Garlic confit
After a daunting project like Soffritto or the time consuming caramelized onions, this garlic confit will come as a great relief. It is one of the simplest and simultaneously wonderful ingredients in my arsenal.

It is ridiculously simple: take up to 10 heads of peeled garlic (for an industrial amount) and place them in a sauce pot, add olive oil (not extra virgin, it burns too easily) to cover the level of the garlic, a pinch of salt, and cover the pot with a lid.

Once the garlic starts to bubble, turn the heat down from to medium to low, and let simmer. Once the garlic is soft, brown and delicious, it is finished!

See how easy that was? Strain off the garlic and let the oil cool. After everything has cooled separately, pour the oil over the garlic and place in a container with a lid in the refrigerator. These little nuggets of sweet flavor will become indispensable to you in your cooking. From spreading on toast, an addition to omlettes and frittatas to take brunch to the next level, to adding a subtle sweetness to soup, sauces and salads, garlic confit is a world class flavoring agent as well as a wonderful dish all by itself. (Yes I even put it in my salad, and I recommend you try it as well).
I also will tell you that while the garlic got all delicious while it was getting cooked, you were making an infused garlic oil which can be used to flavor things with a subtle garlic flavor. An enterprising chef can use this oil for all kinds of things from making salad dressings to scrambled eggs to perhaps its most perfect use is drizzled on toast points to be served as a canape…

Simple and elegant is the name of this dish. If you figure out other uses, please let me know, I love to hear what people use to make their food special.

Cheers,

Erik

The next on my list of wonderful and simple flavor boosters that I keep at all times is caramelized onions. Anyone who has worked with me can attest to my obsession with this seemingly simple yet infinitely complex process. I say it is a process because there is no recipe for making superlative caramelized onions. You could make it with red, yellow, white, Bermuda, Walla Walla, Maui, large, small, sweet, or acidic onions. You can cook them in a stock pot, saute pan, sauce pot, sautoir, braising pan or cast iron pot. You can cook them with butter, olive oil (again do not use extra virgin, it burns too easily, and will make everything taste bitter), any vegetable oil: canola, peanut, corn, grapeseed or even sesame (although I don’t really recommend it); any of the cooking fats; duck, pork, bacon (extra delish), or foie gras fat (if you have it, I fully recommend it).

So now you can see the picture: it doesn’t matter what the ingredients are (onions, salt, oil or fat, pot, heat), the important part is that you take the time to follow the method properly.

Step 1: peel and slice the onions (in any way you wish to slice them, as long as you slice them in a very uniform way.
Step 2: heat the pot over medium heat and add far less oil, butter or fat to the pan than you will think it needs (the way I think of this is approximately a 50:1 ratio of onions to oil).
Step 3: add the onions to the pot, and add some salt.
Step 4: put a well fitting lid on the pot and leave it alone.
Step 5: make sure that you stir the pot, moving the onions on the bottom to the top, once all of the onions have gotten softer and begin to get translucent.
Step 6: reduce the heat to as low as you can without the flame going out. At this point, you can do away with the lid, you don’t really need it once the onions get soft and translucent.
Step 7: keep stirring from time to time and if you feel something on the bottom of the pan, remove it from heat until it pulls off of the bottom.

During the next 45 minutes to 5 hours (really, it is worth it, just make the time) you will notice all of the steps of the onions as they begin to soften and cook. (Observe this and remember it as you will probably be seeing it again.)

