Taking Stock

I'm not sure one can call him or herself a true chef without knowing how to make good stock.

Three things you need to remember about stock: 1. It is so versatile in the kitchen that it always needs to be on hand and in large quantities. 2. It has to be cooked properly to achieve maximum flavor and clarity. 3. It has to be cooled and stored properly to make sure that none is wasted. Your sauce, soup, starch, vegetable, and even proteins (that you're braising or poaching) depend on you executing each one of these points properly.

There are basically two categories of stock. Those being white stocks and brown stocks. What's the difference you ask? White stocks are made by adding the bones of whatever animal to the liquid without roasting them first...Raw essentially. Brown stocks are always made by roasting the bones before they're added to the liquid. Beyond that stock is made fairly universally using the following steps. Learning to make stock may seem trivial but it takes a long time to perfect it.........and you can taste the difference.

Stock

1 Part Animal Bones (unrest or roasted depending on it use)
1 Part Mirepoix (carrots, celery, onion, leek)
4 Parts Water
Fresh Herbs(thyme, bay leaves, rosemary, mint...Or any combination you wish)
Whole Peppercorns
Cheesecloth
Twine

One of the most important things to conceptualize is that this process will take different amounts of time depending on the bones that your using. For example beef bones are much sturdier than chicken bones therefore it will take longer to produce maximum flavor in a beef stock than it would for chicken. You also need to cut your mirepoix larger if you stock is going to take longer. That's because the smaller your cuts the quicker the stock fluid will extract the vegetable or mirepoix flavor. If the mirepoix in stock is cut too small it will quickly extract all the flavor from the vegetables and make your stock cloudy and bitter. This obviously would have a negative impact on your sauce, soup, etc. ;that the stock is being used for. So all this being said, large chopped mirepoix for sturdier long simmering stock and smaller cuts for quicker stocks.

Begin by filling your stock pot with water. Give the water some heat and bring it to a slow simmer. Now add the mirepoix and bones. The next thing you'll do is take your fairly large piece of cheese cloth, unfold it, and place your herbs and whole peppercorns in the middle. Now, take the corners of the cheese cloth and bring them up to the center and tie off the corners in the center with the twine thereby making a pouch. You want to make sure that you have extra twine coming from the tie so that the pouch can be tied to the handle of your stock pot so it is easy to remove later on. You don't want to go fishing in a huge simmer cauldron of stock for your herb pouch...or as it is called in French, sachet. That's basically it. Let the stock simmer for anywhere from 1 hour to 8 hours, skimming frequently to remove the impurities that are left from the bones and mirepoix. Remember, true stock shouldn't have salt in it as it is the base of most food items that will be seasoned during preparation of that respective item. Also, salt will intensify as food is reduced to intensify flavor. Adding salt to stock essentially makes broth and that isn't what your shooting for here.

Some basic stock time guidelines:
Fish Stock: 1 hour--fish bones are typically tiny and flavor is extracted quickly
Chicken Stock: 4-6 hours--smaller bones which are fairly sturdy
Beef Stock:6-8 hours--large bones need a long time to fully extract flavor

Cooling the stock stock properly is also important. If stock isn't cooled quickly enough it will turn rancid as bacteria will have time to grow to levels where they influence the flavor and potentially make people sick if they were to eat anything prepared with it. When your stock is done place the entire pot in a sink and pack ice around all sides, all the way to the top to cool it from the outside. If you have a ice paddle put it in the middle of the stock to also cool from the inside. It's even ok to use an old two liter bottle that you've filled with water and frozen. Once the stock is ice cold, transfer it to a container and cover with plastic wrap. MAKE SURE IT IS EXTREMELY COLD before you wrap it though because bacteria will thrive if heat is captured in the container with the plastic wrap. As the stock continues to cool the fat from the bone marrow will rise to the top of the stock acting as a seal that helps preserve the stock even longer. It's totally normal so don't worry about it.

Store and use with whatever recipe calls for it.

Required reading

Greeting and Salutations people,

I thought that I would write an entry to give any aspiring chefs some reading material before they make the leap into this lifestyle. You'll need more than Culinary School text books and recipe books...they don't give you the feel for the enviroment. Especially if your proverbial "leap of faith" is from another career. You are going to have to have faith, determination, and insight into what it is going to take to succeed at the highest levels. There are two books that provided the emotional and spiritual support for my journey so far. "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain and "Letters to a Young Chef" by Daniel Boulud. What is great about these books is that they provide an extremely useful look at the mentality of the workforce that already exists in any kitchen. The people you'll work for and with are essentially pirates and the corporate/HR structure doesn't exist here. Bourdain and Boulud are New York Institutions with articulate and funny writing styles that capture the essence of what you'll be subjected to. One can not approach this career with the mind set that things will be handed out based upon your success or accomplishments doing something else. This field's treasures are given only to those who have proved themselves amongst their peers, doing all the nasty things they've had to do...and that is what is so pure about cooking...you got to get your hands dirty. Abandon your thoughts and preconceived notions about the glamour of being a chef that the Food Network publishes...it isn't real. The stuff in these books are. Chef Bourdain and Chef Boulud are the real deal and their candid observations will prepare you for what is in store. Do yourself a favor get your hands on these babies.

