RSS Feed

‘How To’s’ Category

  1. Tips For Opening Champagne Bottle Safely

    December 29, 2011 by Jarrett

    CHEF’S TIP #173

    Tips For Opening Champagne Bottle Safely

     

    Drinking this time of year can be dangerous, in terms of eye injuries.

    The American Academy of Ophthalmology said the incorrect popping of champagne corks is one of the most common holiday-related eye hazards.

    A cork can fly up to 80 miles an hour as it leaves the bottle, generating a force powerful enough to shatter glass.

    Below are some tips for opening bottles safely (courtesy of American Academy of Ophthalmology):

    • Ensure champagne or sparkling wine is chilled to at least 45 degrees F (7 C) before opening
    • Don’t shake the bottle
    • To open the bottle safely, hold down the cork with the palm of your hand while removing the wire hood
    • Point the bottle at a 45-degree angle away from yourself and from any bystanders
    • Place a towel over the entire top of the bottle and grasp the cork
    • Keep the bottle at a 45-degree angle as you slowly and firmly twist the bottle while holding the cork to break the seal — continue to hold the cork while twisting the bottle and continue until the cork is almost out of the neck
    • Counter the force of the cork using slight downward pressure just as the cork breaks free from the bottle
    • Don’t use a corkscrew to open a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine

     

    Enjoy the New Year,

    Chef Phil

    Category "The Scoop" Kitchen Guide, How To's, Quick Tips | Tags: , | No Comments

  2. Steps for Deboning a Chicken Breast

    December 12, 2011 by Jarrett

    De-boning Chicken is a task that many people think is much more complicated than it truly is. In this video we head to the Test Kitchen to learn how to the be a do-it-yourself cook, while saving money, and getting more control over your ingredients.

    For this technique all you’ll need a clean cutting surface and a sharp boning knife. Be sure, as always, to clean any surface that the raw chicken touched – keeping safe from food-borne illness.

    This video is the first part of our Chicken Gumbo Video now up at the JES YouTube account. Don’t forget to subscribe for more great videos.

    Category "The Scoop" Kitchen Guide, How To's, Quick Tips | Tags: , | No Comments

  3. Turkey Brining recipe

    November 18, 2011 by Jarrett

    Here is a tip to serve the “best bird” on your Thanksgiving day table…

    TURKEY BRINING RECIPE

    INGREDIENTS FOR BRINE:

    • 1 small onion, diced
    • 1 stalk celery, diced
    • 1 medium carrot, diced
    • 3 garlic cloves, sliced
    • 3 bay leaves
    • 1 tbsp. black peppercorns
    • 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
    • 3 sprigs fresh thyme
    • 3 sprigs fresh sage
    • 6 sprigs fresh Italian parsley
    • 1/2 cup iodized salt
    • 3 gallons cold water

    TURKEY PREPARATION:

    • 1 (16 lb.) whole turkey, brined (neck and giblets removed and discarded)
    • Salt and pepper, to season turkey

    IN THE BIRD:

    • 2 carrots, roughly chopped
    • 2 celery ribs, roughly chopped
    • 1 apple, sliced into wedges
    • 1 orange, sliced into wedges
    • 4 garlic cloves, peeled and whole

    UNDER THE BIRD:

    • 1 medium onion, diced
    • 1 medium carrot, diced
    • 1 stalk celery, diced
    • 3 garlic cloves, whole
    • 3 sprigs fresh sage
    • 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
    • 3 sprigs fresh thyme
    • 6 sprigs fresh Italian parsley
    • 3 bay leaves

    ON THE BIRD:

    ¼ lb. Unsalted butter, sliced into pats 5 cups chicken stock or chicken broth, divided.*

    *Brined meats tend to be salty, I suggest using store bought, low sodium chicken stock.

