Cook Like a Chef Episode 5: Rice

Today I watched an episode on rice. The person did three risottos, two sticky rice recipes, and a sticky rice risotto.

The first three risottos used arboreal rice. It is one of the hardest rices around. The first two risottos used butter and onions, while the third used just butter. The first risotto had wine, chicken stock, and blanched watercress, baby spinach, carrots, celery, and onions. That made a very veggie risotto. It was topped with Parmesan. The second risotto used chicken stock, lemon and lime juice and zest, heavy whipped cream, and blanched asparagus spears. It was a citrus based risotto. The last risotto was my favorite. It used water boiled with cloves and star anise, bittersweet chocolate, whipping cream, a dash of brandy (also known as the water of life), and topped with hazelnuts. I am going to have to try that sometime.

The sticky rice is actually called sweet rice. It is used in sushi. It is different from other rices in the fact that it is steamed, not cooked in water. The first sticky rice recipe used an egg, butter, scallions, and cilantro. Then they formed the mixture into patties and browned both sides with oil. The second recipe used scallions, cilantro, aged soy sauce, sesame oil, and lime juice.

The sticky rice risotto was based on tropical flavors. The first ingredient was a chopped mango. Then the sticky rice was added to a simple syrup (a mixture of sugar and water) with toasted sesame seeds. Then coconut milk was added with sugar and salt. Then the mango was added to the risotto and it was all mixed together.

Cook Like a Chef Episode 3: Turkey

Today I watched Episode Three of Cook Like a Chef. They did turkey. It turns out that turkey is actually a very lean bird, and if you are going to roast it you need to be liberal with the butter. The first part was preparing the brine for the turkey. The brine contains maple syrup, star anise, cloves, rock salt, and cold water. Then the turkey is put in the refrigerated brine for four hours. The stuffing is then stuffed in the cavity of the turkey at room temperature. The giblets except for the liver go in cold water for the gravy. You simmer that. You put room temp. butter and bacon on the turkey and put it on a bed of carrots, celery, and onions to roast for 6-7 hours. Remove the bacon 40 minutes before removing the turkey. When carving, remove the stuffing first, then do the legs, then the wings, then the rest. Put the bones and carcass into cold water with carrots, celery, and onions for the gravy. Take the drippings from the roasting pan and add enough flour to get a paste. This is a rue. Add an herb bundle to the turkey stock. Add Riesling wine to the rue. Pour the giblet stock into the rue. Add the turkey stock, then strain. Your turkey meal is now finished.

Cook like a Chef: Ep 2 Sauce

Today Cook like a Chef did four sections on sauces.

The first section told how to turn cow bones, carrots, onion, celery, leeks, and water into a delicious and smooth Veal Stock.

The second section told how to make three different sauces for pork, beef, and another meat with Veal Stock. There was an orange sauce with shallots and butter, a port sauce with shallots and figs, and a wine sauce with shallots and grainy mustard.

The third section had two ways to make a fish sauce and one way to make and onion sauce. She deglazed the pan the fish was cooked in for one fish sauce and used very reduced fish stock and a lot of butter for the other fish sauce. The mushroom sauce used Veal Stock and cream with mushrooms for a mushroom sauce for beef.

The last section depicted three different sauces that did not use Veal Stock. There was a caramelized onion and apple sauce; a roasted pepper and wine sauce; and a diced tomato, onion, and tarragon sauce.

Cook like a Chef: Ep. 1 Wine

Today I am starting something different for my cooking class. I will be watching this cooking show called Cook like a Chef from Food Network Canada. Today They did four easy recipes concerning wine.

The first recipe was a wine fume (a reduction of wine, herbs, fish, and vegetables) on a Red Snapper.

The second recipe was sauteed salmon medallions. He cut salmon steaks into medallions and sauteed them with vegetables and red wine. They were served on veggies and covered with a sauce derived from the leftover saute.

The third recipe was deglazeing pans of pork and beef drippings and turning them into a savory sauce for the meats. He deglazed the pans with red and white wines, herbs, brandy, whole cream, and butter. He then reduced the sauce to concentrate the flavors and give the sauce a little form.

The last recipe was a fig glaze made with dried figs, cinnamon sticks, cloves, star anise, Merlot, and honey. He removed the figs half-way through the reduction process to prevent the figs from becoming mush. He reduced the remaining liquid to a liquid of slime-like consistency. He then put the figs on crusty French bread covered in Ricotta cheese and Spanish ham. The resulting sandwich was covered in the glaze.

Here is the link to the show's page on Food Network Canada's website.
http://www.foodnetwork.ca/ontv/shows/cook-like-a-chef/show.html?titleid=78296