Professional Recipes Blog

Finally, Andrea has been kicked off! I never thought she was good enough to make it this far in the first place. With as many mistakes as she’s made with food being under or overcooked, not seasoned properly and just plain being slower than the other chefs on the show, I really thought she would’ve been gone early on.

I will admit that she has improved though and she seemed to do well running the kitchen in the last show, despite pissing off Chef Scott, though she missed a few things early on like the Dory trick they pulled on her for quality control.

Danny was good, though could’ve been more vocal when he was running the show. Paula has impressed me through most of the episodes and I think she’s going to win this in the finale and be the new head chef of the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, NJ.

Who do you think is going to win, Danny or Paula? Cast your vote here:
Vote for the Winner of Hell’s Kitchen!

Update: Now that the winner has been decided, here are the results of this poll: Poll Results

I’ve updated the main site, as hopefully you’ve seen, and just added a new survey about one of my favorite topics here, the show Hell’s Kitchen. I enjoy watching it and can sit back and laugh at some of the mistakes, seeing and doing some of them. Other times I am simply appalled at other mistakes… mistakes that just cannot be made in a professional kitchen.

I’m not sure who I like at this point, but Carol has shown some promise and is a favorite in my mind. Giovanni has gotten better of late with a nice team effort on the red team and a winning dish for the red team in the challenge the other night. The others really haven’t shown a lot of promise and there is no other clear favorite that I can pick out.

So, who do you think is going to win Hell’s Kitchen and the head chef position at the Borgata in Atlantic City (somewhere I can actually visit relatively easily for once!)?

Cast your vote here: Survey: Who’s Going to Win Hell’s Kitchen?

The finale of Hell’s Kitchen is over now and I’ll admit I was a little surprised at the outcome. I thought Petrozza’s team overall did a slightly better job, but it was close. As Chef Ramsey suggested, it was the customer’s comment cards that swayed his decision and it was Christina, the up and coming talent that Chef chose.

I thought both chefs did a good job of creating the menus and with the exception of dealing with the weaknesses of some of their team members, they did a good job of managing their respective kitchens. Food went out fairly well, though each team got slightly backed up, and the customer’s seemed to enjoy the food. Overall it was good night in Hell’s Kitchen.

I honestly thought Petrozza was a lock to win this one based on his experience and his performance throughout the season. While Petrozza went up a few times to get kicked off, he rarely was a liability to his teammates later on in the show. I also think it was more so that the others would have one less person to compete against. I thought he did well overall and I have little doubt that he’ll land a sweet executive chef position at a swanky restaurant somewhere.

After the show was over, my wife and I talked it over and we’ve come to the conclusion that Chef Ramsey chose Christina because she is young and is someone chef can mold into the type of person he wants to run one of his restaurants. Think about it for a second. Christina hasn’t had professional experience (though she is a culinary student) and certainly hasn’t had experience running a kitchen. That lack of experience can work in her and Chef Ramsey’s favor if she follows his teachings.

Petrozza is older and a little set in his ways. He knows what he wants to do if he ran a restaurant of his own and probably has his own menu items already picked out or a slew of good ideas. Perhaps, had he won, he and chef would disagree on creating a menu and we all know Ramsey has little time for anyone else’s opinion when he has a game plan in mind. Chef Ramsey knows what sells and knows the business inside and out.

Christina on the other hand probably has some ideas and certainly has some good dishes to throw out there, but has no idea if her culinary creations would sell in a restaurant. Being offered this opportunity and based on her ability to absorb Ramsey’s teachings, she’ll be less likely to push her own ideas and more likely to accept whatever menu Chef Ramsey gives her (not like she’ll have much choice I don’t think). Ramsey can give her a menu, teach her his way and she’ll do her best to make a name for herself and follow his instruction as far as it will take her. I doubt she’ll question his menu or his ideas very much.