    PROCEDURE:

    BRINING TURKEY:

    • ONE DAY BEFORE baking turkey, prepare brine. Combine all the brine ingredients. Place the turkey in a bucket or very large pot and pour brine over turkey to submerge. Refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours. Remove turkey from brine; dry off turkey with paper towels. Discard brine.
    • Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
    • Brine turkey as instructed above. Salt and pepper the brined turkey and cavity. Fill the cavity with carrots celery, apple, orange, and garlic; bind the legs with kitchen twine.
    • In a large roasting or braising pan (or disposable aluminum pan), spread onion, carrot, celery, garlic, sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley and bay leaves.
    • Place the turkey on top of the bed of vegetables and herbs.
    • Put butter on turkey, or between skin and breast meat.
    • Place the turkey in the oven and roast 45 minutes. Pour half the chicken stock over the turkey; roast 45 minutes. Pour remaining stock over the turkey and roast 45 more minutes; it will start turning golden brown.
    • Baste with pan juices, cover loosely with foil and roast an additional 45 minutes. When the turkey has reached and internal temperature of 165 to 175 degrees, remove from oven, keep covered, and let rest at least 10 minutes before carving. Transfer to platter.

    TO MAKE SIMPLE GRAVY:

    From the bottom of the roasting pan, discard herbs and measure out 1 cup of vegetables and 3 cups of pan juices; puree in blender. To thicken, add more vegetables; to thin add more pan juice. pour through a mesh strainer to make a smooth gravy. Makes 4 cups.

    TIP: For silken gravy, forget the flour. Avoid using flour, because that’s usually what causes lumps. Instead, puree the vegetables you roast along with your turkey; they become your thickening agent. That, along with your pan juices, becomes your gravy. You can strain it through a mesh strainer, or use cream and reduce it.

    Enjoy,

    - Chef Phil

     

    This will surely make more a very moist and flavorful turkey.

    Category "The Scoop" Kitchen Guide, How To's, Recipes, Turkey | Tags: ,,,, | No Comments

  4. Thanksgiving Timeline Planning

    November 18, 2011 by Jarrett

    Planning a timeline for Thanksgiving Dinner Festivities

     

    In the restaurant/food service business the key to everything being done at the same time is pre-planning.  As hectic as it is around many homes during the holiday season I thought that I would lay out a little timeline to help relieve some of the stress and make the day a little more enjoyable for all concerned.

    Here’s my Plan for the week. Obviously, it needs to be tweaked to fit the individual family.

    Saturday:

    • Take the turkey out of the freezer and put it into the fridge to defrost slowly
    • Bake the sweet potatoes in the oven until they’re fork tender. Refrigerate them until next week.
    • Make a menu
    • Go shopping (Make a list)
    • Make sure the tablecloth is clean

     

    Sunday:

    • More planning and/or shopping
    • Make cranberry relish

     

    Monday:

    • Peel and cook white potatoes. Refrigerate in tightly covered container.
    • Bake fresh pumpkin until fork tender. Clean and process and refrigerate
    • Bake dinner rolls and freeze, tightly wrapped  (The oven will be quite full on Thanksgiving day)

     

    Tuesday:

    • Mash up white potatoes and make garlic mashed potatoes
    • Mash up and make sweet potato casserole
    • Cover both dishes and refrigerate until Thursday

     

    Wednesday:

    • Make green bean casserole. Bake. Refrigerate and reheat Thursday.
    • Make pumpkin pie

     

    Thursday AM:

    • Prep turkey for or roasting, make stuffing
    • Cut up veggies for veggie tray
    • Remove dinner rolls from freezer
    • Start cooking turkey

     

    Thursday PM

    • Heat garlic mashed potatoes and sweet potato casserole in oven
    • Heat green bean casserole in oven
    • Put veggies and dip on tray
    • Put cranberry relish into serving bowl
    • Carve turkey
    • Make gravy
    • Heat dinner rolls
    • Put everything on the table with serving utensils

     

    Eat dinner!!!

