Convenience foods (heat and serve) are typically made with inferior ingredients; contain way too much salt and empty calories. I do not purchase convenience products-ever! I do not use pre-made sauces, stocks or pre-made products at work and I would never feed that stuff to my family and friends. I cook with the Cucina Povera (“poor kitchen”) mindset.
In the kosher kitchen we only have so many ingredients to work with, both at home and professionally. Many ingredients that most chefs take for granted are not part of my daily repertoire due to kosher restrictions. I have a meat and pareve kitchen and cannot just add cream to a soup or sauce to thicken it. I have to work a bit harder and find other ways that fit into the kosher laws. I do not believe in using faux foods for substitutions and look to natural ingredients that are already kosher and in season. In the spirit of Cucina Povera, I embrace my constraints, accept the materials I have to work with and move on. I always say that if a recipe cannot be made without completely mutilating it, then do not make it. I have never put soy crème brulees on my menu and never will. I also do not sell faux crab or mock sour cream. Real sour cream is amazing and who doesn’t love crème brulee? The artificial stuff doesn’t come close and I have too much respect for my ingredients, clients and family to ever serve ersatz food.
Kashrut is all about making choices—not getting around them with cheap imitations.
Another tip I’ve learned over the years, learn to make one great recipe and then riff on it. Everyone should have their own signature dish. This is the dish that you know inside and out and can do in your sleep. It can be as simple as meatballs or as complex as homemade sausage. Once you have that recipe under your belt, you can shake it up. Add new flavors and ingredients and play with it. Now you have new versions and more options.
Most of all, have fun in the kitchen and take some chances. Everyone is so afraid to make a mistake in the kitchen. As long as the food is safe to eat, go ahead and play with it! No one knows what the dish was supposed to be, except you, so whatever you say it is, it is.
Don’t miss my other Secrets of a Restaurant Chef:
start with chicken breasts on the bone and or chicken that is braised in sauce. that will help keep it moist.
cook your chicken to 160 degrees and not more than that.
the egg issue is hard! as a pro i see bad eggs all the time. an egg that is slightly older or left out overnight will evaporate some of the egg and leave room in the shell for easier peeling.
start with cold water and bring the eggs to a boil. allow to boil 6 minutes, plunge in cold water and allow to sit in cold water about 15 minutes.
peel and eat!
I really need to remember what you said about reading the recipe. I have been baking for years and I still make the mistake of diving in without prepping and reading. I read your post about boiling eggs. Leave the egg on the counter for a day? Isn’t that unhealthy? I thought they had to be refrigerated. Surprisingly enough, we have more grief over boiling eggs in our house than anything so all tips would be appreciated. 🙂
I’d like to learn from a professional chef: what’s the best way to cook chicken breast before Shabbat (i.e. thurs. night) so that it stays moist if you’re serving it on Shabbat afternoon? (sat. lunch)
read books and magazines!
me too!
the bitterness comes from the seeds. a female eggplant has more seeds and the male less.
buy an eggplant with a protuded bottom and there will be less seeds and less bitterness.
i use fresh oregano, thyme, basil and lemon zest on my eggplant.
Fresh eggs fill up the entire shell making it hard to peel. slightly older eggs have normal evaporation (shell is porous) and makes it easier to peel. leave your eggs on the counter for a day and they will peel easier.
more importantly do not over cook had boiled eggs. I hate that green sulfur line. i bring to a coil and boil for 6 minutes then turn off and cool immediately.
I wish I could talk to a chef about boiling an egg, it doesn’t matter what I do they are impossible to peel :(. I can cook ANYTHING else so its silly that I can’t figure out how to do it easily!
