Have you ever learned anything from a celebrity chef?

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Two things occur to me. The first was something that I pretty much already knew, but I had hammered into my head in very explicit terms by one of Anthony Bourdain's books. Get a good quality nonstick frying pan and never let soap touch it. I got a set of three different sizes and only use hot water, my fingers and a dish towel to clean them.

The second thing was also from Bourdain, and was a case of a rank amateur learning a basic cooking method way too late in life. I knew that to make good beef stock it was important to brown the bones, but I'd always thought that one browned stock-bones the same way one browned onions or a pot roast, in a hot frying pan with some oil. I never knew about roasting the bones in medium-low heat for a long time until I read Kitchen Confidential. No wonder my beef stocks were always poor relations to my poultry stocks. Duh!

I'm almost ashamed to admit this stuff on the internet.

― the apex of nadirs (Rock Hardy), Saturday, 23 October 2004 20:39 (twenty-one years ago)

One of the first tv shows I remember watching regularly was Graham Kerr, the Galloping Gourmet. Aside from the wine imbibing, I learned that it was not only possible, but actually desirable, to cook things that didn't come prepackaged in boxes and cans (e.g. Chef Boy-ar-dee spaghetti and Kraft mac and cheese) and that sauces could also be made - a distinct alternative to cans of Campbell's cream of celery and cream of mushroom soup. Which is pretty much all we ate, besides sandwiches and Mrs. Paul's fish sticks.

― Jaq (Jaq), Sunday, 24 October 2004 02:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Raymond Blanc taught me (in real life, not via a television programme) how to bone out a chicken.

― C J (C J), Sunday, 24 October 2004 12:27 (twenty-one years ago)

It occurs to me that I've learned a lot of things from Alton Brown, but he's not a chef — more like a mad scientist with a kitchen for a lab.

― the apex of nadirs (Rock Hardy), Sunday, 24 October 2004 12:48 (twenty-one years ago)

learned a lot of what NOT to do from everbody's favorite whipping boy Emeril. Like over-seasoning for starters...

― lovebug starski (lovebug starski), Sunday, 24 October 2004 13:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Almost everything I've learned has been from Food Network. And maybe my Joy of Cooking page-a-day calendar.

Having said that, I read about eggs last night in Alton Brown's "I'm Just Here for the Food" cookbook. Now, I think this only applies to America but did you know that stamped on your carton of eggs is the date and grade of your eggs? AA being the freshest, then A, then B. Also, the date is Julian so it's just a number between 1 and 365. For example, today's Julian date is 299.

So, this leads me to the fridge where I see that my eggs were packages TWENTY days ago and are grade B (even though the carton says grade A!!!!).

!!!!

― Vermont Girl (Vermont Girl), Monday, 25 October 2004 12:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Don't freak too much on how old they are - eggs kept under refrigeration will keep for almost 2 months (thought the whites will get runnier and runnier and the yolk will flatten out).

― Jaq (Jaq), Monday, 25 October 2004 13:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Here's a link to the USDA Egg Labeling practice. The grade doesn't figure into the standard for date labeling.

― Jaq (Jaq), Monday, 25 October 2004 13:46 (twenty-one years ago)

Okay, this egg labeling got me curious about what those grades actually mean, so I found the USDA standard. AA, A, B - looks like it's all about cosmetics, how the shell looks, how big the air cell is, how the yolk looks when it's candled.

Our favorite egg farmers closed up shop last month and we are down to less than 2 dozen left. The closest pasture-ranged producer I can find is 2 hours away, so we may be heading to the grocery for eggs. I'm glad you found this info Vermont Girl!

― Jaq (Jaq), Monday, 25 October 2004 14:02 (twenty-one years ago)

And did you know that an egg at room temperature ages more in ONE DAY than a refrigerated egg does in ONE WEEK?

I believe you about the grading not being factored into the label... when I see another letter besides AA, A or B in front of the Julian day...

― Vermont Girl (Vermont Girl), Monday, 25 October 2004 14:27 (twenty-one years ago)

That's kinda how a lot of things work -- milk will spoil more much faster at room temperature than in the fridge.

On the other hand, bananas turn brown much faster in the fridge than at room temperature. That's the part that should BLOW YOUR MIND!!!!!

― Casuistry (Chris P), Monday, 25 October 2004 16:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Refrigeration does bad things to tomatoes too.

― Jaq (Jaq), Monday, 25 October 2004 17:17 (twenty-one years ago)

... I feel kind of dumb now... Like, if someone ran up to me and said, "If you STARE at the sun, you'll HURT your eyes!!" and then I run around telling everyone... and everyone goes, "Like, no duh."

Personally, I think banana's brown faster in the fridge because they're tropical and don't like cold weather. Huh? Huh? One point for Vermont Girl logic! Oh yeah!

