I highly recommend watching Jacques Pepin videos as well as Julia and Jacques.
Jacques Pepin is alive and well and some of his recipes are just 2 to 3 ingredients and easy to make. And yes, he is highly technical but explains things so easily to regular people like me.
My kids love this recipe: https://youtu.be/zjv_pAmiqhQ?si=63ppn2hCUBiQKiVG
Well done! I mean you got out of the fire and into the fat. Sorry. Oh, I so feel for those sacrificial cows, if they knew how their corporeal selves would be so disrespected.
"I always cook with a thermometer" Not bad, not bad at all, but! I just hardwood grilled another Choice 1" thick steak cut from a full rib roast which was aged a week. Woulda done two weeks but I got hungry. I thought about the thermometer because I wanted perfect (for us 115F, burnt outside, warm inside) but the finger press worked perfect as a doneness detector. Fresh ground Telicherry pepper, salt, and a light marinade of Worcestershire Sauce made for a truly memorable meal. Had some today left over: pepper, salt, and little Worcestershire to moisten it all up. Outstanding. Still gonna go the full two weeks next time.
Now let us talk fish. Or seafood in general. Somebody like Pepín knows how to do those too, and it's quite simple: intensely fresh, cooked to barely done, which is different for say salmon and tuna or an oyster vs. grouper and flounder or freshwater bass or a lobster. No need for fancy sauces or seasonings (blackening, I'm looking at you).
When cooking for family the pork and chicken are still moist and tender, but with guests and modern sourcing they get the dry shoe and a great sauce unfortunately.
I see a lot of people focusing on Julia's videos (and videos in general) but I don't think those were her major contribution. Translating the French culinary curriculum into US vernacular measurements and sourcing, via the books, was her contribution. I stand in awe at how good they are, so many decades later.
Seconded, I learned a lot from his simple crepe recipe - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_okk5pOLp4
I mean this question sincerely: Is it normal to be handling raw chicken and then just stick your fingers into a bowl of salt like that?
I know I am a pretty poor cook, and I get somewhat nervous handling raw meat, probably more than I should be. They say always use a separate cutting board and wash your hands with hot soapy water after handling raw meat. Then I see cooking clips like this one, with experts who have just one continuous cutting board with everything on it, and this guy isn't afraid to be touching is raw meat at all.
You probably shouldn't, but most bacteria can't survive on or in a very salty environment. Realistically, it's probably not incredibly dangerous or anything.
> Then I see cooking clips like this one, with experts who have just one continuous cutting board with everything on it, and this guy isn't afraid to be touching is raw meat at all.
If everything you're cutting is going to be cooked, then you don't really need to worry IMO. Anything like veggies for a salad, or stuff that won't be cooked, should be cut on a washed cutting board though.
You have to be careful with videos of chefs cooking, because they often don't eat the exact thing that they're filming. The finished dish you see at the end or showed off might be cooked at a different time (usually beforehand) and in a far more sanitary way. What you're seeing is filmed that way for the sake of doing less dishes.
"You have to be careful with videos of chefs cooking, because they often don't eat the exact thing that they're filming. The finished dish you see at the end or showed off might be cooked at a different time (usually beforehand) and in a far more sanitary way. What you're seeing is filmed that way for the sake of doing less dishes."
I cannot emphasize this view enough: The problem with cooking videos is, "what did they edit?". If the video doesn't at least slide a little homage to the peon peeling the onions, can you trust it? If not, I don't!
I didn't watch the video but what I usually do if I need to salt meat is to pour the salt separately into a bowl and salt as needed, then use that same salt on food that gets cooked with the meat while the rest goes into the trash. With experience you don't waste much. More often than not salting associated veggies uses it up and I need more for the veggies.
Ever watched someone pour salt on a slug or an earthworm? What do you think it's going to do to single celled creatures?
Pepín is an excellent chef to learn from. Because most of his recipes focus on technique and simplicity rather than recipe and seasoning. One of the biggest mistakes that I think people make is just not cooking things to the correct doneness at the right temperatures and times. Often people think that a fancy mix of spices and seasonings is what is important. I grew up not liking chicken or pork or steak unless it was in something because I had never had perfectly cooked chicken, pork chops, or steaks it was always cooked to well done and so dry you needed steak sauce. My parents grew up in an era where everyone feared undercooked meat. especially pork. And it's such a shame because I grew up on a cattle ranch. We would butcher a cow for ourselves every year. Grass fed, but lean, and butcher to thin steaks because you can cook them to saw dust a lot quicker that way. Now, I get beef from the ranch after fattening and have it butchered to steaks at least an inch thick and I always cook with a thermometer and usually just salt. A well done vs medium rare steak is such a night and day difference. Same with pork and chicken, although I prefer them both a little closer to medium.