Multipurpose Foods

Multipurpose Foods

By: Chef Cristian Feher

The Swiss army knife was invented in 1897, and since has become known worldwide as a symbol of multiple use and application. The manufacturers have touted that, “you can do anything with a Swiss army knife!” You can cut. You can eat. You can saw. You can magnify. You can tweeze, and you can unscrew. The only thing you can't do, is eat it. That's where multipurpose food comes in to play. This article offers a quick list of foods, although not Swiss in origin, that you can use for various tasks. And you can eat them too.

Apple Cider Vinegar – This strong vinegar makes excellent salad vinaigrette and is a necessary ingredient found in many grilling and bbq sauces. But once you put it in a spray bottle it becomes a weed killer, ant deterrent, glass cleaner and chrome polish. You can also add it to your pet's drinking water to discourage fleas. And if you think that isn't enough, you can also neutralize jelly fish and bee stings with it. Yes, you can be a hero, and ACV can help.

Virgin Coconut Oil – Is used today by millions of people around the world. It's an excellent substitute for butter and lends itself well for all-around healthy cooking. Since it's solid at room temperature you can also bake with it in recipes where you would normally use hydrogenated vegetable oils and animal lard. However, coconut oil is not just for healthy cooking, it is also used as skin moisturizer and can prevent protein loss in hair. If you have some time on your hands (and a chemical engineering degree) you can also make biodiesel with it and run your hippie van across the country. It has even come in handy to loosen up the different parts of my daughter's wooden babooshka doll. I always keep a jar of Kelapo virgin coconut oil in my pantry.

Coca-Cola – There has never been a more iconic drink. From modern American cities to the most remote reaches of the African jungle, Coca-Cola is known as that dark, refreshing, effervescing drink invented by American pharmacist John Pemberton in the late 19^th century. Aside from being a refreshing, sugary drink, it also has many other uses. Hollywood mops movie set floors with Coca-Cola before a fight scene to make sure the actors don't slip. You can clean burnt pans by boiling some Coca-Cola in them. You can soak gum in it to get it out of your kid's hair. And the United Satates Navy uses it to clean marine film from the hull of their submarines.

This should give you some useful ideas of products to have around your kitchen. Because you never know when your skin will need moisturizing, or when your submarine will need cleaning. Do you have your own multipurpose foods? If so, please email me at tampabaychef@gmail.com.

The end of the world food guide

The Post-Apocalyptic Eating Guide
By: Chef Cristian Feher



You wake up to a serene silence. A breeze sneaks in and rustles your hair. The air is cool. Your eyes are still closed. There is something missing. Did you forget something? Are you late? You're still too foggy. The ceiling comes slowly into focus. You look to your left. The alarm clock is blank. We must have lost power last night. You reconnect with your pillow, sinking into it, slowly losing consciousness. The sensation of falling. You're jolted up from the blackness with a searching thought. It can't be that late, the sun has not yet fully risen. You feel the warmth of the sheets and stretch your legs. Something is different today. There are no birds chirping. Your cat is not asking for food. There is no traffic. No dogs barking. You look to the ceiling once more and take a deep breath. You say to yourself, “Today is going to be a good day.”

The bathroom lights don't work. Power must still be out. That sucks. Your breath stinks. Gotta brush your teeth. The water is still running. The tube of toothpaste has been empty for days, but you still manage to squeeze out enough to brush with. You rinse and put it back on the shelf. You will squeeze it again tomorrow. The sun pokes a ray into the living room. You yawn on the way to the window. A good head scratch. You notice how much hair you have. It feels good. The street is empty both ways. Where are all the neighbors? Well, it's Sunday. It's Sunday. What did you forget? The mail. You didn't get the mail on Saturday or Friday. You hope no one sees your hair. You dig your slippers out from under the coffee table. Your toe dexterity is excellent.

A cool breeze. You skitter across the lawn. The dew from the grass is wetting your toes. Will they see your ridiculous bed head? Better hurry. Open the mail box. Bills, bills, junk, bills. Where is everyone? You begin to walk back to the front door but you stop. Standing still. No birds. No dogs barking. No neighbors. No electricity. No sounds of traffic. You're alone.

It's May 22nd, 2011 and your mom was right. You are special. And you're the last goddamn human on Earth. Now, what to eat? (cue Metallica [For Whom The Bell Tolls] and roll the title credits). This is my post-apocalyptic eating guide.

An amateur might waste time crying and clutching onto photos of loved ones. But not you, you're special. The clock is ticking and there hasn't been electricity for close to 12 hours now. You are very much aware of the “ice window”. The ice window is the precious few hours left until things in grocery store freezers start to melt. Another guy might start collecting cans. But you know those will be around for the next 100 years. Ice cream. You may never again enjoy ice cream. Must get to the ice cream.

