British Chefs Online cooking course & recipes

[Dave Hatfield]

I've just come across a new on line cooking resource. Its called:

http://www.greatbritishchefs.com/

The Chefs involved are pretty well known in Great Britain. The site has a number of recipes that are interesting as well as some 'how to' videos.

Overall the site is well presented and interesting.

Its also available as a free Windows 8 application through the Microsoft store. In fact I think it works a bit better this way than as a conventional website.

Have a look, I think you will find it both interestin & useful.

Edited June 24, 2013 by Dave Hatfield (log)

[donaldosborne78]

Wow, website looks very good - nice design.

Recipes on this site looks even better ;D

Thanks, for useful website.

[Baselerd]

Very nice - looks like some good, challenging recipes.

[philie]

try chefsteps, i really really like the homepage, great recipes and technics covered!

[liuzhou]

I've just come across a new on line cooking resource. Its called:

http://www.greatbritishchefs.com/

The Chefs involved are pretty well known in Great Britain. The site has a number of recipes that are interesting as well as some 'how to' videos.

I'm not sure the chefs are so well known. I've never heard of any of the chefs on the front page, and the ones buried inside have minimal contributions - usually just self promotion rather than anything useful.

But I've seen a few of the 'how to' videos, mainly those on how to butcher this or fillet that. (The Guardian has been running a selection of them.)

I have no idea who the woman presenting them is, but her knife skills make me shudder. She doesn't even hold the knife correctly and is a big fan of resting her finger along the back of the blade - a total no no, as far as I am concerned. It gives you less control over the blade, not more.

This one on duck butchery is awful.

Some of the sauce recipes don't give quantities for the ingredients but make sure the sponsor's products are well featured.

I'm not impressed.

Edited July 13, 2013 by liuzhou (log)

[PassionateAmateur]

I've just come across a new on line cooking resource. Its called:

http://www.greatbritishchefs.com/

The Chefs involved are pretty well known in Great Britain. The site has a number of recipes that are interesting as well as some 'how to' videos.

I'm not sure the chefs are so well known. I've never heard of any of the chefs on the front page, and the ones buried inside have minimal contributions - usually just self promotion rather than anything useful.

But I've seen a few of the 'how to' videos, mainly those on how to butcher this or fillet that. (The Guardian has been running a selection of them.)

I have no idea who the woman presenting them is, but her knife skills make me shudder. She doesn't even hold the knife correctly and is a big fan of resting her finger along the back of the blade - a total no no, as far as I am concerned. It gives you less control over the blade, not more.

This one on duck butchery is awful.

Some of the sauce recipes don't give quantities for the ingredients but make sure the sponsor's products are well featured.

I'm not impressed.

I was totally waiting for her to slice off a finger.

[alankar]

Thanks.

It's interesting to make some britain dish, now at home.

[Dave Hatfield]

Well, I'm disappointed that a couple of you didn't appreciate the Great British Cooks site. Pity. On closer examination you might have learned something.

These chefs may not be well known in the USA or for that matter China, but on a quick count there seem to be oven 10 Michelin stars amongst them. This is not to mention their other awards & recognition. Nor the fact that they all run very successful high end restaurants.

As far as I can find there is no advertising on the site. There is a bio of each chef if you look for it.

If you didn't like the duck cutting up video then why not post your own? Fact is that whether you like her technique or not she did get the job done & didn't cut off her finger..

Criticism for the sake of it? Chauvinism? Who knows?

[Honkman]

Well, I'm disappointed that a couple of you didn't appreciate the Great British Cooks site. Pity. On closer examination you might have learned something.

These chefs may not be well known in the USA or for that matter China, but on a quick count there seem to be oven 10 Michelin stars amongst them. This is not to mention their other awards & recognition. Nor the fact that they all run very successful high end restaurants.

As far as I can find there is no advertising on the site. There is a bio of each chef if you look for it.

If you didn't like the duck cutting up video then why not post your own? Fact is that whether you like her technique or not she did get the job done & didn't cut off her finger..

Criticism for the sake of it? Chauvinism? Who knows?

This post will probably get axed by the moderators for being too direct, but I find it hard to let unfair and unknowledgeable criticism to just pass.

Couldn't agree more - actually quite well known chefs and good recipe. The complain tells a lot about the poster

[liuzhou]

These chefs may not be well known in the USA or for that matter China, but on a quick count there seem to be oven 10 Michelin stars amongst them. This is not to mention their other awards & recognition. Nor the fact that they all run very successful high end restaurants.



As far as I can find there is no advertising on the site.

I'm not sure what relevance the references to the USA and China are supposed to have. I'm British. Nor did I say that none of the chefs were well known. I said I haven't heard of most of them, specifically none of those on the front page.

There is lots of advertising on the site. Perhaps it isn't me who needs to look closer. What's that on the right hand side?

http://www.greatbritishchefs.com/ingredients

Or, even better, try this.

http://www.greatbritishchefs.com/getmedia/1fb392c7-6cfe-4c14-bc83-74d39046030a/GBC_Media_Pack_free_v3/

Edited August 4, 2013 by liuzhou (log)

[Dave Hatfield]

First let me say that I was viewing the site on Windows 8 and there doesn't seem to be any advertising on that version.

The relevance of the geographic comments was due to the fact that the only negative comments came from those countries.

Still, everyone is entitled to their opinion.

