fun recipies that i have been learning

[amolol]

many of you know that i have been going to cullinary school to become a profesional chef. so in light of this and needing to memorize about 4-8 recipies a day. i have decided to make a thread about some of the recipies i have learned. feel free to comment on them try them ect ect. if you must know what they taste like ask kikuji tamitan or zitahna. they get to eat my cooking if someone else doesnt beat them to it :P


home made mac and cheese (dont laugh its not as easy as it sounds)

start by getting some clarified butter. if you cant purchase any you can make some with unsalted butter. just throw it in a sauce pan over low heat and melt it down. skim the white bubbly stuff off the top (thats solid milkfat) the golden yellow miracle below it is clarified butter. gently poor this into another container while avoiding the milfat on the motton aswell.

_roux_

now use about 8 oz of clarified butter and 8 oz of bread or all purpose flour.

put the butter in a sauce pan and add the flour on med-low heat and stir. you are looking for something just thinner than warm peanut butter and about the color of a white marshmellow

once you have made this remove from heat and then por 1 Qt of milk into a seperate pan. add a wedge (about 1/4 of an onion) 1 whole clove and 1 bay leaf. simmer on the stove for about 20 min stir occasionaly.

(set water on to boil around this point, use a little cooking oil (or clarified butter) and some salt )

add the roux to your milk and bring to a boil. then turn down the heat and let simmer again stirring occasionaly. keep simmering for about 5 minutes and then strain it removing the onion clove and bay leaf.

(congratulations youve just made bechmel sauce)

stir in about 8 oz of cheese (i reccomend chedder) to the sauce. (make sure to do this while the sauce is hot but not still on a burner)

once your water is boiling add 8 oz of elbow macaroni (make like the stuff in the box) cook till al dente'.

strain maccoroni and then stir into the sauce. place in small to medium cake pan and cover in bread crumbs (saltine crackers work too) place in the oven at 375 degrese for 30 min.

remove cool eat.

[amolol]

i voted stfu amolol so to be fair and so i could see poll results. if you want me to track down a recipie for you just post what you want and ill see what i can do.

[teflor the ranger]

Amo, perhaps you could also add a lower-calorie or lower-fat version/suggestion about the recipies you are posting.

For instance, perhaps a 50/50 butter/margarine mix for the sauce, as well as half (4oz instead of 8oz) the cheese in the sauce and 2oz to bake onto the mac & cheese.

Or a suitable wheat pasta or low-carb pasta.

Also,
When in the oven, should it be baking uncovered or loosely covered with foil?

[Corth]

Hey amolol,

I was at a steakhouse a while back and they served skirt steak topped with some funky fried onions. Hard to describe. They weren't rings. Very light batter... but yet very crispy at the same time. Went great with the steak. I've spent hours experimenting but I can never get anything even close to right. Any ideas on what I'm talking about and how to cook it? :)

Corth

[amolol]

ill see what i can do teflor. we are being preached at that fat is our friends :P

bake covered but watch it sothat you dont scortch the top. your looking for a nice golden brown collor in the breadcrumbs.

as for the battered rings corth i think i know what your talking about. let me see if i can find my batter recipie for a bloom onion should be prety close.

[Dalar]

I voted stfu just because you still haven't learned to spell correctly.

[Ambar]

I voted stfu just because you still haven't learned to spell correctly.

Man leave him alone in his own thread:( He is having fun and not causing any harm

[Gargauth]

Hey amolol,

I was at a steakhouse a while back and they served skirt steak topped with some funky fried onions. Hard to describe. They weren't rings. Very light batter... but yet very crispy at the same time. Went great with the steak. I've spent hours experimenting but I can never get anything even close to right. Any ideas on what I'm talking about and how to cook it? :)

Corth

They were most likely 'Haystack Onions' whick are thinly sliced onions, lightly rinsed in cold water, then dusted with flower, salt & pepper. They are then flash fried at about 385 degrees until crunchy. I serve them on alot of my high end steaks.

