Kitchen Knives

Check out this beautiful Shun Bob Kramer 7'' Chef knife, and it comes with a heafty price too. $339.95 I might have to wait for this one, since it is a little out of my price range.

But this beautiful 6.5'' Shun Elite Santoku Chef knife is a little more reasonable at $129.95 UPDATE!, I just bought this knife! I love it! It feels so nice when I am using it. The handle is design to fit in your palm of your hand. Makes cutting fun! Yeah it cost a little but it is so worth it. It will last for years. 

This Global Hollow-Ground Santoku 7'' Chef knife is the brand I own this knife for almost ten years and it still looks somewhat new and I use every day. It stays sharp, it is comfortabe to use and the price is great at $95.00. I prefer this knife over my Shun that I bought. I like the shun but it stays at home while I take the Global to work. This knife was given to me by my boss as a going away present. I am not sure if this knife can hold its edge like the shun and maybe not as sharp, but I do like it and I am pretty sure you will too. I know you want it! So just buy it! Buy it from Amazon, I pretty much everything from Amazon, I am a huge fan! 

But if these knives are still out of your price range you can always go to Target and buy a Kitchen Aid or Cuisinart knives, they work great too.
UPDATE! I plan on buying the Global knife holder, but I just don't have the money just yet. But when I do I will let you all know. I really like the Global so I need add on to my collection, but just so you all know I am not partial to one brand. I have many different brands in my tool box. Oh and yes I do have a tool box, just like a carpenter I keep all my pastry tool in the tool box. At first I bought 2 matching tool boxes so they can stack together, but the last one I bought is much bigger and has wheels. I live on a Army base and live in the barracks so I don't have much room for storage. I can't wait for the day when I get a room inspection by a army SGT. and they get to see all the knives in my room. You should see my room, I have a ice cream maker, a pasta maker, chocolate tempering machine, bunch of knives and 30-40 lbs of dark chocolate . OK now I am not bragging... I just love to cook!

Chocolate

I love chocolate and I hope you do too. Here is a picture of me working hard making chocolate cigarettes (not easy to do).

making a chicken stock at home

Watch this video and why you should know how to make your own stock (broth).

When I am at home I often buy a whole chicken, I cut (fabricate) out the meat I will use for dinner and the meat I don’t use I save it in a freezer bag with a date on it and place in the freezer. After there is only the carcasses left, I will then take the carcasses wash it and cut into smaller pieces and also freeze it until I have at least 3-5 chicken carcasses.

Once I have all carcasses, I place into a crock pot. Add cold water to cover the bones (about 2) inches. Add the mirepoix (25%carrots, 25%celery, and 50%onoins), thyme, parsley stems and a bay leaf. On low heat, let it simmer for about 3-4hrs without lid (or if you use a lid, make sure the lid allows some of the air inside of the crock pot to escape, also keep in mind, it may take a little longer in a crock pot. I just put it on in the mornings; go to work and when I get home from work my stock is done.

Strain your stock through a fine strainer. The best way to remove all the fat is, by placing in your stock in the refrigerator. The fat will float to the top and you will be able to scrape off the fat. Once the fat has been removed I then pour the stock into ice cube trays and freeze.

After your stock has been frozen into little cubes, place the frozen chicken cubes into a plastic container (by doing this your stock will last longer and be ready to use if and when you need some chicken stock for a soup, sauces or anything else you need chicken stock for).

All this may seem like a lot of work, but if you pick a day to do this maybe a Sunday when you are off from work, it will be worth the trouble later on in the week when you are looking for that extra flavor. You also know what you are eating and not have to wonder if it is good for you or not. If you use your frozen chicken cubes as often as I did, you should only have to make stock about once or twice a month. Let me know if you have any questions about this

My first Blog

My first post in my own blog and I am sitting here thinking what I should write and how I should begin my blog or how my layout should be. What to call my blog, I have all these ideas and questions but not so sure how or where to begin. Could I just pay someone to do it for me? So I am thinking I might as well start by telling a little something about me and why I want to write about food.

I graduated New England Culinary Institute in 2000, worked for the Four Seasons Hotel and Resorts, Beaver Creek Resorts and Deer Valley Resorts. Then I joined the ARMY in the summer of 2006, went through basic training and then got shipped to Ft. Bliss, in El Paso Texas. I made the Ft. Bliss Culinary team and went on to win Jr. Chef of the year for the ARMY in 2007. Jr. Chef meaning my rank was a E-4 or below. I also won 3 Gold, 4 Bronze medals and Best Exhibit in show.

In late 2007 I was then deplyed to Korea, made the Korean Culinary Team (USA) and won 3 Gold, 4 Silver, 2 Bronze Medals and runner up for ARMY Chef of the Year. I choked for the Chef of the year. I know what went wrong, but it was a good learning experince and dont regret any of it. I also worked with the United States ARMY Culinary Team in 2008, I had so much fun and I learned a ton, they are very passionate about what they do.

All that in a nut shell, that was the short verison. I will add a little something everyday. Thanks for taking the time to read my first blog, stayed tuned for more.