Ask a Chef

mweckler

@French_Peasant we used to use Sweetex High Ratio shortening for our pie crusts and what not when I was training in pastries. It make a very nice pie crust and you can use it for many other things in making pastries as well. I know you were looking for a natural product that was a more reasonable cost. But like you said if you work with the butter more it will help your confidence with it and I think that may be the best option.

As for cookbooks, I really don't have a favorite, I look online at allrecipes.com to get inspiration then I start to tweak and create my own end result. I do not read many magazines as my children occupy all my free time when I am not at work. I used to read books like Kitchen Confidential, and Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain but come to think of it those were a long time ago. Sorry I could not be more help with these.

RachelElser

What the weirdest substitution you've been asked to make?

French_Peasant

mweckler wrote: »

@French_Peasant we used to use Sweetex High Ratio shortening for our pie crusts and what not when I was training in pastries. It make a very nice pie crust and you can use it for many other things in making pastries as well. I know you were looking for a natural product that was a more reasonable cost. But like you said if you work with the butter more it will help your confidence with it and I think that may be the best option.

As for cookbooks, I really don't have a favorite, I look online at allrecipes.com to get inspiration then I start to tweak and create my own end result. I do not read many magazines as my children occupy all my free time when I am not at work. I used to read books like Kitchen Confidential, and Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain but come to think of it those were a long time ago. Sorry I could not be more help with these.

I hear you on the magazines...I have a huge back-log of 20 or so that I am trying to work my way through, LOL! I pore over every page of Saveur, however. Also, interestingly enough, Southern Living, even though I am a Hoosier--I have a big stack of cake and cookie recipes ripped out that I need to get crackin' on.

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond to me and all the other inquiries on here.

yayamom3

Have you ever tried out for a cooking show? I'd love to see you on Beat Bobby Flay or Chopped!

mweckler

@yayamom3 I thought about trying out for the Great American Food Truck Race a few years ago but my wife was not too keen on my being away from home for 3 months lol. But now that the kids are older I have considered trying out for Chopped, or the Next Food Network Star or one of those shows.

yayamom3

mweckler wrote: »

@yayamom3 I thought about trying out for the Great American Food Truck Race a few years ago but my wife was not too keen on my being away from home for 3 months lol. But now that the kids are older I have considered trying out for Chopped, or the Next Food Network Star or one of those shows.

Oh I forgot about both of those! Love those shows, too! Especially NFNS!

Joanna2012B

You should audition for Master Chef!! If you won you'd get your cookbook!!!

Taylor076097

When giving out recipes do you leave ingredients out? Or not say how much to use? One of my best friends is in the business and she will not under any circumstance give everything away when giving a recipe to someone. Nothing drastic, but maybe she won't say she uses onion powder or something along those lines.

mweckler

@Taylor076097 if I am giving a recipe to a friend or someone I know I give them all the ingredients. Sadly most Chef's leave out an ingredient or two when they submit articles in food magazines, or give a recipe. They want you to be able to make it but not as perfectly as they do. Which if you want people coming back to eat your dishes is a good thing, but a little shady in my opinion. The only time I leave an ingredient out is if I am trying to write down a recipe I have not made in a while from the top of my head and forget something.

mweckler

@MadMaxV8 I hate liver with the passion of a thousand dying suns. But if I were to open a restaurant and the demand was great enough yes I would put it on my menu, because at the end of the day keeping the customers happy is how you stay in business.

mweckler

@Joanna2012B I think they claim that Masterchef is for "at home" Chef's which I do not think I qualify for any longer. Plus I really feel like most of that stuff that makes it to air is staged. Especially when it comes to baking, how do these people who have never made an eclair or macaron before, magically know the exact steps to prepare them? I have made both and if I do not have the recipe glued to my face I forget steps and ingredients and have to start over. I would one day like to have my own cookbook or cooking show, or even a cooking segment on a local tv station, my mom tells me I have a good sense of humor... (cricket cricket). I have learned my sense of humor does not transition to a written thing such as a posting, but take my word I am the funniest person in my office, which currently I am the only person in my office right now. HA!!!

Joanna2012B

@mweckler you're right they are home cooks! I always thought that too about the recipes...I mean how do they know how to make some of these things if they have never made it before.

I wish you luck with your endeavors!! Thank you for this post...I am keeping it close to ask questions when needed!!!

BTW your sense of humour does transition in writing...LOL!!

MissBeeGonz

Do you ALWAYS wash your hands?

mweckler

MissBeeGonz wrote: »

Do you ALWAYS wash your hands?

I find that going an entire day without washing my hands really adds a lot more flavor into the dishes I hand craft. LOL, yes I wash my hands a million times a day, I also fully break down clean and sanitize my work station between tasks, to reduce the chance of cross contamination.

Cross contamination is how most people get sick from food, if I am working with raw chicken, then just wipe off the cutting board or even change the cutting board and put it on the same unsanitized work station then work with fruits or vegetables or other items that are going to be eaten raw the chicken juices could get into them and make people very sick.

