restaurants

Boiled Pork And Shrimp Dumplings

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Boiled dumplings are one of the more common daily food items in Chinese cuisine. Yet, while most dumplings served in restaurants are steamed, the more common cooking method in private homes is boiling them in salted water.
These dumplings are very easy to make and take no time at all, especially if you use ready-made won ton skin’s.
However, tonight I used regular pasta dough (all-purpose flour, whole eggs, water and salt), which I rolled very thin and cut with a round cutter into even shapes) Add a stuffing of half minced pork and half minced shrimp with finely sliced scallions, grated ginger, garlic paste, sesame oil , soy sauce and cayenne pepper. Wet the edges of the dumplings with a wet finger, fold them over and press lightly. Boil in salted water until stuffing is cooked through, about 2 minutes. Remove to a bowl and toss with sesame oil and chili oil. To serve, sprinkle with chopped fresh coriander and a dipping sauce made of soy sauce, lime juice , sugar and chili flakes.

Bon Appetit ! Live is Good !

Pork And Shrimp Dumplings

boiling pork and shrimp dumplings

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Spatchcocked Sautéed Cornish Hen With Arugula In Honey-Mustard Vinaigrette

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Traditionally, when spatchcocking a bird to be served in a restaurant, one should remove the backbone and sternum. Not only will that allow the bird to cook easier, but also allow the guest to eat it more comfortable with fork and knife at the table.
However, for me, one of the best part’s of eating poultry is to gnaw on the bones, especially the backbones and remove the bits of meat from there 🙂 So, In order to satisfy my bone-gnawing graving’s, I just cut the bird in half, especially a very small one such as this cornish hen, then saute, roast or grill it, usually just seasoned simply with kosher salt, sriracha and granulated garlic.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Spatchcocked Cornish Hen & Arugula In Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Spatchcocked sautéed Cornish Hen & Arugula In Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

: Cornish Hen

: cut hen in half, remove back bone, season with kosher salt and cayenne pepper, saute in garlic oil until cooked through but not dry

: Spatchcocked Sautéed Cornish Hen & Arugula In Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

: Spatchcocked Sautéed Cornish Hen & Arugula In Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

: Spatchcocked Sautéed Cornish Hen & Arugula In Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

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Creamed Spinach

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Like so much other comfort food, creamed spinach is hardly found on menus (or homes, for that matter) anymore, with the exception of steakhouses where it usually is one of the standard side dishes. I just love spinach, no matter how it is prepared, but the price goes without a doubt to creamed spinach. Following is the simple instruction how to prepare this great dish.

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Creamed Spinach

blanch spinach in generously salted water.

shock in ice water ( screaming BOOOOO does not work )

saute onions and garlic in butter

add flour (ratio butter flour = one to one)

add half milk and half heavy cream, season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Simmer for five minutes. sauce must be VERY thick, chopped spinach contains lot’s of water

chop blanched spinach to the texture you prefer

add to sauce. simmer for 5 minutes. check/adjust seasoning

add to sauce. Simmer for five minutes. check/adjust seasoning

Creamed Spinach

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There Is A Monster On My Plate !!!

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My friend Peter was supposed to be here at 4.00pm for a late end of week lunch.
He had “ordered” (nicely requested) chicken cordon bleu and I was happy to oblige.
As soon as I got home, I took care of Bella, took a shower and started with my food prep.
Ten minutes later Peter cancelled. Rather than being upset about the late cancelation,
I welcomed the chance to make a real monster of a cordon bleu out of the ingredients I had prepared for two regular portions. Of course, I omitted the side dishes (fries and salad) after I had a good look of the size of this baby. Bella and I finished the whole thing and we were happy for it. Seems to me after all these year’s I finally figured out the proper size of a cordon bleu 🙂

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Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Chicken Cordon Bleu

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: Chicken Breast, Breading, Mustard, Anchovy Paste, Wasabi, Lime

: Chicken Breast Thinly Pounded, Wasabi, Anchovy

: Chicken Breast, Musterd, Wasabi, Anchovy, Kosher Salt, Cayenne Pepper, Lime Juice

