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

Roast Beef Quesadilla

Yesterday I made a Roast Beef Quesadilla. Here is the recipe.

Tortilla (whatever brand)
Cheese (cheddar or mixed)
Ground Roast Beef

This recipe is actually pretty vague. You just put however much cheese and meat you want on a tortilla, top with another tortilla, and cook in a flat pan, flipping the quesadilla when the side reaches the right color. Here are pictures.

The Beginning


Cheese


Cheese & Meat


Finished


This recipe was VERY easy to make. They tasted pretty good, but they would have tasted better with sour cream.

Lemon Chocolate Brownies

Today I made Lemon Chocolate Brownies. Here is the recipe.

4 eggs
3/4 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 tbsp Cocoa
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp lemon extract

Here are pictures.

The Ingredients


Mixed


Ready to Bake


Baked


This recipe was very simple. It is a basic chocolate brownie recipe with a little added ingredient. The original recipe is my Grandma's. They tasted quite good.

Slow Cooker Beans and Wieners

Today I made Slow Cooker Beans and Wieners from a Betty Crocker Recipe. Here is the original recipe. I made no deviations from the original recipe aside from a little less hot dog.

Here are pictures.

The Beginning


Ready to Cook


Cooked


Dished


I didn't have any problems with this recipe. Slow cooker recipes are really easy. All you do is add to the pot and wait a few hours. It was delicious.

Italian Shredded Beef Hoagies

Last Thursday I made Italian Shredded Hoagies using a recipe from Betty Crocker. Click here for the original recipe. And here is our recipe

4 pounds bottom roast
1 large onion, sliced
1 can undrained diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
hoagie buns
mozzarella cheese

Here are pictures

The Ingredients


Ready to Cook


Shredded


Finished


This recipe was not very hard to make. The only problem I had was deciding how to shred the meat since it was a little tough and touching the raw meat. It was a very good meal.