In this episode of The Free Culinary School Podcast we go over three basic starches that every chef must master: Risotto, Polenta and Mashed Potatoes. If you can master these three starches, then you will be opening up endless possibilities for putting together a finished dish.
In this episode you learn the basics of mastering these starches so you can begin to put together your entrees. In the discussion segment we go over why Risotto, Polenta and Mashed potatoes are so important, and the components of a standard entree.
In This Episode
- The Components of a Standard Entree
- How To Cook Risotto
- How To Cook Polenta
- How To Make Perfect Mashed Potatoes
Also, in the Culinary Quick Tip, I give you a top secret tip that I’ve never told anyone before on how to make potato puree with any viscosity that you desire.
Plus, listener questions get answered!
Tools Mentioned In This Episode
What did you think of this episode and what is your favorite technique for making the starches we discussed? Let me know by clicking the comment button below.
{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
Ya hit this one out of the park! A suggestion for a stock substitute: Tolen (sp?) Kosher bullion cubes, one to two cups of water and a scant teaspoon of unflavored geletin is, to my burned out taste buds, better than the stock mixes I have tried. R
OFS-
You claim to be a crusty old sailor but then you start taking about bullion cubes with the addition of unflavored gelatin (no doubt to mimic the body of a well made stock). I have a sneaking suspicion that you’ve seen the inside of a kitchen or two, or at the very least had a childhood full of great food.
Great recommendation on a stock substitute when in a pinch. Welcome to the dark side…
Well….someday I’ll have to tell you how, in my navy days, got sent to peel vegatables for three months due to some disciplinary issues and ended up being the ship’s baker.
Thanks for clarifying the correct portion sizes of an entree on the podcast. When you go to some restaurants the portions are so out of control you can’t help but feel a bit overwhelmed by everything they’ve put on your plate. I have a few questions. Can you use Arborio Rice to make rice pudding? If you can, should you use water or milk? Would using Arborio Rice be a good way of giving the pudding a creamy texture without using too much cream?
@Meca
To answer your question, yes, you can use Arborio Rice for rice pudding and the extra starchiness will lend itself nicely to the overall dish. I would use a little water with some fresh vanilla bean and sugar infused in it and then cook the risotto using the techniques outlined in this podcast but omit sweating the shallots at the begining. To make the pudding I would suggest a couple of things:
1) Cook the risotto longer to make it a little more “mushy” then you normally would.
2) Finish with butter, sugar, cinnoman and fruit of your choice (raisins, any sort of berry or dired fruit).
Also, add some milk at the end, but not during the cooking process as it may curdle on you.
You don’t have to add cream, but if your intentions for doing so are lower fat content, you will surely make it up by the addition of butter and sugar in the finishing process. Desserts are meant to be rich, creamy, sweet and fatty; and without these components it will taste like “something is missing.”
@OFS,
I knew you were a trouble maker from the get go. I guess having to serve hundreds of hungry, well armed sailors trapped on a ship for months on end has taught you some pretty cool culinary tricks. I can only imagine what kind of mischief got you a three month stint peeling vegetables…I would love to here the story.
What you describe as “mashed potatoes” are really “whipped potatoes” (not fit for consumption in my book). If you didn’t use a “potato masher” how can they be “mashed potatoes”? You even talked about putting the whip on the cuisinart. Other than that *positively egregious error*
you’ve got a great podcast. I love it
Big Moose
Could you clarify the distinction between spice and seasoning, always been a bit of confusion to me.
@Big Moose,
Aren’t we the feisty one? A good ol’ fashioned culinary debate based on kitchen semantics; sign me up! In fact, I loved your comment so much that I’m going to make everyone wait to hear my response on the next podcast, FCS Episode 5. Thanks for your passionate participation.
@OFS,
Seasoning is basically a flavor enhancer that brings out the natural flavors in a dish. Seasonings are usually a part or the four major flavor groups that our tongues tastes; sweet (sugar), salty (salt), sour (vinegar), and bitter (such as how hops improve the flavor of beer).
Spices on the other hand are things like nutmeg, cinnamon, star anise etc, that not only help enhance the flavor of a dish, but can also play a staring role. Where as salt, sugar and vinegar are added as seasonings to the point were they bring out the natural flavor but are not really detected, spices are in your face flavors that add a different taste component to the dish.
That helps, but where does that leave the charred vinegared onion when I make my faux pho ga ( boy try to say that three times fast)?
OFS,
In the case of Pho Ga, the sour taste of the vinegar is not only a seasoning but a flavor component. Although salt, sugar and vinegar are used as seasonings, they can also be a main flavor component in a dish; especially when talking about Asian Cuisine. Some good examples in which a seasoning becomes a flavoring is salt pork, sweet and sour sauce and gastriques (vinegar and sugar boiled together until they form a syrup).
Hey, some 3-star michelin chefs use bullion cubes! I’ve witnessed it! Don’t nay-say…But, I agree on the salt/pepper thing. I was just thinking about that recently. Honestly, I barely use pepper at all where I work (not my choice, but I agree with it). However, toasted peppercorns is the best smell…this one place I worked, one of the prep guys would be always toasting peppercorns for the dinner shift right when I walked in the door everyday…I always think of that. Good stuff. Oh, and personally, I like a little vino or vermouth in my risotto.
…and it’s pronounced/said, Capone Mang.
I don’t know what Jacob would say, well…yes i do, but anyway, bullion is better than no stock at all, bullion and geletan is better than a cube, le bon soup better than that and fine food stocks best of all. Its whats practical after all; My Rata ain’t real Rata because I can’t grow eggplant fer squat but I can the Hillbilly Trinity (Peppers tomaatos and onions)some garliic.squash/zuchini and thinly sliced new potatos ain’t bad and it is practical
@Capone Mang,
Well, I was trying to wait a little longer before introducing the FCS Community to the “Dark Side,” but since you and Old Fat Sailor insist…
Yes, I too have seen Michelin chefs use bullion cubes as well as beef, chicken or lobster base, but the real question is why, when they most likely have 5 gallons of fresh stock in their walk-in? The answer is, most stock bases and bullions cubes contain Monosodium Glutimate (MSG).