You run to your car. It starts. It starts! You pull half way out of your driveway and stop. No time for BS. Ice cream is melting. But Steve down the street has a Dodge Viper. You have a Honda Civic. A moment of hesitation. The choice is clear. You run down the street in your slippers and bed head. You kick open Steve's door. No one is home. Just as you expected. Swipe the keys. You are now rolling past your house in Steve's Viper. Bad ass.

You double park across two handicapped spots and run to the grocery store. You wonder why you just locked the door and beeped the alarm. Focus. Ice cream. The doors are closed. You may never get ice cream again. You look around. The streets are empty. There is only one car in the parking lot. Steve's Viper.

Steve's Viper smashes through the front doors of the grocery store. You hear the peculiar sound of a sports car crumpling up against a cash register. One of those new, yet insignificant experiences that you can't help but mark off in your mental list of things that make you go “hm..” You run into the darkness of the grocery store. Isle 7. Flashlight. Batteries. What was that? Did you hear something? Heart racing. Ok, get yourself together. The ice cream is melting. You make it to the freezers. So many flavors. So many choices.

After two hours you are sick of eating ice cream and can go an eternity without it. Over the next week you live in the grocery store. You enjoy frozen waffles, rib eye steaks, ribs, baked potatoes, lobster, salmon, tiger shrimp skewers and dijon crusted lamb chops with the charcoal grill you've set up conveniently in isle 8. By the eigth day you start wondering if you've made too much smoke in the store. You also wonder why you haven't gone home, and why you've slept on a beach recliner on top of the dog food shelf. Are you afraid of something? No. You're alone. There is no one else.

All the fresh food has started to spoil. You estimate that there is roughly 10,000 cans of food in the store. If you ate three cans per day.. Yes, you're fine. This store alone can feed you for nine years.

You are ready to go back home, but you stop at the front doors. A thud. You heard a thud. Out on the street you heard a thud. Did you? You can't be sure. It's dark out. Too dark. Better wait until morning. But you don't go to sleep. You sit up behind the customer service desk and watch the front doors (and Steve's Viper) until the sun comes up.

You put Steve's Viper in reverse. The radiator rips off and stays on the floor next to the cash register. Your dad was a mechanic. You know it's going to overheat. Who cares. You floor it home. Steve's' Viper is abandoned in the neighbor's yard. Home. It doesn't feel like home. It's a house. You can have any house now. But what's the point? What's the point of life? What happened? Why are you the only one still alive? Ok, shake it off. What to eat?

It's sometime in June now. But you've stopped keeping track. The animals have started coming back. There are birds again. Still no people. You saw squirrels, and there are fish in the ocean. You've been living in Hulk Hogan's house. Driving Hulk Hogan's cars. You're even using Hulk Hogan's bathroom. The water stopped running yesterday. The house has a big gate. The bed is very comfortable. You've planted garlic, peppers, tomatoes, parsley, basil, cilantro, onions and a whole bunch of other stuff in Hulk Hogan's flower beds. You have all your guns with you. There have been sounds at night. Now that the animals have come back, you can't help but wonder what else might come back. But never mind that, you're making ceviche today.

Post Apocalyptic Grouper and Blue Crab Ceviche:

Servings: 4 (so you can eat it four times)

Ingredients:
1 Lb of Florida grouper you caught from Hulk's boat in the gulf.
2 large blue crabs you caught at the beach
1 Green Pepper
1 small Onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 handful of parsley
salt and pepper from Hulk Hogan's pantry
olive oil from Hulk's pantry
the juice of four lemons plucked from the citrus trees on Hulk Hogan's back yard.

Instructions:

1.Throw the crabs in a fire for a few minutes. Cool them off, crack them open and take out the meat. It should be nice and smoky! Put into a bowl.
2.Dice the grouper, onion, and pepper. Mince the garlic parsley. Put all in the bowl.
3.Spray liberally with lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Wait a few hours for the acidity in the lemon juice to cook the fish. Enjoy by itself or with a bag of Ritz crackers found in Hulk Hogan's living room.

What will happen next? Where will you go? What are those sounds at night? And what will you eat next? Stay tuned for the continuation of my post apocalyptic eating guide and find out. To join my newsletter please email tampabaychef@gmail.com.

All about sushi

A candid conversation all about sushi
By: Chef Cristian Feher
www.tampabaychef.com

Sushi is like a good coffee table book.Whether you like sushi or not, it's a topic that gets attention and everyone likes to talk about it. Some people wonder about it, some people love to eat it, and some people like to tell me how much they hate it. But they all like to talk about it. It's been said that people like to talk about what they know best, and what they know best is themselves. I think sushi is an addendum to that rule. I would like to remark upon and share with you some of the interesting sushi conversations and questions that come up during my sushi classes and sushi parties here in Tampa. Think of this article as a casual conversation between you and I, across a coffee table, about a book titled "sushi".

