Cooking On The Line....What I Know Now

Radio Appearance Sunday August 19

2012-08-18T14:35:00.000-07:00

I'll be on WIND Radio 560 AM Chicago's Geoff Pinkus show, Sunday August 19, talking about Restaurants, Cooking, Culinary Schools, and my Book "Cooking On The Line". You can also watch or listen via Internet as the show Streams Live. Cheers!

James Beard Foundation Book Awards

2012-05-08T14:25:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Gabrielle Hamilton and many thanks to the James Beard Foundation for considering Cooking on the Line.....for the Writing and Literature award.

Restaurant Tip

2012-03-23T10:18:00.000-07:00

If you go to a Restaurant 5 minutes before it's posted closing time, do not expect great food!

5 Star Review from Goodreads

2012-03-23T10:16:00.000-07:00

AnnMarie Marranzini's review

Loved it! Read it cover to cover in one sitting. Wonderful narrative for foodies and people who love restaurants. http://t.co/withMLqW

From Twitter about "Cooking on the Line"

2012-02-16T10:29:00.000-08:00

Thomas Cannell @Tcanz

@waynecohen I picked it up by chance and it is my top read along with roasting in hells kitchen! Read it in a day couldn't put it down!

Skyline Newspapers Review of "Cooking On The Line"

2011-07-29T12:58:00.000-07:00

"YOU CAN DEVOUR “COOKING ON THE LINE,” a new book by food lover Wayne Cohen who became a professional line cook at 50. In this delicious autobiography, Wayne gives credit to chef Tony Priolo of Piccolo Sogno, chef Martial Noguier of Bistronomic and others for allowing this novice a chance to show his work ethic and love of good food. You will salivate, and wince, as Wayne slaves and reveals all the passion that goes into creating fine dishes. (He even shares a few easy recipes.) Cohen is working now at Piccolo Sogno and everyone who reads his book will have a deep appreciation for the hard work and devotion that makes a kitchen produce the exceptional cuisine we often take for granted. -by Ann Gerber

Another 5***** Star review from Amazon

2011-07-08T11:45:00.001-07:00

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Story!!, May 27 2011

LTR51 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cooking on the Line (Paperback)

Great story whether you want to become a linecook or are just interested in making a career change. Well written, at times you feel you're right in the kitchen with Wayne just praying that the dishes are going to get out in time. His advice on becoming a linecook is very insightful, so if you can't take the heat, STAY OUT OF THE KITCHEN!!

WGN Radio appearence June 26, 2011

2011-06-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

Podcast of WGN Radio's Sunday Papers show with Rick Kogan. We discussed restaurants, chef's, and my book "Cooking On The Line".

Rick was a great host and although the show was at 6:30 AM, I was actually able to form mostly complete sentences.

Many thanks to Rick and all the kind words he said about my book "Cooking on the Line.

http://bit.ly/irOo51

Cooking On The Line is now available for the Nook!

2011-06-20T14:14:00.000-07:00

"Cooking On The Line...from Food Lover to Professional Line Cook", is now available for the Nook eReader. Enjoy!

"as compared to Achatz's and Tramonto's books, this is the one most engaged with the trenches of kitchen warfare." The Chicago Reader reviews "Cooking On The Line"

2011-04-28T15:12:00.000-07:00

Chicago Reader Review By Mike Sula

In contrast to the perfectionist Achatz or Tramonto, who clawed to the top and stared in terror at the bottom, 55-year-old line cook Wayne Cohen is awfully pleased with himself. When the accomplished home cook and Maurice Lenell Cookie CEO found himself out of a white-collar job, he answered an ad for a line cook at a Lincoln Park German joint that sounds a lot like the late Prost. Through attrition, he quickly winds up head of the kitchen at the dysfunctional restaurant, and parlays the experience into stages at One SixtyBlue and Graham Elliot before landing on the line at Piccolo Sogno. That's really hard to do, but you wouldn't necessarily know it from Cohen's account. Written in first person, present tense, almost every chapter and section end with a telegraphed foreshadow: things are about to get weird, difficult, or controversial. They rarely do. Like Achatz, Cohen relates his challenges but there's never much of a sense of struggle, and one never really understands why things seem to come so easy for him. Sure, he's confident, with a positive attitude and a willingness to work hard, but lots of young culinary students and first-generation immigrants have those qualities too, and something tells me their experience is quite different from his. Still, as compared to Achatz's and Tramonto's books, this is the one most engaged with the trenches of kitchen warfare.

