POSITIVE ATTITUDE TOWARD THE JOB

In order to be a good professional cook, you have to like cooking and want to do it well. Being serious about your work doesn`t mean you can`t enjoy it. But the enjoyment comes from the satisfaction of doing your job well and making everything run smoothly.

Every experienced chef knows the stimulation of rush. When it`s the busiest time of the evening, the orders are coming in so fast you can hardly keep track of them, and every split second counts then, when everyone digs in and works together and everything clicks, there`s real excitement in the air. But this excitement comes only when you work for it

A cook with a positive attitude works quickly, efficiently, neatly, and safely. Professionals have pride in their work and want to make sure that the work is something to be proud of.

STAYING POWER

Food service requires physical and mental stamina, good health, and willingness to work hard. It is hard work. The pressure can be intense and the hours long and grueling. You may be working evenings and weekends when everyone else is playing. And the work can be monotonous. You might think it`s drudgery to hand –shape two or three dozen dinner rolls for your baking class, but wait until you get that great job in the big hotel and are told to make 3000 canapes for a party.

ABILITY TO WORK WITH PEOPLE

Few of you will work in an establishment so small that you are the only person on the staff. Food service work is teamwork, and it`s essential to be able to work well on a team and to cooperate with your fellow workers. You can`t afford to let ago problems, petty jealousy, departmental rivalries, or feeling about other people get in the way of doing the job well. In the old days, many chefs were famous for their temper tantrums. Fortunately, self-control is more valued today.

EAGERNESS TO LEARN

There is more to learn about cooking than you will learn in a lifetime. But isn`t it great to try? The greatest chefs in the world are the first to admit that they have more to learn, and they keep working, experimenting, and studying.

The food service industry is changing so rapidly that is vital to be open to new ideas. No matter how good your techniques are, you might learn an even better way.

A FULL RANGE OF SKILL

Most people who become professional cooks do so because they like to cook. This is an important motivation, but it is also important to develop and maintain other skills that are necessary for the profession. To be successful, a cook must understand and manage food cost and other financial matter, manage and maintain proper inventories, deal with purveyors, and understand personal management.

EXPERIENCE

One of our respective chef has said, ‘you don`t really know how to cook a dish until you have done it a thousand times.”

There is no substitute for years of experience. Studying cooking principles in books and in schools can get your career off to a running start. You may learn more about basic cooking theories from your chef instructors than you could in several years of working your way up from washing vegetables. But if you want to become an accomplished cook, you need practice. A diploma will not make you a chef.

DEDICATION TO QUALITY

Many people think that only a special category of food can be called gourmet food. It`s hard to say exactly what is it. Apparently, the only thing so-call gourmet foods have in common is high price.

The only distinction worth making is between well-prepared food and poorly prepared food. There is a good roast duckling a l` orange and there is bad roast duckling a l` orange. There are good hamburgers and French fries.

Whether you work in a fancy French restaurant, a fast food restaurant, a collage cafeteria, or a catering house, you can do your job well, or not. The choice is yours.

High quality doesn’t necessary mean high price. It costs no more to cook green bean properly than to overcook them. But in order to produce high-quality food, you must want to. It is not enough to know how.

GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF THE BASICS

Experimental and innovation in cooking are the order of the day. Brilliant chefs are breaking old boundaries, inventing dishes that would have been unthinkable years ago. There seem to be no limit to what can be tried.

However, the very chefs who seem to be most revolutionary are the first to insist on the importance of solid grounding in basic techniques and in the classic method practice. In order to innovate, you have to know where to begin.

For the beginner, knowing the basics will help you to take better advantage of your experience. When you watch a practiced cook at work, you will understand better what you are seeing and will know what question to ask. In order to play great music on the piano, you first have to learn to play scales and exercise. But you should be ready to take good advantage of the many rewarding years of food service experience ahead of you.

Thursday 31 December 2009

Grilled Scallop Onshore


Wednesday 30 December 2009

Beef With Sarawak Peppercorn and Walnut Pesto

Ingredients:
150g- walnut pieces
2 garlic cloves - roughly chopped
50g - can anchovies
2 tablespoon - hot horseradish sauce
25g - chopped parsley
1 tablespoon - Sarawak Peppercorn, crushed
2 tablespoon - olive oil
1.5kg - rolled topside or top rum of beef
1 large onion - finely chopped
2 celery sticks - chopped
300ml - red wine
150ml - beef stock
4 carrots - roughly cut
300g - baby turnips
500g - potatoes
200g - french beans
salt and pepper
chopped parsley, to garnish

