Restaurant meals are often a celebration. Many people are trying to save money these days. A night out in a restaurant may not be an option. The special moments in life should be celebrated with good food and great company. These pages are full of tips, tricks and advice that will help you to create delicious meals at home.
You have to break some eggs
It’s not just the first thing we eat in the morning, but it’s also the first thing we learn to prepare and teach to our children. The debate (and disagreement) between cooks about adding milk or water to beaten eggs is a common one. Which is the right answer?
Use a non-stick pan or one that is well-buttered for a 3-egg omelet. The omelet should be able to easily slide around the pan and out. Use the edge of your pan to fold over the other half and close the filling neatly.
For a perfect omelet, you need to have confidence and practice. Break some eggs and crack them!
Fresh is Best
You can find local farmer’s markets if you are unable to grow your own fruits, vegetables, and herbs. What makes locally-grown produce different from the products you can purchase at your local supermarket? Produce bred to be sold in supermarkets is usually bred more for its ability of surviving the shipping rigors than its taste. The fruit may be picked before it is ripe to prevent spoilage in transit. Farmers who want to sell their produce at farmer’s market can wait until it is fully ripe. It will have a fuller flavor and more vitamins and nutrients than produce that is picked before it reaches its peak. Local farmers also sell seasonal and regional items not available in chain stores.
Prepare Ahead
It doesn’t mean you have to slave all day long in a hot, humid kitchen. You can mentally prepare even before that. At Magnolia Grill, the majority of prep work is completed the day before a dish is prepared and served. Prepare yourself by familiarizing yourself with your recipes. Estimate a schedule of time for each side dish and the main entre. Calculate when you will need to begin cooking each dish, so they are all ready at once. Make sure you have all the tools you need and enough space to cook each dish.
The day before the event, prepare your physical preparations. Peel and chop vegetables, cook meat, separate eggs etc. Pre-measure your ingredients before you start cooking and arrange them in the order that you will be adding them to your dish. This method streamlines your cooking and eliminates the panic that can occur when you realize you’re short on a critical ingredient.
Respect Meat
Morton’s House recommends that you buy beef with a USDA grade of “prime”, if it is available, or “choice”, if not. Prime beef is from well-fed, young cattle that have more marbling (the threads of fat running through the meat) than other grades. The majority of the very small amount of beef that is rated prime is sold to restaurants and hotels. The choice graded beef has the same tenderness and flavor as prime beef, but it is less expensive. Select beef is leaner, and dryer than higher grades. The majority of select cuts are best marinated or cooked on moist heat.
How can you tell if the meat is done if you can’t even cut it? Use the Morton palm test. It doesn’t refer to holding your hand over the meat in order to feel its heat. Instead, it means comparing the firmness and firmness of the different parts of your palm to the firmness when you poke the meat with your finger. The thumb should feel spongy and unresistible when you touch a rare steak. Medium steaks should bounce back like the palm’s middle when you touch them. The meat should feel firm, like the pinky.
Start small
Appetizers can be a fun way to entertain guests and create anticipation for your meal. In the past, appetizers were used to encourage conversation, friendship, and appetite. Instead of trying to reinvent the recipe, downsize it and serve it as finger foods. Henderson suggests using a Espresso cup instead of a soup bowl or turning hamburgers in to tiny sliders. Allow plenty of time for lingering over these little bite-sized morsels. Appetizers are not just about satiating hunger. They’re also a great way to socialize.
Side dishes are not afterthoughts
Many Americans are not fond of vegetables, even though we know they should be eaten. It could be because we abuse them, like dumping canned beans in a saucepot or microwaving frozen medleys to death. We have relegated veggies to a second-class, unappetizing status.
