We feel free and confident in the kitchen if we know cool life hacks that allow us to create amazing dishes. What if we have a few tricks in stock that the best chefs in the world shared with us? What if you gain experience from them by following their advice?

It's time to turn the cooking process into a real art, fascinating and exciting. In this review, we have collected the most interesting tips and life hacks from culinary fashion trendsetters.

Jamie Oliver

It’s unlikely that this chef needs any special introduction. Jamie Oliver is a famous English chef, restaurateur, and part-time showman who was able to interest millions of viewers in cooking and spread the philosophy of healthy home eating throughout the world. By the way, for these achievements, fifteen years ago Jamie Oliver was awarded the Order of the British Empire, and was also accepted as a member of the Royal College of General Practitioners.

How to Peel Ginger Root Easily

  • The most effective way to peel ginger is to scrape off the brown skin with a simple teaspoon. This way you won’t cut off too much, preserving all the pulp.
  • If you're in a hurry, just trim the spine on all four sides, leaving thick trim. You can then use them to make ginger tea and other healthy drinks.

How to separate the white from the yolk

  • The classic way to quickly separate the yolk from the white is to split the egg into 2 parts and pour the yolk into one shell or the other until only it remains in it. This should be done over a bowl where the whites will drain.
  • Another simple way to rid the yolk of the white is to crack an egg directly into your palm and let the white run between your fingers until only the yolk is left in your hand.
  • If you have a clean 0.5 liter plastic water bottle on hand, you can squeeze it in the middle and gently pull the yolk from the broken egg into the plate with the neck.

Heston Blumenthal

Heston Blumenthal is the famous English kitchen alchemist-innovator, whose vocation is molecular gastronomy. Once a self-taught chef, his talent and ability to improvise have made him a leading global chef, cookbook author and host of his own BBC shows, on which he provides fascinating insight into food combinations and the chemistry involved in cooking. .

How to cook pasta correctly

  • When planning to make excellent pasta, use only high quality durum wheat products. Pasta loves water, so even for a couple of servings of pasta you will need at least 2 liters of water.
  • Do not rely on the cooking time indicated on the package as recommended. Taste the pasta for yourself (the pasta is ready when it reaches al dente) and, after stopping cooking and draining, add olive oil.

How to fry food

  • Frying food is not such a simple process as it seems at first glance. It is important to monitor the temperature of the fat, because fat that is too hot will burn food, and fat that is too cold will saturate the food, making it taste unpleasantly greasy.
  • If you regularly cook French fries, first boil the slices until soft and, after removing them with a slotted spoon and allowing the water to drain, transfer them to the refrigerator for an hour, after which fry them in the deep fryer in 2 stages. Allow the fat to drain a little before serving these potatoes.

April Bloomfield

April was born in the UK, although she became a world-famous chef, opening several restaurants in the USA (two of them have Michelin stars). She is the author of several books about cooking, in which she reveals the secrets of her home cooking, and also shares her original meat recipes. By the way, to try her signature burger at the New York restaurant The Spotted Pig, visitors book tables a month in advance.

How to Make the Perfect Herbal Sauce

Since April Bloomfield's main specialty is meat dishes, she knows all about the perfect sauces for them. Try making this one - simple and incredibly delicious:

  1. In a bowl, chop 2 shallots, a clove of garlic, chili pepper, 50 grams of parsley, 50 grams of mint and salt.
  2. Add 2 tablespoons of lemon juice and 150 milliliters of olive oil, then stir. The sauce is ready!

How to cook meat dishes

  • Just before cooking, let the steak rest for about 10 minutes in a little salt. This approach will ensure uniform roasting of the meat and also create an appetizing salty crust.
  • In your search for your favorite burger, don't be lazy and experiment with different combinations. Of course, you need to use only high-quality meat. April Bloomfield's signature burger is served with Roquefort cheese and thin-cut fries.

Wolfgang Puck

This Austrian chef currently owns twenty restaurants around the world. He became famous not only for his unconventional approach to cooking recipes, but also for his signature original recipes and cookbooks. By the way, Wolfgang Puck is the main person responsible for buffets and festive feasts at Oscar parties.