What's your secret ingredient? Aside from doing my best to find the freshest fish, I'm not sure if I want to divulge this secret, but in the spirit of this article I guess I should. Most sushi restaurants when making a "crunchy roll" use little bits of tempura left over from frying tempura shrimp and vegetables. They skim the oil and keep these little bits in a container to put in the rolls. These oily crunchy bits of starch release tasty fat onto your palate as you crunch down on them providing you with that unique quality of oily crispiness. Since I don't often make tempura, I don't have a repository of crunchy tempura bits. So I use something better, fattier and crunchier - pork rinds! Yes, I crumble them in the food processor and add them to my crunchy maki rolls. They add a supreme fatty quality and a crunch that can't be beat. I have recently discovered they ride quite nicely along the top side of a hot dog.

Did you know? Most people have never had real wasabi. That green glop of spicy, nasal-searing paste you get at most sushi restaurants is actually made of horseradish, mustard, and green food coloring. Real wasabi is actually rare and expensive and most sushi restaurants just use the fake stuff. Wasabi's bite does not come from a corrosive chemical that burns your taste buds like most capsicum based hot spices, instead it vaporizes and irritates your nasal cavity and mucus membranes giving you that feeling I can only describe as nasal-clearing-feel-it-in-your-eye-balls-head-rush. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, but a hit of wasabi will cure a congested head. Next time you're feeling congested, forget chicken soup, have some miso soup with a tonne of wasabi.

Sushi evolved from a really crude way of preserving fish. Back in China over 1000 years ago, fish was wrapped in fermented rice to preserve it. Anyone who has ever left rice in a rice cooker for a few days has seen the rice develop its own funky vinegar from the bacterial breakdown of the starch. The rice was discarded and the fish was eaten. I hope they washed it first!

The first time I ate sushi was during a wintry night in Toronto twelve years ago. A friend and I decided we would go into a nearly empty sushi restaurant late at night and see what all the buzz was about. Prior to this I had never eaten raw fish, but have always had the philosophy that if someone calls it food, it can't be that bad. I pointed to a half dozen foreign items on the menu and waited by the neon lights as the sushi chef, in clear line of sight, began to prepare our order behind the sushi bar on the far side of the restaurant. I wrapped my hand around a cup of hot tea and watched the snow fall through the glass pane. The cloudy miso soup and green salad with pear ginger dressing was an easy first course. Then came the moment - a plate of raw salmon sashimi slices sat confidently in the middle of the table, leaned gingerly on a pillow of shredded radish, looking back at us from the wooden tablet as if we were impolite by hesitating. We took a sigh, I picked up a piece, dunked it in soy sauce and put it in my mouth. I remember that first foreign taste of raw, oily flesh, then the slow, uncertain chew. I'll be honest. It did not go down easy. And the other three pieces were each harder than the previous one. I did not like it, but I was convinced that there must be some merit to this new, exotic way of eating. So I held it down and explored the rest of the dishes; the spicy tuna maki rolls were buffered nicely with a familiar plate of seared terriyaki beef. It was the first time I had experienced a food so foreign, and although others may have been turned off by the experience, I was drawn to it again, and again. I can say that I acquired a taste for sushi on the fourth attempt. And soon after that it became a passion. So I always tell people that they should give something a chance, and in the case of sushi, more than a few chances may be necessary for it to warm its way into your palate.

What's your signature roll? At the moment my signature roll, which I would dub the "Chef Cristian Gator Roll", consists of terriyaki braised alligator tail, crunchy pork rind bits, avocado and hot chili mayo topped with capelin roe and chives. It's not only delicious, but it offers my guests something they might never have tried before, and when you're working with sushi you have to go a step above if you're trying to make it even more exotic.

What's the hardest part about making sushi? Sushi is a very creative and artistic type of food. I love how you can play with it and come up with all sorts of combinations. But there is actually a very technical aspect of it, and it's not the rolling. The hardest part about sushi is making sure that you follow the proper procedures for making the rice. This includes sourcing the right rice (it has to be sushi rice), washing the rice five to six times to get the excess starch from it, knowing the exact ratio of rice to water (1:1.1), and knowing how to cool it and flavor it in the end. Once you've mastered the technicality of making the rice, you are free to play and create. Earlier this year I discovered during a sushi class that I had been teaching students the hard way to make maki rolls. I discovered during that class a "half-assed" technique to making the rolls which yielded beautiful maki sushi. Ever since then I have been using this "half-assed" technique with great success. I only call it "half-assed" because it was easy, effortless and required a very small learning curve as compared to the traditional way or rolling.

Some people tend to think that they are bad sushi makers because they don't get it on the first try. I always tell them the story about my best class of students - I did a sushi party a while back for a Jewish synagogue (a Jewish church group), and the people that picked up sushi rolling the fastest with optimum results were actually all the little kids! They ranged between 6 and 10 years old and they were sushi rolling rock stars! They were making restaurant quality rolls within the first twenty minutes of the class. I realize that this story doesn't make the adults feel any better, but I like to tell it anyways. Kids are amazing little people.

