Master Chef Jacques Pepin

    I was utterly shocked, speechless even, a few weeks back when I mentioned my excitement to a group of friends having just come from a Jacques Pepin demo at school. Instead of the reactions I was expecting, I was met with blank stares and a "who's Jacques Pepin?" I really couldn't believe it. I had no choice but to write about him.

Jacques Pepin is one of the forefathers of American cuisine. He is the male equivalent of Julia Child, being that his impact on food and cooking in this country is enormous. His accolades and accomplishments are endless. He was Charles de Gaulle's personal chef and is the author of over 25 cookbooks. He won a Daytime Emmy award for a show he did with Julia Child, Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home (also an excellent cookbook). He has received a lifetime achievement award from the James Beard Foundation. He is the founder of the American Institute of Wine and Food. He writes a quarterly column for Food & Wine magazine and has frequently written for The New York Times. He is currently the Dean of Special Programs at FCI and also teaches at Boston University. He has served as a guest judge on Top Chef and has had numerous television shows and specials, most recently More Fast Food My Way which airs on PBS (channel 13 here in NY).

So imagine my excitement of being privileged to learn from the Master Chef himself.

The topic of his demonstration was smoking techniques. 

Chef Pepin prepared a few different dishes including a ceviche (below), smoked salmon, smoked shrimp & smoked scallops (below) and an instant cured salmon. And everything was really incredible. Smoking something causes food, the fish in this case, to retain a smoky flavor—not unlike cooking on a charcoal grill." The shrimp and the scallops, which are more unlikely candidates to be smoked, were by far my favorites.  To be able to eat Chef Pepin's food was really a treat.

Aside from being an incredible chef, he is an amazing teacher. He is more than forthcoming with information, sharing his techniques and ideas. He shares stories about how he met Julia Child, his wife and daughter, his neighbors and his culinary history. 

When I found out that during Level 5, we will be preparing a recipe of his to serve in the restaurant, I was very excited. More on that, in my next post.

Les Halles

It's impressive that although Anthony Bourdain has not cooked there in some time (8 years I believe), Les Halles on Park Avenue (there is another location on John Street) is still very busy. At least it was on my recent visit—a Tuesday evening, no less. It's surprising because there is a little bit of a strange feel to Les Halles. One I couldn't quite put my finger on. Initially, I was put off by attempting to figure out if the crowd was all sight-seeing tourists or if they were there for the food. Aside from the crowd, however, the staff was even more flawed. The matching denim shirts that the waiters wear inspired flashbacks of Bubba Gump Shrimp. Or maybe it was the aprons emblazoned with "Les Halles" on them. Service-wise, they seemed like leftovers after all the better and more qualified candidates were hired by other restaurants. The last ones to be picked for dodge ball in gym class. So the folks at Les Halles have done a smart thing by keeping Bourdain (now the host of No Reservations
on The Travel Channel) affiliated with the restaurant. While clearly
just a marketing tool, certainly the service and food alone would not warrant such a
crowd.

I took a seat at the bar and waited for my dining companions. The bartender seemed completely confused by everything, including the menu. And after way too much deliberation, recommend what turned out to be an awful rosé. Thankfully it was only a taste. He did mention to a co-worker how hungover he was, so I guess you can't really blame him? After an additional 15 minutes to get a glass of wine at the bar, we were finally seated by a hostess who's heavy Eastern European accent made her attempts at speaking French painful. Hoping that the worst was behind us, we placed our order. However, 10 minutes or so later our waiter returned to our table to make sure he got the order right saying, "I'm sorry. I was distracted by the #8 and #9 tennis players." To ease the looks of confusion of the faces of my dining companions, I explained that the US Open was going on. (It wound up being John Isner, who is actually ranked #55. Anyway, I digress.) Although the waiter and bartender were useless, when the food came out, it made everything okay. That's not to say it was exceptional—far from it. But it was good enough to justify the visit and the somewhat bloated prices. On future visits, if I make any, I'd like to explore the menu further. However, on this night I only ordered an entrée. The steak au poivre had an incredibly peppery crust that complimented the meat perfectly and it was cooked as I requested. We also had the salmon, which needed some salt, but was otherwise tasty. Still, it was hard to forget all the other missteps.