How to choose seasonings

  • Universal herbs that should always be in the kitchen are rosemary, thyme, kaffir lime, mint and basil. Thanks to this set, you can create masterpieces even from simple products.
  • Fresh fish fillets are easy to spoil with unnecessary seasonings, but to make it simply amazing, just add basil and olive oil. Rosemary and basil are great for chicken and vegetables. Thyme and mint will help refresh the taste of dishes, and kaffir lime leaves will diversify Asian recipes.

How to cook vegetables

  • Boiled potatoes are a simple and tasty dish, when preparing it it is important to observe some subtleties. After boiling the potatoes, drain the water from the pan and place the potatoes back into it, tightly closing the pan with a lid and leaving for 5-7 minutes.
  • When planning to steam vegetables, be sure to add olive oil to them. It must be of high quality - only this way the prepared vegetables will turn out truly tasty.

Vladimir Mukhin

Vladimir Mukhin is the most famous Russian chef, whose name is known outside our country. Vladimir is a champion and laureate of various culinary competitions, the chef of the White Rabbit restaurant in Moscow. He once began his career in the kitchen of the restaurant where his father worked, and today he himself oversees many restaurants, managing to organize gastronomic events and travel around the world, collecting unique regional products.

How to choose products

  • The key to success is only good, high-quality products. Never buy frozen meat or fish for your meals. Always pay attention to seasonal vegetables or fruits - they are the most delicious.
  • At markets, get your own vendors, try their freshest products, and don’t be shy about learning their tried-and-true recipes.

Universal dishes

  • Soup is a unique dish that combines many flavors at once. It does not require any sauces or side dishes; soup replaces everything at once. By the way, Vladimir himself loves borscht: the chef eats it at any time and, if he were told that he would only eat one dish all week, Vladimir would choose this particular soup.
  • Reconsider your opinion about vegetables. Today it is not only a universal side dish, but first of all it is the main ingredient and an independent dish.

Ina Garten

The whole world knows Ina Garten as a famous author of cookbooks and a charming TV presenter. Aina never received any special culinary education, but in France she became interested in cuisine and there she fell in love with the cult of fresh and high-quality food. Today, being an energetic and passionate chef, Aina is developing her own line of Barefoot Contessa products and continues to publish recipe books.

When Styopa landed, at the airport he suddenly clearly remembered an excerpt from the film “What Men Talk About” about deflop.” Why did it happen. He even laughed, so much so that the woman in front turned her head in his direction. He gave her a face that expressed complete innocence and, turning on his mobile phone, he moved to take the queue at passport control.

Standing at the baggage conveyor belt and waiting for his suitcase to appear from the treasured black square, he watched with wariness as customs officials pulled passengers out of the crowd on their way out. It must be said that not everyone was delighted with this picture, or rather the absolute majority of the arriving flight, which was no longer very vigorously moving towards the exit, simply inventing passage tactics on the fly and looking for a gap in the chain of customs officers after the next catch. “We have to smuggle this at all costs,” was spinning in Styopa’s head as he frantically thought about the amount of cargo and that, in the event of a personal search, it would not be possible to hide it. “Eh, I was, I wasn’t!” - Styopa exclaimed and with all determination moved towards the exit, feigning complete indifference on his face and looking at the treasured doors.

“Sorry,” he heard the customs officer’s voice almost right next to his ear. He pretended not to hear and continued moving towards the door, and immediately noticed that there was no repeat. "I wonder why?" - he was spinning in his head. Only at the very door did he allow himself to turn around. The married couple following on his heels entered the inspection room with the customs officer... “Yesss!!!” - Styopa almost exclaimed out loud as he entered the opening of the automatically opening doors. Two kilograms of the purest Ukrainian lard were brought to a foreign land, purchased before departure, right at the Bessarabian market in Kyiv. He was happy. Seeing Seryoga waiting for him, he laughed and exclaimed: “Hello, buddy! Today we will definitely deflop something. I’ve had a big “kruton”,” and the friends hugged. Laughing, Seryoga said: “Let’s go straight to me. Tanyukha is already waiting with the table set. There will be deflops for you, and there will be croutons for you. Come on, quickly get into the car, otherwise the autobahns are overcrowded, so that we don’t get stuck in a traffic jam.”

Less than an hour had passed before Styopa was already hugging Tanyukha.