Is there a polite way to eat sushi? In Japan, most definitely. In America, seeing as it's socially acceptable to walk around the street with a roasted turkey leg and BBQ sauce running down your arm, it's not expected of you. But I will still give you a crash course on the essentials of sushi manners in case you want to be a little more civilized. Here's what you do: Say hello and bow when you get there. If you want to sit at the sushi bar you're allowed to talk to the sushi chef and ask questions, but be polite. You can order sushi from the sushi chef, drinks and other non-sushi items are ordered from your server, not the chef. If you are seated at a table, do not talk to the sushi chef, talk to the server only. Never ask if the fish is fresh, that's an insult. Assume it is and hope for the best. It's not polite to make the "gross face" or put something back on your plate if you think it's gross. So power it down if you have to. Don't rub your chop sticks together like you're trying to start a fire, that's impolite. Don't mix your soy sauce and wasabi together. What? I know, I do that all the time. If you pick up food from another person's plate use the other side of your chopsticks (the side that doesn't go in your mouth). You're allowed to pick up your soup bowl and slurp your soup and noodles prisoner-of-war style. Yeah, that's acceptable, go figure. Never serve yourself alcohol, you have to serve it for others at your table, and they have to serve you. If at a business meeting, you serve your senior and he serves his senior and so on. When you toast and raise your glasses, don't say "Chin-Chin" as in Japanese this means "penis" and it'll be awkward... This should get you through a night of fine dining Japanese style.

All this talk about sushi is making me hungry. Thanks for reading and I look forward to rolling with you. My classes are available to groups, couples and individuals. For more information please visit www.tampabaychef.com. You can also visit our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/tampa.personal.chef

The Ideal Kitchen: How to equip your kitchen

The Ideal Kitchen: How to equip your kitchen
By: Chef Cristian Feher

One of the questions I get asked most often is, “What is my kitchen missing?”. As a personal chef I’ve cooked in over 400 different kitchens, both in the US and Canada. And I didn’t realize until recently that I’ve been sitting on a very interesting pile of data. So I have compiled this article, using what I have observed from all the kitchens, to come up with a guide that will show you how to equip your kitchen for optimal use. In writing this article I have focused on equipment, time and functionality. You can use this as your benchmark to measure how your own kitchen stacks up.

Equipment:

Knives - The chef’s knife is the piece of equipment that would get the most use in a kitchen, as a chef does 80% of his cutting with a chef’s knife. It’s best to buy your knives individually, as I’ve never seen a set of knives that I would be completely happy with. So choosing each knife individually would furnish you with a set that would be as functional as it would be comfortable. Much could be written about how to choose a knife. The length of a chef’s knife is proportional to the height of the chef. A shorter chef might use a 6 inch chef’s knife and a really tall chef might use a 12 inch knife. Most people feel comfortable with an 8 to 10 inch chef knife. A chef’s knife is never serrated. The minimalist knife set should include an 8 inch chef’s knife, a serrated bread knife, a small parring knife, a carving knife and a 6 inch serrated utility (or vegetable) knife. A steel (more accurately called a rectifier, as it does not sharpen a knife, it just keeps the edge straight after you’ve sharpened them) should be handy, and you should buy a small electric knife sharpener to keep them sharp. How often do you sharpen them? As often as is required to keep them sharp. You don’t let your knives get dull. Your knives are best kept on the counter wall stuck to a magnetic strip, but look best kept in a nice wooden knife block.

Cutting Boards - The person that invented glass cutting boards should be lined up and shot - better yet, they should be sentenced to cutting 1000 onions on a glass cutting board with a dull knife. They are noisy, they are slippery, and they dull your knives faster than anything else I know of. The same can be said about stone cutting boards. Please do yourself (and your personal chef) a favor and dispose of them quickly. Having gotten that off my chest - You should have a large wooden cutting board to do most of your chopping on, and a few different sized plastic boards to cut meats on. You want to keep juicy meats off wooden boards as they can soak up some blood and bacteria and be harder to sanitize than plastic boards. Wood and plastic are knife-friendly. Your knife doesn’t slip while you’re cutting and the blade does not dull. Keep a rubber mat, or a wet paper towel under your cutting board so that it won’t move around on the counter. You should have at least three boards - A big wooden one for most of your chopping, a medium plastic one for meats and fish, and a small plastic one so that more than one person can cook in your kitchen at the same time.

Preparation Bowls - I can always tell a person who doesn’t cook by the lack of prep bowls in their kitchen. These are probably one of the most needed items. You should have a large assortment of them ranging from 3 inch to 20 inch bowls. Metal and plastic are far easier to use than ceramic and glass, as they are lighter and will not break if you drop them. Rubber bottoms help the bowls keep in place on your counter when stirring, kneading, or mixing the contents in the bowls. The minimalist cook should go to the nearest dollar store and spend $20 on assorted plastic prep bowls.

