Latest news with #chefs
Washington Post
2 hours ago
- Lifestyle
- Washington Post
Honeydew and goat cheese level-up these no-cook chicken wraps
Like many busy home cooks, I lean on the same core grocery list each week. With life's dizzying pace, it's unrealistic to constantly reinvent the home menu. But I manage to stay out of a rut by applying a simple principle to everyday meals and snacks: add one unexpected element. Often, that's all that it takes to keep things fresh and interesting. I'll add a few mint leaves to the usual lettuce and tomato on a sandwich, sprinkle toasted sunflower seeds on a spread of hummus, toss a handful of blueberries into a basic green salad — you get the idea. Get the recipe: Chicken Wraps With Honeydew and Goat Cheese This recipe started accordingly, as a basic wrap with chicken simply seasoned with salt, pepper and lemon juice and a handful of mixed greens. The unexpected element — juicy slices of honeydew melon. But the sandwich evolved from there to ultimately have multiple intriguing layers. (Sometimes I can't stop at just one.) The sweet melon begged for a creamy counterpoint, so I added a schmear of fresh goat cheese stirred with a touch of honey, some lemon zest and enough milk to render it smooth and spreadable. Then, I elevated the greens with a few basil leaves, adding a floral, summery essence. The resulting sandwich is not much more of a lift than a run-of-the-mill chicken wrap, but with layers of exciting flavors it's infinitely more crave-worthy. Get the recipe: Chicken Wraps With Honeydew and Goat Cheese
Telegraph
4 hours ago
- Health
- Telegraph
Take your tomatoes out of the fridge: this is the best way to store them
Tomato season (which runs from June, peaks in July, ending around September) is in full swing – and so is the annual debate about how best to store them. Some swear by the fridge, convinced it keeps them fresh for longer, while others insist this kills their flavour. In many homes, they're left to sunbathe on the windowsill, loiter in the fruit bowl or languish in the tray they came in. So, what's the best approach? Several factors affect how long tomatoes stay in peak condition at home, including variety (there are more than 10,000 types worldwide), ripeness and the distance and conditions they've endured during transport. But how you store them matters just as much. Tomatoes are fussy. Too cold and their texture turns woolly, and their glorious flavour disappears; too warm and they collapse into mush before you can say 'salad'. We spoke to the experts – scientists, retailers and chefs – to find out how to keep tomatoes at their best and make the most of them as they hit their summer peak. Why you shouldn't store tomatoes in the fridge Put a ripe tomato in the fridge and over time, its gorgeous flavour and aroma ebbs away. That's because many of the compounds – known as aroma volatiles – that make them delicious are suppressed at low temperatures, as Professor Graham Seymour, emeritus professor of plant biotechnology at the University of Nottingham, explains: 'when you store tomatoes at 5C, the normal temperature of home fridges, you really do influence and reduce the levels of the aroma volatiles.' He points to a landmark study in the Journal of Food Science, which found that tomatoes stored at 5C for just two days lost a noticeable amount of flavour and scent. After eight days, the drop was even more significant. Texture is also affected by chilling, which is why tomatoes kept in the fridge can sometimes become 'mealy'. Low temperatures damage their cell membranes and disrupts water retention, leading to a dry, grainy texture. The optimum temperature for tomatoes The sweet spot for storing tomatoes is around 20C (about room temperature in the UK), Professor Seymour says. At this temperature, aroma volatiles stay active and the risk of mealy textures is minimal. How best to store ripe tomatoes Ripe tomatoes should last at an ambient temperature of 20C for seven to 10 days. Keep them on the kitchen counter, out of direct sunlight and away from fruit like bananas (see below) to maintain maximum flavour and succulence. Tomatoes don't like airtight containers, so put them out where they can breathe. 'If you're putting them in a low-oxygen environment, perhaps with condensation, this might cause mould to build up,' Professor Seymour says. Tomatoes are climacteric fruits, which means they continue to ripen after picking. If you want to slow the process because you won't use them all straight away, keep them somewhere cool, like a cellar or pantry. 'If you have a suitable storage area at a temperature of 12.5C-14C, then ripening will be slowed,' Professor Seymour says. 