Ask a Chef
Hello one and all, I was in a comment thread the other day and answered some questions about cooking, and other culinary tools. I jokingly said I should start a "ask a chef" thread. I have been in the culinary world for close to 20 years, I am currently and Executive Chef, I also have attempted culinary school twice to earn a degree. In culinary school I had the opportunity to learn from an amazing 2 time Gold Medal Pastry Olympic winner, and also 2 time Food Network competition Pastry Chef. I found out that I was really quite awesome at making pastries and what not as well. I have a lot of recipes and am tweaking some to make them more healthy. So fell free to post your questions and I will do my best to answer them.
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What's your opinion on Pop Tarts?8
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whats your favorite vegetarian dish? Recipe please?0
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What kafir leaves can be substituted with? Life and death question1
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How many knives should one have? I have a paring knife and a santoku (the ex got the chef's knife). The santoku is used most often and for chicken breast, pork, beef, fruit and vegetables.0
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What was the very first thing you learned to cook?
What was your biggest kitchen disaster?
What do you absolutely make from scratch and what is not worth it?
Do you have any bread recipes or bread baking tips?
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Pastries please! Your favorite to make and recipe please..
Are you making a cookbook? Do you have your own blog?0 -
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TouchofFruit wrote: »whats your favorite vegetarian dish? Recipe please?
@TouchofFruit my Food Service Director is a vegetarian and I made here a Sweet Potato Kale Slider that she loves. I will PM you the recipe.0 -
What kafir leaves can be substituted with? Life and death question
@dc6088 Well I am not sure where you reside but I would use lemon and lime zest to try to replicate the flavor. It will not be a perfect match, but in the USA these are difficult to come by. Either omit them completely or like I said equal parts lemon and lime zest will work.1 -
How do I make zucchini less watery for vegetable lasagna and not salty? Does the same work for zoodles? Why can't I get crispy oven baked fries when I make them from scratch? Is it possible to get a sweet potato fry crispy and not burned when I bake them in the oven?
For the zucchini you can purchase cheese cloth and after you slice the zucchini place it raw in the cheesecloth and squeeze as much water out of them as you can, then cook them they should not take longer than 3-5 minutes in a skillet.
When making oven baked fries at home, cut the potatoes and parboil them. Boil them for about 7 minutes or until the sides are softer but the middle is still firm, drain them and let them air dry for a few minutes, place them on a baking sheet, lightly oil the potatoes, then season, place in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes give or take or until the outside is crispy.
Are you making the sweet potato fries from scratch or from frozen?5 -
MsAmandaNJ wrote: »How many knives should one have? I have a paring knife and a santoku (the ex got the chef's knife). The santoku is used most often and for chicken breast, pork, beef, fruit and vegetables.
@MsAmandaJean it is personal preference I have many many manu of varying sizes and shapes lol. A good 6 or 8 inch chef's knife, also known as a utility knife, can do most anything you need to do in the kitchen. The santoku knife is a chef's knife just a Japanese style, it can be used for most things the chef's knife can do, except the tip of the chef's knife is pointed and the santoku of rounded. If you are breaking down whole chickens or working with proteins that have bones, get a flexible boning knife, and a paring knife. The biggest thing is making sure they are honed regularly and keep them sharp, as you are more likely to cut yourself on a dull knife.0 -
What was the very first thing you learned to cook?
What was your biggest kitchen disaster?
What do you absolutely make from scratch and what is not worth it?
Do you have any bread recipes or bread baking tips?
@Lounmoun Biggest kitchen disaster I was preparing for a catering event and we needed candied pecans for salads, they went into the oven, I went on to do other things as life does not stop, I then got distracted by shiny things until a very odd smell caught my attention. Nothing snaps you back to reality like burning sugar coated pecans. So that was a costly mistake.
When my kids were smaller than they are now, all they ate was Mac and Cheese, so I decided CHEF DAD will make them Mac and Cheese. I made pasta from scratch, I made the cheese sauce from scratch, I made this stuff PERFECT!!!! You could not get this quality from a restaurant. I proudly presented the dish to my little people, they took one look at it and said Ewwww why isn't it yellow? So yeah it is better to open the box and serve at that point.
For any sort of baking use a scale, also whatever recipe you are using make sure it is laid out in weight. Baking is very precise, so you get the best results when weighing out your ingredients. I have a few bread recipes from a quick 4 ingredient French bread, to a homemade banana bread I just pulled out of the oven.2 -
Pastries please! Your favorite to make and recipe please..
Are you making a cookbook? Do you have your own blog?
@RoxieDawn I one day would like to have a cookbook, I am just not sure what to do to start the process, so anyone with insight or anyone that would like to be my agent feel free to contact me lol. I do not have a blog either, I am lame I know. I have a ton of recipes and a terrible sense of humor, I would fit in quite well on the food network lol. Maybe one day I will figure out what blogging is and start one.
I like to bake cheesecakes, various breads, I just made Creme Brulee around the holidays. The problem with baking is I tend to make sweets and then I tend to eat the sweets which is not good when one is trying to lose weight. At work today just playing around I made homemade banana bread, and bananas foster bread pudding.1 -
Louise1491 wrote: »Will you marry me and cook me foods every day? Anything. I'm not fussy.
