Fresh herbs really belong anywhere you put them.
Alex Guarnaschelli
I really cringe at the sight of pattypan squash. So pretty and cute and having no taste or exciting texture. Dull.
The better the ingredients, the more farmers I can buy from, the closer I feel to the food I want to make that represents what I care about as a chef.
It's amazing how meaty cauliflower can be.
Winter blues are cured every time with a potato gratin paired with a roast chicken.
The best place to use vanilla beans is anywhere where they won't be mixed in with a million other flavors. Anything with dairy, yogurt, milk, cream, or eggs - any custard or flan - how can it be bad?
One of the most practical utensils I can't live without is my 'Joyce Chen' Scissors. They cut with precision.
If it's not messy and it doesn't drip over the sides, it's not a holiday hot chocolate -it's just an average hot chocolate.
I really love muscle cars. I don't think people might realize that about me. I really want to go to an auto auction and blow my life savings on a Camaro. They have such design around them, such panache.
A splash of red wine vinegar can pull things together like a pinch of salt.
Food is so heavily connected to memory.
I like to take a day off and enjoy fast food for what it is. I have to say that in New York, I'm really partial about taco trucks. I mean, I really can't handle it. There is something about catching all those ingredients piled on top of each other: it puts me in a tizzy. I love it. I'm kind of a taco truck junkie.
Give yourself enough time to really learn how to cook.
I try to sit still for about 15 minutes each morning without making lists or running in overdrive.
I bent my head over a stove in my early 20s and picked it up in my 30s.
Scrambled eggs are so simple, but they don't wait or taste better cold!
I feel like a princess with a knife. I've wanted to be an Iron Chef forever.
I think we love bacon because it has all the qualities of an amazing sensory experience. When we cook it, the sizzling sound is so appetizing, the aroma is maddening, the crunch of the texture is so gratifying and the taste delivers every time.
Ganache is a mix of chocolate and cream. Warm cream, warm chocolate, they want to get to know each other - they're happy.
Short ribs in the middle of a hamburger? That was pretty groundbreaking.
I've roasted a somewhat frozen turkey, and it's come out just fine.
To make fluffy scrambled eggs, the best trick is to whisk in a splash of water and nothing else. Cream, milk, and other liquids drag the eggs down!
When we talk about chefs, we often talk about their love of food or their passion for it, but cooking is also about making a living; it's a job.
Stuffed cherry tomatoes are satisfying without being filling and make a great alternative to bread-based starters. You can assemble these appetizers ahead of time and refrigerate them until you're ready to serve.
It's amazing the relationships you forge in a kitchen. When you cooperate in an environment that's hot. Where there's a lot of knives. You're trusting your well-being with someone you've never before met or known.
Sometimes I look up a recipe for chicken and tomatoes and end up cooking pork. The inspiration gets lost in translation.
Mashed potatoes with stuff in it? That's '90s.
I grew up in Midtown Manhattan.
Red wine vinegar has some personality as well acidity.
I've thrown vanilla beans into mustard. Nothing crazy or grainy, just normal dijon. It's great for duck. Smear some of that right on the duck, coupled with some roast plums, and it all comes together in that savory over sweet over savory over sweet way we all love.
I grew up in a house where I was a spectator to the sport of cooking. In that way, I just learned so much about what it really takes to make food.
I shop at the market, and that informs what I make.
You have to be disciplined about being in the kitchen.
I didn't harbor a huge desire to become a chef until I graduated from college.
Food is ever-changing and ever moving forward and getting more and more complex.
I woke up on May 15, 1991, the day of my Barnard graduation, and I said to myself, 'By the end of today you will decide what you want to do with the rest of your life.'
If I am making a spice rub or a spice mix for a braise or even just to crust a piece of fish, I'll use mustard seeds. If you soak them in a little bit of vinegar and let them get plumped and soft and then you puree them, they're delicious.
I don't show just anyone how to crust a sea bass. That's sacred information.
Understand that nutrition plays a huge role in athletes' lives, and one of the most nutritious ways to eat is to cook your own food.
I love it when a few simple ingredients come together on a plate, and I think, 'Wow, that's a dish.'
If you want to have a relationship, at some point you have to let yourself get caught.
My father always said, 'If you love what you do, you won't mind slogging through it for several hours a day.'
I think unadulterated products and smaller portion sizes mean consumption of less food overall. Portion is everything. The first time I bought a scoop of ice cream in Paris, they weighed the ice cream on a scale before putting it on the cone. It was so small, it fell into the cone as she handed it to me.
I have a daughter who has taught me a lot along the way.
Make a stir-fried rice dish with some cut-up chicken and any vegetables folded into the rice for a 'one pot' meal lunch that has it all - protein, starch and vegetables.
I like all of McClure's pickles, but my personal favorites are the spicy ones.
Repeatedly opening the oven - or worse, taking out the turkey to baste it - slows down the momentum of cooking.
Every time I feel like something is missing from a dish, I think, 'Oh, I know, I'll add a pinch of dry ginger.' If it's not salt and it's not vinegar, it's probably missing dry ginger.
I wouldn't call being a chef gratifying in a lot of ways. It's an act of love.
It's essential to make sure you have proper kitchen tools for food storage - like cling wrap, bags, and containers - because they help keep food fresher longer.
