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:
I need to learn some better knife skills! Haha … I see there’s already a knife article, I’ll have to read it. That, and how to slice a mango … I try and try but always mess up and end up mangling it and never having the nice slices I dream of.
Do extracts have a freshness date?
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I would like to learn how to sharpen my knives and how to flip eggs.
Thanks for the giveaway!
I really need to learn my knife skills. Where and how should I do that?
Thanks! Pesto sounds a lot more healthy. I had been looking unsuccessfully on the internet for a soy substitute and this sounds like a tasty substitute.
are you kidding? i love potato salad and egg salad. not so much with the tuna salad though!
i use a spring garlic pesto with my potato salad. See my blog at http://www.cheflauraskosher.com
or you can try basil and or parsley pesto instead of mayo.
for tuna salad i do balsamic vinaigrette, golden raisins (sounds weird but it a Sicilian thing and is very good!), peas, sun dried tomatoes and tons of parsley-No Mayo!
i admit to egg salad with mayo and Dijon style mustard. i like to make Deviled eggs with chopped smoked salmon and a little hot sauce and mayo. really good.
use all the flavors of Asian food without the soy by using Miso (easily found kosher at most grocery stores), ginger and toasted sesame oil. i do not love soy sauce and most people over use it.
so, after you stir fry, add a little ginger and garlic with scallions to a pan with sesame oil. add a tablespoon or 2 of miso paste and work with some rice wine vinegar and adjust the seasoning and toss with your veggies, chicken or fish.
This is probably on your ugh! list but my kids like potato salad, tuna salad, and egg salad. Is there anything to substitute for mayonnaise and to make these dishes less plain? Also, one of my daughters is sensitive to soy but wants Chinese food-is there anything that can substitute for soy sauce?
go simple during the summer. let your fresh vegetables and herbs shine in each dish.
i like to grill vegetables and then dress them with a basil pesto with dairy or pareve preparations.
take advantage of the produce-soon enough it will be gone and then we scrounge around for the variety we have now.
marinate your chicken, turkey and fish in herbs, olive oil and fresh garlic. grill or lightly saute and add in a grain like farro, quinoa or bulgur and enjoy.
keep the food light but intensely flavored with all the earth has to offer.
you need to use butter for a flaky pie crust or….you can use a non hydrogenated shortening.
NEVER MARGARINE!
get all your ingredients really cold and pulse in a food processor. chill and roll.
check out Julia child crust recipes. they are simply the best.
see previous comments and my answers. you need to practice.
HA! i love it! not happening. the onions defenses are what you cry-you NEVER get used to it.
all this sticking onions i freezers and putting matches between your teeth etc.. are bubbe meises.
so, your best defense is an offense. cut the onion in half from root to flower.
peel the onion halves. make cuts lengthwise 7/8 of the way all across the onion. then cut hoizontally 2-3 times. now cut your pieces.
when you keep smashing the onion on your board it releases all the juices and that is why you cry.
also, do not cut it in the food processor as it squeezes all the juice out and make the onion dry and gross.
how to chop onions without crying…
dani marie
ferriza2(at)yahoo(dot)com
I’d like to learn how to slice & chop vegetables properly, the way the pros do.
I would Love to know how to make a great flaky pie crust so I don’t have to buy my crusts anymore.
Could you please talk more about summer time entrees? suggestions?
i like to start every bread dough with a sponge. a sponge is a mix of 1 cup flour, 1 cup warm water, salt and yeast. i just mix this with my hands and let it get spongy for an hour or so. then i build the bread. the sponge gets the yeast going and starts the flavor building.
once your sponge is going-you can use a machine or a mixer. my husband is also a professional chef and he wouldn’t be caught dead using a machine for bread. he thinks he can get better texture by hand-whatever!
whatever works for you is what you should do. just have fun with it. and don’t use margarine for challah. see previous answer on breads 🙂
baking soda needs an acid to activate. (remember when you were a kid and made the volcano and made it “erupt” when you added baking soda and vinegar?
