National Milk Chocolate Day

Ok chocolate lovers! July 28th is a day especially for you. It’s National Milk Chocolate Day.
And how much do we love milk chocolate? According to the National Confectioners Association (NCA), 65 percent of Americans actually prefer milk chocolate over other chocolates.
Milk chocolate is a form of chocolate which is blended with milk for a milder, creamy flavor than dark chocolate, which is composed primarily of cocoa liquor. Many candy companies utilize milk chocolate for their products, which are designed to be eaten out of hand, and milk chocolate can also be used in some baking applications.

Chocolate is derived from the seeds of the cacao plant, Theobroma cacao. The seeds or “nibs” are formed in large pods, which are harvested when ripe. Harvesters split the pods to access the seeds and then ferment them for around a week before roasting the seeds and grinding them to release their chocolate liquor. Chocolate liquor is composed of cocoa solids and cocoa butter, the fatty part of chocolate.

Pure chocolate liquor is turned into baker's chocolate, which you may be familiar with. If you have ever bitten into a piece of baker's chocolate, you also know that it is extremely bitter, due to the alkaloids in chocolate. Therefore, chocolate liquor is often mixed with sugar and other ingredients to make candy bars and other sweet chocolate products.

Typical milk chocolate includes 10% chocolate liquor, along with an additional percentage of pure cocoa solids; in Europe, milk chocolate must contain at least 25% cocoa solids. Around 12% of milk chocolate contains milk solids, and another 3.7% is composed of milk fat. Sugar and vanilla are also added to make milk chocolate creamy and to enhance the flavor. Either condensed or powdered milk may be used, depending on the manufacturer.

If you are looking for a great excuse to indulge in some sweet treats, look no further. Try this melt-in-your mouth pizza recipe for National Milk Chocolate Day.

CHOCOLATE PIZZA
6 servings.

Ingredients
1 pound homemade pizza dough, recipe follows, or purchased pizza dough
2 teaspoons butter, melted
¼ cup chocolate-hazelnut spread (recommended: Nutella)
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons milk chocolate chips
2 tablespoons white chocolate chips
2 tablespoons chopped hazelnuts, toasted
Position the oven rack on the bottom of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F.


Method
Line a heavy large baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out the dough to a 9-inch-diameter round. Transfer the dough to the prepared baking sheet. Using your fingers, make indentations all over the dough. Brush the dough with butter, then bake until the crust is crisp and pale golden brown, about 20 minutes. Immediately spread the chocolate-hazelnut spread over the pizza then sprinkle all the chocolate chips over. Bake just until the chocolate begins to melt, about 1 minute. Sprinkle the hazelnuts over the pizza. Cut into wedges and serve.

PIZZA DOUGH:
Yield: 1 (16-ounce) ball of pizza dough

Ingredients
½ cup warm water (105 to 110 degrees F)
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for bowl


Method
Mix the warm water and yeast in a small bowl to blend. Let stand until the yeast dissolves, about 5 minutes. Mix the flour and salt in a food processor to blend. Blend in the oil. With the machine running, add the yeast mixture and blend just until the dough forms. Turn the dough out onto lightly floured surface and knead until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer the dough to a large oiled bowl and turn the dough to coat with the oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside in a warm draft-free area until the dough doubles in volume, about 1 hour. Punch the down dough and form into ball. The dough can be used immediately or stored airtight in the refrigerator for 1 day.

AND FINALLY…
Chocolate is a vegetable!!!
Chocolate is derived from cocoa beans.
Bean = vegetable
Sugar is derived from either sugar cane or sugar beets.
Both of them are plants, in the vegetable category. Thus, chocolate is a vegetable.
To go one step further, chocolate candy bars also contain milk, which is dairy.
Chocolate has many preservatives. Preservatives make you look younger.
So candy bars are basically a health food!

Hot Dog

"'Tis dogs' delight to bark and bite,"
Thus does the adage run.
But I delight to bite the dog
When placed inside a bun”

July is the National Hotdog Month, and Monday the 19th of July is the National Hotdog Day!
Sausages were mentioned in Homer's Odyssey as far back as the 9th Century B.C. Though controversy dogs its history of origin, {did you see what I did there?} it is one of the oldest forms of processed food that still enjoys a strong popularity. And no one disputes that.
Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, is traditionally credited with the place of birth. However, this claim is disputed by those who assert that the popular sausage--known as a "dachshund" or "little-dog" sausage--was created in the late 1600's by Johann Georghehner, a butcher, living in Coburg, Germany. According to this report, Georghehner later traveled to Frankfurt to promote his new product.

Actually, in 1987, the city of Frankfurt celebrated the 500th birthday of the hot dog in that city. It's said that the Frankfurter was developed there in 1484, five years before Christopher Columbus set sail for the new world. However, Vienna came up with protests against this German celebration because the people of Vienna, Austria, point to the term "wiener" to prove their claim as the birthplace of the hot dog.

In line with these theories of origin it is likely that the North American hot dog comes from a widespread common European sausage brought here by butchers of several nationalities.

