And This Little Piggy...

If you know me, then you know my love for pork. It's like the other red meat but cheaper. You can braise it, stew it, roast it, eat it medium rare. The list goes on and on. All the cuts of pork are very similar to that of beef. There's tenderloin, sirloin, shoulder, etc...but there's one thing that a pig has that a cow doesn't--pork belly! "What's so special about that? It's just fat", you say? That's where bacon comes from, duh!

My tattoo 

Bacon is made when a cut of pork is cured for a period of time. The curing process draws moisture out the meat by dry packing it with salt or letting it sit in a brine. In earlier years curing was the only form of preserving food.  The most traditional form of bacon we know today is smoked or half smoked. This is when the bacon is smoked for a short period of time so that you would have to finish it by cooking it. Other forms of bacon like fully smoked bacon (bacon bits) or boiled bacon, do not require cooking. Never heard of boiled bacon? Yeah, there's a reason...yuck!

Here are some tips for cooking bacon.

• Place your bacon in the (cold)pan before putting it on the heat. This will 1) allow you to utilize all of the pan and 2) prevent you from burning yourself. What this does is allows the bacon come up to temperature with the pan as it heats up so you don't get burnt bacon. 
• Keep the fire at a medium to medium high heat. Theres no reason to go full blast with the flame. Remember, slow and steady wins the race. 
• As the fat renders off the bacon, try to remove some of the fat by tilting the pan using a spoon to scoop it out into a bowl. You don't want your bacon to BOIL in its own fat. 
• When the bacon is cooked to your liking, place it on a paper towel on a plate. This will suck up any excess fat leaving your bacon crispy (if that's how you like it).

bien manger

-cwis

Get A Grip!...or Spatula.

If you've ever poked your head into a professional kitchen nowadays, what's the one utensil you see most cooks use? It'll most likely be their tongs. Tongs for a cook is like an extension of their hands that has no feeling. They can grab food out of the fryer, they can stir with it, they grab hot pots, pans, or plates,  they can even use it as a hammer! (Not recommended) Even though tongs are super versatile, there's no place for them in fine dining. With their thin edges and non pressure sensitive metal, tongs can actually damage your food more than you think.

The other day I was watching a cook sear scallops and it broke my heart. The cook used his tongs and squeezed the shit out of the sides and proceeded to flip them. I walked over to look at the scallops and of course I was right. A huge gash on the side of the scallop laughed at me as I examined its now oval-shaped body because this careless cook had no respect for himself. Someone else told me to go easy on the guy. Why would I go easy on him when I just paid over $16/lb for these delectable ocean treats? (Scallops are my favorite seafood).

How are you supposed to flip scallops? Easy, with a spatula! A fish spatula, preferably. The less the food is touched with the utensil the better. Just slip it under and flip and that's it. I remember another incident where I saw one of my cooks extracting poached eggs out of the water, with tongs. I asked, "Why are you using tongs?" He replies, "What am I supposed to use?" I handed him a slotted spoon. 

There's a reason there are so many utensils for cooking. Each one has its purpose even if it is only for one thing. If you use the right tools, the end product will always turn out great. Unless you suck at cooking.

Last note: I think the most common mistake people make is using metal utensils in non-stick pots/pans. Metal will scratch the shit out of your non-stick pans. PLEASE use a rubber spatula if you're going to make contact with the cookware. If you don't have one then a wooden spoon will suffice (I still don't recommend it, but it is softer than metal).

bien manger

-cwis

Green means GO, Ice means STOP

When was the last time you ate a green vegetable that was mushy? When was the last time you ate a brown vegetable that was supposed to be green? When was the last time you even cooked a green vegetable?

I will admit that not everybody is on the same page when it comes to texture. Some people like their pasta soft and some people like it al dente. Some people like their steak well done and some people like their steak rare. I will also admit admit that those people who like their pasta soft and steak well done SHOULD EAT AT MCDONALD'S FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES.

That being said...

