Celebrity Chefs

How to Keep Your Cutlery in Great Condition

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Any home should have cutlery. Whether it is the fine and expensive one or the regular ones you use for every day cooking, cutlery serves as a very important part of the kitchen.

Whatever type of cutlery you have in your home, it is a must that they be kept clean and in good condition all the time. If you ignore the cleaning aspect, you can be sure that dust, dirt and rust will find their way on your beloved knives and you will no longer be able to use them particularly those that get rusty.

Most homeowners have their favorite knives that they use when they prepare food every day. These can be of different sizes each with different purpose. Yes, they sure serve you and your family well and so they deserve proper care every time you use them.

With fine cutlery and cooking cookware, normally homeowners use these only during special occasions but again, maintenance is vital if you want to keep them for a long time and even pass them on to your children and grandchildren. Nothing can be better than using a clean and sparkling knife during a special dinner with family and friends in your very own home.

So what are the basic steps you need to keep in mind when caring for your fine cutlery ?

Handwash them. Remember to wash fine cutlery only using your hands and never in the dishwasher. A mild soap mixed with warm water should do to clean them. The same with the regular knives you use during your food preparations. They’re best washed with hands to remove any residue from vegetables and meat.

Wipe dry. Using a soft cotton cloth, carefully wipe dry the cutlery.

Remove fingerprints. As you’re wiping, make sure you take away the fingerprints that you see. You have to know that any oil from your skin can lead to a permanent stain on your cutlery. Make sure then that you use a pair of gloves preferably those made from white cloth so you avoid finger marks on the knives.

Put coating. It would be a good idea to coat your cutlery with a USP food grade mineral oil particularly if you’ll be storing them for quite some time. Just a light coating will do.

Don’t forget to put the oil as well on the leather handles of your fine cutlery. This will prevent the leather from cracking.

Store properly. Fine cutlery should be kept in a warm area if possible such as a cutlery drawer if you have. If they came in a well packaged box, put them back there. Make sure that you store each knife separately as it’s never good that they rub against each other.

Avoid high temperatures as this can cause damage to your cutlery. So never put them on top of your refrigerators or expose them to cold temperatures such as in your basement particularly during cold weather.

Sharpen knives regularly. This is a must for the knives you use on a daily basis. You can sharpen by hand or to ensure you get the right sharpness, get a professional to do it for you.

Originally posted on November 23, 2010 @ 9:20 pm

The Foodie Godmother

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annabel karmel.jpg

There is nothing as important as feeding our children. Yet food for kids isn’t exactly something that you see on TV everyday. In fact there are only a few people writing about it.

Enter Annabel Karmel. She is a household name in the UK. She is an inspirig person. She is not just a cook, she is also a mother which is why each of her recipes have been carefully tested against the best possible guage: her own kids.

Annabel Karmel studied at the Cordon Bleu school. It was the loss of her first child, Natasha, that she began to write. She believes that the one element that any parent can control that will help determine their health is what they eat. She began to create recipes that her son would enjoy eating yet still meet his dietary needs. The result: her first published book in 1991 titled The Complete Baby and Toddler Meal Planner.

By no means though is she a homely, matronly looking mom. She may have 3 kids but she has kept physically active. She is a fun person who enjoys skiing, tennis and roller blading. She is also a musician and singer. In fact she has performed with Liberace, Denis Waterman, Queen Elizabeth and Boy George. The instrument she has performed on is the harp, though she also plays violin. She has also had a recording career.

To date she has several books under her belt. Her recipes are all kid friendly and are fun to make. If you have a fussy eater, try some of her recipes.

She has also been seen on TV as the Foodie Godmother on the Richard and Judy Show, BBC1’s Saturday Kitchen and BBC2’s Working Lunch.

Originally posted on June 18, 2010 @ 9:01 am

Ingredients Chefs Can’t Live Without

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Celebrity chefs have huge pantries at their disposal—but what’s the one ingredient they can’t live without? Six of them share their secret.

Clarissa Dickson-Wright: Heinz tomato soup. She also depends on chicken stock, but prefers to make her own. For regular blokes, she says, “”There’s a place for the stock cube in every kitchen.”

Richard Corrigan: Organic Swiss vegetable bouillon. This is something he only uses at home, since he makes his own stock from scratch in the kitchen.

Antony Worrall Thompson: ketchup, worcester sauce and anchovy essence

Delia Smith: Sainsbury’s fresh bolognese and freshly made gnocchi. “This is a total cheat – but utterly gorgeous”

James Martin: Supermarket’s own-brand fresh stock. “It’s my favourite thing at the moment. It makes a great sauce”

Sam Stern: Marmite. “The best shortcut for stock is having the real thing around in your freezer whenever you want it”

Originally posted on September 30, 2010 @ 2:30 pm

Sous Vide: The Secret of Celebrity Chefs

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Everyone has his secret, and although many people would like to keep their secret just that – a secret – these things have a way of coming out into the open. Take this simple technique of cooking food in a bag.

Dubbed sous vide, the technique is basically that – putting food in a sealed pouch and dumping it in hot water (maintained at a precise temperature for a certain period of time). It has been around for so long, but not many chefs (celebrity or otherwise) like talking about it. I suppose the idea is too similar to instant food that health-conscious individuals abhor.

Cooking sous vide, however, is actually quite different. The result of using this technique is three-fold:

• Save time
• Save on costs
• Ensure consistency

What’s the advantage of using the technique? Basically, cooking food in sealed pouches at relatively low temperatures over time makes the fats and collagen in meat break down slowly. The juices and the flavors are also retained much better. You can just imagine how tasty the food will be – whether you’re talking about meats or vegetables!

To do this properly, you can buy a “real” sous vide “machine.” This includes the vacuum sealed pouch and a self-stirring bath. This will set you back several thousands of dollars, though. (Yeah it’s one other reason that not many people are using them.) On the other hand, you can set your own up by buying a vacuum sealed bag and making your own water bath. However, the results may not be the same as you have to monitor the water temperature more closely and make sure that the water is stirred constantly.

The next time you hear sous vide – do not be turned off. It just might yield the best meal you’ve ever had!

Originally posted on May 27, 2010 @ 10:59 am