chefboy2160

ummm interesting!A chefs interview normaly comes between 9 to 5 unless your going private owners and then it can occur at odd hours. The best advice I can give is to be yourself and be honest!Remember its not about what they can do for you!Rather it is what you can do for them! In our biz , well good help is still very hard to find and good employers to boot.A short 1 page resume is best as I do not want your life story!Talk the talk and walk the walk and you will be fine. My 2, Doug..............

A friend of mine works for Yosemite National Parks as a year long security person. His perk is a cabin to live in! He always drinks bottled water and kept a 3 gallon igloo filled up in his cabin for his drinking needs.Well, he gets real sick one winter and ends up with a trip to the E.R. Come to find out a mouse had gotten into his igloo and died giving him a memorable experience.We call him mouseman now! Even did some nifty pictures of him with mouse ears applied! Will he live this down, never!

Im a rounder cause I love to chase the butter vertically to keep my arms some what clean.Corn is a food of the gods and yes my name is Cob.........

The only Jeff I ever met was the Frugal Gourmet on the T.V. I enjoyed his shows and his attitude towards food.His personal life was not a concern of mine but if he did wrong well Im sure he has probably paid some of it back by his gift of giving. All I can say about people who attempt to degrade this dead mans legacy is to cast the first stone if you are so holy. We have all done wrong but who is the Judge? Thanks Jeff for so many good tips and ideas on food!!!!!!!!!!!!!Doug.........

Another twist I like is to grill 2 slices of sourdough bread in butter. Hit the ungrilled sides with mayo,avacado,tomato, ortega chili,monteray jack cheese and for meat I like bacon and turkey breast.All the above sliced thinly!Way good, Doug........

Jeff may you rest in peace.Your shows on cooking real foods just brought out the best in every culture and so simplified them that they were not a scary experience for the home cook to try.You were an inspiration to me and my cooking so thanks and keep cooking Frugal in a better place.........Doug..........

After reading this thread I feel I should offer you some cheese and crackers to go with all the whine I have just read.

Karma Police , I think you just like Rachel Ray!

Here is a good one! I did a lunch party for 120 people at the country club where I was chef many years ago and they wanted a cold lobster salad for the main entree. I lined out my sous chef on how to cook and shock the lobsters cold so we could break out the meat for the salads the next day. I was invited to play golf with the members so I thought that when I was done playing golf the 80, 1 and 1/ 2 lB lobsters would be ready for cleaning and prepping of the next days lunch. Well my sous chef was a buddhist and so after nine holes of golf I stopped in the kitchen to see how he was doing and he had only done 20 lobsters as he was blessing each one before dropping them into the court boullion.Needless to say I still had another nine holes to play so I suggested a mass blessing so that we could get the prep done. And no, they do not scream. As far as the cooking of the meat goes I have a lot of experience in this venue as I was restraunt chef for a hi volume casino in Reno which used to sell steak and lobster for 6.95 a plate! I used to sell 6 hundred dishes of this a night.We used Main tales of 4 to 5 OZ . I would split the tail halfway through, pull the meat but still leave it connected at the tail end, pull the vein, rinse in cold water and lay the tail back on the now closed shell(butterflied for presentation). I drizzeled butter, lemon juice and paprika on these and we steamed them 18 to a hotel pan.The trick I found with lobster is to not overcook!No matter whole lobster or just the tails as I have described do not over cook them or you have ruined a very good piece of meat. Steaming is the best method also (in your own court boullion). Lobster cooks very quickly so you must learn your method and pay attention in order to have the best you can. OK,Im hungry now so later.Doug............

My kitchen staff are all hispanic and they love to eat watermelon with a little cayenne pepper on it . The first time I tried it I was enthralled by the burst of flavor that hit me.I will for sure try the honeydew melon experience.

Pepper, such a flavor enhancer. To me it seems that most cooks do not know when to use it,how much to use of it and what kind to use.Do you know how to blend different peppers for that lovely background taste that enhances the food but does not overpower?For example , today I made a dish I call baked spaghetti. I made marinara sauce and finished it with black pepper, white pepper,cayenne pepper and crushed red pepper flakes. Doing all of these in moderation so as not to overpower the dish brings out the flavor and depth of the other ingredients. Not spicey hot but a loving warmth and flavor that keeps you looking for more.This is what peppers do when used properly. Pepper when used properly is one of the foods of the gods IMHO....Doug..........

I would also suggest buying the forschner 10" fibrox handle. I have been using these knives for many years now in high volume professional kitchens and I am very satisfied with these low end professional knives. I just steel before each use and I have a razor sharp comfortable knife that works great. I do not know what the mix of carbon steel to stainless steel is but the forschners have a realy good mix. Take care of this knife and I promise it will take care of you. Doug...........

I really do not think there is a rule of thumb for thick soups. A chinese thick soup is cornstarch thickened, as are their sauces are for the most part. Also roux is used as the thickener for many western based soups. Starchy based soups thicken naturaly, and of course you can bypass all of the above if you sieve or puree your soups in a blender using your ingredients. Nape or just to the point of covering the spoon with the soup is the consistency you are looking for. Keep cooking, Doug...

