Chef’s Tip: How To Make Tomato Sauce

Good tomato sauce can be made from fresh or canned tomatoes. When fresh tomatoes are at their peak, it may be a good idea to use them exclusively. At other times of the year, good-quality canned tomatoes are a better choice. A good tomato sauce is opaque and slightly coarse, […]

Pan-fried foods have a richly textured crust and a moist flavorful interior, producing a dish of intriguing contrasts in texture and flavor. When a carefully selected sauce is paired with the dish, the effect can range from home-style to haute cuisine. Pan-fried food is almost always coated—dredged in flour, coated […]

Peppers and chiles are often peeled before they are used in a dish, to improve the dish’s flavor or texture, or both. In this Chef’s Tip, learn the proper method for peeling peppers and chiles for use in a variety of dishes.

Not all vegetables require peeling before cooking, but when it is necessary, use a tool that will remove the skin evenly and neatly without taking off too much of the edible flesh. To peel a thick-skinned vegetable such as winter squash, use a chef’s knife. Chef’s knives are better for […]

A suprême is a semiboneless poultry breast half, usually from a chicken, pheasant, partridge, or duck, so named because it is the best (suprême) portion. One wing joint, often frenched, is left attached to the breast meat. If the skin is removed from the suprême, it may be referred to […]

Mussels are rarely served raw, but the method for cleaning them before steaming and poaching is similar to that used for clams. Unlike clams and oysters, mussels often have a dark, shaggy beard. It is normally removed before cooking. In this Chef’s Tip, learn the proper technique to produce professional […]

To clean shrimp, remove the shell and the vein that runs along the back of the shrimp either before or after cooking. Shrimp that have been boiled or steamed in the shell are moister and plumper than shrimp that were peeled and deveined before cooking. Shrimp that will be served […]

Home fries, potatoes Anna, hash browns, rösti, and Lyonnaise potatoes are prepared by sautéing. Sautéed potatoes combine a browned and crisp exterior with a tender, moist interior. The cooking fat plays a significant role in the flavor of the finished dish, and choices range from the taste of Anna-style or […]

Sautéing and its related technique, stir-frying, may be used as the primary cooking techniques for vegetables as well as à la minute finishing techniques. Boiled, steamed, or pan-steamed vegetables may be tossed or rolled in butter over high heat as a finishing step, or they may be cooked in a […]

Most fish—though not all—have scales that must be removed as a first step in fabrication. The best way to remove scales is with a fish scaler; but other tools (such as the dull side of a knife, a table crumber, a spoon handle) can be used if a scaler is […]