Corona Virus weekend - Time to get creative in the kitchen at home

Wow, just winding up another Covid weekend. A quick scroll through the socials and you can find out what all your friends have been doing to prevent boredom  taking over. Personally my life wasn't exactly on the edge before so the change is sadly, kind of minimal. Haha.

This weekend I got inspired by some of the youtube clips I have been watching and decided to either cook what I saw or get inspired to create from my viewing. After watching Mike Greenfield on Pro home cooks make peanut butter as part of his Peanut butter and Jelly sandwich, which looked awesome, by the way, I decided to have a go at making peanut butter too. Ingredient list is extremely short, something I love in a recipe and 3 of the 4 I already had at home. That was Saturday's fun. The result wasn't too bad and I'll definitely be giving it another go in the not too distant future with a few simple tweaks.

On to Sunday and I stole Mike's Air-fryer Korean Chicken wings recipe and gave it a go on my cheap purchased at Aldi model and it came out great. That was lunch. Inspired by a Mark Wiens video from his recent trip to Jamaica and a soup he ate in the market I decided to make chicken stock using Chicken feet and then a simple mirepoix of carrot, onion and celery  with a few cloves of garlic and some bay leaves. Some of the stock with be reduced down and frozen and some will be used in tonight's pea and ham soup which will fill the belly and taste great too. Should leave leftovers so that at least one night this week I won't have to leave home after I return from work. Everyday under normal circumstances that doesn't involve a visit to shop is a win. During the corona-virus pandemic it is a massive win.

kitchen spider

Let's start at the very beginning because as I think Mary Poppins said "it's a very good place to start". Peanut Butter isn't a food that I have spent too much time thinking about but I do occasionally like to spread some on toast at breakfast time and when I saw Mike's recipe I thought "I've got some time, the the ingredients are few and easily accessed, let's give it a go." And so off to the local Asian Grocery store I headed. In truth I was headed there anyway to get some ingredients for the dish my wife was cooking for dinner and I remembered that I had gotten peanuts from the Asian grocers previously. I was going to get the blanched peanuts but they were Chinese grown so I decided on the Australian grown which were only slightly more expensive and but did have the disadvantage of having the peanut skin still attached. In the original recipe Mike and his assistant had purchased locally sourced peanuts and had after toasting the peanuts in the oven had rolled them in a tea towel to loosen the skin and then used a kitchen spider (pictured above) to shake the skins free from the peanut itself. I don't have a kitchen spider in my home kitchen so with the help of my wife we shook the peanuts on a pizza tray in a similar way to how people is Asian use a cane basket to remove the skins from peanuts. The job was a little messy and time consuming and maybe for next time I will invest in a kitchen spider or simply purchase the blanched nuts from China. I think I should point out that the problem isn't China but simply that it is usually, unless there is a significant quality difference, better to get product which is grown closer to home. Simply put, less travel time is better for the environment and usually better and fresher product thrown in as a bonus. A third option is to leave the skins on and see how they turn out, who knows? They may add flavour.

The skinning of the peanuts was really the most difficult part of the job. The peanuts were toasted in the oven for about 10 minutes at 200°C, given a quick toss to turn them over and continued cooking for another 5 minutes. After this, tip the shelled peanuts into your food processor and process at a medium to high speed until the peanuts start to give out some of their oils. You make have to push the crushed nuts off the sides of your processor bowl from time to time so that the blade continues to do it's job. Other than that, add in a sweetener, in my case Golden syrup was on hand but honey would be perfect too. As well as that add in some oil of neutral flavour and a pinch or two of salt. Pulse the processor to mix and at this stage I also added back in the peanuts I had only partially processed at the start to give a crunchy peanut butter affect.

Whilst the end result didn't have a perfect texture (a little too dry), the taste was great and I would say it was a win with a dash of learning experience thrown in for good measure.

