Tonyy13

I was always afraid of all offal other than foie gras till I had sweetbreads.. now they rank as one of my favorites. I have been taught to handle them as such for crispy sweetbreads: -With a fillet knife, remove the membrane, as you would skin a fish, membrane side down against the board, pushing the knife through the flesh while trying to keep it flat, taking off as little as possible of the actual sweetbread flesh. Cut into desired pieces, keeping in mind that they will shrink slightly when cooked. -heat a decent amount of butter (enough to shallow fry), and when the butter is foamy, add in the sweetbreads. Season with kosher salt. Stir constantly, as they will start to turn milky white. -Once they start to brown slightly, season again with kosher. -When they are a nice mohogany color, season for a third and final time, deglaze the pan with the juice of a lemon or two, and drain through a chinoise. -eat them up!! I have never had anyone tell me that they didn't like them when cooked this way. The butter goes to noisette, so that gives them a nice rich nutty color. Enjoy!!

Nice to see you on here Champe, how is the Gatehouse? I would agree w/ Champe, Campus is the way to go if you ask me. Their wine selection is awesome, and they are super friendly. Their wine buyer, Mike recently left, but I am sure that he had a good sucessor. Gasbaros is nice if you don't mind dealing with the "hey Joey, how ya doin?" (think Sopranos here...) types.

Norman Love is one of the best pastry chefs in the biz. I got a chance to work with him at EPCOT a few years back, and a really nice guy to boot!! I can still taste the pistachio ice cream dessert that he made, it was awesome!!!!! Nothing like quenelling for 80.... to order!! Now I am depressed I missed him on tv....

Rachel, While your visions were comical and sometimes true, I had one of my better students (there are always a few that sit above the rest) make the poached eggs and hollandaise, one egg at a time, and then the hollandaise whilst one other student was assembling the eggs. It can get to be quite a cluster in the kitchens, and accidents usually happen, on a daily basis. But that is half of the fun, and most of the challenge!!

Funny story, well, to me anyway.... When I was deciding about which culinary school I wanted to attend, me and my father went to both the Culinary Institute of America and Johnson and Wales in the same road trip. Well, at both places, we were invited to eat in student run restaurants, gratis, in order to better judge the quality of hte student that each of the respective universities were producing. We at at the Bistro at the Airport Radisson just off of the Johnson and Wales Campus. We had roasted chicken breast, airline of course, this cut seemingly makes a boring piece of chicken exciting, somehow...., and some sort of wine sauce w/ rice pilaf. Dessert came and it had one of those damn sugar cages on it (crap, really, crap...) and I was the most impressed person in teh dining room, let me tell you.... Now, when we went to the CIA, we dined in teh Escoffier Room, their premier dining room, reservations required and all of that. Looking back, that meal was overly superb, but my uneducated palatte was not able to distinguish it. This was no moe evident than when a cuban shrimp cocktail was brought to the table, served w/ a mango and black bean salsa, which contained cillantro. Well, I couldn't even put any of the mango salsa in my mouth, I had never had cillantro, and even asked my dad to taste it for his opinion on whether or not it was rotten!!! Poor CIA, an 1/8 of a $.50 bunch of cillantro cost me spending 4 years there!!!!! PS Hindsight is 20/20... what I would do to have that decision back....

If you get a chance, I have heard that Pete's in the Delray Beach area is very nice, complete w/ Daniel style brigade service.... If you want hoity toity (sp?), I guess you could check it out.....

When I do poke, or at least what I have been calling poke, I usually like to have decent size chunks of tuna, about 1/2" X 1/2", and I toss it together in a cooled mixture of soy sauce, orange juice, lime juice, mirin, and a little bit of slurry to pull it together. Toss it with a decent amount of scallion and toasted sesame seeds which have toasted quite dark, not burnt, but with a really good toast, I guess to give it that nutty flavor that rounds it out nicely. A colleague of mine, who happens to think that he is the dog's bollocks, told me that poke means that the fish has been seared quickly in an extrememly hot wok. While I am sure that people cook their poke, I didn't think that was the rule. Any help here on the searing thing? Thanks!!

Heard that foie w/ no sweet!!!!! You all forget that wine is nothing more than fermented fruit juice, so it is not that uncommon to find "fruit" paired with meat afterall... wine can be found in thousands of sauces, stews, and braises. The complexities that are brought to the party when adding a wine to a sauce or a dish is similar to the complex flavor combinations that are experienced when you add fruit (usually roasted to expel water and concentrate flavor). Sweet makes savory taste more savory, and vice versa (ever eat french fries/chips with ice cream? ok, I was a fat kid, leave me alone...).

