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Tag: julia child

  • Home Cooks Have Chops!

    Recently, a friend joined us for lunch and, along the way, our discussion turned to TV cooking shows. We all liked the original Great British Baking Show because of the warm, supportive contestants who were all serious hobby bakers.

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    We also enjoyed the Master Classes by the hosts, Paul Hollywood and Mary Berry. It’s fun to watch them work together teasing but helpful and eager to pick up tips from one another as we learn from both of them.

    We listed other cooking show hosts and series that echoed that warmth and educational aspect like the older seasons of Moveable Feast, Alton Brown's Good Eats, Ina Garten, Sara Moulton, Jamie Oliver, Jacques Pepin and, of course, Boston’s own Julia Child!

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    Cooking as Conflict

    On the other hand, you won’t find our TV tuned to the “reality-based” cooking competitions offered by the big cable outlets. Chopped, Cutthroat Kitchen, Top Chef, Iron Chef, Hell’s Kitchen, Throwdown, and MasterChef all clearly display an attitude that cooking is a competitive endeavor.

    For the people who take part in these shows, food is not about hospitality, tradition, nutrition, fun, or honing useful skills. What matters is who has the best “chops” or virtuosity and technical skills in the kitchen. It is about being numero uno with those oh-so-important celebrity judges.

    These shows are often referred to as “reality-based” because they toss in a few staged crises and highlight adversarial relationships as fits the formula. Unfortunately, this is a recipe for sending a generation of prospective cooks to the take-out counter. “If a celebrity chef has a problem doing this, what hope is there for me,” they ask.

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    Leftovers from a Sunday roast chicken and vegetables can become a hearty, savory, main course bread pudding in the hands of a good home cook.

    Home Cooks Win!

    Like many of you who cook at home, we know there is nothing exceptional about facing a grab bag of ingredients and making a wonderful meal out of them. Good home cooks do this every time they walk into the kitchen and decide what to make for dinner. They do it when unexpected guests arrive and they throw together something delicious to share. What’s more, their judges are people who really matter–family and friends.

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    Leftovers become a frittata with a nice crisp salad for dinner.

    Generations of Home Cooks with Chops

    Today’s home cooks are pulled along by the apron strings of generations of both memorable and unknown cooks who came before them. In some cases, you may remember a patient teacher who taught you to make cookies or grill a fish.

    Other women and men from generations earlier created dishes that we consider comfort food today. These were made from whatever ingredients they had on hand and were often economical as well as delicious. They turned Sunday roast leftovers into Monday meat pies, Tuesday stuffed vegetables, Wednesday pasta sauces, and Thursday casseroles. They served up fish dishes on Fridays and beans on Saturday night.

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    In addition to the stove magic, home cooks do the budgeting, shopping, food storage, ingredient preparation, serving, and cleanup with just a bit of help from those they feed. They plan how to use the leftovers and follow food-safe kitchen practices. Furthermore, they do it week-after-week and year-after-year.

    Home-based kitchen wizards may not be awarded celebrity status or prize money, but they do win smiles and grateful hearts. They have the real chops when it comes to cooking.

    The next time you sit down to a well-prepared meal take a moment to thank the cook. And, if you are the cook, give yourself a smile and a pat on your own back. You know who the real winners are, you and those around your table. 

    What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: ©2017- 2018 Penny & Ed Cherubino, top photo courtesy of The Great British Baking Show
    (Adapted for BostonZest from one of our Fresh & Local newspaper columns.)

  • Entertaining? Wrap It Up!

    From the most casual burrito to Julia Child’s elegant “Salmon en Papillote,” food in wraps, of one kind or another, can be a great solution for entertaining.

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    Here's one of our favorite wrap-ups – a Vietnamese crêpe using lettuce to create the perfect bite!

    On the casual side of the world of wraps, many food cultures have their own version. Think of the Italian piadina, Greek gyros, Vietnamese lettuce wraps, Mexican tacos, Indian roti, Japanese sushi, Chinese moo shi, dumplings and the list goes on and on. Many of these began as street food and the wrapper made it easy for someone to eat as they stood or walked along.

