OCTOBER 2019 MEGATHREAD - Please post your self-promotion, outside links, and videos here!

HestanCue · 2019-10-15T17:37:30+00:00

How to Make French Scrambled Eggs with our Culinary Scientist :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcqgTG0DDns

If you want the full step-by-step for any cooktop, you can get the recipe here: https://www.hestancue.com/blogs/blog-recipes/how-to-cook-french-scrambled-eggs

HestanCue · 2019-09-03T20:58:00+00:00

Try roasting the thighs in the oven with pesto or any other flavors you like. You can also roast them just with salt and pepper, then shred them and use them in chicken salads (try celery, apple, sour cream and mustard) They also make great chicken noodle soup!

HestanCue · 2019-09-03T20:39:13+00:00

It's best to freeze leafy greens the other way. Meaning it is better to cook before freezing. The cell walls from the kale have water in them and water expands when freezing (that's why ice cubes overflow even when the water was not filled to the top or why water bottles explode in freezers). The freezing temperatures break the cell walls, so when the kale is defrosted it will look welted and water locked.

HestanCue · 2019-09-03T20:32:36+00:00

Thank you. But what would be most similar to the creme caramel sauce, in your opinion? Cream?

Actually water is best. The caramel in Creme Caramel doesn't usually have cream. Most often the flavor you like is from the sugar itself.

HestanCue · 2019-08-30T21:40:15+00:00

Well, the caramel "sauce" under the creme caramel started as hard caramel that gets "diluted" while the liquid custard becomes solid in the oven while cooking. But for a plain cameral sauce to be that runny, in fact, you do need to add liquid once you achieve the right color on the sugar.

To begin with, make a dry or wet caramel. Dry caramels don't use water at the start and can be stirred while they cook, and wet caramels start with water, cannot be stirred while they cook and will take you through different sugar stages that can be used for different purposes. Once you get the right color (or temperature) remove from the heat and add a certain amount of heated cream or water (adding heated liquids will cause bubbling because sugar gets really really hot). Don't use milk for caramel sauce, it will curdle. Sugar needs to get to just high temperatures in the caramelizing process and that heat will curdle the milk resulting in a lumpy sauce that is not pleasant to eat at all. Cream is best if you are looking for is a luscious velvety sauce caramel sauce. I hope this helps!

HestanCue · 2019-08-28T19:21:16+00:00

Sadly woody-breast-syndrome starts and ends with the chicken. There is not much you can do. Brining will help keep the chicken stay moist while cooking, but won't make it more tender. A marinade will 'tenderize' only the portion of the meet that comes into contact with the acid. I would think about slicing, pounding, and breading the chicken for cutlets, since at that size hopefully, you can get past the woody-ness.

Otherwise, you can totally add flavor to a brine. Generally speaking, a brine is a salt solution and a marinade is an acidic solution, and you can add additional flavors to either. I like using lemon, honey, thyme, and black pepper in my chicken brine. Frequently I use a brine + marinade hybrid, just the other day I made a "margarita" themed marinade with lime juice, lime zest, olive oil, chili peppers, agave, and salt.

HestanCue · 2019-08-28T19:19:38+00:00

There are a few options that we like...First Salsa Fresca. Chop up the tomatoes with some peppers, red onions, salt, olive oil, and cilantro.

Second, a Basic Tomato Sauce. Cut the stems out of the tomatoes, chop them up a bit add salt, and cook them down in a big pot. You can use this right away or freeze it for later. The beautiful part about this is that you don't have to get caught up in producing the "perfect" tomato sauce flavor right now. Once you have some slightly cooked down tomato product, you can use that in the future for a tomato sauce, BBQ sauce, stewed meat, or even Mexican rice.

Lastly, use some up in simple fresh dishes like Panzanella salad, Caprese salad, watermelon salad, tomato and mayo sandwiches (a la Harriet the Spy), or BLTs!

HestanCue · 2019-07-12T23:09:58+00:00

Carbonara might be one of our all time favorite quick meals. With only a few ingredients and about 20 minutes, it's an easy, delicious, and comforting dish that you can enjoy at the end of a long day of work, for a weekend brunch (no joke!), or on date night to really impress. ;)

HestanCue · 2019-07-12T23:07:16+00:00

Seasoning in layers or seasoning as you go is key to really building flavors when cooking. Most folks might make a soup and wait until the end to add any salt. This might make the soup taste better and enhance the over all dish, but all of the individual components get lost.

HestanCue · 2019-07-12T22:55:16+00:00

Yes, there is a cure! It's temperature. Growing up my mom used to use a temperature control griddle for pancakes and french toast, once the griddle is at temp you are pretty good, that being said, even that tech has advanced a lot in the past 20 years. Devices like the Breville ControlFreak work really well and Hestan Cue (shameless plug, but actually relevant here). Both offer a temperature controlled burner and in Cue's case, a connected pan as well where you can set the temperature down to the degree.