@louise1491 I am already married so sadly it is not legal where I live to have more than one spouse, plus I can barely handle the one I have lol. I can cater for you or cook and ship you foods. Or I can help you make sense of recipes, and show you that they really can be easy to follow.2 -
Cutaway_Collar wrote: »@mweckler:
What is the quickest pastry to make at home from scratch?
@Cutaway_Collar quickest pastry to make are home, as in prepare the pieces, or cook time, or overall start to finish? It also depends on how many times you have made the recipes and how comfortable you are with what you are doing. So the quickest pastry to make at home would be a microwave poptart.3 -
@Louise1491 LOL!!!0
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Pastries please! Your favorite to make and recipe please..
Are you making a cookbook? Do you have your own blog?
@RoxieDawn I one day would like to have a cookbook, I am just not sure what to do to start the process, so anyone with insight or anyone that would like to be my agent feel free to contact me lol. I do not have a blog either, I am lame I know. I have a ton of recipes and a terrible sense of humor, I would fit in quite well on the food network lol. Maybe one day I will figure out what blogging is and start one.
I like to bake cheesecakes, various breads, I just made Creme Brulee around the holidays. The problem with baking is I tend to make sweets and then I tend to eat the sweets which is not good when one is trying to lose weight. At work today just playing around I made homemade banana bread, and bananas foster bread pudding.
I do love to cook and bake. And I actually like to bake for others more so than myself. Baking is relaxing and challenging as well.
I actually make a really good healthy cheesecake myself. I am not a bread connoisseur, but I do love making homemade cinnamon and raisin bread, banana bread is next in line for me!
No one in my house likes Creme Brulee but I could eat that stuff every day. Hopefully you can share this recipe!
Good luck with everything.. Being a chef sounds exciting!0 -
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Cutaway_Collar wrote: »No Sir. No microwave stuff. I want to do it myself, soup to nuts with a conventional oven. I have tools to process dough and make cream, ganache etc.
he's the fanciest fancy person to ever have fancied. Fancy and quick is the name of the game. I would guess some sort of fried doughnut would be pretty fast. But my guessing is just for fun, I don't know anything
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@Cutaway_Collar I was able to put together banana bread in about 10 minutes. How quick are you looking for? The longest time is gathering ingredients, and preparing them. Why don't you tell me what you are looking for and I can get you some recipes?0
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@LL5lifts Then I would suggest the same prep method parboil to soften the outer edges then lay them on a foiled lined sheet tray and bake. The problem is the sugars in the vegetables caramelize quicker than the insides cook. So the outer portion starts to burn while the inside is still underdone.1
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Louise1491 wrote: »Will you marry me and cook me foods every day? Anything. I'm not fussy.
@louise1491 I am already married so sadly it is not legal where I live to have more than one spouse, plus I can barely handle the one I have lol. I can cater for you or cook and ship you foods. Or I can help you make sense of recipes, and show you that they really can be easy to follow.
do you cook at home too? or are you all chef'd out by the time you get home?0 -
@TouchofFruit I am forced to cook at home too as my wife, who by the way, went to culinary school, has "forgotten" how to cook. Somedays I get motivated and make fancy things, like a white wine butter poached shrimp with crab legs, or the balsamic vinegar reduced shrimp pasta I made the other day. Then there are days like today when it is me and the kids and it will be pizza either frozen, or delivery depending on how I feel.2
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@TouchofFruit I am forced to cook at home too as my wife, who by the way, went to culinary school, has "forgotten" how to cook. Somedays I get motivated and make fancy things, like a white wine butter poached shrimp with crab legs, or the balsamic vinegar reduced shrimp pasta I made the other day. Then there are days like today when it is me and the kids and it will be pizza either frozen, or delivery depending on how I feel.
I don't want to marry you or anything like that, but I'd like to move in so I could eat with your family2 -
MsAmandaNJ wrote: »How many knives should one have? I have a paring knife and a santoku (the ex got the chef's knife). The santoku is used most often and for chicken breast, pork, beef, fruit and vegetables.
@MsAmandaJean it is personal preference I have many many manu of varying sizes and shapes lol. A good 6 or 8 inch chef's knife, also known as a utility knife, can do most anything you need to do in the kitchen. The santoku knife is a chef's knife just a Japanese style, it can be used for most things the chef's knife can do, except the tip of the chef's knife is pointed and the santoku of rounded. If you are breaking down whole chickens or working with proteins that have bones, get a flexible boning knife, and a paring knife. The biggest thing is making sure they are honed regularly and keep them sharp, as you are more likely to cut yourself on a dull knife.
@mwecker What is your opinion on ceramic knives? I've always wondered about them.0 -
@yayamom3 I do not have much experience with ceramic knives, but I can see them being very prone to cracking and chipping, which could leaves bits of ceramic blade in the food you are making. Or if you drop the knife or if it gets too cold it could shatter. But it is all a matter of preference, for me I like a lighter Japanese style knife, because of 2 tendonitis surgeries, and issues with my radial nerve, I can work longer with a lighter knife than I can with a Western style full tang hefty knife.0
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