'Flavour could still be altered somewhat, but it's much better than storing them at 4-5C in the fridge. I am afraid like most things it's a compromise,' he admits. How best to store underripe tomatoes If you have unripe or hard tomatoes, try keeping them next to bananas or apples – fruits that give off ethylene gas as they ripen. This triggers the tomatoes' own ripening enzymes. Sunshine may help improve the texture and flavour of some unripe specimens – try popping them on a window sill or a sunny spot in the garden. Should tomatoes be stored upside down? Some websites claim that storing tomatoes top-down, or keeping them on the vine once picked, helps them stay fresher for longer. It's plausible, but there's little scientific evidence to support this, says Dr Philip Morley, technical executive officer with the British Tomato Growers' Association. 'Tomatoes still attached to part of the vine may retain moisture for a little longer, although this hasn't been properly studied,' he says. 'And turning tomatoes upside down could, in theory, slow moisture loss through the scar where the stalk was.' Any benefit would depend on the variety and skin thickness of the tomatoes, and the room temperature they're stored in, he says. How to store tomatoes in packets Some supermarket tomatoes are sold in plastic packets with perforations to allow airflow and reduce condensation. These designs aim to protect the tomatoes during transport and prevent moisture build-up, which can lead to mould. Nick Brooke, from the fresh produce team at Waitrose, agrees tomatoes should be kept out of the fridge but advises to keep them in their original packaging,' to preserve their flavour. 'Open them when they are required for maximum freshness,' he says. 'Once they are open, we recommend that they are placed back in their wrap and sealed or re-covered.' Other factors that affect the lifespan of a tomato Tomatoes have different lifespans for many reasons, including the variety and how far they've travelled. Very hard tomatoes that are a pale orange-red colour – often significantly cheaper than others – will keep for weeks out of the fridge, but the trade-off will be lack of flavour. 'Many commercial tomatoes contain a mutation called the ripening inhibitor mutation,' says Professor Seymour. 'It slows ripening down, so very cheap tomatoes can seem to last forever, but this can also affect taste as well. They're often as hard as cannon balls.' Size matters too. Cherry tomatoes have a higher surface-area-to-volume ratio than bigger varieties, which means they lose moisture quicker and are prone to drying out in extremely hot conditions, says Dr Morley. The difference might be slight, but if your kitchen feels like a furnace in summer, larger tomatoes are more likely to stay in good nick for longer. To improve your odds of both flavour and shelf life, Dr Morley suggests buying British-grown tomatoes. These are typically produced in glasshouses, carefully handled, picked when ripe and travel shorter distances to your plate than imported ones. 'If you buy ones from Morocco or Spain, they tend to use long shelf life varieties,' he says. 'Also, British tomatoes haven't gone through the supply chain, rattled around in crates and been exposed to different temperatures.' The shorter the journey from plant to plate, the longer tomatoes are likely to stay in peak condition. He recommends producers such as Isle of Wight Tomatoes, which sells a wide range of varieties – coeur de boeuf, cherry vine, san arrentino plums – and colours direct to consumers. Home-grown or farmer's market tomatoes generally aren't bred to ripen slowly, so they're never going to outlive supermarket cannonballs. But they've been spared the knocks, chills and long journeys of their shop-bought counterparts – and that not only means they taste better but often keep surprisingly well too. How to store tomatoes in the freezer Tomatoes can be frozen whole or chopped, but due to their high water content, they're best used in cooking once defrosted. According to the anti-food waste charity Love Food Hate Waste, blanching tomatoes before freezing can help preserve the texture. Whole cherry tomatoes can be frozen and added straight from the freezer to soups or stews. Got a squishy tomato glut? Cook it into a sauce and freeze that instead. What to do with underripe tomatoes… Claire Thomson, chef and author of Tomato (Quadrille, £24), recommends cooking underripe tomatoes. Thickly slice 500g tomatoes, season, then dredge in flour, beaten egg, and finally panko breadcrumbs. Carefully deep fry until golden and transfer to a baking dish. Mix 100ml double cream with a chopped garlic clove, a few sprigs of thyme or rosemary, and 1 tsp Dijon mustard. Pour over the tomatoes, top with grated Parmesan, and bake at 200C/180C fan/gas mark 6 for 15-20 minutes until golden and bubbling. …and overripe tomatoes Overripe tomatoes make fantastic, easy cold soup: blitz 750g overripe tomatoes, 75g stale bread, a handful of blanched almonds, a couple of garlic cloves, a few mint leaves and a good glug of extra virgin olive oil in a food process or blender. Season well and serve chilled.
