The Art of Manliness - Chef-Vetted Answers to Your Cooking FAQs

00:00:00.000 Brett McKay here, and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness podcast.

00:00:10.980 In your quest to become a better home chef, you probably find yourself wondering things

00:00:14.360 like, what potato should I use in this recipe?

00:00:16.620 How much salt should I put in this dish?

00:00:18.440 Am I even making spaghetti right?

00:00:20.060 But then you forget to Google the answer to your question, or if you do, you feel overwhelmed

00:00:24.060 by the number of opinions out there.

00:00:25.920 Well, my guest today will cut through that noise and answer some of your cooking FAQs

00:00:29.540 once and for all.

00:00:30.760 His name is Daniel Halsman, and he's a chef and the co-author, along with Matt Rodbard,

00:00:34.900 of Food IQ, 100 Questions, Answers, and Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts.

00:00:39.320 Today on the show, Daniel offers advice on whether the kind of onion and potato you use

00:00:43.100 in a recipe matters, and whether it's okay to use frozen vegetables.

00:00:46.200 He explains why you should be less worried about getting foodborne illness from meat and

00:00:49.800 the type of food that's more likely to make you sick.

00:00:51.980 Daniel offers a lowdown on salt, including how to figure out exactly how much you need

00:00:55.960 in a dish, when to use the convection bake function on your oven, his recommendation

00:00:59.600 for the best frying pan and chef's knife, the secrets to making perfect spaghetti, scrambled

00:01:03.820 eggs and steak, and plenty of other tips as well.

00:01:06.700 After the show's over, check out our show notes at awim.is slash foodiq.

00:01:21.980 Daniel Halsman, welcome to the show.

00:01:24.340 Thanks for having me.

00:01:25.620 So you are a chef, and you got a book out called Food IQ, 100 Questions, Answers, and

00:01:32.200 Recipes to Raise Your Cooking Smarts.

00:01:34.520 This book was just, it was a fantastic read, super informative, a lot of fun, and you answer,

00:01:39.440 I think, a lot of questions that people have had about cooking, but didn't know who to ask.

00:01:45.080 We're going to talk about some of the stuff, but before we do, talk about your career.

00:01:48.140 How did you end up doing what you do?

00:01:50.100 What kind of chef are you, and what were you trying to do with this book, Food IQ?

00:01:53.680 I grew up in New York City.

00:01:55.280 My mom worked nights, and so I found myself alone.

00:01:59.900 And part of, I don't know, my mom helped me get a job in a restaurant because it was

00:02:05.020 kind of the only place I could get a job as a young kid to keep me company and keep

00:02:11.540 me out of trouble, I guess.

00:02:12.700 So when I was 13, 14 years old, I was delivering pizzas and working at the local Mexican restaurant.

00:02:18.140 And found my way into the kitchen because I guess I was just attracted to the like, you

00:02:26.200 know, everybody told everybody in the kitchen, yes, sir.

00:02:28.440 And they had tattoos, and there was fire in the kitchen, and they were kind of, just seemed

00:02:32.600 like the place to be.

00:02:35.420 Well, I worked as a waiter, and everyone feared the cooks.

00:02:39.720 Yeah, they get the power.

00:02:42.440 They don't get the money, the glory, or the fame, but they get that.

00:02:47.300 They get the power.

00:02:48.660 So if you have a shorty complex, the kitchen is a great place to exercise your will, I

00:02:53.960 guess.

00:02:54.780 And so what are you doing now?

00:02:56.880 So I, you know, working in kitchens my whole life, I started working in fancier restaurants,

00:03:00.520 and at some point, I realized that I like cooking food that my friends and my family

00:03:06.380 can afford, and, you know, and that everyday food wasn't getting the level of respect that

00:03:13.740 maybe it deserved.

00:03:14.740 And, you know, great cooks want to cook with the finest ingredients, and they want to push

00:03:18.920 their limits, and that makes sense.

00:03:20.740 But a delicious hamburger, or a piece of fried chicken, or a meatball, or a slice of pizza

00:03:26.380 should, you know, should deserve the same level of respect.

00:03:30.200 And so I started a meatball restaurant with my partner, Michael, in New York, and we made

00:03:34.660 these, a meatball shop, we had these kind of, you know, a more humble approach to the

00:03:39.480 food.

00:03:40.020 And then I recently moved out to Los Angeles, where I started a pizzeria.

00:03:43.620 I've been making pizza by the slice downtown LA at a restaurant called Danny Boy's Famous

00:03:48.540 Original Pizza, which is a throwback to Ray Barry's Famous Original Pizzerias of my childhood

00:03:54.800 in New York.

00:03:55.460 So that's what I do for a living.

00:03:58.120 I, right now, I throw pies in the air.

00:04:01.020 I'm learning how to throw pies in the air.

00:04:02.640 It's a very, it's very fun.

00:04:05.380 And so with this book, what was the, what was the impetus behind this book, Food IQ?

00:04:08.760 I think as a chef, you know, I've had this writing partner, Matt Rodbart, for 10 years

00:04:13.860 we've been working together.

00:04:15.300 He's one of my dear friends.

00:04:16.520 It started out as kind of like a eating adventures in Queens, and then we started a column, writing

00:04:20.720 a column together about our time, you know, looking for great, interesting, off the path,

00:04:26.060 you know, food finds.

00:04:27.760 And, you know, as a chef and as a food writer, you're constantly getting questions from people.

00:04:32.920 How do I cook this piece of salmon?

00:04:34.560 You know, what's the difference between these two different types of salt?

00:04:37.560 Why are there all these different types of olive oils?

00:04:39.620 What, what frying pan should I buy?

00:04:41.880 And, you know, it was over and over and over.

00:04:43.900 And the thing about these questions are, you know, they're really not like Google-able

00:04:47.460 questions as much as it seems like they require research.

00:04:51.960 And so we started a column that was called a hundred questions for my friend, the chef,

00:04:57.980 and it was really popular.

00:04:59.600 And we were, we were writing it every week and, and ultimately it kind of, it morphed into,

00:05:05.940 Hey, we should start to, like, we expanded on it.

00:05:08.720 And, and that was kind of the idea of the, of food IQ that as a home cook, there's a lot

00:05:15.360 of intimidation around cooking, but it shouldn't be.

00:05:18.200 The whole point is it should be fun.

00:05:19.640 You feed yourself, you feed your family.

00:05:21.280 It should be less expensive, more fun, less stressful.

00:05:26.100 And so we're trying to kind of cut through some of the murk and give, give a clearer, a

00:05:33.160 clearer vision for folks.

00:05:34.860 Well, so, like I said, I, I love this book because you do, you do just what you said

00:05:40.060 you were trying to do, answer these questions that aren't very Google-able, a Google-able,

00:05:44.700 I guess.

00:05:45.320 Google-able.

00:05:45.700 That's Google-able.

00:05:47.700 So I want to give people like a taste of some of the things you talk about in this book.

00:05:51.700 Let's talk about picking out ingredients when you're shopping for a meal.

00:05:55.620 This raises a lot of questions.

00:05:57.840 One that I've constantly had when I've had a recipe that's called for one onion, you know,

00:06:02.680 go to the produce section and then there's white onions, yellow onions, and red onions.

00:06:09.160 And I'm like, well, which onion do I get if it says one onion?

00:06:12.800 So like, what's the difference between the onions and like, when would you use one over

00:06:17.060 the other?

00:06:17.880 I think this is where, this is where folks get stuck.

00:06:20.360 And, you know, you go to the supermarket, you see all this kind of like cornucopias, like,

00:06:24.880 you know, all these different choices.

00:06:26.220 And the truth is you can use any onion and it'll be just fine.

00:06:31.580 You know, if you want to dork out and really get specific, individual onions have qualities.

00:06:36.240 So, you know, the Maui sweet onions that say Maui sweet or onions aren't necessarily sweeter

00:06:42.920 than the other onions.