    On the elegant side, we have a world of food wrapped in paper (in the case of Julia’s “en Papillote”) or in pastry as in Beef Wellington, Camembert wrapped in pastry, savory strudels, and pies enclosed in hot water crust, pizza dough, puff pastry, phyllo, or dozens of other coatings.

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    Quesadillas are another wrapped food.

    Create a Wrap Bar

    For easy entertaining you can create a wrap bar which is nothing more than a table filled with an assortment of good things to tuck inside another good thing. You can have a theme using any of the cultures mentioned above.

    For example: a taco table could have tortillas, salsas, avocados, pickled onions and cabbage, meats, chopped lettuce, crema, and lime. You can offer non-meat options like sautéd zucchini, scrambled eggs, seasoned potatoes, or for a very authentic taste nopales – otherwise known as cactus paddles.

    By letting everyone select and prepare their own meal, you can accommodate friends and family with many food preferences.

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    Here is another favorite of ours, Salmon en papillote with carrots, ginger, chives, and lemon zest peeking out of its parchment paper wrapper.

    En Papillote

    In Jacques Pépin’s “New Complete Techniques,” this master of cooking skills writes, “When you see ‘papillote’ on a menu in a French restaurant, you can safely assume that it describes a dish served in an envelope of parchment paper …” He goes on to explain, “When the papillote is folded correctly (it is sealed so that none of the aroma and steam can escape) it browns nicely, inflates, and the dish inside bakes in its own juices. The papillote is served directly on the serving plate and the guest opens it himself.”

    If this is the only dish you learn to cook for company, you will be a relaxed chef with happy guests. You can prepare the packages hours in advance and tuck them into the refrigerator to wait for their trip to the oven.

    Change-ups for different guests are easy. If salmon is on the menu, just substitute a piece of chicken for the person who doesn’t like fish. You can make a vegetarian option or one without a specific ingredient.

    Your main item in the parchment paper package is topped with a selection of vegetables, herbs, and seasoning that enhance the flavor and complete the meal. With today’s prepared vegetable options in the marketplace, you don’t even have to do all the chopping and prep work. Just select your main ingredient and shop for some spiralized vegetables to add to the meal. 

    If folding the packages is more than you care to do, there are even parchment paper bags to make that part easier.

    Most versions take less than half an hour in a hot oven and are ready to slide onto a dinner plate and present at the table.

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    Crêpes are another lovely wrapped meal.

    Some dinner party entrées, such as Beef Wellington, take a bit of skill and cheffy work to succeed. If you have the time and the skills, this dish can be fun to make and very impressive to serve. However, there are other options that can begin with a package of pizza dough or frozen puff pastry and your imagination. So the next time it’s your turn to entertain, think about how you will wrap it up!

    What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

         

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: ©2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino
    (Adapted for BostonZest from one of our Fresh & Local newspaper columns.)

  • Freeze Those Bones for Fabulous Chicken Soup!

    This luscious bowl of chicken noodle soup was made from the remains of three rotisserie chickens, a few fresh vegetables, and some leftover noodles.

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    We're sure many of you have turned to one of these fully-cooked birds when faced with a busy week. They're great for a simple meal and, the second day, they can be added to a salad or sandwich for another quick supper. 

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    But, do you save the bones, skin, and that wonderful gelatin in the bottom of the container for when you have time to create a great soup? Everyone from your Grandmother to the honorary Great Aunt of a generation for cooks, Julia Child, has told you to stow your cooking scraps in the freezer to make stocks. 

    In this age of wasted food, it really feels good to turn something that would have been trashed into a great meal.

    The pot in the photo above contains the contents of a bag of chicken bones, skin, and gelatin that we had added to, over a month or so. Penny took it from the freezer on a rainy afternoon and turned it into a lick-smacking, rich, sticky-with-goodness chicken stock. 

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    When she prepped the flavorings of carrot, onion, and celery to make the stock, she chopped up enough to create a soup when the stock was finished.

     

    After lifting out as many bones and bits as she could with a spider (like the one above), she strained the broth into a bowl through a fine sieve. After it sat and settled, she removed most of the fat with paper towels.

    A quick wipe of the pan assured there were no bone bits remaining. That let her make the soup in the same pan – one of her favorites. She lightly sautéed the waiting veg in a bit of olive oil before returning enough stock to the pan to make a few servings of soup. Once the vegetables were cooked, she added some pieces of white meat from the last of the chickens that became the stock.