Hey, love you Tony. But Les Halles, not so much.

Level 4: Family Meal and Production

With only two days left of Level 4 and the end of school fast approaching, here is the rest of what we've been doing in this level.

The foreground is the production kitchen and in the background, the family meal kitchen.

During family meal, we prepared food for the entire school of over 150 people. So everything is done in large quantities. Chef Wanda, our chef-instructor for family meal, definitely gave all the recipes her own spin. And thank god for that. When we were in Levels 1 & 2, family meal was brought up to our classroom every night. I would say on average 1 out of every 6 meals was good. It was very disappointing. Almost every meal had raisins in it. Raisins in the rice, raisins in the salad and in the couscous. It became a joke, "where are the raisins tonight?" Needless to say, none of use were looking forward to eventually
preparing family meal considering what we were eating. This was cause for concern after it continued week after week and it certainly created doubt as to what we'd be learning down the
road. Well as it turns out, whomever the Chef that was teaching at that
time, was clearly very, very bad because with Chef Wanda most everything was delicious. She proved us all wrong.

Pork shoulder

 

The production station consists of butchering, filleting and breaking down meats, poultry or fish for the restaurant; and preparing stocks for the lower levels and/or the restaurant. It can get boring because essentially we are doing the same thing every class (even though we are learning a great deal of very important information.) My classmates and I can't wait to start actually cooking again. But it was this station and some of family meal that really prepared me for what I was going to do during my kitchen trail at Locanda Verde.

After changing, the first thing I worked on was cleaning a box of fava beans. Then I cut grapes in half that were to be marinated in red wine. Then a box of cherry tomatoes (below). 

After the tomatoes were halved and packed. I got started on some other tasks before I eventually went upstairs to the kitchen to watch service. It was chaotic to say the least. Saturday night plus a private party for 50 people, plus any room service orders that came in (the restaurant is in the Greenwich Hotel), made for a lot of energy. The kitchen is very small, so I was pretty much hugging a wall for most of the time. But it allowed me views of most everything that was going on. Some of the cooks were kind enough to make me some of what they were cooking (lucky me). I tried the rabbit terrine with sour cherry mostarda (below), fire-roasted garlic chicken (which was incredible), lamb meatballs, watermelon and cherry tomato salad, mozzarella crostino with eggplant and pesto on prosciutto bread, penne pugliese with sausage, broccoli rabe and ceci, spaghetti with pancetta and cockles, homemade pappardelle with lamb bolognese, mint and ricotta, plus the pasta special which was a pasta with porcini mushrooms and porcini butter. I ate so much that when I noticed family meal down in the prep kitchen, which was the restaurant's incredible ravioli, I was too full to eat any!

Next up, is a kitchen trail at one of Bobby Flay's restaurants. And that is going to be really exciting. It was Bobby Flay and his restaurant Mesa Grill that really had the biggest and long lasting impact on me. But that's a story for a future post.

Bon Appetit Supper Club and Cafe

This week, for one week only, Bon Appetit magazine sets up shop on 57th street and operates their Supper Club and Cafe on the corner of 6th Avenue. Chefs such as Cat Cora, Emeril Lagasse, Rick Bayless, Mario Batali, Jose Andres, Alex Stupak and Nate Appleman among others, provide the recipes. The menu consists of sandwiches, salads, soups and desserts in addition to one daily special, like Jose Andres' Meatballs with Peaches (tomorrow). Additionally, some of these chefs will also be there to demonstrate various cooking techniques in the cafe. The atmosphere was a little hectic for my taste, I was bombarded with employees directing me here and there, but ultimately when I tasted Nate Appleman's vegetarian sandwich with marinated peppers, zucchini, red onion and smoked ricotta cheese on a rosemary focaccia (below), I knew I'd be going back before the end of the week.

    Emeril's Roast Turkey Panini with Pesto, Red Pepper and Fontina

Are You Ready For A Throwdown?

