Pro tip of the day.

For questions/topics that don't fit into the other, more specific forums.
Nmiller21k
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Re: Pro tip of the day.

Post by Nmiller21k »

Add textures to your home food
Fried crispy shallots
Fried chick peas etc

By god learn how to fucking cook an onion.
If you want more in-depth on onion coookery get with me next week. After Xmas I’ll be neck deep in scallops till Sunday.
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Drewski
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Re: Pro tip of the day.

Post by Drewski »

Nmiller21k wrote: Mon Dec 24, 2018 1:04 pm Add textures to your home food
Fried crispy shallots
Fried chick peas etc

By god learn how to fucking cook an onion.
If you want more in-depth on onion coookery get with me next week. After Xmas I’ll be neck deep in scallops till Sunday.
I'd love to hear more about cooking an onion. As for the shallots, do you just slice, flour, and fry?
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Re: Pro tip of the day.

Post by Nmiller21k »

Mandolin
Flour
Fry
Salt pepper

Next week I’ll write up an onion cooking guide
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Re: Pro tip of the day.

Post by mfishsauce »

Nmiller21k wrote: Mon Dec 24, 2018 2:31 pm Mandolin
Flour
Fry
Salt pepper

Next week I’ll write up an onion cooking guide
Looking forward to it!!
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Re: Pro tip of the day.

Post by Kalaeb »

Refrigerator gaskets hide lots of bacteria...make sure they get cleaned.
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Re: Pro tip of the day.

Post by dAviD »

Kalaeb wrote: Mon Dec 24, 2018 5:37 pm Refrigerator gaskets hide lots of bacteria...make sure they get cleaned.
Indeed!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And don't pay a repair guy to come out and do it.
We order ours all at once and swap as needed.
It's about time for the big restock after the new year.
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Re: Pro tip of the day.

Post by dAviD »

Nmiller21k wrote: Mon Dec 24, 2018 2:31 pm Mandolin
Flour
Fry
Salt pepper

Next week I’ll write up an onion cooking guide
Makes me remember the "tumbleweed" onion fade years and years ago. I think I finally got over it and started to enjoy lightly coated onions again.

I'd add a slight bit of corn starch to light fried foods.
I picked it up for a chef who worked in China.
Anything he would fry would be done in a pan and the mix allot of the time would include more cornstarch than flour.....it's light. the flour was just a seasoning sometimes but it really depends on the product we had to deal with.

A mandatory tool is a mandolin really.
As much bravado and time is spent working on knife skills, a mandolin really is a necessity.

I have sketches I made way back when...
Of a frame that would hold a Chinese cleaver in place of the mandolin blade because most of those can't be sharpened and are no where near as good an edge.
I even made a mock up with my prep cook out of cardboard for shit and giggles.

In the end though a cleaver blade was a little too wide.....
But 180 mm nakiri might work.......
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Re: Pro tip of the day.

Post by dAviD »

Seattle_Ben wrote: Sun Dec 23, 2018 5:27 pm
jmcnelly85 wrote: Sun Dec 23, 2018 12:22 pm Pro tip:

More salt.
The best way I ever heard another cook describe this was something to this effect.


Your mom is always worried that she's put too much salt in there, where you need to be asking if you've put enough in.
True. The old adage is it takes 10 years to learn how to properly salt a dish. It's gotten even more convoluted just because people think they know what they're doing in a kitchen because they watching TV show. Cooks that smoke and drink need to especially vigilant with that. Typically when I'm making a batch of something for service as a special we finish the dish with salt and pepper at the end.
That way as it sits longer, it doesn't get over-salted and concentrated in flavors.

I think of this only because it happens to be soup season, and my rule of thumb is if I make a soup, it gets seasoned before service and I also keep some of the stock separate so that we can control the flavor a little bit more.
And measure the "fillings". There's absolutely nothing worse then getting an over-salted soup that has no feeling and no fillings....anyway....SALT!

Mortons kosher salt.
Yes there's more salts on the market.
But that iodine table salt is nowhere to be found at my home or in the restaurant at work. Which means it's measurements are slightly different.
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Re: Pro tip of the day.

Post by gladius »

dAviD wrote: Mon Dec 24, 2018 6:04 pm ....SALT!

Mortons kosher salt.
Yes there's more salts on the market.
But that iodine table salt is nowhere to be found at my home or in the restaurant at work. Which means it's measurements are slightly different.
---
So true, I use Diamond Kosher which is considerably less salty than Morton and I can get my seasoning spot-on with Diamond and Maldon to finish at the table.
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Re: Pro tip of the day.

Post by cooknola »

gladius wrote: Mon Dec 24, 2018 6:47 pm
dAviD wrote: Mon Dec 24, 2018 6:04 pm ....SALT!

Mortons kosher salt.
Yes there's more salts on the market.
But that iodine table salt is nowhere to be found at my home or in the restaurant at work. Which means it's measurements are slightly different.
---
So true, I use Diamond Kosher which is considerably less salty than Morton and I can get my seasoning spot-on with Diamond and Maldon to finish at the table.

We can get into a virtual fisticuffs over salt choice. Personally Morton’s coarse kosher. That’s what every kitchen I’ve worked in uses. I use it at home. Go to my parents house though and I’m bringing my own quart container of it. I don’t care for Diamond but i do appreciate their process. Just too much of a difference for me to use it.
-C-
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Re: Pro tip of the day.

Post by limpet »

HectorFuego wrote: Sun Dec 23, 2018 9:51 am Silicone baking mats. Good to 450 (ish) degrees F. Nothing sticks to them. Put one of those mats on a cookie sheet and bake your butternut squash on it and clean up is a breeze. They're cheap and re-usable (many times).
I recently bought one and use it when sharpening my knives. See second & third photo in this instagram post:

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Re: Pro tip of the day.

Post by Drewski »

cooknola wrote: Wed Dec 26, 2018 2:50 am
gladius wrote: Mon Dec 24, 2018 6:47 pm
dAviD wrote: Mon Dec 24, 2018 6:04 pm ....SALT!

Mortons kosher salt.
Yes there's more salts on the market.
But that iodine table salt is nowhere to be found at my home or in the restaurant at work. Which means it's measurements are slightly different.
---
So true, I use Diamond Kosher which is considerably less salty than Morton and I can get my seasoning spot-on with Diamond and Maldon to finish at the table.

We can get into a virtual fisticuffs over salt choice. Personally Morton’s coarse kosher. That’s what every kitchen I’ve worked in uses. I use it at home. Go to my parents house though and I’m bringing my own quart container of it. I don’t care for Diamond but i do appreciate their process. Just too much of a difference for me to use it.
I found Maldon salt when I was living in England and fell in love with it. It was very cheap there and I used it was the only salt I used. It's expensive here but I get friends to smuggle it into Manitoba for me. For Christmas I just got a little pinch tin to carry my own Maldon salt everywhere I go. Really happy about this. (not a pro hahaha)
Adam L
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Re: Pro tip of the day.

Post by Adam L »

LaVieestBelle wrote: Fri Dec 21, 2018 12:32 pm Without carbon steel pans and my scrapers (and, Mark, of course my knives) my life in the kitchen would be less joyful. It's taken years to get the pan collection together.

pans1.jpg
Those are beautiful. What kind of pans are they?
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Re: Pro tip of the day.

Post by Bcos17 »

Adam L wrote: Sun Dec 30, 2018 10:30 am
LaVieestBelle wrote: Fri Dec 21, 2018 12:32 pm Without carbon steel pans and my scrapers (and, Mark, of course my knives) my life in the kitchen would be less joyful. It's taken years to get the pan collection together.

pans1.jpg
Those are beautiful. What kind of pans are they?

They look a little like Blanc Creatives but I think the handles are slightly different.
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Re: Pro tip of the day.

Post by Adam L »

Yikes those Blanc Creatives are pricey!
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Re: Pro tip of the day.

Post by LaVieestBelle »

Adam L wrote: Sun Dec 30, 2018 10:30 am
LaVieestBelle wrote: Fri Dec 21, 2018 12:32 pm Without carbon steel pans and my scrapers (and, Mark, of course my knives) my life in the kitchen would be less joyful. It's taken years to get the pan collection together.

pans1.jpg
Those are beautiful. What kind of pans are they?
Blue Skillet Ironware. Spent years acquiring them. Costly, but it’s a true love kind of thing!
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Re: Pro tip of the day.

Post by lsboogy »

Maldon salt is great, I also have a love for Jacobson stuff and black Falksalt. I have at least 8 different salts in my cupboard right now. And the silicon baking sheet thing I'm gonna have to try - I love good squash in the winter (just split it, take out the seeds and place the open side down on a cookie sheet - it is a mess to cleans up) and I can see how this is a good trick. Squash is cheap here, and we eat it often.
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Re: Pro tip of the day.

Post by PaulME »

Now I’m looking at the ~$2-300 pans, have to really figure out what sizes I will want to invest in.
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Re: Pro tip of the day.

Post by Nmiller21k »

Pro Tip

olive oil is not a high heat oil to saute with.
it's a finishing oil, and has more in common with fruit juice than actual oil.
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Re: Pro tip of the day.

Post by cooknola »

The best tools for opening coconuts are philips head screwdrivers and a good ball-peen hammer.
-C-
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