Frederic shows Jack an alternative to her usual holiday turkey with a recipe for roast beef tenderloin with mushroom ragout.
Episode Guide
Below you’ll find a helpful episode guide for cooking along with Frederic and Jack, as well as tips and recipe rescues.
Equipment List:
Large oven-proof skillet
Large, heavy skillet
Tongs
Kitchen twine
Boning knife or chef’s knife
Chef’s knife or paring knife
Measuring spoons
Instant-read thermometer
Cutting board
Wooden spoon
Pepper mill
Liquid measuring cup
Aluminum foil
Wire rack
Carving knife
Tips:Silver skin:
You need a sharp knife to remove silver skin.
Silver skin is a membrane; if left on, it can cause the meat to curl during cooking.
Silver skin is unpleasant to bite into in a cooked piece of meat; it is extremely tough, and cannot really be chewed.
Searing, tenting, and resting meat:
Searing is a very high-heat, fast cooking method used to brown the exterior of the meat and produce a nice crisp crust; searing adds flavor to meat and seals in the juices.
Tent meat to keep it warm while resting, but don’t let foil touch meat, as this affects crust and does not give it the room it needs to rest.
Meat needs to rest so that the juices redistribute throughout the piece of meat. If you cut into the meat immediately, you lose at least half of its juices.
Cleaning mushrooms:
Wipe the surfaces of mushrooms clean with a kitchen towel or paper towels.
Do not clean mushrooms ahead of time, or they may turn a more brownish color.
Do not soak mushrooms in water.
Deglazing:
Deglazing is the process of adding a small amount of liquid to a hot pan that has just been used to saute, and then scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen the flavorful browned bits, or fond.
Various wines or alcohol, or stock or broth are the most common deglazing liquids.
Deglazing is often used to make an accompanying sauce.
Recipe Rescues:Meat sticks to the pan while searing – Don’t try to tear the meat away from the pan. Add a little more oil to the pan. Make sure oil is hot and shimmering before adding meat.
Mushrooms are getting soggy, not browned – Let them cook undisturbed until browned, at least 5 minutes. Stirring them or moving them around prevents them from browning.
The flame got too large when alcohol is added to the pan – Always remove the pan from the heat when adding alcohol. When the flame goes down, it is fine to return the pan to the heat.
Jack asks Frederic to teach her some recipes for the crispiest, juiciest chicken cutlets ever. Recipes include: Italian Breaded Chicken Cutlets; Cajun Cornmeal Crusted Chicken Cutlets.
Episode Guide
Below you’ll find a helpful episode guide for cooking along with Frederic and Jack, as well as tips and recipe rescues.
Equipment List:
Baking sheet
Serrated knife
Chef’s knife
Cutting board
Food processor
Pepper mill
Rasp or box grater
Measuring spoons
Meat mallet
Wax paper
3 shallow pans or bowls
Large skillet
Liquid measuring cup
Tongs
Rack over baking pan
Dry measuring cups
Tips:Standard breading procedure:
An assembly-line procedure for items to be pan-fried or deep-fried that consists of dredging the item in flour, dipping it in beaten egg, and coating it with crumbs.
It works because the flour helps the egg wash adhere, and the egg wash allows the breadcrumbs to stick.
Shake off the excess flour before dredging in egg, and pack enough breadcrumbs on to fully and evenly coat the food, but shake off the excess before frying.
Frying oils:
Oils with a high smoking point work best for frying because the oil needs to be at a high temperature yet still below its smoking point when frying. Good frying oils include most vegetable oils, peanut oil, safflower oil, soybean oil, grapeseed oil, and canola oil.
Fats that are not good for frying (because they have low smoke points) include olive oil and butter.
Pan-frying:
Pan-frying is a cooking method in which items are cooked in deep fat in a skillet; generally involves more fat than sauteing, but less than deep-frying.
The goal of pan-frying is to produce an exterior with a crisp, golden brown crust, which acts as a barrier to retain juices and flavors.
Recipe Rescues:The breading is soggy – The temperature of the frying oil was not hot enough. Serve chicken over a salad or in a sandwich so that it is not as noticeable.
The breadcrumbs got too dark – Make sure to use a low-sugar content bread for making breadcrumbs. The sugar will cause the breading to burn in the high heat of the frying oil.
Your chicken is not cooked through – After slicing, return the chicken to the oven and continue cooking until the inside is no longer the least bit pink in color, and juices run clear.
The coating is too spicy – Serve chicken with mayonnaise, a yogurt sauce, or lemon wedges.
Don't miss this classic he-man, meat and potato meal as Michael hosts a monthly get together of men who love to cook. It's easier than it looks with Michael's special chef's secrets. While the men flex their culinary muscles, the women sit back and enjoy the show!
Gameplan
Day Before Party:
Prepare and mix Arborio rice coating for onion rings and white beans
Cook and cool white beans
2 Hours Before Party:
Prepare Crispy White Beans in Chili Oil
Hour Before Dinner:
Prepare Onion Rings for Heirloom Tomato Stack
Make Heirloom Tomato Stack with Onion Rings and Blue Cheese
Caramelize onions for Asparagus Pasta dish
Make Asparagus Pesto sauce, boil pasta
Cut and prepare steaks
At Party:
Assemble Asparagus Pesto with Tiny Potatoes and Pasta
Serve, Eat and Enjoy
Wine Recommendation
Gargiulo Vineyard Chianti