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Chefs explain why restaurant mashed potato always tastes better than homemade
Chefs have divulged why mashed potato at a restaurant always tastes better than when made at home. Many agree the answer is lashings of salt and butter, but some chefs insist there is far more to the art of a velvety mash. Inspired by a popular Reddit thread calling on professionals to reveal their secrets, chefs have now spilled on how to master a mash that's both creamy and indulgent. The post began: 'I'm still figuring out how to cook, but one thing that always confuses me is mashed potatoes at restaurants. 'They're so creamy, smooth and buttery without tasting too heavy. I don't know what they're doing differently, but mine never turn out like that... it still feels like something's missing. 'Just wondering what makes restaurant mashed potatoes hit different?' A fine dining cook who claimed to have worked under Michelin star chefs for many years immediately jumped in to share the method he's been using for years. He said: '[We use] either a tamis with a plastic bench scraper or a China cap with a ladle used to push it through.' A tamis - pronounced 'tammy' - is a drum-shaped sieve with fine mesh attached. A China cap is a cone-shaped strainer with perforated metal on the inside. He continued: 'When we'd make Pomme Puree [velvety mash] we would do about 16 cups of peeled Yukon gold potatoes soaked (in water to prevent oxidization) and cut up to an even size. 'Bring them to boil in a pot with just enough salted (and I mean pretty flavorful) water to cover the surface. Less water = better texture mash. 'Once it was boiling I'd reduce it to a simmer until a cake tester came out clean but not where the potatoes got over cooked/mealy. You don't want that either.' The chef then advises immediately draining the water, 'tamising or ricing' the potatoes into a large bowl and adding simmered heavy cream to the desired texture. Follow that with about 500g of cubed-up good quality cold butter. He said: 'The cold butter helps mount and emulsify the potatoes so that they have an incredibly smooth texture. 'After emulsification we'd sometimes add some garlic thyme brown butter we'd prepped earlier and quickly stir it in so it would stay emulsified. Salt and season to taste. 'Most places I've worked have done this or similar.' Multiple users agreed with this chef's approach, while others weighed in with their own tips - mostly involving excessive amounts of butter and cream. One confessed: 'So much butter and cream. Way more than you would imagine. Like some of the fancier and more luxurious places are doing their mashed potatoes 50 per cent butter by weight.' Another agreed: 'I'm a chef. It's what everyone else said. A s*** load of butter, salt, white pepper and cream. Like an amount you've never considered because most normal people can't comprehend it.' One more admitted: 'So much more butter. Like a comical amount.' Others offered a little more substance with specific tips they've always sworn by. One chef said: 'Bake the potatoes in the oven in their skin, scoop out flesh, put through potato ricer, add hot milk flavored with bay leaf, add lots of butter and salt.' A second suggested: 'Another tip to level up your mash is to steep garlic and herbs in the cream, then strain them out before you add it. It's awesome.' A third added: 'Use a potato ricer, better butter and higher fat dairy. Make sure you're using the right potato. Mix them to amalgamate and no more. Don't overwork them, they'll get pasty. Rest them, they're often made towards start of shift and reheated as needed... and I don't know why sitting for an hour-plus helps, but it makes a difference.'