Method:
  • Put the walnuts in a food processor or blender with the garlic, anchovies and their oil, horseradish, parsley, 1 tablespoon of oil and plenty of Sarawak black peppercorn and blend to thick a paste, scraping the mixture down from the sides of the bowl.
  • Untie the beef and open it out slightly. If there is already a split through the flesh, make the cut deeper so that it will take the stuffing. If it is a perfectly rounded piece of beef, make a deep cut so that you can pack in the stuffing. Once the stuffing is in place, reshape the meat into a roll. Ties with string, securing at 2.5cm intervals. Pat the meat dry with kitchen paper, and season with salt and pepper.
  • Heat the remaining oil in a flame proof casserole and fry the meat on all sides with salt and pepper. Add the onion and celery to the pan and fry gently for 5 minutes. Return the meat to the pan, and pour the wine and stock over it. Add the carrots and turnips. Bring just to the boil,cover with a lid and place in a pre-heat oven, 160 Degree Celsius. Cook for 30 minutes.
  • Tuck the potatoes around the beef and sprinkle with salt. return to the oven for a further 40 minutes until the potatoes are tender. Stir in the beans and return the oven for 20 minutes until the beans have softened. Leave to rest for 15 minutes before carving the meat. After you carving the meat, put in clean dinner plate, arrange nicely up to your needs and garnish with the rest of the vegetables and chopped parsley.

Tuesday 29 December 2009

Spice Lamb With Bean Pure

(Serves 2-3)
Ingredients:
2 large potatoes, cut into 1.5cm pieces
4 tablespoons olive oil
40g breadcrumbs
1 garlic clove, crushed
2 tablespoons freshly-chopped coriander
1 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 egg-yolk
1 rack of lamb, chimed and trimmed
4 large flat mushrooms
150g baby frozen broad beans
1 tablespoon freshly-chopped mint
100ml white wine
salt and pepper

Method:
  • Toss the potatoes with 2 tablespoons of the oil and salt and pepper in small, sturdy roasting pan. Roast in a preheated oven 200 degree Celsius, for 515 minutes.
  • Mix together breadcrumbs, garlic, fresh coriander, spices and seasoning. Cut away any thick areas of fat from the skinned side of the lamb. Brush the lamb with egg-yolk and spoon the breadcrumb mixture over, pressing down gently with back of the spoon. Brush the mushrooms with the remaining oil and a little seasoning.
  • Turn the potatoes in the pan and add the lamb, crusted-side uppermost. Return to the oven for 30 minutes. (the cutlet will still be slightly pink in the middle after this time, so cook for a little longer if you prefer them well done)
  • After 15 minutes of the cooking time, turn the potatoes in the oil and add the mushrooms.Return to the oven for the remaining time. Drain the meat to a board. Cover with foil and leave to rest for 15 minutes. Transfer the potatoes and mushrooms to a warmed serving dish.
  • Add the broad beans, mint and wine to the roasting pan, and cook over a gentle heat for 5 minutes until the beans are tender. Tip into a blender or processor and blend until smooth. Check the seasoning and spoon on to warmed serving plates. Carve the lamb into cutlets and add to the plates with mushrooms and potatoes. Garnish to your perfection and it`s ready to serve hot. 

Wednesday 23 December 2009

Boxty

Boxty
Ingredients
1 Cup Raw Potato
1 Cup cooked Mashed Potato
2 Cup Flour
1 tsp baking powder
1tsp salt
½
Cup milk

1. Grate the raw potatoes into a bowl. Turn out onto a cloth and wring, catching the liquid. This liquid will separate into a clear fluid with starch at the bottom. Pour off the liquid scrape out the starch and mix with the grated and mashed potatoes.
2. Sieve the dry ingredients and mix into potato mixture, along with the melted butter. Add a little milk if necessary to make a pliable dough.
3. Knead lightly on a floured surface. Divide into four and form large flat cakes. Mark each into quarters but do not cut right through, and bake on a griddle or in a heavy pan

“BOXTY ON THE GRIDDLE, BOXTY IN THE PAN, IF YOU CAN`T MAKE BOXTY, YOU `LL NEVER GET YOUR MAN”

Tuesday 8 December 2009

Saga - Saga Mentu

Saga-saga Mentu
Ingredients:
2 each carrots finely
2 medium potatoes sliced
1 cup cabbage shredded
2 cups bean sprouts
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup tofu cut in 1 inch cubes
1 cup cucumber sliced
2 medium tomatoes sliced
1 each scallions, spring or green onions
Sate Sauce
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 each garlic clove crushed
1 small onion grated
1 each green chili pepper finely chopped
1/2 cup peanut butter crunchy
1 teaspoon lemon juice or vinegar
1/2 cup coconut creamed
1/2 cup water
1 x salt
Directions
Steam or parboil the carrots and potato slices for 5 minutes.
Then cook the cabbage, bean sprouts and cucumber for 1-2
minutes.
Drain the vegetables and leave them to cool.
If using tofu, heat 1 Tbsp oil in wok or pan and cook it for 3-5
minutes, turning from time to time until it is golden all over.
Now arrange the steamed vegetables in layers on fat platter,
potatoes, then bean sprouts, carrots and cucumber.
Put the tomatoes and tofu on top.

