the painting chef

May 29, 2007

Gas ranges verses electric ranges

Filed under: cooking - Skipperobi @ 7:06 pm

RESPONSE TIME-When you turn the heat up or down the gas stove responds immediatlywhich is important in certain cooking techniques.Electric is definatly much slower in responding than gas and can be quite inconvenient.

SIMMERING- while many gas stoves have improved electric is much more reliable for slow worry free simmering.

BOILING- Gas stoves are almost always slower to bring a large pot of water to a boil. This is due to a loss of heat that escapes around the pot. Escaping heat is unavoidable regardless if you use electric or gas but a gas stove creates more hot air that flows up and around the pan.This results in less heat getting into your food, the pan handles get hotter and the room gets hotter. With electric stoves and a pan that is not too small for the element more heat comes into contact with the food.

PAN CHOICE- With a flat top electric range the pans must be fairly close to being flat on the bottom to maximise heat tansfer.With a gas range the pans can be more convex.

CLEANING- While cleaning the old style electric burners may be a chore it is still far easier than cleaning out the gunk that gets into the gas burners.Of course the new flat top electric ranges are a snap to clean.

 

May 22, 2007

Reardons’ Fine Painting

Filed under: painting - Skipperobi @ 4:29 pm

  Today I have started out on my own, painting for myself.I have the advertising started and hopefully it will generate some business soon.It will be good for me to get out there on my own even though I am going to stay with the company I am currently working for. I only plan on doing small jobs that take only a week or maybe two to complete with only one person.If all goes well this will create a nice boost to my income,if not I don’t really lose anything other than pride.But like they  say nothing ventured, nothing gained.

May 18, 2007

Bizarre foods

Filed under: cooking - Skipperobi @ 9:52 pm
1. Durian
Location - Pinang, Malaysia
An extremely odoriferous (some would say noxious) fruit with custard-like flesh. Native to Malaysia, the oblong, thorny fruit can be deep fried, formed into cake and candy, or made into flavorings for ice cream, beverages, and other food items. Durian is considered a delicacy in some parts of Malaysia, and has been known to sell for $50 (U.S.) for one fruit. Many people love the taste of durian, but its powerful aroma is so offensive to some that airplanes, trains, and buses often prohibit the fruit in passenger areas.

2. K’lia
Location - Marrakech, Morocco
Also spelled khlea, this meat (usually lamb) is salted, dried, and preserved in its own fat. A traditional specialty of Morocco, k’lia is often served with lentils and spices at the outdoor market, Djemma al Fna in Marrakech, Morocco.

3. Mangrove Worms
Location - Palawan, Philippines
Worms that live off dead wood pulp. Eaten raw. Popular in Sabang Beach in the Philippines, these long, slimy worms are said to be high in iron and taste similar to oysters.

4. Callos
Location - Taberna de Antonio Sanchez in Madrid, Spain
A casserole made with blood sausage and tripe, which comes from the intestines of various domestic animals. This dish is popular in Taberna de Antonio Sanchez in Madrid, Spain, where it is often served as tapas, small dishes designed for sharing.

5. Coconut Grubs
Location - Coca, Ecuador
Larvae that live in dead palm trees. Zimmern tried the dish in the home of a member of the Pilche community in the Amazon rain forest.

6. Menudo
Location - Motes de la Magdalena in Quito, Ecuador
Soup made with tripe and beef hearts. This soup is also popular in Mexico, where it began as a peasant dish. Menudo in Mexico can refer to "raw stomach meat" as well as the stew. The recipe for menudo varies in different regions of Latin America.

7. Goose Intestines on Bean Sprouts - Goose guts.
Location - New York’s Chinatown
Served at Congee, a restaurant in New York City’s Chinatown. Goose intestines are not uncommon fare in China, but then again, neither are duck feet or frogs.

8. Nutria in Sauce Piquant - a large semiaquatic rodent.
Location - Morgan City, Louisiana
Eaten in the home of a trapper in the bayou in Morgan City, Louisiana. Dining on nutria is not for the faint of heart. The rodents resemble large rats with bright orange incisors. Still, the nutria is probably safer on your plate than alive in your yard—the animals are a host for a nematode parasite that can infect human skin. Yummy!

9. Soup No. 5 (Yes, that’s the real name)
Location - Balaw Balaw in Luzon, Philippines
Soup made from the back and testicles of a cow is eaten at Balaw Balaw in Luzon, Philippines. In the United States, cow testicles are also sometimes referred to as "Rocky Mountain oysters" and can be prepared in a batter and then fried in oil and eaten with hot sauce.

10. Haggis - Assorted sheep parts mixed with oatmeal and stuffed into a sheep stomach.
Location - Edinburgh, Scotland
This traditional Scottish dish was originally a common peasant meal, but can now be found in grocery stores year round all over Scotland and other areas of the United Kingdom.

May 14, 2007

Cooking methods

Filed under: cooking - Skipperobi @ 2:05 pm

COOKING BY SEALING WITH BROWNING

Saute: To seal food products in a small amount of fat at high temperature.A sauce can be made from the fond left after cooking a piece of meat or fish.