Without stepping on the instructors toes, I use a pairing knife and pierce the side of the narrow end of the egg and make a small turn with the knife to loosen the shell. Then you can pull the top back and expose the egg. ← Chefdg, No problem, no toes stepped on here, in fact, I find that sometimes, that is the problem that I deal with as well, but I usually just trim them up, and they look fine, but next time, I will have to try the paring knife trick!!

Hotels such as Marriot, Ritz, and Hilton who were known for their large foodservice operations, would cook food, and them pan it up into large, standardized pans , hence the term "hotel pan"

Rachel, Thanks for the kind words, yes, it is awesome to see a young person who looks at something that they did, and realize that someone out there would be willing to pay literally three times more than they know it would cost them in a supermarket!! That is one of the best parts of my job, when students get excited. As far as sexy goes, I have yet to use the word sexy on a menu, it has just become part of my vocabulary, as it was a new adjective that I heard used to describe food once I started working in fine dining establishments. I am known at the school as the "Sexy Food Chef", which unfortunately doestn' mean that I am sexy, but rather that I call food sexy. I don't know, for me, it just describes everythign perfectly, no room for error. Some people say that food is nice, and you might not understand the level that are reffering to. Is it what you would consider REALLY nice, or somewhat nice, or better than bad, or what? There is no grey area with Sexy, everyone knows what I am talking about, as they know that the adjective is a high level of praise.

I LOVE oysters!! I love them any way raw, even with the blasphemed mignonette!! When I first started eating oysters, I ate them with lots of cocktail sauce because that is what I was taught, and saw, just like adding tons of sugar and cream to my coffee. I have since learned that less is more, and even though I do still love a little cocktail sauce with my oysters from time to time (w/ FRESH grated horseradish and tons of lemon and pepper), that doesnt' mean that I don't enjoy them straight up either. And when I am in the mood, I put plenty of sugar and cream in my coffee. OH.... sea snot is what we called it, and it was pretty gross, slime, kind of like water that has been thickened with slurry.... not like sexy brine...... I got beaten like a rented mule all the time at that job, for a host of reasons though, not one of them for calling it sea snot...

Oysters are something that I have come to miss now that I have moved from New England, where the oysters that we got were sexy, plump, firm, gorgeous, briny, and full of flavor (sex flavor that is.... ). Like Anthony Bourdain said, I will always remember my first oyster, it was in Newport, Rhode Island, after the Taste of Rhode Island event at the docks, and I was with my two mentors, who were mad because of what an awful event it was. I still can taste that beautiful Blue Point oyster, slathered w/ cocktail sauce (sometimes I utilize the oyster as a platform for my condiments, slander, I know... ). Since moving to Florida, I realize how nice I had it in N.E. I took for granted the gorgeous seafood that we had, and now realize that Florida seafood is for the birds!! The gulf coast oysters that I get down here are crap, straight crap, they are huge, transluscent so much that you can practically see through them, and no matter how cold you serve them, they never taste of brine, oyster, or sex. They never taste like anything!! I don't particularly care for cooked oysters in any way, as when I started in kitchens, we used to get buckets of shucked oysters, and used to throw the "sea snot" on top at the new guys in teh kitchen. Oh... we used to make a tomato water and horseradish sorbet to go on top of the oysters, then put some thinly sliced scallion on top; the best!!

I will try to, but I will be in the creative wasteland in basics I for the next three weeks. A whole segment of "this is a carrot. this is a piece of celery. This is a hotel pan, and we call it a hotel pan because....." so my life will be quite boring over the course of the next three weeks. Sorry

Culinary Bear, you're right, they could use a bit of a trim, sometimes you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink!!!!! As compared to some of the student's work I have seen in the past, I am VERY happy with what they did for this buffet, so the quail egg's appearance wasn't something to complain about. These students have only 9 weeks to go, out of a total of 12 months in the school. They will take Euro/Asian next class, and then go to Machon, our restaurant, where they will spend three weeks in the back of the house, and three weeks in the front of the house.

Unless, of course, you did want to imply that the food in question had gone off. "Deconstructed" is likely the term you're looking for, though I've never really the point of using it either. ← Thanks, your right, went the opposite of composed salad, and ended up with rotten...

