In this episode of The Stella Culinary School Podcast, picking out knives, and what to consider when purchasing a smoker, BBQ, or grill this summer. And YES, by popular demand, this episode now has time stamps!
INTRODUCTION
SEGMENT ONE - WHAT KNIVES DO YOU NEED?
The practical use of hydrocolloids are discussed, including Xanthan Gum, Lecithin, Agar Agar, and meat glue (transglutaminase). We talk about how these items can help you solve traditional kitchen problems, while not becoming the focus of a dish.
Mentioned In This Episode
In this episode, I lay out the "Greek Salad Challenge" as a homework assignment. The purpose of this challenge is to drill knife skills, and work on creating baseline seasonings through balancing fat, acid and salt.
We then carry this concept over into a lesson on how I would recreate the flavor of a hollandaise sauce if all I had was a recipe and had never tasted hollandaise before. This first principals approach to dissecting a dish through flavor structure will allow you to understand and replicate flavor structures at their most basic level.
This simple batter is used in our Batter Fried Wedge Potato video, but can be used for just about anything, especially onion rings. Shout out to Alex Downing who is responsible for developing this recipe. Alex was the Sous Chef at Stella while I was there, and is now the Executive Chef.
These sourdough English muffins are great simply toasted with butter or used in a sandwich. The Parmesan and herbs were added for a bit more complexity since this recipe was developed specifically for a breakfast sandwich application. However, the herbs and Parmesan can be left out, or swapped for any other flavors you want.
This New York style pizza crust is formulated specifically for use in a home oven. The addition of the olive oil and sugar help to make the dough extensible and easy to brown. This dough can be further enhanced by delaying fermentation in the fridge overnight, either during the primary fermentation or proofing stage. The longer the dough is allowed to proof, the better flavor it will have.
Simple tomato sauce used for Neapolitan style pizzas. Although traditionally San Marzano tomatoes are used, you can substitute fresh plum tomatoes that have been blanched and peeled. The ideal tomato will have bright acidity and high mineral content for a more complex flavor.
A simple, bechamel based "white garlic pizza sauce" that is delicious on top of any type of pizza, but especially good when paired with a Sicilian crust topped with bacon, chicken, tomato and spinach.