WGN TV Appearence on the Midday Show

2011-04-19T11:40:00.000-07:00

Wayne Cohen discusses cooking, restaurants, and his book Cooking On The Line, with host Steve Sanders, on WGN TV's Midday Show.

http://www.wgntv.com/news/middaynews/wgntv-author-wayne-cohen-cooking-on-the-line-from-food-lover-to-professional-line-cook,0,633017.story

Publishers Weekly Review of "Cooking On The Line"

2011-03-28T13:08:00.000-07:00

Just received a fantastic review for "Cooking On The Line...from Food Lover to Professional Line Cook" from the prestigious Publishers Weekly magazine. Publishers Weekly calls "Cooking On The Line" an "absorbing memoir". To read the entire review, click on the link: http://bit.ly/gi4Ia5 Enjoy!

WGN Radio Appearance

2011-03-14T14:59:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday March 9, 2011 I appeared on the Extension 720 show, hosted by the award winning radio host Milt Rosenberg. I was joined by two other Line Cook/Chef's. We spent almost 2 hours discussing all aspects of Line Cooking, Food, and Restaurants. The experience was terrific and the show is both
enjoyable and informative.

Wayne Cohen in studio

If you love food, click on the link, http://bit.ly/fOR6nY, I'm sure you will enjoy this podcast.

The First Reviews Are In!

2011-03-07T14:12:00.000-08:00

"Fun Read for Food Lovers" ...."Great read"... The first reviews are in for "Cooking On The Line" read all the reviews here: http://amzn.to/e1cIm1

Wayne Cohen is interviewed by award winning food writer Steve Dolinsky

2011-02-25T11:03:00.000-08:00

My interview at Piccolo Sogno with James Beard award winning food writer Steve Dolinsky about Cooking On The Line: http://bit.ly/g0xpW3

The Roots of Cooking

2011-02-15T13:11:00.000-08:00

I've always been fascinated by the fact that one goes to a highly rated restaurant and is immediately impressed and even awed by the seemingly exotic, or at the very least, expensive looking ingredients which compose the restaurants offerings.

What I Know Now........Shortly after becoming a professional cook, and now involved in prepping, cooking, and plating these very same ingredients, it occurred to me that many of the ingredients used were not all that exotic or for that matter, very expensive. As a matter of fact many are very inexpensive. I am referring to root vegetables such as Turnips, Celeriac (Celery Root), Kohlrabi, Jerusalem Artichokes (sunchokes), and Parsnips. We all see them at the market and never think of cooking them. Maybe these vegetables strike us as old fashioned, funny sounding peasant food. I can't remember one time prior to becoming a professional line cook, shopping at the market, and the the thought of buying a Turnip ever crossed my mind. When one sees these very same ingredients in an expensive restaurant, they quickly become fashionable, exotic, even HauteCuisine.

The truth is these vegetables have a lot in common with Potato's. So think like a Chef, and approach these roots the same way. Like the potato, these humble roots can become sublime.

Start your "exotic" vegetable experience by simply roasting them. Peel the outer flesh from the vegetables, (for the tougher skinned veg like Celery Root you may want to use a chef's knife), cut them into a 1/2" dice. Next put the diced veg into a large bowl and add a little Olive oil, just start with a tablespoon and pour it down the side of the bowl. If you are preparing a lot of veg, add more oil. Next add a pinch of salt. Then toss the vegetables so they become lightly coated with oil and salt and put them in a baking sheet lined with parchment paper to prevent sticking. If you don't have parchment use foil and then go to the store and by parchment, because after you taste this you will be making it again and again. Parchment paper is the professionals choice for lining pans that are destined for the oven. Place the pan in a hot oven. The hotter your oven is, the faster it will be done.

Roast in the oven checking after about 12 minutes, you may want to stir them around or rotate the pan, if they are roasting unevenly. Check again after about a half hour. Cooking time will vary based on size of dice and oven temp. When you can smell a fabulous aroma in your kitchen, they are probably done.

You can now serve them. However, if want to cook like a pro, simply let them cool down, put in an airtight container, and refrigerate. Your roasted root vegetable will certainly last a few days. I know now that most vegetables in restaurants have been precooked by either roasting, grilling, or blanching in hot water. These vegetables are precooked to different degrees of doneness, and temp'd (reheated) during service.This usually happens when each individual order is being prepared. This technique may actually enhance the flavor of vegetables, and significantly cuts the time necessary to cook the veg during service.

To prepare these "precooked" roots for your meal, simply heat up a saute' pan, add a little oil to coat the bottom, let the oil heat up until it is shimmering in the pan, then add the veg. and a pinch of salt. Give the pan a shake to toss the veg and coat in oil. You can finish the cooking on the stove top or in a hot oven, adding a nice knob of butter at the last moment. Plate and enjoy. This technique will work with any root vegetable and a large variety of other vegetables like: Asparagus, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Beets, and Green Beans. You may want to add a little sauce or a complimentary vegetable like sauteed onion to the roasted roots.

