How to Boil Water

Super Bowl Party Soup

Learn the recipe for a Black Bean soup that creates the perfect, self-serve big game party bash.

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:

• Colander


• Large saucepan with lid


• Large soup pot


• Pepper mill


• Immersion blender or regular blender


• Wooden spoon


• Cutting board


• Chef’s knife


• Slotted spoon


• Measuring spoons


• Rolling pin


• Pizza cutter or chef's knife


• Pastry brush


• Parchment paper


• Sheet pan or cookie sheet


• Ladle


• Liquid measuring cup

Tips:
Soak beans in 3-4 times as much UNSALTED water as the quantity of beans

Soaking beans is necessary because:

• They need to absorb some moisture in order to cook evenly
  
• Soaking keeps beans from splitting open
  
• Soaking breaks down the indigestible sugars that cause intestinal problems
  
• Soaking maximizes the nutritional content of beans

Quick soak vs. long soak:
For quick soak

• Bring beans to a boil for 3 minutes, and then remove from heat, cover pot, and set aside for 1-4 hours


• Drain beans and get rid of soaking water


• Rinse beans so that sugars do not remain


• Cook beans as directed

Long soak

• Soak beans in cold water overnight or for 8 hours


• Drain beans and get rid of soaking water


• Rinse beans so that sugars do not remain


• Cook beans as directed

Puff pastry:

• Available pre-made in the frozen section


• It is many-layered, consisting of pastry dough and pieces of chilled butter – when cooked, moisture from butter creates steam, causing dough to separate into many flaky layers


• Many applications, both sweet and savory – cheese straws, pot pie crusts, wrapping for encasing meats, flaky cookies like palmiers, pastries like Napoleons, croissants, pain au chocolate, etc.

Recipe Rescues:

• For a vegetarian black bean soup - omit the ham hocks for a vegetarian black bean soup, but make up for it by seasoning with extra salt.
• For a chunkier soup - only puree half of the soup in the blender and add it back in to the chunky soup.
• Other sausages to use in the Saucisson - any type of smoked cured sausage containing pork, beef, or a combination.

Holiday Cookies

Get the lowdown on easy homemade cookie recipes for the holidays or any time of the year. With recipes for bittersweet chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies.

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:

• Cookie sheet or sheet pan


• Parchment paper or aluminum foil


• Parchment paper or wax paper


• Dry measuring cups


• Measuring spoons


• Large mixing bowl


• Medium mixing bowl


• Hand mixer or stand mixer


• Rubber spatula


• Serrated knife


• Cutting board


• Rolling pin


• Cookie cutters


• Food coloring


• Whisk


• Resealable plastic bags


• Flat spatula


• Wire rack for cooling

Tips:
Fine salt:

• A fine salt, such as table salt, is the best for all-purpose baking.
• 
  
• For baking, you need a salt with very small grains because it dissolves more easily.

Creaming:

• Creaming is a basic technique in cookie making that involves vigorously beating together sugar and fat. It has the effect of softening the fat and rendering it capable of absorbing flour, and it also fills the fat with air. The sharp grains of sugar create little air pockets within the fat. When cooked, that air expands, resulting in a lighter, more puffed cookie.


• Don't overbeat, or you will deflate the air bubbles.

Eggs and baking:

• Eggs act as a binding ingredient.


• The heat of the oven cooks the eggs in the batter, causing them to set, which holds cookies together and allows them to keep their shape.


• Egg whites tend to dry out cookies; therefore, the amount of sugar has to be increased to compensate.

Recipe Rescues:

• Cookies brown unevenly – Make sure to rotate the sheet pan 180 degrees halfway through cooking. Also, the cookie dough balls or shapes should all be a uniform size.


• Burnt bottoms – Do not let cookies cool on the sheet pan; remove them to a wire rack to cool as soon as possible. Dark colored sheet pans also tend to result in darker-bottomed cookies.


• Cookies spread too much – The cookie dough should be cold when it goes in the oven so cookies will maintain their shape better. For the Chocolate Chip Cookies, also check to make sure you used.

Winter Holiday

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.

A Starter Thanksgiving

Jack asks Frederic to teach her how to make turkey and dressing like a pro.

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:

• Instant-read Meat thermometer


• Cutting board


• Pepper mill


• Chef’s knife


• Roasting pan with rack


• Basting brush


• Aluminum foil


• Wooden spoon


• Whisk


• Large skillet


• Baking sheet


• Carving knife


• Liquid measuring cup


• Dry measuring cups


• Large mixing bowl


• Measuring spoons


• 3-quart casserole dish

Tips:
Roasting:

• Roasting is a dry-heat cooking method done in an enclosed environment in which the food is cooked by hot, dry air.