00:06:44.120 They don't necessarily have more sugar in them.

00:06:47.040 They might have a little less sulfur.

00:06:48.580 So they're a little less bite if you're eating them raw.

00:06:50.700 But when you cook them down, it's hard to really tell the difference between the different

00:06:54.900 onions.

00:06:55.840 If you go with the yellow onion, it's always a, it's always a, the yellow onion is kind

00:07:00.160 of the workhorse.

00:07:00.860 The yellow Spanish onion, you just, you can kind of use that for everything.

00:07:04.500 And then, you know, you choose by color.

00:07:06.500 You say, I want a salad.

00:07:07.580 It will look good with some red onions or, or I'm pickling these onions and I don't want

00:07:11.600 to have any color.

00:07:12.340 I'll use a white onion and you can get deeper into it, obviously.

00:07:15.360 And then, and then that's where you, you know, you go from being a cook to being a chef

00:07:19.500 or whatever it is.

00:07:20.160 But ultimately the onions are interchangeable.

00:07:23.020 Don't, don't waste time in the onion aisle.

00:07:25.500 Yeah.

00:07:25.620 The one takeaway though, I got when, for as far as presentation, now, when I make burgers,

00:07:29.360 I get red onions because it just, it just looks pretty.

00:07:32.020 Yeah.

00:07:32.440 I mean, we, I've worked in restaurants where like the chef is like, we're only using red

00:07:36.060 onions because they're sweeter.

00:07:37.400 And then, you know, that's, it works.

00:07:40.000 And then it's a kind of easy to, it's really easy to, to claim something when, when, when

00:07:44.800 all the answers are right.

00:07:46.760 Right.

00:07:47.140 Well, and then another tip you gave too, about avoiding crying when you're cutting onions,

00:07:51.680 use a sharp knife.

00:07:52.540 Yeah.

00:07:52.980 Yeah.

00:07:53.420 Yeah.

00:07:53.860 I mean, you could definitely wear those ski goggles or put bread in your mouth or, you

00:07:57.680 know, gargle upside down with water or whatever the like old wives tales are that, that, um, 1.00

00:08:02.960 that are out there.

00:08:03.680 But ultimately you cry because you crush the onion and there's kind of a, there's a, uh,

00:08:09.880 an acid in there that gets mixed in with your eyes and, and makes, makes a burn.

00:08:14.260 And if you use a sharp knife, you don't crush the cells.

00:08:16.860 The acid is less of the acid is released and voila, as they say, across the pond.

00:08:23.140 All right.

00:08:23.780 Potatoes are another one.

00:08:24.580 You go and it says, you need potatoes.

00:08:25.960 Then you go to the potato section and there's like four different kinds of potatoes.

00:08:29.420 What's the difference between the different types of potatoes?

00:08:31.020 And like, when, when do you use one over the other?

00:08:32.860 Or does it matter?

00:08:33.480 Unfortunately, you're, you're, this one is matters a bit more, you know, some, some potatoes

00:08:38.980 are, are, are, are quite starchy, like a russet or a Kennebec potato, the baking potato

00:08:43.880 potato you use for French frying.

00:08:46.000 It's a little drier and a little, a little more starchy.

00:08:48.740 And then if you get into the like red bliss potatoes, um, or fingerling potatoes are a little

00:08:55.460 bit more waxy.

00:08:56.680 And so, you know, if you think about that, like for mashed potatoes, a dry starchy potato,

00:09:02.780 like a Kennebec potato is really, really great or a, or a russet potato or an Idaho potato.

00:09:08.800 I think they call them baking potatoes, big dogs.

00:09:11.420 And then some of the smaller potatoes, when they're, when they're more waxy, they tend,

00:09:15.980 if you try to mash them to get a little gummy, almost gummy in texture.

00:09:19.500 So they're better roasted again.

00:09:22.000 It's not like going to ruin Christmas.

00:09:24.480 If you use the wrong type of potato, it's, it'll be delicious.

00:09:26.960 I love a Yukon gold potatoes because they're kind of right in between their medium starch

00:09:34.280 potato and they have a really thin skin.

00:09:36.960 So you can kind of do everything with them and you don't have to peel them.

00:09:40.100 If you're making mashed potatoes, the peel just kind of disintegrates and gives it a nice

00:09:44.640 texture.

00:09:45.660 Okay.

00:09:46.200 So the russet, but like the, the more starchy potato, that's when you'd want to add like

00:09:50.040 fats to it to make it like a cream or a butter.

00:09:52.860 It makes it a little less flaky, I guess, is the, yeah, it absorbs more.

00:09:57.120 Like if you were making gnocchi, for instance, you know, you wouldn't necessarily want to

00:10:00.400 use like a, a, a starchy potato, excuse me, a, a waxy potato, because it'll be like, have

00:10:06.460 a gummy texture, almost like a pasta that's cooked in cold water or undercooked or something.

00:10:11.840 But you know, if you're, if, if the russet potatoes, the starchier potatoes, they do absorb

00:10:17.960 more fat.

00:10:19.580 So if you're making mashed potatoes, you want them really buttery, really creamy.

00:10:23.920 You know, when I'm making, I think people get, get shocked when I'm making mashed potatoes,

00:10:27.980 I'm putting like a ton of butter, a ton of cream.

00:10:31.540 And then you, you know, if anybody's ever made this mistake, I'm sure we have, you make

00:10:36.080 your mashed potatoes, you think they're perfect texture, you put them out on the table.

00:10:40.280 And then when you go to scoop them, it's like a brick because the starch in those potatoes

00:10:44.840 just continues to absorb the moisture and hydrate.

00:10:48.600 So, you know, if you want to be able to add maximum flavor, that's the way to go.

00:10:53.720 Start your potato for sure.

00:10:55.520 Let's talk about vegetables.

00:10:56.960 So I've had instances where I haven't been able to get to the grocery store to get, you

00:11:01.840 know, fresh produce, fresh vegetables, but I had some frozen stuff.

00:11:05.120 Is using the frozen stuff.

00:11:06.180 Okay.

00:11:06.400 This was, this kind of Matt, Matt Rodbard, you know, food writer, Daniel Holzman, chef.

00:11:13.500 We were pretty snooty about frozen food.

00:11:15.880 It's kind of like you, you're, you know, you look down on folks who use frozen vegetables.

00:11:19.580 Sorry, but, and so we were talking about it one day and we thought, you know, we're, we

00:11:23.900 have this strong opinion, but we've never really given it a go.

00:11:26.800 So let's buy some frozen vegetables.

00:11:28.620 It was kind of like a snarky attempt to, to prove ourselves right.

00:11:31.960 And, um, we were shocked.

00:11:34.040 I mean, there's amazing quality frozen vegetables and, you know, we were using asparagus that

00:11:39.740 we thought would just be mushy and terrible.

00:11:41.660 And it turns out, you know, these are not your grandma's frozen vegetables.

00:11:45.160 A lot of technology has gone into a lot of technological advances have happened in the

00:11:49.880 last, you know, a hundred years.

00:11:51.120 We all know that.

00:11:52.380 And those advances show themselves in places like the freezer section where the cold chain

00:11:58.360 isn't broken so that, you know, a vegetable gets frozen out in the field and it, when

00:12:02.380 it makes it all clean, frozen, picked, clean, frozen at the height of freshness out in the

00:12:06.600 field, makes it all the way to your freezer without ever having kind of like a melted,

00:12:10.720 which tends to get them a little bit mushy and they're like snappy and crunchy and fresh

00:12:15.360 and, and delicious.

00:12:17.180 So if I had a farmer's market next door, I don't think I would be using the frozen asparagus

00:12:21.540 in the spring, but they're absolutely, you shouldn't be ashamed of them and probably

00:12:26.820 no one will know.

