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