“Cook greens with full attention.” Broccoli and asparagus should be cooked to the point of al dente, but not mushy. Oliver’s method involves putting the vegetables in boiling, salted water and eating a small piece to check for doneness. Oliver recommends draining out the water with a colander, and then placing the vegetables onto a clean kitchen cloth to absorb the remaining water. Season them while they are hot with salt, pepper, and plenty of extra virgin oil. To add a little flavor, throw a few garlic cloves into the water you’re cooking the greens in before adding them. After draining, mash the garlic up and mix it with the rest of the seasonings.
As You Travel, Season and Taste as You Go
New York’s celebrated Italian restaurants L’Impero & Alto, the most common mistake chefs make is under-seasoning. Joey Altman who worked in and/or owned many restaurants before becoming the host of a cooking show, and The Barkers of Magnolia Grill whose motto was “not afraid of flavour” agree with him. They all advise that cooks season foods during the cooking process and taste them to ensure they get the flavor they want.
Conant’s secret? Salt. He uses kosher salt, sea salt and smoked – not the iodized type. It’s good for cooking, as it dissolves easily in water and has no aftertaste. The large grains allow you to easily see the amount of salt that has been sprinkled. Just before serving, he adds a little sea salt or smoked kosher salt to his dishes.
Conant advises that you should keep a small salt cellar with the sea salt close to the stove, or even on your table. Once you use it, it will become a habit. . . You will see how the simplest of culinary tricks can transform a dish into something truly special.”
A meal is more than just food
One restaurant secret has been revealed. Imagine how you feel as you enter a restaurant. It doesn’t start when you get to your table, but the moment you enter the restaurant. This intangible quality is called ambience. A well-arranged table with fresh flowers, sparkling silverware and a white tablecloth will make you feel welcome, appreciated and cared for. You can enjoy deep breaths when you smell baking bread. Background music can set the mood.
“I work hard with my staff to create a great dining experience at all of my restaurants.” “We are very attentive to details, and we want to make sure that our guests feel comfortable. We also want them to enjoy good wine.” “I want to delight all of my senses – sight, smell and taste.
Break out the Bubbly
You want to make a festive and fun evening? When your guests arrive, offer them a cocktail.
This indulgence gives a special touch to the event and allows people to relax. After the toasts, you can extend the celebration and improve the taste of your meal by serving a wine with your meal.
Master sommelier and director of corporate beverage for B.R. Guest Restaurants in New York, says: “A great food-and-wine pairing enhances both the taste of the food and the wines.” Guest Restaurants. He shares some tips on how to choose the right wine for your restaurant.
- The wine will either contrast or compare with the dominant elements of the food (sweet, sour and salty). When the flavors are compared, they will blend. When they contrast, the flavors intensify.
- Wines should be matched with the sauce in the dish. Chardonnay’s toasty oak notes will complement the smoky taste of chicken grilled on the grill. However, if the chicken is cooked with sweet barbeque sauce, you should choose a sweeter wine.
- The wine you serve with it should have a higher acidity than the food or sauce that goes with it. The wine will appear dull and flabby if it is not acidic.
- Pair the same intensity of wine with the food: for example, pair Cabernet Sauvignon with food that has subtle flavors, and Shiraz with food that has strong flavors.
Wine and liquors can be used to flavor food directly while cooking. The alcohol is burned away leaving behind only the flavor. TGI Friday uses Jack Daniels whiskey to flavor chicken and shrimp as well as burgers, steak, ribs, and riblets.
The Grand Finale
Ah, dessert! Desserts and pastries, the closing statement to a meal that is eagerly anticipated, are an art in themselves. Brasserie T, in Chicago, recommends choosing desserts based on flavor rather than form. But that’s not hard to do. Gail Gand, the co-owner of Brasserie T in Chicago, is a pastry cook. Their entire menu is gorgeous.
Couch Restaurants, located at the University of Oklahoma, are experts in adding a special touch to any meal. The award-winning, cook-to order eatery, which seats 750 people at once, serves approximately 3,000 meals every day during the school years. When it comes to desserts, the school contracts with a local baker to create a variety of sweets that are as appealing to the eyes as they are to the taste buds.
