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 Home Cooking with TS Aschenge

Who knows, maybe it’s simply the sagging economy that has ultimately brought many of you back into the kitchen. Actually, it really does not matter. I’m just happy to see that so many of you are here. You’ve made it back and that’s all that’s important. It’s like when I was a child. I ran away from home on more than one occasion, and every time I came back to the house Papa was always quick to scold me for running away in the first place. But Mamma, she had a different attitude altogether. “Child she would say, holding my head in her lap and rubbing my shoulders, all that matters is that you are here now!” That’s the way I look at it.

Today, far too many women no longer seem to cook at all. It’s nothing like when I was growing up. At that time, every young girl usually learned to cook, and some even learned how to sew as well. But, the sexual revolution changed all of that, and as a result most Americans have simply surrendered their digestive system to the corporate world. It’s time we got back to basics. A nation can rise no higher than its woman!

Cooking is equally an art and a science.  Nailing down the science offers you more time to actually concentrate on the creative nature of what you are doing. After decades of culinary experience and two degrees, what I have learned is that just about everything in the hospitality field is done for a very specific and more often than not, a purely logical reason. For instance, an ice bath is readied in order to shock vegetables the very moment that they come out the boiling water. This is in order to halt the cooking process, and to maintain that fine fresh healthy looking green color. In the Front of the House, the purpose for what is done in the way that it is done is often even more straightforward than that.  Notice the table settings the next time that you go to a banquet. Each piece of silverware is placed in a logical sequence in concurrence with the course that it is served; and in order that the server may serve you more efficiently. As with anything, there are always certain things that you can keep in mind that will help to make you work easier.  Here are seven helpful hints to keep in mind while you are in the kitchen.

1) A pint is a pound the world around.  Always remember that a pint of water, stock, or any liquid with the same weight as water, weighs a pound. Knowing that you will need a 2 to 1 ratio of water or stock to cook rice makes this a no brainier.

2) When cooking vegetables remember this: If it grows under the soil (potatoes), you start in cold water. If it grows on top of the soil (broccoli), you start in hot (boiling) water. Don’t forget to keep your ice bath nearby.

3) Speaking of potatoes. Remember that Chef (sometimes called All Purpose) Potatoes have more starch and thus cook better with moist heat. Baking Potatoes are just the opposite. They have more water and less starch and thus they cook better with dry heat.

4) This one is very straightforward. Remember that salt raises the freezing point and lowers the boiling point. Add salt to ice and it melts slower. Add salt to water and it comes to a boil quicker.

5) To Sauté means – High Heat / Low Fat. In other words you need only coat the pan with a little bit of oil or butter and you will be applying the most rapid cooking method.  Remember to make sure that the pan is hot before you begin the cooking process. If you don’t hear szzzzzzz!, you are not sautéing.

6) Here are 6 ‘Ss’ to keep in mind when making any cream soup, compound cream sauce, or simply any sauce thickened with a roux.

1. Sautee
2. Sweat – Turn down heat, cover, and allow the juices to sweat from the aromatics.
3. Singer – French word that means ‘to dust with flour’. You are basically making a roux in the pan.
4. Stock, add the stock (and then cream)
5. Simmer, cook on medium heat.
6. Season

7) Here is the process for making yeast bread. If you bake a lot, you might want to memorize this one. Scale - Mix - Ferment – Divide – Round – Rest – Shape – Pan – Proof – Bake.

Let Me Un-Cork That For You: # One

It is Friday night. You have invited your brand new date over to your place with the promise of a quiet romantic candlelight dinner. Yesterday, you wrote down everything you would need to get from the market. This morning you went shopping, and just this afternoon you slaved over a stove for hours in order to prepare the meal of a lifetime. This will be your first real date. You just met one another and you really would like to make a great impression. Being single is no joke. It’s truly rough out there. Hopefully, your search is over. Who knows, this just might be the one.

Everything is just about ready. You have an hour or so before they arrive. The table is set, and dinner will only take a few more minutes in the oven.  The drapes are pulled back revealing a bisque full moon hovering high in the evening sky way above the horizon. Smooth jazz tones echo from the sound system encouraging a seductive mood in the atmosphere.  You are anxious and filled with joyful sense of anticipation. But wait! You forgot one particular detail! Your new companion mentioned their fondness for a good bottle of wine.  Of course, you can appreciate a good glass of wine as well. However, you find selecting a good bottle quite intimidating. Nonetheless, with time to spare you rush out of the door and to the wine merchant nearby. O’ My God!  You think to yourself, what to buy?

Wine is really not that difficult to understand. Here are a few of the basics: There are just two things that you really need to know in order to be on your way to becoming a true wine connoisseur.  Basically, the first thing that you want to learn is how to read a wine label; and then you want to simply rely upon your very own taste. For the most part, in most places around the world, a wine is named for the region from which it is made. Thus, a burgundy is from the Burgundy region in France. In America though, a greater reliance has traditionally been placed upon the grape from which the wine is made. In other words, you are purchasing a Merlot or a Chardonnay. So, understanding what the label says about what is in the bottle is half the journey. What you want to do next is experiment; open your mind and discover what suits you best. Ask yourself, “What do I like?” Nobody else can decide that for you. So, shop around, purchase a few bottles and try them out for yourself. Allow your own palate to cultivate is own decisions. Lastly, there are really only a few main varieties of both red and white grapes used for making most of the wine produced in the world.  The reds are: Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Syrah or Shiraz, Gamay, and Zinfandel. The whites: Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling. Most likely, the wine you purchase contains a blend of two or more grape varietals.