• Use a rack so that air can fully circulate around the bird.

Checking for doneness:

• When cooking a whole turkey, it is important to use a meat thermometer to measure the internal temperature.


• Insert the thermometer into the center of the thigh, and make sure it is not touching the bone.


• The final temperature should be 165 degrees F, so remove the turkey from the oven when the thermometer registers between 155 – 160 degrees F to allow for carry-over cooking.

Resting the turkey:

• The turkey needs to rest at least 15 minutes before carving to allow the juices to redistribute.


• It can rest for more than 15 minutes if you needed to wait for oven space for last-minute preparations or re-heating.

Cooking stuffing:

• Do not cook the stuffing in the turkey because the turkey and the stuffing will not be done cooking at the same time, and it is harder to achieve uniform doneness.


• Cooking the stuffing inside the turkey is riskier because harmful bacteria can survive in stuffing that has not reached the safe temperature of 165 degrees F.

Recipe Rescues:

• If your turkey is undercooked – Carve it into pieces or slices and return those that are not cooked through to the oven until no pink color remains and the juices run clear.


• If your turkey is overcooked – Carve it into pieces and briefly simmer it in a little broth or cooking liquid to re-moisten the interior.


• If the turkey is not defrosted, but you need to cook it now – While turkey is still in its packaging, place it under cold running water. If you have a very small turkey or just parts of a turkey, microwave it for several minutes on 50% power until thawed.


• If the skin is too dark – Make sure the oven rack is adjusted to the lowest position. Also, be sure to cook the turkey with a foil tent over it until the last 45 minutes of cooking. Do not remove the foil tent if the skin has already browned a lot.


• If the skin is not dark enough – Remove the foil tent to let it crisp and darken. Raise the oven temperature for the final 45 minutes of cooking. Or, when turkey is fully cooked, put it under the broiler for a few minutes, just until the skin darkens.

Chocolate Sweet Tooth

Learn to use real chocolate to make fabulous desserts including marbled brownies and chocolate covered strawberries.

Homemade Candy

Jack turns to Frederic for help to learn how to make simple homemade candy including recipes for chocolate truffles and candied orange peel.

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:

• Liquid measuring cup


• Small saucepan


• Serrated knife


• Cutting board


• Whisk


• 2 small cake pans


• Small baking sheet


• Parchment or wax paper


• Mixing bowl


• Measuring spoons


• Plastic wrap


• Chef’s knife


• Large saucepan


• Rack for drying


• Colander


• Dry measuring cups


• Colander

Tips:
Melting chocolate:

• Chop chocolate finely and uniformly before melting.


• Melt chocolate in a double boiler or in a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water. Turn the heat off just before beginning to whisk; the residual heat will be enough to melt the chocolate. Having the heat any higher will scorch the chocolate.


• Whisk the chopped chocolate over the heat to prevent scorching.

Making ganache:

• Ganache is a mixture of chocolate and cream, and is usually made with either semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, as opposed to milk chocolate. Flavorings like liqueurs can be added to ganache.


• Ganache can be made by heating the cream gently to a simmer, and then by pouring it over a bowl of very finely chopped chocolate.

Candying:

• Candying is a cooking method used to preserve and sugar-coat fruits, citrus rinds, flowers, herb leaves, etc. by cooking them in sugar syrup and then coating with more sugar to let dry at room temperature.

Recipe Rescues:

• Ganache is not firm enough – Refrigerate ganache for at least 2 hours before attempting to make truffles. You can spread the ganache onto a sheet pan for faster cooling.


• Burnt sugar – Start over with the sugar syrup. A sugar syrup needs to be cooked slowly and gently at a simmer; do not let it boil furiously.


• Candied orange tastes too bitter – Blanch an additional time; the more times you blanch the orange peels, the mellower the bitterness becomes.

The Perfect Hamburger

Jack asks Frederic to teach her the do’s and don’ts to making the perfect hamburger and oven fries.

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 cast iron skillet or grill


• Wax paper


• 2 baking sheets


• Measuring spoons


• Flat wide spatula


• Cutting board


• Chef’s knife


• Tongs


• Pepper mill

Tips:
Forming patties:

• Don't overwork the meat. Mix and pat; don't squeeze.


