Cooking AMA (Ask Me Anything)

timmyc

timmyc

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Hi guys i am a new member on the forum and loving the place.

I have been a chef since i was 15 years of age so i have a fair few miles in my tank! 28 now :D

I just wanted to start a thread around no topic in particular, but more of an AMA style thread.

This thread is more for me to brain dump anything in particular about cooking out in the open for people to take notice of and try things out that i implement. As well as anyone to ask questions around cooking, knife skills, knife sharpening you name it anything and everything is on the table.

I have all this knowledge in my brain just sitting there and i would much rather help others with any questions they might have or problems etc and provide some value that way.
 
Thank you @timmyc - cooking questions often pop up on the forum. Don't be surprised if a moderator creates a new thread from a question asked in this thread. Firstly, we desperately need new threads and secondly, different topics under a general thread heading will quickly get 'lost' as they aren't searchable.

Also - I should add that quite a few folk here are knowledgable about different types of cuisine and I've certainly learned from them despite the fact I'm a fairly experienced cook.

Having said this, I have a question. Today I attempted to make parsley oil for the CookingBites Recipe Challenge: Parsley. I'm talking about bright vivid green oil. I know how to keep the parsley green by blanching and putting in iced water. So far, so good. Next step was remove as much water as possible and partially freeze (which makes it easier to chop up). Then blend with oil and strain the mix through muslin.

When I blended it (using a stick blender) it formed an emulsion - not the intention! I strained this and think I can use it to make a gorgeous parsley mayo - but not what I wanted. I want to achieve a bright green oil rather like the one pictured here:

img71821.768x512.jpg
 
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I've always wondered the kitchen strikes the right balance between using fresh food, and not having to throw 90% of it out every day. I have standards for what I will eat when I'm digging things out of my own refrigerator, and they're admittedly lower standards than those of a restaurant. I will cut around the slightly overripe parts of things, but I would never do that if I ran the kitchen. Or would I?
 
The Late Night Gourmet said:
I've always wondered the kitchen strikes the right balance between using fresh food, and not having to throw 90% of it out every day. I have standards for what I will eat when I'm digging things out of my own refrigerator, and they're admittedly lower standards than those of a restaurant. I will cut around the slightly overripe parts of things, but I would never do that if I ran the kitchen. Or would I?
Click to expand...

I also wonder about this!
 
morning glory said:
Thank you @timmyc - cooking questions often pop up on the forum. Don't be surprised if a moderator creates a new thread from a question asked in this thread. Firstly, we desperately need new threads and secondly, different topics under a general thread heading will quickly get 'lost' as they aren't searchable.

Also - I should add that quite a few folk here are knowledgable about different types of cuisine and I've certainly learned from them despite the fact I'm a fairly experienced cook.

Having said this, I have a question. Today I attempted to make parsley oil for the CookingBites Recipe Challenge: Parsley. I'm talking about bright vivid green oil. I know how to keep the parsley green by blanching and putting in iced water. So far, so good. Next step was remove as much water as possible and partially freeze (which makes it easier to chop up). Then blend with oil and strain the mix through muslin.

When I blended it (using a stick blender) it formed an emulsion - not the intention! I strained this and think I can use it to make a gorgeous parsley mayo - but not what I wanted. I want to achieve a bright green oil rather like the one pictured here:

View attachment 28114
Click to expand...


Hmm how long did you leave it to strain over the muslin for?

You can always add food colouring to it to get the colour you are after. Although they do tend not to mix together completely with that method.
 
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timmyc said:
Hi guys i am a new member on the forum and loving the place.

I have been a chef since i was 15 years of age so i have a fair few miles in my tank! 28 now :D

I just wanted to start a thread around no topic in particular, but more of an AMA style thread.

This thread is more for me to brain dump anything in particular about cooking out in the open for people to take notice of and try things out that i implement. As well as anyone to ask questions around cooking, knife skills, knife sharpening you name it anything and everything is on the table.

I have all this knowledge in my brain just sitting there and i would much rather help others with any questions they might have or problems etc and provide some value that way.
Click to expand...

Hi @timmyc, welcome to CookingBites. At the moment I have no particular requests that come to my mind, but thanks for your support.
I was wondering if you could measure yourself in the current challenge as nominated by @morning glory, which the chosen ingredient is Parsley. I'd like to see some of your recipes!
 