00:12:27.600 So yes, feel good about the frozen vegetables.

00:12:30.280 Feel good about the frozen vegetables.

00:12:31.720 Here's another issue I've had and you talk about is picking out avocados.

00:12:35.380 I'll spend, you know, minutes trying to figure out, find the right avocado for different

00:12:41.600 situations.

00:12:42.100 Like the problem I have with avocados is if I'm making a meal like two days out, I'm

00:12:46.540 trying to, well, is this avocado going to be ready for that?

00:12:50.080 So any tips on picking an avocado for your meals?

00:12:54.160 I feel like picking an avocado is like buying a house, you know, it's a real

00:12:56.620 investment.

00:12:57.600 You spend like four bucks on one of those bad boys and then you open it up and it's

00:13:01.260 got those like brown streaks in it and it's ruined or it's hard as a rock.

00:13:04.480 And you, I mean, you know, avocado, my dad had an avocado tree in his backyard.

00:13:08.460 Avocados take like a month and a half to ripen and they only ripen off the tree.

00:13:12.560 We didn't realize that for the first couple of years, we were like, these things are like,

00:13:15.100 you know, good for playing baseball.

00:13:16.940 It's about it.

00:13:17.940 And so we're just throwing them out, you know, and then we figured out like, oh, these

00:13:21.460 things take a month, month and a half to ripen.

00:13:24.100 So you can really buy an avocado and then, you know, for, for dinner in two days and

00:13:28.120 like two weeks later, it's still rock hard.

00:13:30.420 The trick is a gentle push.

00:13:32.940 So, you know, ruin or mash, whatever's going on.

00:13:35.760 You push on it a little bit.

00:13:36.860 If your thumb just gently starts to push in, but the best trick I've found is, is you pull

00:13:41.520 that little bolster, that little nub of a branch that's still stuck in there out and

00:13:46.100 you look inside and you want it to be, so you want it to be just barely soft, but you

00:13:50.340 want that to be bright green.

00:13:51.780 If there's any brown under the stem, it will mean that it could probably be a bit rotten

00:13:56.960 over the edge, over the edge, over the edge.

00:13:59.360 You want to avoid over the line Lebowski. 1.00

00:14:02.540 All right.

00:14:03.040 So I like that.

00:14:03.760 I'm going to use that tip, take off the nub.

00:14:05.520 That's a really cool one.

00:14:06.880 Let's talk about picking out meat.

00:14:08.220 Like let's start with beef.

00:14:09.500 Do you think grass-fed beef is worth it?

00:14:11.640 I think that, you know, contextually all things are worth it, but it just depends upon what

00:14:16.300 your goal is.

00:14:17.360 You know, America traditionally is not a grass-fed beef country.

00:14:22.340 Like we make really, we, we have the best beef in the world.

00:14:25.140 In my opinion, I'm a big America guy.

00:14:26.880 Why not?

00:14:27.400 I love my country and I love that.

00:14:29.760 I love like a delicious, juicy steak.

00:14:32.060 And when I think of that, I think of grain-fed meat.

00:14:34.920 Grass-fed beef is leaner.

00:14:36.500 It can be gamier and it can be really, really delicious, but you don't cook it the same

00:14:41.060 way.

00:14:41.760 So for those of us that were brought up, most of us here, you know, in America that were

00:14:45.340 brought up on grain-fed beef, transitioning over, we think, well, this, we don't love the

00:14:50.540 way this tastes often, but usually that's because we don't really know how to cook it.

00:14:56.500 Most of the countries where you find, you know, grass-fed beef, they either cut the meat

00:15:02.420 quite thin and serve it on the rare side or, or it's, you know, kind of really, really thinly

00:15:08.540 cut and cooked on well done.

00:15:10.520 So I like, I like the flavor of grass-fed beef and I've definitely had some amazing experiences

00:15:17.380 with grass-fed beef, but generally I don't, you know, like, do I really think that grass-fed

00:15:22.600 beef is super healthy for you?

00:15:24.200 I think that if you really, really want to be healthy, you should limit the amount of,

00:15:28.460 you know, beef you eat.

00:15:29.560 And I like the one tip I really took away from when you're picking out beef is where

00:15:36.220 you go to get your beef or meat, whatever butcher, make sure the butcher knows like the

00:15:41.920 source of their meat.

00:15:42.700 Cause then they're, they're able to answer more questions that you have about you, about

00:15:46.920 the meat you're buying.

00:15:47.780 I think like, if you ask that one question to a butcher, like, Hey, where did this meat

00:15:51.420 come from?

00:15:52.180 And they can answer that, you know, you know, you are dealing with somebody who cares and

00:15:56.780 knows a lot and, you know, that is, it's, it's actually a really simple, but very, very

00:16:03.800 complicated question to answer because the nature of the, the beef market in America is

00:16:10.600 not so straightforward.

00:16:12.280 You know, beef doesn't get grown in one place.

00:16:14.220 They tend to trade hands quite often.

00:16:16.340 It's a commodity.

00:16:17.040 So they'll travel all over the country and they get, you know, farmed in one place and

00:16:21.360 finished in another and butchered in another.

00:16:23.080 So, you know, by the time it gets to you, it could have traded hands so many times.

00:16:27.520 It's very difficult to know exactly what's going on there, especially with stuff like

00:16:32.980 ground beef, where you can have different cows from different places in the world, all

00:16:36.960 kind of mixed in together, different steer.

00:16:40.580 So yeah, if you ask the butcher where the beef came from and they can answer that question,

00:16:44.600 where the meat came from, they can answer that question.

00:16:46.640 You're going a long way.

00:16:48.100 You're cutting through a lot of it and you really get somebody that knows what they're

00:16:50.960 talking about, cares a lot.

00:16:52.700 It's pretty impressive.

00:16:54.960 And you had this one section that I loved because it answered some questions that I've

00:16:58.140 often had about a foodborne illness from meat.

00:17:02.480 And you guys make the case that you probably shouldn't be too freaked out about foodborne

00:17:06.680 illness from meat.

00:17:07.440 Why is that?

00:17:08.380 I always laugh at, you know, I always say that like my, I've got the stomach of Billy

00:17:12.060 goat, like an alley cat.

00:17:13.180 I can eat anything, you know, and never get sick.

00:17:15.720 And my wife's always, she's like, you're just constantly complaining that your stomach

00:17:18.840 hurts.

00:17:20.480 So I don't know, maybe I don't have the, I'm not the best person to take my advice,

00:17:24.260 but realistically, you know, when we get, there's kind of a couple of different, we

00:17:31.000 get like a grumbly tummy, you know, I ate too much, or maybe it was a little fatty.

00:17:34.780 It didn't agree with me too much acid, something like that slept on the wrong side.

00:17:38.400 You know, that, that aside, when you really get food sick, it's a, it's a really extreme

00:17:45.200 and terrible experience.

00:17:45.920 One that few of us forget.

00:17:47.600 And often it'll be the last time we eat the thing that we associated with.

00:17:51.080 Like, you know, you ate those oysters, you were like writhing in pain, thought you had

00:17:54.520 to go to the hospital, or maybe you should just end it.

00:17:56.740 And then you think I'm never eating an oyster again.

00:17:59.520 That's it.

00:17:59.960 It's not any worth it, but usually it wasn't the oyster.

00:18:02.780 It was like the salad because salad is just way more vulnerable.

00:18:08.080 A lot of foodborne illnesses die with heat.

00:18:11.260 So when you cook something, it makes it innocuous or whatever it was called, benevolent, benevolent

00:18:17.880 bacteria.

00:18:18.920 It makes it safe to eat.

00:18:21.440 So, you know, for all those things that we're cooking and something like a steak, you know,

00:18:25.140 bacteria doesn't like find its way into the center of the steak. 0.99

00:18:27.640 It'll be on the outside.

