Day twelve: First, I was evacuated …
Posted on | February 27, 2009
It’s the wee hours in the morning. Husband is fast asleep. Cat is fast asleep. I am fast asleep. Then a voice, louder than any voice I have ever heard before, screams at me.
First thought: Why the hell is the radio set so loudly? Second thought: Why the hell is the radio going off so early? Third thought: Why the hell is the radio telling me I have to evacuate?
Oh. It was the emergency system in my building.
On with the pants and the shirt. Into my lace-free, fast-to-slip-into chef’s clogs. Grab the laptop. Grab the cat. Grab the husband. And, yeah, I grabbed the knife kit. I would be damned if I lost my knives.
Tramp down five flights of stairs to stand in the pre-dawn cold without so much as a pair of socks or gloves, rubbing hands, stamping feet, only to be told, “It’s nothing, nothing, go on back up,” and a five flight tramp back up stairs, shlepping everything most precious to me.
Down with the laptop. Down with the cat. Kick off the clogs. Gently down with the knives.
“Shall I make a pot of tea, sweetie?”
Husband is a good man. He knows sustenance is love.
Motorcycle chef abandons us
Motorcycle chef was not in today so I have no amusing quotations for you. But, no worries. I’ll leave you with an anecdote to tide you over this weekend.
Several days ago, Kid Courageous, in a rumpled uniform you know he just picked up off on the floor, bounced into the classroom, took one look at Motorcycle Chef and said, “Chef, you are looking mighty fetching this morning.”
Chef glanced up from her book. Chef pushed a strand of wire hair back under her cap. And chef leaned, ever so deliberately, on her podium, looked Kid Courageous squarely in the eye, and said, “Okay. What’d ya do?”
You can’t pull anything over on Motorcycle Chef.
Welcome the night
Today, we had the chef who normally teaches the night class. Think tall. Think laid-back. Think your mother’s uncle who is always kind and who slips you five dollars every so often to buy candy and who will patiently listen to your prattle for hours on end.
Then. Think transformation as gentle uncle type turns into gentle but insanely knowledgeable chef who lectures with the order and depth of a university professor.
As in, I learned more in one lecture with him than I did in all my lectures to-date.
Now, this does not mean that Motorcycle Chef is not teaching us. She is. And providing some incredibly valuable insight at that. But she likes a less structured approach. One that includes Frank Zappa and menopause. One where jewels of wisdom are scattered, like grain before a chicken; and you are required to hunt and peck.
Whereas Night Chef does not digress much, does not mention music, and certainly never discusses menopause. Although, of course, in that regard he has an unfair advantage. He is male.
The heat is on
The lecture today is on heat. The types of heat (conduction, which is heat transfer through another substance, such as a pot on a burner; convection, which is circulated heat, such as boiling; and radiant heat, which is typically an open flame, such as grilling) and cooking methods, from sauteing to pan and deep frying to grilling to roasting.
Fascinating stuff.
But I don’t want to bore you with all the details, just give you two neat tips I had heard, but never understood, before.
Surefire method to tell when meat is done without a thermometer
Put the tip of your forefinger against the tip of your thumb. See the fleshy bit of your hand that is located right under the base of your thumb? With the forefinger of your other hand, poke that. See how it is soft and squishy? That is what rare meat feels like when you poke it.
Okay. Now try your index finger against your thumb. That bit under your thumb feels a little firmer now, yes? That is what medium rare meat feels like.
Want to feel medium cooked meat? Place the tip of your ring finger against the tip of your thumb. See how that bit of flesh is even firmer? And, finally, for well done meat, place the tip of your pinky finger against the tip of your thumb. See how firm that fleshy bit is now? Any steak that firm is well done, indeed.
Surefire method for making those neat grill marks
Okay. This will impress dad’s and boyfriends worldwide.
First, get your grill nice and hot (in fact, never start cooking before your grill or pan is hot or your food will stick) and make sure it is clean (those leftover bits of charred meat and vegetables from your last grilling will certainly not taste good at your present grilling). Second, stand in front of your grill so the grill lines are at a right angle to your body. Third, place your meat on your grill at an angle, say, 2:00 to 8:00. Let it cook for a bit without moving it. Then, fourth, lift it and return it to the grill at an angle that is, say, 10:00 to 4:00.
Then flip your meat and repeat the 2:00 to 8:00 and 10:00 to 4:00 method on the other side.
See how easy perfect grill marks are?
Now, if you want really amazing meat, test it’s doneness by using the method I described above instead of cutting into your meat and spilling all those succulent juices. And, even better, when you take your meat off the grill, let it sit for a few minutes so all those lovely juices redistribute themselves throughout your meat.
Perfection!
The heat is on
After the lecture, we went and cooked our final soup. I was going to cook an onion soup with Complaining Girl, but I just wasn’t in the mood, so I joined Smiling Guy to make a Broccoli Soup. Well, it started as Broccoli Soup, which we worked on together, but then he decided to add cheddar to it so he did that while I made cheddar points and the next thing you know we had a lovely green Broccoli and Cheddar soup garnished with a little nest of grated cheddar topped with a sprinkle of smokey red paprika and served with cheddar points that were simply grated cheddar melted on baguette slices and topped with paprika and a dash of kosher salt.
It turned out beautifully. And I’m not the only one who thought so. I brought some home to the husband and he loved it.
See, I know sustenance is love, too.
Comments
2 Responses to “Day twelve: First, I was evacuated …”
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March 3rd, 2009 @ 7:41 am
The forefinger and index finger are the same finger!
November 8th, 2009 @ 11:54 pm
Your blog is more helpful than most and it contains information that has helped me to get to grips with a problem I have had for a while now. Thank you for the Day twelve: First, I was evacuated … | post. Regards, Gregory