Bobby Flay was recently gracious enough to offer me to "shadow" him for a day. What that means exactly, I have no clue. But next Tuesday I will be at a taping of his Food Network show "Throwdown with Bobby Flay." For those of you who haven't seen the show, the description from the Food Network's website reads "Chef Bobby Flay is on a secret mission: to challenge the absolute masters in different kinds of cooking – award-winning BBQers, bakers, pizza makers and more. In each episode, one of these cooks thinks Food Network is shooting their profile for a show. What they don't know is that Bobby is going to drop in for a surprise visit and challenge them to an unexpected cook-off. Since they're in their element and Bobby's out of his, prepare for an exciting, tension-filled competition" 

During the episode before he challenges his opponent, he spends time perfecting his recipe and technique for the event in the Food Network test kitchens. So, that's where I will be watching and most likely trying not to drool.

The Perfect Scramble

Recently I decided that I wanted to master scrambled eggs. So I decided to test different recipes to see which one made the best eggs. There really is nothing like that perfectly light and fluffy scrambled egg. However, there are various techniques and schools of thought. Some put water in, some put milk, etc. After trying many ways, the best way is the pure way. No water, no milk. I found that it only diluted that wonderful egg flavor. (If you insist on adding liquid, add milk not water.) In fact, it was Martha Stewart's technique that won me over.

Hers is simple and straight forward: Beat the eggs for a good 2 minutes. This incorporates air into the eggs and will create an amazing creaminess and fluffiness. 

I also found that taking the eggs off the heat earlier rather than later not only gave them that restaurant taste, it prevented them from drying out which seems to happen often. Harold McGee (The New York Times' Curious Cook), who's book On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of The Kitchen is a bible of the hows and whys of everything about cooking and—a must-have book for any cook—says "(the) eggs should be removed from the pan while still slightly underdone, since they will continue to thicken for some time with their residual heat."

Remember that when scrambling eggs, you MUST have your stove on low heat. And I mean on the lowest possible. This is a slow and low (that is the tempo) way of cooking. Scrambling eggs requires patience.

So here is my technique:

1) Place eggs and a dash of salt in a bowl and whisk (using a whisk, not a fork) for two minutes. After the two minutes have passed, you will notice air bubbles have incorporated into the eggs. If you do not see this, you must whisk some more. However, be careful not to over whisk or you will unravel the protein molecules.

Proper whisking technique.

2) Either after whisking or before you crack the eggs, they should be brought to room temperature. (this step is optional)

3) Add butter, cooking spray or oil (I prefer not to use oil) to a non-stick pan. When you see the butter bubble lightly, add the eggs.

4) Using a spatula or a flat wooden spoon, push eggs toward center while tilting skillet to distribute runny parts. Depending on the size of the egg curds you want should determine how often and how soon you agitate the eggs. I like to allow the eggs to set for 30 seconds or so before I start to pushing towards the center. I like the curds to be larger in size so I only move them every 10-15 seconds or so.

5) When the eggs have formed and no liquid remains in the pan and the eggs have a somewhat "cheesy" consistancy, remove them from the pan. This is an important step because you don't want dried out eggs.

6) Season with salt and pepper to taste if desired. Enjoy.

Andrew Carmellini/Locanda Verde

With what felt like the big bang of celebrity chefs (i.e. Bobby Flay, Mario Batali) behind us, where do we look for the next great restaurant or next great chef. Certainly New York has an abundance in these departments. But who has the potential to really make a mark on this city? On any short list, Andrew Carmellini stands near the top.

Chef Carmellini spent six years as chef de cuisine at Cafe Boulud , where he won the James Beard Award for Rising Star Chef and Best Chef in New York City. (Previously he spent time at Le Cirque and at Lespinasse.) After his time there, he went to open A Voce, receiving a Michelin star, but departed after only around two years. Most recently, he opened Locanda Verde in The Greenwich Hotel. The hotel's owner has caused a great deal of media attention thus far but it is the food and chef Carmellini that will keep the customers coming. At first the breakfast was gaining a great deal of buzz, but it is now clearly about lunch and dinner. With a somewhat rustic, yet sophisticated menu (evidenced and inspired by his book Urban Italian), Chef Carmellini strikes that perfect balance between casual and pleasing. Although he spent time in several high-end French kitchens, his passion is for Italian food. "I want this to be a neighborhood restaurant", he told the New York Times with regards to the opening of Locanda. "I want it to be laid back and casual. I want to have a good time."

