Today’s post is perfect for the person that’s afraid to try anything that seems exotic because they think it’s going to be hard to prepare. Cous Cous has to be one of the easiest things on the planet to make. Can you boil stock and pour it into a bowl of Cous Cous? Then this dish is for you. This was a hard demo to edit down to a reasonable length, so I did go pretty fast with some of the steps and I thought I better give some additional info to help you follow along. So, I’ve put a few steps along with the usual ingredient list.
Cous Cous is a tiny, granular type of pasta that is as delicious, as it is simple to prepare. Usually considered Moroccan, this is also a staple in Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. The amazing thing about couscous is how fast it “cooks,” and how versatile it is. As long as you have some type of flavorful stock to prepare the Cous Cous, the meats and vegetables can be varied in countless ways.
Regarding the gender bias reference in headline; it has been claimed that female eggplants have more seeds than male eggplants. Those tiny white/grey seeds are what give eggplant it’s slightly bitter flavor, so Chefs are said to favor the male eggplants. Anyway, I show you how to “sex” an eggplant, and we also test the male vs. female theory. Wow, I feel like that “Myth Buster” guy. Enjoy the clip!
4 cups couscous 1 quart chicken stock 2 pounds lamb shoulder chops 2 eggplants 1/2 onion 1/2 cup diced tomato or sauce 3 cloves garlic 1 tsp black pepper 2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp dried Herb de Provence (or Italian herb mix) 1/4 cup olive oil 4 oz feta cheese (optional) fresh herbs to garnish (mint, parsley, etc.)
Steps: * Season lamb with half the salt and pepper, brown well on both sides in a bit of olive oil in Dutch oven, remove and set aside. * Add onion, rest of salt and pepper, sauté for 5 minutes. * Add eggplant and sauté for 5 minutes. * Add tomato, garlic, red pepper flakes, cinnamon, cumin, Herb de Provence, sauté for 5 minutes. * Add stock and lamb, bring to a simmer and cover. Simmer for 2 hours. * Remove lamb. * Strain braising liquid from eggplant and reserve (you should have about 4 1/2 cups). * Remove meat from bones and add to eggplant mixture, keep warm. * Bring reserved stock to boil and pour over “oiled” Cous Cous (see clip) * Cover tightly for 5 minutes, fluff and serve as shown in clip.
Legend has it that this dessert was the result of a major catering disaster. The dessert for this particular event was to be individual chocolate cakes, but someone took them out of the ovens to soon and the centers where not cooked enough and still liquefied. Well, there was no time to take them off the plates and cook them more, so the Chef simply had his wait staff introduce the dessert as Chocolate “Lava” Cake! Brilliant! Now, whether this is true or not, I don’t know for sure, but it totally sounds like something a Chef would do. If you have a better story email it to me and I’ll start using it.
Regardless of how it was born, it sure is good. I used very dark chocolate, but you can use semi-sweet or milk chocolate if you prefer. If you’ve watch my clips regularly you know I’m not big on measuring ingredients, BUT when you’re doing baked desserts you really do need to be accurate. So measure carefully. By the way, this was a view request and the photo he sent me (pictured above with the fruit) had no copyright info with it. I did use it in the clip and hopefully no one gets too upset. If you did happen to take this photo, and are upset I’m using it without permission, please email me and I will credit you. Enjoy!
Ingredients 2 extra large eggs 1 extra large egg yolk 5 tbl butter 3 tbl sugar 3.5 oz. dark chocolate (this is one standard chocolate bar) 3 tbl flour 2 tsp cocoa powder *Bake at 425 F, in water bath for 15 mins.
Hopefully you watched the hollandaise demo we just posted, and you are ready to fearlessly finish this delicious egg dish! So, the sauce is done, now you need to poach the eggs and finish the plate. In this first clip, I show the basic restaurant technique for poaching eggs. Due to the high-volume of a brunch service, it is almost impossible to poach eggs “to order.” They are poached ahead of time and held in cold water until final plating, when they are re-heated in simmering water for a few minutes. This method also works great at home for smaller batches as you’ll see. Once you’ve poached your eggs and have them in cold water you are free to set up the rest of the plate and all you then have to do is reheat them as I’ll show you. Ok, here we go with the poaching clip. Immediately following is the final plating and some cruel teasing on my part.
Now that we have our eggs ready we can plate this beauty up. Now, as you’ll hear me say in the clip, I didn’t waste time filming how to toast an English muffin and fry up a couple pieces of Canadian bacon. If you need help with those techniques you can email me and I’ll make fun of you in private. VERY IMPORTANT: make sure you are using a warm plate! Since the sauce is just warm, not piping hot, and the eggs are also just warm, it is CRUCIAL that the plate is warm, as well as making sure the English muffin and Canadian bacon are hot. If you need some potatoes to serve with this dish, please check out our Homefries demo. Enjoy!
Re-run alert! Yes, viewers to my old blog may have seen this clip before, but it’s such a key sauce to master, I wanted to have it on this new blog. This sauce can be used on many other things besides eggs; like grilled asparagus and poached salmon. But, since the most common use is on the famous Eggs Benedict, I will also demo how to poach eggs (secret restaurant method) and how to finish the final dish. Stay tuned for that. Now, let’s get our Hollandaise on.