Kitchen Towels - Yes, they’re important. You can use them to dry your hands, wipe the counter top, wipe your knives, clean the kitchen, quickly soak up a spill and you can even fold them and use them as oven mitts to handle a hot pot or baking sheet. You should have a drawer full of them. Get an absorbent cloth like cotton. Polyester and fleece tend to repel liquids rather than soak them up and the fleece towels tend to leave a trail of fibers behind. The same guy who invented glass cutting boards must have come up with these too. Avoid piling up oily rags together as they have a tendency to suddenly burst into flames - I’m serious. I’m not sure what the science behind it is, but I've seen it happen first hand.

Strainers - You should have a large and small strainer on hand. And if you can avoid mesh strainers you will save yourself some headaches when it comes to cleaning them. A simple perforated plastic or metal strainer is just fine. It’s actually more hygienic. The small one should have a long handle and the big one should stand on a base so that the food is elevated from the bottom of the sink.

Spoons Etc - The following is a list of tools that should be kept in a drawer(s), or in a counter top bucket of some sort: Wooden spoons, a rigid spatula, a soft spatula, a silicone mixing spoon, a soup ladle, 2 serving spoons, a whisk, a potato masher, short and long tongues, and bamboo skewers (I always seem to find uses for them). The plastics should be rigid (not flimsy) and the silicone spoons should be heat resistant. Metal spoons are also good unless you’re using cooking pots with non-stick coatings that can get scratched easily.

Pots and Pans - Much could be written about pots and pans, but you should have two large soup pots, a stock pot, a wok-type pan, sauce pans, non stick pans. I don’t see the point in having tiny pots. Go for big pots, you might have company over one day. The heavier the pots, the better. Look for pots with metal plates stamped on the bottom. These plates will distribute the heat more evenly and keep your food from burning to the bottom of the pot. Stainless steel is generally better than aluminum. But thick aluminum is not bad, as long as it has a metal plate stamped on the bottom. Handles should be metal or heat resistant so you can put them in the oven. The lids should also be oven proof. I once incinerated mushroom sauce in a glass pot which made the entire meal for the dinner party taste like cigarette ashes. Don’t buy glass pots unless you want to get into the cremation business. There is no sense keeping flaking or peeling pots around either. Please throw them out and get new ones. You know who you are.

Baking Surfaces - You need at least a couple of baking sheets with walls around the edges. The flat ones work for cookies, but prevent you from cooking anything that might be juicy. Rectangular ones are much more useful than round ones. Non stick doesn’t matter because you should always put a layer of tin foil on your baking sheet for easy clean up. Remember that the non-shiny side of the tin foil is the non-sticky side!

The equipment mentioned above should provide you with the basics you need to prepare really good meals. And you can build up from there.


Appliances:

Stoves and Ranges - The ugliest gas stove is still far superior than any other type of cooking stove you can buy. There is simply no other stove that can provide the heat control and quality that a gas stove can. Induction stoves are at the bottom of my list, as they are simply gimmicky - they offer very little functionality as you can only use them with certain metal pots. So we are left with electric stoves in the middle range. We have the electric coil stoves that most people have and we have the glowing element stoves too. I find the glowing element stoves to be horrible at being able to control temperature and they are hard to clean once you burn a good layer of food onto the glowing plates. If you don’t have gas, you’re better off with an electric coil stove.

Ovens - Conversely, gas ovens generally are bad at temperature control unless you buy yourself a restaurant quality gas oven. Electric ovens are best for homes. I have also found that about half of the people that own convection ovens don’t quite know what convection ovens are. Convection ovens have a little fan inside that circulates the hot air around the food, cooking it faster. Also, two ovens are better than one. So if you can afford it, I would recommend getting a standalone two-oven unit in your kitchen. Warming drawers are useless, and most people have never used theirs as anything other than extra storage for baking sheets and pots. Also, the stoves that come with those little “pizza ovens” next to the regular sized oven are a waste of money in my opinion - I don’t know about you, but if I make a pizza, it’s not just for one person and it goes into the big oven. So I’m not quite sure who had the idea for the little “pizza ovens”.

Counter Top Appliances - No kitchen should be without a food processor, blender, toaster, toaster oven, and rice cooker. A hand blender also comes in handy and stores easily in a drawer or cupboard. Your food processor and blender should have big, heavy, powerful motors. I actually go out of my way to buy vintage appliances from the 80’s because they were built with nice, powerful motors back then (1800 watts). Generally speaking, the heavier the appliance the more powerful the motor is.

