Cook Like a Chef 2.0

- Season 1

(2020)

To begin, Chef Ardington delivers clear and conversational tips and tricks for improving basics like Scrambled Eggs and French Omelettes. Next is a professional chef's approach to poaching eggs to create an amazing Eggs Benedict; including an egg-yolk sauce-making lesson for her lemony hollandaise. Eggs are the foundation for another sauce in the Spaghetti alla Carbonara, for this dish, the eggs are combined with savoury pecorino cheese, crunchy bits of cured pork, toothsome spaghetti, and black pepper with surprisingly satisfying results. Finally, home cooks will ...

Join our host, Chef Natalia Machado as she introduces us to her favourite techniques for using a wide variety of versatile, savoury tomatoes. First up? Tomato Water; fresh, ripe tomatoes are blended with aromatics, then carefully strained to release a clear, flavour-packed liquor. The leftover seeds and skins are dried to make a tasty Tomato Powder. Both preparations come together for Tomato Grilled Shrimp with Chimichurri. Provençal Tomato Tarte is built on a perfectly flaky crust, layered with Dijon, gruyere cheese, fresh herbs, and topped with a rainbow array of ...

Chef Wong, our highly skilled chef, and host delivers an outstanding version of the classic Chinese duck preparation, Peking Duck. He doesn't skip any of the many steps needed to deliver juicy, tender, and flavourful meat along with the crispiest possible skin. Yes, he uses odd things like bicycle pumps, bamboo skewers, a "smoking gun", a vacuum sealer, and broom-straw; but he also shows us universal tricks for anyone to present perfect duck, offering informed advice on several proper techniques, such as blanching, basting, roasting, and frying. Other creations in ...

Our host, Chef Derek, opens the action by preparing a mouthwatering brined, stuffed, and Grilled Double-Bone Pork Chop. His Sous-vide Pork Tenderloin is next, perfectly tenderized using the modern but accessible 'sous-vide' method, then finished in a pan with vermouth, rosemary, and butter. Patatim is a wok-fried, braised, and glazed pork shank originating in Chinese-Filipino community, accented with just a few brief hints of that country's Spanish cooking tradition. Chef Dammann presents his Porchetta with Tonnato next; whole pork belly is butterflied; dressed with ...

Chef Katie starts with whole striped sea bass, then walks us through the basics of handling, selection, and butchery. She sets the fillets aside and uses the trim and bones to make 'Fumet', a light fish broth. The fillets return for a demonstration of proper pan-searing technique served simply with a bright spritz of lemon. The fresh fillets are also cubed and tossed with fresh citrus juice, chillies, and cilantro, for her Ceviche Peruano. The Fumet returns for a seafood chowder loaded with ham, shellfish, potatoes, and cream. Next, whole fish grilled with North ...

How can anyone improve a household staple like roasted chicken? Chef Machado uses an eye-popping salt dome, balsamic vinegar, and fresh herbs to reinvent the classic. Chicken soup is a symbol of soul-refreshing nourishment; Natalia's secret for perfect Chicken Consommé is clarification, and now it is your secret too. An homage to classic French cassoulet is next; she starts by boning and stuffing a whole chicken leg with rich and flavourful sausage. Natalia's Argentinian heritage is visible in her final dish, a gorgeous Chicken Matambre, made with a whole breast, ...

Properly turning and roasting vegetables is a skill every chef must master; as is creating a quick vinaigrette; these techniques both inform Chef Craig's classic Roasted Veggie Salad. Millet is a tiny whole grain that, when cooked, is blessed with a delightful sweet pop. It is terrific in his Millet-Chickpea Salad, made with turmeric spiked millet pilaf, tahini, lemon, parsley, garlic, and crunchy fried za'atar spiced chickpeas. Grilled Beef and Papaya "Waterfall" Salad uses papaya three ways, and is named for the way the juices run on the grilling beef - Finally, he ...

Pommes Aligot are 'cheesy potatoes' transformed by a regional French technique that yields a uniquely toothsome, elastic and satisfying texture. Potato Gnocchi are perfect pillowy dumplings, served quick and hot with brown butter, sage, and lemon - Rosti is no ordinary potato pancake, and neither is Pommes Anna; side by side, we see how a chef can use a lifetime of skills to present the same simple ingredients in wildly different ways - In the last act, Chef Dammann presents Potato Confit, a unique dish that is popular at his restaurant, made with adorable heirloom ...

Join Chef Katie as she reveals the many uses for the increasingly wide variety of mushrooms available to home chefs. Pine-cone shaped morels make a Tea-Style Mushroom Stock, later used in a creamy, cheesy Mushroom Risotto. Porcini are richly savoury wild mushrooms that add beefy depth to Porcini Demi-glace, a vegetarian turn on veal stock reduction. The sauce, in turn, refines her hearty plant-based entrée, Portabella Mushroom Steak. Mushrooms come in many shapes, sizes, and levels of mystique, but the most mysterious of all is the rare black truffle - Chef Ardington ...

Chef Machado opens with an interesting instruction on the selection, handling, and butchery of whole salmon. Next? She makes classic Salmon Gravlax amped up with a splash of gin and a handful of fresh dill. Continuing; her Quenelles of Salmon Mousse is toasted with panko breadcrumbs and served hot. Salmon a la Nage is made with portions of salmon fillet, perfectly poached in Court Bouillon, garnished with a mosaic of seasonal veggies, and topped with an earth-shatteringly crunchy salmon skin chip. Her immense skill is on display for her final preparation, cast-iron ...