I'm so amused at how everybody comes and tells me about the dinner they cooked last night. I guess because I'm a chef people think that I love to hear about their "gourmet" dinner they made last night with couscous and dried fruit (cool bro).  I was talking to a coworker the other day and she was telling about her dinner she had cooked for her and her family. "Everything turned out well except for the green beans. They were brown and mushy." At that moment I knew exactly what she did wrong but first, I had to assess the situation. "How long did you boil the green beans for?" I asked. "The recipe said two to three minutes." she explained. Without knowing what the recipe said I asked, "Did you put the green beans in the ice water after the two to three minutes?" She said, "...oh"

When cooking green vegetables such as Asparagus, Green Beans, Broccoli, Spinach, etc. remember these two words; Blanch and Shock. 

Blanching is when you submerge the vegetable in boiling water for a short period of time before it is fully cooked. You are not BOILING it. When you boil something you are cooking it all the way through like boiling potatoes. 

Shocking is when you take the vegetable out of the water and submerge it in ice water immediately. Green vegetables are very fibrous and dense so even when you take it out of the boiling water it is still cooking in the inside. So throwing it in ice water will stop the cooking process. This will also keep the vegetables color and crunchiness. 

(What green vegetables should look like when you shock them...green.)

So I discovered that what my coworker did wrong was that she put the green beans in the boiling water and then turned it off after 2 minutes and did laundry...LEAVING THE VEGETABLES IN THE HOT WATER. And then when she got back she then put them in the ice water.

(When I went to googled "overcooked green beans" this image came up and it's an actual dish that some made and was proud of. This is HORRIFIC.)

Here's a little tip for blanching and shocking. Recipes will tell you to salt the water. How much salt do you use? It all depends. You're not going to use a teaspoon for 3 gallons of water or 2 cups of salt for 1 quart of water. Put enough salt in little by little to make it taste like OCEAN WATER. Yes, that's right. Ocean water. Trust me on this. And also put just a pinch of salt in your ice water. When you take the vegetables out to shock them, you're throwing them in plain ice water where it's going to wash all the flavor off. So just a pinch, nothing crazy but enough to help retain flavor. Remember, salt doesn't make food taste salty, instead, it brings out flavor.

Blanching and shocking isn't JUST for vegetables. Have you ever boiled an egg and when you crack it open the outside of the yolk is green? If you've read my past blog on how to boil a perfect egg, it means it OVERCOOKED. So same thing applies here. Boil the egg and throw it into ice water ASAP.

Hope you enjoyed this one. Only took me 2 hours to write it! Until next time.

bien manger

-cwis

How to break down a chicken

Enjoy peoples, leave me comments to let me know what I could've done better. I need the feedback!!

bien manger

-cwis

More Videos!

Enjoy Guys!

When In Season! (When In Rome haha...no?)

I know Valentine's Day is tomorrow. So what are the two things a person (girl) receives on Valentine's Day? Flowers and Chocolate! And if the guy wants to take that extra step, how about some chocolate covered strawberries? I mean what says love more than a sweet, delicious strawberry covered in a dark (or milk) chocolate? Mmmm, sounds awesome, right? There's just one problem - it's February!

The other day I was in a mall and a girl was trying to sell me some pastries they make in house. I explained that I'm not big on sweets and she said, "Well, we have these beautiful chocolate covered strawberries we dipped ourselves. They're very big as well!" I give her credit for trying to sell the product, but I had to ask a few questions. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: Oh wow, they are big! Are you a foodie?
Her: Yeah, I love food!
Me: Cool, so are you big into the organic foods? You seem like the healthy type.
Her: Oh yeah, it's so much healthier without all that stuff they spray on the food.
Me: Well, we all grew up eating that stuff and we turned out OK, don't you think.
Her: Yeah, but we didn't know any better so if I can, I'd rather not eat that stuff.
Me: Fair enough. Are you big supporter in local farms?
Her: Definitely! I try to go out to the farmer's markets when I can, you can get some great food out there.
Me: Absolutely! So what farm do you guys get your giant strawberries from? Do you get them from a local, organic farm?
Her: Oh, I'm not sure if they're organic but they ARE local.
Me: That's crazy! I didn't know you could grow strawberries in the winter time.
Her: Of course you can, let me show you the container it comes in.