: Top With Ham And Swiss Cheese

: Top With More Ham

: Top With Another Chicken Breast

: Bread With Flour, Egg Wash And Bread Crumbs, Saute Until Center Reaches 161 F ( Carry Over Heat will Carry To A Safe 165F )

: Rest On Absorbent Paper For A Couple Of Minutes

: Chicken Cordon Bleu

: Chicken Cordon Bleu

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Port Wine & Beaujolais Poached Bartlett Pears

Hard to believe, but many folks have never come across a poached pear on a restaurant menu, much less eaten one. What a shame, since this is such a versatile culinary gem. In classic restaurants you would come across them as part of different dishes often, be it by them self with a bit of Creme Chantilly or vanilla sauce, or part of a cheese course, maybe part of a dessert , or served as garniture to a savory dish such as pork, poultry, game or pork. But now I suspect it has become old-fashioned? For me however, if it looks good and tastes good it will never be out of fashion, so yesterday I treated myself to this beautiful, decadent and luxurious dish. Later in the evening I added a good shot of “Schladerer Zwetschgen Schnaps” to the remaining spiced wine and enjoyed it hot as a night cup.

Life is Good !
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Port Wine & Beoujolais Poached Pears

: Port Wine & Beoujolais Poached Pears

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Ingredient’s :

Bartlett pears, peeled
Port wine,
Beaujolais
Cinnamon stick,
Sugar,
Star anise,

Method :

Mix port wine and red wine 50/50. Add a bit of orange juice, cinnamon, sugar and star anise , bring to a simmer and reduce by half. Let cool to room temperature. Add the pears,(they must be covered by the liquid), bring to a slow simmer for one minute. Remove from heat and let cool down to room temperature. Serve with chocolate dusted whipped cream.

Bon Appetit !

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Schwäbische Spätzle Mit Schmelze (Swabian Noodles)

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” Swabian spaeztle with browned bread crumbs “.

One of the most common,simple, quick, delicious, economical and (in my biased eyes), one of the most beautiful dishes coming out of South Germany (Swabia).
When I grew up, this was one of the more boring dishes for me and my brother Wilhelm to grace our dinner table, because it showed up with regularity a few times a week. Even today, spaetzle are one of the stables of south german cooking. But, alas, I have moved away from my homeland many decades ago, so now spaetzle have become a treat, truly enjoyed whenever possible.
Spaetzle are hard to come by even in German restaurants around here. This is probably due to the fact that more cooks in american German restaurants go by the name of Pepe instead of Fritz and have never seen real spaeztle, so what you mostly get are “Knoepfle”, not “Spaetzle”.
Knoepfle means little bottons, so they are a small spherical pasta, while spaetzle derives from “little spitz”, which means little penis. (Many folks believe spaetzle derives from the word spatz, which means sparrow and would makes no sense at all. Also, many Americans let their spaetzle or knoepfle brown while sauteeing, which is an absolute no no in Swabia!
So there you have it. One of the easiest and fastest pastas to make is actually difficult to come by (at least any good ones). Go figure 😦
But, there is hope ! Following is the recipe for original swabian spaetzle. Please note that there is no milk or water added, just AP flour, eggs and salt. In times past, when eggs where not as easily available and as affordable as now, folks have had to stretch the eggs by adding milk or even water. Today that is not necessary anymore, so just stick to flour, eggs, and salt. With a little practice, it will take you less then 10 minutes to make about six portions.
Mix flour, salt, and eggs and beat the dough until it is elastic and forms large air bubbles. To shape the spaetzle, either use a “Spaetzle Brett” (spaeztle board) and a straight spatula, or, much easier, invest $ 20 and buy a “Spaetzle Press” online. If you are not so sure how to proceed with the dough and the shaping of the spaetzle, go online and check out one of the numerous good instructional videos ( But be aware, there is also a lot of crap online, so choose wisely ).

Fill the spaetzle press 3/4 with dough and press into boiling, salted water. After a minute or so the spaetzle will float at the surface. Remove to a bowl with cold water. Drain. To serve, saute in butter until hot, without allowing the spaetzle to brown. Top with “Schmelze”.

For the schmelze, melt butter and saute bread crumbs until golden.
(I like to use brown butter and add chives to my schmelze).