TJHarris, can you tell me just what you find so good about the clogs? Sore feet and backs are a part of this biz and if there is something better to put on your feet I would be extremely grateful! Thanks , Doug............

scratchline,thanks for the links.I shall be adding a couple of Sabatiers to my bag soon and will let you know from a professional standpoint how I rate them. Most of my confederates use the german hi end steel while the japanese market is starting to make an input but I want to try these knives out.thanks again, Doug........

Thanks Chad,Sabatier has disscontinued there carbon only knives for high carbon stainless totaly.Wildfire is swamped to boot.I guess I will keep my eyes open in the second hand stores perhaps or yard sales . Who knows? Right now as a professional chef I am using Forschners(these are the low end of professional chef knives supposedly) and I have been for many years. Cheap in price but good working steel and a good feel in the hand. FYI, when your job requires the use of a knife like mine does all I can say is that looks are the least of my worries. When you have produce to prep and meat to cut all that matters to me is the best tool for the job and a sharp knife is essential to good work and safety. Maybe I shall start looking in the direction of some of these japanese knives as I am hearing a lot about them lately. Thanks again,Doug.......................

I have a couple of these old relics on hand and I love to use them as they realy take on a good edge and hold it with yes more frequent usage uf the steel but thats not a problem.I have one question though, does anybody know of a company that makes and sells quality hi carbon knives anymore as I would be very interested in adding some more to my collection .All the knives I see for sale localy are either high carbon stainless or stainless. Thanks , Doug.........

Yeah, thats the spirit,eating on the run is what often happens.I remember one place where the prep used to take a bunch of scraps and including chilis and run this stuff through the buffalo chopper and make us cooks a bunch of burritos rapped in foil so all we had to do was plop them in the oven for a bit and chow. Ive seen cooks come up with some realy wierd concoctions also just to brake up the monotony of the meals they prepare for others ! I know some chefs & owners who realy get upset by this behavior as it is against healht dpt regs but get real! In a busy house a cook might have time to use the bathroom during there shift let alone have a break and a meal. If anybody doubts this than go to a local popular restaurant on mothers day and take a gander at the employees . If you ask one of them when they get a break the normal response would be when the restaurant closes. Yeah, and I love this biz too.......... Doug.........

Ive been cooking for a living for over 25 years now and I love it. I also do 90% of the cooking at home and I love it. Cooking good food for people just makes me happy.Maybe its a zen thing but working with food is like meditation for me. As far as eating food at work I have always done pretty good and so have my employees. I let my staff make themselves breakfast , lunch and dinner with the products in house and it works out pretty well as theft is almost nil by following this practice. As far as my eating habits well working around food all day can be tough on the choices. I tend to go in trends for short periods of time though I do remember one (about 3 months strait) time I used to eat a French Dip Sandwich made with leftover deli shaved prime rib piled high on a butter grilled sourdough french roll . OK , Im hungry now.Later, Doug...................

And the problem with that would be what my dear?Doug..........

OK,I've allready said good food but I cannot believe there has not been one reply that says better clothes! Shopping is fun and who does not like to upgrade there chef attire! Pro or homebound there is a lot to choose from and remember that perception is a big part of the meal! In the words of Wilma Flinstone and Betty Rubble" Charge IT.............Doug

Awnser to question #1,use more water and stir the pasta(of course have your boiling water with oil and salt in it). Rinse and shock ? If necessary and used for cold salads for sure. Also if retaining for later use I like to coat mine with salad oil. Now , as a young cook the chef asked me if I could make fried rice? As I was standing by the deep fryer I picked up a handfull of steamed rice and threw it in . Wrong awnser grasshopper.............Doug.............

Also it is a timing issue as to when you do add your potatoes. Idaho and Russets will disolve rather quickly so when using them in soups or stews I add them last. New potatoes, Yukons, and redskins will hold up much better but need to be added just a bit earlier in the dish than the russets. I like Russets in my soups and reds or Yukons in my stews but you can incorperate either as long as you pay attention to the timing. BTW, the potato thread rocks............. Doug..........

Yeah, some tough preppy he was huh? I remember a story told once about a chef who had deligated the job of parboiling and shocking cold about 100 live crab to his sous chef and that he would return shortly to help with the cleaning process. Well said chef comes back an hour later and finds his sous(who is a devout buddhist) saying a blessing over each crab before sending them into the simmering court boullion . The chef then in the order of haste had his sous do a mass blessing and finished the task. As stated , live is fresh and best.......

Ive worked for the big hotel casinos here in Nevada off and on for 12 years now and that is one of the perks of working at one of these joints is an employee cafeteria with a free meal per shift for everybody. In some that I have worked the VIPs get a section of the coffee shop and order off of the menu. Not a bad perk realy but you need to watch the dish up items as some of them are things that are not moving to well in the buffet and have been sitting in food warmers for who knows how long sometimes. In the private sector you kinda never realy had time to sit and have a meal so there was realy no rule in most places I worked you just kinda grazed as you worked.