Garg

[Corth]

Thanks Gargauth, I think thats it. Maybe I wasn't frying them hot enough? Anyway, I'll give it another shot. Can this be done in a frying pan or do I need a deep fryer?

Also, Amolol, if you can get me the blooming onion receipe I'd appreciate it. And also, if you happen to know how to make the dip that outback uses.. mmmmm :)

Corth

[Corth]

Yeah, definately think its the 'haystack onions'. I searched google for that term and found a picture that looks similar!

<img src="http://www.beachfire.com/menuitems/images/din-ribeye.gif"></img>

They were a lot thinner and curlier though at the place I had them.

Corth

[teflor the ranger]

I like to do that with sliced open string beans.

[amolol]

the batter recipie is dust with flour coat in egg wash (just crack some eggs and wisk till all of it is incorperated) then dust with breadcrumbs. then flash fry at bout 380 degrees F. about a minute or two should do it

[Gargauth]

Thanks Gargauth, I think thats it. Maybe I wasn't frying them hot enough? Anyway, I'll give it another shot. Can this be done in a frying pan or do I need a deep fryer?
Corth

My Pleasure.

You need a fryer of some sort, at home I have a fry daddy, use canola oil in it if you use this method. Dont let the temp get over 400 or you get the "bad" fats.

At work is a different story, I use a machine slicer to shave the onions then fry them in an open fryer and scoop em out with a spider (a large metal spatula with the flat end perforated). Probably the easiest way to get super thin slices at home is use a mandolin (no, not the bard instrument) and set it really thin. Just keep using the trial and error method to get what works best for you.

Toodles

[Ragorn]

wtf where did gargamel come from :oops:

[amolol]

new recipie _Baked Zitti_


start by boiling some water. always boil pasta water with a pinch of salt and about a tsp of oil. simply bring to a boil and add about 6 oz of zitti pasta.

while that is going make sure you have some pasta sauce on to simmer (about 2 cups) i will post a tomato sauce below the recipie incase you want to make it all from scratch.

while those things are going put 8 oz (about 2 links or so) of a nice juicy thick itallian sausage in the oven at 375 for about 20 minutes. (a little over is ok but dont forget about them) all this should be started about the same time so it will finish about the same time (if you are using my tomato sauce start it earlier i will explain why)

while all of this is cookin measure out a little more than an oz of parmasean cheese (grated) my recipie calls for 1.3 oz but i like cheese so just keep it under 2 oz of cheese. now grate yourself about5 oz of mozarella cheese. the recipie calls for 5.3 but once again i like cheese so its ok to have a little more :P. also make a rocatta sauce with about 10 oz of rocatta 1 large egg 1 oz basil 1 oz oregano and 1 oz thyme just thro em into a bowl and stir till well mixed.

when your pasta is ready strain it and set it aside (not on any hot surface or in the pan) cut your sausage up into rounds about 1/4 of an inch thick. spread your zitti on a medium sized 2 inch baking pan. spread the rocatta evenly over the zitti it should be about 1/4 of an inch thick. a little more or less is no problem.. evenly spread the sausage and then the cheese over the pasta. cover with around 2 cups of the sauce and place in the oven at 375 for about an hour. HINT: if you use the baking pan to cook the sausage in it will add extra flavor to the pasta.

when ready take the pan out and spread the mozarella over the top and place it back for about 10 minutes. when done let it cool and serve.


as per teflors request you can use whole wheat pasta and low fat sausage instead. i suppose the sauce could be low fat too if you wanted.