baking powder is DOUBLE acting so it works with heat and acid. both of these are Chemical leaveners which means a chemical reaction is needed to get them to work versus a mechanical leavener like whipping air into something.
recipes use both as each works a bit differently and each stops at a certain point in the baking process. you want a delicate rise in your cakes and cookies-not a blown out hot mess! recipes are “sometimes” works of art and it is amazing when done properly and a cake levels off perfectly with a moist delicate crumb and amazing flavor.
not sure why people think it is Ok to just leave stuff out or substitute willy-nilly?
think about it-a properly made cake makes you happy and looks gorgeous. all ingredients working together in harmony.
yes, you can refrigerate bread doughs. they develop flavor from the yeast doing its thing.
it smells a little like beer when you smell the dough-but it will bake into a flavorful bread.
please don’t use margarine for your challah! use canola oil. when you melt the margarine to create a liquid-you might as well just start with a liquid-right?
i also use honey instead of sugar or sometimes use brown sugar when i am in a good mood. gives the bread a nice color a sweet-molasses flavor.
bread is pretty basic and can be played with. i take out some white flour and add wholewheat with honey and canola oil. it is really tasty.
Oh, one last question: I have a bread machine so I like to do my doughs in them and save time/effort. The by-hand recipes though, tend to differ a lot so I usually just balk and make them by hand-can I just dump in the ingredients and be fine or do I really have to proof the yeast, knead it 12 times under a full moon etc?
🙂
Wow! Forget the giveaway-this is a prize in its own right! Thanks for wealth of information and yes…I will be stalking your blog!
Okay, this has been bugging me for ages: What is the difference between baking powder and baking soda? I know the actual difference but how do they differ baking-wise? Why do some recipes call for both? Were they written by confused recipe developers that decided to throw both in just in case? 🙂
And in reference to that last comment you made about rising your dough overnight, you can do that??? Doesn’t that make the dough sour? Is there some doughs that you can/can’t do it with?
Again, thanks!
i use a kitchenaid mixer and make my sponge in the bowl of the mixer, make the dough and then park the dough in the same metal bowl on the counter until i am ready to braid it. you can grow dough in anything-including a plastic baggie.
maybe you rush your 1st rise? i like to make my dough on thursday night, put it in the refrigerator overnight, pull it out first thing friday and let it rise until noon. then braid it, let it rise again and then bake it.
you can also make your dough-freeze it before it rises and then take it out and let it rise the first time and then braid it etc…
My daughhter and I use the exact saome challah recipe and even the same yeast (I buy it and she “borrows”) but hers rise higher and she gets much more out of the recipe. I use a Magic Mill and she uses a Bosch. Is it the yeast or the machine? Can one raise yeast right in the metal bowl or does it need glass to grow?
a valid concern!
start with a good knife. see my article on knives. buy bag of carrots and start cutting.
hold the knife properly. if you try and hold the knife completely by the handle-it will not work well.
you have to pinch the blade between your thumb and forefinger and then wrap your other fingers around the handle. the knife should be an extension of your hand.
try spice rubs and herbs.
you can also make sauces like curries, bbq and more.
chicken is a blank slate-you can have a good time with a properly cooked piece of chicken.
let your inner kitchen deity out and have some fun. we were given taste buds because eating is supposed to be enjoyable. so go with it!
I need to know the basics, like cutting, slicing, and dicing. I have a fear of losing a finger when slicing vegetables.
I’d like to learn new ways to cook chicken so it isn’t always the same.
tis true!
🙂
look online and ask your rabbinical authority if you need flour with hashgacha. we do not need flour to have hashgacha here. also, many flours are kosher but do not a hechsher on the product-but the plant they are made in is supervised.
pie crust needs to be made with butter. if not, you can get a very mediocre crust with non-hydrogenated shortening.
seven minute frosting is really just a cooked meringue and is really easy. it is the same an an Italian Meringue.
how much time ya got:) ?
i have stories that would curl your hair. i have seen it all in decades of restaurant cheffing. i have considered trying to write a novel with the heroine being a chef, of course!
but, yeah, i got stories. seems as though each day brings new drama.
one real quick story. in my NY restaurant we had a request for a birthday cake and my pastry chef made the cake.
that night, the place was packed and we were going a long with dinner service when 2 waiters came rushing in with the cake and horrified looks on their faces.
they said people were gagging and choking at the cake table.
my general manager came in to the kitchen. we both tasted the cake and i could not get the bite of cake past my tongue before i was gagging. i knew immediately what it was. my pastry chef had carelessly thrown in too much almond extract into the cake.