Quick Hit: A great dish I've prepared is roasted Turnip and Celeriac with butter melted (slow cooked) Leeks. To prepare this dish; combine the precooked vegetables in a hot saute pan with oil, add a pinch of kosher salt and shake the pan to toss and coat. When the veg is hot, plate and finish with a lemon creme fraiche sauce. Simply combine a half cup of creme fraiche, the juice of half a lemon and a pinch of salt. If you don't have creme fraiche, sour cream makes a good substitute. I usually add a little heavy cream to my sour cream, if I have it. Enjoy!

Pork Belly Reuben.....The World's Next Best Sandwich?

2011-01-14T10:00:00.000-08:00

What I Know Now... is dedicated to Great Food, not good, Great, anything less will not be recommended or discussed. With this in mind, I present to you my blogs first dish, the Pork Belly Reuben and details on how to prepare it. This dish proves that the humble sandwich can in fact be a Gastronomique pleasure.

During my very first interview to become a professional cook, the chef brought over a menu for me to look at. As this was a new German Hofbrau type restaurant, I first saw the usual suspects; sausages, schnitzels, and spaetzle. Then I started to see items with a twist, like Skirt Steak Rouladen and Braised Duck with Red Cabbage Bread Pudding Then it hit me: PORK BELLY REUBEN; braised pork belly, sauerkraut, and Havarti cheese on grilled rye bread.

I love great sandwiches and one of the best is the Reuben, corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, slathered with Thousand Island dressing, served on grilled rye bread. But this, the Pork Belly Reuben, sounded unbelievably delicious, I now knew this young, first time chef interviewing me was talented, I really wanted to cook with him. He hired me, and so it started, my adventure, following my passion Cooking On The Line.

A couple of days before the Hofbrau opened, it was time to prep the components for the Pork Belly Reuben, I could hardly wait. The major cooking activities are slow braising the belly, and preparing the sauerkraut, also by braising.

Pork Bellies are not easily found in your local supermarket, but are almost always available at butchers, ethnic markets, and the large produce world type places, which sell meat. Pork bellies vary in size but are usually in the 10 to 13 pound range. They come with or without a thick layer of skin. Although you can easily remove the skin and make cracklings from it, I prefer to just get the belly without the skin. The butcher will usually cut it down if you want a smaller piece of the belly. You will get about 2 to 3 servings per pound.

To prepare the belly, start by seasoning the bellies with salt, pepper and dry mustard, rubbing in the seasonings very well. Next put the belly into a roasting pan or pot to braise them. I had always thought and braised items with the liquid coming about 1/3 of the way up the protein. The Chef at the Hofbrau taught me for this recipe to braise the belly fully submerged in water, with * onions, carrots, celery, garlic cloves, and crushed tomatoes, in a 325-degree oven for five hours. Cover the pan or pot with aluminum foil or a lid.
* Three each; onions, carrots, celery, garlic cloves, (all rough chopped), and 1 cup of crushed tomatoes(canned works well), 2 tablespoons of spicy mustard or 1 tablespoon of dry mustard, 1 tablespoon kosher salt and 2 teaspoons black pepper.

While the belly is braising make the Sauerkraut. Drain 1 lb of purchased kraut and rinse with cold water. Julienne half an onion and saute' in a hot pot, with a pinch of salt until the onion just starts getting color. Add the kraut to the onion and stir a couple of times to incorporate, then add a teaspoon of Kosher salt and a couple twist of black pepper. Cover the kraut with white wine, when the wine begins to boil, cover the pot, and turn down the heat to low, or place it in a 300 degree oven. Cook for about an hour. Check it a couple of times to make sure there is always a little liquid in the pot. Taste and reseason if necessary then remove it from the heat. You can either keep it warm if making the Reuben's immediately, or cool it down for later use. The Kraut will keep at least a couple of weeks due to it's high acid content.

After 5 hours, pull the belly from the oven, and remove the cover. You can either take the pork immediately out of the container and begin separating the meat from the layers of fat while it's still hot, or put the whole container of belly and braising liquid in the fridge and allow it to cool down, This could take hours so I usually do this step overnight. Many chefs feel one should always have braised items cool in their braising liquid for a juicier product. I have not found a difference in this particular dish, whether cooled down or not. When I became Chef of the Hofbrau, I began cooling it down in the cooler, it was a lot easier to remove the fat which congealed on top of the liquid, remember this is Pork Belly and it has a lot of fat, but fat usually equals flavor. After removing the fat, pour the braising liquid through a strainer into a pot and reduce it by at least half. Now you can separate the belly meat from the fat layers. You will notice there is both light and dark meat. Both taste great. The Pork belly meat will stay good for at least 4 days in a cold fridge,it also freezes very well.

