Maybe we can call this an on-line cooking class? No matter what you call it, I am going to try and put some educational and interactive culinary information. To get started, click on the links below. If you have any questions, just e-mail me at jeff@chefjeffonthe.net

Culinary Terms
Cooking Tips
Sample Lesson

Onions Knife Peppers Recipes Baking Chefs Hat Zip Lock Bags Searing Salt Roux Thickening Agents Clairified Butter Braising

If your eyes burn when chopping onions, stick your head in the freezer. It really works!.

Always cut with a sharp knife. It makes the job easier and the risk of injury is reduced greatly reduced.

Never include peppers when making stock, it will turn the stock sour.

A recipe is just a guide, so you can play around and try different things.

A baking formula needs to be followed exactly.

In older times, each fold in a chef's hat signifies a new egg dish learned.

Gallon zip lock bags are invaluable in the kitchen. Use for marinating, storing, an on the fly pastry bag, for crushing cookies, or hand protector.

Sear everything you can. This is a guaranteed way to add flavor to any meal.

Salt can be a cooks best friend, just be careful with it. Once it is in, it is hard to take out.

When making a soup or sauce, make sure your roux is cold and liquid is hot or your liquid is cold and your roux is hot.

When adding a starch to thicken a soup or stock, it must come to a full boil for the thickening agents to reach the maximum thickening potential.

There are three ways to clarify butter: 1) Simmer until the milk solids have boiled away. 2) Melt over heat, and then skim the pure butter off the top. 3) Simmer and refrigerate over night. In the morning, remove the pure butter on top and discard the leftover milk solids.

There are 5 steps to braising: 1) Sear your meat item well on all sides. 2) Add aeromatic vegetables and seasonings 3) Add an acid like tomatoes and/or wine 4) Cover 3/4 with a liquid like a nice stock 5) Cover and place in the oven to cook.