'Cheffy' techniques that are useful in home cooking

[dontlookdown]

Scabutz said:

I always used to struggle with Hollandaise, when I watched him make he whisks in a couple of tablespoons of water which is missing from most recipes. He also showed how to fix it if it splits.

Laying meat away from in a pan so you don't get splashed with hot oil.

Harold Magee's hollandaise method is similar and is the simplest and most effective I have found, and I have tried plenty. Put the cold butter and egg yolks in a pan with 2 tbsps of water. Heat v gently and whisk constantly.

As the butter melts it will combine with the eggs, so long as you take your time and heat it v gently.

Once it's all melted, turn the heat up a bit and whisk briskly until it thickens.

It's pretty foolproof and so much less faff than the bit by bit method that 99% of recipes use.

Good for Bearnaise too of course.

[Silvanus]

Mercdriver said:

baconsarney said:

Totally… I have a plumbers blowtorch… so many uses and not just in the kitchen…

How would you like your flame grilled steak Sir?

I'd like mine cooked over wood or charcoal

[baconsarney]

Harpoon said:

baconsarney said:

May be off base here, but for me it’s sharp knives… I have two sets of knives, one being globals which I sharpen with a wet stone… samurai sharp knives transform food prep… other top tip is peel garlic with a teaspoon… oh, and stand up straight when chopping onions

I've never tried peeling garlic with a teaspoon but it works a treat for peeling ginger. You can get round all the knobbly bits whilst keeping your fingers safe.

Sorry, meant ginger not garlic

[JuanCarlosFandango]

Not sure it's very cheffy but something I do is blanch garlic and shallots in boiling water for a minute. Not only do they peel dead easily after this but the water goes a nice onion brown and retains some flavour for gravy.

[mickythefish]

Smoked salt used to be popular along with Sous Vides.

Mine is just growing my own herbs, can't beat the flavour.

[Zarco]

baconsarney said:

Harpoon said:

baconsarney said:

May be off base here, but for me it’s sharp knives… I have two sets of knives, one being globals which I sharpen with a wet stone… samurai sharp knives transform food prep… other top tip is peel garlic with a teaspoon… oh, and stand up straight when chopping onions

I've never tried peeling garlic with a teaspoon but it works a treat for peeling ginger. You can get round all the knobbly bits whilst keeping your fingers safe.

Sorry, meant ginger not garlic

I was wondering how that would work

[Whoozit]

Zarco said:

baconsarney said:

Harpoon said:

baconsarney said:

May be off base here, but for me it’s sharp knives… I have two sets of knives, one being globals which I sharpen with a wet stone… samurai sharp knives transform food prep… other top tip is peel garlic with a teaspoon… oh, and stand up straight when chopping onions

I've never tried peeling garlic with a teaspoon but it works a treat for peeling ginger. You can get round all the knobbly bits whilst keeping your fingers safe.

Sorry, meant ginger not garlic

I was wondering how that would work

For peeling lots of garlic, rattling the cloves around in a closed jar works a treat.

Very sharp knives and stainless pans as above.

For perfect, eggy-tasting scrambled eggs without butter. Use a nonstick pan, mix the eggs with a spatula, warm *gently* on a low-medium heat until just going jelly-like, then turn up the heat a notch and start pulling the set eggs off the bottom. Takes up to ten minutes but it's worth it. High heat messes up all the proteins in the eggs.

Edited by Whoozit on Monday 30th October 11:57

[Pflanzgarten]

Gordon Ramsey’s opposite technique works best for me, start high then off the heat. I don’t bother with his assertion not to add salt and pepper to the eggs before cooking mind you, mainly as I’m lazy.

[gifdy]

My two are simple but make all the difference to me:

- using a 'ricer' when making mashed potatoes. Beautifully smooth mash
- dunking poached eggs in iced water when making a lot of them, the rewarming together. Great when you have to make lots so they can be served all at once

[h0b0]

Hammersia said:

Don't need a rice cooker, even I have learned to steam rice (clean the rice first with continual rinsing), boiling water just covers the rice, lid on, steamed, perfect.

Thread is about Chef techniques. I am willing to bet there isn't one restaurant, in England, that serves rice as a main part of their business that does not use a rice cooker of some type.