Sorry I left this one out. Very easy. Blanch asparagus in water as salty as the sea (a good general rule of thumb for vegetable cookery) Half cherry tomatoes, place on a sheet pan, and top with very thinly sliced garlic. Dous with Olive Oil, and topthe whole thing w/ whole sprigs of fresh thyme. Roast in a 400 degree oven till they look sexy. They go awesome with just about everything, to be honest, my favorite is with breakfast. Good w/ fish, meat, foie, etc. Enjoy

Absolutely!!! I have been waiting for this post, what a great thing. We used to serve a chicken skin salad for staff meal at my restaurant in Provi before we closed. It consisted of heriloom tomato scrap wedges, thin red onion, roasted corn, balsmac vinaigrette, large soft crutons of toasted bread (think panzanella) and then these gorgeous pieces of deep fried until crispy chicken skin. It was the best!! We do really need a drooling smillee...

Bill, Thanks for the comments, the students are excited that something that they made is creating "hype" such as this. The school is open for lunch at 11:30 I believe, and they stay open until about 1 or 1:30. Reservation only. The lunch menu is again, all about quicker bistro style of food. Dinner is open at 6:30, and they seat until 7:30. Only an hour, and reservations are required. Dinner is a much more sit down meal, with a little bit nicer food. The food cost is ludicris, way above what a normal restaurant would run, so a great deal for the diner, and again, wine prices can't be beat anywhere in Orlando. If you want the Contact info, pm me, I am not sure how they would feel about me posting it here... coorporate red tape.

JGM, Thanks for the nice comments, yes, the paprika oil is something that we made here in class. Took about 20 seconds, so here we go... 1) Heat whatever amount of oil you want to make to a medium high temperature (ballpark here, not a big deal as far as amounts or heat, although it should be reletively warm) 2) Pour warm oil over the smoked paprika (which is available all over the place, check local specialty shops, or you can totaly find it online) in a metal or other heatproof container. 3)Let cool. If the paprika starts to burn, you don't have to let it cool, but I find that the flavor is nicer. I also find that it burns easily if it isn't being watched. 4)Strain through a coffee filter, cheesecloth, or an old dishtowel. Should stay together forever. Would love to hear more about this and the way in which it was made and the layers ... possible, Tony?? ← The terrine was awesome, but it was not hot, as in warm. It was hot, as in sexy!! Easy to do though, albeit more time consuming than the paprika oil... 1)Devein the foie gras. Temper in the vacuum packed packaging under body temperature water until the lob is thick peanut butter consistency. Butterfly it out and remove all of the veins. Create a curing mixture of 1/2 kosher and 1/2 sugar. Sprinkle liberally all over the lobe. Spritz the whole thing with Bourbon, Cognac, Brandy, whatever you like. Cure in fridge for 24 hours. 2) Shred Duck Confit, and mix in a bowl w/ whole grain mustard, a little red wine vinegar or whatever the hell you want (no one is going to arrest you if you play around). 3) Strip black trumpet mushrooms, and wash severl times (or whatever mush you want...doestn' matter). Saute and deglaze w/ a bit of lemon, as lemon ALWAYS brings out mushrooms like you wouldn't believe. Drain on a towel. 4. Slice some proscuitto di Parma, or buy it. Line a terrine mold (or whatever you want to mold this in) first with a few layers of plastic wrap, making sure that you have left enough to cover the top, and in turn, the bottom. Do the same w/ proscuitto (or whatever you want, mortadella, sopprasotta, or leeks, spinach, WHATEVER!! You guys gettin the hint yet about the whatever you want?). 5. Either A)poach the foie gras in duck fat that has been heated to about 150 for about 2 minutes, or roast it in the oven till it just starts to get soft. Cut it into strips, and cut the strips paralell w/ the mold. 6. Put the mushrooms on top of the foie gras. 7. Warm a little bit of glace or even some broth with some gelatin added or anything else that will gel a little bit when it is cooled. Coat the duck that has been lightly warmed w/ it. Finish the top layer by putting more than you would think, coming out of the terrine by at least 1/8 of an inch. 8. Drape the proscuitto and the plastic wrap over the top of the terrine, and make a top that fits the terrine (or item) out of cardboard or styrofoam, and place it on top, weighing it down with a brick or some cans of food. Press for 24 hours. 9. Remove carfully and slice. Enjoy... it was sexy terrine...