Christina has talent and is young and impressionable. Does she have the stuff it takes to run a restaurant of prestige? We’ll have to wait and see. If we ever make it out to West Hollywood in California to the new restaurant, we’ll get to see first hand if she can cut it as executive chef at such a young age.

Fed up with buying cheap frying pans where the non-stick comes off and you have to buy a new one every year? If this is you it’s worth giving a bit of thought to what you really need and investing in a small selection of frying pans that will last for years and make cooking a pleasure.

It’s worth spending the time choosing good cookware, otherwise you’ll be disappointed in the performance. Read this guide on choosing good cookware to help make the right decisions.

read more | digg story

Every chef needs cookware and this article describes the essential cookware needed in your kitchen. It talks about getting rid of the clutter in your kitchen and choosing the right kind of cookware for all of your needs. We all know that getting rid of the clutter is not only supposed to be a great way to relieve stress, but it makes for less cleanup too when things do get messy. Cooking is a messy business!

Please follow this link here to see the original article and don’t forget to Digg it or save it to your bookmarks:
Essential Cookware for Your Kitchen

read more | digg story

There are many people who enjoy cooking and working with food. From resourceful parents who can whip up a meal in 30 minutes with whatever happens to be in the fridge, to the person who simply likes to dabble with different combination’s of food and create new dishes. Many of these people are looking for new ideas to try or simply wish to improve their cooking skills to impress guests, friends and family, or impress their date with a fabulous meal.

The difference between the home cook and the gourmet chef really comes down to knowledge and experience and oftentimes practice makes perfect (especially when it comes to food). How many times have you or someone you know attempted to make a dish only to have it taste different than what you expected or not look the way you expected or simply be over or undercooked? It happens to even the best of gourmet chefs from time to time. Even the pros (you just don’t see their mistakes or they know how to fix a mistake quickly).

So how does the average person learn to cook like a gourmet?

1. Be open to learning new things: Try something new and creative that you haven’t tried before. Spend some time learning about the techniques involved and just go and do it! The more you try different techniques, the more you learn.
2. Go ahead and watch the cooking shows: there are some truly resourceful chefs out there now using many different styles and with the variety of shows on the Food Network and other channels, there’s plenty to learn by observing.
3. Experimentation: experimentation is the only way we come up with recipes, so go ahead and spice up that bland sauce or try something new for your old favorite, just remember to start small and tweak as you go along and reserve some extra time in case you overdo it.

I’ve created a new “lens” on Squidoo entitled How to Cook Gourmet Style that will show different things to learn, offer tips and how to’s on cooking like a gourmet and more. You can find this lens and other lens that we create by going here:

How to Cook Gourmet Style: 10 Things Every Aspiring Gourmet Chefs Should Learn

I’ll be creating different lens on gourmet cooking as time goes on and I’ll be posting the different lens here, but all will be indexed on the Professional Recipes Squidoo Page so you can check out all of our lens. I’ll also be adding the lens to the Gourmet Cooking section on Professional Recipes also so that you can simply subscribe to our blog for updates, or bookmark the Gourmet Cooking section on Professional Recipes and check out our articles as well.

Enjoy!

“Cooking is something that a good majority of the population does on a daily basis but most people do not even consider that the cookware they are using may also have a major affect on the outcome of their meals.

Using the right cookware for the job can turn an adequate cook into a great cook. It is amazing how a simple change in the type of cookware can dramatically impact the overall result.

There is so much information available online about the many types and materials used in your everyday cookware, so take the time to do some research and think about the type of cookware that will suit your circumstances in regards to the number of people you cook for, they type of cooking you do, and always a major consideration, your budget.

It is generally better to buy fewer quality items that will last you for years even though they may be a little more expensive initially. The quality and the results are well worth you paying a bit more.

Here is some information that may assist you when setting out to make those all important purchases for some of the items to aid you in your cooking”:

The Right Cookware for the Job

This article highlights the different types of cookware available and what type to use for specific cooking styles and techniques. Very informative. You can read the entire article by clicking the link above. Please leave a comment or discuss below!