00:18:29.020 So, you know, if you, if you grill it, even if it's rare in the middle, it's still

00:18:32.720 cooked on the outside.

00:18:34.080 And if meat has gone bad to the point where it's going to get you sick, like, you know

00:18:38.660 it, a bad piece of meat is extraordinarily pungent and it's just terrible.

00:18:43.560 Like no one's eating like a rotten chicken.

00:18:45.660 You know what rotten chicken smells like, you know, people are often like smelling, they're

00:18:49.580 like, is this chicken?

00:18:50.440 Okay.

00:18:50.680 I'm like, trust me, homie, if the chicken was not good, you wouldn't be asking, you'd

00:18:54.780 be throwing it away.

00:18:55.560 Cause it smells disgusting.

00:18:56.700 Like we are, you know, for thousands of years programmed, uh, you know, we don't really

00:19:02.140 trust our instincts as human beings because we have these big old brains that, you know,

00:19:07.020 supersede, but like trust your instincts with the meat.

00:19:10.060 If it smells bad, don't eat it.

00:19:11.260 And if it smells fine, also you can rinse it off because bacteria lives on the outside.

00:19:15.480 Just like, you know, when you smell bad, you don't throw yourself out.

00:19:17.920 You take a shower.

00:19:18.540 So give your, give your chicken a shower is okay.

00:19:21.600 What about, uh, you know, I think people like, are, you know, they, they're okay eating

00:19:26.320 a rare steak and, you know, if it's just red in the middle, what about chicken?

00:19:29.380 I know a lot of people freak out.

00:19:30.460 Oh, there's still pink in the middle.

00:19:32.200 Is that, are you going to get salmonella?

00:19:33.960 I think we've just been programmed to, you know, we've just been programmed that like

00:19:39.120 pork is scary, chicken, scary beef is not, but you know, it's a bit arbitrary and obviously

00:19:44.380 like salmonella does exist.

00:19:46.000 And, you know, there are cases of folks that, that have gotten salmonella, but it's

00:19:51.040 really, really, really, really rare.

00:19:53.380 I mean, you like drive to work on the freeway.

00:19:55.860 That's super dangerous.

00:19:57.280 Eating a piece of rare chicken is kind of like, you know, be like, you know, walking your dog

00:20:01.900 on a Sunday afternoon.

00:20:02.820 You could get hit by a car, but quite unlikely.

00:20:05.760 So, you know, I don't love, I've been looking in Japan, they eat a lot of raw chicken and,

00:20:11.440 you know, I've been traveling around and eating some raw chicken.

00:20:14.100 And it's not my favorite texture in the world.

00:20:17.000 You know, I didn't grow up with it in my childhood.

00:20:19.320 So maybe that's why I associate it.

00:20:20.820 It just doesn't, doesn't, doesn't sit perfectly well with me.

00:20:23.700 So I tend to cook my chicken, but I cook my chicken to like medium.

00:20:26.580 If you follow the guidelines set up by the USDA, the USDA sets out these like safe cooking

00:20:31.580 temperature guidelines.

00:20:32.740 And if you, if anybody's ever like cooked a turkey till that little, like the, till the

00:20:36.400 turkey was ready, then a thing pops out and your turkey is just like dry, like sand,

00:20:41.960 you know, crumbly and just terrible.

00:20:43.780 Everybody hates turkey because they overcook it, not because turkey is terrible.

00:20:48.200 And, you know, I'm a big proponent of cooking things until their most delicious temperature.

00:20:53.960 You know, is it more risky?

00:20:56.040 You're not going to, you know, like I'm still alive.

00:20:58.060 I'm here talking to you, you know, but I have, I, there's other risky behaviors in my

00:21:02.400 life.

00:21:02.680 So I don't know.

00:21:03.860 Again, I wouldn't take my advice and bring it to a lawyer, but you know, from, for maximum

00:21:07.900 deliciousness, don't overcook your chicken.

00:21:10.180 Yeah, I think you're right.

00:21:11.100 I think if, if you're going to get sick from food, it's probably going to be from produce.

00:21:15.560 Cause I mean, I think back at all the times I've gotten sick from eating produce has always

00:21:19.980 been involved.

00:21:20.460 Like the last time I got really sick, I ate these raw green beans and that night I felt

00:21:25.860 like I was going to, I just, I felt like I thought I was going to die.

00:21:28.340 It was terrible.

00:21:28.960 So you say always wash your produce, you know, use a salad spinner or whatever.

00:21:33.980 Yeah.

00:21:34.120 I think if you, you know, if you think about like, you know, lettuce grows on the ground

00:21:38.800 and, you know, you get deer that jumped the fence and they're walking through their, you

00:21:43.440 know, own fecal matter. 0.91

00:21:45.140 And then it's kind of gross way to say it, but true.

00:21:48.440 And then, and then trotting on your lettuce and then that gets on the lettuce.

00:21:51.680 And that's where, you know, you get that E. coli scare where you hear like, you know,

00:21:55.380 all of the Romaine in the Northeast was recalled because that's really dangerous.

00:22:00.360 Like you eat that and gets you very, very sick.

00:22:02.660 Folks get hospitalized. 0.99

00:22:03.640 If you're young or immunocompromised, it can be devastating.

00:22:07.780 So like, you know, you don't really hear a lot about the great beef recall, but we

00:22:12.900 hear a lot about kale and lettuce getting recalled because people eat it raw and because

00:22:17.440 it grows on the ground.

00:22:18.320 And yeah, that's what, that's where it comes from.

00:22:21.520 We're going to take a quick break for your words from our sponsors.

00:22:25.380 And now back to the show.

00:22:27.200 All right, let's talk about salt.

00:22:28.160 I've been to Whole Foods and there's like a whole aisle for salt now.

00:22:31.520 There's like Himalayan pink salt, rock salt.

00:22:34.620 Is there a difference between all these salts and should you use one instance over another?

00:22:40.160 I think that there are some, you know, look, like there's a lot of snake oil salesmen out

00:22:44.280 there.

00:22:44.660 So there's like, there's some weird claims.

00:22:48.040 Like you'd use this salt and you'll be healthy.

00:22:50.100 It's like, yeah, like that's not, or, you know, it doesn't really work that way.

00:22:53.840 Like salt's really good for us.

00:22:55.320 Like we electrolyte water or whatever else we need it to, for, for, for human function.

00:23:00.260 But you know, the, the difference in the salt is really visual and textural and not flavor

00:23:06.400 driven.

00:23:06.840 So I think you can throw the health claims out the window first and foremost, but you know,

00:23:11.860 if you want to be a weirdo and like, believe in that, that's completely, I have all the respect

00:23:15.620 to the world.

00:23:16.020 You're just scientifically not right, but maybe I'm wrong.

00:23:18.600 So I just want to throw that caveat out there, but from a textural perspective, there, there's

00:23:24.700 a, there's a big difference.

00:23:25.580 So like as a finishing salt, not dissolved, you know, on top of something, there's those

00:23:31.100 like Maldon salt have a great kind of texture crunch.

00:23:34.080 The cell gris that have those like textural crunch to them.

00:23:36.940 The pink Himalayan salt can look really, really beautiful.

00:23:39.520 Or those like black, black volcanic salts, you know, you're making some kind of dish where

00:23:43.120 that, that on the outside will look really beautiful, but if you dissolve the salt in

00:23:48.220 water and then taste it, the human palate cannot detect the difference with all the different

00:23:53.220 mineral claims.

00:23:54.020 So there is no flavor difference.

00:23:56.360 So ultimately you're spending money to throw it away.

00:23:59.720 So I'm a kosher salt guy, not just because I'm Jewish, but because it's a, because I'm not 0.99

00:24:05.840 kosher, but it's the least expensive, most consistent.

00:24:09.920 And the most important piece of the puzzle, I think when it comes to using any of the

00:24:13.100 salt is to be really consistent because the one big difference is depending upon the size

00:24:18.040 of the salt crystals, your pinch will be different.