[Gargauth]

wtf where did gargamel come from :oops:

Long story....involves the defilment of Toril, some scared halflings and a whole tun of raw sewage....better left for after dinner conversation :D

[amolol]

here is the tomato sauce i promised. cooking time is about 90 minutes but its worth it imho.

start by gathering your mirepoix (2 parts onion 1 part carrot 1 part celery.) you need 6 ox total (3 oz onion 1.5 oz carrots 1.5 oz celery)

white stock 3 cups (can use chicken base just follow instructions on the container)

whole canned tomatoes 3 cups

tomato puree 2 cups

dry thyme (in sachet{bundled and wrapped})

garlic clove (in sachet)
parsly stems (in sachet)
crushed black pepper corns (in sachet)

1.5 tsp of sugar

8 oz pork or veal bones.

1 oz salt pork (bacon works very well here)

reder the bacon on medium heat. (cook the fat off of it) for lower fat version drain the fat off if your not on a diet leave it in :P add the mirepoix and saute (but donot brown). add your sachet stock (base) and bones simmer slowly for 1.5 hours or untill desired consitancy (stir ocasionaly). remove bones and sachet then pass through a food mill (blender or food proccessor works too) if you are not going to use it right away place in container then cool in an icewater bath before storing to reduceb heat and rick of "contamination" and or germs spreading on it. if your using it for the zitti use what you need then cool the rest.

not a whole lot i can think of here to reduce calorie and fat content. if you come up with an idea feel free to post it.

[Valuk]

Happen to have a good alfredo sauce recipe...or several...as there seems to be about 100 out there!?

Thanks!

[Lalan]

Corth,

I worked for a food service company a while back and we sold a bloomin onion ripoff at the oregon state fair. The dipping sauce we used was a remoulade, I can't remember the recipe off the top of my head (mayo, chili sauce, garlic, dijon, some other things) but there are plenty of them available off the net. You can also buy it bottled.

The dredge for the onion was a 50 pound bag of flour, 2 commercial sized jars of cajun seasoning and 1/2 to one full tub of Lawry's seasoning salt. (We sold 100's of these a day and easily over a thousand a day on weekends.)

I can still remember the kids sitting in the back of the stand peeling pallets of 50 pound bags of onions for those things for entire eight hour shifts.

Lalan

[Ragorn]

wtf where did gargamel come from :oops:

Long story....involves the defilment of Toril, some scared halflings and a whole tun of raw sewage....better left for after dinner conversation :D

Well it's good to see you mano :P

[amolol]

the most simple bloom onion i could find was the batter recipie i listed above

if you actually have a bloomer (not the undergarment) you could use that. if not take a knife and cut less than half way through the onion. so you want to cut it like a + first. but stopping just before the middle of the onion. then rotate your cuts about 15 degrees sothat you end up with a star type pattern (in eights) cut it again the same way to make 16ths. making sure yo leave the root form there sothat the onion holds together. sprinkle flour over it first make sure as much of the onion is coated as possible. then dip it in your eggwash then your breadcrumbs. the flor will act as an adheasive for the eggs and then the eggs hold the breadcrumbs. then just like above deep fry in 380 degree oil for a few minutes (no more than 5) take it out cool it and eat.

[amolol]

oddly enough there is no alfredo sauce in my books. any of them. ill look around online and ask a few friends at the school. i know a couple of them have the CIA (cullinary institute of america) cook book too.

[Gargauth]

Happen to have a good alfredo sauce recipe...or several...as there seems to be about 100 out there!?

Thanks!

Heavy Cream
Unsalted Butter
Grated parmesean/asiago cheese

Basically, you heat your butter cream and cheese all at once in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Keep heating, occasionally stirring until the sauce thickens and becomes slightly yellow. This method takes a little getting used to so you do not scorch, but if you are attentive you should not have a problem.

As for proportions, I generally use about 1/2 cup unsalted butter to 2 cups heavy cream with about 2 handfulls of parmesan cheese and a pinch of salt. Keep in mind, my handfulls are aproximately 1-1 1/2 cups.

Enjoy

[Gargauth]

oddly enough there is no alfredo sauce in my books. any of them. ill look around online and ask a few friends at the school. i know a couple of them have the CIA (cullinary institute of america) cook book too.