Pan fry:Similar to saute but more fat is used.Pan frying is often used to cook a breaded item.A sauce cannot be made from the leftover fond after pan frying.

Roasting: A dry heat method usually done in an oven between 280-400 degrees.The larger the yield the lower the temperature of the oven should be.

Deep fat frying: A food item is submerged in hot oil between the temperatures of 280-400 degrees.

Grilling:Item is cooked with radiant heat from below.

Broiling: Item is cooked with radiant heat from above.This method browns the food faster than grilling.

SEALING WITHOUT BROWNING:

Plunging: An item is submerged in a liquid between the temperatures of 160-212 degrees.

    poaching:160-180 degrees       simmering:185-205 degrees     rapid boil:212 degrees

Steaming:Food is cooked by steam in a closed enviorment.Flavor added to liquid will inpart itself into food being cooked.

INTERCHANGE WITH BROWNING:

stewing and browning:These are basicaly the same method with the exception that stewing is with small pieces and braisins is with larger pieces.

INTERCHANGE WITHOUT BROWNING:

Bring food items from cold to 160-212 degrees to release the flavors from the food.Can also be used to leach any unwanted flavors.

Some faux finishing we did in Killington,Vt

Filed under: painting - Skipperobi @ 8:57 am

wood grain and lime wash Faux

Filed under: painting - Skipperobi @ 8:49 am

wood grain faux

Filed under: painting - Skipperobi @ 8:44 am

May 12, 2007

1000 layer lasagna

Filed under: cooking - Skipperobi @ 6:28 pm

    Here is a recipe I found on-line from 101 cookbooks.com for lasagna that I find quite interesting.I have yet to try it myself but I am hoping to soon.

Thousand Layer Lasagne Recipe


1 pound fresh egg pasta sheets (or make some from scratch)
butter to prep baking dish

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 28-ounce can crushed organic tomatoes
zest of one lemon

3 4-ounce balls of fresh mozzarella, torn up into little pieces
a handful of slivered basil (optional)
freshly grated Parmesan (optional)

Preheat your oven to 375. Start by clearing off every flat space in your kitchen, you are going to need and use all of it.

Make your sauce: Place the olive oil, salt, pepper flakes, and garlic in a pan. Dial the heat up and saute for a minute or two. Add the tomatoes and slowly bring to a simmer as well. Remove from heat, stir in the lemon zest and taste for seasoning. Add more salt if needed. Set aside.

Fill your biggest pot full of water and bring to a boil.
Lavishly butter a deep, square baking dish. The one I use is 9x9 and 2 1/2-inches deep.

Thin out your pasta using a pasta machine. Start by cutting the big sheets into 2-inch(ish) wide ribbons. This means making 2 cuts along the sheets. This should yield you about 12 2-foot strips. Run them through the pasta machine. I go to the 8 setting, one shy of the very thinnest setting. The sheets should almost be translucent. Cut the strips into manageable rectangles roughly 4-inches in length.

Pre-cook the pasta: Fill a large bowl with cold water and a few glugs of olive oil. Place a large flour sack or cotton dish towel across one of your counters. Salt your pot of boiling water generously. Ok, now you are ready to boil off your pasta. Believe it or not, you are on the home stretch. Place a handful of the pasta rectangles into the boiling water to cook (I’ve found I can get away with about 20 at a time), fish them out (I use a pasta claw) after just 15-20 seconds, don’t over cook. Transfer them immediately to the cold olive-oil water for a quick swim and cool-off. Remove from the cold water bath and place flat and neat on the cotton towel. It is ok for them to overlap, I don’t have a problem with the sheets sticking typically. Repeat until all your pasta is boiled.

Pull it all together. Ladle a bit of the sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Cover the bottom with a layer of pasta sheets. Now a thin layer of sauce, and a bit of cheese. Go for another layer of pasta, then sauce, then pasta again, then sauce and cheese. Keep going until you’ve used up all the sauce and pasta. You want to finish with a layer of pasta. Top with the last of the sauce and the very last of the cheese so you have a nice cheesy top.

Bake until everything is melted and fragrant, 35 minutes or so. Let it sit for 10 minutes before serving, so everything has a chance to set up a bit. Dust with parmesan and a bit of slivered basil.

Serves many.

the begining

Filed under: miscellaneous - Skipperobi @ 12:56 pm

     I really don’t know how it happened.I have been cooking professionally since I was sixteen and really enjoyed the business.I think it is the artistic side of me that drew me into the culinary world and kept my there for sixteen years.Or perhaps I just like to eat.Whatever the case I decided three years ago to take a short break from cooking,only six months to a year at most,and try my hand at something else.I never thought I would find myself with a paintbrush in hand but three years later here I am.So much for a "short break"

    It happened one day when I helped a friend of mine,who also happens to be a former chef turned painter, move a couch.The next thing I knew he offered me a job and since I was rather bored with the landscaping job I was doing at the time I accepted.The job was high end painting and faux finishing,niether of which I had any experience with.But after a while I slowly began to enjoy it although I miss the kitchen and plan to return one day.

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