Doubt also looms large over another 'first' about it - the name of the man who first served the dachshund sausage with a roll. One report says a German immigrant sold them, along with milk rolls and sauerkraut, from a push cart in New York City's Bowery during the 1860's. In 1871, Charles Feltman, a German butcher opened up the first Coney Island hot dog stand selling 3,684 dachshund sausages in a milk roll during his first year in business.

The year, 1893, was an important date in hot dog history. In Chicago that year, the Colombian Exposition brought hordes of visitors who consumed large quantities of sausages sold by vendors. People liked this food. For, it was easy to eat, convenient and inexpensive.

In the same year, sausages turned out to be the standard fare at baseball parks. This tradition was begun by a St. Louis bar owner, Chris Von de Ahe, who also owned the St. Louis Browns major league baseball team.

The term "hot dog" was coined in 1901 at the New York Polo Grounds. One cold April day, concessionaire Harry Stevens (his company is still in business) was losing money with ice cream and ice cold soda. He sent his salesmen out to buy up all the dachshund sausages they could find, along with an equal number of rolls. In less than an hour his vendors were hawking hot dogs from portable hot water tanks with "They're red hot! Get your dachshund sausages while they're red hot!"
In the press box, sports cartoonist Tad Dorgan was nearing his deadline and desperate for an idea. Hearing the vendors, he hastily drew a cartoon of barking dachshund sausages nestled warmly in rolls. Not sure how to spell "dachshund" he simply wrote "hot dog!" The cartoon was a sensation--and the term "hot dog" was born.

Today's hot dog on a bun was probably introduced during the St. Louis "Louisiana Purchase Exposition" in 1904 by Bavarian concessionaire, Anton Feuchtwanger. He loaned white gloves to his patrons to hold his piping hot sausages. Most of the gloves were not returned, and the supply began running low. He reportedly asked his brother-in-law, a baker, for help. The baker improvised long soft rolls that fit the meat--thus inventing the hot dog bun.

CHICAGO-STYLE HOT DOG
The Chicago Dog is a Windy City classic, and a big favorite with sports fans! The frank must be all-beef, the bun must be poppy seed, and the ingredients must be piled onto the bun in the order specified. And whatever you do, don't spoil the splendor with ketchup!

Ingredients:
1 all-beef hot dog
1 poppy seed hot dog bun
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 tablespoon sweet green pickle relish
1 tablespoon chopped onion 4 tomato wedges
1 dill pickle spear
2 sport peppers
1 dash celery salt

Method:
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Reduce heat to low, place hot dog in water, and cook 5 minutes or until done. Remove hot dog and set aside. Carefully place a steamer basket into the pot and steam the hot dog bun 2 minutes or until warm.
Place hot dog in the steamed bun. Pile on the toppings in this order: yellow mustard,
sweet green pickle relish, onion, tomato wedges, pickle spear, sport peppers, and celery salt. The tomatoes should be nestled between the hot dog and the top of the bun. Place the pickle between the hot dog and the bottom of the bun. Don't even think about ketchup!

AND FINALLY…Two Irish nuns have just arrived in USA by boat and one says to the other, "I hear that the people in this country actually eat dogs." "Odd," her companion replies, "but if we shall live in America, we might as well do as the Americans do." Nodding emphatically, the mother superior points to a hot dog vendor and they both walk towards the cart. "Two dogs, please," says one. The vendor is only too pleased to oblige and he wraps both hot dogs in foil and hands them over the counter. Excited, the nuns hurry over to a bench and begin to unwrap their "dogs."

The mother superior is first to open hers. She begins to blush and then, staring at it for a moment, leans over to the other nun and whispers cautiously: "What part did you get?

CHEF GILLIGAN

On Wednesday, July 14th it is the French national holiday, la Fête du 14 Juillet.
It commemorates the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789, an open act of rebellion against the monarchy that is considered a turning point of the French Revolution. Two days after the storming of the Bastille, the king officially recognized the tricolor flag--the blue, white and red said to symbolize liberty, equality and brotherhood.
It seems kind of funny that we are talking about French brotherhood after their World Cup debacle. There didn't seem to be much brotherly love in that locker room did there? Oh well, the French sent home early from the World Cup again. If only there was a French term for 'deja vu'.

Wednesday is also my son, Jack’s 2nd birthday, note the spelling Jack as opposed to Jacques!

The long history and sheer finesse of French cuisine has always given it the edge. Consider some of the country's delights - pungent cheeses, sublime wines, sweet buttery pastries, well-loved classic regional dishes.

In its early days royal influence was important. The French kings of the 17th century promoted their nation's cooking by insisting on weighty tables of soups, pheasant, partridge, game, vegetables, hams, pastries, fruits and preserves, all prepared by the finest chefs. One of the first French cookbooks, Le Cuisinier Royal et Bourgeois, consisted of recipes from Louis XIV's kitchens and marked the beginning of haute cuisine.

The appeal of France's cuisine grew with the prestige of its culture and much of the Western world embraced it, although it took the USA longer than most to come round.

