Class 2, Knife Skills & Stock Making
I'mmm back. With a crazy travel schedule I missed a couple weeks so I may be hopping back and forth between concepts/classes! Chef Pascal advised that in kitchen life you only need 4 knives to work your culinary magic. High carbon steel is best and you can find a great knife in a variety of price ranges.
1) Chef's Knife (8-9 in)
2) Paring Knife
3) Boning Knife
4) Slicer
5) * A Steel for sharpening
Knifes should be sharp enough to cut paper. If you hold up a piece and slash through it (safely) it should easily cut through. If it tears or rips the paper it is going to tear and rip your food. This is an oddly satisfying experiment to try at home.
Cutting Boards: Wood & the newer types made of Bamboo are great. Those clear plastic ones with little rubber feet are NOT cutting boards. Note: If Chef Pascal is over for dinner and sees you using one, he will not say anything but will be shaking his head mentally at you.
Remember to have good posture when you are cutting and look down at the food, not at an angle. Cut forward, do not chop up and down.
The rest of the class focused on stock making. We started with the neccessary basic, chicken stock. Number one take away, do not use cooked or roasted bones for chicken stock making. You need raw bones if you want the best flavor. You don't need expensive bones or parts however, chicken necks, wings and even feet are great. Trimmings are also fine, but stay away from chicken livers as it will impart a bitter flavor.
Start with a proper stock pot and inside put 1 part bone and trimmings to 1/2 part mire poix (fancy name for chopped onions, carrots, and celery). Add Bouquet Garni (dried herbs: thyme, bay leaf, parsley and peppercorns), some garlic and cold water. Fill the pot up to where all the ingredients are submerged with about an inch of water. Now bring to boil as soon as possible, as soon as it gets to boiling, bring the heat down to simmer. Never put a lid on it so evaporation occurs. Simmer it for 2-3 hours. Strain it twice. Once through a larger mesh and then through a finer one. Chill the broth quickly in a tub of ice and then use or freeze in small containers. That's it. Nothing too complicated and although it takes time, there is not much babysitting you have to do while it cooks. You are free to enjoy housewife marathons on TV while playing words with friends as a homemade broth cooks to perfection!
We also covered Veal Stock. Something that none of us will ever try at home. Not only are the bones extremely expensive, the prep time is considerable as well as the cook time...10-12 Hours. Whew, Chef Pascal says he will offer it for students to purchase because once we get a taste of what veal stock can do, well we may well never be able to go back. Veal stock reduces to Demi- Glace (1/2 Glaze) which to chefs and the food world is truly brown gold. The richness, versatility and depth of flavor of demi glace is what upscale restaurants have that a home cook will never have in their arsenal. You can purchase ready made demi-glace in some stores, but there are not all natural and are pre-salted, so you can not control the level when adding it to your cooking.
That's it for this one friends, next up stocks for making soups! Mmmm soup love.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Sunday, September 9, 2012
A Taste of Culinary School- 24 Weeks of Gastronomy Glory!
I decided to enroll in a 24 week cooking program that meets once a week to get my true food(edu)cation on. Time to not just talk the talk right? I found this:
http://www.ccacademy.edu/Main/recreational/practical-series
I knew I was in the right place when owner and director of the school, Chef Pascal, in his introductions proclaimed a true dark hate for the poison HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) and declared that Cheesecake Factory was what was wrong with our country. Now if you know me, I was perked up like a show dog at it's first pageant hanging on his every word. He also went over his life in France, Germany, Spain and Washington DC, how he speaks at least 4 different languages and the training and his experience at some of the most world renowned restaurants in the world. Never short an opinion or a story, Chef Pascal is as dynamic as they come. To top it all off he came out of retirement here in Scottsdale to open a non-profit cooking school that works in conjunction to help Native Americans and also offers a professional accredited course at a lower cost than "that school with a french name that I don't remember". Side note, individual cooking classes are available here often and I highly suggest attending.
The first class went simply over Chef's background and information on sanitation, ingredients and cooking ware. Highlights include:
During the sanitation section: Freezing and thawing food. Remember that if you freeze beef, you will lose much of the moisture. The beef will cook faster and it will be a bit drier. Chef Pascal says, "People ask me all the time, Where do you buy fish in AZ?'' He answers, "I don't know".
Salt: Stay away from that little girl with an umbrella at all costs. Diamond brand Kosher salt is best, why we ask? Look at the ingredients: salt.