The Kitchen Sink - Your kitchen sink may go overlooked, but it’s one of the most important parts of a functional kitchen. The ideal sink is large, has two basins, and is mounted on top or your counter top, not under. I have seen several expensive homes with sinks that eventually fall through down through the counter top because a lazy contractor glued the sink up into the counter, instead of properly setting it on top of the counter. The water spout should be detachable from the faucet, and you should have a powerful garbage disposal mounted under your drain to power away food. I especially like kitchens that have huge sinks made of a hard resin material that have high edges and keep most of the splash in the sink and not all over the kitchen - reminds me of those huge sinks you get in restaurant kitchens. So the lesson of the day for sinks is, the bigger the better!

Microwaves - There is very little to say about microwaves. Everyone knows that they are not that good for you, but we all use them. So you should have one.

Layout:

The layout is probably the most difficult decision that a person can make when planning their kitchen or when renovating. Luckily I have seen enough layouts to tell you that there are basically three types of kitchens; 1)The social kitchen, 2)The functional kitchen and 3) The kitchen nightmare!

The social kitchen is for people that always seem to have friends and family over. And they tend to congregate in and around the kitchen. The social kitchen is all about roominess, looks, and counter space. You want enough room for people to be able to put their drinks and food down on the counter, and stand around chatting, eating, cooking and drinking. The social kitchen often sacrifices functionality for looks. I tend to spend 30 minutes to an hour extra in social kitchens when I cook as compared to functional kitchens. The reason being that I have to spend a lot of time walking from one end of the kitchen to the other to go from garbage, to fridge, to sink, etc. Social kitchens are and should be big!

There are people that have very functional kitchens and don’t know it. I often meet people who apologize for having such small kitchens. They get embarrassed. But I always tell them that their kitchen has the advantage of speed. In a functional kitchen you should be able to stand in the middle and have everything you need (stove, oven, sink, fridge, garbage) just one step away. I can cook much faster and more efficiently in a small kitchen that is well stocked. Everything is right there! I know a Chinese restaurant in Toronto that serves 15 tables from a kitchen that’s 5 foot by 3 foot! It’s all about organization. The only drawback about a functional kitchen is that it’s usually missing the space necessary to host a group of people. But don’t sell your small kitchen short, it can be very functional with the right equipment. And remember that counter space in a functional kitchen of the utmost importance.

A nightmare kitchen to me is a place that is overly large and is missing the necessary equipment to do a good job. It has islands with multi levels and awkward angles, no garbage cans in sight, tiny sinks, and too-low fan hoods or strangely placed cupboards and fixtures that I keep banging my head into. Luckily these are few and far between.

The ideal scene would be a kitchen that is both functional and social, and the many that I have had the pleasure to cook in have been a result of good planning and constant evolution on the part of the owner to build an ideal kitchen that suits their lifestyle. I hope this article will help you find some direction in planning your existing kitchen or starting fresh with a new one.

The food of love. A perfect valentine's day meal.

The Food of Love. A perfect valentine's day meal.
By: Chef Cristian Feher

What does Valentine's day mean to you? For some, it's a day to justify being single and loathe all those mushy couples holding hands at the park. For others, it's a chance to express their love and appreciation for their partner. But most can agree that – much like a heart-themed-Superbowl - it's about the food.

Since time immemorial people have used food to express themselves and to celebrate joyous occasions. (actually, it happened around the time when Marco Polo came back from Asia with recipes and cooking skills which launched the birth of modern day European cuisine and ended a dark age of burnt meat, and thin stews.) But how do you cook up love?

Even before the days of Marco Polo, primitive cultures had identified the aphrodisiac – any food that could increase, love, libido and fertility. The word aphrodisiac comes from “Aphrodite” the Greek goddess of sexuality and love. The simple practice was to gather and consume any food resembling a phallic symbol or the reproductive organs of virile animals (although almost any food at some point in time has been proclaimed an aphrodisiac by somebody.) It was thought that these foods could impart their aura of love and virility to their consumer. And this practice is still used around the world in many cultures today. However interesting and entertaining this “science” might be, some people may agree with me when I say that it's really not so much what you're eating that gives you that power of love, but the person that you're eating it with – an overlooked factor in all of this! The best aphrodisiac is not an oyster, or a shaving of rhino horn (which may be too dangerous to get to make it worth your while) But is, in fact, your significant other.

Although I could see, especially in cultures of arranged marriages, where you might not get the exact model that you wanted (if you know what I mean) that an aphrodisiac might have to be employed – in this case, it was probably the alcohol or drugs that might have gone along with it that made that night magical – or even just possible.

Although Valentine's Day has a tradition going back to 500 AD, let's come up to the modern day North American Valentine's Day and ask this question; what make the perfect Valentine's Day meal?

There are generally two ways to look at this. From a woman's point of view, the perfect valentine's day meal is something that has been prepared with love. It's the thought that counts. Meals that remind of first dates, and special times and places. Prepared with careful consideration and artistic strokes that really bring the spirit of love alive. For men, however, there may be more logistics involved; it can't cause bad breath, gas, or be too heavy. It would be a meal similar to that which you would eat before running a small marathon! So we could compromise and say that the perfect Valentine's Day meal would take all of these factors into consideration.

