ChefJB

One of my co workers with almost identical experience as me tried and she was told that she had too much experience. Take it for what it is worth, but it seems to me that they will end up with a bunch of 20-30 year olds and maybe one token older person again. But who knows, I wonder if there has been any comment from Andy about his menu winning top chef?

One possible undoing for chain restaurants is the need to depend on the cheap readily available industrial food chain. As food borne illness get stronger and more prevelant, the possibility for outbreak becomes higher in chains etc...... smaller independent restaurants are more able to rely on local food chains, and hopefully those are safer than the large ones.

I think that before we look at our recipes we should look at our dependence on the industrial food chain. Start by buying local food and boycotting products made with commodity corn. Read to Omnivores Dilema, it will change your life if your a cook and want to be socially responsible, it changed mine.

I dont have a template per se, but I am a professional banquet chef, feel free to email me any ??s johnbrown at neci.edu (not that I think there are spammers on here..... but just to be safe)

Make a pureed sauce out of verjus, capers and golden raisins excellent with seared scallops. Use in vinaigrettes, or use in anything to help balance flavors it is a nice source of sour without being too acidic.

You dont have to use wine, I some times use lemon juice or nothing at all and just start adding the stock. When I make risotto out of the rice that my truffles have been stored in I just use water. I find that the flavor comes out better. my .02$

I am toying with the idea of going to open call in vegas, but am not sure I want to be on TV if they chose to cast me. After season one, I would have but after this last season I dont know. Although I did just watch somebody win 100K cooking dishes off of the menu from the restaurant he is a cook at, makes me think...... Edit* ps where is th eother topic?

In the last year my students have cooked for, Scarlett Johannsen, Mickey Hart, Mike Gordon, John Fishman, Laurah Bush, David burke, and Paul Simon. I may be missing a few. When I was a private chef for a ridiculously rich guy: The hilton parents, George Bush senior, Colin Powell, The owners of Heineken, Swiss Army people, a Ford, and probably others I did not even know about. Funny the only one I wanted to go meet was David Burke, hehe

He refers to him self as a Master Cook, not the same thing. As far as I can tell it is the title of a software package as well as a Union designation. It is only meaningful to him and the payroll department, nothing more. ← A master cook is a designation of a level of station cook used in some kitchens with a large brigade. I had a student last semester who did his internship at Nob Hill in Vegas and they also have master cooks. You have a certain amount of work time invested in a kitchen, then you take a test/practical and if you pass it makes you a master cook. You probably get a bit more $$, vacation etc... the restaurant gets less turnover, something that is always good.

Hello all, I am trying to get some input. I am 35 and have been working in the industry since I was 12, I currently have an Associates degree from one of the bigger culinary schools, and am a teacher at a culinary school. I am thinking about going back to school to get my bachelors in Hotel and Restaurant management. I am leaning towards trying to move into the top of the house, just wondering if anybody has more than a 2 year culinary degree and if it is worth it. Most of the programs out there are 20k ish to finish, and with a child at home and trying to think about saving for his college I just wonder if the benefits outweigh the cost. I learned alot at culinary school, but sometimes wonder if I just should have moved to NYC and worked 16 hours a day in an upper tier restaurant. I feel sometimes that the cost did not outweigh the benefits. Thanks in advance for any input. John

I like some fresh ground black pepper, and some really good salt. Or sometimes if the stock class makes an especially good glace, I might grab a cube and serve a bit of glace du veau with it. Usually though a good steak IMO only needs some really good salt.

I know that according o HACCP it is baaaaaad to cryovac raw seafood, I would guess that this is due to anaerobic bacteria. All they ever say thou is that it is bad. I am somewhat of a germaphobe, but I would suggest not vacuum sealing it, plastic or the wet sunday times. That is just my.02 and I am a germaphobe.

First, what cut of meat are you using? Try to make sure you are getting meat with enough connective tissue, sometimes this is easier said than done. Next crucial element is the sear on the meat, dredged in flour and seared but not burned. I like to caramelize my mirepox next in the rendered beef fat. When my mirepox is nice and brown I add my beef back to the pot and pour in a bottle of a good port style beer(guiness is ok too). I let this reduce Au Sec(almost dry) this part is important because it imparts alot of flavor and depth to the stew. Then I add the stock and simmer for 4+ hours, season however you like, i usually just use S&P and bay leaf at the beginning. If it is growing in my window box I add some fresh parsley at the end. I LOVE beef stew.

Hmm... I remember reading the braising threads, but I don't remember the "no wine" part, but I read them while they were originally active so that's been a while. I personally love what the wine does in this dish, both color and taste, and I start with it reduced by at least half, although my frozen stocks are fairly strong to begin with. I suppose I could add less stock or pre-reduce that as well. I've also thought about using a roasting pan for the reduction since it's 2x the surface area, and I can get 2 burners going under it since my stove is a little underpowered. My usual target is to have the amount of liquid such that whatever I'm braising peeks out, maybe right around 2/3 of the meat covered. Let's say you did use 300 mL of reduced wine, and ~ 1L stock, leaving maybe 1ish L of liquid after straining and defatting before starting the sauce building. How much final sauce would you shoot for? I ended up with about a cup and a half of strong gravy / weak sauce, so I guess I did a 3:1 reduction. Is it okay to reduce at an angry boil, or does that affect the flavor? Perhaps next time, I'll uncover for the last hour to get a jump on the ol' reduction and I'll shoot for halfway up the meat instead of 2/3. ← At school we teach 1/3rd to halfway up the meat for a good braise, one of the best parts of a good braise is the different textures, the falling of the bone tender and the crispy of the exposed meat IMHO. Also when you reduce at a lower heat you are able to skim off impurities that are just re-incorporated into the sauce when you reduce it fast.

slice it thin and serve it on crostini with a tarragon mustard, a little fluer de sel and some fresh pepper. mmmmmmmmmmmmmm