• Overworking ground beef turns it into flavorless mush, as the heat from your hands and the friction of mixing breaks down the little bits of fat that provide the juice and flavor.


• Season meat before forming patties to more evenly distribute it throughout the burgers.

Choosing ground meat:

• Ground chuck is perfect for a flavorful burger.


• For a juicy burger, you want meat with at least 20 percent fat.

Potatoes:

• Use a high-starch baking potato such as Idaho or Russet for making oven-fried potatoes.


• Make sure potatoes are thoroughly dry before baking; excess moisture keeps the skins from crisping up.


• Bake potato wedges in a single layer, evenly spaced and not touching each other.

Recipe Rescues:

• If your burgers are not seasoned enough - Test a small amount in the pan for seasoning before cooking entire batch.
• If your burgers are dried out - only Don’t press down on the burgers while cooking; that causes all the juices to leak out. Also, don't overmix the meat when forming patties.
• If your potatoes are soggy - Return them to the oven and raise the oven temperature.
• If the potatoes stick to the bottom of the pan - Run a flat metal spatula underneath them to loosen. Next time, toss with a little more oil.

Chicken Stew

Stewings a snap when Jack asks Frederic to teach her how to make a hearty chicken stew that doesn’t take all day.

Simply Shrimp!

Expand your shrimp recipe repertoire when Frederic shows you some different techniques for cooking shrimp including shrimp cocktail and sauteed shrimp with basil, garlic and tomatoes.

Blender Soups

Jack asks Frederic for some fast and easy recipes for homemade soup.

Pan Roasted Pork Chops

Jack asks Frederic to teach her how to make succulent, juicy pan roasted pork chops with a quick apple chutney on the side.

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:

• Vegetable peeler


• Chef’s knife


• Microwave-safe bowl


• Microwave


• Measuring spoons


• Large oven-proof skillet


• Tongs


• Cutting board


• Aluminum foil


• Pepper mill


• Flat spatula


• Dry measuring cups


• Instant-read thermometer

Tips:
Cooking thin vs. thick pork chops:

• Pan-frying, grilling, or broiling are best cooking methods for pork chops.


• Look for chops cut 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 inches thick. Thinner chops are more prone to drying out.


• Thin chops need some protection; breading is a good way of insulating the meat and keeping the juices inside. A thick spice rub or a marinade serves a similar purpose, and also adds some flavor.

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.

Cooking with apples:

• Macintosh, Fuji, Granny Smith, Rome Beauty, Empire, and Golden Delicious varieties are all good for cooking.


• A high sugar content and a high acid content are both desired, as well as an apple that holds it shape when cooked.

Recipe Rescues:

• Dry Pork Chops – Briefly simmer in a little broth or cooking liquid to re-moisten the interior. Remember that carry-over cooking will raise the internal temperature of the chops several degrees, so next time remove from heat sooner.


• Mushy Apples – Cooking them (like in the chutney) is the best way to use mushy apples. When selecting apples for cooking, choose ones that feel rock hard and do not have any brown spots or blemished areas.


• Oil Begins Smoking – Take it off of the heat and let it cool down before adding pork chops. Make sure the chops are dry before adding them to the pan; any amount of water will make the oil spatter.


• Pan Begins Burning – Transfer the chops to a new skillet, or remove them to a platter while you clean the pan. Add more oil, and then continue searing. If you have finished searing, finish cooking them in the oven in a new oven-safe pan or platter.


• Pork Chops Curl/Cook Unevenly – Keep them flat while cooking by gently pressing down with a flat spatula. Look for chops with even thickness throughout.

Barbecue 365

Tyler and Jack make the perfect backyard barbecue. Pulled Pork Barbecue; Cole Slaw; Fresh Roasted Corn

Easy Potato Dishes

Frederic teaches Jack some potato dishes that’ll help her out of her potato rut including twice baked potatoes and red bliss potato salad.

Chowder Challenge

Tyler and Jack make hall of fame-worthy chowder. New England Clam Chowder; Common Crackers

Chili Chill Out

Tyler and Jack make a hearty pot of chili. Chicken Green Chili; Smoky Chile Cornbread

No Wok Required

Tyler and Jack make a simple and delicious Asian meal. Grilled Chicken Breast with Ginger and Soy ; Cold Sesame Noodles; Sweet Chili Cucumber Pickles

Veggie Delight

Tyler and Jack make a meal for vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. Eggplant Parmesan