Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Ohhh, I feel for you! Anyone who has owned a restaurant and has gone through this feels your angst also.

I was Executive Chef at a large hospital when a hurricane hit and we lost all power in the kitchen for three days! I bought 1.2 million dollars of food per month, so there was hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting there.

We tossed the cheap stuff, loaded all the frozen meats and perishables together, tightly packed in a walk-in and loaded garbage bags with all the ice we could find. The cooler was sealed and never dipped below 40F. All frozen was defrosted, but not lost.

Maintaining temperature is the main goal when you lose power.

At a restaurant last night, I had a flatbread appetizer with 3 types of mushrooms, manchego cheese and sliced figs. The earthy combination of the mushrooms, sharp cheese and sweet figs was a great flavor combination.

That photo looks great, but don't you have a lot of fat from 5 ounces of bacon? Probably better to drain it off.

I've tried Alfredo sauce before where the raw yolk is beaten into the hot pasta. It usually creates scrambled egg, but mixing with the cold ricotta in this recipe probably prevents that.

Thanks for helping me decide what's for dinner.

Chef Todd Mohr
http://www.WebCookingClasses.com

I love the procedure! With a solid cooking method, you can create any type of Vegetable Enchilada you'd like. I'd include some type of peppers in there, either hot or sweet.

Chef Todd Mohr
Cook by Method, not Recipes!
http://www.WebCookingClasses.com

Hooray! This is what everyone should be doing, purchasing LOCALLY!

Benefits of purchasing locally:
1) Supporting local farmers
2) Safer, more nutritious food
3) MUCH better flavor
4) Lower your later health care costs.

The biggest objection I hear to the farmers market is that it's "too expensive". If you're buying chicken breast at $0.69 per pound at the grocery, you have to ask yourself what they do to make it so cheap. I know it costs more than that to raise a chicken to market.

How did our food become a strictly "price" commodity? Quality food is what you should spend most of your money on.

Learn to cook like a chef at home with wholesome ingredients!
Chef Todd Mohr
http://www.WebCookingClasses.com

Don't forget crepes. Not even Mitch Hedberg would get sick of crepes.

Chef Todd Mohr
Free video reveals my
#1 Chef Secret for Creating Amazing Meals at Home
http://www.WebCookingClasses.com

I'm sure you can substitute non-fat dry milk (NFDM) for powdered soy, but make sure you're substituting in the correct proportions. If your recipe is by volume (cups, teaspoons) or weight (pounds, ounces), the results may be different. NFDM is lighter than soy. You may have to add 10% more NFDM.

A company I worked for many years ago sent me to one of their facilities to figure out why the baker couldn't seem to make dinner rolls correctly.

Long story short, his formula called for 2oz of NFDM. He took out a 2oz ladle (volume) and measured the NFDM. A 2oz scoop of NFDM is about a 1/4 cup. His formula was written for weight, and 2oz of the feather-light NFDM is closer to 2 cups!

Weight versus volume in recipes can make a big difference.

Chef Todd Mohr
++++++++++
Free DVD reveals my
5 Chef Secrets for Creating Amazing Meals at Home
http://www.WebCookingClasses.com

I love teaching people how to actually EAT those fall porch decorations we call pumpkins, gourds, and squash.

While many of them have a tough outer skin, the flesh underneath is sweet and very nutritious.

You can peel, seed, cube and simmer any of the squash in a flavorful stock, strain and puree for a great fall soup.

Try butternut squash and green apple soup by baking them together until very soft. Puree the two and adjust consistency with vegetable stock or cream. Garnish with cinnamon!

Or, Acorn squash is great baked in a white sauce or cheese sauce. Peel, seed, dice the acorn squash. Make your favorite white sauce. I prefer a brie and Swiss cheese sauce. Toss with the diced squash, and bake until soft. Top with crumbs if you'd like.

Examine these fall vegetables more closely than how they look next to your front door.

Chef Todd Mohr