Author: traleeculinarygangsters

Chef, food truck owner, Gardner, forager, blogger, author , columnists,

#cupcakehour baking tips

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tips on white chocolate

Officially white chocolate cannot be called “chocolate” because it does not contain chocolate liquor

 

Good white chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar, milk solids, vanilla, and lecithin

 

Make sure when buying white chocolate that it contains cocoa butter as some inferior brands contain vegetable fat

 

White chocolate is ivory-colored (white chocolate made with vegetable fat is white-colored) and is rich and creamy

 

Its sweet and subtle flavor complements other ingredients in baking

 

A delicate chocolate that scorches easily, so always melt over very low heat

 

It sets up softer than dark chocolate because it does not contain chocolate liquor

 

White chocolate will keep 6-10 months if stored in a cool dry place.

 

There are many good brands of chocolate on the market today, both domestic and foreign

why we do it

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the hours, the heat, the pressure everyday, 12 plus hours every weekend, holiday and event . we miss birthdays and family get togethers, why !!!!!!!!

we are a different breed some call it passion I call it a thirst a drive been a chef is not a job or career it is who I am the very essence of me, I push myself and those who work with me everyday but why????????????

a thirst of knowledge,  one that can never be filled no matter how long I stay doing it no matter how many dishes I cook it is never perfect … it is a consent drive for something I can never reach . the perfect dish the perfect night the flawless service can never be achieved but it is what drives me

no matter how much you know it is very little, I consume culinary information but I will never know even , a fraction of it an insatiable thirst blood thirst no a food thirst.

we are driven by a need to know more , to be better to share that with our guests everyday

most chefs I know even on their days off are doing something around food, watching food videos, reading new books, foraging wild foods .

why do we do it ….. we have to … we need to… it is who we are … a bred apart…

we are chefs

 

gangster profile kevin o connor

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Name: Kevin O Connor
nickname the chief
Employer: The Ashe Hotel
Position: Duty manager
I first met Noel when I moved to Killarney around 2004. Having worked in a few good kitchens learning the trade from a 4 food rosette kitchen the Rockglen in Clifden to the Knockranny in west port
I moved to the Riverside in Killarney. Noel had put together a cracked team of “there’s no way we should be producing this type of food”.
We excelled in making good food. We took pride in what we produced and we were proud of where we worked.
We met scallywags along the journey and made the best of friends. The main thing was the food though. In every place I worked we always respected the food. Now I’ve moved to a different location, out the front. I have other skills that I use, I find that I’m a people’s person and I have the same passion for people as I have for food.

this thing called food

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This thing called……food

 

Race religion colour creed it matters not we all have to stop to eat every day but how we eat is a choice I would much rather dine like a king than drink like a pirate

Chefs are everywhere these day tv magazines books food festivals but we have never eaten worse

Young chefs I use this lightly are in a rush to be the next overnight tv star or want to open their own restaurant but without the years of training the top chefs have behind them or the reality of the hard work ahead they fail or give up

In a world of insta fame and inta gratition everything is disposable

Food has never been faster or more talked about but the knowledge of it so unknown

If it comes through your car window or goes ding in the microwave it is not food it is a food like substance. More people than ever eat out, but few dine out, never trying something different or new as chefs we hear this a lot

I wouldn’t like that

Have you eaten it before?

No but I would not like it

It may be the best thing you have ever eaten or tried great restaurant are just that GREAT and for a good reason years of training to get the best taste flavour texture from every ingredient

Don’t live the same year 75 times and call it life try new things eat different things at least try

Blackberries wild garlic and wild leek are wonderful and free but few could find if they were standing in a field full of it but kafir lime leaves tofu and quinoa they know superfoods super diets

Chefs are too blame as well putting these trendy ingredients on menus following trends instead of setting them morally corrupt ingredients the true costs of few know about or care

