teuscher

Chocolates of Switzerland

Teuscher Chocolates was founded more than 70 years ago in a small town in the Swiss Alps. A master chocolate maker embarked on a path that would make him one of the world's greatest chocolatiers. Dolf Teuscher skillfully blended the world's finest and only natural ingredients to produce his now famous recipes. Chocolates are prepared fresh in the Zurich kitchen and flown directly to all their stores in Europe, the United States, Canada and Asia.
Frank on Swiss - post.

Opened in 1979, a visit to the Fifth Avenue store, nestled in the Channel Gardens at Rockefeller Center - has become a tradition for New Yorkers and visitors from around the globe. The beautifully decorated store overflows with colorful fantasy flowers and unique trademark boxes. Teuscher's famous Champagne Truffles, pralines and marzipans are hand-made and flown in weekly from Switzerland. 

Teuschers house speciality, the famous Champagne Truffle made with a champagne cream center, surrounded by dark chocolate ganache, covered with milk chocolate and dusted with confectioner's sugar.

More On Chocolate

For Chocolate Lovers

Chocolat L'Africain

Instant Replay

This Sunday during Super Bowl XLVI there will be that one game winning play that will become legendary and replayed over and over. But, I figure why wait until kick off, it's time to Know Your Fire right now with my favorite-fan-picks instant replay of these super recipes for this weekend's Gameday! BTW, I have an extra recipe for your secret play on the grill, my Adana kebabi!

• BBQ Pork Sandwich
• Mexican Calzone
• George’s ’60 Second Guacamole
• Tomatillo Sauce
• George's Salsa Fresca
• George's Smackin' Wings

One of the oldest cooking techniques in existence, the art of grilling meat on a skewer was derived from medieval Turkish soldiers who used their swords to cook meat over open fires. An Adana kebabi from the south of Turkey is a savory mixture of minced lamb, cumin, cayenne, black pepper, dried oregano and mint. The meat is shaped into a long cylindrical shape like a long hot dog or sausage, then pierced onto a long metal skewer and grilled in one piece. It is served removed from the skewer and cut up.

Adana is named after the 5th largest city in Turkey, Adana. There are very strict guidelines and inspections that must be passed by The Adana Chamber of Commerce in order to be an authentic Adana kebabi vendor.

Adana kebabi has to be made from the meat of a male lamb. The skewered meat, must be roasted on fireless, charcoal embers exclusively from oak wood. The skewers are frequently turned during grilling using caution so the melting fat is not dripped on the embers causing a flair up. The Adana is served on flat bread by pressing the meat off the skewers after cooking; when wrapped and served in a flat bread, it's called a Dürüm. Authentic accompaniments served with adana include; charred tomatoes, green or red peppers, onions and parsley seasoned with sumac or lemon pepper seasoning, and warm hummus.

Adana or Kiyma Kebabi

Makes 4 servings | recipe by Chef George Hirsch
1 pound ground lamb or ground beef 
1/4 teaspoon ground red (cayenne) pepper
1/2 teaspoon each; ground cumin, dried oregano
1 Tablespoon each: fresh parsley and fresh mint
1 egg white
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste
Pinch Sea salt
Olive oil
2 fresh lemons, quartered
Fresh Mint 
1 cup plain Greek yogurt, optional

Mix the meat with the cayenne, cumin, oregano, parsley, mint, black pepper, and salt in a bowl. Add the egg white and continue to combine until the mixture is well blended.

Grease skewers with cooking spray or oil. If possible, use long, flat metal skewers. Divide the meat mixture into 2-4 (depending on the length of skewer), 2 inch wide thick sausage shapes. Push the skewer through the middle, lengthwise, and squeeze the mixture up and down the skewer, spreading it evenly. Repeat with the other skewer. 

Cover and place in refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. This will help the meat hold together. When ready to grill, brush the outside of meat with olive oil.

Preheat the grill to high. 

Place skewers on very hot grill. Grill 5 minutes, turning frequently, or until cooked through. Serve immediately with sides of yogurt, fresh lemon, fresh chopped mint, and an onion & parsley salad.

Manhattan vs. New England Chowder

This weekend’s Super Bowl XLVI brings on yet another reason to gather, party and entertain. This year there is so much anticipation waiting for the re-match on Gameday. Although I may feel a sense of team loyalty towards one of the teams, I have good friends rooting for the Giants and New England. Today I am prepared to make all the fans happy.

New York is known as a melting pot of food culture with its strong ethnic roots, while New England may scream fish at first thought, but today its core is just as robust in ethnic foods as NYC. So with this in mind, I've taken two very popular chowders representing each team. 

Make them both, serve separately; or mix them fifty-fifty—I have named this chowder-mixture a Hoosier Chowder in honor of Indiana the host city. Either way, they’re both delicious and winners!

For A Winning Gameday Menu

Manhattan Chowder

Makes 6-8 servings | From Grilling with Chef George Hirsch Cookbook

1 Tablespoon olive oil

8 cloves caramelized garlic

1/4 cup sweet onion

1/2 cup each celery & carrots, red bell peppers, chopped

2 cups yukon potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2 pieces 

2 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon thyme

1 teaspoon basil

1 bay leaf

1 cup tomato sauce

2 cups tomatoes, seeded and chopped or 1 (28 ounce can chopped tomatoes)

2 cups chicken broth

1 pint clams with juice, chopped

1 teaspoon hot sauce

fresh ground pepper to taste 

Add olive oil to preheated soup pot. Saute onions, celery, peppers, garlic and carrots until tender. Add potatoes, paprika, thyme, basil and bay leaf. Add tomato sauce and tomatoes, chicken broth and hot sauce.  Bring to a boil.  Lower to simmer and add clams. Cook for 20-30 minutes. Add fresh ground black pepper to taste & serve immediately. 