Hey Amolol-

You won't find that many recipes except basic stuff in The Professional Chef, 7th edition (assuming the assigned books haven't changed in recent years, I believe 7th edition is the current one.), however, anything I can help with I would be glad to. I might even be persuaded to offer up some of my 'secret' recipes, like raspberry-sage gastrique :P

Gargy

[Vigis]

wtf where did gargamel come from :oops:

Long story....involves the defilment of Toril, some scared halflings and a whole tun of raw sewage....better left for after dinner conversation :D

Well welcome aboard :)

[Talona]

LF: vodka sauce recipe.

[Gargauth]

wtf where did gargamel come from :oops:

Long story....involves the defilment of Toril, some scared halflings and a whole tun of raw sewage....better left for after dinner conversation :D

Did you manage to salvage the pink pants?

I still have that log btw :P


Again Amolol, sorry for hijacking. . .back to the recipes. Can you see about a seafood stuffed green pepper? I've made them once and they were good, but I like to try new stuff.

Thanks :)

Just an FYI for all those who do not know... I am NOT the former Gargauth that has been a part of Toril in the past. If you read the news, it will tell you exactly when my reign of Gargauthism started.

Toodles

[Gargauth]

LF: vodka sauce recipe.

What kinda sauce? Beef, chicken, veal, cream, cheese, chocolate, fruit...hehe

[amolol]

yea need a better description than vodka sauce. cause technicly you can crap then mix it with vodka and call it a vodka sauce...

[Gargauth]

Chicken Chili Verde Recipe



1 pound fresh mild green chiles, or Anaheims
1 pound fresh hot green chiles, or anchos or poblanos
2 pound clean boneless skinless chicken breast, diced
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 cup chopped white onion
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon minced, seeded jalapeno pepper
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups chicken stock, or canned low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro


Roast the peppers by placing them on an open gas flame, turning them frequently with tongs until all sides are charred black, about 7 to 10 minutes. (The peppers can be roasted under a broiler, or on top of a gas or charcoal grill.) Place the blackened peppers in a plastic or paper bag, and let rest until cool enough to handle, about 15 minutes. Peel the peppers, and remove the seeds and the stems. Chop the peppers and set aside.

In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onions and chicken and cook, stirring, until tender. Add the garlic, jalapenos, oregano, salt, cinnamon, and cumin, and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the flour and cook, stirring, without allowing to color, for 2 minutes. Add the chopped peppers, and stir well to combine. Add the chicken stock, stir well, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 30-45 minutes.

Remove the chile verde from the heat, add the cilantro, and adjust seasoning, to taste.

Makes 6 – 8 servings


Great for Sunday afternoons!

Toodles

[teflor the ranger]

Hey Gargy,

Answer me this: how do I make the perfect steak-cut fry?

Please also teach this to Amolol. Never underestimate the power of the potato.

[Gargauth]

Hey Gargy,

Answer me this: how do I make the perfect steak-cut fry?

Please also teach this to Amolol. Never underestimate the power of the potato.

Potatoes are indeed a very fine starch :)

As for the "perfect" steak fry, that is really a matter of perception, I prefer to use either Idaho Bakers, SunCreek's or Russets, and here is how i prepare em:

Wash all the crud off em, I usually soak em in a sink of cold water for about 15 mins. Then I cut em into wedges, the thickness will vary depending on what you perfer. I then drizzle em with extra virgin olive oil (if you have the means, try truffle oil, it's out of this world on fries), garlic powder, oregano, thyme, cracked red pepper flakes and salt & pepper.

Next I roast them till they are nice and golden brown at about 400 degrees.
I realize 'fry' denotes frying of some sort, but IMHO, steak-fries are MUCH better when they are well seasoned and roasted.

Enjoy!