Here is my rendition of the perfect meal for the day of love. The meal would start with an appetizer salad comprised of mixed field greens with pralines, heart shaped strawberry sections, and melted brie on an olive oil crouton drizzled with honey and balsamic vinegar (the rhino horn shavings are optional at this point). The main course would be king crab, white mushrooms, and sea scallops in a light rose sauce (light cream, tomato, sugar, salt and fresh basil) on buttered cauliflower mash and wilted spinach tossed with some apple wood smoked bacon slivers. Dessert would be a chocolate fondue with various fruits for dipping and Canadian ice wine for sipping. Delicious, elegant, no garlic, no onion, you're still awake at the end of the meal, and you could still go for a run around the block if you so chose to!

I wish you all a very happy and delicious valentine’s day! May it bring you love and not heartburn.

What to do with leftover turkey

What to do with leftover turkey
By: Chef Cristian Feher
www.tampabaychef.com

As I sit here reeling from the debauchery that was Thanksgiving dinner, I am wondering if "tryptophan" (the chemical that is supposedly in turkey which causes that sleepy feeling) even exists. I doubt any scientist can provide a vial of tryptophan, much less even sketch its chemical make up. Ok, I am off topic already. Must focus - must be all that tryptophan...

This is a quick and to the point article on things to do with leftover turkey. The recipes are written as a quick overview. Some traditional, some new. But it should get you through the next week. So grab that turkey carcass and some surgical gloves. Let's get started.

De-meating the bird: You can do this with or without gloves. Make sure your hands are very clean, as this is crucial to making the turkey last for the rest of the week. Dirty hands will deposit bacteria on the turkey meat and have it spoil several days before you can use it all. So I like to use latex or nitrile gloves. Simply get a big freezer bag and pick as much meat as you can off the carcass. Put the meat in the bag and refrigerate. At the very least, your bag-o-turkey will be an excellent tv-watching snack. If you have stuffing in the bird, try to get as much as you can out of it, and set aside. The stuffing in the carcass is always the tastiest.

Turkey Sandwiches: There is nothing revolutionary about these, they are just really good. I actually look forward to the turkey sandwiches more than the actual dinner itself. Get some crusty french bread, heat it in the oven so it's warm, cut the bread in half lengthwise, and layer ingredients in between the bread slices in this order from bottom to top: mayonnaise, basil pesto, stuffing, turkey gravy, turkey, smoked provolone, slice of tomato.

Turkey and Stuffing Risotto: When in doubt, make risotto. I always keep arborio rice around. It's a really good way to get rid of leftovers. Sautee some sliced pancetta or bacon, add some diced onions, diced asparagus (or leftover veggies from dinner) and turkey meat. Use chicken stock (and leftover turkey drippings) and simmer all the ingredients together with arborio rice for 25 minutes until a creamy, flavorful risotto is achieved. The trick is to add stock slowly and stir often throughout the 25 minutes until the arborio rice is soft and creamy.

Turkey Burrito: This is the quick version of this recipe. Perfect for a midnight snack. Shred some turkey meat in a bowl with a fork, add a bit of tomato salsa, chopped olives and a few capers. Wrap in a flour tortilla along with mashed potato and stuffing inside the tortilla. Once the burrito is rolled, top with turkey gravy and shredded cheese. Bake in toaster oven or microwave. Serve with a tablespoon or two or cold sour cream on top.

Turkey Pasta Carbonara: This recipe is awesome - i just had to mention that. Sautee the following in a deep skillet: Sliced bacon, julienned onions, mushrooms, minced garlic, turkey meat, and chopped parsley. At the same time, put some water to boil in a separate pot and cook some pasta in it. Drain pasta and set aside when done. Back in the skillet, once the onions become translucent and the bacon is cooked, add 2 to 3 cups of chicken or beef stock (and turkey drippings if any), bring the liquid to a simmer. Add pasta and simmer with the liquid for 5 minutes. Separate 3 egg yolks from the egg whites. Take the skillet off the stove and add the egg yolks to the pasta. Stir them in very quickly and until the liquid thickens into a velvety sauce. If it's too watery, add another egg yolk. Serve right away with fresh shredded Parmesan cheese.

I hope that you had a really nice Thanksgiving this year, and since you asked; I'm thankful for for turkey and I'm thankful for you.

How to make perfect holiday turkey

Chef Cristian's Guerrilla Turkey Guide
By: Chef Cristian Feher
www.tampabaychef.com

It's the night before Thanksgiving and procrastination has finally given way to panic. The invitations have been sent out, decorative cobs of corn have been hung, the extra computer chair from your office is now part of your dining room set, and the liquor cabinet has been overstocked. But like some things, this is something alcohol can't disguise - in 24 hours your family will be the jury and your mother-in-law will be the judge. There better be a succulent, juicy, perfectly roasted bird on that table, or you're facing a 12 month sentence of ridicule and "What you should've done was...". Below is a brief, to-the-point, guide of your options.