Also, the English are an odd breed. It used to be Automatics in cars that they turned their nose up to. Then it is was AC. "I can open a Window, using AC is just pathetic". Both of which have become "must haves" in most daily cars.

I am going to be controversial and say.... your rice is not as good as basmati rice in a restaurant. You have missed the soaking stage. Also, a rice cooker can keep the rice warm and not over cooked.

[TGCOTF-dewey]

Add a star anis when you're frying Mushrooms. Massively adds to the mushroom flavour.

Tip off a mate who was head chef not quite michelin level hotel / restaurant.

[Hammersia]

h0b0 said:

Thread is about Chef techniques. I am willing to bet there isn't one restaurant, in England, that serves rice as a main part of their business that does not use a rice cooker of some type.

Also, the English are an odd breed. It used to be Automatics in cars that they turned their nose up to. Then it is was AC. "I can open a Window, using AC is just pathetic". Both of which have become "must haves" in most daily cars.

I am going to be controversial and say.... your rice is not as good as basmati rice in a restaurant. You have missed the soaking stage. Also, a rice cooker can keep the rice warm and not over cooked.

lol I would put my basmati up against anyones. Don't take this small victory away from me.

[h0b0]

Hammersia said:

h0b0 said:

Thread is about Chef techniques. I am willing to bet there isn't one restaurant, in England, that serves rice as a main part of their business that does not use a rice cooker of some type.

Also, the English are an odd breed. It used to be Automatics in cars that they turned their nose up to. Then it is was AC. "I can open a Window, using AC is just pathetic". Both of which have become "must haves" in most daily cars.

I am going to be controversial and say.... your rice is not as good as basmati rice in a restaurant. You have missed the soaking stage. Also, a rice cooker can keep the rice warm and not over cooked.

lol I would put my basmati up against anyones. Don't take this small victory away from me.

Thank you for taking my post with the intended not so serious tone. I re-read the post and was concerned it made me look a bit like a dick.

[toasty]

Sous Vide - Perfect steak or chops every time.

[lancslad58]

A quick squirt of lemon juice concentrate in your rice whilst it cooks helps to stop the grains from sticking together.

[21TonyK]

dontlookdown said:

Harold Magee

This name is a "cheffy" tip in its own right.

[dontlookdown]

21TonyK said:

dontlookdown said:

Harold Magee

This name is a "cheffy" tip in its own right.

Although there are no recipes in them, over the years his books have done more than anything else to help me understand what is actually going on when I am cooking.

I haven't come across anyone else who really goes into the underlying physics and chemistry of cooking like Harold Magee.

Having a bit of a handle on the first principles is not only really interesting in its own right, but also means I can be much more confident about what will work and what won't when mucking about in the kitchen.

[Semmelweiss]

dontlookdown said:

21TonyK said:

dontlookdown said:

Harold Magee

This name is a "cheffy" tip in its own right.

Although there are no recipes in them, over the years his books have done more than anything else to help me understand what is actually going on when I am cooking.

I haven't come across anyone else who really goes into the underlying physics and chemistry of cooking like Harold Magee.

Having a bit of a handle on the first principles is not only really interesting in its own right, but also means I can be much more confident about what will work and what won't when mucking about in the kitchen.

Nathan Myrvhold - "Modernist Cuisine"

Amazing (very expensive) set of books on the science of molecular gastronomy, and the fundamental chemistry behind different cooking techniques.

[number2]

21TonyK said:

dontlookdown said:

Harold Magee

This name is a "cheffy" tip in its own right.

I bought 'on food and cooking' after Tony mentioned it on a thread a fair while back. Great book.

[21TonyK]

Semmelweiss said:

Nathan Myrvhold - "Modernist Cuisine"

Amazing (very expensive) set of books on the science of molecular gastronomy, and the fundamental chemistry behind different cooking techniques.

Lovely books and for the photography alone they are great. So much so there is a spin off book just on the photos on Amazon! Just very expensive to buy as a complete set.

Theres a home version but that's still £100 and while great resource, a lot of the info is on the web if you are inclined to look but in a book its all there without having to know what to look for.

I think they are very educational and lovely books, of course its worth having a pre-read before purchasing. Mine are in lever arch files.

Edited by 21TonyK on Tuesday 31st October 15:57