Lamb Tenderloin is almost perfect as is, but when elevated by a charred tomato Demi-glace, it is transcendent. Lamb neck is often underestimated but impressively meaty and flavourful; served here in a traditional Kashmiri-style Lamb Neck Rogan Josh, it is elevated to the sublime. Lamb Ribs are small but mighty, dry rubbed in this preparation with lemon zest, cumin, and mint, roasted to create satisfyingly tender, meaty bites and served with sweet potatoes fried crisp in rendered lamb fat. The coup-de-grace is a whole, deboned lamb leg, stuffed with spinach, anchovies,...

Chef Dammann's Steamed and Fried Quail is as good as it sounds, crusted in 4-spice and potato starch, fried crisp, and served with garlicky aioli. Rabbit saddle is stuffed with prunes and chestnuts, wrapped in sweet-salty speck ham, seared and roasted - Venison Forestière is tender red deer backstrap, sliced into thin cutlets, butter-seared and smothered in a sauce of wild mushrooms and Madeira wine. Clay pot cooking is on the syllabus next as the chef prepares Elk Shank Tagine; the name 'tagine' refers to both the North African cone-shaped clay pot and to the stews ...

After Chef Katie introduces the whole beef tenderloin, she covers basic handling, including selection, butchery, and what to do with all the varied parts, including rendering tallow and her tips for making basic Beef Stock. The center cut of the loin is so tender, that even served raw, it needs little more than skillful knife handling to create both an uber-traditional Beef Carpaccio and 'Yukhoe', a Korean variation of Beef Tartare. The trim and tail are transformed into a ragout of Beef Tenderloin Tips with Pearl Onions that uses the Beef Stock from earlier. Finally,...

In some ways, Chef Natalia's dairy deconstruction is like nothing you've ever witnessed on television - Right off the top, she makes butter. She makes it look so simple and fun that you'll want to try it yourself. Next, she shows us how to 'culture' buttermilk, which she then uses to make yogurt, then sour cream, then crème fraiche. The crème fraiche is amazing on Buckwheat Blinis with caviar - Then, just when you think she can't possibly take it further, she introduces cheesemaking. Her herbed goat cheese is simple, quicker than you'd expect and sure to inspire. For ...

First up is Chilled Smoked Salmon Soup, rich, creamy and tempting, blended smooth and topped with a bright green chive oil garnish. Oxtail Pho is Chef Craig's expertly executed version of the Vietnamese staple, rich, beefy, and served with an artist's palette of noodles, beef, and fresh garnishes. Chef Wong's restaurant serves his pungent and delicious Peanut Curry, made here with handmade coconut milk, peanut butter, curry spices, lemongrass, ginger, and Scotch Bonnet chilies. Bouillabaisse is perhaps the purest expression of seafood soup; our host makes his version ...

In Derek's French Onion Soup Gratinée, the onions are slow-cooked to a dark, caramelized tangle, simmered in rich, beefy broth, then topped with toasted baguette and piles of melty cheese. Next, whole heads of garlic are roasted with oil olive until golden and molten; in another approach, garlic bulbs are fermented over a course of days until transformed completely into Fermented Black Garlic. Pickled red onions, agar gelatin, and a tall pitcher of chilled olive oil all play roles in creating unique Onion Pearls, a vegetarian caviar made using 'spherification'. ...

Chocolate is a rich and darkly flavoured canvas on which we paint some of life's most memorable scenes - Best of all? It's gosh- darn tasty. After introducing several chocolate varieties, Chef Katie delivers a useful lesson on the importance of tempering. Next, she uses her tempered chocolate to make several magnificent garnishes and treats, including chocolate soil, a balloon bowl, chocolate bark, and enrobed chocolate truffles. She takes a savoury turn with Lamb Agrodolce; whole lamb shank is seasoned with cocoa, braised in a sweet-tart sauce, and garnished with ...

Join Chef Natalia in pitting 2 crazy good steak cooking techniques against each other; first, Cast Iron Rib Steak is seasoned, quickly seared in a white-hot cast-iron skillet and finished in the oven; second, her Sous-Vide Ribeye is slowly brought to a perfect internal temperature using the modern sous-vide cooking method, then given a final sear on a fiery char-grill. The winner? Everyone. Beef bones are featured next in her oven roasted Marrow Bones served with Parsley Salad. Next, a proper marinade technique informs her classic Grilled Flank Steak. The secret to ...

In Chef Wong's Ham Hock Terrine, rich, firm gelatin is carefully extracted from pork hocks, reduced, and then layered with cooked meat, sweet peppers, pickles, and herbs, in a hearty, comforting presentation. Chef Wong explores new creative frontiers with his 'agar-agar' (vegetarian gelatin) based Vegan Cheddar Cheese, teaching us about the building blocks of flavour as he goes. Natural gelatin binds together the Sous-vide Octopus Carpaccio, which is sliced thin and dressed with capers, lemons, and olive oil. For a final dish, deceptively simple Panna Cotta is ...

Chef Dammann's Italian mother introduced him to many foods, but the Stonefruit Mostarda he prepares in this episode is all Derek. Mango is a distant tropical cousin to peaches and plums, but it earns its place in the family in a delicious Mango Saffron Couscous; presented with a wildly inventive and beautiful Mango Tuile that is made while we watch. Veal Chops are the perfect backdrop for Roasted Plums and the accompanying Port-Plum sauce. To close, Chef Derek offers a Cook Like a Chef exclusive version of his restaurant's popular Sour Cherry Crumble, bursting with ...