Archive for November 19th, 2009
Julia Child’s Bible for Would-Be Chefs
For amateur and professional chefs alike, ability to prepare French cuisine is considered a hallmark of kitchen talent. French food is intricate, delicate, refined and quite frankly easy to get wrong. In her bestselling book “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” Julia Child dove headlong into the often pretentious but frequently delicious culinary heritage in France. Since the 1960s, generations of would-be chefs have referred to Child’s cookbook as a veritable gospel.
As recipe books go, Child’s work stands out for being both an enjoyable read and a precise instruction manual. Beginners should work on mastering Mexican, American and Italian cuisines before graduating to French, but the important thing is that you challenge yourself. Even if you attempts at French cooking don’t turn out picture perfect on your first attempt, that’s no reason to give up.
Chopped Chocolate Made Easy
The best pastry chefs know to use fresh chocolate when making tasty treats like brownies and fudge. But, fresh chocolate comes in blocks and must be finely chopped in preparation for the melting process. Chefs hate nothing more than spending a valuable hour prepping chocolate.
Serrated kitchen knives are a pastry chef’s best friend. The grooved “teeth” on a serrated knife work perfectly to chop brittle chocolate blocks. Serrated knives also tend to be sharper than typical chef’s knives because they’re used less frequently