The Official Chef Robert Irvine Blog

The simplest thing, like the proper application of salt and pepper, can make or break a dish. Salt is one of the most elemental and essential ingredients in cooking. Try a French fry with salt and without it and you will know immediately what I mean. I don’t claim to truly understand the alchemy that exists between the magical combination of salt with black pepper, but I think it is perhaps the greatest gift bestowed by nature on cooks after fire.

Photo courtesy of freefoto.com

In most recipes, I generally suggest that you use “salt and pepper” to taste. This is the simplest instruction in most recipes, yet always one of the most important. It is the one instruction that relies on you, on your taste, your experience and your knowledge of not only your own likes and dislikes, but those for whom you are cooking. The correct proportions of these two key ingredients separate not only good cooking from cooking that is substandard, but at the highest levels of the profession, can separate the good from the truly great in the kitchen.

This is one of the most challenging aspects of cooking on Dinner: Impossible. It is only on the rare occasion that we are not cooking for large numbers of people, certainly many more than you would typically have at your dinner table or even at your typical backyard barbecue. Using too much or too little salt and pepper when you are cooking in a giant pot or an industrial-sized cooking kettle can cause a disaster of epic proportions, ruining meals for hundreds. Luckily I have a lot of experience cooking for large numbers, so I can usually tell by feel how much is appropriate to whatever I am working on, but in general the principles remain the same. A good cook needs to know how much is too much and when enough is just right.

Fleur de Sel, Hawaiian red clay salt, even good old kosher salt are all excellent choices for your home kitchen and each offers a slightly different shading to your flavors. Make sure you grind your black pepper in a good pepper grinder and try to keep your supply of peppercorns as fresh as possible. Sprinkle salt by hand from about your shoulder height over the food you are cooking and you will get even coverage and distribution, just like the perfect snowfall.

Pay attention to the simple things when you are cooking and you cannot go far wrong. Combinations like mirepoix: diced onion, carrots and celery; the trinity: diced onion, celery and green pepper; or in Italian cooking, the quattro evangelistas: diced onion, celery, carrot and finely chopped parsley, are all tried and true beginnings for nearly any savory preparation, soup or stew, even roast, that you may have in mind. Garlic is a beautiful addition to so many dishes, and a head of roasted garlic can transform even a simple slice of bread into a gourmet feast. Go the extra mile an learn how to make a simple pan sauce or an easy gravy and you’ll add a whole new dimension to your mealtime offerings. When you shop, shop for the freshest ingredients that are closest to their natural states.

Most of all, cook from the heart, and you’ll never be lonely when the dinner bell rings!

Entrée: Chicken

CHICKEN BREAST WITH CRAB & ARTICHOKE SOUFFLE
Copyright, 2006, Robert Irvine, All rights reserved

Yield: 8-10 servings

Ingredients for Soufflé Topping:
½ cup butter
1 pound crabmeat, picked through to remove remnants of shells
16 ounce can artichoke hearts, cut into quarters
½ cup flour
1 cup heavy cream

Ingredients for the Chicken:
½ cup vegetable oil
4 pounds chicken breast, boneless and skinless, cut into 4 ounce portions
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
Heat oil in a large skillet. Season chicken with salt, pepper and Old Bay seasoning on both sides. Place smooth side of breast into pan and let brown, then flip over to brown on other side. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a separate 2 quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat, add crab and artichokes, and sauté. Stir in flour, then add cream and season to taste with salt and pepper. Let simmer until it begins to become cohesive. Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet and top each piece with some of the crab mixture. Bake in oven until “soufflé” is golden brown, about 7 to 8 minutes.

Entrée: Seafood

SALT AND PEPPER SHRIMP ROLLS
Copyright 2007, Robert Irvine, All rights reserved

Ingredients:

1 liter canola oil, or enough as needed to deep fry
2 pounds 21-25 size shrimp, peeled and de-veined
3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup cornstarch
3 tablespoons Irvine Spices Roasted Garlic Pepper Seasoning
1 to 2 teaspoons salt
1 fresh lemon
12 “lobster” rolls (with slit on top)
2 cups fresh lettuce (such as red leaf or green leaf), rinsed and dried with a salad spinner
and sliced julienne
2 large ripe tomatoes, seeds removed and diced

Method:

Heat oil in deep fryer to 375 degrees. Shake flour, cornstarch, Roasted Garlic Pepper Seasoning, and salt together in a plastic bag. Add shrimp to bag in small batches and shake to coat with flour mixture. Deep fry until golden brown.

Remove to paper toweling to drain and squeeze fresh lemon juice on top.

Places into lobster rolls with shredded lettuce and tomato. Serve with your favorite seafood sauce.

Yield: 6 servings of two sandwiches each