The MSG gives whatever they’re making that little extra kick of umami, making there soups and sauces “additively good.”
By the way, vino and vermouth are great additions to risotto. I’ve been known to use a little Pernod when the mood strikes and the flavors call for it.
P.S. Sorry about butchering your fake name.
I have made risotto the standard way as you described on the podcast. I have also, however, made it in a pressure cooker, and I could not tell the difference in either the texture or the flavor of the finished product. In fact it has been better than I have had in some restaurants. All the usual steps are followed, except once you bring it to pressure, it takes only 7 minutes and no further stirring, until you put in your butter and cheese. Have you ever tried this? Do you see any problem with this method?
Jeff,
I have never tried this method so it’s hard for me to give you a definitive answer on it. My only concern however is that a pressure cooker is able to cook the rice faster because the liquid is able to heat above the boiling point. For me, even a boil is too hot to cook risotto, it needs to be a nice, low simmer that gently coaxes the starchy-creaminess out of the Arborio. 7 minutes just sounds like too short of a time frame for this to happen properly. But like I said, can’t knock it till I try it.
Thanks for the comment. Being somewhat of a traditionalist, I do prefer using traditional methods. When I am trying to cook a good meal and enjoy the party at the same time, however, I will sometimes use shortcuts that may not be quite as good but still produce good results.
Jacob, I had to look up gastriques and darn if I haven’t been making something like that for a few years only I call it blackberry orange crack ( for it addictive properties)jam. It does double duty as a drizzle for pork and salmon.
OFS,
Sounds great…Gastriques are so versitle that you’re really only limited by your own imagination. Another great one is using anything citrus; orange, lemon, lime, yuzu…they can be put on just about anything and people always love them!
I’m an advocate of MSG…In my restaurant(to be), it’s going to be my secret weapon.
And what a powerful weapon it is. You’re a dangerous man, caponemang…I love it!
MSG is no more harmful than table salt itself. If used in a limited quantity, it does not pose a threat to man. Now this does not apply to Cup noodles or Ramen, because these things have such a gregarious amount that you can taste the MSG. The Chinese have always used MSG and it is actually not that big of a deal as it is here. Even Bourdain has claimed to have used MSG in Kitchen Confidential, which is MUST READ for you guys!!
I’m coming to this late after having just recently discovered the excellent podcast. I’ve been wondering about risotto for some time now, and your podcast gave me the motivation to really try it. Yum! It worked, nice and creamy!
David,
You can never comment to late on this blog. All the podcasts and blog post are always open for discussion.
I’m glad your risotto was a success, there are few things that are tastier than a well made risotto; especially now that we’re getting into the colder months.
For the first time, I finally made risotto the other day. Although I’ve been cooking for many years, given workshops at the local supermarket and at my work in various things, and even taken some professional classes, I’ve never cooked risotto.
It was a labor of love!
Of course, I followed the directions as given in the podcast, which were very clear and tastefully explained (pun intended). It all worked great, and I found great enjoyment figuring out just when the rice was cooked just right–al denté. Most rice I’ve eaten has always just been cooked through, so it was delightful to get this new texture from the rice.
I had to transport the risotto for 30 minutes or so, and when I arrived, it was less creamy and had dried out a bit. I added some stock and warmed it up again, but it seemed that it had lost its magic. Is there a way to avoid this if there is a delay between the cooking and the eating of risotto?
David,
I’m glad the recipe worked out well for you. In the future, if you need to transport your risotto or finish it later I would suggest this:
Cook your risotto just how you did and then right before it reaches that perfect aldente texture, spread it out on a baking sheet and let cool in your refrigerator.
Once it is cold, you can cut it up into manageable chunks and place it in an appropriate sized container.
When ready to serve, heat up some stock or water in a saute pan and bring to a simmer. Place risotto into the pan, and I like to use the back of a slotted spoon, pressing down on top of the risotto to break it up into individual rice kernels.
Simmer the risotto, stirringly constently and adding more stock or water as neccessary until it reaches it’s desired texture and creaminess.
Finish with a little salt and pepper, a nice big pat of butter and serve. This is the same technique that most restaurants use to “pre-shift” their risotto to make it easier to execute during service.
Let me know how this works out for you.
I love, LERVVE your podcasts. (I’m a bit late with finding it but hey!) With the polenta, I like the idea of chicken base, amazing…
I read (I think Stephanie Alexander – Cooks Companion, a great bible) that the longer you cook polenta, the easier it is for the body to digest. So perhaps sits better in your (full) tummy?
Also a consideration for the home cook is the impossible to clean polenta “skin” at the bottom of your pot. So when I do it, I cook it for about an hour, constantly stirring, not letting the skin form. So potentially more labour intensive than the risotto, bit I’d rather be cooking than cleaning!
My fav topping on pan-fried hard polenta is your canape – mushrooms, but I used marscapone instead of cream, it gives it something…
This is a great series of talks, I am finding it extremely interesting and informative.
I did find the references to entrée confusing and had to look it up. The course North Americans call entrée the rest of the world calls the main course, to the rest of the world the entrée (entrance in French) is the dish preceding the main course. Once I had worked this out the talk made sense.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrée
Regarding polenta, in his book “Heat” Bill Buford suggests that cooking polenta for 3 hours improves it’s flavour and texture dramatically. I have tried it a few times and strongly agree with him, it becomes a different dish.