5. How to create a Menu
1. Understand why a new menu is being made. Is this a first menu for a new establishment, or a revision of an existing menu? Are they expecting major changes, perhaps new owners taking over an existing restaurant, or minor adjustments to reflect changes in pricing, focus or season?
2. Determine the restaurant's style. It could be anything from family, semi formal, formal dining, to take out. Each type of restaurant needs a different type of menu design. The casual establishment needs a short and fast definition for each menu item. Descriptions and adjectives should be kept to a minimum. A formal restaurant requires more extensive information about the preparation, the ingredients and any background on the pedigree of the dish.
3. Become familiar with the demographics. Are there primarily families with young children living in the area, or elderly patrons? Is the area mainly professionals, tourists or locals? The customer base will determine the layout, sections, content, and even the font size.
4. Study the existing establishment. Spend some time getting to know their most popular dishes, their least popular choices, and the chef's favorites. What do they see as their core 5-10 dishes? You will be designing the menu around these identifying items. Find out what menu items are there to stay and which are destined to be cut and the reasons for both. Ask questions about proposed new items: Are they replacements? Do they require a new section on the menu, such as heart healthy or vegetarian foods?
5. Break down the sections of the menu. You can classify foods by primary ingredients (such as seafood or pasta), region (Italy, France, etc.) or by style (barbeque, stir fry, soups, stews). Or perhaps it will be some combination of those. Get to agreement among the restaurant managers and chef before you move on or you will end up doing dozens of revisions. Get their initials on the agreement.
6. Investigate the pricing. Look for variation in pricing for add-ons or special preparations. Find out if substitutions are allowed. The prices may be already established, or you may need to do comparison dining to establish the right cost. If it is available, get the actual cost data for each ingredient.
7. Add illustrations. What photos does the owner wish to include in the menu? Determine whether actual photos of the restaurant's specials are available, or if stock photos are acceptable. In general, clip art type illustrations are a poor choice for a professional menu design. Custom graphic design, however, is a popular alternative to photos in higher end restaurant menus.
8. Create preliminary mock-ups of the menu layout. Use all the information gathered thus far. You will probably want to limit initial designs to just category or section titles and relevant graphics. Use greeking for the menu items until you have it narrowed down to two or three layouts.
9. Select the final layout. Prepare a final mock-up and have the restaurant owner, manager and chef sign off on the entire design and content before sending the files to the printer.
http://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Restaurant-Menu
6. Basic Kitchen Knowledge
Typically each day we feature a new kitchen contraption, but today we thought we'd pass along the Top 10 Elements of Basic Kitchen Knowledge to you our loyal readers. It's interesting to note after an informal quiz around the test kitchen, many folks here had the wrong answers for many baiscs below. Go figure. We of course scored 10 out of 10, and think these are all really solid points to know. Do you know of any others? Sound off in the comments.
1. Salt dissolves in water.
2. Salt does not dissolve in oil.
3. Oil does not dissolve in water.
4. Water boils at 100 C (212 F).
5. Generally foods contain mostly water (or another fluid).
6. Foods without water or fluid are tough.
7. Some proteins (in eggs, meat, fish) coagulate.
8. Collagen dissolves in water at temperatures higher than 55 C (131 F).
9. Dishes are dispersed systems (combinations of gas, liquid or solid ingredients transformed by cooking).
10. Some chemical processes - such as the Maillard Reaction (browning or caramelizing) - generate new flavors.
http://www.kitchencontraptions.com/archives/023915.php
Monday, September 21, 2009
4. Basic Sauce
As mentioned in previous segments, by mastering the techniques behind five basic entrée sauces, you'll find you can create distinctive sauces for any occasion through variation of ingredients. The sauces include béchamel, veloute, brown, tomato, and hollandaise. Since tomato sauces were discussed at length in August's newsletter, only the recipes and techniques for the other four will be provided below.
Béchamel Sauce
This common white sauce uses roux to thicken milk or cream. The roux is cooked for about 3 minutes to keep it "white." For lump free sauce, remove the roux from the heat before stirring in the milk. Warm the milk in the microwave before adding to the roux. This will spare the muscles in your hand, as you won't have to stir the sauce so long before it comes to a boil. Use a whisk to incorporate the milk into the roux and stir until it is lump free. Return to the heat source and bring to a boil.