For the sauce, heat the oil in a wok or large pan.
Stir fry the garlic, onion, and chili for 2-3 minutes.
Add the peanut butter, lemon juice or vinegar and coconut milk
and simmer for 2-3 minutes.
The sauce should be thick but pourable so add more lemon
juice/coconut milk if necessary.
To serve, pour the hot sauce over the vegetables and garnish
with scallion, onion slices.

Saturday 5 December 2009

Borneo Beef Tartar



Ingredient A
250gm-Freshly minced Beef Tenderloin (all meat. No join)
10pcs - slice Black Olive
4 Tbsp - Tabasco
2 Tbsp - Lea & Perrine
Salt & Pepper - To test
1 Tsp - Cayenne Pepper

Ingredient B
20 pcs - Prawn Crackers (deep fried)
20 slice - Cucumber
500ml - Serian Palm Oil (for deep frying)
Chopped Fresh Parsley or Coriander leaf

1. Using a mince, minced the Beef Tenderloin and transfer to stainless steel mixing bowl.
2. Mix together all ingredients A and using a clean wooden spoon, stir all the mixture until combine.
3. Check the seasoning. If all the mixture is completed, Cover using plastic wrap and keep cool at 2-4 degree Celsius for 30 minutes.
4. While waiting for the beef mixture to get cold, using a deep fryer, heat up the oil at 180 degree Celsius. Deep fried the prawn crackers, strain and put aside on a pastry proof oil paper.
5. Once the prawn crackers are warm, arrange nicely in a plate with dolly paper.
6. The next step put a slice of cucumber on top of a piece of prawn cracker.
7. Using a teaspoon, scoop at one time Beef Tartar and place in on top of Cucumber and garnish with a slice of Black Olive and a drop of Tabasco. You can use a coriander leaf for garnish too.

BBQ Sambal Sting Ray Ala Serian

Ingredients
1 Tbsp - tamarind pulp, soaked in
3 Tbsp- water
3 Tbsp- oil
1 Tsp- salt
2 Tbsp- coconut cream
1 kg - stingray, divided into 4 portions
Fresh banana leaves or aluminum foil
1 lemon (or a few limes)
Spice Paste
1cup- shallot
2 cloves- garlic
½ Tsp- shrimp paste (belacan)
2 Tbsp - ground dried chili
2 slices- galangal (or ginger)
2 Tbsp- water

1. Stir and strain the tamarind water and discard any solids. Grind Spice Paste ingredients until fine. Heat oil in skillet, sauté the paste until fragrant.
2. Add salt and tamarind water, cook for another 2 minutes. Add coconut cream and cook for 1 minute over low heat.
3. When the mixture is thickened, remove from heat and cool. Coat sting ray pieces (or other fish) with the paste. Place each piece on a large banana leaf/foil. Spread remaining spice mixture over fish.
4. Roll up leaf/foil, and then grill/barbecue the parcels for 8-10 minutes. The length of time required depends on thickness of fish. Serve hot with wedges of lemon/lime and cincaluk (optional).

SOUPS

Soups can range from light but intensely flavored broths and consommé that are virtually fat free to hearty dishes brimming with vegetables and legumes. Cream soups, bisque's, and chowders can present a challenge, but there are techniques you can use to reduce both fat and calories in cream style soups.

WHAT IS MOST APPEALING AND IMPORTANT IN ANY SOUPS?
The most appealing and important in any soup is its flavor and texture. Cream soups have a richer body that remains in your mouth longer than broth soups. You can take advantage of this by exploiting every technique at your disposal. The first step is creating an aromatic base. We think of cream soups as having a light color, so cook the mire poix until it is tender, not until it turns color. This will keep the soup from turning dark and tasting too sweet. Remember that the texture of the soup base. A bit of contrast, in the form of a crunchy crouton or other crisp element, makes the soup more interesting. Handle other ingredients correctly so that you don`t spoil the velvety look and feel of your soup with unintended additions that might feel stringy or hard. Attention to details, like picking crab meat to remove shell, is critical. Some classic cream soups are thickened with roux, and then finished with a cream and egg yolk liaison. To avoid those added calories, puree the base until it is very smooth and light. You may wish to strain the soup after you puree it to be sure that all fibers are removed. Then, if you want to finish the soup with a cream, consider evaporated skim milk. Another alternative is adding a small “puff” or dollop of yogurt, sour cream, or even lightly whipped cream. You can add far less cream this way than if you were to blend it directly into the soup.