Oils: 100% refined peanut oil is best, Canola Oil is 2nd best. Did you know that the name canola oil comes from CAnadian Oil Low Acidity? That's right, canola oil is a Canadian invention taken from rapeseeds. No matter how you spin it, rapeseed oil just did not market right. Canola Oil it is! Also he says stay away from vegetable oil and pomace olive oil, they are have additives or ingredients that lower the quality and healthfulness of the oil.
Dairy: What is the difference between Heavy Cream and Heavy Whipping Cream? Heavy whipping cream has added stabilizers to help aid with whipping and a give it a longer shelf life. Find heavy cream (the real stuff) at sprouts and whole foods. Also don't be afraid of whole milk! Be afraid of sugar, give kids in schools whole milk instead of fat free with artificial colorings and flavorings. Lastly half and half does not cook well, don't try to use it. In Europe he says there is no such thing as half and half, if you can't cook with it, why would it exist?
Vinegars: Use wine based vinegars and absolutely stay away from Distilled vinegar unless you need to do some cleaning.
I walked out of my first class with my new chef's jacket and a little smile. I can't wait to go back.
Next class: Knife skills and intro into Stocks!! Julienne my carrots?? Yes please.
http://www.ccacademy.edu/Main/practical-curriculum
http://www.ccacademy.edu/Main/recreational/practical-series
I knew I was in the right place when owner and director of the school, Chef Pascal, in his introductions proclaimed a true dark hate for the poison HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) and declared that Cheesecake Factory was what was wrong with our country. Now if you know me, I was perked up like a show dog at it's first pageant hanging on his every word. He also went over his life in France, Germany, Spain and Washington DC, how he speaks at least 4 different languages and the training and his experience at some of the most world renowned restaurants in the world. Never short an opinion or a story, Chef Pascal is as dynamic as they come. To top it all off he came out of retirement here in Scottsdale to open a non-profit cooking school that works in conjunction to help Native Americans and also offers a professional accredited course at a lower cost than "that school with a french name that I don't remember". Side note, individual cooking classes are available here often and I highly suggest attending.
The first class went simply over Chef's background and information on sanitation, ingredients and cooking ware. Highlights include:
During the sanitation section: Freezing and thawing food. Remember that if you freeze beef, you will lose much of the moisture. The beef will cook faster and it will be a bit drier. Chef Pascal says, "People ask me all the time, Where do you buy fish in AZ?'' He answers, "I don't know".
Salt: Stay away from that little girl with an umbrella at all costs. Diamond brand Kosher salt is best, why we ask? Look at the ingredients: salt.
Oils: 100% refined peanut oil is best, Canola Oil is 2nd best. Did you know that the name canola oil comes from CAnadian Oil Low Acidity? That's right, canola oil is a Canadian invention taken from rapeseeds. No matter how you spin it, rapeseed oil just did not market right. Canola Oil it is! Also he says stay away from vegetable oil and pomace olive oil, they are have additives or ingredients that lower the quality and healthfulness of the oil.
Dairy: What is the difference between Heavy Cream and Heavy Whipping Cream? Heavy whipping cream has added stabilizers to help aid with whipping and a give it a longer shelf life. Find heavy cream (the real stuff) at sprouts and whole foods. Also don't be afraid of whole milk! Be afraid of sugar, give kids in schools whole milk instead of fat free with artificial colorings and flavorings. Lastly half and half does not cook well, don't try to use it. In Europe he says there is no such thing as half and half, if you can't cook with it, why would it exist?
Vinegars: Use wine based vinegars and absolutely stay away from Distilled vinegar unless you need to do some cleaning.
I walked out of my first class with my new chef's jacket and a little smile. I can't wait to go back.
Next class: Knife skills and intro into Stocks!! Julienne my carrots?? Yes please.
http://www.ccacademy.edu/Main/practical-curriculum
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
5 Minutes with Ming
What a thrill. In my mail was an invite to a Food & Wine & Buick sponsored event featuring Ming Tsai http://ming.com/aboutming.htm I used to subscribe to Food & Wine so I think that was the key to my ticket in. I was figuring that they were luring all the foodies in with the chef demos, but really we would be under the control of Buick's Marketing team and endless car talk, so I came with low expectations.
Ben Roche of Moto fame (he is their executive pastry chef) http://www.motorestaurant.com/category/menu was who presented our first demo. A true molecular gastronomist, he delighted us with a creamy walnut and bleu cheese ice cream created in minutes with liquid nitrogen (kid stuff for him I know) and s'mores bombs which were candies with a liquid graham cracker centers and a fuse made of an asian glass noodle. When burnt the little bit of ash left created the campfire smokiness of a marshmallow. Creative and extremely passionate he was a pleasure to hear speak.