Step 8: as the onions begin to really soften and gradually grow darker until they reach the desired color and sweetness.
Other people will tell you that you need to add sugar at some point. These people do not want you to be successful, in fact that will make the flavor shallow and just cloyingly sweet.
In reality, the onions (regardless of type) have more than enough residual sugars in them to caramelize perfectly as they are.
Step 9: taste often, and once the onions get to the light beige color, you really need to start paying active attention to your onions.
Resist the urge to raise the heat under the onions, this is the home stretch now, slow and steady wins the race.
Step 10: stop the cooking process once the onions are the color of rich mahogany, just before the burning point. (If you do happen to burn them, just toss them and start over, this is not something you can pretend you didn’t mess up, the flavor of burn just permeates the whole mess, so don’t try it)

Clearly I don’t make Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, but I do take the time to source the real product in specialty stores. The unfortunate truth about 90% of the cheese marketed as Parmesan cheese are either not from Italy, not properly made to conform to the laws of the DOP under which all proper Parmigiano cheese is regulated by, or so young as to be classified as immature. For a reasonably complete description of the characteristics of what makes up the proper Parmesan please see (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parmigiano-Reggiano).

The best guideline for assessing quality of an aged cheese like Parmigiano is if the flavor is strong yet not too salty, crumbly but not wet with a bit of a crunch which comes from crystals of lactic acid forming during the natural aging process. If the cheese is produced domestically, just pass it by. If it is marketed as “grana” let it pass. If you are willing to take the time to prepare your food, set the table, have proper dinner, and do the clean up afterwards; it is worth spending extra cash to get the good stuff. Also, most cheese mongers have no problem letting you try a taste at the counter, this is a great way of establishing a rapport and trying a variety of styles of cheese. This is a valuable way of asessing the quality of the cheeses and getting to learn about others which may interest you as well but remember it is not a buffet, stick to a couple of tastes per visit and make sure to thank them for their help in your selection.

I tend to use this in every way I can think of: I shave it over salad with a vegetable peeler, I Microplane it into virtually anything which needs a bit of a punch flavor-wise and even grind it up in a food processor to add to sauces, soups, pasta fillings and virtually anything else I can put my hands on. I even save the crusts and make a rich creamy broth with them. For a special taste treat, try it with plain oatmeal. It sounds insane, I know, but it is so delicious it will make you want to stay in bed all day and have seconds. A truly great Parmigiano Reggiano cheese is a star attraction in its own right, for a truly decadent cheese course just slice some directly from the wheel and plate it with some fig marmelade and acacia honey and give thanks to be able to enjoy one of the most perfect flavors in all creation…

Invariably I find myself reaching for the same ingredients over and over again. It’s not as if it is a crutch, I liken it more to having some trusted friends with me in the kitchen. These important bases of cuisine can help make your life in the kitchen easier while making the end product much more flavorful. Having these simple products will make your life much easier culinarily without sacrificing flavor or the quality of your food. Once you see how much depth and complexity they can add to your food you will never want to go back to cooking from cans and boxes.

Basically each component on this list adds more flavor, depth and complexity than they should, and feel like they should be totally complex and impossible to make; but they actually are rather simple. The short list of ingredients I have with me at almost all times in my kitchen consists of: Soffritto, caramelized onions, garlic confit, real aged Italian Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and others. This is by no means an exhaustive list, just the ingredients and preparations which inspire me over and over again in the cooking process.

For me the true test of an ingredients utility, I like to taste it cold with nothing else. When it tastes good cold, it is going to be magically delicious when it is hot. Remember to take the time to use good ingredients and cook them properly and you will be rewarded with healthy delicious food for life. If you have any further questions as to how best prepare these foods and many others, please feel free to contact us or sign up for eandjfoodways custom cooking classes. We offer a wide range of classes from beginning to expert in the best possible environment, your own home!We also offer other amenities such as our popular “shop like a chef” classes where we take you to markets, farms and other specialty shops and then show you how to prepare your menu in your own home. The best part (according to many of our friends): we even do the dishes! Sign up today and we will walk you through shopping, preparing, cooking and serving the menu of your dreams. This also makes for a great dinner party or opportunity to cook with friends and family. We also offer this class in groups larger than 10 in select locations.

Of course if all the shopping, cooking and preparation are not what you would want, we do still offer our services as a caterer. We service custom dinner parties of up to 50 people or events of up to 200 people. Please call or email our sales department for availability and a consultation with our chefs.