00:24:21.380 Like you can practice, you can, if you get a digital scale, you can kind of weigh different

00:24:24.880 pinch sizes of salt from different pinches of salt from different, or even teaspoons of

00:24:29.580 salt, you know, a volumetric measurement of different types of salt.

00:24:33.160 And you realize they weigh vastly different amounts because they stack differently.

00:24:37.740 So by being consistent, you'll be consistent with your seasoning.

00:24:40.540 I moved from New York where, where diamond crystal was kind of like predominant.

00:24:45.020 And then out here in LA, Morton's, Morton's kosher salt is the, is the kind of like ubiquitous.

00:24:51.500 So I started using Morton's and I started over seasoning everything.

00:24:55.160 I mean, everything I made it, people would be like, oh, it's a little salty.

00:24:57.760 And it was because the Morton's is saltier by the, by volume than diamond crystal.

00:25:03.100 And so it took some adjusting.

00:25:04.780 Do you think people typically over or under salt their food?

00:25:07.420 I think people like under salt their food, like criminally under salt their food.

00:25:14.080 I think it's the number, it's a pandemic.

00:25:16.160 It's the number one issue with food.

00:25:18.380 You know, home cooks are like, why does my food not taste good?

00:25:20.820 And you're just like, cause you didn't.

00:25:22.820 People are, cause look, the reality is you can always add more salt.

00:25:25.940 So over salting is devastating.

00:25:27.740 It's like lights out curtains on the whole meal.

00:25:30.540 There's nothing you can do to fix it.

00:25:31.700 It's done.

00:25:32.100 So I understand being afraid of that, but, you know, under salted food is, you know,

00:25:38.940 it's terrible.

00:25:40.420 All right.

00:25:40.640 So when it says salt liberally, like you should salt liberally, like more than you think you

00:25:45.200 need to.

00:25:45.820 You know, I think, look, ultimately what you should really do is you should taste before

00:25:50.420 you bring it out to the table.

00:25:51.840 And then, and then you should season it again.

00:25:54.580 Don't be afraid to add more salt.

00:25:56.020 If you think it's, if look, if you're like, ah, what does it need?

00:25:58.880 Add more salt.

00:25:59.520 Because what does it need means it's not salty enough period.

00:26:02.260 Every time, you know, seven days a week, twice on Sunday, we at, in food IQ, Matt and

00:26:06.900 I really tried to break down a few of these questions to help folks.

00:26:10.260 Like if you, if you think about it, like 1% by weight of salt is pretty much the right

00:26:17.980 amount.

00:26:18.820 If that makes sense in, in scenarios where all the salt is going to be served.

00:26:22.600 So like, and a lot of times you salt something and not all the salt makes its way to your mouth,

00:26:27.960 right?

00:26:28.180 Like you salt the water for the pasta and then you cook the pasta in it.

00:26:31.800 Not all that salt you put in the water is getting consumed, right?

00:26:34.320 Just the stuff that got absorbed by the pasta.

00:26:36.500 So you use a lot more salt so that the pasta will absorb the right amount and the rest gets

00:26:42.120 kind of thrown away.

00:26:43.480 But when it comes to salting something that you're going to like eat 1% by weight will

00:26:48.840 get you there.

00:26:49.320 So when in doubt, like use the metric system, weigh it, divide by a hundred, add that amount

00:26:54.580 of salt, salting a chicken, for instance, that's a really great way to do it.

00:26:58.380 You salt it overnight and you know, it's properly seasoned.

00:27:00.620 It'll be, you'll be a winner at your next chicken dinner.

00:27:02.800 All right.

00:27:03.220 Let's talk tools of the trade.

00:27:04.560 Is there one all purpose pan you think a home chef should have?

00:27:08.400 I hate to like, you know, to hock the like expensive brand, but a 10 inch all clad saute

00:27:16.660 pan, frying pan, whatever it is, it's a really great tool.

00:27:19.820 And I've had the same one hanging in my kitchen and I use it almost every single day for like

00:27:25.740 ever.

00:27:26.420 It's just a, it's just a, it's just a perfectly made piece of equipment.

00:27:31.600 It's perfectly designed.

00:27:33.180 It's durable, easy to clean.

00:27:35.780 You know, you can pretty much make almost anything you need in that pan.

00:27:41.640 So, yeah, I think that it's worth, and look, it's like, you know, it's like, wow, it's

00:27:45.120 almost 150 bucks, 108 bucks.

00:27:46.800 That is a ton of dough.

00:27:48.200 And I completely understand being like, well, I could just buy, but I feel like people are

00:27:52.640 like always buying a set of pans.

00:27:55.240 If I had a choice of buying like the 47 piece set for, you know, $800, I'd rather spend the

00:28:03.040 800 bucks on four or three of the pieces, great quality pieces that I need.

00:28:10.000 Cause let's face it.

00:28:10.860 We actually don't use all those pans.

00:28:13.060 Folks don't use all those pans.

00:28:14.440 No, I think, I think a lot of times people buy the set cause it looks good hanging up in

00:28:18.320 their kitchen.

00:28:19.640 I certainly have one of them hanging up in my kitchen.

00:28:21.560 So yeah, I can't blame them for that.

00:28:24.560 And so you also get into like the difference between nonstick, stainless steel, cast iron,

00:28:29.080 carbon.

00:28:29.520 I mean, is there a big difference?

00:28:32.060 And if there is like, when would you use one over the other, or is it just a matter of

00:28:35.240 preference?

00:28:36.240 I feel like this is more like the potatoes and then the onions.

00:28:38.920 So there, there is a difference, but you know, like, again, if you get a stainless steel,

00:28:44.240 all clad pan, like it'll work for almost for anything.

00:28:48.300 Now, if you use a cast iron pan, the downside is that it can rust, takes a little bit more

00:28:53.840 care.

00:28:54.260 It's quite heavy.

00:28:55.120 The upside is the weight of the cast iron pan.

00:28:58.000 It holds a lot more heat.

00:28:59.860 So there's just more massive metal and that metal holds more heat.

00:29:03.780 So like, let's say you take a piece of steak, cold steak, thick steak.

00:29:08.920 And you think of that steak is, you know, what temperature is it?

00:29:12.300 40 degrees and it's a pound of steak.

00:29:14.660 You put that in a, in a thinner frying pan and that cold steak will draw the heat out

00:29:20.580 of the pan.

00:29:21.340 And then that's when you start to get like either maybe it starts to stick or it starts

00:29:25.920 to kind of like release its liquid and simmer.

00:29:28.040 You get that grayish kind of color and that boiled flavor because it's kind of boiling

00:29:33.220 the water, but it's steaming the steak.

00:29:35.340 Whereas a cast iron pan's got all of that heat mass and you put that cold steak in there.

00:29:40.240 And even though it's drawing the temperature out, there's enough.

00:29:42.300 Temperature to maintain so that it sears all the way through and it gets really nice and

00:29:45.900 golden brown and, and it's crispy all the, you know, the whole time.

00:29:50.220 So a thicker, heavier pan will hold more heat, you know, cast iron again requires more care

00:29:55.860 can rust.

00:29:56.420 So you really have some special kind of care that you need to take a thinner pan heats

00:30:00.380 up faster though.

00:30:01.220 So that's interesting.

00:30:01.980 It responds.

00:30:02.860 So use a cast iron pan.

00:30:03.980 If it's too hot or it's too cold, like it's going to take a few minutes to, to change that

00:30:09.100 temperature.

00:30:09.520 So it's like, you're not making, you're not making adjustments on the fly.

00:30:14.380 And then nonstick pans, like, you know, they're just, you know, because they're really great

00:30:19.820 and there's, they're, they're really, they work so well.

00:30:22.380 I feel like they become a crutch that we use them for everything.