New England Cod Chowder

Makes 6-8 servings | Adapted From Grilling with Chef George Hirsch Cookbook

2 pounds cod, diced into 1/2-inch cubes; or 1 pint clams with juice, chopped

1/4 pound salt pork or slab bacon, chopped fine

2 large sweet onions, diced small

4 cups yukon potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/2-inch cubes

4 cups fish broth, or clam juice or combination chicken broth 

2 Tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley

Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon hot sauce

1 cup heavy cream or half and half

2 Tablespoons sweet butter

Cook the salt pork in a large soup pot until it gives up all it's fat and remove pieces. Add the onion and cook until it begins to turn a very light brown - but do not over brown. Add the potato and broth and cook for 10-15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender. Add the cod and cook for 5 minutes or until fully cooked.  Stir in the cream, hot sauce, parsley, and pepper. Whisk in butter and serve immediately. 

Hoosier Chowder

Prepare both chowders. To serve, mix half & half of Manhattan + New England Chowders into preheated bowls and stir.  

sold out

13 EPISODES on 4 HD-DVD Disk Set, season one

$19.95

Quantity:

Add to Cart

Happy 85th Hot Brown

A Hot Brown is a hot sandwich originally created at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, by Fred K. Schmidt in 1926. It was one of two signature sandwiches created by chefs at the Brown Hotel shortly after its founding in 1923. The Brown Hotel is a grand property, of distinctive English Renaissance design and is on the National Register of Historic Places. 

According to The Hot Brown 85 year legend, "In the 1920's, The Brown Hotel drew over 1,200 guests each evening for its dinner dance. In the wee hours of the morning, the guests would grow tired of dancing and retire to the restaurant for a bite to eat. Diners were growing rapidly bored with the traditional ham and eggs, so Chef Fred Schmidt set out to create something new to tempt his guests' palates. His unique creation was an open-faced turkey sandwich with bacon and a delicate Mornay sauce." 

The dish is a local specialty and favorite of the Louisville area, and is popular throughout Kentucky. Think fondue-like only more of a pub-ish lunch; ideal and comforting during cold weather. The Hot Brown is an open-faced sandwich w/ turkey and or bacon, covered in Mornay sauce and baked or broiled until the bread is crisp and the sauce begins to brown. Other varieties of Hot Browns may include ham with the turkey, and either pimentos or tomatoes over the sauce. 

Making The Sauce 

A béchamel or white sauce can be spiced up with a pinch of cayenne pepper, or hot sauce, 1/2 cup IPA (or another good ale), 1 teaspoon prepared English mustard, and pinch of paprika.

Finish the sauce off with 1 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese. Whisk in and simmer just until the cheese is melted. Serve a couple tablespoons of sauce over a slice of good wheat toast. Serve as is, or you may want to place the 'Hot Brown' under a broiler for 30 seconds to brown lightly. Top with chopped chives or green onion. I've also topped this with a slice of good ripe tomato + sweet onion. Enjoy.

A Light Béchamel Recipe | ChefGeorgeHirsch.com
1 Tablespoon sweet butter
1 Tablespoon flour
1/2 cup half & half (can use milk for a lighter version) 

In a small sauce pan over low heat add butter and flour and cook for 2-3 minutes. With a wire whisk add in milk and allow to simmer until slightly thickened.

If using béchamel for Hot Brown, continue adding ingredients as above and simmer for 5 minutes while continuing to stir. 

In The Can

Ettore Boiardi was an Italian-American chef, born in 1897 in Piacenza, Italy, and arriving at Ellis island in 1914. I am sure you have heard of this famous chef and have seen him as an early celebrity chef hawking his italian-style food products on TV. First, I must say growing up as a child in an Italian-American household his canned products never graced our household tables. This post is not an endorsement of his food product, rather a tribute to his spirit in the American culture as one of the first accomplished chefs to market their food products to the American public. 

Boiardi, or more commonly know as "Chef Boy-Ar-Dee” because early marketers assumed people would not be able to pronounce his Italian name. It's important to note Chef Boiardi was truly a chef and not a made up fictional character like.. are you ready for this? there is no Betty Crocker! Boiardi worked his way up through the ranks at the Plaza Hotel in NYC to head chef, responsible for serving our presidents and the elite dining guests.

Later on in his career he would open his own restaurant, Il Giardino d'Italia, whose name translated as “The Garden of Italy,” located in Cleveland, Ohio. His patrons would often ask for his recipes, so Chef Boiardi would often send home samples of sauce packed in old milk bottles. To keep up with the demand in 1926 he had his sauce bottled, and to ensure quality control - grew his own tomatoes and mushrooms. 

In case you haven't been wowed as yet, Boiardi received the "gold star order of excellence" from the United States War Department for suppling American and Allied troops with food rations during World War II. He later on sold his brand, but continued developing new Italian foods and remained involved with promoting the brand until the last TV commercial in 1979. The first classic commercial for Chef Boyardee's Mushroom Sauce aired on CBS-TV May 22, 1953. I do get a kick out of this TV commercial!

Lesson here: During the my early part of my career as a chef I was called by my close friends "Chef Boy-Ar-Dee". Of course this greeting would make me think of the ravioli in a can, and not so much about the chef. The recent reintroduction of the vintage TV commercial from a mega global food company made me revisit the legend of Ettore Boiardi, and tip my toque in respect to an accomplished chef. From now on when called "Chef Boy-Ar-Dee" I will be reminded of a man with so much impact and not so much about pasta in a can. 

To Make Chef George's Homemade Ravioli