SCALLOP AND PRAWN WRAP WITH BANANA LEAF

Ingredients:
Spice ingredients
6 fresh red chilies, seeded
5 dried red chilies, soaked and seeded
1.5cm fresh turmeric
10 shallots
3 cloves garlic
2 stalks lemon grass, use white part only
2cm galangal
3 candle nut
15g shrimp paste, toasted
Coconut milk custard ingredients
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
150ml thick coconut milk (from 1 grated coconut)
1 tbsp rice flour
1 tbsp corn flour
5 lime leaves, finely shredded
Seasoning
¾ tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
¾ tsp anchovy stock granules
¼ tsp pepper
8 fairly large whole prawns
8 fresh scallops
24-25 Banana leaves
1 banana leaf

Cut banana leaf into 18cm x 15cm rectangles. Scald the leaves to soften.
Shell the prawns, leaving tails intact. Make a slit on the back of each prawn and de-vein. Press out flat and open up butterfly style. Set the prawns aside. Blend the spice ingredients in a food processor into a fine paste.
Combine coconut milk with rice flour, corn flour and seasoning ingredients. Add beaten eggs and lime leaves. Stir well to mix. Add prawns and scallops to the spiced custard mixture.
Take a piece of banana leaf, form a box-like shape by folding the sides and secure with bamboo toothpicks or staples. Line the base with two Banana leaves. Put a prawn and a scallop on the banana leaves and spoon over 2-3 tablespoons of custard mixture; cover with another banana leaf. Steam the bundles of otak for 12-15 minutes over rapidly boiling water or until custard sets.

Ndang Dingan Santen Bunten

Ingredients
Paste
* 3 small dried red chili, such as cayenne or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried hot red pepper flakes
* 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled
* 6 cloves garlic
* 5 macadamia nut
* 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
Shrimp
* 1 1/2 lbs large shrimp (about 30)
* 1 1/2 medium red onion, peeled, halved lengthwise and cut into julienne strips
* 2 tablespoons corn oil
* 1 cup well-stirred canned unsweeten coconut milk
* 1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, to taste
* steamed rice (to accompany)
Directions
For paste: To a food processor with motor running, add paste ingredients, one at a time, through feed tube, and puree mixture to a paste.
Shell shrimp, leaving tail segment intact, and devein. In a colander, rinse shrimp and drain well. Heat a large skillet over moderately low heat until hot. Cook paste in oil, stirring until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook, stirring, until softened. Stir in coconut milk, brown sugar and salt and bring to a boil. Add shrimp and lime juice and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Serve shrimp with rice.

Hotchpotch




Hotchpotch – Hut spot (Holland)
Ingredients:-
300gm – Beef Cube Roll
200gm – Potato- peeled and cut cube
150gm – Carrot – peeled and cut cube
1 stalk – Celery – roughly cut
100gm – Big onion roughly cut
2pcs – Bay leaf
100 ml – Fresh milk
2 Tbsp – Unsalted Butter
Salt and Pepper
For Garnishing:
Broccoli
Black olive
Crushed Peppercorn
Parsley oil
Natural Gravy of its own – Gravy from the stock
Method of Preparations
1.       Simmer the meat for about 2 hours in water
2.        Add the onions, potatoes, Celery and Carrot. Simmer approximately 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender, adding more water if necessary
3.        Remove the meat and keep warm. Mashed the vegetables, “hut spot”, adding butter and milk to obtain the desired consistency. The mixture will be quite solid. Season to test.
4.         Slice the meat and served the “Hut spot” with a dab of butter on top.


Friday 4 December 2009

Mongkos Chicken Rolled



Mongkos Chicken Rolled

Ingredients
250gm – Boneless Chicken Breast – Trim and clean
2 slices – Beef Rasher
4 pcs – Black Olive
4 stick – Asparagus – Trim and cut into two
4 slice – Carrot
2 pcs – Broccoli – cut into small pieces
4 Tbsp – Olive Oil
Sprig of Chop Parsley
A sprinkle of Paprika-for marinate the Chicken Breast
Salt and Pepper to test
5 Tbsp -Chicken Volute
1 Lemon Wedges
1 Tbsp – Dijon Mustard
2 Tbsp – President Cream or up to your test
1clove – Peeled Garlic and slice