Sitting down at the table, he noticed two plates containing a snack. "What it is?" - Styopa pointed at the plates with his eyes. “Wait,” said Tanyusha. - “Not all the secrets at once. First, hot. I took the recipe from a friend especially for you.” She served a deep plate filled with meat. It must be said that Styopa loved meat and had the conviction that meat is not bad by definition. Therefore, he silently grabbed a fork and began to eat it. At first he was wary, but after tasting it, he began to repeat: “Yes, not bad, not bad at all. Be sure to say thank you to your friend and tell her how you prepared it.”

"And what's our friend's name?" - Seryoga joined the conversation with a slightly ironic intonation in his voice. At the same time, he opened a bottle of wine and looked at his friend as his fork flashed between his mouth and the plate.

“Christina,” said Tanyukha. - “Christina Sauer. Don’t you remember her?”

“I remember, of course,” Seryoga said very briefly, so as not to continue this topic further. Because such a lapse in memory would not be forgiven...

Tanyusha took out the recipe and showed it to Styopa:

So, let's take:

  • 1.5 kilograms of beef
  • 3 medium onions
  • half a head of garlic
  • 50 grams black olives, pitted
  • 50 grams pitted green olives
  • 75 grams Korinthen

Then Styopa said: “Wait, what is this?”

“Without explaining it to you for a long time, these are raisins. If it’s interesting, read it on the Internet,” Tanyukha said and ran to the kitchen.

  • 2 tablespoons pickled green pepper
  • 1 teaspoon rosemary
  • 2 teaspoons thyme
  • 1 bottle of rich dry red wine, such as Bordeaux
  • 300 grams of cream
  • 20 grams of cognac

And then, as if by chance, Seryoga held out a glass of cognac. To which Styopa replied: “Tell me, can you read minds?”

Seryoga only smiled in response.

  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 80 grams of lard

Cut the meat into large pieces. Cut the onion into cubes, roughly chop the olives and raisins, finely chop the garlic, crush the green pepper.

Fry the meat in hot melted lard, add the onion and fry with the meat for another three minutes. Pour half a bottle of wine, add garlic, raisins, olives, thyme and salt.

Close the lid and simmer for 30 minutes, then open the lid and continue cooking for 60 to 90 minutes. During cooking, periodically cover with a lid and add wine. Finally add cream, freshly ground pepper and cognac.

"Good recipe!" - said Styopa. - “Now let’s move on to the main thing - what kind of deflop is in the plate?” - He asked, pointing to the plate. - “I see shrimp, potatoes??? Well, inject yourself, how did you do it?”

Here Seryoga entered the conversation:

“Don’t you know Tanya, she would have been shown all sorts of tricks on TV for 24 hours, and she would have bought them all!” Tanyukha’s gaze directed towards her husband did not foretell a calm end to the evening. Tanyukha took a deep breath, stood up and went to the kitchen.

A minute later she appeared with some black object and a carrot. “Look,” she said and began to rotate the carrot, sticking it inside an object that resembled a sundial. A thin spiral emerged from the object. "Wow!" - Styopa said in a whisper and smiled.


“Now I understand everything, you did the same with the potatoes. Then I wrapped the spirals around the shrimp, after placing them on kebab sticks.


She probably froze it in the freezer and deep-fried it.

Did I tell you the algorithm correctly?” — Styopa took his eyes off the skewer and looked at Tanya. Tanyukha was all glowing. “It’s nice to deal with an intelligent man,” and her gaze turned towards her husband, who was pouring cognac into a glass. Seryoga made an appearance that Styopa himself had recently portrayed when going through customs. He suddenly felt funny. “Why are you laughing?” - Seryoga asked. There was tension in his voice. “Yes, I remembered something,” Styopa answered, smiling. “What kind of sauce did you serve with them?” - he did not let up.

“It’s very simple,” Tanyukha answered. For one hundred grams of mayonnaise, take a teaspoon of wasabi and the juice of half a lemon, season with zest and cayenne pepper.

"Yes indeed. You can’t call it complicated,” Styopa grabbed a skewer and dipped it into the sauce. He noted with pleasure that it turned out quite well.

“What about the second deflop?” — Styopa extended his hand to something wrapped in bacon and pierced with a toothpick.

“This is no problem at all,” Tanyukha began to quickly say.

“We take a date, cut it on one side, take out the pit. Place bacon in the slot.

Let's turn it around. Pierce with a toothpick.


Briefly fry in a frying pan.

“Yes, I was surprised, I was so surprised,” Styopa looked at Tanyusha. She was glowing with joy.