[Gargauth]

Penne con Vodka e Fungi

2 cups marinara sauce
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup grated parmesan or asiago cheese
2 oz good vodka (kettle one or belvidere)
1 oz fresh basil, chopped
1 cup sliced button or shiitaki mushroom
4 cups cooked penne pasta, al dente
salt and pepper


In a large sauce pan, combine the marinara, heavy cream, cheese and vodka. Simmer on medium heat until the liquid is reduced by ¼, or until it becomes thick. Add mushrooms and pasta. Fold in pasta. Add basil and fold in fresh basil, removing completely from the heat. Salt and pepper to taste.

Makes about 2 servings



Goes great with Pinot Noir!

[Gargauth]

Couple of ya have asked for steak tips, so I thought i'd post some for ya:

For steak fries, see the above post.

Honey Caramelized Onions

2 yellow onions, sliced thin
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup honey
1 tablespoon Thyme
salt and pepper

In a medium saute' pan, melt butter and add onions. Sautee on a low to medium heat, adding honey, thyme and salt and pepper. Continue cooking until the onions have become transparent and slightly brown. This may take a while, as the onions will give off moisture as they caramelize. Just watch em and stir em once in a while.

These onions RAWK on a steak or even with chicken.

more to come...

[amolol]

as for the steak tips some of you may or may not know how to tell what is rare an what is well done.... so just for this i have a little trick for you all to remember.

take your left hand and hold it palm up fingers and thuimb comfortably extended. with your right hand press on the fleshy meaty spot just below your thumb. this feals the exact same as pushing on a rare steak with your finger/tongs

so extended = rare/uncooked

index finger touching thumb = medium rare.

middle finger touching thumb = medium

ring finger touching thumb = done

pinky touching thumb = well don/burnt/hockey puck

if ye dont get it catch me on the mud and ill run it by you in smaller words :P

this also works for chicken and pork.

[teflor the ranger]

Stop pokin' my steak damnit!

[rylan]

Dude those onions sound good. Trying that next time I grill up a steak!

[Corth]

As far as steaks go, obviously if you can get prime meat, it will make a BIG difference. If you have a local butcher that sells dry aged prime meat, then you are lucky indeed. Dry aged meat is what they serve in the best steak restaurants. Peter Lugers, Mortons, etc. All steak is aged, and in the past all steak was dry aged. After the 1950's or so, they developed wet aging techniques that are a lot quicker and cheaper, with less meat wasted. It also tastes nowhere near as good. I have a local butcher that sells dry aged prime porterhouse for $14 a pound, and that is a bargain. Some butchers sell for a lot more than that (assuming they even have it). Also, some butchers refer to it as 'hanging meat' and won't necessarily know what you mean if you call it 'dry aged'.

Corth

[Gargauth]

As far as steaks go, obviously if you can get prime meat, it will make a BIG difference. If you have a local butcher that sells dry aged prime meat, then you are lucky indeed. Dry aged meat is what they serve in the best steak restaurants. Peter Lugers, Mortons, etc. All steak is aged, and in the past all steak was dry aged. After the 1950's or so, they developed wet aging techniques that are a lot quicker and cheaper, with less meat wasted. It also tastes nowhere near as good. I have a local butcher that sells dry aged prime porterhouse for $14 a pound, and that is a bargain. Some butchers sell for a lot more than that (assuming they even have it). Also, some butchers refer to it as 'hanging meat' and won't necessarily know what you mean if you call it 'dry aged'.

Gene

Try to find Certigied Angus Beef, or CAB, it is aged 24 days. Next to Kobe Beef (about $65 a pound), CAB is the best.

Your meet cut rating system is as follows (1 being the best):

1. Kobe
2. CAB
3. Choice
4. Select

[Ashiwi]

Seriously, what Corth and Gargauth said. None of this crap you buy in Wal-Mart tastes like real meat, and if you ever take a good look at the package, you'll see they add all sorts of stuff to it nowadays. If you ever get the chance, go to a real butcher and get fresh cuts. The flavor and texture is a world of difference from pre-packaged meat substitute.

