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

I know I said I wouldn't do it again but here's another video.

This blog's menu:

Whole Herb Roasted Chicken

Roasted Red Bliss Potato

Garlic Green Beans

Whole Herb Roasted Chicken. from Chris Nguyen on Vimeo.

So it turns out 20 min covered and 20 min uncovered was no correct.  What I forgot about was in professional kitchens we have Convection ovens and most houses have Convention ovens.  The difference between a convection oven and a convention oven is that convection ovens have a fan that circulates the hot air around the oven, which cooks the food faster whereas convention ovens is just still air in the oven.  So what I suggest is...

- Set the oven to 425º

- Roast for 30 min with foil on and then 30 min with foil off.

Also a big factor in the cooking time is the size of the bird. The chickens I had were about 3-4lb chickens.

And now for the sides.  

First you want to start with the potatoes because they'll take longer than the greens beans to cook. Cut the potatoes into whatever shape you want. I split mine down the middle twice and then across once.

Next toss the potatoes with some oil, salt, pepper, and whatever seasoning you desire (I just happened to have some garlic and Italian seasoning) and lay onto a baking sheet.  You can put these in with the chicken at 425 degrees at the last 20 min of the cooking of the chicken so they both come out together.

Now for the green beans.  Just to save yourself some time I would blanch (partially cook) the green beans.  You don't want to cook them all the way through.  I would boil the green beans for about 2-3 minutes.  

Taste one after 2 minutes and if they still have a little crunch to it, take them out of the boiling water into an ice bath.  This stop the green beans from cooking anymore.

After this all you have to do is saute with a little butter and garlic and you're golden! This should be the last thing you cook because it'll take about a minute to get them hot again with the butter and garlic.

And here are the rest of the pictures.  Some of them suck because I was really hungry and wanted to eat but wanted to please my readers at the same time.  Enjoy!

bien manger

-cwis