And so we move to Sunday. I started out by getting my chicken stock on the go. I diced onion, carrot, celery and garlic into a stock pot. I added in the chicken feet and sweated them in a little oil over low heat for an hour. I then added in water and simmered on the lowest setting I had that produced bubbling on the water surface. I was using a portable heat pad that I picked up at either Kmart of Big W a year or so back. I really like the product because it gives better heat control with my better quality thick based pots than I can get out of my regular stove top.  I found however on this occasion that the lowest heat setting of 60 was too low to produce a simmer but the next setting up which is 80 was a little faster boil than I was hoping to achieve. So I had to compromise by leaving the lid ajar which hopefully gave me some middle ground.

From there the job was simple enough. simmer away for around 3 hours, strain and use or put away in the freezer or fridge for later use.

Once the stock was ready, I used some to make my pea and ham soup. Stock made meant the soup making was an easy enough job. Add in a ham hock weighing in at just over a kilogram and simmer away until it is tender. The longer time you have for this, the better. I simmered mine for around an hour/ hour and a half and then added the green split peas but in future I would have preferred maybe 3 hours. Live and learn I guess. What you are looking for is the hock to add all it's flavour to the soup and then add in the green split peas which I had been soaking all afternoon into the soup for the last hour. When the peas break down they will thicken the soup and bring an element that will make this soup a meal in itself. Seasoning due to the hock being salty can be tricky and if seasoning at the start of cooking be careful not to over season as the soup liquid with intensify in flavour as cooking is continued. All in all I would say it was a win much like the peanut butter with a little something learnt for next time. I forgot to mention the reason I was thinking soup with chicken feet was the Mark Wiens youtube video from his recent (pre Covid) trip to Jamaica. In the video he visits a local market as part of a guided food tour and gets all food nerd (meant as a compliment) over a pumpkin soup which was served in a cup with a chicken foot in it for extra flavour. On seeing that I felt inspired to use the flavour of the feet to make stock and the ensuing soup. I think the big think the chicken feet bring to the equation is a gelatinous richness that you just don't get in stock powders and store bought liquid stocks.

Whilst the stock was simmering away I decided to engage my air-fryer for a chicken wing Sunday lunch.  I got the chicken bits with the wing tip removed and chopped into 2 pieces and took the Korean wings recipe from pro home cooks. This one was easy prep wise and a definite do again. All I had to do was season the wings with baking powder for extra crunch, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Toss in a bowl and then half a kilo at a time into the fryer at 180 degrees for 20 minutes, turn them over and give it another 10 at 185 Celsius. On the first batch I cooked at 180 all the way through but I decided to try to get a little more crunch with extra 5 degrees on the second batch and was happy with the result. Mike made an easy Korean spicy sauce and as luck would have it I had just purchased the week earlier the Gochujang (red pepper paste) paste for the first time in my life and was excited to have an opportunity to use it. I had purchased it to use in a kimchee stir fry and it goes well there too. The sauce was just a quick whisking of Gochujang, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey and rice vinegar. Toss this over the cooked wings to coat and as they say Bob's your uncle. Well if I had an uncle named Bob I guess. The wings were great topped with sesame seeds though I may very briefly cook the sauce to take out the slightly raw taste it had to it. I think maybe just a minute or two on a really gentle heat would get the job done.

And so that brings us to the end of a fund weekend of cooking. Certainly more satisfying than staring at the TV all weekend. Whilst the Coronavirus is a terrible thing which has brought great upheaval and tragedy across the globe for the lucky people who have not been too badly harmed financially or physically it has just been a very good reminder to slow down and smell the roses. Until next time, stay safe and happy cooking!!!

Down time

Whilst I consider myself to be somewhat lucky so far as the corona virus goes I do have a bit more time on my hands and thought I would let you know the things that have been catching my attention on the TV and on youtube.

Pro Home Cooks on you tube and his blog  https://www.prohomecooks.com/blog/ He is calling himself Mike G on his blog and is well worth checking out.