00:30:26.400 And that's just, it's a little bit, it's a little bit lazy.

00:30:29.640 So there's nothing wrong with it, but ultimately, you know, they, they don't last forever.

00:30:34.780 So I have a nonstick pan.

00:30:36.780 I love the watching Jacques Pepin and then trying to make a perfect omelet in a regular

00:30:42.420 stainless steel pan.

00:30:43.380 And I do it and I'm proud of myself when it works.

00:30:45.920 But like, you know, if it was a competition or I had a really important guest, you reach

00:30:52.520 for the nonstick pan.

00:30:53.300 Cause you know, it's foolproof.

00:30:54.220 It's going to work really, really well for those type of, for the, you know, for those

00:30:57.720 like sticky situations.

00:30:59.100 Let's talk about knives.

00:31:00.380 What's your take on kitchen knives?

00:31:01.660 Is there, is there such a thing as the best kitchen knife?

00:31:04.480 I think that the Vustov 10 inch or depending upon your eight to 10, depending upon how big

00:31:09.640 of a hand and, you know, you have chef's knife is kind of like that knife is really

00:31:15.480 pretty bomb proof.

00:31:16.560 It's like the all clad pan.

00:31:17.660 It's really, it's really amazing.

00:31:20.200 But knives, I'd say part of knives are the, are the, you know, any, you can get almost

00:31:25.200 any piece of steel sharp.

00:31:26.780 If you sharpen your own knives, if you're one of those types of people, or if you send 0.98

00:31:30.000 them out to get sharp, ultimately a sharper knife is a better knife, right?

00:31:33.600 So like most folks, it doesn't really matter what quality knife they're using because their

00:31:38.840 knives are just dull.

00:31:40.200 So it's like, you might as well just throw it away, not to be glib or rude about it, but like,

00:31:45.840 the sharpness of the knife is the most important piece of the puzzle.

00:31:49.400 I love that.

00:31:50.400 My like 10 inch, I have a nine inch Vustov chef's knife that I've had forever.

00:31:54.740 And the thing is just amazingly well-crafted.

00:31:58.520 It holds its edge.

00:31:59.640 It sharpens easily.

00:32:01.200 It's weighted perfectly, but knives are more than just how well they perform.

00:32:06.620 There's also the kind of aesthetic and how they hold in your hand.

00:32:10.060 And I've got some beautiful Japanese knives that I'm really, really proud of.

00:32:12.960 On my counter, I always have kind of fancy Japanese knives, but I'm a chef.

00:32:16.820 So I've got like this knife collection of, you know, knives that are gifted or knives

00:32:21.120 that I've bought over the years.

00:32:22.160 So, you know, if you, if you buy a Victorinox kind of like plastic handled knife, the steel

00:32:29.660 is great.

00:32:30.340 They're well-crafted.

00:32:31.660 They're very, very comfortable.

00:32:34.040 It's what most butchers use and they work great.

00:32:37.200 So like, there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

00:32:39.680 And they're, they're less expensive and you shouldn't feel uncomfortable about it.

00:32:43.060 But, you know, again, you buy stuff for the way it looks and feels and how it makes you

00:32:48.300 feel.

00:32:48.660 And if you think having an expensive knife will make you a better cook, then I'm all for it.

00:32:53.400 Okay.

00:32:53.780 Let's talk about the oven.

00:32:54.720 So I think everyone's seen the convection bake button on their oven.

00:32:59.260 What is that?

00:33:00.060 Like, when, when did you use it?

00:33:01.340 I've always wondered like, when should I be using this?

00:33:03.060 I feel like the technology in the kitchen, just, it's a shame.

00:33:06.840 Cause it's like, it's really, really helps a lot.

00:33:09.600 There's a lot of good outcomes of it, but it's intimidating again.

00:33:12.980 And, you know, like if you just have a fire, you can make a delicious meal.

00:33:16.420 It's like, you don't have to really feel like you need the convection oven.

00:33:20.620 Most ovens, you know, the heat, the fires on the bottom, it heats up the natural convective

00:33:26.480 kind of heat rises, keeps the heat bouncing around on the inside, the steel or whatever the

00:33:32.480 oven's made of heats up. 0.54

00:33:34.060 And then it radiates heat into your food, radiant heat.

00:33:37.960 Convection is like having a fan in there that blows the air.

00:33:42.220 So you get a drier heat.

00:33:44.920 So it crisps stuff up and browns it faster.

00:33:48.800 If you were baking chocolate chip cookies, you don't want to use it.

00:33:51.700 You want, you want radiant heat that's slow and gentle convection when you're baking chocolate

00:33:56.820 chip cookies can be really detrimental.

00:33:58.940 But if you want to like crisp Brussels sprouts, then I'd say convection is a great way to go.

00:34:05.740 People think it's faster because it's, it's like, it's not hotter and you know, it's like,

00:34:09.940 it's not hotter, but energy wise it's hotter.

00:34:12.540 So it's, it is adding more energy more quickly to the food.

00:34:16.520 So, okay.

00:34:17.260 I cook a prime rib every new year for my family.

00:34:20.520 Should I be convection baking that thing when I'm roasting it the entire time or just regular

00:34:25.480 bake?

00:34:25.880 You should be doing regular bake and not convection.

00:34:30.060 When you're thinking about prime rib, you're thinking of a big piece of meat and that, that

00:34:34.000 fan will dry out and brown the outside before the inside is cooked.

00:34:41.940 So if you think about it, it's a, it's a, it's faster and harsher.

00:34:45.160 So it's great for browning on the outside, but you could burn it before it cooks all the

00:34:49.320 way through.

00:34:49.620 Whereas if you use a regular gentle heat, it'll bake more evenly.

00:34:55.040 Same thing with that Thanksgiving turkey, you know, like we've all seen when, when the

00:34:59.500 turkey skin gets burned before the inside's cooked, it's kind of like, it's hard to come

00:35:03.440 back from that one.

00:35:04.440 So I'd say no convection.

00:35:07.100 No convection bake.

00:35:08.360 Let's talk about, I thought this was interesting.

00:35:10.460 You make the case that people should start weighing their ingredients instead of doling them

00:35:14.860 out and measuring spoons and cups.

00:35:16.600 Why is that?

00:35:17.860 I feel like, I mean, as a chef, I weigh everything and every one of my recipes at the restaurants

00:35:23.980 are, you know, gram weight.

00:35:26.180 And look, like a scale used to be an expensive kind of difficult thing to navigate.

00:35:34.060 And it just isn't that way anymore.

00:35:35.720 You can go on Amazon and buy a scale for 25 bucks and it'll last forever.

00:35:40.260 And it's super, super accurate.

00:35:42.540 It's small and light and easy to use.

00:35:45.120 And there's no reason not to.

00:35:46.940 When you weigh stuff, you get really, really accurate consistency.

00:35:50.500 And when you keep track of stuff by weight, you start to help yourself under, like, you

00:35:55.300 know, our grandma would have told us, you know, you add a pinch of salt and we know what

00:35:59.780 a pinch of salt is, or she certainly does.

00:36:01.900 But like, you know, my grandma's fingers and my fingers were different size.

00:36:05.080 And my pinch of salt is a little bit different.

00:36:06.860 And it's very hard to communicate and remember for her.

00:36:10.400 It was easy.

00:36:10.840 She, she knows I always use a handful of salt in that or a pinch of salt in that. 1.00

00:36:14.500 Well, it's, you're training yourself to remember like a hundred grams of salt for, for this

00:36:19.860 or 50 for that.

00:36:20.820 And again, when it comes to that, like chicken, it's a lot, it becomes a lot harder to, to

00:36:26.640 figure out exactly how much salt I need.

00:36:29.100 Whereas when I, when I weigh stuff and I think, well, 1%, it's very, very easy for me to

00:36:34.660 calculate the salt properly.

00:36:37.460 And then the biggest one for me is like, I love trying to perfect something.

00:36:41.740 And I hear a lot of people like, oh man, I've been making this over and over.

00:36:45.040 I'm really trying to perfect it.

00:36:46.460 When you weigh your ingredients, you really give yourself a great advantage because you

00:36:52.460 know exactly how to adjust something, right?

00:36:54.640 Like a little more salt, actually, you can say, well, let's go with 10% more.

00:36:58.580 And it's really, really easy to remember that.

00:37:01.720 Like it, I find it to be, if you're serious and you really want to make great food, it'll

00:37:08.240 be one of the steps you can take to, to, to step up your game big time.

00:37:13.040 Okay.

00:37:13.540 And I think too, like with baking, measuring by weighing is probably, you'll get a better

00:37:18.720 result if you do that instead of just trying to use the big measuring cups.

00:37:21.800 Like the flour, if you weigh flour from one day to another, a given volume of flour will

00:37:27.920 weigh a different amount because there's more moisture or less moisture.

00:37:30.420 Like the, the volume is just less accurate and less consistent.

00:37:34.240 We talked about it with the salt, all ingredients.

00:37:36.040 Like think about like a cup of chopped strawberries, you know, think of how much spinach when they

00:37:42.040 say like a cup of spinach, think about how much spinach you could jam into a cup.

00:37:45.840 Or if you lightly pack it, it's like one leaf, you know, it's just really, really difficult

00:37:50.540 to convey consistently.

00:37:52.420 Like think about the difference in the size, one onion, you know, I've seen onions the size

00:37:56.440 of my head.

00:37:57.440 And then you see onions that are the size of like a, you know, like a pebble.

00:38:00.560 It's really difficult to, to maintain consistency without, without weight, which is, you know,

00:38:06.260 weight is really, really definite.

00:38:08.740 All right.

00:38:09.200 Let's talk about some basic kitchen staples that people mess up all the time.

00:38:12.940 And one you start off with was spaghetti.

00:38:15.640 How do people mess up spaghetti?

00:38:17.200 I mean, it just seems like you're just putting dry pasta and boiling, boiling.

00:38:20.540 So how does this go wrong?

00:38:23.120 I mean, I feel like, how do people mess up spaghetti?

00:38:28.580 That could be my next book on 100 ways to mess up spaghetti.

00:38:33.440 You know, I think that people don't understand that that whole heat thing we were talking

00:38:38.360 about with the frying pan, like a thicker, heavier frying pan will, you know, have more

00:38:43.020 heat.

00:38:43.400 Well, when you're boiling spaghetti, you want to cook it in rapidly boiling water.

00:38:48.320 Right.

00:38:48.680 So like anything less than that in the spaghetti can be quite gummy.

00:38:53.640 So the trick is keeping the water boiling.

00:38:56.400 And the way to do that is using enough water that when you add the cold pasta to the boiling

00:39:02.880 water, it doesn't cool it down and stop it from boiling.

00:39:05.080 And the way to do that is with lots of water.

00:39:07.040 So like, I think the number one way people mess up pastas, they just cook it in too small

00:39:12.100 of a pot.

00:39:12.700 You know, there's no amount of water that's too much.

00:39:15.560 For me, it's a gallon a pound is the right, is the right kind of ratio.

00:39:19.020 So if you're using, you should just, you know, and you can't put a gallon in a gallon pot,

00:39:23.740 right?

00:39:24.020 Because it's going to spill all over the place.

00:39:25.520 So like if I'm doing a pound of pasta, I use an eight quart pot and I put four or five,

00:39:30.180 six quarts of water in there.

00:39:31.480 I bring it to a rapid boil with the cover on, you salt the water to season the pasta.

00:39:36.200 Otherwise your pasta isn't going to get seasoned at all.

00:39:39.160 And you want that, that salt to, you know, the pasta to be seasoned properly.

00:39:42.660 And then obviously folks overcook their pasta. 0.98

00:39:45.420 So you cook it one minute less than it says on the package, and then you finish it in whatever

00:39:50.100 sauce you're, you're planning on serving it with so that it absorbs the flavor.

00:39:53.500 That's kind of the, that's kind of the restaurant method for making great pasta,

00:39:57.900 but definitely a lot of very rapidly boiling water.

00:40:02.340 Otherwise you're just never going to come back from that.

00:40:05.340 Is throwing spaghetti at the refrigerator, is that a good way to know if it's ready?

00:40:08.800 I like to toss my spaghetti.

00:40:11.020 My mom is a painter, so I like to just throw it right at her paintings. 0.68

00:40:14.280 I mean, you can't, you should not, I have, I have done the spaghetti test.

00:40:18.900 And the reality is if you throw it at the wall and it sticks, it's really overcooked.

00:40:22.380 So if you're going for, if you're going for mushy spaghetti, I think I made honey,

00:40:27.200 boo, boo, child's, uh, skitty recipe with ketchup.

00:40:30.700 And she, she suggests that that was the only time I really tried it and it works.

00:40:34.240 It works.

00:40:34.940 If it sticks, it's overcooked.

00:40:36.100 So if it sticks, you start over.

00:40:38.660 Let's talk about scrambled eggs.

00:40:39.820 Seems like that's an easy thing to do, you know, put it in a pan, but how do people mess

00:40:43.600 up scrambled eggs?

00:40:45.040 Before we started recording, you were like, you know, I think I'm going to do that like pasta

00:40:48.320 with the garlic and recipe.

00:40:49.540 It seems pretty simple.

00:40:50.280 And I was like, wow, that's the hardest one.

00:40:53.100 I'm like the, the simpler, the recipe, the fewer ingredients, the more masterful your

00:40:58.140 technique needs to be because the more your, the flaws will show themselves, right?

00:41:01.980 You can't really hide.

00:41:02.920 Like when you do something with a hundred steps and a hundred ingredients and you mess

00:41:06.400 up a couple, you're, you're 98% there.

00:41:09.060 When you only have three steps and three ingredients, like each one is really, it's imperative that

00:41:13.320 you, you take it.

00:41:14.160 So like scrambled eggs are a way that a chef can really show off and scrambled eggs are

00:41:19.480 fun and easy and quick, but a slow scramble is, is, is really where it's at.

00:41:23.760 You want to really slowly cook those eggs with more butter than you ever thought you could

00:41:27.920 possibly use in there, mixing them the entire time until they just start to set.

00:41:32.320 And then you can get something that's really special.

00:41:35.520 You know, scrambled eggs are like, it can be a utility food, right?

00:41:39.020 It's like, I need something to eat and I'm hungry and anybody can do it and I can throw

00:41:44.260 it together like cheese and crackers, but they can also be really, really delicious and special

00:41:49.480 if you take a little bit more time and not much more time, but like three minutes instead

00:41:53.200 of 30 seconds.

00:41:53.940 Yeah.

00:41:54.580 I, when I cook scrambled eggs in the morning, it's 30 seconds.

00:41:57.540 I'm just looking for, I just need the stuff to stick together.

00:42:00.960 So I can put it in a tortilla and just eat as quickly as can.

00:42:03.940 So I got to get out the door and do stuff.

00:42:06.000 But we did an article, it was last year about how to make James Bond scrambled eggs.

00:42:11.340 So apparently Ian Fleming, you know, James Bond loves scrambled eggs.

00:42:14.460 It was his favorite food.

00:42:15.680 He'd eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

00:42:17.640 And then in one of the, I think the living daylights is a short story about 007.

00:42:23.940 Ian Fleming, he, he loves scrambled eggs as well.

00:42:26.860 And he gave his recipe that he thinks that he ate and that James Bond would probably eat.

00:42:31.400 And the thing that surprised me about it, it was like, he used so much butter.

00:42:35.260 It was five to six ounces of fresh butter.

00:42:37.680 It kind of became this like really rich, creamy thing.

