Beginning Gourmet Cooking Techniques | Tuesday, 1st Period

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal nodded at the students. "Last week, we discussed dealing with dairy and eggs safely. This week, we'll be discussing meats. There are entirely too many different kinds to deal with them all, so — some of the more common."

He set out dishes.

"Fish, beef, chicken, and pork. Keep your cold foods cold, and your hot foods hot. Between forty and one-hundred forty Fahrenheit is where bacteria will thrive. Never keep your food at those temperatures for longer than an hour. As with the dairy, buy this last and bring it straight home."

He waved at the meats. "For the most part, if meats are spoiled, you will smell it." He smiled. "Don't worry; I won't make you do that again. As far as bacterial contamination, you won't. All I can say is, buy from reputable vendors. Check that the color is good and the smell. Fresh beef will appear bright red, not brown. Fresh pork will be pink; fresh poultry, off-white or cream colored. Fresh fish will not smell 'fishy'."

"Some precautions apply to all meats," he continued. "First of all, there are guidelines for handling them in order to minimize risk. Always keep cooked foods and raw meats separate. Wash your hands and your utensils before switching between them. And be very careful with foods that you don't cook; you don't want to spread bacteria to them from something else."

He tapped the plate with the beef. "Each cut and each type of meat has its own cooking guidelines, but again, you want to heat it to above one-hundred-forty degrees, and you want to keep it there. Do not thaw and freeze and cook and freeze…" he grimaced. "Once it's begun cooking, finish it."

"So." He gestured to them. "Today, you will be roasting a chicken, making a stir-fry with beef, cooking a pork chop, and broiling fish. Season them any way you like; do as you will with them. But I want you to handle them properly and learn to use the meat thermometers. Ask if you have questions."

Comments

Sign in!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Ready to cook!

Re: Sign in!

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

Sholeh Zeela a Zhahar

(Zhari)

Re: Sign in!

[flickofthewrist]

Flick

Re: Sign in!

[shippedtomaine]

Emma Swan

Listen to the lecture, ask questions

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

All meats are different!

Cook your food

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Don't kill it; it's already dead. Just cook it.

Re: Cook your food

[flickofthewrist]

Flick went to work with the pork chop first. He followed the instructions carefully, checking on the temperature of the meat before tossing it into a pan to cook up.

So far, everything was going pretty well. He didn't think he'd ruin this meal.

Re: Cook your food

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Hannibal watched for a moment, then nodded. "Good. What are you planning for the chicken?"

Re: Cook your food

[flickofthewrist]

"You mean like for flavor?" Flick asked, glancing over. "Or the actual cooking?"

Re: Cook your food

[selfhelphero]

Oh boy, this was an important lesson in not poisoning people in the future. Billy had a pretty good idea of how to make sure chicken and meat were done, so he took the fish, added some salt and just the barest hint of Italian spices, and started broiling it, hoping to cook it just enough that it was edible but not ruined.

Re: Cook your food

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

That seemed a bit of a boring way to cook the fish to Hannibal, but it was important to know your comfort zone and limits. He nodded to Billy. "What will you do with the beef?"

Re: Cook your food

[myownface]

Sparkle was pretty sure that the chicken was going to take the longest, so he got a start on that, first, before trying to decide which to try next. Stir-fry was quick and easy, and he wasn't entirely certain if it was possible to screw up fish.

The pork chop?

You know, choosing 'chicken first' had been the easy part, here.

Re: Cook your food

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

"Pork isn't generally one of the first things people learn to cook," Hannibal noted. He eyed Sparkle for a moment, then gave him a tiny grin. He pulled out his tablet and found a recipe. "What do you think of this one (http://www.porkbeinspired.com/RecipeView.aspx?RID=28)?"

Re: Cook your food

[beautifulsenshi.livejournal.com]

Chicken totally went in first, and then Minako started on her stir-fry. Fresh ginger slices. More ginger! Sugar peas, sesame seed oil, large and fluffy udon noodles, brocolli, scallions, Chinese spinach, and DONE!

Well, no, not done -- Minako needed to grind out her own red pepper flakes first, because that would be PRETTY. And tasty.

Re: Cook your food

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

"You have experience at stir-fry, I see," Hannibal noted. "Very nice."

Eat Hannibal's food and ask questions

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

In the continued tradition of "do as I say, don't kill yourself doing as I do", today's meal is:


ribbons of tuna with ginger marinade (http://www.cookstr.com/recipes/ribbons-of-tuna-with-ginger-marinade)

and


steak tartare with mustard ice cream (http://www.starchefs.com/cook/recipe/steak-tartare-mustard-ice-cream)

Re: Eat Hannibal's food and ask questions

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

"I thought we weren't supposed to eat meat raw," Zhahri said, poking at her plate with the closest expression of dubiousness she'd ever worn in class. "Because of getting sick and stuff."

Hadn't that been the point of his whole lecture?

Re: Eat Hannibal's food and ask questions

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

"The raw fish is called sishi," Rilla told her, nodding.

No, it wasn't.

Re: Eat Hannibal's food and ask questions

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Hannibal nodded, conceding the point. "Part of cooking is knowing the rules; part is knowing how far you can push them. I wouldn't serve this outside in summer, or with meat I couldn't trust. I wouldn't recommend a novice chef attempt it. But the tastes are worth experiencing, I think."

Talk to the TAs!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Who aren't cooked, either. He likes them.

Re: Talk to the TAs!

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

Zhahar was very glad to be liked, especially when the alternative was being devoured. Not that she knew any such thing, of course, but the principle stood.

Since it was fall, she was filling her chicken with apples, gourds, and cinnamon sticks before roasting. She wasn't sure how it would come out, but it smelled interesting enough!

Re: Talk to the TAs!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

"Very autumnal," Hannibal remarked as he walked by. "Do you have these same spices where you're from?"

Re: Talk to the TAs!

[myownface]

Sparkle was actually in a pretty good mood today. He hadn't spent his weekend as a six-year-old doing stupid six-year-old shit, and they were making enough food in class today to keep him in leftovers until next week's class.

... Assuming the meat kept that long or some punk didn't steal it from a common room fridge or something. Maybe if he put more Sriracha onto the stir-fry, he wouldn't have that problem...

Re: Talk to the TAs!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

"Do you enjoy spicy foods," Hannibal asked, "or are you attempting to see if it will cook without a stove?"

OOC!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Weetinies was so much fun!