    If you've never tried this method of making chicken stock, you are missing out on some big flavor. Remember to go easy on the salt because those chickens have already been seasoned and may have been brined.

    Penny never added any salt to ours, but she did add a dribble of soy sauce for depth of flavor. This batch also had pieces of ginger, star anise, clove, and a touch of sherry vinegar right at the end. 

    What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: ©2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

  • Freeze Those Bones for Fabulous Chicken Soup!

    This luscious bowl of chicken noodle soup was made from the remains of three rotisserie chickens, a few fresh vegetables, and some leftover noodles.

    IMG_3771 copy

    We're sure many of you have turned to one of these fully-cooked birds when faced with a busy week. They're great for a simple meal and, the second day, they can be added to a salad or sandwich for another quick supper. 

    IMG_3718 copy

    But, do you save the bones, skin, and that wonderful gelatin in the bottom of the container for when you have time to create a great soup? Everyone from your Grandmother to the honorary Great Aunt of a generation for cooks, Julia Child, has told you to stow your cooking scraps in the freezer to make stocks. 

    In this age of wasted food, it really feels good to turn something that would have been trashed into a great meal.

    The pot in the photo above contains the contents of a bag of chicken bones, skin, and gelatin that we had added to, over a month or so. Penny took it from the freezer on a rainy afternoon and turned it into a lick-smacking, rich, sticky-with-goodness chicken stock. 

    IMG_3719 copy

    When she prepped the flavorings of carrot, onion, and celery to make the stock, she chopped up enough to create a soup when the stock was finished.

     

    After lifting out as many bones and bits as she could with a spider (like the one above), she strained the broth into a bowl through a fine sieve. After it sat and settled, she removed most of the fat with paper towels.

    A quick wipe of the pan assured there were no bone bits remaining. That let her make the soup in the same pan – one of her favorites. She lightly sautéed the waiting veg in a bit of olive oil before returning enough stock to the pan to make a few servings of soup. Once the vegetables were cooked, she added some pieces of white meat from the last of the chickens that became the stock.

    If you've never tried this method of making chicken stock, you are missing out on some big flavor. Remember to go easy on the salt because those chickens have already been seasoned and may have been brined.

    Penny never added any salt to ours, but she did add a dribble of soy sauce for depth of flavor. This batch also had pieces of ginger, star anise, clove, and a touch of sherry vinegar right at the end. 

    What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photos: ©2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

  • Rolled Turkey Breast à la Hamersley’s

    We've already told you that Compound Butter Is Sous Vide Cooking's Best Friend. One of our favorite compound butter blends is based on the herb mixture that Gordon Hamersley used on his famous roast chicken.

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    Here we've used it on a boned turkey breast. Using her copy of Bistro Cooking at Home By Gordon Hamersley, Penny made a compound butter with unsalted butter, herbs de Province, parsley, rosemary, and lemon zest.

    She butterflied the turkey breast, slathered the inside with the lovely stuff, rolled it, tied it with butcher string, rolled it in more of the mixture, and popped it into a sous vide bag,

    Since this turkey would be sous vide rather than roasted, she added minced shallots and crushed whole cloves of garlic along with a good glug of olive oil to the bag with the turkey. At 145 degrees, the garlic and shallots will add flavor to the bag juices, but they will not cook and would become a raw note in the herb paste.

     

    Our Joule sous vide was set in a pot of water, heated to 145 degrees, and when ready, the turkey was cooked for two and a half hours. 

    When the Joule announced the turkey was done, Penny took it out, saved the collected juices in the bag, patted the turkey dry (leaving any clinging herbs in place), and seared the outside in more olive oil and a pad of the compound butter.

    IMG_7186

    While the turkey waited on the cutting board, the bag juices were added to the searing pan to deglaze and reduce. One final pat of the compound butter was used to emulsify those juices off-heat for a rich and delicious pan sauce!

    And, if you prefer visual instruction, here is a link to Gordon Hamersley's appearance with Julia Child as a part of her Master Chefs series. You can watch him make this herb mixture and then use his measurements to adapt it for a compound butter. (Penny opted not to add the mustard this time, but might try adding it to either the butter or the bag another time.)

