tips and tricks
ASK THE CHEFS
Local culinarians share their knowledge with home cooks.
WRITTEN BY ERIN MEYERING
PHOTOS BY ASA GILMORE
Ever wonder what chefs cook when they’re home, what tools they can’t live without, or if they even follow recipes? Well, we asked several local restaurant chefs to chime in with their advice to home cooks. What we learned is, in the end, the restaurant guru and at-home cook have a mutual goal: to create delicious and satisfying food to share with others.
Daniel Carter, executive chef of Northstar Tavern 6330′ and Banquets, in Truckee
Carter notes that there are many flavors and options in the fall. So he offers a few pointers, as well as recipes related to the season.
• “I love using pumpkins for eating rather than carving myself, but that’s just my preference,” Carter says. “So don’t be afraid to cut one up and bake it or roast it! Some brown sugar, your favorite spices, and some butter are all you need. Cut it up and serve it warm with some ice cream. Or roast them and serve them with dinner. Some salt, pepper, garlic oil, and Parmesan cheese! Done!”
• “I would say just go out and buy some local and seasonal produce,” he says. “Anything, really, and incorporate it into your favorite dish. Get creative and don’t be intimidated. Put some pumpkin into your favorite stew or soup recipe. Or use some sweet potatoes or turnips in your next potatoes au gratin. Top a slice of apple pie with some whipped cream and fresh pomegranate.”
• “If you find yourself with a lot of fruit you’re just not sure what to do with,” he says, “just put it all in an oven-safe dish and make a crisp. Apples, pears, berries, pumpkins, quinces, and persimmons all are great baked into crisps!”
• “Use this simple crisp recipe and switch it up if you want,” he says: 1 cup oatmeal, 1 cup all-purpose flour, 1 cup brown sugar, ½ cup soft butter, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, ½ cup chopped pecans, pinch salt. Work all ingredients with your hand or in a mixer with paddle attachment, until butter is mixed in and mixture clumps together. Cut fruit into 1-bite pieces, and toss with a little sugar and flour, and your favorite spices. Tart fruits like cranberries will require more sugar than most, and juicy fruits like berries, will require more flour to help thicken the consistency of the crisp. Put fruit mixture into oven-safe dish and top with crisp topping. Bake at 350 degrees F until done. You don’t need a timer. The crisp topping should be dark golden-brown — don’t be afraid of the color — and fruit mixture should be thick and bubbling. That’s when you know it’s ready. The crisp topping can be made ahead of time and kept frozen in an airtight container for about a month.
Josh Berreman, chef of Heritage restaurant, at Whitney Peak Hotel, in Reno
• Berreman recommends that home cooks, “Taste your food; if something is flat, it usually just needs more salt, more acid,” he says. “That’s my mantra that Natalie (Sellers) — chef/co-proprietor of 4th St. Bistro in Reno — taught me. Taste, season, taste. It’s amazing what a squeeze of lemon and a dash of salt will do to elevate the flavor of anything. A splash of vinegar is a fantastic way to finish shell beans or lentils.”
• “Keep it simple!” he says. “I make wonderful soups, and they never have more than a couple ingredients. Today I made a vegan mushroom bisque; I roasted mushroom scraps and onion with some olive oil, blended them in the Vitamix with water, and seasoned with salt, a dash of Tabasco, and a splash of sherry vinegar. In winter, when butternut squash is around, I do butternut, onions, squash, lemon, salt. That’s it! The beauty lies in the texture and honoring the integrity of the vegetable.”
• “Keep your knives sharp,” he says. “It’s impossible to overstate the importance of a sharp knife, and I feel like I’ve never been to a friend’s house who had sharp knives. Our culture is becoming more food oriented, and I think people should go out and buy themselves a nice knife. Forschner is a great brand that is relatively inexpensive, and they hold their edges very well. I use Global, and I see a lot of home cooks go for the Shun, but I like the action better on the Global; plus, they’re nice and lightweight.”
• “Clean as you go; it makes cleanup after dinner much easier, and also it helps to keep you organized,” Berreman says. “If there’s no raw meat in a bowl, just rinse it out and use it again.”
• “Learn how to break down a chicken,” he says. “It’s the easiest thing to do, and it’s inexpensive. Boneless, skinless chicken breasts are like $7.99 a pound, and whole chickens are around $2.79. The uses you get from them are innumerable.”
Elsa Corrigan, chef/owner of Mamasake, at The Village at Squaw
• Elsa recommends home cooks, “get a couple of wooden spoons,” she says. “The spoons with holes in the center move well through soup or if you’re making custard.”
• “Caramelize onions ahead of time to put in an airtight container in the fridge,” Corrigan says. “Slow cook them in salt, with a little agave or honey over the stove. Use them for sandwiches, eggs, in tuna salad, or as a condiment. [These onions] pump up your meal without doing much.”