I'd love to see posts pointing to better ad free cooking sites, we might all learn something

[rotuts]

Im with Dh on this one. that being said, i'm an admitted Cooking Video Junkie. emphasis: cooking. not food network competitive trash.

I learn a lot from watching chefs work. A recipe is a static suggesting, and words sometimes poorly describe an action:

think Jacque Pepin, Julia Child, America's Test kitchen (The show not so much the books, and indeed the show does not approach the first two players mentioned.

Im and addict to one 'competition' show: Great British Menu. watching Sat Bains hold a knife a little differently than I do ( its was a small knife for some fine work - using the index finger along the 'back' ) was a revelation to me. that technique might have been mentioned in many books, but was new to me when I saw it.

the ads in the above are minimal and easy to avoid.

my contrats to DH ( the FR cheese king ) for pointing it out.

check out Laura in the Kitchen:

http://www.laurainthekitchen.com/

I dont learn a lot of technique from her, but she is fun to watch if I need a break from computer non-sense

at least she put her 'work' out there for all to see. as many do here with there Trips and Blogs.

and yes, these is a bit of criticism here that's well ....

Ive just learned to ignore it: viz a viz the (FR) omelette

DH: think Mac. as in iMac

Edited August 4, 2013 by rotuts (log)

[liuzhou]

the ads in the above are minimal and easy to avoid.

Totally agree. I never said they weren't. I just objected to being called chauvinistic, unfair and unknowledgeable when I was 100% accurate (I'm still not sure what I was meant to be chauvinistic about.)

The site was set up to attract advertising. They openly solicit product placement in recipes and videos and are sponsored by Tesco, Kikkoman and Knorr, a portfolio they are keen to expand.

They are honest about that.

[Dave Hatfield]

rotuts, thanks for the pointer to Loraine's site. Some good stuff there.

luizhou, peace. I don't take kindly to disparaging remarks when all I was trying to do was point out what seems to be a good new resource.

Here's a link to Mark Bittman at the New York times. Some nice videos.

http://www.nytimes.com/video/landing/the-minimalist/1194811622323/index.html.

Of course you have to suffer through some ads, but I think its worth it. Dare I say that Bittman is impressive?

[Ashen]

I would point out that there are at least three distinct grips for a boning knife depending on the application. While it might not be the acceptable grip for a chef knife the grip she is using on the boning knife is actually textbook for what she is using it for.

[liuzhou]

There are any number of .videos and slide shows on the internet showing how to hold a knife. Google search "how to hold a knife".

I have been unable to find any which recommends the finger on the back of the blade. In fact, most specifically advise against it.

[rotuts]

the 'finger-on-blade' Ive never read about, but only seen on Great british Menu in one of the early seasons and Sat Bains used it only on a smallish pairing knife for fine control in cutting on a board not in-hand for pairing.

Sooooooo unless you can find this clip, its meaningless. he did not recommend it but seems to use it. I use it in similar applications and there-fore its been 'recommended'

with guidance.

thats why 'cooking shows' that have cooking can be very helpful with technique

in the show mentioned above SB made 'bacon and eggs' as a starter using a SV yolk. he made that dish on the banquet

it made his rep and later on Saturday Kitchen he alluded to its financial impact.

Kibitzers will Nay Say.

but this knife technique works as seen w SB.

[Baselerd]

try chefsteps, i really really like the homepage, great recipes and technics covered!

Yeah I'm really enjoying this one too. Didn't realize until just now that it was from some of the Modernist Cuisine talent.

[Ashen]

here are some basic grips for a boning knife depending on what you are using it for.

if you count butcher grip and chef grip as the same thing. This is the basic grip that is most often recommended for high resistance cutting. So no,you would not use the finger on the back of the spine for things like cutting a carrot or potato. whether you use a butcher or chefs grip is strictly preference driven , for comfort and max stability in the individuals hand

The grip with the blade facing down. last three fingers wrapped around handle, thumb on opposite side and finger on spine and is used for point control. It allows better control when using the point and first 2 or 3 cm to follow a seam in the meat or around a joint. Switching to a chef grip for cuts with more resistance.

Another grip for a boning knife is to have the blade horizontal with the blade facing to the right ( for right handed users ) four fingers wrapped around the handle, the thumb with the tip from the first joint extended behind the spine. This is mostly used for skinning things. slide the blade between the flesh and skin, with your left hand pulling the skin towards you and your right hand gently moving the blade back and forth .

the blade horizontal but the blade facing to the left( for right handed users) four fingers wrapped around the handle and the tip of thumb on the top flat side of blade. This isn't used often but it is a more solid grip for a plunge then rotational cut around a large bone for example.

these grips are used as needed so you may be switching between them at any point while boning.

Here is a video of Jacque pepin deboning a chicken where he uses the normal grip for higher resistance cuts and the finger on spine grip for point control as needed.. He is regarded by a large number of chefs to be a master of technique.

http://www.travelchannel.com/video/the-art-of-deboning-a-chicken-11726

Edited August 7, 2013 by Ashen (log)

[thampik]

I have been a user for years, have cooked a number of recipes from the website and find it a really useful place to find interesting 'cheffy' dishes.

A thumbs-up from me.

[confiseur]

Good site and thnks for posting, just a pity that there seems to be rather a large minority of non-British chefs on it ...I thought it was going to be great British chefs?

Oh...and before the PC brigade start waving their guardians and shrieking racism can you really imagine any British or any other foreigners for that matter appearing on say 'greatfrenchchefs.com'?