“What could be better when friends gather around such a lovingly prepared table,” he thought. He took a sip of the skate, waited until the warmth dissipated in his chest, and began his story with the phrase: “And now I’ll tell you how I bought lard at the market...”

So that everything works out for you! Bon appetit! Ovimu.

I have always been interested in how to turn a simply delicious dish into a truly magnificent, festive one. It is clear that decoration, serving and presentation are needed. However, even restaurant chefs who know how to cook delicious, delicious dishes, not all can boast of the art of decorating them. What can we say about family feasts? All these roses cut from vegetables, olives and sprigs of herbs... All this is already morally outdated and at times even brings melancholy.

Therefore, while attending chef master classes in the best restaurants in Moscow, we chose one where every dish is a real masterpiece. The inventor and real artist, sous-chef of the Grand European Express restaurant James Reduta, agreed to teach MIR 24 readers how to turn dishes into works of art.

The main thing here is not to be lazy and prepare the decor separately,” says James. - We use carrot breading, sun-dried tomatoes, crispy rice paper fried in oil, which can be tinted at the cooking stage with beetroot juice or turmeric, and chips made from the thinnest slices of bread, potatoes or sweet potatoes, and combinations of products, and the finest vegetable slices, and drops of sauces.

According to him, it is very important what the color scheme of the dishes will be: for some dishes warm tones in the design are appropriate, for others a cool color palette is good. As we watched, James decorated several dishes, along the way explaining what he used in the decor.

Grilled squid with Kenyan beans, sun-dried tomatoes and thick yellow pepper sauce

Boil the mini-potatoes in their skins, then cut each potato into halves and fry them in oil with a little garlic. Separately, fry the Kenyan beans. We cook the squid rings on the grill, season everything with pepper and add some salt.

Prepare a thick yellow pepper sauce. Heat olive oil in a frying pan, add onions and spices, fry them. Add the baked bell pepper cut into strips and cook for 5 minutes. Then add white wine, chicken broth and cook for another 10 minutes until the peppers are completely soft. Add the cream, remove from the heat, cool slightly and grind warm in a blender until it becomes a slightly runny, homogeneous puree. Salt and pepper, mix.

Now let's start assembling the dish. Place the yellow pepper sauce in a deep bowl. We put potatoes, bean pods and squid rings on it, which should drown in the sauce by a third. Then we decorate the dish with sun-dried tomatoes. You can buy them ready-made, or prepare them yourself. James cures them for 6 hours in the oven at low temperatures, sprinkled with lemon zest and dry aromatic herbs.

Another spectacular move is a cap of milk foam, which is obtained by whipping milk with a small amount of sugar and edible lecithin. The last ingredient ensures the persistence of the cloud of airy foam. It doesn't settle for quite a long time.

Then the thinnest slices of radishes and small petals of spinach and chard (leaf), which as if accidentally fell on the edges of the dish, are added to the dish. They don't carry any flavor, they're just decor!

The final touch: James sweeps a stroke of orange carrot breading onto the dish along with the plate, and the milk foam doesn't sag - it holds it. The breading brings all parts of the dish together, makes it complete and matches the rosy color of the sauce.

Danish Halibut with Sweet Potatoes and Mushroom Anise Sauce

Fry the halibut fillet in a frying pan, add salt and pepper.

Fry the mushrooms a little, add some salt and pepper, and then add cream, anise and boil slightly. The result is a thick mushroom sauce. Then we prepare the baked sweet potato puree. It turns out dazzling orange and sweet in taste.

Now let's start assembling the dish: put the puree on a plate. James, with a decisive stroke, “draws” a sweeping orange drop for them. Place some mushrooms in sauce on it, place the fish on top so that the mushrooms peek out slightly from under it. Place mushrooms on top of the fish again. So that she is all wrapped up in a shiny, delicious sauce.

Around this composition are laid out several sun-dried tomatoes and sliced ​​radishes, a couple of leaves of mini-spinach and chard.

The final touch is a cap of milk foam whipped with lecithin (hello molecular cooking!).

All! Serve the dish hot until the puree, mushrooms and fish have cooled.

Duck leg “Confit” with polenta and crispy rice

First, let's prepare the duck leg: salt and pepper it and simmer it in a frying pan over low heat until the meat is soft and all the fat has been rendered.

When the duck is almost ready, cook soft, non-steep polenta (this is a porridge made from finely ground corn grits, a denser version of which in Moldova is called mamaliga).

