What do I intend to do with this pork stock? Gumbo of course! Maybe this weekend……….we’ll see where I end up for the week.
Ingredients:
1 large pork shoulder bone, you don’t have to trim the meat off, just throw it in there!
4 large carrots
5 large celery stalks
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. salt
1 tbsp. pepper
4 liters water
Place all ingredients in a large stock pot then slowly boil for 2-3 hours. You don’t want it to boil to quickly or you will lose a lot of the taste. Low and slow…….Once you’re done pour the stock in a container then freeze it.
Eric
Bob and I doing the whole Magnum P.I. shirt tribute
This past weekend Bob had a graduation party for his grandson and about a month ago he told me he was going to be cooking 55 pounds of whole chickens that were chopped in half. He was telling me that he was just going to buy a few buckets of marinade then just call it good. I told him that he didn’t need to spend the extra money and would be better off brining the chickens instead. It’s a hell of a lot less expensive to brine that it is to purchase a few gallons of marinade…..plus when you’re grilling that much chicken it’s easy to overcook it.
So he asked me to write down the instructions for him on how to brine the chicken. I told him it was a 1-1-1 formula! 1 gallon of water to 1 cup of sugar to 1 cup of salt for every 10 lbs of chicken. Then I told him he could add whatever spices he wanted to after that to turn up the flavor. He added thyme, rosemary, all-spice, and johnny’s seasoning. He the brine all ready to go by the time I came over a few days before to help him out so we just dumped the chicken in 2 large coolers then let it sit there for a few days until he was ready to cook them for lunch/dinner at his property on Saturday. I had to work on Saturday so I wasn’t able to help them cook it so Kenny and Bob went for it and it came out flawless. People kept on saying, “this is the best chicken I’ve ever had”. The chicken is a lot more tender because the salt stays in the skin and helps cure the meat. When you grill it the sugar that is in the skin caramelizes the skin and makes it crispy. What’s better than that?!?!?!?!
One of the things I hate most is when people overcook chicken. They do this because #1 they’re freaked out over salmonella and think that a piece of chicken with an internal temperature of 250F will do the job……you only need it to get to 165F #2 They look at the chicken and it doesn’t “look” like it’s done. Believe me, it’s done!!!! If you’re that worried about it then go eat Doritos. Brining solves all these problems and keeps Eric somewhat sane. Get to the temperature, remove from heat, let rest, and enjoy.
Brine something soon. It’s cheap and we’re coming up to that 4th of July grillfest. Bring something new to the party this year because your friends are probably tired of your potato salad recipe but they’re just too nice to tell you that.
(I’m a little grumpy today…….damn camera isn’t here yet)
GREAT JOB BOB!!!!
MY ORIGINAL LINK ON BRINING (CLICK)
Eric
Oh Camera B, you’re trying your best to help out but you do not give me the pictures I want or need.
Caramelizing things is one of my favorite things to do. I like to take something healthy then get it all sugary and sweet. Screw the whole idea of eating right and watching what I eat. I watch what I eat, right before it goes into my mouth!
Ingredients:
Heirloom Carrots (great ingredients always help, Capitol Hill Farmers Market)
3 tbsp. molasses
2 tbsp. sugar
Use a non-stick pan for this one then on medium heat pour in the molasses then bring the molasses to a soft simmer then add the carrots. Stir a few times then let rest for 2-3 minutes then add the sugar, stir, then let rest for another 2-3 minutes then stir again, cover and cook for 5 minutes on low heat. Serve.
Enjoy,
Eric
(Click each picture to make it larger)
I can’t find my camera right now so I had to go to camera B. Pictures or not this pork tenderloin recipe is about as good as it gets. Yeah, I said it.
Ingredients:
1 pork tenderloin
Brine Mixture
1 cup salt
1 cup sugar
1 gallon water
1 tbsp. fresh golden oregano
1 tbsp. fresh rosemary
1 tbsp. fresh cilantro
After 3 days remove the pork tenderloin from the brine bag then place tenderloin on large skillet with 1 stick of butter. Brown the outside of the tenderloin then place entire skillet in oven at 275F for 10 minutes. Remove, let rest for 5 minutes then slice and serve.
Enjoy,
Eric
(Click each picture to make it larger)
Heston Blumenthal is my favorite Chef. He’s self-taught, incredibly smart and is willing to take chances. His show, In Search of Perfection, has blown my mind. The concepts he uses are simple yet extravagant. I’ve watched every episode and there is always a “why didn’t I think of that”, moment.
Check out this video to see where this idea came from (Click)
Ingredients:
3 tomatoes, quartered. Save the seeds and jelly from the inside in a separate bowl, as shown.
Get a strainer and place over a small sauce pan then press the seeds and jelly over the pan to get the fantastic juice into the pan. Set the oven to medium heat then stir vigorously and reduce mixture by half. Serve over pasta.
