Vegetarian Dish

I have decided to create a section that just covers vegetarian options. This is for a good friend of mine that lives in Portland. (She's my suedo Mexican Sister). Here's a list of things that will aid in cooking vegetarian dishes, please read all of them, they are in no particular order.

1. Olive oil- Olive oil is the most versatile ingredient in the kitchen when it comes to cooking anything healthy and vegetarian in the kitchen. While other oils can be used and are less expensive, olive oil is unique in flavor and tastes great with practically anything. For beginners I wouldn't recommend trying it just by itself, but rather adding it with other ingredients to form a sauce, marinade or dressing.  For example:

• Olive Oil and balsamic vinegar- Two parts olive oil to one part balsamic vinegar, with a pinch of salt and pepper. Use this as a marinade or simply as a dip with bread. You can add basil or garlic as well, but these are optional. If you want to emulsify it so that the oil and vinegar don't separate, add a teaspoon of vinegar (you can add more until it comes together) and wisk together in a bowl. Always add salt and pepper to taste.

• Olive oil and garlic- Have a pan on low heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 2 freshly crushed/cut, cloves of garlic. The pan doesn't have to be really hot, start with a low heat and until you can smell the garlic aromas come out. (Try not to brown your garlic because that will make it bitter). Toss some pasta and some parmigano regiano for a quick meal or add some spinach for a quick side dish. Cook spinach until it slightly wilts, (turns dark green and shrinks), and finish with some salt and pepper. 

2. Salt and Pepper- The most overlooked ingredient in a kitchen. Salt and pepper is the most fundemental and important ingredient when cooking anything, repeat ANYTHING!

• Salt-When picking your salt I like to either use either kosher salt or sea salt. Reason being these two can be added in increments that don't turn your food too salty. When picking up Kosher salt, don't get confused with pickling salt, just by normal kosher salt. Kosher salt kind of looks like regular table salt, but its grains are slightly bigger. 

• Pepper- Buy a good pepper mill that can be easily reloaded. Don't buy the pre crushed because they loose their flavor after being crushed. If you can refill your pepper mill its more cost efficient than buying a disposable one once a week. Also you can adjust how coarse or fine you want your pepper, fine being for smaller items and coarse for bigger ones.   

That's it for now, but these principles can be used for basically anything. 

Flat Leaf Italian Parsley

Yup, its the green stuff that everyone ignores, the most under appreciated ingredient in the USA, but its one of the best ingredients in the world. Why? it adds a fresh taste and vibrant color to any dish (especially if you add it to anything that has olive oil).

Tips for flat leaf Italian parsley

1. Know the difference between regular parsley, flat leaf and Chinese parsley.They are all different.
2. Wash parsley to remove dirt, and other unwanted residue.
3. Spin dry in salad spinner and pat dry with paper towel
4. Pick leaves only and leave stems for soups stalks etc.
5. Bunch leaves together and cut with sharp knife
6. Parsley should be cut fine, or you can leave the leafs whole depending on the effect you want.
7. Know where to get it (On Oahu the best flat leaf I have found is from Nalo farms).

Check out the videos/links and respect the parsley!

How to Pick Italian Parsley

How to Chop Herbs with Gordon Ramsay
(Sorry guys, the youtube poster disabled embeded video on this one.)

Italian Parsley by Bon Appetit

Vine Ripe or not vine ripe tomatoes? Who cares?

I have to be totally honest and biased when I say that nothing beats a vine ripened tomato. I realize that they are not always in season so they might be hard to get (and they are expensive), but when they are available they are soooo worth it, that is if you use them correctly.

What do I mean when I say vine ripen? This means that the tomato is left on the plants vine and is picked when the fruit is at its "peak" before being picked. The result if a uniformly red, sweet, juicy, and wonderful tomato.

Typically tomatoes are not vine ripened and are picked early because of the cost effectiveness of it all. Because they are picked sooner that means less time on the farm and quicker to be sold. Unfortunately this leads to tomatoes that are bland and the color is usually that pinkish hey, rather than that deep, dark, delicious red.

It is important to note that while I do prefer vine ripen toms, they have to be used correctly in order to justify paying double the amount. Here are some helpful hints.

