Archive for April, 2008
April 22nd, 2008
This week, Chef Martin Rios challenged Iron Chef Bobby Flay in battle: tomatoes. Chef Martin Rios is the executive chef at the Inn of Anasazi in Sante Fe and he specializes in Southwestern and Asian cuisine with a French technique.
The secret ingredient of this battle was tomatoes. Both chefs utilized the many varieties of tomatoes that were available: the German Stripe, Purple Cherokee, Red and Yellow Brandywines, Brandywines, etc, etc…
Chef Rios tried to use the heirloom tomatoes in almost every dish and I do not know if that was his mistake. He appears to allow the tomato to just speak for itself and many dishes did not have a good balance of flavor. The lamb with confit of tomato on a bed of fried tomato polenta, garnished with deep-fried tomato skin should have been a hit. However, the judges said the lamb was perfectly cooked, but the rest of the dish was OK. The fried tomato polenta looked really good but, apparently it did not taste that way. In addition, throughout his dishes, Chef Rios appeared to have a problem with the balance of flavors.
Iron Chef Bobby Flay, on the other hand, really excelled in this battle. His fried green tomatoes (he used the green heirloom tomatoes instead of the unripe green tomatoes so they would be sweet and have a better texture) with blue crab and sweet tomato salsa really wowed the judges. It looks delicious and obviously tasted so as well.
Iron Chef Flay’s tomato and fried tortilla soup with avocado and aged white cheddar was also a hit. His tomato and black bean chili with tomato corn bread and tomato butter looked really good. I would like to try and make the corn bread and butter. (If anyone has a recipe for tomato corn bread, please let me know.) Chef Bobby Flay won this battle by far: 52 to 41.
April 8th, 2008
Last night on the Food Network, I watched the Chefography about Julia Child. She was such an extraordinary woman and an even more extraordinary cook. She is the reason Americans developed a passion for cooking and food in the first place. She is responsible for the existence of the Food Network as it is today.
In Julia Child’s legendary, Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Ms. Child wrote a recipe for home-made French bread. It was 14 pages and had many illustrations on how to get the bread just right. Can you imagine a cookbook today having a recipe that is 14 pages? After watching this, I am inspired to make my own bread, which I have never done. I am guilty of going to the gourmet market and buying fresh bread instead of taking the time to make it myself.
Julia Child was not only a great cook, but she was a great teacher. Her quirky personality came through onscreen and found the way into the hearts of people across the country. In a world where many of today’s cooking shows are focused on “quick” and “easy”, it was refreshing to see a woman that inspired so many home cooks and famous chefs to take the time and learn the art of cooking.
I know that today everyone is busy and does not have the time to spend on 3 hour dinners every night. However, if you have a chance, watch her remarkable story, and just maybe you will be inspired to make a meal the Julia Child way; from scratch.
April 6th, 2008
This past weekend, I made fresh pasta. It is the first time I have used the Imperia pasta machine that I bought at Williams Sonoma several months ago. It is not electric; it is the real Italian-grandmother-hand-crank machine!
I used a basic pasta dough recipe:
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour plus more for kneading
5 Large eggs
I mixed the egg yolks and flour together on the kitchen counter (I did not use a bowl, I was really trying to be authentic here) It did take me two attempts to actually mix the eggs and flour together on the counter. The first time, I forgot to beat the eggs before pouring them into the center of the flour. They were impossible to mix and spilled out over the flour all over the counter and onto the floor. The second time, I mixed the eggs in a bowl and then poured them into the middle of the flour mixture and gradually worked the eggs into the flour with a fork. Slowly, the dough came together.
After kneading it and letting it rest, (yes, you could use a mixer, but I was doing it the old-fashioned way), I started to put the dough through the pasta machine. I have to be honest: it was hard work! You have to roll it through the machine numerous times to get the right texture. After a few batches, I got the feel for when it was ready to be cut into shape. (Just follow the directions included with the pasta machine on how many times to roll the dough and at what setting.)
I made fettuccine and it is important to flour each piece as it comes out of the past machine. The hardest part was to prevent the pasta from sticking together. After cutting it into fettuccini, I let it rest on a floured baking sheet for a few minutes before cooking.
The pasta itself only needs to cook for a few minutes. Make sure you do not overcook it. After all the hard work, the pasta must be cooked perfectly. I made a simple marinara sauce because I really wanted to taste the pasta. Was it worth the time and effort? Definitely. The pasta was delicious! It had a completely different texture and taste than dried pasta. Would I do it every week?……. No. It is very time consuming, but if you love Italian food, like I do, this is a special meal that I would highly recommend.
April 3rd, 2008
Chef Gordon Ramsay is back and Hell’s Kitchen is open once again. This season Chef Gordon Ramsay started off by riding incognito on the bus with the contestants to Hell’s Kitchen. He looked ridiculous, but it was a good way to get some insight into their personalities.
The first challenge was for all the contestants to cook their signature dishes in 45 minutes. Chef Ramsay was not impressed with most of the dishes and he even spit out (and/ threw up?) Matt’s dish. It was an exotic tartar with raw venison & diver scallops topped with caviar and white chocolate. It just sounds disgusting!
Rosann and Vanessa were the only two contestants that were somewhat successful at this challenge. Rosann made a spicy mussel soup that Chef Ramsay thought was seasoned perfectly and Vanessa made a pan-seared halibut that looked really good.
Chef Ramsay berated the 4 star general, Bobby, who calls himself “the black Gordon Ramsay”, for deep frying his fish. Petrozza did not fair any better with her bizarre pumpkin dish and greasy potatoes.
After watching this challenge, I am wondering who picked these people???!!
As the episode progressed, it did not get much better. The dinner service was the worst ever and an entrée was not even served by either team. My favorite moment was when Chef Ramsay called Louross, who has a mohawk, a “toilet brush”. How funny… where does he come up with this stuff??? However, in the end, the little guy was the best of the worst and when the Blue team lost; he was chosen to nominate two people for elimination.
Although the Red (female) team, did not by any means do a good job, the men were actually worse. Louross nominated Bobby, for his poor leadership as captain and Dominic, who could not cook a scallop properly. It was the end for Dominic, who was sent home after throwing numerous scallops in the trash.
Although this season’s contestants leave a lot to be desired, the prize on this season of Hell’s Kitchen is the best yet. The winner gets to be the Executive Chef at Gordon Ramsay’s new London LA restaurant. I hope that this group can get their act together so we can actually see some cooking next week.