There is a lot to be aware of when cooking for the masses, some people take that very seriously, like I do, then sadly there are others who do not, which is why I add safety questions into my interviews and check up on my new hires to make sure they are following the rules.

mweckler

happilymegan wrote: »

What's the weirdest dish on your menu?

On my current menu there is nothing really weird, but at a casino I worked for they had competitions for the line cooks to submit ideas for monthly specials and some of those were very strange. Someone suggested a Russian mother in law which was a hotdog topped with russian salad dressing, coleslaw, bacon, mustard, and pickle. Just an odd combination of things, and people need to keep in mind when making a special item it needs to appeal to the majority of people so it sells well.

Francl27

What's your favorite recipe for eclairs that I can find online? Chocolate or praline, ideally. I want to make some this week end but there are just too many recipes out there (also, nothing too complicated - but I can make pate a choux and pastry cream and glaze so I should be set).

And how do you manage to lose weight while being a chef? Seriously... Obviously for main dishes it's probably easier, but desserts? Man, I LOVE baking, but I have absolutely no self control when it comes to homemade baked goods. There are so many things I want to make but never do because I'd eat the whole batch...

Anyway, do you know any good single serving recipes for pastries?

mweckler

@Francl27 I was lucky enough to learn pastries from an amazing pastry chef, who has won 2 Food Network challenges, 2 Gold medals in the World Pastry Olympics and is currently writing his own pastry cookbook. I will look for the recipe for eclairs when I get home and transcribe it and message it to you.

I am not sure what equipment you have at your house or tools and things like that so if I say something and you have questions let me know.

Get a cookie sheet and wax paper, fold the paper into rectangles like a grid depending on the size of the eclairs you want to make. Then take a marker ad bisect the rectangles and that diagonal line is going to be your grid for piping out the choux paste. This will give even sized eclairs, then bake them, Once the choux has been baked you can wrap them in plastic and freeze them and defrost them in small batches so you do not overindulge on them.

For me the weight gain was an issue, from life, and stress, and other factors I developed Binge Eating Disorder and had it diagnosed last year, but I had battled it not knowing what was wrong for years prior. So that allowed me to gain weight. But like everything know your limits, and watch how much you take in. Sweets are my go to item and always have been, so I am sort of my own worst enemy at times, because I can make creme brulee, cheesecake, cakes, frostings, whatever I want whenever I want. So I had to teach myself restraint, but I still slip up and over indulge from time to time.

For single serve recipes, if there are things you enjoy and you have a recipe for them I can scale down the recipe to a 1 or 2 person serving size for you. But with most pastries you can prepare the dough, or the base then break it down to smaller pieces and freeze the rest for another day, or make the whole thing and give away 2/3rds of it to family and friends. Or like me I make the stuff at work then hand out "samples" or force feed the people who work for me lol.

Francl27

mweckler wrote: »

@Francl27 I was lucky enough to learn pastries from an amazing pastry chef, who has won 2 Food Network challenges, 2 Gold medals in the World Pastry Olympics and is currently writing his own pastry cookbook. I will look for the recipe for eclairs when I get home and transcribe it and message it to you.

I am not sure what equipment you have at your house or tools and things like that so if I say something and you have questions let me know.

Get a cookie sheet and wax paper, fold the paper into rectangles like a grid depending on the size of the eclairs you want to make. Then take a marker ad bisect the rectangles and that diagonal line is going to be your grid for piping out the choux paste. This will give even sized eclairs, then bake them, Once the choux has been baked you can wrap them in plastic and freeze them and defrost them in small batches so you do not overindulge on them.

For me the weight gain was an issue, from life, and stress, and other factors I developed Binge Eating Disorder and had it diagnosed last year, but I had battled it not knowing what was wrong for years prior. So that allowed me to gain weight. But like everything know your limits, and watch how much you take in. Sweets are my go to item and always have been, so I am sort of my own worst enemy at times, because I can make creme brulee, cheesecake, cakes, frostings, whatever I want whenever I want. So I had to teach myself restraint, but I still slip up and over indulge from time to time.

For single serve recipes, if there are things you enjoy and you have a recipe for them I can scale down the recipe to a 1 or 2 person serving size for you. But with most pastries you can prepare the dough, or the base then break it down to smaller pieces and freeze the rest for another day, or make the whole thing and give away 2/3rds of it to family and friends. Or like me I make the stuff at work then hand out "samples" or force feed the people who work for me lol.

I want that cookbook!

I have piping bags for the eclairs. But yeah, I try to make what I want for when I'm going to meet with friends, or bake sales, that way at least I can just eat a bit and give out the rest, lol.

mweckler

@Francl27 once the cookbook comes out I will let you know.

PhedraJD

I would love to be able to cook pastries, and/or pies. I can follow a recipe, and do okay cooking. I've baked bread, cookies and muffins but nothing more serious that that. Any tips for someone who wants to learn how to make pastries and pies?