I just want to learn how to cook!
i would do one or 2 days of “mass” cooking then flavor it differently each day.
so, on sunday i would roast a couple chickens and then have curry one night, salad another and bistro style on another.
i would make tons of beets and use them in salads, soups, gazpacho etc… use the time you do have to make quantity and then customize it each day.
i do not purchase convenience products, ever!
but many people do.
i am making my own jam today as i prefer my own to jarred stuff at stores-but that is my preference.
most chefs prefer homemade as we know exactly what went into the product and where it came from etc… i cannot imagine leaving my food up to a corporation to decide how i eat.
but, that is my choice. i would like all home cooks to develop skills where they are less reliant on food coming out of jars and schlepped half way around the world. Eat local and homemade is best, but with busy lives, people may have to let go of some things.
i use recipes that allow for the use of canola oil or extra virgin olive oil when baking. you cannot use recipes that call for butter and sugar “creamed” as it will not work out properly.
find recipes that use oils like carrot cake, and my chocolate cake recipe on my [email protected]
That being said, I would love to have more ideas for healthy meals that can be prepped and cooked in 30 minutes or less. Working full time outside of the home and having a baby doesn’t leave much time for the kitchen.
Anyone find it odd that a large portion of the article is dedicated to, “I do not purchase convenience products-ever! I do not use pre-made sauces, stocks or pre-made products at work and I would never feed that stuff to my family and friends.”, yet, the prize for today is pre-made sauces?
I love to grill eggplant slices drizzled with olive oil and a sprinkle of fresh herbs. Then I freeze these gems and enjoy them in the wintertime in my marinara sauce. What herbs do you recommend, and how else would you utilize the grilled and seasoned eggplant slices? Do you peel them? I find the peel is a bit bitter. I also press them 1/2 hour before the grilling to remove bitterness from any of my organically grown larger eggplants. Do you agree with the pressing first?
read the recipes all the way through and decide which tasks can be done “passively” (without you doing something” like roasts, long simmering items and which need your constant attention. tackle the long cooking items first and then the last minute stuff
I need to learn better techniques for sauces and gravies.
some recipes are easy-but most are not but can seem easy when you know some skills and techniques. then cooking will be fun and you can take some risks and do some cool recipes.
I love knowing easy but delicious recipes.
Hey Tamar-this is fun! we should do a live Chat sometime. either with phone or satellite or ….
i think people would really like it!
read the article!
it is hard when you are marketing to a small microcosm of the population. the trick is to make food good enough that everyone eats it-even those not keeping kosher or eve Jewish.
that is where the professional chef comes in. i have to make amazing food whether you keep kosher or not and that means understand ingredients.
the whole premise of my POOR KITCHEN is just to tell you that allowing an ingredient to be at is its best and using substitutes tastes like you used substitutes.
i could not make money as a chef or work for Wolfgang Puck if i made margarine cakes and fake whipped topping.
it wasn’t easy getting to the “leave a comment” place but i’m happy to be here 🙂
you need to gather your fond (brown bits) after browning meats. you also should add a tablespoon of tomato paste with gives a mouth feel as well as amps up the beefiness dues to the chemistry of tomatoes.
add a good quality red wine and reduce it down to a glaze.
sorry-but reality is that unless you have a cave to age them cheese in-it will not taste good.
i recommend supporting the efforts of the cheese companies already in existence and demanding even more from them
I would love to pick up tricks and hints from other chefs.
Your blog sounds fantastic.. I will definitely check it out. I love finding good places to get kosher recipes and kosher cooking tips!
I want to learn to better use my time cooking, how to prep for the actual cooking better. Unless it is a meal I have prepared many time I feel disorganized.
I want to learn how to make a rich beef gravy with my home-made beef broth. The broth is delicious but it tastes washed-out when I use it to make a gravy (without pan drippings).
I want to learn how to make hard cheeses.
I want to know how to make good juicy steak in the oven. And is there a way to find a delicious salmon or are they all the same?
i need more healthy oven recipes..not sweet dishes though.
I love the idea of a signature dish.
I like your idea of using natural foods in pareve baking, but we have some allergy issues with nuts and can’t use any of the nut products that you have mentioned. If you are not using margarine, what are you using to bake pareve products?
