Lessons Learned and a Confession

First of all, Errata:  I noticed after i posted the last edition, that spell check "helped" me by changing the title of the piece from the intended "Short and Sweet" into "Shirt and Sweet"  I was going to pull it down and change it, but figured the Feeder Nation was smart enough to figure that out.

Well, with my somewhat reduced mobility these days, I have started to get more serious about cooking (which on the surface seems impossible!) mostly in the area of refining skills and “perfecting” technique. As many alert readers know, I am fortunate enough to have a valued friendship built over many years with the chef who now runs our local Elements (Eatery and Mixology) restaurant here in Lexington Park.  He has been very kind to me in that he suffers my questions and occasionally comes over to the digs.  I have a special bottle of Woodford Reserve that is reserved for our discussions on food and culture, and cooking.  He also occasionally invites me into his domain in the commercial kitchen to observe him cooking (and trying to stay out his way!).

So with winter approaching (please!) he is looking to maybe add some Pasta Dishes to the menu and wanted to give few as a trial for some of his family and friends.  He said I could come and watch the process and take some pictures.  They tasted, “we” worked in the kitchen.

So a day when the restaurant is closed provided some time for him to prepare the dishes (chefs have no days off – like the Patriots!) and so I showed up in the kitchen, and he went to work, and I got some lessons!

Basically the fabrication process was the same for all the dishes, only variation was sauce and ingredients. So of course you start with Mise En Place

(just pretty)

 “ingredients” go into the pan with a little oil

Sautéed for a bit and then the pasta is added

Lesson 1:  you might note the pasta is “raw”, that is, not cooked by dropping into boiling water – in a restaurant setting, fabricated (raw) pasta is available.  What chef does is NOT put it in boiling water first, but actually uses the sauce in the dish to finish the pasta.

Then the sauce is added (a marinara in this case)

And after more time on heat, removed and plated with additional vegetables

Voila! And put on the pass to serve the guests (in this case the “taste testers”)

images while preparing other dishes with different sauces, maybe cream based

Lesson 2:  what is common to all these?   It’s always over HIGH heat, full bore on restaurant grade burners.  How many times have you heard it said chefs have one setting:  HIGH

Typical results:

Lesson 3: it is hot as hell (not profane, a statement of fact) in that kitchen.  The grill station was also on (for later dishes), producing its own heat (for later dishes).  With only one burner going, it finally drove me out.  I can’t image what it’s like with 3 or more cranked up.  New respect for the people on the hot line. 

It was a great experience, even though I had to leave (heat, stamina) before all the dishes were made.

So this fall you can stop by Elements, and see what made the cut to the menu!  Thanks, chef!

Closer to home

It so happened a few weeks ago that chef stopped by the house as I was preparing dinner (hello, Woodford) of trout for MFO and I which I was trying to sear, but didn’t come out with a very good crust.  Chef chided me for not using a hot enough pan (sigh).  So the other day he stopped by to deliver some wonderful cheeses (as seen in posts lately) and he brought along some very fresh Carolina Red Fish, and said he’d cook it for us (partially, to be finished at dinner). 

My scare and reluctance, as I suspect is common with other “home cooks” is by cranking up the heat it will: a) burn, or b) stick.

So, he started with a non-stick pan, with just a little oil and put the fish in "skin" side up (seasoning the flesh side before cooking)

He then taught

Lesson 4:  DON’T TOUCH!  We all want to fiddle around poking and prying and that leads to trouble.   Let the pan do its work and allow for caramelization. Leave it alone!

After a bit, check it and gently flip if you like the color

Again note the lack of oil (Lesson 4.5)

When both are done, deglaze the pan with some white wine (scraping up the famous “brown bits”) and since you used very little oil, you don't have to worry about pouring it off

Then (eventually) plate it and drizzle with the pan sauce

believe me, it had a nice crunch and was soft on the inside

I suppose a few readers will say: “welcome to the obvious, Feeder”, which may be true, but seeing a professional do it provides confidence.   I have some scallops which may be a good candidate for that procedure (They’ll burn!  They’ll weld themselves to the pan!)  we’ll see and report.

And lastly, I can’t bring myself to confess today… next time, 

while not forgetting to

DFD

And our loud mantra of

NMMJ