Home cookbooks say to just boil the sauce for 1 minute to cook out the flour flavor. Professional cookbooks encourage you to reduce the heat after bringing the sauce to a boil, then continue to simmer the sauce for 15-30 minutes, stirring, to remove the flour taste. What you actually do will depend upon your time limit and personal tastes.
If your sauce is lumpy after your best efforts, you possibly didn't beat it enough before cooking, brought it to a boil too quickly, or didn't stir it enough during cooking so that it stuck to the pan bottom. To repair, pour it through a strainer or process the sauce in a blender. Return the strained or blended sauce to a clean pan and heat to the boiling point.
Veloute Sauce
Veloute sauce is a thinner, lighter white sauce than béchamel because it uses chicken or fish stock instead of milk or cream. It is often referred to as a "blonde sauce." Ideally, the consistency of veloute should be thin enough to pour or a sauce that thinly coats the back of a spoon. Serve over chicken, fish, veal, or with rice.
Since it is so similar to béchamel, be sure to read the tips above to ensure a successful sauce. If you find that after cooking, your veloute is too thin, you possibly didn't use enough flour, added too much liquid, or didn't reduce (simmer) the sauce long enough. Either reduce the sauce further or thicken with kneaded butter. If your sauce is flavorless, what quality of stock did you use? Perhaps your sauce has not reduced enough for the flavors to concentrate. You can either perk up your sauce with a dash or two of lemon juice (or other seasonings) or reduce it further to bring out more flavor.
Brown Sauce
For hearty meat entrees, noodles, and wild like bear or venison, brown sauce outshines other sauces. In addition, it is used to create more complex sauces. The technique to master here is the browning of the flour or the creation of a dark roux. By using clarified butter, you eliminate the possibility of the butter turning bitter or burning before the flour is browned. If you prefer to use regular butter, however, just watch it closely. To make a dark roux, melt the butter in the saucepan. Remove from the heat and stir in the flour until smooth. Continue cooking over medium heat for 8 minutes, stirring constantly or until the mixture becomes chestnut brown.
Hollandaise
Served warm over eggs, fish, or vegetables, hollandaise is considered a hot emulsified egg-yolk sauce. Mayonnaise would be a cold emulsified egg-yolk sauce, for a point of reference. While in mayonnaise egg yolks are whisked with other room temperature ingredients, in hollandaise, the yolks are whisked with liquid over heat. The trick is to cook the sauce ever so slightly without curdling the eggs. Water simmers in a double boiler where it should never be allowed to touch the bottom of the bowl in which the sauce is made. The temperature of the water should never rise above 150 F., either. You don't want the sauce to be too hot because it will coagulate the eggs and make it impossible for the butter to emulsify with the liquid.
If in spite of all your efforts to monitor the heat, your eggs and liquid cook too quickly, the sauce may separate. This can also happen if you add the butter too briskly. You don't have to throw out the sauce. Just start again, reserving the separated sauce for the clarified butter. Over low heat, in a double boiler, beat 1 egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of water until light. Remove from the heat and stream in the separated sauce mixture gradually while whisking. Be aware though that if your eggs have coagulated, your sauce is history. Toss it and begin again with much lower heat!
Perhaps your sauce is too thin after you've completed all the steps. You may have not reduced the initial liquid enough or perhaps you didn't add enough butter. To remedy, add more butter.
Hollandaise should be served warm. To keep it that way, place the sauce in a bowl. Set the bowl over a pan of hot water (just barely over lukewarm), ensuring the bowl bottom doesn't touch the water. If hollandaise is spooned onto really hot food, the sauce may separate; for this reason, it is almost always served separately from the food it is to complement. Store any extra sauce in the refrigerator. You can use it as a sandwich spread. It should never be reheated.
Hollandaise becomes the basis for rich sauces like béarnaise sauce, which complements meats and salmon. The technique to master in making hollandaise also serves in making sabayon sauces. Sabayon is often served with desserts and is a light airy sauce.
http://www.dvo.com/newsletter/monthly/2003/september/0903tabletalk4.html
As mentioned in previous segments, by mastering the techniques behind five basic entrée sauces, you'll find you can create distinctive sauces for any occasion through variation of ingredients. The sauces include béchamel, veloute, brown, tomato, and hollandaise. Since tomato sauces were discussed at length in August's newsletter, only the recipes and techniques for the other four will be provided below.