Although we had a couple other demos to attend (including the Buick test drive) I was ready to see Ming Tsai by the end of the afternoon. He did not disappoint. Charming, clever and funny he bounded his way through two recipes including chicken and bell pepper chow mein and sweet and sour mango pork. During the question and answer section I asked him about competing on the Next Iron Chef and if he could tell us about any behind the scenes info. He said his publicist warned him against it, 6 weeks off and he didn't want Ming to lose right away. Ming assured him he would not be going home in the first round. He also confided that he really decided to do it to prove to himself that he had not lost his game.
After the demo he stayed to shake hands and take pictures. This is it, my 5 minutes:
Me: Very nice to meet you Ming
Ming: Great to meet you, thanks for coming
Ming: What is your nationality?
Me: Vietnamese
Ming: I knew it, what are the best places around here for Chinese or Vietnamese food, there doesn't seem to be many. I know there is Elements, but that's more asian fusion
Me: Well there is a chinese place called Great Wall... I go for..
Ming: Cuts me off, I already hate that name, what's the best place for Vietnamese?
Me: Well that is my mom's house, but you are welcome over anytime, my mom would love it (when I told my mom this, she almost blushed, ha). There is also this place called Da Vang. It's great. He repeated the name, to me.
Me: I have to ask you, what is the best place for Dim Sum nationally?
Ming: Hmm nationally, do you mean for dumplings?
Me: Yes, dumplings, that's great.
Ming: Definitely Din Tai Fung in LA. http://www.dintaifungusa.com/
Although it's a chain it started in Asia (taiwan) and its really fantastic.
Me: I'm there.
Ming: He then handed me his card with his restaurant Blue Ginger on it (yes he carries his own business cards, on it Owner/Chef Ming Tsai)
Me: Can I go by and tell them I know the chef?? but he was already walking away...
http://ming.com/blueginger.htm
We all left with signed copies of his last book (so nice). If you make it to the dumpling place before I do let me know otherwise I will be sure to write about it when I sink my teeth into that first shumai!
Ben Roche of Moto fame (he is their executive pastry chef) http://www.motorestaurant.com/category/menu was who presented our first demo. A true molecular gastronomist, he delighted us with a creamy walnut and bleu cheese ice cream created in minutes with liquid nitrogen (kid stuff for him I know) and s'mores bombs which were candies with a liquid graham cracker centers and a fuse made of an asian glass noodle. When burnt the little bit of ash left created the campfire smokiness of a marshmallow. Creative and extremely passionate he was a pleasure to hear speak.
Although we had a couple other demos to attend (including the Buick test drive) I was ready to see Ming Tsai by the end of the afternoon. He did not disappoint. Charming, clever and funny he bounded his way through two recipes including chicken and bell pepper chow mein and sweet and sour mango pork. During the question and answer section I asked him about competing on the Next Iron Chef and if he could tell us about any behind the scenes info. He said his publicist warned him against it, 6 weeks off and he didn't want Ming to lose right away. Ming assured him he would not be going home in the first round. He also confided that he really decided to do it to prove to himself that he had not lost his game.
After the demo he stayed to shake hands and take pictures. This is it, my 5 minutes:
Me: Very nice to meet you Ming
Ming: Great to meet you, thanks for coming
Ming: What is your nationality?
Me: Vietnamese
Ming: I knew it, what are the best places around here for Chinese or Vietnamese food, there doesn't seem to be many. I know there is Elements, but that's more asian fusion
Me: Well there is a chinese place called Great Wall... I go for..
Ming: Cuts me off, I already hate that name, what's the best place for Vietnamese?
Me: Well that is my mom's house, but you are welcome over anytime, my mom would love it (when I told my mom this, she almost blushed, ha). There is also this place called Da Vang. It's great. He repeated the name, to me.
Me: I have to ask you, what is the best place for Dim Sum nationally?
Ming: Hmm nationally, do you mean for dumplings?
Me: Yes, dumplings, that's great.
Ming: Definitely Din Tai Fung in LA. http://www.dintaifungusa.com/
Although it's a chain it started in Asia (taiwan) and its really fantastic.
Me: I'm there.
Ming: He then handed me his card with his restaurant Blue Ginger on it (yes he carries his own business cards, on it Owner/Chef Ming Tsai)
Me: Can I go by and tell them I know the chef?? but he was already walking away...
http://ming.com/blueginger.htm
We all left with signed copies of his last book (so nice). If you make it to the dumpling place before I do let me know otherwise I will be sure to write about it when I sink my teeth into that first shumai!
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