Almond extract is super potent and too much is like a chemical burn. she told me later that she liked the smell and did not measure it, she just put it into the cake!
so, i go out to the table with my GM and we see people looking ghastly gray! there are napkins all over the table with cake in them and a very pregnant woman sitting looking sick. her husband asks, “do we need to go to the ER?”
i told them what it is was and they were fine. but the smell of almonds hung in the dining room for hours!
the sauce question comes up a lot. see answers i gave to other people asking.
sauce making is an art and takes a lot of practice. read the answers i have given, make some stock and buy some wine (for the sauce!) and get started.
I think the ultimate secret to being a good chef, is to develop the creativity that is tours, alone, and, in order to create those special dishes, use quality ingredients, whether they come fresh from the tree, animal or bush, or from quality manufacturers who create ingredients that will enhance the good work of a talented chef!
I like your idea that “no one knows what the dish is abut besides for the cook himself”. This is completely true! For example, on friday, i put up cholent and in the afternoon of course there were some hungry people who decided to sample some cholent. They all raved and ranted how good it was until one person commented on what that specific taste was. Once they found out what it was, they decided the cholent taste strange. If the cook keeps his ingredients to himself, the secrets are on him!!
I’d like to know how to make good healthy food fast
Where can I find an Italian / 00 style flour with a hechsher? I used to use King Arthur Flour brand in my pizza and pastas, but only their all-purpose and whole wheat flours come from supervised lines.
We eat a lot of chicken cutlets and I’m always looking for new sauces and ways to make them. I’d love to try some of the oxygen sauces.
I’d like to learn 5 basic sauces for various ethnic foods
Id like to learn how to make a pie crust and a seven minute frosting
lots of people have asked this. you need to decide on a shape and size and then get each item to the same shape and size so they will all cook the same rate.
i like an oblique cut. it is a rolling bias.
i take a carrot for example and make a 1/2 inch cut, then roll the carrot 1/4 turn and make a cut, then roll it 1/4 again and cut etc…
looks faceted and pretty on a plate.
smoked paprika is my go to spice these days. Pimenton is a spanish spice made by smoking peppers over oak until they are dry. then they are ground to a powder. the paprika comes sweet, spicy or medium.
you can find kosher smoked paprika online. it rocks and gives all the flavor of smoky-goodness with the fat!
I know this is very basic – but how do chefs manage to cut all the vegetables into same sized pieces? And what’s the proper way to cut them?
I’ve moved to the south, everything seems to be flavored with bacon…can you suggest a substitute?
Great story, I woould love to hear more about your cooking adventures.
you need to learn a formula/recipe and then adapt depending upon humidity and temperature.
bread is easy and not scary. just learn to play with the yeast.
i love the 6-8 inch Santoku for a utility knife. be sure to get a professional quality knife-not the house maker knife! your kids will fight over it!
Chef Laura – I have to say how impressed I am at the thoughtful, concise and info-packed responses you are giving everyone! My question is if you had to choose one all-purpose knife for chopping vegetables, what kind would you recommend? Thanks!
Thank you!
From watching various cooking shows and dining out, one of the biggest differences i’ve seen in home cooking is the sauces used to accent dishes. I would love to learn some of the basics here.
secretly nothing- I would rather watch and savor everything- I have learned b watching others there is so much to take in- but I cannot make bread for the life of me- it is not consistent- but thats a baker…
I watch all the chef shows like top chef, chopped, 80 plates I like to hear all the advice a chef gives. I would love to know how to make the perfect lava cake or how do you know without cutting into steak when it is well done or rare when grilling it outside?