Season Six – Hell’s Kitchen

I didn’t realize that Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen started a couple of months ago…let’s look in again!

Love Your Handles!

Here is a entry about a very serious but ofter forgotten point when washing dishes by hand.  In the kitchen of many restaurants, as well as at home (my wife), I’ve witnessed many, many people wash items used for cooking except for the handles.  For example, especially in a Japanese kitchen, there are multiple chefs with multiple knives.  And, I personally witnessed some top chefs fillet an 8 pound tenderloin strip, scrub off the blade of the knife, wipe it dry with a rag, put it in a protective sleeve, and then put it away for later use…the whole time totally ignoring to scrub the handle of the knife while they were washing the blade.  This fact I’ve also seen at home with my wife.  She washes the blade of the knife under water and then places the knife onto a drying rack placed in the adjacent sink.  WOW, EVERYONE DOING THIS IS CREATING A TOTAL FOOD SAFETY NO-NO! How amazed I am that more people don’t become violently ill from this practice; yet again, that may explain the need for Pepto Bismol in every house hold and restaurant first aid kit in the world.  Taking the simple precaution to understand that the handle of the blade is the most dangerous part for holding various bacteria…especially, wooden handled knives.

Another great example of poor handle sanitation comes about when I’ve seen numerous people wash pans by hand.  The people take great precaution in scouring the inside of the pan, but ignore the handle completely.  And in some cases, the people completely ignore properly washing the bottom of the pan, vaugely wiping the bottom with a rag or simply rinsing the bottom with water.  WOW AGAIN! ANOTHER FOOD SAFETY NO-NO! The handle of pans, especially ones with holes for hanging or ringed for hanging, contain the perfect nook-and-cranny dynamics to harbor extremely dangerous bacteria.

My last example of poor handle hygiene should be the last step of closing any kitchen, in a restaurant or your house, and entails how ignorant people become when they don’t clean the handles to storage devices and containers, i.e. the handle on the refrigerator, toaster, and oven to name a few.  But, although something like the frig should be done multiple times in the day…there are a few places I bet most people completely ignore, as to why stress how ignorant people become about handle cleaning.  For example, I’ve seen people wash all the dishes, clean out the sink, and then considered themselves finished until the dishes can dry; however, did that person ever stop to think how contaminated the handle on the sink can become…besides food and grease residue, these places bring new elements when you add standing water.

For lack of interest, not loving your handles can and will lead to many people you know having minor stomach problems on a routine basis.  And all the while, it was the handles of the things you use in the kitchen not being truly washed with the rest of the stuff.  Do yourself a little favor and spend the extra 10 minutes in the kitchen to love your handles the right way and clean them, too!

I cook chicken wings (and vegetables) with water!!

Since I usually cooking food for 6 at a time, I like to use water as the base for the meals I prepare.  What I mean is that I start preparing the dish by first boiling what ever meat, poultry, or fish that is the main course; I then turn that boiled water into sauce and to cook the vegetable part of the meal.  For example, tonight my wife’s friend came in from out of town and also had another friend over as well…making the dinner count for the night at 4 adults, 3 adolescents, 2 dogs, and 2 goldfish.  What to do now because every thing was frozen?…this is what I did.

Boiled Chicken Wings

I took 18 frozen chicken wings and partially defrosted them in a microwave on poultry setting at 1.5 lbs, which defrosts the wings for about 5 minutes.  While waiting for the wings, I start 1 and 1/2 quarts of water to the boil.  When the wings are done from the microwave, I put them into the water.  Next I ad 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of garlic salt, and 1 teaspoon of dried chopped oregano into the water and put a clear lid onto the pot.  Once it comes to a boil, I reduce the temperature to medium heat and cook for 15 minutes; after which I turn and separate the wings around the pot for even cooking.  At that point, I added 2 cubes of chicken bullion and covered the chicken for another 15 minutes.  Then, before serving, I add 2 teaspoons of corn starch dissolved in  1/2 cup cold water…this slightly thickens the remaining broth base into a nice, tasteful coating on the wings.  I then place all the wings into a single round platter and stick it in the middle of the table for the ladies to eat.

Just prior to thickening the broth base (the water the chicken was cooking in), take 2 cups out to cook some vegetables in.  What I did was take another pot and set it the stove temperature to high.  I then added 1 bag of frozen mixed stir fry vegetables from Walmart with the 2 cups of broth and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, I added 1 whole sliced white onion, 3 leaves of chopped cabbage, 1 chopped carrot, and 1 large clove of garlic.  Also adding 2 table spoons of soy sauce…use 4 packs of soy sauce you get from you last Chinese takeout.  Vigorously mix the frozen and mixed vegetables together, cover, and boil for an additional 5 minutes…this gives the vegetables a texture kids from 4 to 11 will eat…and, still have a texture adults will enjoy.  Now you have a tasty side dish for the chicken wings.

And since my wife is Japanese, tons of white rice is a staple with every dinner meal, especially, with her Japanese friends.  Therefore, when my wife called and said she would be home with guests in about 30 minutes, this is the meal I prepared for them…in about 40 minutes really because of the time it takes to plate the food.  I, usually, like to let things I cook at high temperature sit and rest for 5 minutes before I serve.  Then another 5 minutes to get all the kids to the table and focused to eat.  But all in all, nothing was left but chicken bones for the raccoons to dig out of my trash on Wednesday.

Until next time,

Eric

Where science and food meet.

I’ve found a new little side-tracker at youtube called Good Eats by Alton Brown from the Food Network.  What is interesting about this series is the knowledge of the host on the science side of making food.  Not only does he demonstrate great dishes, he describes the history of the recipes and does it in a comical, almost satirical style of cooking documentary.  While watching a few episodes got me thinking of all the tips and ideas I throw at my wife every week in the kitchen while we’re preparing our food for the family.  Here is the episode about cheese, especially Alton’s passion for it, and ties in with my post about the simple grilled cheese sandwiches I make for my sons all of the time.

The Chopping Block – Marco Pierre White

Another show I am interested in is called the Chopping Block featuring Marco Pierre White.  Marco is Gordon Ramsay’s mentor as well as Molto Mario from the food channel.  This show pits couples against one another for a chance to win $250,000 for their own restaurant…the twist is one person of the couple competes in the front of the house and the other person competes in the kitchen…and, their combined overall performance is what gets these couples fired or chopped from the competition.  This is an interesting show in that it involves both sides of a restaurant…I guess me watching all these shows makes up for me not being in the restaurant industry anymore…any way, take a look: