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Christophe K

British Columbia
Canada

About Christophe

Member since Jul 07, 2007

Chef by profession, culinary intructor by evolution, bon vivant at heart.

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User Recipes (contributed by Christophe)

Success Rating: 90% (38 ratings)

Alsatian Onion Tart

by Christophe K

Soft and creamy onions are surrounded by a buttery crust, in this classic Alsatian French tart.

Active Time: 1 hr 30 minsComments: 13
Total Time: 2 hrs 30 minsViews: 3507
Success Rating: 97% (41 ratings)

Warm Salmon Salad Niçoise

by Christophe K

Inspired by the South of France, the combination of flavors in this Niçoise salad are amazing.

Active Time: 45 minsComments: 21
Total Time: 1 hrViews: 6395
Success Rating: 97% (52 ratings)

Mashed Potatoes for a Crowd

by Christophe K

Simple light and fluffy mashed potatoes.

Active Time: 25 minsComments: 21
Total Time: 1 hrViews: 7431

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Infuse

Adding herbs and garlic for 48 hours will flavour your vinegar, but the vinegar is very acidic on the PH level even when mixed with oil, so for that reason vinaigrettes will last a long time, so to be clear infusing adds flavour but will not increase it's shelf life as it will be stable for a very long time anyway.
What will spoil your vinaigrette will be the shallots, herbs , garlic and so on left in your vinaigrette these ingredient will eventually go mushy and spoil it, but if they are removed, then all is well. Hope it helps

by Christophe K | February 10, 2010 | Permalink
Food safety

I have done cured salmon, gravlax for years always using fresh salmon, the more salt and longer you leave it on the more cured and the more safe your salmon will be, because the flesh will then be very alkaline inhibiting bacteria to multiply and parasite to nourish themselves, this process has been around a long time. Nowadays we do not cure it for as long because we do have refrigeration and don't care much for very salty fish, so the modern version is more a compromise, the salmon should be very fresh, either fresh or previously frozen when very fresh, it should be cured in the fridge and kept in the fridge easily up to a week after the curing process before it may spoil, you can also cure several fillets and freeze them. Defrosting and using one at the time, Hope it helps.

by Christophe K | February 06, 2010 | Permalink
Re: Gravy

Hi Todd,

You need to add the stock in small amounts, especially the first time to allow for the roux to absorb the liquid, once you have a smooth, yet very thick gravy , you may add more stock until you reach the desire consistency. Hope this helps.

by Christophe K | October 14, 2009 | Permalink
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One less step.

I only use a roux or a slurry if my pot roast sauce is too thin.
You could also thicken the sauce before you cook the pot roast. After sauteing your aromatics, deglaze with wine as instructed, reduce till syrupy and add a couple of tablespoons (30ml) of flour to form a thin paste, add your stock and or water/bouillon, your meat and you should end up with a liquid that has the proper sauce consistency once the cooking process is done.
Bon appetit

by Christophe K | March 28, 2009 | Permalink
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Clean pots

Hi Kahled,

First what you mention seems more like a case where the metal will change colour when heated, not much you can do about it, however if its grease that burnt under the pot or certainly on the outside or inside then in that case spray some oven cleaner in a well ventilated place like outside and scrub them clean the next morning, that is what we do at the school every couple of months....don't get copper because now we're talking lots of polishing every time you use them but cooper pots are the best but not pans.
Happy cleaning and remember a stained pot is like a lady with crow's feet at the edge of the eyes....it's experience!!

by Christophe K | January 17, 2009 | Permalink
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plating 101

Hi Jamie,

We will be covering the plating part in the cooking school, but here are a few tips for you.
Use White plates, like you would a white canvas, no food on the borders, no cracked pepper or parmesan...please!
Inside the rim leave about 30% of the space empty, only have 4-5 components on the plates if the plate is too crowded serve the starch or vegetables on a side dish... remember the most important factor, make sure the food is hot and don't play with it too much.
Chef Christophe

by Christophe K | November 20, 2008 | Permalink
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Oils

Olive oil, grape seed and butter, these are the fats I use...but I don't like to use the word FAT as it has always such a negative tone in English. My father who is from Nice in France uses Olive oil in his cooking all of the time even to fry his eggs on Sunday, personally I used Organic extra virgin olive oil in my cooking often but I make sure not to get it to the smoking point...if I need to get to a higher temp. I use grape seed.
Please stay away from Pommace olive oil.

by Christophe K | October 02, 2008 | Permalink
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It's all good.

They're all good. When I do a salad at home, I make the vinaigrette in a large bowl then add the greens to it, however if I have too much vinaigrette then my salad is greasy or overdressed.
The jar works best for home, because you can control how much you add to your bowl of lettuce, easy to add more but not the other way, it's also great because you can make enough to last a few days if you don't add fresh herbs or garlic to it. Finally the drizzling on the salad itself is used usually in banqueting, it allows the cooks to pre plate hundred's of salad and then drizzle, usually from a squeeze bottle, the dressing/vinaigrette at the last minute, not as good because the dressing is not well mixed with the greens but never the less a practical way for large quantities. Now if you are dressing items like a tomato salad, asparagus, beets and so on, the drizzle works well because usually these items are spread on a plate and you can better control where the dressing ends up, but you mentioned "greens" so I ultimately recommend the jar method.

by Christophe K | September 23, 2008 | Permalink
Salt in water?

The theory is that the eggs having a porous shell, ( that is why they need to be kept protected from unwanted fridge odors and why we place eggs with fresh truffles to impart them the aroma before making a truffle omelette), will absorb some of the salt from the water, but to answer your question they will not benefit a great deal, it is more important to respect the cooking time and shock them in cold water to preserve the colour of the yolk.

by Christophe K | July 15, 2008 | Permalink
Imperative to rest!

Ashley, I'm glad you had success with the onion tart and yes in can be done with a pie plate. However, because of the slopes of a pie plate versus the 90 angles of a removable bottom tart shell, it is imperative to well rest the dough before par baking or it will slide down.

by Christophe K | February 28, 2008 | Permalink
Can be done ahead.

Liz, you're right, you can't rush the caramelization of the onions...however you can do that step earlier in the day or even the day before, deglaze with an Alsatian reisling to cut down some of the sweetness...and finish the bottle with your friends.

by Christophe K | February 01, 2008 | Permalink