I believe he and his brother had this channel until late last year when they decided to go their separate ways. I noticed his videos popping up in my feed and decided to check them out. He is clearly a really talented home cook and has an amazing set up. He has recently built a kitchen and is massively into sourdough and preserving foods including Kombucha. I watched one of his videos on using an air-fryer today and I am now going to have to give mine a rethink and a whole lot more air time (pardon the pun)   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzH5n3Ih5kgQoiDAQt2FwLw


My all time favourite in the digital age is Bangkok based Mark Wiens and his blog Migrationology.com. Mark is a legend of food tourism travelling usually with his Thai wife Ying to great normally budget friendly restaurants at home in Thailand and throughout the world. He comes across as a really genuine guy who just loves to eat and really buys into the stories of the places he visits. If you are not yet across his stuff the you need to make it a priority. I have just finished all 39 parts of his trip around the world sponsored by the star alliance family of airlines.   https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyEd6QBSgat5kkC6svyjudA


As part of my food study I am also watching the series of public lectures by Harvard University on Scien

ce and Cooking put up on youtube so that we all have access. These though quite technical at times, are a great way to get access to some of the great chefs of the world and the science that is a part of their cooking.   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL546CD09EA2399DAB

I am also plugging through Jacob Burton's youtube channel a culinary school refresher course. Jacob really knows his stuff and is a great place for anyone who ever wanted to go to cooking school but missed the chance. His blog is  https://stellaculinary.com/chef-jacobs-culinary-boot-camp-f-step-curriculum and is full of useful cooking tips to lay a solid foundation for future cooking success.    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpkj3Cc40ZCoMAoVI9OkjzMpj0PZkq5zL

On netflix I am watching The Chef Show which is a really cool take on the cooking show dynamic with Jon Favreau and Roy Choi taking you through some great recipes. The show is a spin off from the successful 2014 movie called Chef staring Jon Favreau as a chef who storms out of his job as a chef in a top notch restaurant and ends up cooking great food out of a food truck. Roy is a Korean American Chef who taught Jon the ins and outs of being a chef so that he could successfully play the roll of the chef in the movie. Clearly Roy's love of food rubbed Jon up the right way and they didn't want the fun to stop when the movie ended. The two of them with guests along for the ride are a great source of culinary inspiration. https://thechefshow.com/

Another great show I love on Netflix is Chefs Table which gives great incite into some really fine chefs from around the globe. Just in case you thought you were doing something stand out an episode or of this show and the Chefs Table France are there to show you just how far away from the top you really find yourself. Not to say that the show disheartens in any way. I love the window into the cooking of some masters of food.  https://www.netflix.com/au/title/80007945


I also try to catch the podcast of Milk street radio with Christopher Kimble. This guy is an inspiration in the world of food knowledge and home cooking wisdom. I have also signed up on the website https://www.177milkstreet.com/ for a free online cooking class. It is too early to say it will be great but I am keyed up to give it a try.

A day in the Life of a Chef - Part 6

And on it goes ....
The steamed vegetables come out of the oven and go straight into the Baine Marie in a long oven tray. The steamer trays a perforated so that water doesn't pool in the base of the tray whilst you are steaming. Now it is time to put the Carbonara pizza into the oven. The pizza goes in for 8 minutes at 200C before turning and giving it another 5 minutes. This should prevent uneven cooking and give an even browning to the cheese and crust of the pizza.

A lid on the pasta water should speed up the boiling and have us ready to cook our ravioli. I will usually start with 2 or 3 packets of the ravioli which is cooked from frozen. Simply cut a corner off the packet so that you can control your pouring and tip into the boiling salted water. After about a minute I gently stir the pasta to prevent it sticking to the base of the pot. I would then cover with the lid to bring it back to the boil. As soon as it does remove the lid wearing a heat resistant glove or a tea towel in hand and stir a second time to again prevent sticking. The pasta should now be right to boil away until cooked. If the pasta sauce had reached a good thick consistency earlier in the morning I would have turned the heat off. If this is the case I would reheat in at a gentle heat turning it back on just prior to putting the pasta on to cook. This should mean that when the pasta is ready the sauce is also hot. When the pasta is cooked (the manufacturer usually knows their product so check the packet and taste the first time you use a new brand) use a handled colander to scoop the pasta into a large bowl on the side. Add in about ten large ladles of pasta sauce, scooping deeply to get plenty of the good ingredients which are by now no doubt nestling on the base of the pot. Also I make sure I take the last few ladles from the top to get a good balance of sauce and chunky ingredients. I will also throw in a bunch of fresh parsley and a big handful of Parmesan cheese and mix with a kitchen spoon to incorporate everything thoroughly. This is then poured into an oven to tray and transferred to the Baine Marie. The other point to note is that when it comes to pasta I use more sauce than I would if I was serving immediately due to the evaporation that occurs whilst the sauce sits in the heated environment of the hot baine. This hopefully prevents it looking dry when the customers come to eat.

