Holiday gatherings made simple!

With the Holidays upon us the questions and stresses of what to prepare run through some of our minds faster than we can sort them out on a piece of paper, confusion sets and with arms up in air we give in to the $99.99 deal at our local Whole Foods or market. STOP!!!!

Let's start this over, with the Holidays upon us we sit in excitement of sharing a Grand day or evening with Family & Friends, calmly we begin the process of what to serve, what wines to pair and of coarse the dessert(s) that will put it all over the top. I believe simplicity can create the most elegant of affairs. It is so often especially as a chef to over do and turn a Grand meal into a Confused sack of left overs or send home packages. I have been saying for a few posts I'd be back with Holiday Fare so allow the process to begin. Let us not forget this is where "Finding the Grind" will be found, so as I often say, I shall be back with the recipes and ideas I have been looking forward to sharing that will bring Great Food and Wine to those often dreaded gatherings, with, as stated , simplicity. 

Allow the Holiday Season to begin! Tomorrow!!!!

An exercise for the grind.

When I stated "All grinds are not created equal" I am not just talking about the end coarsness of lets say the peppercorn it being black, white, green or any of the variations in which peppercorns come or any dry spice, as a spice such as the peppercorn is crushed or broken, oils are released. The more you crush or grind the oils are lost. This has been argued, studied and debated by chefs for a ling time , is it important, does it really matter? In my view yes, flavor is flavor and what those flavors do to produce the final result is what it is all about. Controlling flavor and understanding how a herb, pepper or salt reacts with different ingredients is key in cooking. Here is a good way to understand what the hell I am talking about. Simply take 1 tablespoon of whole coffee beans and grind them in the coffee grinder or what has become today's fashionable spice mills and grind the beans for 5 seconds which should be a coarse grind, now brew a cup of coffee and taste, then in your mortar add the same amount of beans and crack them down giving them about 5 second of grinding with the pestle, the grind looks much coarser, now brew a cup with these beans,  by the way it is best to use a french press for this exercise and allowing the coffee to brew in the water for 2 full mins, the end result is the coffee ground with the M&P should have more aroma and taste. OK now that I have probably completely lost you and who knows what you might be thinking I will be back with recipes and you will understand why I posted this, but then again maybe not!!! Until then "Think Good Thoughts & Smile".

Mortar & Pestle, finding the grind!

By the image I think you can figure out where I am going with this post. Before I begin I must say the picture above is not mine.
I was given my first Mortar & Pestle some 30 years ago from my mother and father when I was just a young chef and to date it is my go to way of grinding spices and much more. In many kitchens the use of a coffee grinder is the preferred method and yes they do have there place but there is something that I believe is gained utilizing the Mortar & Pestle, call me old fashion or a purest, it is my belief.
Another plus when using the M&P is control of the grind you are searching for, not all grinds are created equal and over the next few posts you will see what I am talking about as I share some recipes for the coming holidays. I'll return soon....

Carnitas prepared Sous Vide!

Carnitas, slow cooked in a pot of pork fat for hours, so succulent and tasty my mouth is watering as my fingers hit the keyboard. There was a study done about the fat factor of cooking carnitas the traditional way in fat much like my loved Confit, the study weighed the fat prior to cooking the pork, what is interesting and proves a fact I often argue with others is when the fat was weighed post cooking of the pork it weighed more meaning no fat from the method of cooking permeated the meat but rather was released from the fat, interesting and factual. No matter of the facts there are those who will not believe them and search out healthier ways to do something such as Carnitas or pork that has been cooked in fat for many hours then fried crispy, a true south of the boarder taco stand staple. Par boiling is one such way but I have found it leaves you with a dry end result. Leading up to this post I have been speaking of the Sous Vide method which is vacuum packing and placing into a controlled water bath for a set amount of time, this is not boil in a back cooking but rather slow and packed full of flavor and everything that is lost during other methods of cooking so refer to my previous post where I explain how to do Sous Vide stove top or as in this post use a crock pot that has good heat control. Fill your crock pot with water leaving 2 inches from the top of the pot and set to 150 degrees which is usually low on pre set models, check the temp with a thermometer and adjust accordingly.

Ingredients:

1 ea 2-3 lb pork butt or shoulder roast (trimmed and cut into 2 inch cubes)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper


In a large bowl place cut up pork and season well with dry ingredients, equally divide pork into four separate vacuum pack baggies and seal being sure to remove all of the air. vide pork and get ready for something special.

Now comes the hard part, place the vacuum sealed baggies of pork into the water bath that is 150 degrees for 4-6 hours checking every hour to ensure your bath is at 150 degrees and that the water has not evaporated out. If you need to add water boil it first, add and adjust to temp using ice cubes and your thermometer. Now that the vacuum sealed pork has bathed in the water for 4-6 hours, remove from the bags from the water, cut open the baggies and pour contents into a bowl to be strained from any of the liquids which should be minimal due to being cooked under vacuum. At this point I strongly recommend giving the pork a taste just for the WOW factor. OK now onto the next step, allow the pork to cool to a temp you can handle it , shred and place on a sheet pan, Place the sheet pan under the broiler for a couple of minutes to crisp up the sous
I will be back with some pre holiday offerings so stay tuned, until then "Think Good Thoughts & Smile".

A bit more about Sous Vide......

Before I offer up a recipe prepared with the Sous Vide method it is important to know this technique of cooking does not require an expensive machine or an expensive vacuum packer even though removing the air from the bag is a must and maintaining a set temperature is key. Zip Loc offers a hand vacuum packer and baggies of various size that work very well and do not take up a bunch of space.