― Vermont Girl (Vermont Girl), Monday, 25 October 2004 18:05 (twenty-one years ago)

I used to work at a grocery wholesaler — the produce department had a separate room for bananas. I suppose the temperature was warmer than in the main produce warehouse, though I don't recall. The main reason it was separate was to be able to flood the room with ethylene gas, which is used to force-ripen bananas. I just googled a little banana info and found out that after the fruit is fully ripe it will keep in the fridge for 3-5 days. The peel will turn brown, but the fruit isn't affected. Allegedly. (I've never tried this.) I have a vague memory of going into the banana room once — maybe the ethylene wiped out those short-term memories.

― the apex of nadirs (Rock Hardy), Monday, 25 October 2004 18:31 (twenty-one years ago)

(Don't feel bad, VG. ;-)

I wanted to make a joke early on about how I learned advanced fellatio techniques from Jamie Oliver, but it is sadly not so true.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Monday, 25 October 2004 18:41 (twenty-one years ago)

That is a shame, he looks like he could do the chrome/trailer hitch thing.

I think I've learned a bit from Mario Battali, mainly getting ideas about ingredients that go together well. I used to really hate him, and I still think his sitcommy Italian travelogue show (Mario Eats Italy) was awful, but in later seasons of "Molto Mario," he's dialled back the smugness several notches.

― the apex of nadirs (Rock Hardy), Monday, 25 October 2004 19:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Bananas also release gasses that make other fruits ripen too, weirdly. I think they may be sentient fruits trying to take over the earth, only problem is, they're all sterile

― Porkpie (porkpie), Monday, 25 October 2004 20:24 (twenty-one years ago)

They're herb flowers, innit. And ALL CLONES OF EACH OTHER.

― Liz :x (Liz :x), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 09:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Gassy, phallic clones taking over the earth to make us breed for them! THE HORROR!

I've never actually liked bananas. With good reason, it seems.

― Jaq (Jaq), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 15:31 (twenty-one years ago)

It's one of the things I was allergic to for decades. Thankfully, my food allergies seem to be gradually subsiding. (I can eat two whole bites of watermelon now without swelling shut!) But a lifetime of avoidance does strange things to one's mind. I'd sort of convinced myself that I didn't like the foods I couldn't eat; now that I can eat them, I have to reconvince myself that I liked them all along!

― the apex of nadirs (Rock Hardy), Tuesday, 26 October 2004 16:08 (twenty-one years ago)

I just don't like bananas, nasty texture, unfortunately I seem to be developing an allergy to pineapple, whenever I have it my mouth feels as if it's tightening up, along with my throat - not pleasant

― Porkpie (porkpie), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 07:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Man, that sucks - to severe to just be the astringency of the juice?

― Liz :x (Liz :x), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 10:06 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah, it seems to happen every time, no matter how much I have, sometimes I get it a bit with Melons too especially if eat the flesh nearest the skin.

On the celebrity chef thing, Alton Brown rocks, when we were in Florida we were lucky enough to have an apartment with the food channel and he was ace, so I look at getting the dvds - two nine disc sets for 120 dollars!!! (half price at that)

I haven't seen enough AB, only one on home smoking, a special on salt and a couple others I watched when worse for wear :o(

― Porkpie (porkpie), Wednesday, 27 October 2004 10:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I learned a lot of basic techniques from David Rosengarten and Jacques Pepin (baking).

― Orbit (Orbit), Thursday, 28 October 2004 19:31 (twenty-one years ago)

I AM MOMUSFOR HALLOWEEN

― sometimes i like to pretend i am very small and warm (ex machina), Sunday, 31 October 2004 01:07 (twenty-one years ago)

six months pass...

As much as I find David Rosengarten annoying (tons), I love that in his book Taste, he supplies criteria for assessing how well the dishes have turned out, and for troubleshooting what went wrong. I tend to uncritically believe whatever he says, now, though -- not so great.

― Hemoglobin Hummingbird (HemoHum), Saturday, 30 April 2005 00:02 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

Reviving this because I got Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles cookbook, and have to admit I never thought about seeding tomatoes before. Makes a huge difference in summer salads, and will be a boon when I make tomato paste in the fall. It took forever to get all those pesky seeds out last year.

― Jaq (Jaq), Monday, 13 June 2005 16:09 (twenty years ago)

Does Bittman count as a celebrity chef?

― Remy (x Jeremy), Monday, 13 June 2005 20:51 (twenty years ago)

Is Bittman the "How to cook everything" guy? I was just reading cookbook reviews over on Slate - that one sounded really useful.

― Jaq (Jaq), Monday, 13 June 2005 21:31 (twenty years ago)

It's fine if you have a food processor (which I don't).

― Casuistry (Chris P), Monday, 13 June 2005 21:42 (twenty years ago)

Yes. Almost all of my cookbooks are specialities of some sort, but How To Cook Everything is the most relevent all-purpose text I own. I barely open the N.Y. Times book (too expensive), Joy of Cooking (dated, dated, dated,) Fanny Farmer (kind of spotty), but the Bittman book harldy ever makes it back to the shelf.