Bon Appetit ! Life is Good !
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Schwäbische Spätzle Mit Schmelze

: Schwäbische Spätzle Mit Schmelze

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” The Classic American Diner – Does It Still Have A Place In Our Heart ? ”

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Dear friend’s of ChefsOpinion :

I would like to share this with all of you in order to :

a) Help my friend Daryl to get more opinions about his new project.
b) Find out how popular traditional diners are?
c) Find out what attracts today’s customers to a traditional diner?

Please, instead of commenting on the individual group pages, go to “ChefsOpinion”
and post all your comments directly in the comment box and / or participate in the poll.

Thank you all 🙂

Image Source: Alta CollectiblesVintage Reproduction

Hello Hans,

I like to hear what your followers think about American Diners.

My next location is an all stainless-steel diner built in 1950 in Elizabeth, NJ by the O’Mahoney company. It’ll be attached to new-construction that will house the kitchen and a second dining room. The menu will be built on New England and American cookery with a high comfort-factor, but, leaning on contemporary taste and sensibilities for quality and flavor.

My question is in two parts:
1. Location – This is a question asked as work on this project progressed: how does the location of a vintage diner impact or limit the curb-appeal of the restaurant. In our opinion, traditional pre-fab diners are deeply perceived by the public as stand-alone operations. With this in mind, a vintage diner can be positioned in a strip-mall/plaza development in such a way connects it to be connected to the new construction and allows the vintage diner to stand proud of the new construction, giving it the appearance of a stand-alone.
2. Menu – Diners, in their time, offered food that was highly contemporary. Their ingredients and methods were of the essence of their age and, in the process, a style was born. The strength of diner’s cookery style heritage is so strong that to open a diner without including some of that style is commercially risky. So, if you had a vintage diner on your hands, what would you do to bring the classic dinner menu into the 21st centaury to meet the expectations of today’s guests?

I’d also like the leave open the topic of “Diners” in general. I’ve been working on this project for about 8-eight months and I have yet to talk to anyone, another professional or a novice, who does have a reaction to the idea of a Diner. So, let me know your thoughts!

Thanks!
Daryl
D.T. Mc Gann
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” What Does It Take To Earn One, Two, And Three Michelin Stars? “

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What does it take to earn one, two, and three michelin stars?
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Image Source: BlogHer

Well, when I read this story by Julien Vaché on HUFFPOST, I thought of an article I wrote a few months back about “passion“.
After dealing with thousand’s of young cooks and culinary students, as well as with young “chef’s” and many so-called “culinary educator’s”, all of which proclaim a deep passion for the culinary profession, it did not take me long to realize that the word “passion” is too often confused with the word “like” .
While real passion exist’s among all the groups mentioned, sadly it is rare and hard to find.
Real passion often requires tremendous sacrifice. The story about L’Auberge du Vieux Puits and it’s chef Gilles Goujon is a perfect example how one man and his family have achieved their ultimate dream through sacrifice, hard work and perseverance.

My deepest respect to a true culinary hero !

Bon Appetit !
Life is Good ! (Eventually, sometimes, for most of us, anyway 🙂

Read the story HERE
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” China Is Building an Army of Noodle-Making Robots “

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I came across this at “EATER” and thought my readers would enjoy this.
If these robot‘s cost only $2000, they could be a great, cheap gimmick on a coffeeshop’s pasta buffet .
Your comments please, or choose an answer from the poll below 🙂
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Image from “EATER”

Excerpts from “EATER” :

In the face of rising labor costs, Chinese restaurateur Cui Runguan is selling thousands of robots that can hand slice noodles into a pot of boiling water called the Chef Cui.
Runguan says in the report below that just like robots replacing workers in factories, “it is certainly going to happen in sliced noodle restaurants.”
The robots costs $2,000 each, as compared to a chef, who would cost $4,700 a year. According to one chef, “The robot chef can slice noodles better than human chefs.”
News of Runguan’s invention hit the internet in March of 2011, but they’ve since gone into production and are starting to catch on: 3,000 of them have already been sold.
But why do their eyes glow, and why do they look so angry?
Read more and see the video HERE
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