One example is ground round from Wal-Mart. You can't make a decent hamburger or meatloaf out of it, period. The texture comes out something like hard-baked soy paste, and it's dry and chewy no matter what you do. When I HAD to shop in chain grocery stores I refused to buy ground round and bought a higher fat content hamburger blend, because at least it had a modicum of flavor to it. Ground round prepared properly by a butcher will make a hamburger that melts in your mouth and drips all the way down your arms as you eat it.


Now... as for recipes... Many years ago I had this chicken in a margarita butter sauce that was absolutely divine. I've come close to the original with a little experimentation at home, and what I settled on was a sauce of caramelized brown sugar with real butter, a dash of tequila, a splash of sweet-n-sour and a freshly squeezed lime. If you guys know how to improve on that, I'd be ever so greatful.

[Vaprak]

yea need a better description than vodka sauce. cause technicly you can crap then mix it with vodka and call it a vodka sauce...

If you drank a fifth of vodka and then went pipi into a cup the next day and then thickened it with corn starch, could that be vodka sauce also then?

[amolol]

in theory yes but i strongly advise against it

[sotana]

Yum food!! One of my favorite topics. For the haystack onions, the pre-dredge cold/ice water rinse is important cuz it will keep your onion from absorbing as much oil. As for the fettucine, that simple one is the best and the way I make mine, plus lots of freshly grated pepper at the end. Mmmm! Just serve it immediately because the ingredients start to seperate if they sit too long. Keep those recipes coming! Hrm...I should post a cookie recipe....

[Lahgen]

Well, I'm way out of my league here, I probably shouldn't even say anything, but I have one cooking tip:

Teriyaki and/or Worchteshire goes well with nearly anything.

[amolol]

yea thats a big negatory there lahgen teryaki sauce and worchestershire sauce gets overpowering to most people very fast on the other hand a little bit of salt or lemon goes a LONG ways to makeing the tastebuds happy :)

[Ashiwi]

Mmmmmm, lemon is my hero.

Best side dish in the world?

Green beans in butter and lemon.

[amolol]

hey ashiwi tey aspeagus with hollandaise sauce... mmmmm when done right it should have a buttery taste with a lemon tang to it. and just a hint of salt.


essentially you start with 3 eggyolks and 10 oz of clarified butter.

put a pot of water on to simmer. DONOT BRING TO A BOIL.

place 3 egg yolks in a stainless steel mixing bowl big enough to sit over the top of the water. you donot want the bowl touching the water. beat egg yolks turoughly start adding your clarified butter (use a ladle for ease) just a few drips at a time. litteraly just a few you will be whisking the entire time so ice your arm down ... or hire the worlds most frequent masturbator (larim) anyways while your incoperating your butter whisk like there is no tomorrow
make sure the water doesnt get to hot or it will curdle the eggs dont incorperate tomuch clarified butter at a time or it will break and seperate. if this happens start again using 1 egg and then just incorperate the old sauce once finished continue where you left off.after you have gone through about 6 oz of the butter or so add some lemon juice to just slightly to much. continue adding your butter untill your sauce is nice and thick. it will be a nice cream color and you should be able to stick your finger (spoon fork anything) in it and not have it run off add some chyanne pepper and salt to taste. if you feel more of lemon salt or chyanne is needed add it :). remember to constantly whisk (bout 10 minutes)

great on green vegies mashed potates fish (we used salmon today)

[teflor the ranger]

Q: How do I get my potstickers to not stick to the pot?

[amolol]

that is a question of 1 of 2 things heat or liquid. try having your pot/pan a little higher in temp if possible. it will take some adjusting. use more water in the pan mebbe swirl some oil in the pan first.

[amolol]

if that doesnt work get back to me and ill think a little longer on it.