The Official Chef Robert Irvine Blog

I’ve had the opportunity in my life to travel all over, and I take a lot of pleasure away from meeting new and interesting people. Let me qualify that, because in my experience, it’s nearly impossible to meet an uninteresting person, especially if you are willing to take a moment or two to talk with or just take a good look at the person standing right in front of you. This can apply as well to loved ones and business associates as to total strangers. Making it a habit, working for that little extra moment of connection, however brief, can make all of the difference. Who knows? It might lead to a lifelong friendship (or, alternatively, keep you out of situations that can lead to loads of trouble). Or it could just make your day.

You can train yourself to create mostly positive outcomes on a daily basis in your life by developing good habits. How often have you walked away from some sort of minor catastrophe, disaster or accident, in the kitchen or otherwise, and said, “I don’t know what I was thinking…” Usually, that sentiment hits the nail right on the head. We are what we do and we are what we think every day. And trouble, when it comes, is too often brought on by failing to listen to the little voice each of us has inside our heads. It’s usually only later that we realize we had the chance to avoid a mishap which in hindsight often looked like a locomotive barreling straight at you down the tracks.

Good cooking is the embodiment of good habits. Skills are developed and nurtured by two things: repetition and good outcomes. Practice makes perfect because it opens neural pathways so that our muscles and brains understand what we’re asking them to do at a given moment. Coaches call this “muscle memory,” but I think it probably has as much to do with building a link of confidence between intention and ability. In other words, I think you can be told that you can do something, but when you actually think about the steps involved and then take it a step further by experiencing what it feels like to go through the motions, the process is made “more real.” Good outcomes, of course, reinforce this training with sensations of satisfaction and pleasure. It’s a winning combination. I’ve heard it said that it takes 21 repetitions to build a habit. It must follow that if you practice a technique a million times, it becomes second nature.

I love the phrase, “second nature.” Our native talents and abilities, our gender, our body types, the color of our eyes, certain dispositions of temperament are given to us by nature. We can take these gifts and use them to most effectively serve ourselves and others by building on them as the foundation for our better selves.

Even the seemingly most insignificant habits, if they are good ones and are practiced with the best intentions over time, can make all of the difference. When I first hired “Little George” as a chef in the hotel I was running at the time, I didn’t actually have a job opening for him. But he dazzled me with his shoes. Sure, his resume told me he was a good cook, but I noticed immediately that his shoes were buffed to a high gloss in strict military fashion. To me, that spoke volumes. I knew I could work with him because great work in the kitchen is nothing if it isn’t based on excellence in the details. (George’s attention to detail is also one of the reasons why he makes the best crab cakes in the world!) He ended up staying with me for eleven action-packed years.

Good habits start early. If you are at school (or even if your school days are far behind you), don’t squander the opportunity to get things done. It’s usually the case that in the time you spend trying to figure out all of the ways to avoid doing a chore, you could get it done and be well on to the next thing. When I was a young man at school, I had a lot of poor study and schoolwork habits that were largely based on my nature. I liked to have fun and play at sports and, frankly, was never crazy about being told what to do. One of my instructors, David Bodfish, took me aside and made me realize that I had other options. By not applying myself and building good habits, I wasn’t pulling the wool over my teacher’s eyes; I was cheating myself and being of no good use to anybody. Soon after, I joined the Navy and they really drove the point home. Good habits in the military not only help you get along with your mates and secure advancement, but are designed to keep you from getting shot or having your boat sunk.

Take pleasure in a job well done, no matter how small, and you’ll find your day is suddenly filled with innumerable tiny victories.

If you decide that you want to learn to be a scratch cook, you can do it easily, by training yourself to take a few small, extra steps Repeat these steps and they’ll become a habit you can rely on. The positive outcome will be better, more delicious and healthier food on your table.

While we are on the subject of school days (and school daze), a simple place to start is with a soup many people associate with school years (next to a nice toasted cheese sandwich). Also are some recipes for hors d’oeuvres which make one realize the beauty in their detail. Enjoy.

Appetizer: Soup

SUMMER TOMATO SOUP

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
2¼ pounds vine ripened tomatoes, cored and quartered
2 garlic cloves, chopped
5 thyme sprigs, or ¼ tsp. dried thyme
4-5 marjoram sprigs (reserve some for garnish), or ¼ tsp. dried marjoram
1 bay leaf
3 tbsp. crème fraiche (or if desired, sour cream or yogurt) plus a little extra to garnish
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Method
Heat the olive oil in a large preferably stainless steel saucepan or flameproof casserole.

Add the onion and carrot and cook over a medium heat for 3-4 minutes, until just softened, stirring occasionally.

Add the tomatoes, garlic and herbs (thyme, marjoram, bay leaf). (Remember to reserve your sprig for garnish.) Reduce the heat and simmer the soup covered for 30 minutes.

Pass the soup through a food mill or press through a sieve into the pan. Stir in the cream (or sour cream or yogurt) and season with salt and pepper as needed. Reheat gently and serve garnished with a spoonful of crème fraiche, sour cream or yogurt, and a sprig of marjoram.

Hors d’oeuvre: Seafood

WONTON CRISP WITH CUCUMBER TOBIKO CAVIAR
Copyright 2008, Robert Irvine, All rights reserved.

Ingredients:
1 to 4 liters canola oil as needed for frying or deep frying
12 three-inch square wonton skins cut in half on the diagonal with a pizza cutter into 24 triangles
1 English cucumber, peeled and cut fine brunoise (julienne then cut crosswise into 1/16th inch cubes)
2 vine ripened tomatoes, seeds removed and cut brunoise (julienne then cut crosswise into 1/16th inch cubes)
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons tobiko (green and orange caviar)
24 very small parsley sprigs

Method:
Heat the oil in a pan or deep fryer to 375 degrees F as measured with a candy thermometer (or as recommended by the deep fryer manufacturer for similar foods). Fry the wonton skins until golden brown and drain on paper towels.

Combine cucumber, tomatoes, and mayonnaise in a bowl and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Spoon a small amount on each fried wonton triangle and top with ¼ teaspoon tobiko caviar. Finish with a parsley sprig.

Robert Irvine Schedule of Appearances:

October 11th- Taping Ciao Italia! with Mary Ann Esposito at Mohegan Sun, CT
www.mohegansun.com

October 16th- Epcot Food & Wine Festival

2:00 PM- “Kitchen Conversations”
3:30 PM- Autographs

5:45 PM- Culinary Demonstration
6:30 PM- Autographs

October 18th- Epcot Food & Wine Festival
6:30 PM- “Party for the Senses”

January 17th & 18th- Sun Wine Fest 2009 at Mohegan Sun
www.SunWineFest.com