I want to know how hard it is to BE a kosher restaurant chef, because I imagine the market is even harder to get into than usual restauranting.
All of the best ways to replace dairy in meat recipes.
Sarah-call me at 312 322-1744
the ratio is way off. i have never seen a formula so messed up before. no wonder the recipe doesn’t work.
normally there would be 2-3 eggs. also i want to talk to you about margarine and the way you are putting the recipe together.
you should NEVER use margarine-did you read the article? but, if you are determined:
cream a non-hydrogenated shortening with the sugar until fluffy. add the eggs one at a time, beating in between each egg.
add the flour and a liquid (this recipe is messed up!) and then 2 teaspoons of PURE vanilla extract and a good pinch of sea salt.
just call me. you can talk to me and my pastry chef
My issue is my cakes. For some reason, I can never ever ever (ever!) make a cake of the same consistency twice! Some are too dry, some too moist- all over the place! From the same type of cake! I use the basic cake recipes from Michael Ruhlman’s Ratios, either by whipping or paddling. Any help would be beyond appreciated! Ratios are 9 eggs, 2 C flour, 2 C (or less) sugar 4 stick maragarine, lil vanilla, 3 finge pinch salt
ummm…yeah it matters. i buy delicious extra virgin olive oil. if everything going into the pan tastes good, including the oil, then the food coming out will be good as well.
for stir frys i use toasted sesame oil and for vinaigrettes i use toasted walnut oil.
if we are not using butter for most recipes-then you need to find a tasty and HEALTHY oil.
read about the health benefits of extra virgin olive oil.
low and slow when cooking eggs. turn the heat down on the pan and you will get custardy shiny eggs. too high of heat and they are rubbery and gross.
i buy cage free Amish eggs that have a bright orange yolk. they are awesome-but pricey. they actually taste like an egg. if i did not live in a condo-i would have a chicken coop and get my own eggs.
buy some decent coffee. i like organic seasonal beans. most people do not think of coffee as seasonal-but it is. it has a growing season like everything else.
get a decent drip pot or do a cold infusion and just heat up the infusion.
I would love to learn some great breakfast tips from a chef – I can cook a fantastic and complicated dinner but the simple breakfast foods taunt me! I would love to spend some time learning how to best fry an egg, how to make fluffy scrambled eggs, and how to make a good pot of coffee! My coffee is terrible!!!!
I want to know does it really matter what type of oil I use in a recipe? Often it calls for vegetable or corn or another specific type of oil and its just so much easier to use what is on hand…
sometimes i make them dairy and often i make them pareve with almond milk and canola oil. works really well.
for Asian recipes like duck pancakes, i use almond milk and sesame oil with chopped scallions folded in. really good
you can use tapioca starch, cornstarch,arrow root and pureed vegetables like carrots, potatoes etc…
How can I thicken parve soups (including vegetable) without using imitation ingredients or flour? is it possible?
How do you make Crepes? or Blitzes?
I’ve had Oxygen’s jams and they are DELICIOUS!! Would love to try their other products!!!
i am wild about smoked paprika (available online with a hechsher) with mustard powder, garlic powder (not salt), onion powder, small amount of cumin, coriander seed and brown sugar (helps control bitterness of spices).
i like to a dry rub with a wet mop of vinegar, tomato paste and olive oil. keeps the whole thing juicy
you can use butter or extra virgin olive oil with parsley, basil, thyme and chives. we use a mix in my kitchen called Fines Herbes of those 4 with tarragon sometimes in the mix. after i sear the fish, i throw in the herbes, some white wine and chopped garlic and shallots. all of this needs to be fresh!
then add a little more butter or oil and drizzle on the fish-yum! getting hungry just writing this!
the king of the steak is RIB EYE! buy a piece of meat that is fresh and never been frozen. get it cut 1 1/2 inches thick. bring it to room temperature and cook it medium-medium high until browned, turn and repeat.