Today was vegetable day with Chef Jeremy Sewall of Island Creek Oyster Bar here in Boston. His recipes stressed the importance of having the main vegetable be the center of the dish. Cooking with vegetables is not easy and there are many techniques we experienced today from how to correctly blanch and shock asparagus to how to roast beets and boil carrots. In the past, I have cooked many vegetables, but it was great to see how a restaurant chef cooks the vegetables. My key concepts below basically reflect the lesson of today's class.
Key Concepts:
-to blanch, make sure the water tastes like the ocean. Salt, salt, salt!
-the water should be at a rolling boil
-take out the veggies when color is bright and tender, shock them in COLD, ICE water - leave them until they are cold
-Cut vegetables the same size so cooking time is the same - prevents some undercooked and overdone pieces
-The simplest dishes are the hardest to perfect - we did mashed potatoes. lets say to make them perfect you need a lot of salt, butter and cream...A LOT
-When making a vegetable soup like carrot, mushroom or broccoli, make sure you use the ratio...2 times more of the vegetable you are showcasing then others. For instance 2 cups mushroom and 1 cup of onions, leeks, and celery. Just think, would you want a mushroom soup with hardly any mushrooms? Logic!
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| Blanched asparagus |
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| Brussels Sprouts and butternut squash |
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| Chefs |
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| Potato and rutabaga gratin |
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| Mushroom Soup |
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| Beet and herb salad |
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