Two weeks ago I was lucky enough to enjoy an excellent meal at Locanda Verde. I can tell you that this restaurant will be keeping customers happy for time to come. I sampled as much of the menu as I could and started with a pitcher of sangria that was worth the trip on its own. But I was there for the food. Of the starters, the Blue Crab Crostino (below) was by far my favorite. My Grandmother's Ravioli from the pasta section of the menu (which originally appeared on the Cafe Bouloud menu), are a revelation and should not be missed.

Grilled Octopus with spicy almond romesco and local fagiolini

But even more exciting perhaps than eating at Locanda Verde, will be working there: Chef Carmellini was nice enough to offer me a kitchen trail this Saturday from noon to midnight. It will be my first experience in a professional restaurant kitchen—and what a way to start! For more on Locanda I recommend you visit fwordsblog.com and read the "L-l-l-l-Lola" post or read this more in depth view of the menu from Serious Eats.

 

Level 4: Buffet

 
Level 4 is separated into 3 sections: buffet, production and family meal (in a restaurant "family meal" refers to the food that is prepared for the staff). I began in buffet with Chef Jason, who was also our Level 3 Chef-Instructor. Each student was to come up with 20 to 30 recipes that we would widdle down and create a buffet with for the entire school after 6 classes. This is where we really get a chance to use our own ideas, likes, creativity etc. It is in buffet that we can work with essentially anything that we want. I was interested in coming to class with recipes that used ingredients that we hadn't worked with before, recipes that I wanted to make on my own or techniques or flavors that were a bit of a departure from the classic French recipes we had been working on throughout the program so far. Chef Jason apparently liked my recipes because he chose 8  to be included in the buffet. Those recipes were:

1. spicy tomato consomme (above);
   


2. grilled white asparagus wrapped in prosciutto with maitre d'hotel butter, poached egg and black truffle vinaigrette;
   


3. ricotta gnudi with wild mushroom and truffle sauce;
   


4. Guinness ice cream;
   


5. coffee-caramel creme brulee;
   


6. zucchini-blossom tacos;
   


7. sea urchin (uni) risotto; and
   


8. crispy fried sweetbreads 

Unfortunately, not all of my chosen recipes made it to the actual buffet. Some were lost when one of our freezers went down, some didn't make it because we just didn't have enough time to do everything. But everything we made was really delicious as my classmates came up with some great dishes. The six of us all worked together to prepare every dish that would be served.

bbq ribs

Sea urchin risotto with seared scallops and fresh uni

36 hour Chicharrón (pork belly cooked sous vide and then deep fried)

  Chocolate egg rolls

This is the buffet kitchen. It's about 1/3 of the size of the kitchens we were working in previously. 

 Asian meatballs

The charcuterie plate (bratwurst; foie gras terrine; prosciutto)

Seared tuna on fried lotus root chips and Asian seasoning

White chocolate cheese cakes (right) and bread puddings

the sweetbreads

In addition to the above, we also made a caprese salad with heirloom tomatoes (above) and a mozzarella prosciutto roll; glazed carrots; buttermilk cole slaw; a seafood salad with octopus; calamari and shrimp; koulibiac (salmon in puff pastry); a baby lamb and many more which I cannot remember. Each group of students will prepare their own buffet (the next one is this evening). So in other words, I will eat very well tonight.

Level 4 has been worlds apart from the previous levels. After the midterm it feels like nothing can be as chaotic or stressful. Thus far in Level 4 the pace is drastically more laid back and we actually get dinner breaks again. And Chef Jason went from a slave driver in Level 3 to incredibly awesome and great to be around.

 

In the previous levels, each level was in its own kitchen. Levels 1 & 2 side by side on the 4th floor. Level 3 on the 2nd floor. However, levels 4-6 are all on the ground floor and although the level 4 kitchen is separated from the main restaurant kitchen, a lot of time is spent running into the restaurant kitchen to grab anything from a sheet pan, to a mixer, strainer etc. It's exciting to finally be down there and be able to see what's ahead. Next up is Family Meal and then Production, after that will be the start of Level 5 in the L'Ecole kitchen where we will begin cooking for actual customers. That is where the fun and fear begins!