To prepare the sandwich, pour enough braising liquid in a hot saute' pan to just about cover the meat, and add the belly and a pinch of Kosher salt, I usually go with about 4-6 oz, roughly a handful.

Butter both sides of 2 pieces of Rye Bread for each sandwich, place them in a hot pan or on a griddle, when the first side starts to brown, flip and add a thick slice of Havarti cheese, preferably with caraway, to each slice.

Put enough Sauerkraut on top of one slice of bread to cover the cheese.

When the pork belly is hot, remove it from the braise (tongs work best) and place it on top of the Sauerkraut, top with the other slice of bread. You may want to grill it a little longer if the Havarti is not melted, or you want to toast the rye more.

Remove the sandwich from the heat and place it on a cutting board, slice in half. I would serve the sandwich with a horseradish whipped cream or a spicy Mustard like Dusseldorf or Dijon.

Now you are ready to bite into something that certainly will be amongst the best things you ever ate, and quite possibly the Next Best Sandwich in the World.

Quick Tips: To julienne onions, cut the stem and root ends from the onion. Peel off the skin. Cut the onion in half through the root and stem ends. Place the cut side down and make 1/8" slices. My first chef taught me to use a knife at a 45 degree angle, so you are cutting across your body. Use the pinch grip to hold your knife: Place your thumb and forefinger on the blade just in front of the bolster (where the blade meets the handle), pinching the blade.

If you can't find Caraway Havarti Cheese, simply toast Caraway seeds in a hot pan, shaking the pan often so the Caraway does not burn. Toasting spices is the norm in the restaurant kitchen, it releases the spices oils and amps up the flavor. At one restaurant I cooked at, I even had to toast the black and white peppercorns. You can also add the toasted Caraway to the Sauerkraut a couple of minutes before you pull it from the heat.

An electric knife is a great tool to slice this sandwich, or any delicate/messy foods. I've used it for; slicing cheese, bread, giant pretzels, carving roast meats, turkey, chicken, and delicate pastries. While staging at NoMI, a four star restaurant, they used an electric knife to slice the special of the day; Beef Wellington.

When it's done....it's Done!

2011-01-05T09:28:00.000-08:00

For my first post, I am going to discuss what I consider one of the most valuable lessons learned as a professional cook. What I Know Now........is regardless of what you are cooking and how you are cooking it, at some point it is cooked to the correct temperature. That is the time to either plate or in some cases rest the item being prepared.

It is a simple matter of Heat and Time, that's it! I have learned in the professional restaurant kitchen there is only one temperature setting for cooking, HIGH, as in the hotter, the better. Whether it's the cook tops or the ovens, everything during service is at maximum heat all the time. As a matter of fact, sauté pans waiting to be used for your next dish are sitting empty on burners reaching blistering hot temps, before any food is even put in them. I have personally negotiated with oven service engineers during service, to boost the power of the ovens at my station. To say the least, and despite what Emeril may say, Medium does not exist in the restaurant kitchen. Hotter means faster and that is what line cooking is all about, speed. It is a given that the food will be perfectly cooked to the correct temp, every time, even when cooking multiple dishes simultaneously.

So how does one achieve this level of cooking skill, repetition. By cooking the same dishes over and over, using the same technique. To be more specific, one can easily cook the same dish 20 times a shift, 5 days a week for at least 3 months (seasonal menu), or for years. To put this in perspective, that would mean the same salmon, lamb chop, pasta, calamari, chicken, etc.....dish, 100 times in just one week. That is not to say that all dishes are perfect every time. "Who forgot the fish in the oven" comes to mind followed by "Your killing my restaurant".

My point is; one can significantly improve the quality of their food by simply cooking it to the proper temp. It's a simple timing issue, and to be redundant, Heat and Time, Heat and Time. Nothing else really matters if a dish is over or under cooked. On rare occasions when this happens on the line, and if you are cooking at a quality restaurant, despite quickly becoming the scorn of the Chef and fellow cooks, one simply starts over. Of course at many restaurants, they let it go and hope for the best. We have all, unfortunately, been at the receiving end of this unpleasant experience.

A digital thermometer is a great inexpensive tool. One with a long wire probe is invaluable for roasting. Start to compare the temps on your thermometer to the the resistance you you feel when poking the protein with your finger. Rare is compared to the feel of pressing your cheek, the tip of your nose is medium rare, chin is medium, and your forehead = well. However, I have rarely seen a thermometer of any type in a restaurant kitchen, let alone one being used. That would be seen as an admission of a lack of ones skills, in the macho world of line cooking.

Time is also a measure, but can be unreliable due to changes in the strength of your heat source, internal temperature of your protein before cooking, exact size of what your cooking, type of pan you are cooking in and the material it is constructed.

So when you get ready to prepare your next meal, start hot and remember When it's Done... it's Done.