00:42:41.060 It was, it was different, but it was good.

00:42:43.940 I feel like, you know, the recipe in our book has a lot of butter in it and advocates using

00:42:49.920 really good butter for something like scrambled egg, where it's one of the main ingredients.

00:42:53.220 So I'm, I'm going to Ian Fleming, I'm, I'm on his side.

00:42:57.300 I'm on his side.

00:42:58.120 I'm with him.

00:42:58.880 Lots of butter.

00:42:59.740 All right.

00:42:59.960 Let's talk about steak.

00:43:00.960 What's your take on grilling a nice, juicy steak?

00:43:04.880 I feel like, man.

00:43:08.140 So the number one, I've been, I find this a lot and it's kind of a shame.

00:43:12.080 You know, once you learn how important seasoning ahead of time really is, you know, the thicker

00:43:19.280 the piece of meat, the more in advance you need to season it to, for the flavor of salt

00:43:24.540 to absorb.

00:43:25.000 So like, once you learn that it's really hard to come back from, cause you're like, man,

00:43:30.040 I don't want to cook anything that's that I don't have 24 hours to cook can be really

00:43:33.980 unfortunate.

00:43:34.660 Like I would never, I will, I will not roast a chicken if I can't salt it the day before.

00:43:39.000 It's just not worth it because like, it's just not worth it.

00:43:42.220 The flavor is so much better and the cooking becomes better.

00:43:45.560 It stays moist.

00:43:46.540 So like salting in advance, I salt a steak an hour in advance.

00:43:49.940 I leave it out on my, now depending it, I will often leave it out on the counter and

00:43:55.080 let it come up to room temperature.

00:43:56.300 If it's really thick, that'll help me to get a more consistent cook, right?

00:44:00.760 You don't like love that bullseye steak where you get like dark brown gray and then like,

00:44:05.680 you know, raw in the middle.

00:44:06.940 So that happens because often it's not rested long enough.

00:44:10.640 That's like, that's probably the number one mistake folks make is the resting period.

00:44:14.840 We can get to that, but the thicker, the piece of meat, the warmer, you kind of want

00:44:19.360 to cook it.

00:44:20.100 So like if I'm cooking a really thin steak, I want to keep it rare.

00:44:22.900 I keep it in the fridge until I throw it in the pan and that'll keep the center a little

00:44:27.460 cooler while the outside has a time to kind of crisp up.

00:44:30.040 That kind of makes sense.

00:44:31.280 So the temperature control, and then understanding that if you start with, from the fridge or

00:44:35.900 start from on the countertop, that temperature difference will make a big difference in your

00:44:41.360 cook time.

00:44:41.920 So be aware of that, like three minutes on each side from the fridge might be right.

00:44:47.180 Might be blood rare, but it might be medium if you're going from, from room temperature.

00:44:50.780 So keep that in mind, but the rest period after I cook a steak is equally as important.

00:45:00.080 So if you cook a steak and then cut into it right away, basically when you cut into your

00:45:04.600 steak and you see, you know, that juice kind of bleeding out onto your cutting board, that

00:45:09.500 means your steak was not rested long enough.

00:45:11.480 Any piece of meat needs to rest.

00:45:12.880 And, um, it's really like, uh, I'll rest a Thanksgiving Turkey for an hour, right?

00:45:19.280 Really it needs, it needs 30 to 40 minutes minimum rest time for the temperature to equalize

00:45:26.060 between the center and the outside.

00:45:27.740 The temperature continues to travel towards the center and then, and the outside cools,

00:45:34.640 the juices redistribute and reabsorb and it gets really moist and delicious.

00:45:39.460 So steak is only a, maybe an inch thick.

00:45:41.860 It might only take 10 minutes, but that rest period is just as important as the cooking

00:45:47.080 time.

00:45:47.500 So give it the time to rest after you're done cooking.

00:45:50.700 You'll be really thankful.

00:45:52.480 Okay.

00:45:52.540 So rest time on a steak, that's 10 minutes.

00:45:54.360 If it's about an inch thick and a little less, if it's thinner.

00:45:57.340 Let's just say that, uh, that a, uh, a steak that's, that's half inch to one inch thick should

00:46:01.900 be five to 10 minutes, like, you know, five minutes on a, on a thinner steak and 10 minutes

00:46:05.980 on a thicker steak.

00:46:07.180 That's good.

00:46:07.700 No, I typically don't rest a steak.

00:46:09.360 I just go right into, cause like, I don't usually when you're cooking.

00:46:11.860 And steak, I'm like, okay, we're going to have it for Tuesday night dinner and sort

00:46:16.080 of last minute.

00:46:16.700 So this is good to know.

00:46:17.900 I'm going to take a little bit more time.

00:46:19.260 But like, if you organize yourself a little bit, like you're like, oh, well, you know,

00:46:23.100 if you think about it, you're like, well, the steak's going to take eight minutes to

00:46:25.260 cook.

00:46:25.440 So like, I'll start at eight minutes before I'm going to start certain, like that air

00:46:28.240 traffic control of how I organize my, my meal prep.

00:46:31.240 But if you just think about it in terms of like eight plus five to rest.

00:46:35.780 And so start at 13 minutes early.

00:46:37.460 And then, you know, you throw the asparagus in after the steak instead of before, and it

00:46:41.100 all kind of makes sense.

00:46:42.780 Daniel, this has been a great conversation.

00:46:44.040 Is there some place people can go to learn more about the book and your work?

00:46:46.500 If you go to www.foodiq.co.co, you can see my partner, Matt Rodbard's beautiful face.

00:46:56.960 And he's, he's a, he's a really amazing writer.

00:46:59.760 I'm, I'm very lucky.

00:47:01.260 He's a great journalist.

00:47:02.120 I've been very lucky to get to work with him for tons of years.

00:47:04.760 And he's a fun, good friend.

00:47:07.620 And you can read and there are recipes to download and stuff to play with.

00:47:11.220 And you can, if you stop by Danny Boy's Pizza in LA, you'll see me there.

00:47:15.120 And, and we can, you can say hello.

00:47:17.180 I'll feed you a slice.

00:47:18.780 Sounds good.

00:47:19.140 Well, Daniel Holzman, thanks for your time.

00:47:20.480 It's been a pleasure.

00:47:21.660 Thanks so much for your support, for having us.

00:47:24.020 It has been my pleasure.

00:47:26.080 My guest here is Daniel Holzman.

00:47:27.200 He's the co-author of the book Food IQ.

00:47:29.300 It's available on amazon.com and bookstores everywhere.

00:47:31.460 You can find more information about the book at the website foodiq.co.

00:47:35.740 Also check out our show notes at aom.is slash foodiq.

00:47:38.860 You can find links to resources.

00:47:40.300 We delve deeper into this topic.

00:47:45.120 Well, that wraps up another edition of the AOM podcast.

00:47:52.320 Make sure to check out our website at artofmanly.com where you can find our podcast archives,

00:47:56.080 as well as thousands of articles written over the years about pretty much anything you think of.

00:47:59.440 And if you'd like to enjoy ad-free episodes of the AOM podcast, you can do so on Stitcher Premium.

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00:48:07.220 Once you're signed up, download the Stitcher app on Android iOS, and you can start enjoying ad-free episodes of the AOM podcast.

00:48:12.020 And if you haven't done so already, I'd appreciate if you take one minute to give us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

00:48:16.420 It helps that a lot.

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00:48:18.660 Please consider sharing the show with a friend or family member who you think would get something out of it.

00:48:22.300 As always, thank you for the continued support.

00:48:24.040 Until next time, it's Brett McKay.

00:48:25.340 Remind you on the list of AOM podcast, but put what you've heard into action.

00:48:42.020 Thank you.

00:48:42.220 Thank you.

The Art of Manliness - June 20, 2022

Chef-Vetted Answers to Your Cooking FAQs

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