Michaeltheonion

The cooking tips are most helpful, since I am more familiar with roasting a whole duck. Ive been curious about this one. Arent the legs of a duck generally way too tough to roast on their own, hense Confit and a 'lorange? Also roasting would destroy the ideal state of the breast, medium rare. thats why when I buy duck ( as I did this evening) I always fabricate it down to those two basic components. How exactly do you roast a duck to perfection? Any suggestions?

Ive used the French Laundry and Bouchon quite alot in my cooking, both at home and work. I used the French laundry mainly to nail down some technique. Things like the oils and powders would have elluded me without that book. Also I make my stocks and braises as he instructs because I find that they have the nicest results ( one of the main differences in Kellers stocks is that he doesnt use cellery.) Also the way he describes making torchon is really fantastic. Its also has the perfect ratio of seasoning. As well bnouchon is awesome for some old school ideas, like the ckickpea and carrot salad or the remoulade. And the duck confit in this book is divine. Some chef omit the salting process in confit. Which I was instructed to do. After having the legs salted Ill never go back. It almost has a "bacon" quality to it. Finally I suppose I use Mcgee quite alot. recently Ive been doing alot of vegan baking and have been experimenting with flax seed and different techniques of that sort. But after these my most worn out book is "How to cook everything." Good beginners book.

I had a really wonderful duck breast a few years ago at New years. There was no marrinade, because I think that distracts from all the naturalsweetness of the duck. If you have any foie gras scraps ( a rare occasion.) Make a quick forcemeat, or just puree it. The forcemeat should ave some shallot and some piscacios in there for good measure. Make a slit through the centre of the breast. Make sure the acual hole isnt too large of the foie will leak out durring cooking. Pipe in the mixture. Render the skin SLOWLY, then finish it briefly in the oven until it is still nice and rare. There you have it, duck stuffed duck. I would eat this once a month if it were possible.

Hmm. Well its not as cool as that but I know a way to take a carrot from raw to glazed in about 30 seconds. 1) put a pan on a burner and crank it up as high as it will go. 2) peel about 6 baby carrots. Immerse them in half a cup of water. 3) to the water add 1 TBS butter. 3 Tbs Sugar. 1 TBS salt. 4) When the pan is so hot your worried that a hole is going to burn through it add the water and carrot mixture. 5) stand back. The carrots will glaze very quickly. And the liquid while its reducing looks like mercury as is rolling around in the pan. This is the strangest technique I employ on a daily basis. I call it TURBO COOKING!

Ive been cooking for 6 years now and I do know for a fact that this going to be my career. Im also 3 months away from having a university degree in the humanities. Im also a culinary school drop out. This is a set up to people who dont feel that the school you goes to matters. I addended a very basic community college in ontatio, a prorgam that had just started up. I thought that one school was as good as another, they all taught the same thing right? Of a class of 30 I was one of four people who had any sort of culinary backround. At this point I was 20. The instructors there were mainly from cafaterias or were sous chefs from local unnoteworthy restaurants. During lectures they would talk about low income, divorce and drug habbits. They also talked about emulsions and stocks and the like. During some practicals we would have a shortage of say eggs, so we would watch the chef instructor make a mayonaise and then say " so thats how you do that." A friend of mine won a measuring spoon set for his knife skills and the head of the program came up to us, pointed out the seaspoon and very mater of factly said "that is the perfect one for little bumps of coke." Of the 30 people in the program ( this was 3 years ago,) only 5 of them are now cooking. I beleive they are in some local unnoteworthy places a hospital and a prison. When I was there I would mention books like the french laundry and escoffier and always recieved blank stares. I left after 2 months, returned to full time studies at university. Since then Ive apprenticed under some very fine local chefs and have done stages during my summer holidays. In canada they have a trade certification program the red seal. I dont know what it is in america, but I am planning on wirting the test sometime in the next few months. So to anyone who doesnt think that that the choice of school is important I really beg to differ. You want to go to a school where the teachers are passinate and have established good names for themselves in the industry. Also look for a place that is selective about who they pick. Ideally a place with older students, who have been working in the field for a few years and want to solidify their skills, as well as atain a recognized degree. I have worked with many culinary school students and have seen many young people realize that after a year they dont want to doit anymore. I also find myself explaining basic concepts to the current students from time to time. Im personally planning on attending Le cordon Bleu in Ottawa next winter. After seeing some lectures and talking to some Chefs there it seems like the right fit. The average age there is around 24 and they have a high level of success. They also have some very impressive hook ups for their students when they graduate. As well as sepcialized courses in pastry and ice carving. I hope my own story can be of some guidance to you. As well are there any LCB grads out there currently? Or some chefs who have hired alot of these people? It would be nice to get as many opinions as I can before I head back to culinary school.

Sorry sometimes I leave out the importnat stuff. The temperature is 140 exactly, I suppose because this is standard poaching temperature. It takes around 5 minutes to poach it properly. Its better to have it be just underdone, because it begins to fall appart after 6 minutes in the butter. And nope, I use the shells to make oils and the like.

