Another Voice

Posted on 13 February 2007 under Ask The Chef

One of the things I’ve found interesting over the past couple years is how this one guy signs his emails:

Your Personal Chef,
Chef Tad

You may look at that and think, “My ‘Personal Chef’? The Executive Chef from the Frog Leg Inn? The guy that runs the Frog Leg Bistro at the La-Z-Boy Center? ‘Personal’? Yeah … right.”

Well, what if he and I were to make his brain, all those food concepts and cooking techniques, just a little more accessible to you? Would that be a little more “personal”?

That’s exactly what Chef Tad would like to do. This was his idea. I’m game for it, and Dan Shaw of the Monroe News wrote, “I think this sounds great.”

So, let’s see if you, dear reader, have anything on your mind the Chef might be able to help you with.

Here’s what we’ll do this first time out …

Go ahead and use the Comments link at the bottom of this post to ask any food-related question you’d like to ask of Chef Tad. What kinds of questions? Let your mind wander. Anything you’ve ever wondered, just ask. Here are a few examples:

  1. Everyone checks fruit in the grocery a different way. My mom even taught me something different. How do you tell if a melon is, in fact, ripe and ready?
  2. What’s the story behind the knife you use most often?
    To be honest, you wouldn’t believe the odd variety of knives that are in the knife block on Chef Tad’s kitchen counter at home. I’ll have to take a picture sometime …
  3. Except for your own, what’s your favorite restaurant and why?

Once there are a bunch of questions in here, he and I will go through them, put together all his answers in his own words, and post them at a later date in an entry all their own. (Yes, Chef, you have to be quiet for now. I know, that’s difficult, but just deal, ok? ;-) )

Let’s test the waters here and see what you’ve got. Go ahead! We’re waiting …

Read Comments

  1. 13 February 2007 @ 5:53 pm Posted by Chef Tad

    Hello….hello…is there anybody out there? Someone must have some question about food, sauces, meats, anything? I still think it’s a good idea Dave. Maybe it will take some time to catch on…..I think…I hope. But seriously, I was teaching one of my Culinary Basics classes at Monroe County Community College last night, and people continue to surprise me. At one point in the class, while I was giving a cooking demonstration on a Normandy Cream Sauce, the whole class, 14 in all, were out of their chairs and gathering around the stove to see the cream sauce reduce. When I encouraged them to sit and be comfortable, they said it was more fun watching. I guess the point I’m trying to make, and I have mentioned this before in an earlier article, is that passion for cooking is a powerful motivator. It can push people to do things they normally wouldn’t do. There is a natural curiosity about cooking anything out of the ordinary. And when you are a chef, people believe you hold the keys to many secrets. Although they are not really secrets, I love to show people how to unlock their creativity and expand their knowledge. I will show anyone anything. I am not one of those chefs that stands in the corner protecting his ingredients, growling at anyone that comes near, for fear someone will steal a recipe. The simple fact is, I can show anyone a recipe and it won’t come out the same way as mine. And that’s not because I’m a great chef. It’s because cooking has a personal character and signature to it. It is as individual as the person who creates it. So come on and fire away those questions! Chances are I have an answer for anything you can throw my way. Maybe we should call it ‘Stump the Chef’? Anyway, let’s have fun with this and learn as we go!

    Your personal chef,
    Chef Tad (Einstein…Ben Stein…etc..)

  2. 13 February 2007 @ 10:27 pm Posted by Sandy Squires

    To make this really interesting you might have a contest. Chef Tad brought this up “stump the chef”…..Regardless I’ll start off…

    The secret to…..

    How do you prepare a fresh pineapple?

    How do you sharpen a knife?

    and the really tough question….How do you fix a chocolate craving when there is no chocolate in the house?

    I know these will be easy ones, I’ll get back to you with a really involved one later.

  3. 14 February 2007 @ 4:33 am Posted by LunaPierCook

    Thanks Sandy! Those are actually good questions, and I think are common problems … especially the third one. A similar question I’m now struggling with: What do you do for someone you love whom you know loves chocolate but can no longer have it? Yeah, you know who I mean … :-(

  4. 15 February 2007 @ 4:27 pm Posted by Paula Wethington

    Here’s a question for the Stump the Chef thread: I use 1 percent milk for drinking, but get runny results sometimes when I’m cooking with it! Specific examples are no-bake chocolate oatmeal cookies, homemade chocolate pudding and chocolate fudge icing cooked over the stove. It is a sad sight to see family favorite recipes not set up correctly. But … a skim milk version of pumpkin pie has turned out satisfactory. Is there an easy way to figure out which recipes where I need to use whole milk, rather than trial and error?

  5. 15 February 2007 @ 5:10 pm Posted by LunaPierCook

    Excellent question, Paula. Thanks!

  6. 16 February 2007 @ 9:22 am Posted by Mike

    Hey, I have a gear question…

    My wife and I travel a lot. We love the Extended Stay America places because they have kitchenettes and we can cook on the road.

    But there are times when we can’t stay there. So, does anyone have any tips for a really good travel stovetop? We’d like to bring the kitchen with us.

    Any other travel related cooking tips would also be welcome.

  7. 16 February 2007 @ 9:40 am Posted by LunaPierCook

    Mike, I do have some suggestions for you, so when the Chef and I assemble the answers to these questions I’ll throw them in there. Thanks!