1. Trim and clean the chicken breast and Asparagus, season and rolled with Beef Rasher.
2. Seal the Chicken Breast upside down in a sauteing pan for 1 minute after that put in the oven with temperature 200°C for 8- 12 minutes or up to your satisfaction.
3. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, Saute the Garlic until golden brown, put in remainder Asparagus, Carrot, Broccoli, Chopped Parsley and season to test.
4. After that, transfer the vegetables to plate and arrange nicely in the center or up to your needs.
5. Once the chicken is cooked, arrange on top of vegetables.
6. To make the sauce, heat up the sauce pan, put in the Chicken stock/volute, Mustard, lemon juice and the cream and season to test. Lastly, once the sauce is ready, Monte with half teaspoon unsalted Butter and pour the sauce over the chicken or at surrounding to garnish.

Standard of Professionalism in Food Industry

POSITIVE ATTITUDE TOWARD THE JOB

In order to be a good professional cook, you have to like cooking and want to do it well. Being serious about your work doesn`t mean you can`t enjoy it. But the enjoyment comes from the satisfaction of doing your job well and making everything run smoothly.
Every experienced chef knows the stimulation of rush. When it`s the busiest time of the evening, the orders are coming in so fast you can hardly keep track of them, and every split second counts then, when everyone digs in and works together and everything clicks, there`s real excitement in the air. But this excitement comes only when you work for it
A cook with a positive attitude works quickly, efficiently, neatly, and safely. Professionals have pride in their work and want to make sure that the work is something to be proud of.

STAYING POWER
Food service requires physical and mental stamina, good health, and willingness to work hard. It is hard work. The pressure can be intense and the hours long and grueling. You may be working evenings and weekends when everyone else is playing. And the work can be monotonous. You might think it`s drudgery to hand –shape two or three dozen dinner rolls for your baking class, but wait until you get that great job in the big hotel and are told to make 3000 canapes for a party.

ABILITY TO WORK WITH PEOPLE
Few of you will work in an establishment so small that you are the only person on the staff. Food service work is teamwork, and it`s essential to be able to work well on a team and to cooperate with your fellow workers. You can`t afford to let ago problems, petty jealousy, departmental rivalries, or feeling about other people get in the way of doing the job well. In the old days, many chefs were famous for their temper tantrums. Fortunately, self-control is more valued today.

EAGERNESS TO LEARN
There is more to learn about cooking than you will learn in a lifetime. But isn`t it great to try? The greatest chefs in the world are the first to admit that they have more to learn, and they keep working, experimenting, and studying.
The food service industry is changing so rapidly that is vital to be open to new ideas. No matter how good your techniques are, you might learn an even better way.

A FULL RANGE OF SKILL
Most people who become professional cooks do so because they like to cook. This is an important motivation, but it is also important to develop and maintain other skills that are necessary for the profession. To be successful, a cook must understand and manage food cost and other financial matter, manage and maintain proper inventories, deal with purveyors, and understand personal management.

EXPERIENCE
One of our respective chef has said, ‘you don`t really know how to cook a dish until you have done it a thousand times.”
There is no substitute for years of experience. Studying cooking principles in books and in schools can get your career off to a running start. You may learn more about basic cooking theories from your chef instructors than you could in several years of working your way up from washing vegetables. But if you want to become an accomplished cook, you need practice. A diploma will not make you a chef.

DEDICATION TO QUALITY
Many people think that only a special category of food can be called gourmet food. It`s hard to say exactly what is it. Apparently, the only thing so-call gourmet foods have in common is high price.
The only distinction worth making is between well-prepared food and poorly prepared food. There is a good roast duckling a l` orange and there is bad roast duckling a l` orange. There are good hamburgers and French fries.
Whether you work in a fancy French restaurant, a fast food restaurant, a collage cafeteria, or a catering house, you can do your job well, or not. The choice is yours.
High quality doesn’t necessary mean high price. It costs no more to cook green bean properly than to overcook them. But in order to produce high-quality food, you must want to. It is not enough to know how.

GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF BASICS
Experimental and innovation in cooking are the order of the day. Brilliant chefs are breaking old boundaries, inventing dishes that would have been unthinkable years ago. There seem to be no limit to what can be tried.
However, the very chefs who seem to be most revolutionary are the first to insist on the importance of solid grounding in basic techniques and in the classic method practice. In order to innovate, you have to know where to begin.
For the beginner, knowing the basics will help you to take better advantage of your experience. When you watch a practiced cook at work, you will understand better what you are seeing and will know what question to ask. In order to play great music on the piano, you first have to learn to play scales and exercise. But you should be ready to take good advantage of the many rewarding years of food service experience ahead of you.