My father used to say, “Chuck doesn’t do anything in halves.” He was right: sometimes its a virtue and sometimes a curse. He and my mother taught me to cook, sometimes using cookbooks, like Julia Child's, but more frequently just winging it. This site is a roller coaster ride of recipes, articles, ingredients and anything else that involves cooking and presenting food. There is something here for everybody from beginners to experts.
Cooking Temps
Chicken breast 165, Chicken thigh 170 or more. Pork med well 145, Pork med 140, Rack of lamb med rare 131, Beef very rare 125, Beef rare 130,Beef med rare 135, Duck Breast 126, Salmon med 118, Disclaimer: USDA stds dictate much higher temps. To be super safe, cook everything until it is dry and crunchy, then toss it in the trash
Xmas Dinner - Beef Borguignon
Didn't get too exotic this. Beef Burgundy or Beef Bourguignon. Classically this is beef chunks slow cooked with red wine, typically Pinot Noir. Basically beef stew. We had fillet available, and the idea of slow cooking it didn't make much sense. Instead we deconstructed the dish a bit to make a super rich sauce, delicious home made noodles, and cubes of fillet, browned and cooked to med rare. And we only had about an hour to pull it off! And no recipe! Not as hectic as the popular TV show Chopped, but a challenge.
Basically, we:
1. Pan seared the fillet pieces in clarified butter to get some good browning and flavor
2. Made a sauce with mushrooms, bacon, onion and pinot Noir.
3. Made basic noodles with flour, egg, salt, olive oil
4. Threw in some broccoli
5. Made a secondary sauce with garlic, cream, and blue cheese.
The key is to have a few cooking concepts, flexibility, and an ability to season/fix a sauce
