Rules for the Aspiring Cook.

[peter]

1. First do no harm! In other words if you're going to mess with any given foodstuff, then make sure the results of your tampering are going to be an improvement on the original. In a high-end London restaurant recently, a chef who should way know better served me a dish where white crab meat had been pulled and pulverised to the point where all of its original flavour had been all but destroyed. Anyone knows that good white crab served in a bowl with a slice of brown bread and butter and at most, a light squeeze of lemon, cannot be bettered and it's a fools errand to try; I was amazed to see such a renowned chef fall into so simple a trap!
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http://jhfv.blogspot.co.uk/

....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'

We are the Bloodguard

[Avatar]

2. Clean as you go. I struggle a bit with this one, as the GF always makes a point of telling me.

--A
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It's easy to judge. It's more difficult to understand.

[Menolly]

3. Perfect your knife skills before tackling anything else.
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[peter]

4. (I'm sure Av will be with me on this) Get your roux technique down and work on your sauces. They will be the key element of many dishes, both savory and sweet, and will make or break the end result.
_________________
http://jhfv.blogspot.co.uk/

....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'

We are the Bloodguard

[dlbpharmd]

5. Have ingredients ready and nearby before starting to cook.
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[JIkj fjds j]

6. And always stick to the weights and measures. Unless you know what your doing changing ingredients half way through could spell disaster. By the same token exactitude isn't always necessary and ingredients often need to be taken with a pinch of salt.

[Vader]

7. Similar to rule 1: less is sometimes more and simple is not always bad. Only use a few good ingredients at a time and make them shine on their own.

Or as the poet says:

"To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, to throw a perfume on the violet, to smooth the ice, or add another hue unto the rainbow, or with taper-light to seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish, is wasteful and ridiculous excess."
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Functionless art is vandalism. I am the vandal.

[SoulBiter]

8. Use fresh ingredients if at all possible!!!! Having an herb garden is a good thing. If you cant grow things, buy fresh ingredients.
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"He torments himself sufficiently."

**"You can deny if you will but the "hens" didn't just happen to show up when they did, by accident. "**

"All of the above is my opinion and thus shouldnt need to be supported by anything other than more of my opinions. "

We miss you Tracie but your Spirit will always shine brightly on the Watch

[peter]

9. Taste, taste, taste. (And season with care - easier to add incrementally than to correct if overdone.)
_________________
http://jhfv.blogspot.co.uk/

....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'

We are the Bloodguard

[Avatar]

Yeah, never understood people who don't taste as they go along. Also, in regard to Vaders "less is more," the GF is always going on about "3 ingredients."

Uh, rules...

10: Timing, timing, timing. It can be difficult to get everything to come out at once, but getting this right is essential. Identify the things that can stand safely, and start those first.

--A
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It's easy to judge. It's more difficult to understand.

[peter]

11. Never serve hot foods on cold plates; 50% of your effort has been for nothing.

I've been to supposedly good restaurants where they've broken this simple rule and paid the price with a lukewarm tepid dish.
_________________
http://jhfv.blogspot.co.uk/

....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'

We are the Bloodguard

[Avatar]

Oh, I hate cold plates. It's like serving your beer in a warm glass. Yuck.

--A
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It's easy to judge. It's more difficult to understand.

[peter]

This isn't a rule - more of an advice thing: Don't be afraid to experiment with different flavour combinations that shouldn't in theory work. I had asparagus in a sweet almond syrup recently in a restaurant and wow! Monkfish in red wine sauce was another dish that blew me away. Think about it and if there's an inkling of"it might just work" in there - it probably will.
_________________
http://jhfv.blogspot.co.uk/

....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'

We are the Bloodguard

[Vader]

[peter]

13. Blitzing veg in a liquidiser does not make it soup. Soup is a heartwarming kiss to the soul and deserves respect (in fact a rule could be 'Throw away your liquidizer- but that might be a bit too harsh: a compromise is 'Stick it in a cupboard and forget it's there).
_________________
http://jhfv.blogspot.co.uk/

....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'

We are the Bloodguard

[Vader]

14. Inedible stuff as decoration is a no go. Whatever ends up on a plate is meant to be eaten. A few fried rosemary needles? Fine. But whole twigs and branches belong to the forest and not on the plate.
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Functionless art is vandalism. I am the vandal.

[Avatar]

--A
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It's easy to judge. It's more difficult to understand.

[peter]

I'm 100% with that one! It could be extended to include edible things that are nothing to a dish. A harmonious plate of food well served has nothing extraneous on it whatsoever.
_________________
http://jhfv.blogspot.co.uk/

....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'

We are the Bloodguard

[peter]

Pour a half sink of hot water before beginning your prep and have hand wash and towel next to it. That way each of the half dozen hand washes needed as you swap from raw ingredient to raw ingredient can be managed quickly and efficiently

Don't cut thawing times too fine for frozen produce that must be defrosted. Allow extra time and then keep the item chilled for a short while if needed.
_________________
http://jhfv.blogspot.co.uk/

....and the glory of the world becomes less than it was....
'Have we not served you well'
'Of course - you know you have.'
'Then let it end.'

We are the Bloodguard

[Zarathustra]

Get a good thermometer. Learn your temps for meats. Overcooked meat is garbage.
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Meaning is created internally by each individual in each specific life: any attempt at *meaning* which relies on some kind of external superstructure (God, Satan, the Creator, the Worm, whatever) for its substance misses the point (I mean the point of my story). -SRD

Remain faithful to the earth, my brothers, with the power of your virtue. Let your gift-giving love and your knowledge serve the meaning of the earth ... Do not let them fly away from earthly things and beat with their wings against eternal walls. Alas, there has always been so much virtue that has flown away. Lead back to the earth the virtue that flew away, as I do-back to the body, back to life, that it may give the earth a meaning, a human meaning. -Nietzsche