Then James takes a drop of balsamic cream on a wide, stiff brush and decisively draws a line across the entire plate from edge to edge. He places the palenta in the middle, making a “pillow” out of it, on which he places a delicious duck leg.

Now comes the turn of the color and taste nuance: he uses a spoonful of tomato confiture, giving it a neat shape. To do this, James, using two tablespoons, “conjures” the confiture, transferring it from spoon to spoon five times.

Making this exotic ingredient is not at all difficult, and it gives an interesting effect. To make jam, tomatoes need to be immersed in boiling water for a few minutes, cooled, peeled, cut into quarters, seeds removed, and the pulp placed in a saucepan and boiled slowly with the addition of lemon juice. Then turn the mass into puree using a blender and add sugar at the rate of 300 g of sugar per 500 g of tomato pulp. Boil to desired consistency, cool.

And now comes the turn of the main decoration: a huge exotic “flower”, which is not even clear what it is made of. This is rice paper: James makes real miracles out of it. And all because this is not purchased, but homemade rice paper, which means it can be tinted at the production stage by adding turmeric to the dough for yellow color, or beet juice for bright pink.

He used the same kind of rice paper decorations for the duck with palenta. The dough for rice paper must be rolled out, placed on a greased sheet of parchment and dried at very low temperatures until the paper hardens, and then cut into squares. To give the tinted rice paper the shape of an exotic flower, James dips the square into the deep fryer for a few seconds, where it instantly shrinks, bends, and takes on an intricate three-dimensional shape.

We place this “flower” on top, add a spinach leaf and serve until all this splendor has cooled down and breathes the aromas of duck and palenta.

Lamb chops with lightly salted cheese cream, tomato confiture and crispy flatbread

The name of this dish speaks for itself and includes almost all the ingredients included in it.

We prepare the meatballs from lamb pulp: only minced meat, salt and pepper, nothing more! Fry them in a small amount of vegetable oil on both sides, having previously lined the frying pan with parchment.

Lightly salted cheese should be crumbled and ground, adding a little cream, until smooth and creamy (not too liquid, because the cream should hold its shape!).

Dry half of the unleavened flatbread in a dry frying pan on both sides (a little bit so that it becomes crispy and acquires a slightly rosy color). First boil the mini-potatoes with their skins on, and then fry them in oil with the addition of finely chopped garlic.

Prepare tomato confiture in the same way as in the previous recipe.

Let's start assembling the dish. James paints a stripe of balsamic cream on the plate with a wide brush, lays out one small piece, rests the flatbread on it, pressing its edge with the second small piece. As a result, the cake is fixed at an angle.

The sous chef puts the cheese cream into a pastry bag with a shaped nozzle and squeezes out beautiful “roses” in the corners of the composition.

Fried, deliciously crunchy potatoes and spinach petals complement the composition, arranged on the plate in artistic disorder.

And the last thing: close to the top bit, partly overlapping it, James places an oblong mound of tomato confiture. It not only gives the dish a bright color accent, but also complements the taste of the lamb meatball.

The main thing is to do everything quickly so as not to let the meatballs cool down and serve the dish hot!

Arugula and shrimp salad with balsamic dressing and crispy sweet potatoes

For this salad, quickly fry peeled shrimp and champignons in vegetable oil, to which we add a little chopped garlic.

Arrange the arugula in an appetizing mound, “shade” the greens with a thin stream of balsamic cream, then “shade” the same stream of vinaigrette sauce on top (here is its composition: vegetable oil, soy sauce, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, garlic).

Place cherry tomato halves, shrimp and mushrooms in a circle. The composition is completed with sweet potato chips and thin slices of black bread. Both are cut very thin on a slicer and deep-fried for a few seconds. A secret from James: in order to cut the brown bread so thin, he first freezes it.

Caesar salad"

James makes the classic Caesar salad very simply, and it still turns out very beautiful.

He fries the chicken fillet pieces very quickly on both sides so that they remain juicy. Iceberg lettuce is torn into pieces and placed in a mound; cherry tomatoes cut in half and canned capers are placed around this mound. Drizzle the leaves with classic Caesar dressing and place still warm pieces of chicken on top. Finally, grated Parmesan is sprinkled on top. And he places two deep-fried rice chips, tinted yellow with turmeric, at an angle to each other.