The Pizza should now be ready and slid onto a fresh white chopping board to cut into 8 even pieces. After cutting slide the pizza back onto the flat tray it was cooked on and into the hot baine to await service. In the case of the flat trays I always put a perforated steamer tray underneath them in the hot baine to prevent the tray from sliding into the hot water below. Better safe than sorry.

The last item to add is our chicken Vindaloo. The Brat pan is tilted enough so that the curry tips onto an angle that allows me to get a smallish bowl in to scoop the curry into an extra deep oven tray. In my early days I used to scoop the curry into a deep tray that held just over half the curry and then had to reheat the rest during service but have not decided that it is easier to put it all out the front right from the start. That bit is actually fairly obvious, but I always had concerns about the quality issues related to putting the whole curry up for the entire lunch session. I now believe that the pay off outweighs any loss of quality in relation to the food in most wet dishes.

I used to push hard to try to get myself a lunch break but these days I have decided that the time is better spent finalising my paperwork from the mornings cooking and hopefully getting my ordering list written up. What paperwork does a chef do? In the modern kitchen it is essential that we keep record of temperatures of food we cook and do some checking of goods received to make sure that they are in date, held at the correct temperature and of appropriate standards for use in our kitchen. Some of this needs to be written up to help with compliance with both the council food hygiene inspectors and the even more critical internal auditors from my own company. Everybody has a job to do in this area and it is just part of a modern workplace. Whinge about it if you want, but as is the case with many things in life it is usually easier just to get on with it.

Writing this now I feel as I do at work where getting up to this part of the day, that being the start of service, I feel like the work is done. Which I think is a little strange and partially a result of working in a non Ala-carte kitchen.

We do share the paperwork around so that everyone in the kitchen has some to do, but as you would expect most of it is left to the chef. I need to record all the goods received and a temperature of a sample of any high risk foods. I also need to record the cooling temperature of one item a day. That may be the eggs we steam for the sandwich bar or any leftover food from the hot baine that we intend to reuse, perhaps an example would be chicken leftover on roast chicken day.

I believe brings to the end of morning service  with only Lunch service and clean up to come. But that's for another time. Until then happy cooking!!!

A day in the life of a Chef - Part 5

Last addition I left you after commencing the salad of the day, a Roast Zucchini and haloumi cheese salad. To get on with the salad I would first of all dice up a couple of flat trays worth of zucchini and 800 grams of haloumi cheese. For those of you unfamiliar with Haloumi, it is a grillable, I think Greek cheese, which is a fantastic addition to your next nibble's platter. It comes in 200 to 250 gram blocks, similar to Feta cheese. Slice into half centimetre slices and pan fry over medium heat until nicely browned on each side. At medium heat this is not a pan to walk away from as you will end up with burnt Haloumi in no time at all. Cooking time <5 minutes.
Anyhow, back to my salad. As I am in most aspects of the job looking to save hands on time I will dice up the Haloumi into rough 1 cm dice and place on a flat tray covered with greaseproof paper and sprayed with canola spray to help browning. The cheese would go into a 170 oven for 10 minutes and the Zucchini a 200 oven for 10 minutes also. Base salad ingredients are washed and drained the put into a large stainless steel bowl. Tomatoes are diced, cucumbers are diced both in approximately 1 cm dice. Remember this is not fine dining so when I say 1 cm dice I mean a rough dice that is dependant on my mood and the size of the tomato and cucumber. Capsicums are cut and sliced by removing the 4 sides and then removing the white membrane from the inside. the base and the bit of capsicum around the stem is also used so that we waste almost nothing. The Spanish or red onion is peeled and either finely sliced or finely diced. I am not a fan of chewing on large chunks of raw onion so my customers shouldn't have to be either. When the Zucchini and Haloumi have both cooled at least partially they are tossed in with the rest of the salad. I then mix together a quick vinaigrette by adding 210 ml of olive oil with either 70 ml of Balsamic or red wine vinegar and some Dijon mustard to emulsify the dressing. I season the salad with salt and vinegar and toss the salad together by hand whilst wearing food safe gloves. The salad is displayed for service in an old ceramic white baking dish and should serve close to 20 customers. One thing I will say here is that I feel that it is vital to the salad presentation that I transfer the salad in double handfuls from the bowl to the serving platter by hand as this gives the finished product greater height than basically tipping it out onto the tray. Also, a little thing I have noticed as a benefit of tossing salad in a bowl before serving on another platter is that the heavier foods generally fall to the bottom of the bowl. In turn this means than when you plate them they then naturally end up on top and enhance the presentation. Give it a try next time you make a salad at home.