Deep-Fried Turkey:
Difficulty: Medium
Safety Factor: Probably best to do this in the emergency room parking lot so they can get you in right away.

There is nothing mysterious or difficult about this method of cooking your turkey. You go down to your local hardware store, buy a turkey fryer, fill it with a few gallons of peanut oil, bring it up to temperature and deep fry that sucker! The method is crude, but the result (if done right) will yield a perfectly scrumptious, moist bird with crispy skin. Recommended for those with a backyard and plenty of space to run if things go wrong. Not recommended for condo dwellers, drunks, or people who have kids running around.


Turkey Cooked in a Bag:
Difficulty: Easy
Safety Factor: If you can handle microwave popcorn, you should be qualified to do this.

Most people are unaware that this method of cooking is available to them. Thanks to the good people at 3M, you can now cook your turkey in a space age plastic bag. Yes, you heard me right, a plastic bag. The future is now! You can purchase a roasting bag at your local grocery store. Stick the turkey in the bag with some flavoring agents such as wine, garlic, salt and a whole lemon, seal it and stick the turkey in the oven (follow instructions on the roasting bag packaging). The bag is temperature resistant and will not melt or burn. The turkey cooks in its own juices and the skin crisps up nicely. The result is a very juicy, tender, flavorful turkey with crispy skin that your guests will gobble down with pleasure. It even forgives overcooking by sealing in the turkey's natural juices. Recommended for most people, and especially for novice turkey cookers! The only drawback to this method is that you probably won't get that picture-perfect, Martha Stewart catalogue turkey. But it will look good enough to eat.


Traditional Roast Turkey
Difficulty: Hard
Safety Factor: If you have a critical mother-in-law, and tender feelings, this probably isn't for you.

This is the old school way of roasting a turkey. You marinade it just right the night before, dress it just right the day of, surgically implant butter cubes under the skin (turkeyplasty) and roast it in your oven just right, with a carefully followed schedule of basting and praying. If you can pull this one off, my hat goes off to you. This is recommended for the seasoned cook or professional chef who make it their yearly ritual to perfect the art of turkey roasting. When done right, this yields a perfectly crispy roasted turkey with meat that is not moist - but not dry. It's just right.


Strictly Breasts:
Difficulty: Easy
Safety Factor: If you don't mind people talking about how lazy you are behind your back, then you're good to go with this one!

If you lack the time and initiative to roast a whole bird, or are just plain lazy, this method of cooking turkey will be right for you. And if you need a justification, just keep mentioning how "healthy" turkey breasts are. However, this will backfire when you're caught drowning the remains of your turkey in thick, rich, gravy. For this method, you take some boneless turkey breasts and put them in a Ziploc freezer bag accompanied by some beer, lemon juice, salt and spices. Marinade overnight. Roast in oven on a cookie sheet @375 for 30-45 minutes. This will yield moist and tender turkey breasts which you can slice and arrange on a platter. But hopefully you only invited your yoga buddies and no one will ask for dark meat.


A note on stuffing:
No matter how you choose to cook your turkey this holiday season, you will undoubtedly accompany it with stuffing. It is always best to make the stuffing separately and serve it on the side, or at the very least, stuff your turkey after it's fully cooked. Stuffing your turkey before cooking can be hazardous if (food poisoning from bacteria), and it takes the turkey longer to cook. You can also overcook the turkey and end up with a bird that rejected half the stuffing like a bad heart transplant not a pretty sight). I stuff the turkey's cavity with lemons, onion and garlic. These flavoring agents radiate their aroma throughout the turkey while it's cooking, and give the meat a little more flavor. It's a much better use of the turkey's cavity than stuffing.


Emergency Procedures:
You can't always fix a turkey, especially if you've over-cooked it and it's drier than bag of sand. But here is a brief mention of some common problems that can be fixed. If the turkey is done, but the skin still lacks that brown crisp, use a heat gun to brown the turkey skin after it comes out of the oven (you can buy it at the hardware store - it's used to strip paint off things). If your turkey is under cooked, cut it into pieces, stick the pieces on a baking sheet, pour some of the turkey liquid over the meat and roast it in the oven at 420 for a few minutes until it's done. Since you cut it into smaller pieces and slices, it will cook faster, and the liquid you put on it will keep it from drying out too much. If you are getting burnt spots on the skin before the turkey is done, you should cover the turkey with a sheet of non stick aluminum foil to retard the burning. To avoid the fourth most common problem, ALWAYS MAKE EXTRA!


It is my sincere hope that this guide will give you some sort of a game plan for turkey this holiday season. And remember that a good turkey will last an hour, but the story of the chef will last the rest of the year! Please send me your turkey tips and stories tampabaychef@gmail.com.