Supermarkets recalling produces from their shelves from countries afar

Horse meat in mince bse swine flu bird flu  all from other countries recalled berries from Africa

Strawberries in janaury

we have lost our connection with food with the seasons of food

flavour is all but gone we eat food with little flavour now

food in season is much more it takes us back to our childhood the summer strawberry

the flavour and smell of it

warm tomatoes off the vine with a little salt

we have to return to this for our own sake and the sake of our children

#cupcakehour baking tips

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tempering chocolate always works best at normal room temperature

 

Never mix water with the chocolate if you wish to temper

 

make sure that the machine and utensils are thoroughly dry

 

Most chocolate will temper perfectly if it is initially melted at 43c

 

Melt the extra chocolate in a bain-marie and let it cool to just below 34

 

If the finish is slightly streaky, the chocolate is either a bit too hot or took too long to cool

 

If the chocolate over-tempers and becomes thick – add pieces of cool or solid chocolate

 

if dipping soft fruit in tempered chocolate dust with cornflour first

guest blog allan maynard

halibut

Potato-crusted halibut

Cider sauce

  • 300 ml of bulmers
  • 150ml of veal stock
  • 200ml of double cream
  • salt to season
  • 250 g of fresh mussels, or mussel meat
  • vegetable oil
  • salt
1
Begin by preparing the sauce. Add the cider and a pinch of sugar to a pan and reduce half Add the veal stock, reduce by half, then add the double cream
  • 300 ml bulmers cider
  • 150ml of veal stock
  • 200ml of double cream
2
Bring to a gentle simmer and reduce again until there is 180ml left. Season to taste and set aside until required
  • salt
  • pepper
3
Peel and cut the potato for the fish into matchstick-sized pieces. Blanch in vegetable oil at 100 c until soft but not coloured. Drain on a paper towel and leave to cool
  • 1 large potato
  • Rape seed oil, for deep-frying
4
Once cool, add the potato to a bowl with a pinch of salt and the 2 yolks, mixing together until combined. Dust the halibut fillets with a light coating of flour, then apply a thin layer of potato mixture to each one. Set aside in the fridge until required
  • 2 egg yolks
  • salt
  • flour for dusting
  • 4 halibut or cod fillets 130 g each
5

To cook the fish, heat a little oil in a large pan. Cook the halibut fillets (potato-side down) over a gentle heat for approximately 5 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown but not too coloured. Turn over the fish and cook for a further 2-3 minutes until cooked to your liking
  • olive oil
 6 Meanwhile, reheat the sauce and add your fresh mussel of mussel meat, check salt seasoning
 you can see more of allans dishes follow him on twitter @lesouschef and Instagram @lesouschef

James on salmon

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James Mccarthy

So the blog from me today is about salmon .I’ll start off with the life cycle of a salmon it starts at Stage 1 egg Stage 2 alevins Stage 3 fry Stage 4 parr Stage 5 smolt Stage 6 adult grown salmon Stage 7 kelts ( after spawning ). So it takes a salmon around two years or more to fully mature at sea until they return to Irish rivers they travel thousands of miles to make this journey home to spawn. They have to deal with escaping from nets at sea to river pollution and of coarse river fishermen who to be honest do the least damage to the salmon population. I caught my first salmon of the season a few days ago and when I landed the salmon I looked at it and taught about the life it had and the respect it gets in the kitchen from scaling it to taking out every last bone to filleting it and wondering what’s the head chef dish going to be next for this salmon. whats is its final resting plate going to look like.

 

#cupcakehour baking tips

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never melt butter in the microwave it destroys it

to check butter at room temperature it will bend without cracking

unwrapping room temperature butter leaves a residue on the wrapper

if the mixing bowl is warm put it into the freezer for 5 minutes

for flakier pastry put your utensil’s in the fridge before use

you fingers melt butter use a knife to cut it

for pastry grate your butter before mixing

when creaming butter do it at a low speed to avoid heating up

cold butter wont aerate properly