Caprese

This appetizer is inspired by the classic caprese salad, but how different it is from its prototype!

James peeled the tomatoes, cut them into quarters and, before placing them on a dish, sprinkled them with powdered sugar and caramelized them using a gas torch.

Basil in the salad is actually present in the form of an airy mousse. Green basil should be chopped very finely, or better yet, chopped in a blender and added to the liquid biscuit dough. After pouring the dough into cups, put them in the microwave and after a few minutes you get a porous bright green “sponge” with the taste and smell of basil. Carefully cut it out of the cup with a knife, tear it into pieces and place it on a plate. Between the pieces of airy mousse we place mozzarella, which we also tear with our hands.

Then comes the turn of the tomatoes with a caramel crust around the edge. He places them in geometric order, slightly resting them on the cheese, and sprinkles everything with a little aromatic olive oil.

James decorates the rest of the plate with drops of balsamic cream. He does it this way: first, he squeezes out the balsamic cream in small drops-circles, dotting the plate with them in a checkerboard pattern. And then he takes a wooden skewer and, dipping it into each circle, draws a stroke.

But what about the famous pesto sauce, which is indispensable for caprese? James squeezes a few drops on either side of each piece of mozzarella. At the end, the geometric pattern of the dish is slightly diluted with slices of radish and spinach leaves, which the cook arranges over the appetizer with tweezers in artistic disorder. Agree that the result is simply fantastic beauty!

Tatiana Rubleva

Not the most famous, but the richest chef included in the Forbes list - his fortune is estimated at one and a half billion dollars! Wong is the owner of only three restaurants: two establishments in the United States and one in Japan. But a queue of people wishing to get into them forms within a few months. This is not surprising, since Alan is Barack Obama’s favorite chef, and his gastronomic fiesta, a luau, was held at the White House. Young Wong studied culinary arts in college, immediately realizing that the kitchen was his calling. From Honolulu, where Alan was from, he went to New York, where he learned his craft under the guidance of Andre Soltner. Then the future billionaire returned to his homeland, intending to become a teacher at his alma mater, but he was immediately invited to work in a large restaurant. The fame of culinary talents quickly spread among local residents, people went not to the restaurant, but to the chef, and Alan decided to open his own establishment. And you were right!

Wong has a lot of secrets, many of them are kept cleaner than the password to a bank safe. But the public still knows something. For example, the “five components” rule, which Alan religiously adheres to: a dish should not have more than five main ingredients. The chef's style is a combination of French cuisine and ethnic Hawaiian nuances. For example, he adds wasabi to the classic French sauce of berries and wine. And the seemingly routine guacamole sauce - what can you invent here? You can, argues Alan Wong. Let's share the recipe!

Preparation:

Finely chop the avocado (under no circumstances use a blender, you need to chop it, not puree it), finely chop the white onions, green onions, tomatoes, chili peppers, ginger and garlic, grate them on a fine grater. Mix all ingredients. As a result, the guacamole is more reminiscent of Hawaiian salsa. And thanks to sake, lime and chili pepper, the snack will last for about two days! Alan Wong serves his guacamole with grilled king prawns. Yummy!

Gordon Ramsay

Who doesn’t know Gordon Ramsay, the world famous chef who has been awarded three Michelin stars! “Hell's Kitchen”, “Top Chef America”, other shows, an entire chain of restaurants around the world and $118 million in annual income - that's all about him. In addition, Ramsay is also a happy husband and father of many children - he is raising two daughters and a son. Ramsay is famous for his sharp tongue; his caustic comments have long been dismantled into quotes. “My job as a chef is to learn as much as possible. You know, it’s hard for me to eat something that’s burnt and under-salted. So with an open heart I'm willing to eat anything from jelly eels to beans on toast. I'll eat anything as long as it's properly salted.", says Gordon.

What do you think the Ramsay family eats for dinner? Truffles, gourmet desserts, lobster? But no. We tell you what the world's most popular chef loves.

Spaghetti with tuna

You will need:

  • Spaghetti – 200 g
  • Canned tuna – 1 can
  • Shallot – 100 g
  • Garlic – 2 cloves
  • Chili pepper – 0.5 pcs.
  • Capers, parsley, lemon - to taste

Preparation:

Boil spaghetti until al dente. Chop the shallots, garlic and chili peppers and lightly fry in olive oil. Place spaghetti on a plate, top with fried vegetables, pieces of tuna, garnish with fresh capers, parsley and a slice of lemon.