Béchamel Sauce
This common white sauce uses roux to thicken milk or cream. The roux is cooked for about 3 minutes to keep it "white." For lump free sauce, remove the roux from the heat before stirring in the milk. Warm the milk in the microwave before adding to the roux. This will spare the muscles in your hand, as you won't have to stir the sauce so long before it comes to a boil. Use a whisk to incorporate the milk into the roux and stir until it is lump free. Return to the heat source and bring to a boil.
Home cookbooks say to just boil the sauce for 1 minute to cook out the flour flavor. Professional cookbooks encourage you to reduce the heat after bringing the sauce to a boil, then continue to simmer the sauce for 15-30 minutes, stirring, to remove the flour taste. What you actually do will depend upon your time limit and personal tastes.
If your sauce is lumpy after your best efforts, you possibly didn't beat it enough before cooking, brought it to a boil too quickly, or didn't stir it enough during cooking so that it stuck to the pan bottom. To repair, pour it through a strainer or process the sauce in a blender. Return the strained or blended sauce to a clean pan and heat to the boiling point.
Veloute Sauce
Veloute sauce is a thinner, lighter white sauce than béchamel because it uses chicken or fish stock instead of milk or cream. It is often referred to as a "blonde sauce." Ideally, the consistency of veloute should be thin enough to pour or a sauce that thinly coats the back of a spoon. Serve over chicken, fish, veal, or with rice.
Since it is so similar to béchamel, be sure to read the tips above to ensure a successful sauce. If you find that after cooking, your veloute is too thin, you possibly didn't use enough flour, added too much liquid, or didn't reduce (simmer) the sauce long enough. Either reduce the sauce further or thicken with kneaded butter. If your sauce is flavorless, what quality of stock did you use? Perhaps your sauce has not reduced enough for the flavors to concentrate. You can either perk up your sauce with a dash or two of lemon juice (or other seasonings) or reduce it further to bring out more flavor.
Brown Sauce
For hearty meat entrees, noodles, and wild like bear or venison, brown sauce outshines other sauces. In addition, it is used to create more complex sauces. The technique to master here is the browning of the flour or the creation of a dark roux. By using clarified butter, you eliminate the possibility of the butter turning bitter or burning before the flour is browned. If you prefer to use regular butter, however, just watch it closely. To make a dark roux, melt the butter in the saucepan. Remove from the heat and stir in the flour until smooth. Continue cooking over medium heat for 8 minutes, stirring constantly or until the mixture becomes chestnut brown.
Hollandaise
Served warm over eggs, fish, or vegetables, hollandaise is considered a hot emulsified egg-yolk sauce. Mayonnaise would be a cold emulsified egg-yolk sauce, for a point of reference. While in mayonnaise egg yolks are whisked with other room temperature ingredients, in hollandaise, the yolks are whisked with liquid over heat. The trick is to cook the sauce ever so slightly without curdling the eggs. Water simmers in a double boiler where it should never be allowed to touch the bottom of the bowl in which the sauce is made. The temperature of the water should never rise above 150 F., either. You don't want the sauce to be too hot because it will coagulate the eggs and make it impossible for the butter to emulsify with the liquid.
If in spite of all your efforts to monitor the heat, your eggs and liquid cook too quickly, the sauce may separate. This can also happen if you add the butter too briskly. You don't have to throw out the sauce. Just start again, reserving the separated sauce for the clarified butter. Over low heat, in a double boiler, beat 1 egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of water until light. Remove from the heat and stream in the separated sauce mixture gradually while whisking. Be aware though that if your eggs have coagulated, your sauce is history. Toss it and begin again with much lower heat!
Perhaps your sauce is too thin after you've completed all the steps. You may have not reduced the initial liquid enough or perhaps you didn't add enough butter. To remedy, add more butter.