To do this stove top you will need a pot of water that holds a minimum 1 gallon of water, thermometer and some ice cubes to bring down the temp if needed. What I do is bring the water to a rolling boil then lower the heat by adding a few ice cubes, this will ensure you do not have to stand there looking at the temp until you reach your desired heat, it is important to know the heat will drop when you introduce what ever the ingredient you are cooking is as well. Since the temp will drop upon introduction I recommend keeping to no more than 6-8 ounces per baggie and no more than two items per pot of water.  This is not boil in a bag, this is cooking with precision to an exact desired core temperatures that is maintain though out. One other reason this is a superior method is all the flavor stays in the bag and is not cooked out into a broth or lost via evaporation. Another great way to attain the desired temp is to use a slow cooker but for all applications here we will use the stove top method of Sous Vide.
I will return to share something from south of the boarder prepared Sous Vide method that will have you questioning the traditional method, so good and a little healthier as well. Until then "Think Good Thoughts & Smile".

French Cuisine, question mark!!

I sometimes wonder where some chefs get there ideas and knowledge when it comes to "French Cuisine" which brings me to this question, "What is French Cuisine"? Where did it come from? How do you cook it?

According to Wikipedia the definition of french cuisine is as follows:

French cuisine (French: cuisine française; IPA: [kɥi.zin fʁɑ̃.sɛz]) refers to cooking traditions and practices originating fromFrance.

Guillaume Tirel Taillevent, a court chef, wrote Le Viandier, one of the earliest recipe collections of medieval France. During that time, French cuisine was heavily influenced by Italian cuisine. In the 17th century, chefs François Pierre La Varenne and Marie-Antoine Carême spearheaded movements that shifted French cooking away from its foreign influences and developed France's own indigenous style. Cheese and wine are a major part of the cuisine, playing different roles regionally and nationally, with many variations and appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) (regulated appellation) laws.

French cuisine was codified in the 20th century by Auguste Escoffier to become the modern haute cuisine; Escoffier, however, left out much of the regional culinary character to be found in the regions of France. Gastro-tourism and the Guide Michelin helped to acquaint people with the rich bourgeois and peasant cuisine of the French countryside starting in the 20th century. Gasconcuisine has also had great influence over the cuisine in the southwest of France. Many dishes that were once regional have proliferated in variations across the country.

Knowledge of French cooking has contributed significantly to Western cuisines and its criteria are used widely in Western cookery school boards and culinary education. In November 2010, French gastronomy was added by the UNESCO to its lists of the world's "intangible cultural heritage"^[1][2] along with Mexican cuisine.

I am of the belief there is no such cuisine as "French Cuisine" but rather "Regional French Cuisine" I say this because the foods of Paris or Parisian Cuisine drastically differ from the foods of Provance, then we have the Basque who do not really even qualify themselves as French. If you ask one who is from Paris they will say they are Parisian, a Basque, from the Basque Country, from Champagne, Champagne and so on. Ok back to food, I just felt like bringing this up because there really is not a Cuisine of France in my view there are however many cuisines just as in America. I believe we often generalize, which as a chef can get me into Kitchen Troubles and Menu Nightmares. When I see an advertisement for "Traditional French Cooking" I scratch my head and will often find it is that of "Regional French" cuisine if I visit the establishment for a meal or very "Parisian" or that of the cuisine from Paris. I am probably over thinking this but it is important to know the Cuisines with in a country, it could save you embarrassment if you should happen to be talking to someone from France or the country in which you are discussing. I will end this with an example, I recently asked someone what there favorite food(s) where, the reply was "French" when I asked why French the reply,"Because of the Cream and Butter"................MON DIEU!!!

I previously posted a bit on Sous Vide Technique and stated I would be back with some recipies that utalize this great technique and here I am going off with all this and all for a good reason which you will understand if you check in for my next posting.

Until then "Think Good Thoughts & Smile".

Technique Sous Vide, cooking with precision!

My first exposure to Sous Vide was some 30 years ago when I was just a young chef eager to learn as much as possible from as many top chefs as possible one of which opened my eyes to the wonders of Sous Vide Technique. We did not have a fancy machine such as the one pictured that simplifies the technique but we did have perfectly prepared Foie Gras, cooked at precisely 180 degrees for exactly 1 hour  that became a well known item on our menu, folks would come from far just to share on a Sundays drive with a perfectly poured Cabernet or Pinot. Some hear Sous Vide and think "Boil in a bag" which this technique is far from, allow me to explain. Sous Vide translates to under vacuum so one of the principles is just that, by placing an ingredient into a bag and vacuum sealing it, then into a precisely heated water bath where it will cook to the precise temperature of the water, no less, no more. One could leave a piece of salmon that has been seasoned and sealed in a water bath of 140 degrees for 2 hours and the salmon would not go beyond the temperature of 140 degrees, there is no direct heat or steam to continue the cooking process beyond the 140 degrees. Take a Filet Mignon for example, set the water bath at 120 degrees and place the vacuum sealed fillet in the bath and leave it for 2 hours, remove the fillet and what you have is a perfectly rare piece of meat, flash it on the grill to carmelize the  and get ready for something that will take you beyond. Try leaving a fillet or piece of salmon on a grill for 2 hours, you would have a very disappointing experience to say the very least.

The Pork Belly shown above is prepared Sous Vide as well,

As is the Beef, notice the red consistency though out, yum.

OK, so what now? The purpose of this post was to share a technique that many do not know about let alone have heard about. You do not need a fancy expensive machine to use the Sous Vide technique, I will return to share more little known techniques and recipes soon. 

It was asked why I have not been posting much as of late, the answer is simple, Life is good. I will return so until then "Think Good Thoughts & Smile"