Jamie Oliver

Celebrity British chef and restaurateur Jamie Oliver earns more than $250 million a year. Charismatic and witty, he became practically the face of big cooking and, we can note, popularized the profession of a cook. Besides everything else (and everything else is a lot of TV shows, books written by himself, charity), he is an exemplary family man: together with his wife Juliet (with whom he has been together for more than 20 years), he is raising five children! We wonder when he manages to do everything?

We offer you a very unusual recipe from Jamie Oliver. Yes, it will take a lot of time, but the result is worth it! Prepare this “Christmas tree” for the holiday - you are guaranteed to delight your grateful guests.

Croquembouche

You will need:

Cream Patissiere:

  • Milk – 1.5 l
  • Vanillin – 0.5 teaspoons
  • Egg yolks – 12 pcs.
  • Sugar – 250 g
  • Corn flour – 100 g
  • Butter – 125 g
  • Shu cakes:
  • Butter -200 g
  • Sugar – 2 teaspoons
  • Eggs – 8 pcs.
    For caramel:
  • Sugar – 600 g
  • Glucose – 400 ml

Preparation:

Making the cream: pour milk into a saucepan, add vanillin, as soon as the milk starts to boil, remove from heat. Beat the yolks with sugar and corn flour until white. Gradually add hot milk, stirring vigorously so that the yolks do not curdle. Return the mixture to the heat, cook, stirring, until thickened. Then stir in the butter and let cool.

Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease two baking sheets with oil. Combine the butter, sugar, 650ml water and a pinch of salt in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and add flour. Add the eggs one at a time, kneading the dough vigorously until it becomes thick and smooth. Transfer the dough into a piping bag and form into walnut-sized balls on the baking sheet. Flatten the tails slightly with your fingers dipped in water. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. The profiteroles should rise and become hollow inside. They should not be too pale, otherwise the cooled dough will sag. Cool the profiteroles completely on a wire rack.

Place the cream in a pastry bag, make small cuts at the base of the cakes and fill them with cream. Place again on the wire rack. Take a conical croquembouche mold (if you don’t have one, roll a regular sheet of Whatman paper into a cone), grease it with butter and place it on a sheet of parchment. Next, prepare caramel for decoration. To do this, we need to pour sugar into a container and fill it with water. Put it all on the fire and bring to a boil and cook the syrup so that it curls into a ball when it gets into cold water.
Remove from heat and immediately place the saucepan on a marble or metal surface to stop the boil. Dip the profiteroles into the caramel and place them in the mold until you form a pyramid out of them. Leave to harden.
Carefully remove the pan and transfer the croquembouche to a serving platter.

Wolfgang Puck

The darling of Hollywood is about him. It is 67-year-old Wolfgang Puck who prepares buffets and festive feasts for the Oscars after-party. We suspect that celebrities want to attend the ceremony not so much because of the coveted statuette, but in order to taste the chef’s signature dishes! Chicken pot pie, mini-burgers with cheddar cheese, canapés with smoked salmon, Oscar figurines made of chocolate in gold glaze... They say that Adele and John Travolta are crazy about pasta with cheese, which Puck masterfully performs. We invite you to join the haute cuisine and prepare crostini with goat cheese - it’s delicious!

Crostini with black and green olive tapenade and goat cheese

You will need:

  • Pitted olives – 1 cup
  • Pitted green olives – 1 cup
  • Baked tomatoes – ¼ cup
  • Garlic – 1 clove
  • Anchovy fillet – 1 piece (did not add)
  • Capers – 1 tbsp. (did not add)
  • Basil – ½ tbsp. chopped leaves
  • Parsley – ½ tbsp. chopped leaves
  • Thyme – ½ tbsp. chopped leaves
  • Oregano – ½ tbsp. chopped leaves
  • Olive oil – ¼ cup

Crostini

  • 1 French baguette, cut into slices
  • goat cheese

Place all tapenade ingredients except olive oil in a food processor.

Grind using the pulse button until all ingredients are chopped into large pieces.

Continuing grinding, gradually pour in olive oil. Transfer to a container with a lid and refrigerate. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Place the baguette pieces on a baking sheet and place in the oven for five minutes (they will toast slightly). You can cook them in a toaster or lightly toast them in a dry grill pan.