(Now, I didn't want to be a dick, but I knew what she was going to show me. There was a 99% chance it was going to be a Driscoll container. Driscoll is a company that farms berries in California and some countries in South America. They say they're organic, but I think that's bullshit. I'll get into my views about Organic some other time.)

Shows me the container.

Me: Oh! Driscoll. Have you been to their farm?
Her: No, unfortunately. Have you?
Me: Yeah, it's in Watsonville.
Her: Oh, where's that? Is it far?
Me: It's in California. 
Her: Oh.

Every fruit and vegetable has its season. Of course there are green houses and this and that, but there's nothing more natural (and organic har har har) than fruits and vegetables growing when they're supposed to. Have you noticed that you can really only get watermelons during the summer time? Or that berries and stone fruit taste best when the temperatures are high?

It just doesn't make sense to me when I see "fruit salad" that consists of honeydew, cantaloupe, pineapple in the winter. Why? Because they're Spring/Summer fruits! They taste the BEST during those seasons. During the winter when you see them in the super market, they most likely came from a South American country. What's so bad about that? Nothing honestly, except for the fact that it won't taste as good and you're probably going to pay almost double fr mediocre produce.

Think about it this way - have you overnighted something from another country? Ever buy something on Ebay and it came from China and took about 3-4 weeks to get to you? There's nothing different about these fruits. In order to prevent these fruits from going bad before they get to your supermarket, a lot of these companies will actually harvest these fruits before they are ripe. This is a big risk they're taking. In their minds, the fruit will ripen while it's being transported. Some of it will, and some of it won't.
I'm sorry, let me rephrase that last sentence.
Some of it will, and a lot of it won't. Those kinds of fruit in the winter taste like shit. Almost like cardboard. Not only are we getting bad tasting and unripe fruit, but if the company that's producing them are 'organic,' then there's a chance we might get some foreign bug along with our fruit.

Foreign bug = possible diseases.

Then you have the companies that spray the shit out of fruits with crap to keep the bugs away. So what's the lesser of two evils?

But don't let this steer you away from eating honeydew, cantaloupe, and pineapple. Like I said, every fruit and vegetable has its season. Even though Spring and Summer time is the time for berries, melons, mangos, avocado, and stone fruit, Winter time is the time for citrus. Lemons, limes, oranges, grapefruit, kiwis are best during winter time. And you can't forget about Fall time - pumpkins, gorges, apples, pears, figs and certain berries are best during this severe season change.

Remember, I'm not telling you how to eat. I'm just simply helping you - of course some of us are ok with settling with mediocre, but those people aren't reading this. When you buy an apple, you want the sweetest apple that's going to crunch when you bite into it. When you buy a water melon, you want the juiciest watermelon there is. When you buy a crate of tangerines, you want the most succulent little orange balls there is.

So the next time you're out shopping for fruits and vegetables, whether for dinner or just to have in your fruit basket, remember what season we're in. And if you're craving an apple during the spring time, chances are it's because you remember how delicious that Pink Lady Apple was a couple months ago, and chances are it won't taste the same as you remembered, and chances are you're going to pay more for it, and chances are you're going to be disappointed just like your last boyfriend or girlfriend. Just saying.

Need help knowing what fruit and vegetable belong in what season? Check this out. 

bien manger

-cwis

Going against the grain

So we already know the importance of letting meat rest before we cut into it, right? NO?! well here's a video.

So now we know why we let meat rest. GREAT! So now, do we know why we slice meat against the grain? Wait, what?! NO?!

Ok, no worries. You're not the only one. Whether you're working with beef, chicken, pork, or even fish, you always want to cut across the grain. What does this mean? See the lines that run left and right on this piece of flank steak? They're fibers that run in a certain direction almost like muscle. Now the lines are the "grain"and the direction the lines are "going with the grain." Make sense? Cool.