I really dig the Maltaise sauce. Its a form of hollandaise sauce. Once the sauce is almost ready mount it with some blood ornage juice, then tighten it up a little more over the bain marie. And you know serve it over asparagus. Sometimes the classics are the best. You can use the orange zest to make an orange stock. This is something that ive been playing with. Simmer the zest for about 30 minutes until its not going to number your tounge with bitterness. Then use it to poach fish. Possibly salmon or trout.

Make a quick beer batter. Dip the balls in some flower, then into the batter, then into some bread crumbs. Form the ball in your palm so all the sides are nicely coated. Heat up a pot of oil to 365, and drop te balls in a few at a time so the temperature doesnt lower too much. Once they are golden brown remove them and let them cool slightly. Eat them with a nich tomato and balsamic collis. I know its deep fried cheese balls with katchup, but that was my first experience with this cheese. Since its so bland itself it lends itself to this sort of extreme treatment. But thats just me.

I was sorry to read that no one recommended the Mac santoku series. I was turend on to them almost a year ago. Before that i was using a senalli chefs knife, 10 inces and heavy. I found it hard to actually brunoise things properly, as well most cuts seemed beyond my grasp. This wise old chef explained to me that the standard french knife was more like a hammer wheres the Santoku was more of a pait brush. At first I thought it far to small, but it allowed me to seemingly get closer to what I was cutting. It was perfect for fine vegetable cuts, but I soon discovered it worked well for fileting fish and fabricating beed cuts. Its light weight and very delicate. This could be seen as a downside, if you tap it to hard against a steel table its liable to bend im told. also you dont want to use it for cutting hard root vegetables or for cutting through bones. Ive found keeping it razor shap to be fairly easy, just run it across a ceramic sharpener after every shift and its fine for the next day. If you do lots of gentle and precise cutting I would highly reccomend the Santoku.

We poach lobster in beurre monte at my restaurant. This requires emulsifying about 4 pounds of butter into itself everynight over a double boiler. This takes loads of time but the result is fantastic. Generally we keep the Butter in the steam table but this ends up raising the cost on the lobster quite abit. Were getting a sous vide machine to cut down on labour. Now we can put a couple tablespoons of butter into the bag with a lobster tail and seal it shut. Drop it in the circulator and it bascially takes care of itself. It also has the added effect of cutting down on prepping lobster because the butter generally preserves them longer than if they were sitting in the botton of a reach in. I also encountered a chef who makes his rattatoullie sous vide, the result was lso tender...

I was taught in school that freezing or canning actually was a fantastic way of preserving nutrients what would otherwise be lost on long trecks from wherever they were actually grown. With frozen veggies I find that the damage done to the cell walls by freezing acts as a form of "cooking," or tenderizing. I just steam them over a wicker basket to heat them through, then add some coarse salt.

The problem is that to cook the starch efficiently (converting to dextrin and slightly browning it too) favors temps around 375 Fahrenheit or higher. Unfortunately duck fat, of all cooking fats, has a very low smoke point, often lower than that -- Your Ducks May Vary of course. I staged in a place this summer that did all their deepfrying in duck fat. All the fries and chips came out nice and crisp. I never checked the temp of the fat but I'm pretty sure if you fry lower than 350, you dont get that crispy texture. I should point out that the duck fat had been clarified.

I like to think of Kraft Dinner of a blank slate that you can project your intentions upon. If you dont mind the slightly salty taste of the powdered cheese. Ive used the KD base as a way of showing my younger sister how she can play with her food. You can add scallions, mustard, a whole egg ( carbonera) ground sausages. Ectera. I found that the best combo ever was using some hamburger helper mix with the cheese and adding in some ground beef, then grating some gruyere over top, then au gratin. As for the best actual home made stuff, I think that the simple bechamel sauce is best. However I like to use Balderson chedder, the orange stuff. some brunoise onions that are only cooked by the heat of the pasta. Their rawness adds a certian sulphur that is a nice counterpart to the impossibly rich cheese sauce. Also for the roux its imperative that you use duck fat instead of butter, its conveys an awesome depth of meatiness.

Since they are alot like porcini's you can use a porcini preperation called 'Tabac De Cusine.' Just grind up the mushrooms in a spice grinder until you have a fine dust and use it as though it were salt. Its particularly delicious on really gamey meats.

Ive noticed a trend in my neck of the woods (ottawa) to use the term 'emulsion,' instead of the much used "foam." I dont think Ive seen this term used anywhere else so Im wondering if this is ottawa specific. At my restaurant we generally try out a new emulsion every few days, with varrying degrees of success. These have been anything from foie, bacon, carrot to salt or vinegar. Ive used loads of stabalizers. Including xanthangum, agar, eggs, gellatin, mustard, to duck fat (not a success.) Im curious if if anyone else uses the term this way. Also I was wondering if there are any available guidelines on how to make the best foams with a variety of ingredients.