I was wondering if any of our NY eG'ers could give me a hand. About two years ago, we got a knock on our back door from a gentlemen who had some foie gras that he wanted to give us. He said that he was a new producer from the upstate New York area, and that he was specializing in a more European style of foie gras, with the lobes being medium sized, much whiter, with less veins, and coming in a sort of curved shape, much fatter than the flattened Hudson Valley lobes. His foie was awesome when we tried it, but we were unable to purchas it from him because we didn't have needs in big enough quantities. Now that we are in Central Florida, our foie gras quality has dropped considerably. It has been hard to find purveyors that do not recieve their foie frozen, and also that store it that way. Does anyone have any info on this newcomer to the foie market? I remember that he was a small producer, and any info that you might have would be great. Thanks so much.

I would like to just post some pics on my students food that they did for their grand buffet here at OCA yesterday. They worked hard all three weeks to put out some pretty sexy food. We built platters, then did individual plates for a few of the plattered components. Hope you enjoy!! These are cool little mini egg benedict, with poached quail eggs rather than chicken eggs. Sevruga on top... This is an awesome terrine that we made with Foie Gras, Black Trumpet Mushrooms, and Duck Confit that was seasoned with Whole Grain Mustard. Truffle on top for kicks... A cool cleff ice carving that one of the talented chefs at the shool did with the class, with some of our Louisiana Crawdads... We had some frog's legs that we needed to use up, so we cornmeal dusted them, and served them with a curried cauliflower and cous cous salad with some cajun brunoise... We did a little seared scallops on a chive cream with smoked paprika oil, and a petit pear tomato salad w/ IFLP For the individual plating of the foie terrine, we did a deconstructed plate of blanched asparagus, roasted cherry tomatoes, toast, and then a whole grain mustard sauce. Edited because hot means sexy AND also warmed... confusing Edited again, because we didn't serve anything that was rotting...

Pork Butt, cubed, and braised with tons of carrot puree, and a little bit of red wine, lots of roasted garlic, until the carrot is totally broken down, and you have this sexy sauce type of ragout thing that is really good on papardelle

That's funny... but true!! I had a dishwasher once who could cut the best herbs, that our best line cooks would ask him to do it for them!! He was dedicated to his job, not the industry, he showed up on time, did his work, and cared about the paycheck, not his own advancement in the business, which I think played a role. He was more focused on doing exactly what I said, rather than comgin up with a better way of doing something. The biggest thing that I see out of the students at the culinary school where I teach is that they want jobs where they get to come up with the specials and the soup of the day. The thing that they should be looking for is a job where they can learn to be a great follower, and then, they will be able to lead. That is what the culinary schools should be teaching, but the admissions departments need to be able to tell the kids that they will be chefs when they get out. The former look better on your resume than the latter. It's also a different kind of learning experience. ← I went to England voluntarily to work for free at one of Europe's best restaurants. I did not recieve a paycheck every month for the work that I did (8 am to at least 11 PM, as late as 2 am sometimes), however, the pay that I recieved came in the form of the best education that I could have gotten. I learned more in four months at Le Manoir than I did in 4 years of culinary school. I learned about the balance of dishes, the proper butchering techniques for fowl, game, and domestic animals, I learned about proper cooking and how to run a kitchen so that there are no loopholes. All this while I was the lowest person in the kitchen, a stagier, and at a time when I wasn't allowed to actually put heat to a single ingredient for two months (which was hard to swallow as a confident culinary school graduate... needless to say, the first thing that I did put heat to was bacon, to render it, and I burned in... DOH!!). I think that there is something to be said about staging, and working for limited to no pay for a certain time. But I also think that there is a line where you can't ask your everyday line cooks, chef de parties, and so on, to live below the normal poverty line. I staged at Trotters, and was asked to be in at 9 am. When I got there, everythign was in full swing, for at least an hour I would guess, and we didn't leave that night until about 12 midnight, with only a quick break for staff meal. Now, yes, the food does require a lot of prep, and yes, the food was awesome, but when I was talking with some of the guys in the kitchen (while doing dishes, Trotter doesn't have pot washing dishwashers, it's the responsiblity of the line cooks to wash them, dry them, and polish the copper ones, EVERYNIGHT!!), their biggest complaint was that they worked their asses off, and that they worked all day and night, and that they were only paid about $85 a day (for a 5 day work week, he is closed two days)! Now, I might have gotten a bad batch of workers who were on their way out, or whatever. But to tell me that your everyday workers, not stagiers, not people within their first month of employment, are only getting paid $400 a week gross????? C'mon, that's just not right. I do feel as though there is a fine line, but in my opinion, that crosses it.

Of course, you could fill them w/ a nice Mornay sauce (white sauce w/ cheese) to make quick gougeres (sp?).... Foie gras mousse too, would be nice..