French food relied on the brilliance of its chefs and the quality of the ingredients that the land provided. The pioneers, still revered today, include Antonin Carême, who designed spectacular Roman-style architectural creations, and Brillat-Savarin, who wrote La Physiologie du Gout in 1825 and raised French cooking to an art and science.

Auguste Escoffier created dishes for the celebrities of his day and became known as "the chef of emperors and emperor of chefs". His showy, creamy dishes relied on the creation of a master sauce and dominated French plates until the 1970s when a lighter style, known as nouvelle cuisine, became the fashion.

Today, there is much debate over whether classic French haute cuisine is on its way out, as some of the best-known chefs in France have opened brasseries or bistros alongside their celebrated restaurants. The French are serving more down-to-earth, country-style cooking or "cuisine du terroir", drawing on regional dishes and ingredients. Whether this trend continues or not, there is no denying that the way we eat in America has been greatly influenced by our “friends” across the Atlantic.

So, Vive la France! Allez les bleus, but instead of storming a Parisian prison, storm into that kitchen and get cooking.

And what can be more French than a beautiful…
CREME BRULEE

INGREDIENTS
6 egg yolks
6 tablespoons white sugar, divided
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 ½ cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons brown sugar


METHOD
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F
Beat egg yolks, 4 tablespoons sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl until thick and creamy.
Pour cream into a saucepan and stir over low heat until it almost comes to boil. Remove the cream from heat immediately. Stir cream into the egg yolk mixture; beat until combined.
Pour cream mixture into the top of a double boiler. Stir over simmering water until mixture lightly coats the back of a spoon; approximately 3 minutes. Remove mixture from heat immediately and pour into a shallow heat-proof dish.
Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. Refrigerate for 1 hour, or overnight.
Preheat oven to broil.
In a small bowl combine remaining 2 tablespoons white sugar and brown sugar. Sift this mixture evenly over custard. Place dish under broiler until sugar melts, about 2 minutes. Watch carefully so as not to burn.
Remove from heat and allow to cool. Refrigerate until custard is set again.

AND FINALLY… What is the difference between a slice of toast, and a Frenchmen?

You can make a soldier out of a piece of toast.

CHEF GILLIGAN

Paul the Octopus is dead

Today I decided to kill the know-it-all octopus that some have come to rely on when choosing their World Cup wagers. Paul has chosen Spain over the Dutch so it is only fair that I prepare him in a Spanish style. {It was a bit of a trek for him to Miami from Germany so I just chose one of his relatives instead}

Octopus can be pretty tough to eat, one trick that I've learnt to tenderize it is to throw it in the washing machine on the spin cycle or in a spin dryer for 10 minutes. Honestly this really works, obviously you don't want any clothes in there at the time and do remember to wash it out afterwards otherwise you may be followed by stray cats or perverts, although some of you may like that.

After the octopus has been battered about in the washing mashine you will need to cook it in a court boullion.

HOW TO COOK OCTOPUS

Put Paul in a large pot and cover with cold water, add a couple of bay leaves, a clove of garlic, a few stalks of celery, some black peppercorns and a couple of lemons cut in half. Some cooks add some white wine to this but I prefer to drink the wine. Bring to a boil and simmer gently for 45 minutes. Now we can make the dish.

INGREDIENTS

5oz Octopus, cooked and cut on a biase, about 1/4 " thick {bite size pieces}

2oz Fingerling Potatoes, cooked and cut the same as the Octopus

3 Tbs Shallot-Sherry vinaigrette {hold on, the recipe is coming}

2 Tbs grated Tomatoes

Micro greens

S&P

Shallot-Sherry vinaigrette

1 Tbs Sherry Vinaiger

1 1/2 Tbs Olive Oil

1 1/2 Tbs Canola Oil

1 Tbs Shallots {fine dice}

Mix everything together and season to taste, add some fine diced red and green peppers to it for a splash of color.

METHOD

Peel the tomatoes by scoring them at the top, remove the core at the base and submerge in hot water for 30 seconds, place in an ice bath and leave to cool. When cool grate them with a cheese grater and add some olive oil to cover and season.

Mix the Octopus and Potatoes with the Vinaigrette.

Put a ring mold in the base of the plate or bowl and spoon the grated tomato around it.

Place the octopus and Potato mixture in the mould. Garnish with micro greens.

See-Easy, peasy. lemon squeezy.

Hello cyber world

I am new to this whole blog thing, I mean I've read other peoples blogs but I never thought of doing one myself-until now obviously. So here I am, what do I do now?
I should start by telling you that I am a Birmingham City fan. What does this have to do with the culinary field? Well, after supporting the Blues all my life it has stood me in good stead for the heartbreak and disappointments of working in a kitchen, 15 hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week.
It is not all doom and gloom though, us Chefs get to be creative and have freedom to express ourselves plus I can pretty much scream and swear all day long, what other job can you do that in?
Some will watch TV and think it is a glamourus job, it isn't! It is one step above manual labor. It isn't sexy to stick your hand up a chickens arse first thing in the morning.
So I do hope that you will take a look from time to time to see what is going on in the real culinary world as I share a few stories, recipes and a fly on the wall look at the kitchen experience.
Chef Gilligan