Until next time, rest well my liege

Buttery Beautiful Beurre Blanc

Beurre Blanc
I ran into this interesting article the other day that settles several arguments at the restaurant. A couple of people think that there is only one way to make a true Beurre Blanc...I believe differently of course. If you're looking for a recipe then use this article to custom fit your operation....One thing is universal though...BUTTER IS LIFE!...ENJOY!

White Butter SauceBeurre blanc translates literally into English as "white butter". It is a rich, buttery, slightly tangy sauce usually associated with the cuisine of the Loire Valley. It is typically used to accompany the fairly bland river fish of the area. A classic of French cuisine is the Brochet au beurre blanc or Loire Pike with butter sauce. There is a friendly controversy between Nantes and the Anjou region over who actually can claim to be the birthplace of the sauce. The Angevins insist that real beurre blanc, 1) can only be made with the local gray shallots; 2)shallots should not be strained out of the sauce and 3) it was first used as a sauce for pike at the restaurant La Poissonnière in Anger. Very logical reasoning but I like the story from Nantes a bit better:
The story takes place around the turn of the century in the kitches of château of the Marquis de Goaline His kitchen staff was preparing for an important dinner under the direction of his head cuisinière Madame Clémence Lefeuvre. She was very busy preparing the pike and asked an assistant to make a bérnaise sauce, which she liked to serve with the fish. The assistant forgot to add the tarragon and the egg yolks but there was no time to start over, so Clémence decided to serve the sauce as it was. After the meal, the Marquis asked Clémence to come into the dining room where of course she expected to be reprimanded. Instead, he praised her new preparation and gave it the name of "beurre blanc". Clémence soon took her new creation and opened her own auberge. Although they can't agree on the actual birthplace of the sauce, both will tell you that the inclusion of cream is not an "authentic" beurre blanc.
As you'll see from the recipes, there are now many ways to prepare a beurre blanc. I'll leave it up to you to decide which one you prefer. On page 2you'll find quite a few tips, culled from chefs like Madeleine Kamman, James Peterson and others to assure your success in making the sauce.
Tips for Making Beurre Blanc
Buerre blanc is a fairly straight forward sauce to make, but according to Phillipe Couderc, "the delicateness of its preparation requires an instinctive touch, almost maternal and patient." Here are some tips culled from Madeleine Kamman, James Peterson and Hilaire Walden that will help insure success.
Use only the freshest butter with a high percentage of butter fat.

Cooks from both Nantes and Anjou use beurre demi-sel = lightly salted butter.

Chop the shallots VERY finely.

Use a saucepan that is at least as large as the heat source. If the pan is smaller, the insides of the pan may brown causing the sauce to discolor.

Take the butter out of the refrigerator about 10 minutes before using it.

Whisk "madly" - the more whisking you do, the more tiny air bubbles you trap, the more stayng power your sauce will have.
is is a very old traditional sauce recipe for buerre blanc. Use this sauce on grilled fish, poultry or chops.
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups butter cut into about 10 pieces
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
PREPARATION:
Put onion, vinegar and wine in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to about 2 tablespoons. Stir constantly. Reduce heat to medium and begin adding butter, one piece at a time, stirring constantly. Allow each piece of butter to melt before adding the next.
The sauce will be thick and creamy by the time you are finished adding the butter. Serve immediately. You can add flavor to the sauce by adding 2 tablespoons of your favorite herb to the mixture before you add the butter.

Knives part I

It should come as no surprise that the most important pieces of equipment in the chef's bag, are his or her knives. I've been around the kitchen long enough to see a number of really good specimens and some really bad ones. There is one common aspect of a really good knife that escapes a lot of my compadres attention. It's basically that if you care for them properly, you can turn a 5 dollar knife into a legend of the kitchen. The opposite is also true that if you neglect and abuse your blades, you can turn a 1000 dollar Japanese Chef blade into little more than a butter knife. You've got to:
1. Make sure you clean the blade as often as possible, even in the middle of service...obviously if you catch a free second
2. Once you've got what you like as an edge, DON'T RESHARPEN AGAIN UNLESS NECESSARY! Use your steel to reform the edge. Continual sharpening only errodes the edge and makes it harder to put a true edge back on the knife.
3. Try not to let many people use them. A friggin waiter has no business cutting whatever with your precisely honed instrument.

