Looking Back With Famous Chefs

(please note some language is not appropriate for younger or sensitive readers- reader caution advised)

Wolfgang Puck is one of the most famous and well respected celebrity chefs. But he’s had his share of failure.He just doesn’t let it get to him. “I learned more from the one restaurant that didn’t work than from all the ones that were successes.”

He doesn’t really care much about the intrigue and competition that comes with being in the culinary industry. “Only you can judge your life. You have to live up to your own expectations.”

     

     This is what Gordon Ramsay had to say after reading a press release that a Scotland hotel was making a deep fried sandwich of Nutella.

     “I’m horrified. I mean, Christ! Seventy-five per cent of my staff are French. They look at me like I’m some sort of twat that my Scottish brothers are launching two slices of bread with a fucking inch of Nutella between them, battered and deep fat fried.

     “Now what the fuck is this country coming to? What are we doing to ourselves? That has to be abolished. Here we are, progressing tenfold, buying the right bread, real croissants, we’re making fresh muesli and we understand what a great cup of coffee is. And then some idiot brings out a deep-fried chocolate sandwich.

     “I want to find the bastard that put that idea together. I’ve got the most amazing charcoal grill in my new kitchen. I’m going to sit his butt on it and criss-cross my name on his bloody arse cheeks to remind him. Every time he wakes up in the morning he can gawp at his arse.

     “Is he fucking stupid? When these things hit France, the French just have a field day laughing at us. So I’m looking for that scumbag. I’m going to fucking grill his arse. Brand him with a hot iron like a little calf or a lamb. I’m going to put Ramsayfied on his butt, so every time he wakes up in the morning, he thinks ‘Fuck! I shouldn’t have done that!”

   

     Anthony Bourdain shares this recipe for steak Tartare in Les Halles Cookbook. “Les Halles, the restaurant, was pretty much created to serve this dish,” he says. “The key to a successful steak tartare is fresh beef, freshly hand-chopped at the very last minute and mixed table side. A home meat grinder with a fairly wide mesh blade is nice to have, but you can and should use a very sharp knife and simply chop and chop and chop until fine. The texture will be superior. And do not dare use a food processor on this dish – you’ll utterly destroy it.”

Ingredients:

2 egg yolks
2 tbsp Dijon mustard (28 g)
4 anchovy filets, finely chopped
2 tsp ketchup (10 g)
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce (5 g)
Tabasco sauce, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup salad (i.e., corn or soy) oil (56 ml)
1 oz Cognac (28 ml)
1 small onion, freshly and finely chopped
2 oz capers, rinsed (56 g)
2 oz cornichons, finely chopped (56 g)
4 sprigs of flat parsley, finely chopped
1 1/4 lb. fresh sirloin, finely chopped (560 g)
French fries, optional
4 slices fine quality white bread, toasted, quartered, for toast points

Directions:

     Place the egg yolks in a large stainless-steel bowl and add the mustard and anchovies. Mix well, then add the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco, and pepper and mix well again. Slowly whisk in the oil, then add the Cognac and mix again. Fold in the onion, capers, cornichons, and parsley.

     Add the chopped meat to the bowl and mix well using a spoon or your hands. Divide the meat evenly among the six chilled dinner plates and, using a ring mold or spatula, form it into disks on the plates. Serve immediately with French fries and toasted bread points.

 

     Nigella Lawson has assets worth about £110 million (and her hubby, marketing guru Charles Saatchi, isn’t exactly dirt poor).

But she has no plans on leaving her kids (Cosimo and Bruno, and stepdaughter Phoebe) huge amounts of money. She wants them to “know that I am working and that you have to work in order to earn money” adding that “I am determined that my children should have no financial security. It ruins people not having to earn money. Husband Charles disagrees.

     So what will Nigella do with her money? Maybe leave it to charity. She’s been very active with cancer organizations, after her mother, sister and first husband died from the disease.

 © Copyright, 2011 Main Street Magazine/Rain Enterprises

As seen in the January Issue of Main Street Magazine.

Printed in Canada, ISSN: 1920-4299 by Rain Enterprises

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