     

     

    Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

     

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

    Related articles
    Mastering Hamersley's Roast Chicken Recipe
    Simple Spring Supper: Asparagus & Eggs
    Healthy Alternatives for July 4th Cookouts, Pot Lucks, or Picnics

  • Rolled Turkey Breast à la Hamersley’s

    We've already told you that Compound Butter Is Sous Vide Cooking's Best Friend. One of our favorite compound butter blends is based on the herb mixture that Gordon Hamersley used on his famous roast chicken.

    IMG_7199 copy

    Here we've used it on a boned turkey breast. Using her copy of Bistro Cooking at Home By Gordon Hamersley, Penny made a compound butter with unsalted butter, herbs de Province, parsley, rosemary, and lemon zest.

    She butterflied the turkey breast, slathered the inside with the lovely stuff, rolled it, tied it with butcher string, rolled it in more of the mixture, and popped it into a sous vide bag,

    Since this turkey would be sous vide rather than roasted, she added minced shallots and crushed whole cloves of garlic along with a good glug of olive oil to the bag with the turkey. At 145 degrees, the garlic and shallots will add flavor to the bag juices, but they will not cook and would become a raw note in the herb paste.

     

    Our Joule sous vide was set in a pot of water, heated to 145 degrees, and when ready, the turkey was cooked for two and a half hours. 

    When the Joule announced the turkey was done, Penny took it out, saved the collected juices in the bag, patted the turkey dry (leaving any clinging herbs in place), and seared the outside in more olive oil and a pad of the compound butter.

    IMG_7186

    While the turkey waited on the cutting board, the bag juices were added to the searing pan to deglaze and reduce. One final pat of the compound butter was used to emulsify those juices off-heat for a rich and delicious pan sauce!

    And, if you prefer visual instruction, here is a link to Gordon Hamersley's appearance with Julia Child as a part of her Master Chefs series. You can watch him make this herb mixture and then use his measurements to adapt it for a compound butter. (Penny opted not to add the mustard this time, but might try adding it to either the butter or the bag another time.)

     

     

    Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

     

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
    Photography: © 2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

    Related articles
    Mastering Hamersley's Roast Chicken Recipe
    Simple Spring Supper: Asparagus & Eggs
    Healthy Alternatives for July 4th Cookouts, Pot Lucks, or Picnics

  • Mastering Hamersley’s Roast Chicken Recipe

    I’m sure Ed and I are not the only Hamersley’s fans missing that restaurant’s fantastic roast chicken. I plan to master that recipe over the next few months. I’ve made it once or twice. But, as long as I could just take a walk to Tremont Street to enjoy the finished product, I let the Hamersley’s kitchen do the work.

    6a00e54fc42bb88834019aff867b6d970d-800wi

    Start with the Recipe

    First, of course, you need the recipe. It's in the cookbook Bistro Cooking at Home By Gordon Hamersley. And, while this is currently out of print, you can buy used or even a few treasured new copies on Amazon. You can also check local, used bookstores. I highly recommend having a copy of this book on your shelf and I look forward to the next publication from this great food champion. 

    If you just want a copy of the recipe, Boston University posted it online after one of Gordon Hamersley's cooking classes at the Seminars in Food and Wine. Here's a link to that posting.

    And, if you prefer visual instruction, here is a link to Gordon Hamersley's appearance with Julia Child as a part of her Master Chefs series.

     

    There are many steps to this signature dish. Fortunately, the process that Gordon Hamersley (and his first sous chef Jody Adams) developed to serve a perfectly roasted chicken with a crispy skin and moist interior also makes it a great party dish for a home cook. 

    The chicken is roasted ahead of time and popped under a broiler for heating and crisping before it is served. I love dishes like this that I can make a day ahead because they let me spend more time with my guests.

    Begin With Shopping

    Of course, to come out with a result like the dish served at Hamersley’s, you have to begin as the chef did with the finest ingredients you can find. In his tips for choosing chicken, the chef suggests trying chickens from smaller producers or kosher brands.

    In 2003, when Gordon Hamersley wrote “Bistro Cooking at Home,” he said what many locavores are saying now, “… getting a more flavorful bird that has also been raised free of antibiotics and hormone injections seems to me to be worth the price.”