I need to introduce you to my favorite blade currently. I got the thing back in December and it has still kept the edge that it had straight out of the box. I HAVEN'T HAD TO TOUCH IT WITH A SHARPENING STONE! Pictured above is the Mac Superior 6.5 inch Santoku. It's blade is super thin and so sharp it'll julienne hairs man! This style of knife is one of utility so it allows you to do most tasks. Obviously you want to avoid some of the heavier projects with it. The Mac family of knives are fantastic and range in price from about 50 bucks to over 300. I got this baby on chefknivestogo.com for around 50 bucks and couldn't be happier. Since I'm just kind of starting out I couldn't justify spending much more than that. I'm telling you I'd put it up against any of the other companies'(Henckels, Wusthof, Forschener, Victronix) knives and for the value you'll think it was a steal.

Take a look for yourself. Keep-on, keepin on people.

Success at last!

I did it!....I actually did it! I successfully made the spicy almond brittle that garnishes one of the restaurant's more popular salads. Something so seemlingly simple took four tries with varying products that were either too gummy or too soft. I was given this task after the Sous Chef was fired for conduct that was deemed inappropriate for the work place. I don't know that actual details of that firing but speculation has it that it had something to do with the relationship to the Executive Chef and how uncomfortable the public shows of affection made everyone at work. People have different levels of comfortability with that and it shouldn't come as a surprise when something like this happens. I digress. I owe you guys a recipe and with out further ado here is a recipe for almond brittle that goes great on salads for that extra crunch to balance out the salad experience. Much in the same way that croutons work for other salads....but hey, make a bunch and give it out as a treat to co-workers and loved ones....but make sure they're not the same people ;]

Spicy Almond Brittle

1 Cup of Sugar
1/4 Cup of Corn Syrup
1/4 Cup of Water
Splash of Lemon Juice (so sugar won't crystalize)
2 Cups Almonds(shaved)
1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
1/4 teaspoon of vanilla
2 ounces of room temperature butter
Kosher Salt
Cracked Black Pepper
Red Pepper

Alright, in order to get the right crunch on this stuff it all centers around the timing of this so make sure you've gone through and familiarized yourself with the process before you start. When everything thing is going it happens fast at the end. Preheat a oven to 350 degrees. You'll need a good heavy bottomed pot. Don't even try in a thin pot or aluminum pot because you can't control the heat and it will burn before you can finish. You'll also need a whisk, half sheet pan and either waxpaper or a silpat. Start with a medium heat on the stove and add the corn syrup and water. Whisk that for a second to incorporate the two. Then sprinkle in the sugar, whisking while you do it, you're looking for a gooey, syrupy, mixture. As the heat begins to intensify, you'll start to see small bubbles and as the mixture cooks the bubbles will grow larger. At this point add a healthy splash of lemon juice and continue whisking. Let this mixture cruise on the low to medium heat from here. Now here is the most important part! You've got a preheated oven going around 350 degrees, put the almonds in the oven now! You've got to time the almonds (toasted) with your caramel syrup and the window is tiny. Your toasted almonds need to come out of the oven hot right when you caramel syrup starts to show just a hint of brownish tan color. Now, before you combine the two, throw in the baking soda(for shine) , vanilla, and soft butter(too cold, much, or hard and it will mess it up) and whisk together....Alright!!! Take the almonds out of the oven now and put them into the caramel syrup!!! Toss in salt, pepper, and red pepper! Whisk! Now once it is all incorporated, spread out on the silpat or waxpaper lined sheet pan. Now just let the brittle cool and harden. Use it as you will.

Enjoy this one! I'll visit you again soon. KP

The casseroles of memory

Truth be told, I really enjoy the more basic and simple foods. I just want them made fresh that day, in a timely manner, and consistent for however long it is that I find a place that can execute all of that. The majority of your respective city's top joints, on the other hand, don't cater to that. They cater to the eater who wants to be wowed, who wants a once in a lifetime experience. This is what I'm finding is so backward in logic from what it would take to run a thriving business. Keep in mind that one's "love of food" won't keep the lights on if you can't bring in repeat business. The place I'm currently working doesn't seem to grasp that fact. They've essentially built a reputation on the fact that you never know what you're going to get but it is probably going to be spectacular. This being the case, you get a lot of what we got last night....six covers. I know it can be argued that in the long run this can set the restaurant apart from the sea of others that do boring stuff. Maybe so, but the place has been open now for 12 years and it is in trouble. The place is no longer a destination but a curiousity...it exists in an area of town that is widely viewed as being on life support. As any aspiring chef will note, they're are dishes, ingredients, and flavors that started their journey. The first time you ate garlic, oysters, ketchup or whatever it was in your local area that made you crave it. This is why I can't believe that this core concept isn't grasped more widely. Make a menu that is designed around the memories of the public in that area...native dishes done with the same love and affection that weird-ass Aunt Ida used to make at the family reunion...and to make her flip in her grave, pair them with wine.

Otherwise, your creativity becomes a trend...like dare I say it, fusion...and we all know what happens to trends. They are vanished to memory like Coca Cola polo shirts, rolling up your jeans, and gangsta rap.

I'll toss some ideas out next post.