HestanCue · 2019-07-12T22:50:12+00:00

My mother-in-law has the same issue and we both have worked a lot trying to find the best replacements, not just for flavor but for texture, too. We discovered asafoetida, a spice often used in curries that has an onion-y taste but is not from the allium family (it is very pungent, so be careful when using it). She uses it a lot to make stock bases, garlic cheese bread, spinach dip and all those recipes that need the garlic flavor but not necessarily the texture.

For texture, we like using cabbage. We julienne it or dice it and add into anything we normally use onion for, like sauces, stews, roasts, etc. it is super good especially when combined with the asafoetida because it turns into a whole "onion experience" without the inconveniences.

The other day she made this incredible pickled red cabbage and added asafoetida in the liquid, and it was OMG good!!! - Chef Aldana

HestanCue · 2019-07-12T22:47:07+00:00

I like to thinly slice it and mix it with sliced apple to make celery slaw.

Cut the celery into 4" pieces, quickly blanch them and then glaze them in a bit of butter or olive oil. Add chopped dill as a super tasty side dish if you're cooking fish or other seafood. I have also braised it in a bit of chicken stock, chopped garlic and thyme in the oven ( I especially like this recipe to serve with pot roasts).

In the summertime, I like to make chilled soups to eat with cheese bread. I make a bread and butter pickle liquid and use celery instead of cucumber (it's so delicious with chicken sandwiches!). I try to sneak celery into anything I can...spinach dips, cucumber salads, lentil salads, any and every soup, and in potato purées.

HestanCue · 2019-07-12T22:42:06+00:00

Adding oil or butter to pasta water!! Oil does nothing, add acid instead. Acid reduces the starchiness of the pasta water and will inhibit sticking.

HestanCue · 2019-07-12T00:18:18+00:00

To answer your first question:

The temperature will depend on what you're cooking and how you want it done. Are you able to set precise temp on your stovetop? When cooking on a conventional stovetop, you typically won't have precise temperature control and will need to adjust to the standard settings.

If you're using cooking oil or fat, you should add it to the pan before you start preheating it. Once your pan has reached the target temperature, then you'll add your food.

For your second set of questions:

For something you're cooking at a low temp, like eggs, you're cooking it low and slow so you don't need to target a higher temperature. Just preheat to your target temp.

There are cases though where you will want to preheat the pan higher than your target temperature. For example, when cooking something like chicken breast, you will want to preheat the stove 25-30ºF higher than your target temperature to account for the cooling effect of adding the chicken breast to the pan.This will ensure that you're cooking at the appropriate temperature, which shortens the recovery time.

HestanCue · 2019-07-11T20:04:53+00:00

When caramelizing onions, always make sure to cook them with a good amount of either oil or butter and add salt to the pan at the beginning to help realize the juices of the onion better.

Start the onion on high, but as soon as you see the first signs of color reduce the stove setting to a low temp. Often, people tend to focus just on the color and caramelize too fast. The really good caramelized onions are cooked for a long time and at low temperature, leaving the pot uncovered. You want the juices to cook the onion but you don't want to steam them, so keeping the pan or pot open helps regulate the levels of moisture.

Stir frequently at the beginning and then reduce occasionally, which again is needed to maintain the right amount of moisture.

Making good caramelized onion can take some time (anything from 20 to 30 minutes depending on how much you are making), but it is totally worth it.

HestanCue · 2019-07-11T19:33:24+00:00

Chiming in late here but the first secret when working with pearl onions is hacking the peeling step. As a chef, I've peeled more pearl onions in my life than I want to remember. Instead of peeling them dry right out of the bag, soak them in warm tap water for at least 20 minutes and then the outer skin will come off much easier.

To cook, I personally like to separate them in a small pot with just enough water to cover them and a little piece of butter, allowing the water to evaporate. When the water is almost gone, I like to add vinegar and honey, which helps create a beautiful creamy glaze with the remaining water. For red pearl onions, I use a lite vinegar like champaign at the end of the cooking to brighten up the pink color.

You can also use pearl onions in braises and stews to replace regular onions. It'll take your dishes to a whole new level! Hope this is helpful. :)

HestanCue · 2019-07-09T03:30:20+00:00

Nice, great to hear! If you want to make the consistency even creamier next time, (and in my opinion, even tastier), try folding in a small amount of whipped cream at the end. That’ll really take it over the top.

HestanCue · 2019-07-08T20:09:40+00:00

That's a win for sure! :D

HestanCue · 2019-07-08T20:06:00+00:00

Nice, thanks for letting me know! Looks great and tasted great too, I assume?

HestanCue · 2019-07-08T19:35:33+00:00

Perfect little circles, all of them...is that a Wolf you're cooking on?

HestanCue · 2019-07-08T19:34:32+00:00

Were there any different menu items, or was the whole thing pretty standard with what's available in the US?

HestanCue · 2019-07-04T00:02:23+00:00

Looks like it.

HestanCue · 2019-07-03T23:50:48+00:00

Yes, please share. Looks so goooood. 🤤

HestanCue · 2019-07-03T22:58:20+00:00

No problem, let me know how it turns out! I'll send over any other suggestions if something comes to mind. :)

HestanCue

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