― Remy (x Jeremy), Monday, 13 June 2005 21:48 (twenty years ago)

I would love to re-watch all the old Floyd On... series - Floyd on Food, on Fish and on France were particlarly fun and I learned some oldskool basics from some of his shows. One of which was dont cook while you're pissed.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 00:38 (twenty years ago)

Also, this is my celeb chef bible:

http://photos1.blogger.com/img/299/1404/1024/cookscompanion_wideweb__430x354.jpg

1100 pages of cooking goodness for every ingredient you could think of.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 00:40 (twenty years ago)

One of which was dont cook while you're pissed.

Pissed in the Australian sense? Though I think that might be safer than cooking while pissed in the american sense....

― Jaq (Jaq), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 01:43 (twenty years ago)

Floyd is on Sky Travel every night of the week!

I wonder how many times I've seen Ken Hom season a wok. It's like he says "OK, I'll appear on your daytime TV show, but only if we can season woks!"

― Mädchen (Madchen), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 14:44 (twenty years ago)

I can *never* season a wok quite right. I get the nice black seared oil surface but every time I cook something I end up with at least one patch of exposed metal I have to re-oil, otherwise it all goes rusty. Its gotten better with age (Ive persisted with the same one and I never scour it or use soap) but it never goes all black like the ones in kitchens.

― Trayce (trayce), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 23:05 (twenty years ago)

This happens to me, too, Trayce. I'm on my second wok now, and I've also destroyed a really nice cast-iron dutch oven. It rusts even when I oil it, but it's too expensive to replace so I find myself just lining it with foil, and that's an unfortunate concession.

― Remy (x Jeremy), Tuesday, 14 June 2005 23:48 (twenty years ago)

Do you oil then bake upside down in the oven for an hour? I did that twice with the cast iron skillet because I missed several spots on the first go. And I overly-scoured it after frying some sausages and had to do it a third time.

I've never cooked in a wok, though my husband keeps clamoring for one. Never been much for stir=fry, but maybe that's another midwestern prejudice to purge.

― Jaq (Jaq), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 01:22 (twenty years ago)

It is pretty cheap and easy, right? Just throw a bunch of things together and heat. Doesn't really appeal to what I like in cooking, but it's good eating.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 05:10 (twenty years ago)

bittman's how to cook everything is great, probably the best american all-arounder i've read. i don't use a food processor, but that hasn't been a problem so far.

one really good tip from nigella's food bites program: put plastic storage baggies on your hands when handling chopped chillies.

― lauren (laurenp), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 11:15 (twenty years ago)

I use my wok for curries as well as stir fries. But ack! I'm off the topic.

One of which was dont cook while you're pissed.

Pissed in the Australian sense? Though I think that might be safer than cooking while pissed in the american sense....

In the Aussie drunken sense yeah. Part of the appeal of the Floyd shows was how tipsy he'd be while cooking half the time. "Now you have this wonderful shiraz, just add a glassful of that to the sauce... "*sip*... *sip* *SCULL* mmm thats good *drinks rest of bottle*

― Trayce (trayce), Wednesday, 15 June 2005 23:01 (twenty years ago)

This Floyd sounds like my kinda guy!

― Jaq (Jaq), Thursday, 16 June 2005 01:40 (twenty years ago)

He was a right old lush.

http://www.pbs.org/greatfood/images/keith.jpg

Wahey! Gish a kish.

― Trayce (trayce), Thursday, 16 June 2005 09:20 (twenty years ago)

Was?

Similar to Nigella's chilli tip, I keep a plastic bag by me when I'm making pastry or anything else that gets my hands in a mess. Then, if the phone rings, I just put my hand in the bag and go pick it up. No dough on phone! I can't remember where I learned that. Probably from the letters page in Woman's Weekly in a doctor's waiting room, not a sleb.

― Mädchen (Madchen), Thursday, 16 June 2005 09:26 (twenty years ago)

I think was, yes. Wasn't he forced to give up drinking a couple of years ago?

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Thursday, 16 June 2005 11:08 (twenty years ago)

He got done for drink driving a couple of years ago, but I don't think that made him stop...

― Vicky (Vicky), Thursday, 16 June 2005 11:26 (twenty years ago)

g00gling produced no results, so I must have been wrong.

Cheers!

http://images.icnetwork.co.uk/upl/icbirmingham/sep2004/4/6/00083D09-BC42-115B-A19D80C328EC0000.jpg

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Thursday, 16 June 2005 11:30 (twenty years ago)

After his conviction:

As he left Swindon magistrates' court in a taxi with his wife, Tess, he said: "It's coming up to Christmas time - enjoy yourselves, get pissed at home and don't drive."

I didn't realise he'd had two strokes either.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Thursday, 16 June 2005 11:31 (twenty years ago)

Yeah sorry "was" wasnt the best usage - after I posted it I thought "blimey I didnt mean he was dead or anything".

― Trayce (trayce), Friday, 17 June 2005 01:14 (twenty years ago)

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