    Stepping Along

    You begin this dish by preparing an herbed lemon pesto marinade. You rub this all over the clean and dried chicken and let it marinate 2-4 hours in the refrigerator.  

    Next, the chicken is roasted to an internal thigh temperature of 165-170 degrees and rested before cutting and deboning. The final step in this part of the preparation is to make the sauce from the pan drippings.  

    When it’s time to serve the chicken, you broil it with lemon slices on top and the sauce in the pan below until the skin is crisp and the meat is heated. 

    This dish requires many steps with a good bit of waiting time for some of them, but it is not a difficult recipe. Dozens of Hamersley’s cooks mastered it over the years. And, I can’t wait until I can make it without glancing at the cookbook just as they did.

    6a00e54fc42bb88834019aff867d46970d-500wi

    If I master the chicken, next up on my list will be the perfect duck confit that was so tempting on the Hamersley's menu and is often such a disappointment when I order it elsewhere. 

     What's on your Food Lover's shopping list?

       

    Details:

    Words: Penny Cherubino (adapted from one of her Fresh & Local newspaper columns)
    Photos: ©2008 Penny Cherubino 

  • Mastering Hamersley’s Roast Chicken Recipe

    I’m sure Ed and I are not the only Hamersley’s fans missing that restaurant’s fantastic roast chicken. I plan to master that recipe over the next few months. I’ve made it once or twice. But, as long as I could just take a walk to Tremont Street to enjoy the finished product, I let the Hamersley’s kitchen do the work.

    6a00e54fc42bb88834019aff867b6d970d-800wi

    Start with the Recipe

    First, of course, you need the recipe. It's in the cookbook Bistro Cooking at Home By Gordon Hamersley. And, while this is currently out of print, you can buy used or even a few treasured new copies on Amazon. You can also check local, used bookstores. I highly recommend having a copy of this book on your shelf and I look forward to the next publication from this great food champion. 

    If you just want a copy of the recipe, Boston University posted it online after one of Gordon Hamersley's cooking classes at the Seminars in Food and Wine. Here's a link to that posting.

    And, if you prefer visual instruction, here is a link to Gordon Hamersley's appearance with Julia Child as a part of her Master Chefs series.

     

    There are many steps to this signature dish. Fortunately, the process that Gordon Hamersley (and his first sous chef Jody Adams) developed to serve a perfectly roasted chicken with a crispy skin and moist interior also makes it a great party dish for a home cook. 

    The chicken is roasted ahead of time and popped under a broiler for heating and crisping before it is served. I love dishes like this that I can make a day ahead because they let me spend more time with my guests.

    Begin With Shopping

    Of course, to come out with a result like the dish served at Hamersley’s, you have to begin as the chef did with the finest ingredients you can find. In his tips for choosing chicken, the chef suggests trying chickens from smaller producers or kosher brands.

    In 2003, when Gordon Hamersley wrote “Bistro Cooking at Home,” he said what many locavores are saying now, “… getting a more flavorful bird that has also been raised free of antibiotics and hormone injections seems to me to be worth the price.”

    Stepping Along

    You begin this dish by preparing an herbed lemon pesto marinade. You rub this all over the clean and dried chicken and let it marinate 2-4 hours in the refrigerator.  

    Next, the chicken is roasted to an internal thigh temperature of 165-170 degrees and rested before cutting and deboning. The final step in this part of the preparation is to make the sauce from the pan drippings.  

    When it’s time to serve the chicken, you broil it with lemon slices on top and the sauce in the pan below until the skin is crisp and the meat is heated. 

    This dish requires many steps with a good bit of waiting time for some of them, but it is not a difficult recipe. Dozens of Hamersley’s cooks mastered it over the years. And, I can’t wait until I can make it without glancing at the cookbook just as they did.

    6a00e54fc42bb88834019aff867d46970d-500wi

    If I master the chicken, next up on my list will be the perfect duck confit that was so tempting on the Hamersley's menu and is often such a disappointment when I order it elsewhere. 

     What's on your Food Lover's shopping list?

       

    Details:

    Words: Penny Cherubino (adapted from one of her Fresh & Local newspaper columns)
    Photos: ©2008 Penny Cherubino