Next step, I move onto the Chicken Vindaloo. I really don't know how close to a real life curry this one is to be completely honest. I make the curry using 15 kg of diced chicken thigh and usually commence cooking after 9 am which means even if the curry is unlikely to spend too much time in the food temperature danger zone. If I start cooking at around 9 am with service completed at 1.30 pm I will have reduced the time the food will spend in the temperature danger zone to a minimum. So on to the cooking. First up I turn on the brat pan which is a standalone giant cooking vessel. Our one at work uses gas to operate but they do also come in electric too. A brat pan is a God send in a commercial kitchen like mine as it allows me to cook all my wet dishes and I also utilise it for large stir fries. When I say wet dishes I mean things like curries and braised dishes like stews and casseroles.

Okay, enough waffling, lets get down to the business of cooking the main dish of the day, Chicken Vindaloo. First thing, turn on the brat-pan to high heat. Dice roughly about 4 large brown onions. Add canola oil, generous amount and then the onions. Then grab the 15 kg of diced thigh from the cool room and tip it into the brat-pan. Spread the chicken with my 2 large spatulas evenly across the base of the pan. This if I have left enough time for the pan to heat sufficiently and if I then don't try to stir the food too soon with allow at least some browning which won't as once suspected seal the meat but is still an essential part of searing the meat which should add flavour. Having said that, I have observed that in many Asian countries it is common practice to add the meat after a sauce has been created so that the browning is not part of the cooking process. There are also examples of European braised dishes which also do not include browning of meat so one should be careful in making wholesale generalisations. After I have added the chicken I will then use a Jar of Vindaloo paste which saves time and effort and probably money too. The entire jar which is just over a kilogram in weight is added to the chicken and onion and mixed in to incorporate. My approach from here may be as simple as loosely following the recipe on the side of the packet and often boosting the important flavours of the curry by adding extra Garam Masala (an Indian spice blend) or some ginger, garlic and other Indian spice regulars like cumin, cinnamon, coriander and chilli.

This particular curry is known for being a hot curry so I think it is essential to give the customer a hot spicy curry when that is what they expect. The other option I have often tried to implement is giving a small bowl of chilli to the front of house so that the spice lovers can add chilli to fire up their curry whilst leaving the curry less fiery for the rest of the crowd.

From memory the side of the packet asks for tinned tomato and stock to round out our curry. After adding a couple of kilos of tomato and around 4 litres of water with stock powder added I will reduce the heat and allow the curry to simmer away in it's own time.

So at this point of the day it is hopefully around 10 am and time to finish the cooking and transfer our completed dishes to the Baine Marie for lunch service which commences at 11.30 am. First thing to do is get the rice which has been cooling, into the oven for steaming for 10 minutes. Prior to putting into the oven I will run my gloved hands through the rice to help separate the rice which whilst cooling will have clumped together. After 10 minutes steaming I will test the rice's temperature with a probe in 3 different parts of the tray to test that it has reheated to the correct temperature (>75C). If achieved I will take the tray to the Baine Marie and cover with a lid to stop drying out the top layer of rice. If not quite hot enough I will rotate the tray and steam for an extra 5 minutes and retest.