Washington Post
5 hours ago
- Lifestyle
- Washington Post
How to blanch fresh produce to preserve flavor, color and texture
We love fresh, seasonal produce for its superb flavor and vibrant color, especially during the summer. But these prized traits are fleeting. This is where blanching can come in to save the day, helping to keep those fruits and vegetables at their best to enjoy now or months later. Think of the technique like flash-boiling: Bring a pot of water to a rapid boil, season it with salt, briefly submerge the produce, then plunge said produce in an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Once it has cooled, dry the produce and enjoy it, or store it in a number of ways.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Chef's secret: Why restaurant mashed potato ALWAYS tastes better
It's an age old question: why is mashed potato always so much better when the experts make it? And while many agree the answer is lashings of salt and butter, some chefs insist there is far more to the art of a velvety mash. Inspired by a popular Reddit thread calling on professionals to reveal their secrets, chefs have now spilled their once gate-kept methods - and the gadgets they swear by for an indulgent, creamy result. 'I'm still figuring out how to cook, but one thing that always confuses me is mashed potatoes at restaurants,' the post began. 'They're so creamy, smooth and buttery without tasting too heavy. I don't know what they're doing differently, but mine never turn out like that... it still feels like something's missing. 'Just wondering what makes restaurant mashed potatoes hit different?' A fine dining chef who claimed to have worked under Michelin star chefs for many years immediately jumped in to share the method he's been using for years. '[We use] either a tamis with a plastic bench scraper or a China cap with a ladle used to push it through,' he said. A tamis - pronounced 'tammy' - is a drum-shaped sieve with fine mesh attached. A China cap is a cone-shaped strainer with perforated metal on the inside. 'When we'd make Pomme Puree [velvety mash] we would do about 16 cups of peeled Yukon gold potatoes soaked (in water to prevent oxidisation) and cut up to an even size,' the chef continued. 'Bring them to boil in a pot with just enough salted (and I mean pretty flavorful) water to cover the surface. Less water = better texture mash. 'Once it was boiling I'd reduce it to a simmer until a cake tester came out clean but not where the potatoes got over cooked/mealy. You don't want that either.' The chef then advises immediately draining the water, 'tamising or ricing' the potatoes into a large bowl and adding simmered heavy cream to the desired texture. Follow that with about 500g or cubed-up good quality cold butter. 'The cold butter helps mount and emulsify the potatoes so that they have an incredibly smooth texture,' he said. 'After emulsification we'd sometimes add some garlic thyme brown butter we'd prepped earlier and quickly stir it in so it would stay emulsified. Salt and season to taste. 'Most places I've worked have done this or similar.' Hundreds agreed with this chef's approach, while others weighed in with their own handy tips - mostly involving excessive amounts of butter and cream. 'So much butter and cream. Way more than you would imagine. Like some of the fancier and more luxurious places are doing their mashed potatoes 50 per cent butter by weight,' one confessed. 'I'm a chef. It's what everyone else said. A s**tload of butter, salt, white pepper and cream. Like an amount you've never considered because most normal people can't comprehend it,' another agreed. 'So much more butter. Like a comical amount,' one more admitted. Others offered a little more substance with specific tips they've always sworn by. 'Bake the potatoes in the oven in their skin, scoop out flesh, put through potato ricer, add hot milk flavored with bay leaf, add lots of butter and salt,' one chef said. 'Another tip to level up your mash is to steep garlic and herbs in the cream, then strain them out before you add it. It's awesome,' another suggested. 'Use a potato ricer, better butter and higher fat dairy. Make sure you're using the right potato. Mix them to amalgamate and no more. Don't overwork them, they'll get pasty. Rest them, they're often made towards start of shift and reheated as needed... and I don't know why sitting for an hour-plus helps, but it makes a difference,' one more concluded. How do some of our favourite chefs make the 'perfect' mash? Andrew Rudd, Medley Andrew uses a potato ricer as opposed to a masher to ensure the texture is silky smooth. During this process, the potato cells rupture as they pass through the perforated base - preventing the spuds becoming overworked - while the tool also turns the spuds into rice-sized pieces, which contributes to its overall lightness. Once you've prepped your potatoes, Andrew gets a small saucepan and adds in cream, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg. He then puts the potato on the hob and gradually adds that mix with spatula. Robbie Bell, City Larder Robbie, who is Heston Blumenthal's former protégé, uses nutmeg and squeezes some lemon on top of his mashed potato to add in a dash of acidity. He peels his potatoes and quarters them then adds them to a large pot of salted, boiling water before reducing the heat and simmering the potatoes gently. Then he drains the potatoes, dries them out in a pan, and set them aside. After heating a little butter in a saucepan, the then puts the boiled potatoes through a mouli press and adds them to the pan. Then he adds olive oil, milk, and bit of nutmeg to the mashed potatoes. He finishes with lemon. 'We love a little bit of acidity so I add in a little bit of lemon - it's as simple as that,' he says. Rob Nixon, Nicko's Kitchen Creates 'smooth, creamy' mash by peeling white potatoes and mixing the skins with milk in a saucepan over a high heat, allowing the flavour of the peels to infuse into the liquid. While the skins soak, he cuts each potato in half and boiled for 15 minutes before gently pushing them through a potato ricer over a sieve to mash and remove all traces of fine lumps. After seasoning the mashed potato with butter, salt and pepper, he strains milk from the skins and pours it over the top.