Josh Davis, chef de cuisine at LuLou’s Restaurant, in Reno
• In terms of kitchen tools, “Depending on the time of year, there are quite a few tools I really get good use of at home,” Davis says.
• In the winter: “I love a good chinois [a conical sieve with a fine mesh],” he says. “I make stocks and soups almost every Sunday in the wintertime, and a fine-mesh strainer is imperative to a good, clean stock (not to mention silky sauces/fruit purées).”
• In the late summer/early fall: “I love having a food dehydrator. When stone fruits are in abundance — such as apples and pears — it’s really nice to spend a day making chips,” he says.
• “I also love the Champion juicer,” Davis says. “[During] summertime, it gets more play, and there’s nothing like starting the day with a fresh glass of juice. Combinations are endless. A Vitamix is another tool that gets used a lot at home.”
• “I’m kind of a kitchen gadget geek in a way,” he says. “While there are many ways to skin a cat, having the right tool for the right job makes life quite enjoyable.”
• “Lastly,” he says, “every kitchen should have a little wine fridge; the reason for that is self-explanatory.”
Chris Daniel, chef of Big Water Grille, in Incline Village
• “For me, it’s important to have three different knives that are good quality: a chef knife, a boning knife, and a paring knife,” Daniel says. “Those can be extremely valuable for a home chef.”
• Stocks are such an important part of cooking and often can be overlooked, he says. Make chicken or vegetable stock to keep in the freezer and pull out when needed. You can cook pasta, soup, or other meat or vegetables in a great stock. “Stock is one of the things that separates a chef from a home cook,” Daniel says.
• For chicken stock, roast the bones from a chicken with the limbs off until it’s dark and brown, he says. Throw it in a pot with chopped onions, celery, and carrots, and add thyme, parsley, bay leaf, and black peppercorn.
• For veggies, prepare the same without chicken, he says. Let it boil for 90 minutes.
Favorite local haunts
Local chefs weigh in on their go-to, locally served dishes.
Where do professional chefs go when they’re hungry? Edible Reno-Tahoe decided to find out. We asked five Reno-Tahoe chefs where they head first to eat on their days off. Not surprisingly, and like the rest of us, they like local, comfort food, a homey atmosphere, and bold flavors.
Josh Berreman, chef of Heritage restaurant, at the Whitney Peak Hotel, in Reno
“Meatball pizza at Nu Yalk Pizza, in Reno, because they use hormone-free cheese, organic tomatoes, and flour, and the pizza is extra crispy,” he says.
“If I’m feeling crazy, I also get a cannoli and Dr. Pepper,” Berreman says.
Josh Davis, chef of LuLou’s Restaurant, in Reno
Savory soups at Bangkok Cuisine or Thai Chili, in Reno, such as the bean thread, soft tofu, and mixed vegetable dish. Davis also enjoys Boar Sugo from Bowl in Reno.
“I love making [and eating] soup,” he says. “I’ll make it all winter long.”
Daniel Carter, executive chef at Northstar Tavern 6330′ and Banquets, in Truckee
Everything served at Panaderia Las Palomas in Reno because of the “phenomenal” bread and handmade tortillas, he says.
“My favorite on my days off is Las Palomas because it’s small, unassuming … and I’ve seen growth in the business,” he says.
Elsa Corrigan, chef/owner of Mamasake, at The Village at Squaw
An appetizer of fried egg, citrus sabayon, grana padano, and asparagus with the beet salad from Restaurant Trokay, in Truckee.
“We sit at the bar,” Corrigan says. “Sometimes we’ll get two or three of the asparagus dish.”
Chris Daniel, chef of Big Water Grille, in Incline Village
Daniel heads right for Pho 777 or Sushi Pie,r in Reno.
“I usually go for something quick and easy [on days off],” he says.
Where the Chefs Go
Nu Yalk Pizza
9780 S. Virginia St., Reno
775-826-8508, http://www.Nuyalkpizza.com
Bangkok Cuisine Midtown
55 Mount Rose St., Reno
775-322-0299, http://www.Thaifoodreno.com
Bangkok Cuisine South
5851 S. Virginia St., Reno
775-284-3802, http://www.Thaifoodreno.com
Thai Chili
1030 S. Virginia St., Reno
775-786-7878, http://www.Thaichilireno.com
Bowl
148 West St., Reno
775-327-4443, http://www.Thatbowlrestaurant.com
Panaderia Las Palomas
814 S. Wells Ave., Reno
775-323-1881, can be found at http://www.Yelp.com
Restaurant Trokay
10046 Donner Pass Road, Truckee
530-582-1040, http://www.Restauranttrokay.com
Pho 777 Vietnamese Restaurant
102 E. Second St., Reno
775-323-7777, can be found at http://www.Yelp.com
Sushi Pier
1290 E. Plumb Lane, Reno
775-825-6776, http://www.Mysushipier.com