    • Clean up leftovers
    • Clean up kitchen
    • Go for a long walk or take a long nap

     

    Thanksgiving evening:

    • Heat pies
    • Make whipped cream
    • Make coffee
    • Serve dessert
    It’s entirely possible that I’ve forgetten steps.  For me, one of the most important steps of planning is shopping. Almost every year, I come up with something critical that I’ve forgotten to buy. Finding stores open on Thanksgiving Day isn’t easy. Writing everything out ahead of time really helps to avoid that last minute panic and dash to the store for whipping cream.
    Perhaps the biggest benefit is taking some time NOW to plan for Thanksgiving Dinner is that you can really will be free to spend some time reflecting on all the many reasons you have to be VERY thankful!
    Good luck, and happy holidays from Chef Phil and the entire staff here at J.E.S. Restaurant Equipment.
    - Chef Phil

    Category "The Scoop" Kitchen Guide, How To's, Kitchen Guides | Tags: ,,, | 1 Comment

  5. MICRO/HOME BREWING

    February 8, 2011 by Daniel

    5015 Polar Ware Thermometer

    MICRO/HOME BREWING

    The whole staff at J.E.S. Restaurant Equipment want to wish you a HAPPY “BREW” YEAR with the announcement of the new line of brew pots and assorted micro/home brewing apparatus from one of our best suppliers of residential and commercial food equipment, Polar Ware.

    Without question, micro/home brewing or “craft beers” is gaining in popularity across the country. With more and more consumers demanding to know exactly where their food and beverages come from, micro/home-brewing is the responsible and green way to imbibe!

    If you are looking to get into this fun hobby, let J.E.S. Restaurant Equipment help you get started the right way, and you’ll quickly realize that micro/home brewing is deceptively easy and immensely rewarding. You will be surprised how truly easy it is to make your own beer.

    Choosing the right equipment is simple or complex or somewhere in between. Just as a chef requires quality equipment in his kitchen to make his best product, so too should the home brewer, that is why we handle the Polar Ware line of brew pots and associated equipment. It all depends on how many people you will be sharing your beers with and how much of that beer you personally intend on drinking. Now, I must say, drink responsibly and share wisely, you do not want to become known as the “neighborhood bootlegger”.

    There are numerous sites on the internet to supply you with various hops, grains etc. to brew the types of micro brew you are looking for, but rest assured that J.E.S. can fill your needs for the brew pots, lids for those pots, and smallwares that are needed for your new venture into the micro/home brewing operation.

    Listed below are a few web sites to assist you in making sure that all is legal in your state.

    Federal Law
    Home brewing is Federally legal. See Legal Status of Home brewing in the USA for information on the US statute addressing home brewing.

    State Laws
    The 21st Amendment predominantly leaves regulation of alcohol to the states. Thus, even though home brewing is federally legal, it is still up to individual states to legalize home brewing in state codes. The vast majority of states have legalized home brewing, though laws regarding home brewing vary widely.

    Category Hot Off The Shelf..., How To's, Kitchen Guides | Tags: ,,,,,,, | No Comments

  6. The Easiest Way to Chop Herbs

    May 14, 2010 by Daniel

     

    Norpro Triple Blade Herb Scissors

    Norpro Triple Blade Herb Scissors

    Sometimes we tend to “overthink” how to do things in the kitchen, here’s a recommendation from Chef Phil…

    The Easiest Way to Chop Herbs

    With 10 built-in blades for slicing and dicing, Edward Scissorhands would have made one heck of a prep cook. Too bad he was run out of town before he could harness his hidden talent. Norpro has had much more success in capturing the beauty of multiple blades with its Triple Blade Herb Scissors made from stainless steel, the three-bladed scissors are perfect for quickly chopping herbs, cutting greens or carrying out a range of other kitchen tasks that typically require knife skills. And because the 8-inch shears are dishwasher-safe, cleaning them is just as easy.

    It’s one kitchen tool that definitely makes the cut.

    Be sure to get with one of the sales team members at the J.E.S. Kitchen Emporium and check out this and many other kitchen products from this fine manufacturer.

    Category Hot Off The Shelf..., How To's | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, | 5 Comments