Enjoy,
Eric
(Click each picture to make it larger)
Clams. That’s all that needs to be said.
Ingredients:
2 lbs. clams
5 celery stalks, thinly sliced
2 strips bacon
1 large shallot, diced
1 tbsp ground tarragon
1/4 cup chardonnay grape seed oil
Italian Sea Salt
In a large sauce pan saute the celery, bacon, shallot, tarragon, and grape seed oil for 3 minutes on high heat. Remove the bacon, shallot, and tarragon and place in a separate bowl. Leave the oil in the sauce pan then place the clams in, cover and cook for 3 minutes. Sprinkle a little bit of Italian Sea Salt over the clams then remove, pour celery, bacon, shallot, tarragon mixture over the clams then serve.
Enjoy,
Eric
BONUS!!!!
Serve a little Aioli (Click for Recipe) with the celery mixture over a roughly chopped tomato for a salad along with your clams.
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Heston Blumenthal is one of my favorite chefs. He’s incredibly smart, like’s to take educated chances, and is self-taught. Self-taught!!! He runs the Fat Duck which is currently the #2 ranked restaurant in the world. I don’t really agree with rankings for restaurants because if I were to eat at the Fat Duck I wouldn’t say “well, this is ok but I’m feeling like a #1 restaurant in the world dinner”. It’s more publicity than a true judge of a great chef. #1, Ferran Adria at El Bulli…just in case you’re curious. From what I’ve read both deserve the title and Heston has received the #1 ranking as well. But, it doesn’t matter….they’re both great and I’ll probably never get a chance to eat at either!
Look, I don’t even compare to these guys so don’t get the wrong impression. I’m light years away from even being called ground breaking or a brilliant chef. I’m doing recipes like this just to pay homage. They’re one of the driving forces that inspire me so when I see a crazy technique that leaves me going “what the F#*@”, I’m racing towards the kitchen to give it a try.
Ta-da…..Crispy Skin Concept.
I saw Chef Blumenthal try this on a Mandarin Duck recipe and it looked awesome. Basically, he sewed the duck skin to a cooling rack, basted it, cooked it, then took it out of the oven and poured some hot oil over the top to make it extra crispy.
I’m not working with duck on this one so last night while I was making that stir fry meal I took off the skin from the duck thigh. I didn’t sew the skin onto the cooling rack because I don’t have a sewing needle (need to go buy one). Anyway, I made a baste for it that consisted of soy sauce, teriyaki, and Sriracha hot sauce. I cooked it at 350F for about 15 minutes and basted it twice. Then I heated up some chili oil until it was boiling then removed the chicken skin from the oven and doused it with the chili oil. Result, the best, crispiest, fall apart in your mouth, skin I’ve ever had. I do see why it’s a good idea to sew the skin on because it shrinks to about half the size if you don’t. I’ll try it next time then post the results here!
Give it a try, it’s worth it.
Eric
I’ve been doing a little research that has lead me to work my way backwards from standard recipes and fixtures in traditional cooking styles. This has lead me to simplify my ideas a little bit so I can have a nice start while I build new recipes for this blog. So let’s take a little trip.
I grew up in a home where food was cooked daily from scratch. My mom made many traditional Puerto Rican dishes and my dad could open a can and season food to give a new twist to things like Ramen. It was pretty much the opposite ends of the spectrum but it was a lot better than them heating up frozen dinners every night like most of my friends experienced at their homes (Hungryman Dinners, oh so hungry, man).
One staple in Puerto Rican food is Sofrito. It’s a combination of a few ingredients. You can go to any Puerto Rican’s house or restaurant and everyone will make sofrito different every time. Hell, even I make it different than my mom does (CLICK FOR MY SOFRITO RECIPE).
The base for my sofrito is Tomato, Bell Pepper, Onion, Garlic, Cilantro, and Oregano. With these six ingredients you can build a great sofrito sauce for yourself. It’s one of those things that my mom passed on to me and I made it my own. There are times where I will hold back a few ingredients depending on what I’m cooking or if I don’t have access to an ingredient (I’m looking at you, saffron). You can also add recao or aji dulce to go a little more authentic, like I said you can always add or take away but keep the base the same.
Soffritto is a Italy’s style of base ingredients for their food, click for WIKI. Carrots, Celery, Onion, and a little olive oil make this base very easy to work with. I made a marinara inspired sauce with Soffritto and it made a huge impact on how I will continue to cook Italian food.
Mirepoix is the French style of base ingredients for their food, click for WIKI. Onions, Celery, and Carotts in a 2:1:1 ratio. I haven’t really hit my stride with French cooking yet on this blog so I don’t have an example. From my experience the aromatics created by the combination of these ingredients will enhance your senses as you cook and eat.
As I read more about the different styles of cooking I will add more bases so you can have a good resource for your next culinary creation.
Thanks for stopping by,
Eric
I’m not a very good writer. Back to cooking!