The Late Night Gourmet said:
I've always wondered the kitchen strikes the right balance between using fresh food, and not having to throw 90% of it out every day. I have standards for what I will eat when I'm digging things out of my own refrigerator, and they're admittedly lower standards than those of a restaurant. I will cut around the slightly overripe parts of things, but I would never do that if I ran the kitchen. Or would I?
Click to expand...


This is a very complex question so i will answer it as best i can.

Restaurants will generally get fruit and vegetables twice a week, often from suppliers that the general public won't have access to unless they ordered a very large quantity.

Competition is fierce and the suppliers have to give you the best quality produce available so you don't churn (go to someone else)

Also fruit and vegetables can last fresh alot longer than you think if stored correctly and taken care of, in the right packaging etc.

Like parsley for example if it starts getting a bit sad, put it in some ice cold water and the leaves will come good again.

Also you can tell when stock is starting to turn bad lets say i order avocados on Monday and on Friday i notice them starting to go really soft and are about to turn. I will grab every one of them and make avocado ice cream and freeze it so they don't turn.

See still fresh!

well, not fresh fresh but i have transformed it into a dish where you wont notice the difference and it will keep for a long time.

Second - you would be surprised especially in an ''a la carte'' style establishment how much gets thrown out!

I throw out food quite often as you never really know for sure what people will order it is unavoidable. You WILL throw food out, unless you are some sick prick who likes making people sick.

You always know the more popular dishes but I could do 50 serves of a particular dish that i know is popular or i could do 10...

You just get into a rythm when your in there of knowing how much of what you should have as backup at all times, if things don't go to plan you make a special or incorporate things that you think won't keep into other dishes so you use it all up.

If there is anything more you wanted answered specifically or expanded upon let me know.
 
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MypinchofItaly said:
Hi @timmyc, welcome to CookingBites. At the moment I have no particular requests that come to my mind, but thanks for your support.
I was wondering if you could measure yourself in the current challenge as nominated by @morning glory, which the chosen ingredient is Parsley. I'd like to see some of your recipes!
Click to expand...


I will have to have a look over it!
 
timmyc said:
Hmm how long did you leave it to strain over the muslin for?

You can always add food colouring to it to get the colour you are after. Although they do tend not to mix together completely with that method.
Click to expand...

I left it for quite a while. The problem was it had emulsified so formed a creamy pale green look - and the resulting filtered oil looked creamy too.

timmyc said:
You can always add food colouring to it to get the colour you are after.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't do that. The whole point of what I'm attempting is a beautiful natural vibrant green parsley oil. Back to the drawing board tomorrow! I think I need to mix the parsley and oil for less time perhaps, so that it doesn't start to emulsify?
 
morning glory said:
I left it for quite a while. The problem was it had emulsified so formed a creamy pale green look - and the resulting filtered oil looked creamy too.



I wouldn't do that. The whole point of what I'm attempting is a beautiful natural vibrant green parsley oil. Back to the drawing board tomorrow! I think I need to mix the parsley and oil for less time perhaps, so that it doesn't start to emulsify?
Click to expand...


Just tinker with it like you said.

Try different things to get the result you want by trial and error.

You will figure it out, and once you figure out where you went wrong you will be able to do it right every time.
 
timmyc said:
Hi guys i am a new member on the forum and loving the place.

I have been a chef since i was 15 years of age so i have a fair few miles in my tank! 28 now :D

I just wanted to start a thread around no topic in particular, but more of an AMA style thread.

This thread is more for me to brain dump anything in particular about cooking out in the open for people to take notice of and try things out that i implement. As well as anyone to ask questions around cooking, knife skills, knife sharpening you name it anything and everything is on the table.

I have all this knowledge in my brain just sitting there and i would much rather help others with any questions they might have or problems etc and provide some value that way.
Click to expand...


Welcome to the forum, TimmyC!! Glad to have you here!! :wink:
 
@timmyc: wow...thank you for the comprehensive reply! Things do make a lot more sense now that I read this. It does sound like it’s crucial to keep on top of things. It seems that more restaurants tend to err on the side of keeping things too long...whenever I find myself feeling a bit odd after a meal, I assume it’s something I ate.
 
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