1. When you first get them, store them in a dry cool place, the fridge is fine if they are going to be eaten right away. Do not wash them until they are going to be used, because moisture on tomatoes will lead to mold.

2 If you leave them out on the counter to get over ripe, or if they naturally are over ripe, use them to make sauce. Over ripe, vine ripened tomatoes are the best for pizza, marinara, and soups.

3. Do not squeeze them or stack them on one another, this will cause them to bruise and will make them dwindle much faster. Be gentle and give them space.

4. Keep track of them- Watch for mold and too much condensation on them. If one tomato goes bad, they all can get moldy rather quickly.


Hope you enjoy your vine ripen tomatoes, but if you don't have them, or can't afford them, here is a cool recipe from a chef that I used to work for in Seattle.

Chef Daisley Gordon's Confit Tomato Technique

Happy Eating!

Storing vegetables and fruits.....what should go in the fridge?

While many of us, (including myself) have the urge to put every vegetable and fruit they buy in the fridge, sometimes doing so can actually hurt your produce. If fruits or vegetables are not ripe yet, leave them out in a cool place (away from the sunshine), to ripen. This could take 3 to 4 days till your fruits or vegetables are ripe. Remember, if you put them in the fridge this will stop the ripening process and it will just stay the way it was originally when you bought it. So if you want to stop the ripening process, put it in the fridge.  

How do I know when it is ripe? Well this depends on the fruit or vegetable itself, but typically the two most important things are color, smell and general touch. For example, avocados tend to need some time to ripen. If the avocado is hard like a rock, leave it out on the counter for a few days till it has a little "give." Then put it in the fridge. While I can't possibly cover all fruits and vegetables for the "okay" to put in fridge, I can say that some are better left out, in my opinion.

Leave out in cool place ( out of sun).

1. Potatoes
2. Onions
3. Garlic
4. Ginger

Items to immediately put in your fridge
1. Lettuce
2. Spinach
3. Basically any leafy green.

A good way to think about this to, is the next time you go shopping for groceries in the super market, notice which items are in the fridge and which ones aren't.

* I am not saying you shouldn't refrigerate fruits and vegetables, I just want to caution people for putting "everything" in the fridge, when some items could benefit, or tolerate being left out. 
:)

Mise en place - What does it mean?

We have all done it, we are all guilty of it and its a constant struggle we all face...keeping organized and clean in our kitchens. Despite the hassle of keeping everything in proper working order, it must be done!

The term Mise en place pronounced (meaz en plas) or (miz en plaz) (sorry, I am not french)...means everything in its place. What does that mean well here are some simple things to consider if you practice good Mis en place.

1. Are Pots and pans in your oven instead of a shelf or a place easy to get to?
2. Are the only things constantly on your working surface a knife, cutting board and kitchen towel?
3. If I asked for something such as sugar....how fast could you find it (if its more than 5 seconds, not good).
4. Do you have any counter space to work on period?

If you answered no for any of these, then you must work on your MIS EN PLACE!

I know I sound a little crazy talking about this so much, but I can't stress this fundamental practice enough. I, for one, have been cooking for a long time now....and I still struggle with this concept (so don't worry if you do to). On the bright side if you master this concept, I guarantee that you will be twice as affective cook than you already are. Believe it or not, professional kitchens actually judge you first and foremost on this concept, so if your serious about being an awesome cook/foodie you will practice this.

Here are some helpful tips.

1. Give yourself 10x the counter space than you think you need. It will come in handy when you are working fast. I noticed that you always need space when you cook and moving things out of the way for something can be that split second needed for culinary success or "burnt, over cooked, chicken."

2. The only things that should be out on your working surface should be your cutting board, knife, kitchen towel, and the item that you are working on. Work on one thing at a time. Don't clutter your cutting board with to much stuff.

3. Prep in advance. Before starting anything prep ingredients that need to be done to complete dish. So when it comes together, you don't have to worry about timing.

Once again I know that this may seem like common sense, but it is probably the most important and neglected fundemental practice in a kitchen.

Have good Mis en place = excellent chef.
Bad Mis en place = average/not so good chef.

PLEASE WATCH THIS VIDEO !!!!!!!!