I’m going to show you a new and terrifying method for making this classic Sauce. I don’t use a double-boiler, but rather cook the egg yolks directly over a low flame. I find it faster, easier, and with less chance of under-cooking the yolks. (Warning, you may scramble a few before you get it, but once you get the feel you’ll never do them over water again!) Please note, it’s hard to see on the video, the bowl is never actually touching the flame, but a few inches above.
You’ll hear me say in the clip that this is the way to control the heat in the eggs. Most importantly, be brave! Like bees and dogs, a Hollandaise can sense fear. If you are afraid it’s going to “break” or separate, then it will. I believe this so deeply I had the slogan printed on T-shirts, which coincidently, I’m selling on the site! Hey, I think this is the first clip that actually features one of my products. Did I just “sell out?” If you are interested in getting one of these shirts just click on the picture and you'll be whisked away (pun intended) to my CafePress online shop. Anyway, good luck with the Hollandaise, and let me know how it came out. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 1 1/2 stick of unsalted butter 2 egg yolks 1/2 lemon salt to taste cayenne or tabasco sauce to taste
Well, I just posted a meatloaf clip so I thought I would re-post this mashed potato demo. Every day, all across the country, people sit down to plates of lumpy, watery, sticky, gluey, pasty mashed potatoes. This demo will hopefully show you the proper techniques to turn out perfect mashed potatoes every time; always light, fluffy and lump-free.
It’s not hard, but it does require breaking some bad, old habits you may have. Making mashed potatoes is one of those comfort foods that you probably learned from your mother. If she used waxy red potatoes, then that’s what you use. If she mixed them for 20 minutes and ended up with something resembling wallpaper paste, then that’s what you do. Well, it’s time to face a harsh reality…your mom may not have known what the hell she was doing. There, I said it. Now, if you mom’s mashers came out great and she taught you well, fantastic! But if you do suffer from this generational potato dysfunction, then watch and learn. As they say, it’s never too late to have a happy childhood (mashed potato-wise at least).
I suggest NOT using a non-stick pot for these, as I will be using a metal wire-style potato masher.
Ingredients: Serves 4 3 large Russet potatoes 1/2 stick butter 1/2 cup milk salt and pepper to taste
This recipe is a version that Alton Brown did on Good Eats. I’ve added a few extra ingredients, like mushrooms, which I believe helps make a very moist meatloaf. Do I feel bad stealing Alton’s recipe? No, because he stole it from someone, who stole it from someone, and so on and so on. I've tried many recipes and this is my favorite for flavor, texture and it's just plain easy to make.
I believe this is the first demo I make you dust off your food processor for. I know they are a pain to drag out and clean, but they are crucial to this recipe! The real secret to this method is the veggie puree we add to the meat and bread crumbs. Not only do these aromatic vegetables add tons of flavor, more importantly they add moisture to the mix. Most “bad” meatloaves are nothing more than giant baked hamburgers.
Another important tip is to use a digital meat thermometer to check for an internal temp of 155° F. This will produce the best final product. The times I give can be very tricky since all ovens are different and you may not have shaped yours exactly the same as mine. When you go by internal temps you take the guess work out of it.
Stay tuned, as I will show you my mushroom sauce recipe that I garnished this beautiful loaf of meat with. In fact, it just stopped raining here in Northern California, so there should be a nice selection of wild mushrooms to use. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 2 1/2 pounds ground chuck (80% lean) 1 carrot 1 rib celery 1/2 onion 1/2 red bell pepper 4 white mushrooms 3 cloves garlic 1 cup plain bread crumbs 1 egg 1 tbl Worcestershire sauce 1 tsp dried Italian herbs 2 tbl olive oil 2 tsp salt 1 tsp black pepper 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 1 tsp olive oil
Glaze: 2 tbl brown sugar 2 tbl ketchup 2 tbl Dijon mustard hot sauce to taste
Of all the things I’ve demonstrated on this site, without a doubt, this will be the one that the fewest viewers try. Why? Well, basically we’re going to spend 45 minutes, risk slicing off our finger tips, and when we’re finished we are going to have (if everything goes perfectly) about 10 translucent potato chips with leaves of herbs embedded inside. So why bother? I’m not sure. Just watch the demo and it may make sense. For the hardcore foodie, this may actually be interesting, for the rest of you, not so much.
If done properly (which will probably take you 4 or 5 times) this does make for a very cool garnish. And, for the select few that actually make and serve these, you may get one of your guests to ask, “Oh my God! How did you get the herbs inside that potato chip?!? This is the culinary equivalent of the old ship in the bottle mystery. Enjoy!
Ingredients: fresh herb leaves (Italian parsley, oregano, tarragon, etc) 1 large russet potato 2 tbl olive oil salt to taste (after cooked)
Today’s post is perfect for the person that’s afraid to try anything that seems exotic because they think it’s going to be hard to prepare. Cous Cous has to be one of the easiest things on the planet to make. Can you boil stock and pour it into a bowl of Cous Cous? Then this dish is for you. This was a hard demo to edit down to a reasonable length, so I did go pretty fast with some of the steps and I thought I better give some additional info to help you follow along. So, I’ve put a few steps along with the usual ingredient list.