Hollandaise should be served warm. To keep it that way, place the sauce in a bowl. Set the bowl over a pan of hot water (just barely over lukewarm), ensuring the bowl bottom doesn't touch the water. If hollandaise is spooned onto really hot food, the sauce may separate; for this reason, it is almost always served separately from the food it is to complement. Store any extra sauce in the refrigerator. You can use it as a sandwich spread. It should never be reheated.
Hollandaise becomes the basis for rich sauces like béarnaise sauce, which complements meats and salmon. The technique to master in making hollandaise also serves in making sabayon sauces. Sabayon is often served with desserts and is a light airy sauce.
http://www.dvo.com/newsletter/monthly/2003/september/0903tabletalk4.html
Week 2
- Know when there is a need for information. (Comprehension).
-Find and identify the information needed. (Comprehension and Analysis)
-Analyze the information, (Analysis and Evaluation)
-Organize the information, (Application)
-Use the information effectively to address the problem or task. (Synthesis)
-Communicate the information and evaluate the results. (Application and Evaluation)
#2. What is SQRW?
It’s a study method where you get the best out of textbook study. It’s a 4-step strategy an each letter denotes one step so let’s go through it and see how it could make your study life a little bit easier
S stands for Survey: That is what you need to do with each chapter in your textbook. Survey the title, the pictures, the graphs, maps or tables if any, the introduction, summary and conclusion.This will give you an overall grasp of what the chapter is about
Q stands for Question: Ask questions in your mind and you’ll find you stay focused when reading and it also makes for better remembering. Don’t question the summary, introduction or conclusion – do it with everything else. Ask why, who, where, when, what and how.
R stands for Read: So read to understand, read to answer the questions in your mind and read to remember.As you answer each question, make sure you stay focused on the subject.
W stands for Write: Tthat’s what you’ve got to do in your book. Write each question and answer down and read through it carefully. Voilà you’re ready to participate in your class discussions.
#3. Use big 6 skills (step 1-6) of the toipc you know best
1.The Anatomy of a Chef's Knife
The chef's knife is probably a cook's most important tool. And given the amount of time it spends in your hand, it's definitely worth making sure you have a good one. Here's a quick tutorial on the various parts of a chef's knife, what they do and why they're important.
2. Cuts of Meat Diagrams
Is about the different primal cuts of beef, pork or lamb? These diagrams show the basic cuts of meat, as well as recipes and cooking methods for each one.
Beef Primal Cuts
Beef is divided into large sections called primal cuts. These primals are then broken down further (or fabricated) into individual steaks and other retail cuts. The most tender cuts of beef, like the rib and tenderloin, are the ones furthest from the horn and the hoof. By contrast, the neck and leg muscles are worked the most, which makes them tougher. Here's an overview of the basic
Pork Primal Cuts
If anything, pork is even more bewildering than beef. Pork primal cuts have all kinds of peculiar names, like the
Lamb Primal Cuts
Unlike beef, which is divided into sides before being broken down into its basic primal cuts, and pork, which is butchered into its primal cuts straightaway, lamb is first divided into front and rear sections called the foresaddle and hindsaddle.
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3.Vegetabels
Besides the meat, poultry or fish, every dish also needs a vegetable item and something from the starch category, which includes potatoes, rice and pasta. But veggies and starches are more than just side dishes. Some, like pastas and risottos, can stand on their own as appetizers or even main courses.
www.penfordfoods.com
Sunday, September 20, 2009
#1. what do you just read?
My holy book Al-Quran. The holy book teaches how to live life.
#2. Why imagination is more important then knowledge?Its helps to make your mind bored in a sense which you cat get by knowledge
#3. Why do you seek for information?To get enough and exact knowledge about a subject. We all need information in living life.
#4. What topic do you know best? Why?I know about cooking cause of cooking is my passion.
#5. What website do you like most? Why?Google cause by Google you can get through any website that you like.
My holy book Al-Quran. The holy book teaches how to live life.
#2. Why imagination is more important then knowledge?Its helps to make your mind bored in a sense which you cat get by knowledge
#3. Why do you seek for information?To get enough and exact knowledge about a subject. We all need information in living life.
#4. What topic do you know best? Why?I know about cooking cause of cooking is my passion.
#5. What website do you like most? Why?Google cause by Google you can get through any website that you like.
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