Hinge as a base for soups and stews, a salad that takes forever to prepare - how much is it really worth investing in the kitchen?
• "On the way to being a chef" section with conclusions, tips and recipes
The days are late August, hot.
In the face of threats of a hysterical and historic heat wave that is about to wash over all parts of the country, and we at Danon School, in the heart of the steaming Tel Aviv port, are cooking chicken stock and soups - as if December is out.
Why actually?
That is, why you should actually learn about it, and not why, for example, the lesson was not postponed - for that there is an air conditioner.
Chef Avichai Mizrahi explained to us that spindle is actually the basis for many dishes and techniques in the kitchen, including soups, stews and sauces.
Chicken or meat stock is cooked for a relatively long time, a minimum of 3 hours for chicken stock and up to 10 hours for beef stock properly.
Vegetable and fish stews cook for a shorter time.
For previous columns:
Lesson 1: The day I decided to start cooking
Lesson 2: The building blocks of every cook
Lesson 3: Egg, for nothing?
For restaurants, it is clear that this investment in flavors makes sense and is even required, but is it worth making an axis at home?
In an age where with one click you can get to countless "meal at check-in", "easy easy easy in the kitchen" and "pizza / challah / boyabez / fill in the blanks in ten minutes", how much is really a place to invest in a home kitchen, and why actually invest any so?
This is a big question, which came up for me quite a bit before I started cooking studies, and still sometimes comes up during the lessons.
The answer in my eyes is that investing is a subjective matter.
For one to make this axis is excessive and for another to make puff pastry from scratch every weekend it is quite reasonable.
Another matter is learning and habit.
The same puff pastry will be almost impossible to prepare for the first time, and in a few times will itself become a "recipe easily" and so will at least a so-called "investment".
For example, I learned about the exact cuts that have accompanied me for several weeks since the cutting lesson.
At first it is not easy, slows down the preparation time for cooking and mostly annoying - but from time to time it just works out, and becomes really much more convenient and correct.
Not what you thought: the hardest salad to make
In a later class (which was more suited to the heavy heat where we learned about salads and salad dressings), Chef Hagai Lerner told us, a fat that requires a lot of investment and manpower, so many restaurants avoid it altogether - it is a green salad at all.
Yes yes, leaf salad.
A real one, fresh and good, will be very hard to find in the menus.
The chef demonstrated to us how long and effort it takes to pick leaves, and especially to wash them properly.
For many restaurants, this is an unprofitable investment.
In this house, it is actually a very worthwhile investment, and the salad you will receive will be refreshing, crispy and delicious - especially with the addition of sour vinaigrette and some good cheese (recipe below).
And back to the axis - if you still decide to make an axis at home, it turns out that salt should not be added at any stage (because of the reduction of fluids).
The spindle can be frozen in small boxes, so it can be used in the future and upgrade any dish with a deep flavor.
It is worthwhile to make a classic axis with basic flavors, in order for it to be suitable for dishes of different types.
Most importantly, do not make assumptions while cooking, and do not turn the spindle into a liquid to which you add everything that is a shame to throw away.
We also learned that although the shape of the cut does not have to be exact, it is important to peel and clean the vegetables, and to keep the size more or less the same in the cut, in order for them to cook evenly.
We prepared a chicken axis lesson and used it for Thai soup with chicken and coconut milk - Tom-ka-gai.
It's a soup that can be a whole meal.
The Thai ingredients in it are very important for the taste and success of the dish, but the axis is no less, and not worth giving up.
What is?
Invest a little (:
Chicken stock
Ingredients for 5.5 liters Axis:
2 kg chicken bones / wings
2 onions
2 American celery stalks
2 carrots
1 leek
10 cloves of garlic
1 large bouquet of granola: parsley, thyme, bay leaves
1 nail
10 white peppercorns
6 liters of water
Preparation:
Put the chicken in water and bring to a boil.
Spoon the rising foam with a slotted spoon.
Cut the vegetables: onion into rings, carrots and coarsely chopped celery.
Stick the nail in one of the onion pieces so you don't "get lost" in the pot.
Make Boca Grani (a bunch of herbs): In a leek leaf, arrange bay leaves, parsley and thyme stalks.
When the chicken is enough to raise foam, add the vegetables, garlic cloves and the seasoning.
Cook for 3 hours and strain off the contents.
Coconut, Glengel and Chicken Soup (Tom Ka Gai)
Ingredients for 3 servings:
250 grams of chicken stock
70 g clean chicken breast cut into strips
200 grams of coconut milk
2 kefir lime leaves
1 onion, finely sliced shallots
1 Stem Lemongrass thinly sliced
1 slice Glengel (if not, ginger)
Half a spicy red chili thinly sliced
6 chopped coriander stalks + leaves to serve
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon demerara sugar
1 lime / lemon juice
80 grams of torn / coarsely chopped Jordan mushrooms
5 halved cherry tomatoes
Preparation:
Boil the chicken stock in a saucepan with the shallots, galangal, lemon grass, coriander and chili.
After boiling, add the sugar, coconut milk and fish sauce.
Add the mushrooms and tomatoes and boil again
Add lime and season to taste
Close to serving, add the chicken strips and cook for about two minutes when it is ready
Serve with coriander leaves on top
Green salad with herb vinaigrette
Ingredients for 6 servings:
600 g leaf mixture (Recommended: lettuce, iceberg, arugula, endive, selenova)
50 g hard cheese with a strong flavor (Parmesan, blue cheese)
2 finely sliced pears
4 tablespoons roasted pecans
For the sauce:
2 shallots
4 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons cherry vinegar (or wine vinegar)
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
1 teaspoon tarragon leaves (optional)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
8 tablespoons olive oil
8 tablespoons neutral oil
Salt and white pepper
Preparation:
It is recommended to prepare the salad as close to serving as possible
The sauce: Put all the ingredients except the oil in a bowl and grind in a rod blender.
Add the oil and continue to grind until a uniform lotion is obtained.
Roughly cut the leaves or tear by hand and place in a bath of cold water.
You can put a drop of vinegar in the water.
Rinse them well and wait for the sand to settle to the bottom of the bowl.
Remove the leaves from the top (do not pour with all the water so that they do not mix again with the dirt), to a lettuce dryer and after drying place on a tray with absorbent paper.
Serving: Place the completely dry leaves in a bowl with the pears, nuts and cheese.
Pour the sauce over right at the moment of serving and mix by hand.
Taste and adjust seasoning.
Divide into small plates and serve in a central bowl.
Five
vinaigrette
tips:
Vinaigrette is a classic sauce based on an emulsion (oil) between oil and vinegar, along with spices like salt, pepper, mustard, sugar or herbs.
You should use neutral vegetable oil, and a little olive oil and not just olive oil that tastes relatively strong.
In a relatively large amount, or if making a vinaigrette with herbs, it is recommended to use a rod blender.
Otherwise, a prey will suffice.
First mix the vinegar with the spices and then add the oil.
The oil does not need to be added slowly, it is possible all at once.
The secret is a balance between oil and vinegar.
If the sauce is too sour, add oil and not sugar.
The vinaigrette can be kept refrigerated.
If you added fruit juices or herbs - no more than a day or two.
Before serving mix well again.
Appetite!
The author participates in a multidisciplinary cooking course, as a guest of the Danon School of Culinary Excellence.
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