Let food be thy medicine Podcast by Retired International Sicilian chef & Author Carmela D'Amore

In this episode of 101 Ways to Transform the Way You 👩‍🍳 we discuss the method combination cooking 🥘 the transformation in this is that the toughest of meats becomes the tenderest!

We learn by seeing, hearing and doing, this is the best way to transform into a great cook, always being open to new methods and techniques that will elevate the way we cook.

I am delighted to bring this to you and share with you.

Happy Cooking

Carmela 

This method and technique is simple.

We either use, the grill, oven or bbq.

This technique requires no water, if you want to use oil, fat, or butter it is up to you.

You can allow the juices to absorb in the food through the cooking.

This will elevate your position when you learn how to cook, why?  Because its very healthy, flavoursome, and the food does most of the work!

The oven you can control it, the bbq you can manage it, and the grill is easy.

So in this episode we talk and chat about ways to manage our dry cooking.

HAPPY DRY COOKING

CARMELA 

This technique is amazing 🤩 my favourite I love poaching.

You can poach, fish, eggs, meat, fruit, anything!

While you learn this technique allow it to teach you, you will learn that all the flavours will envelope into the middle of the delicious food you prepare.

Poaching will give you the time to learn, teach yourself, and know, within your heart that poaching is about time.

Time to cook and allow the flavours to create a gentle symphony in your kitchen.

HAPPY POACHING

CARMELA

Oh! I love this technique, this method of cooking 🥘 👩‍🍳🍽

We all can take a page, out of this episode, and also simmer in our own life, just allow the process to take its course.

Simmering, is delicate, deliciously, delectable when the food is ready.

ENJOY SIMMERING

CARMELA

My favourite 😍 you will deglaze every time from now on. As this is your superpower 🦸‍♀️ in your kitchen! My secret 🤫 sssh! Don’t tell 👩‍🍳😉 so much fun. This is where your dimension in cooking 🧑‍🍳 will create FLAVOURS 💃🕺🦐🦑🐓🦃🦤🍽 I don’t know about you but for me this is the secret to making gravy!

Come on now, I am telling you the secrets to all the years I've learnt and this is absolutely the must for you to go up another level, up to 101 WAYS TO TRANSFORM THE WAY YOU COOK!!!!

So exciting for you!

HAPPY DEGLAZING

CARMELA

This is my secret 🤫 ssssh don’t tell anyone!

This is my favourite of all to share with you!  I so enjoy blanching, it is a method that I learned as a chef and a cook and that will stay with me forever, especially when I want my greens to be really green.

Don't tell anyone!!!

Ha! Ha!

Of course I want to share this with you, its important to transform you into the cook you so desire to be!

If we don't share what we have learned what's the point?  Don't you think?

I blanche, my gnocchi as well this keeps them in the fridge for days and not a problem!  Another secret, I've shared with you!

Are you having fun?

Happy Blanching

Carmela

It’s similar to braising but refers to food that has been cut into smaller pieces in stewing the meat it is usually browned over a higher heat, then returned to the pot with other ingredients, such as vegetables, and the liquid to cover the ingredients.

When stewing any kind of older meat that is tougher than younger meat, it is important that we remember that this will require time a lot of slow time that is why it's called slow cooked.

We will need to blanche it in the pan with some diced carrots, celery onions and oil, then add some red wine, and after our stock, we can use water if we don't have anything else, because the stock is already in the pan and this will create like a gravy its own natural gravy, then we can add our vegetables potatoes, carrots, turnips, etc.

Cooking for this is around 2 1/2 hours or more on a low heat.

or a slow cooker this is around 8 to 9 hours.

Happy Stewing

Carmela

Now we are getting excited 😜 I don’t know about you?

Is a French termed used in conjunction with meat, depending on the different cuts of meat, slow cooking to become tender, the food is often browned first then finished either in the oven on low heat.  This is perfect for stews, roasts, casseroles.

It means to cook meat with it fat and the oven with all its juices.

We are getting into the parts that will slowly evolve our transformation to a place where we will become very confident and know that we can do it!

Happy Cooking 

Carmela

How to sear your meat is to put it into a skillet cast iron pan that is at high temperature.

There is a few things to know before you do this,

this is the technique called searing it is not sautéing.

As they are two different things we can almost distinguish the two that are like a tree with different branches in cooking.

Its important that we try to do this and learn the difference when we do it a few times we will learn this technique and master it!

Happy cooking

Carmela

In this episode I share with you a french cooking technique called Sauté'.  It means to jump in French.  The french are the benchmark of most culinary techniques.

You can trace it all over Europe, the chefs are proud and know about cooking.

Sautéing is about adding the meat into a hot pan and almost searing the meat and the juices together so that when you are going to roast or stew, all the juices remain.

In this episode, I share with you a passage of Escoffier's book _ Le Guide Culinarie you can buy on Amazon.

We will go through almost another 10 episodes where we together will learn the process of techniques.

Happy Cooking

Carmela