Whilst the rice is cooking I will continue to stir the curry to prevent it catching on the base of the pan and also stir the pasta sauce if it is still simmering away. Speaking of the pasta, it is now time to fill a pot with water so that the ravioli can be cooked. To reduce time I will half fill the pot with boiling water from the Zippo water heater in the corner of the wash-up room and top up with cold water from the tap. To this add a generous amount of salt and top with a lid to speed things along. Next into the oven on this day is steamed vegetables. The vegetable mix is a base of fresh broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and zucchini with additions of frozen peas, beans, corn on cob and bok choy. I rotate between the additions so that hopefully the mix doesn't get too predictable. The first batch of the day is generally steamed for 7 minutes and later batches boiled on the stove-top to prevent a build up of items wanting oven time during service.

Time is up for today, as I am currently on Easter break and taking a little extra leave due to the Corona virus Pandemic I am only at work for 2 of the next 10 days so hopefully I will be finally knocking over this day in the life series and am thinking of putting up a couple of recipes as well. For now though, Happy cooking!!! Where else would you prefer to spend your isolation than in the kitchen??? 

A day in the life of a Chef - Part 4

shallots

Continuing on with the Carbonara pizza. I have spread the bases with the Parmesan white sauce and will dice up 16 rashers of middle bacon and flash them through the oven for 10 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius to make sure that they are cooked but not crunchy when the pizza is cooked. I slice up mushrooms to top the pizzas and chopped the shallots. I will then top the pizzas with the mushrooms and shallots as well as the now cooked diced bacon. To finish off the pizza I will top with a generous quantity of mozzarella cheese. Pizzas are now cling wrapped and put into the coolroom until it is time for them to cook in a 185 oven for 13 minutes tuning tray after 8.

Moving on. Through out the morning deliveries with need to be checked and signed for as well at put away. Monday is a busy day for deliveries with vegetables, usually a box of tomatoes, a box of cauliflower and zucchini, broccoli and 15 kg of carrots as well as a kilogram of baby spinach, some iceberg lettuce and 2 or 3 kilograms of mesclun or mixed lettuce are some of the items that may be arriving. Under normal circumstances we receive vegetables 3 days a week on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

Also, on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday we receive our dry, refrigerated and frozen goods from another supplier. These are packed away by myself and the manager. These deliveries are placed the working day prior and delivery is made around 8 o'clock in the morning. This delivery includes a box of frozen chips 15 kg, pasta 10 kg dry usually penne or spaghetti or frozen 1 kg ravioli, rice 10 kg bags, grated and sliced cheeses, 15 doz eggs in a box, 2.5 kg packets of bacon averaged out to approximately 1 pack a day and much more.

Monday is also meat delivery day for the week, so all the red meat I need for Tuesday to Thursdays menus arrives at around 11 am. The includes 20 to 25 kilograms of meat for Thursday's roast which rotates between Beef, Lamb, Chicken and Pork. If I have chicken on Tuesday's menu then a chicken delivery will also arrive Monday morning.

Moving back to lunch preparation , next on the agenda is the sauce for the Spinach and ricotta ravioli which is a simple Mushroom, sun-dried tomato, and pesto cream sauce. I would dice onions and rough chop the mushrooms, and sun-dried tomatoes. The mushrooms I like to chop in largish sizes so that they don't completely breakdown and disintegrate during cooking. The large pot is heated for about a minute before adding oil from the sun-dried tomato jar and the onions are simmered for 4 or 5 minutes to get some flavour into them. Then I add the mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes, a good spoon of crushed garlic and cook until browned and ready to add some white wine ( a cup or two) to bring out the flavours. After the wine reduces I add in half a kilo of crushed tomatoes and 2 large kitchen spoons of jarred pesto sauce. Give it a good stir with the spoon to stop the ingredients catching on the sides, season with salt and pepper, and add around 4 litres of thickened cream. From this stage I just need to keep an eye on it whilst it simmers away and reduces and I move on with my next job.

And speaking of that job, it is the making of a roast zucchini and haloumi salad. I have somewhat standardised my salads of late by building a base of a large handful of mesclun, half a dozen tomatoes, 3 large cucumbers, a red and a green capsicum, a Spanish onion, and a grated carrot of 2. On top of this base I add the main ingredients of the salad, in this case Zucchini and Haloumi cheese.

Time to grab a morning coffee, this is to be continued. Happy eating and stay safe!!