Now what do you think cutting against the grain means? It just means cutting across the fibers. By doing this, you shorten the fibers in each piece - making it easier to eat.

Think of it this way - I'm sure you've eaten celery before. When you bite into a stalk of celery, have you ever experienced that string that comes off the celery? Think of that as a fiber in the meat. When you cut the celery against the grain it makes the string shorter, making it easier to eat, yes? Same thing with the meat. But instead of preventing eating string, you're preventing eating chewy meat.

So remember this kids: next time you cook meat whether it's roasting, searing, braising, broiling, whatever...remember to let it rest FIRST for about 5 min and then when slicing it, cut against the grain. Same thing goes for food prepping. Even when the meat is raw, always cut against the grain. We don't want chewy food! Think about it the next time you have a steak in front of you with a knife in the right hand and a fork in the left hand. 

I'm glad I added pictures or this shit would've been boring! Left side correct slicing, right side incorrect slicing.

bien manger

-cwis

Let's cut to the chase

Knife purchasing is very easy yet complicated at the same time. Think of it like buying a new car. In your mind you have an idea of what type, what brand, how big, how small, etc. But you won't know if you really like it until you test drive it. It's the same thing with knives. You can look at customer reviews all you want. You get an idea of what steel is best, the different purposes of the knives, and how many is too many knives to own. But you won't get the full effect until you have a knife in your hand.

The first thing you need to ask yourself is "how often will I use these knives?" I mean actually use, not "oh well I use it to open boxes!” I mean cutting actual meat and vegetables. If you're only using your knives 2 or 3 times a month, then a 2pc knife set from Ikea would be perfect for you. Any brand new knife of any brand will always be sharp no matter what. Now, how long it'll stay sharp for is another story. The second thing you need to ask yourself is do you use a plate as a cutting board? If you use a plate to cut food on then buying a "nice" set of knives would be pointless.
Maintenance on knives is not complicated but is required. Here are 3 basic tips to getting the most out of your knives.

1) Dry after washing (by hand). Though most knives have some sort of coating to protect the knife from rusting, the coating will wear off over time and water will eventually start to rust it. After washing your knives always dry it off with a dry towel before putting it back in the knife block. Never let water sit on the knife in your dish rack. Muy malo para el cochillo.

2) Keep your knives sharp. Hunting stores sell a hand sharpener that works very well. Almost looks like the handle of a carpenter's stapler. You can run it on the blade 1 or 2 times before you put it away. Most accidents occur when using a dull knife rather than a sharp knife.

3) Always use a cutting board. Whether you're cutting a lime for your Corona or dicing beef cubes, using anything other than a cutting board will damage the knife. I suggest buying 3 boards. A small, medium, and a large board for all sizes of food you'll be cutting.

I was going to explain the importance of keeping a knife sharp but I figured a video would be more efficient (is that the word?) And plus I need to use all the features of this MacBook Pro. So here it is!

I know...I talk fast. I'll slow down next time...if there is a next time.

So now that you know the 2 basic questions of what you need to ask yourself, it becomes a lot easier from there. You can start shopping around, reading reviews, etc. But like I said before, you won't know if you like it until you test it out. Go to your local knife shop or William Sonoma and ask to see it. Hold it in your hand. Feel it. Touch it. Love it. Want it. Whatever. Just make sure you're comfortable with it. Is it too heavy? Is it too light? Do you like wooden handles? Do you like metal handles? I DON'T KNOW! All these questions will be answered with your own personal preference.

Personally, I like a soft and light metal with a wooden handle. Light because I'm a small guy and soft metal because it's easier to sharpen. And wooden handles just look better. But the down side to these are you need more "umph" when you're cutting something bigger because a lighter knife won't do it. Soft metals tend to dull faster and wooden handles are more prone to bacteria hiding in it. Like I said, it's all personal preference when it comes to knives. But if you're not going to take care of them or use them often don't bother buying a "nice" set. That 2 piece set from Ikea will work JUST FINE. I hope you guys enjoyed this one. It took me 3 months to write this! FACK!