Pro Cooking Tips from 16 of NYC's Best Restaurant Chefs
Last night's Edible Schoolyard NYC Spring Benefit left us full, happy, and inspired. In addition to getting amped up about spring (morel mushrooms and asparagus are, apparently, where it's at), we left wanting learn from the chefs about how we could make their style food at home. So we asked them: How can we cook your food, in our homes? Turns out, they're not just great cooks—they're fantastic teachers as well.
Daniel Krieger1/16"Try using toasted nuts and seeds—like the savory granola we made for our lobster salad—as a garnish. Spice blends like dukkah are also a good place to start." —Michael Anthony, Gramercy Tavern
The Dish: Lobster salad with spinach and savory granola
Daniel Krieger2/16"We buy fresh peas, shuck them, blanch them, and then freeze them. We keep them all year long so that when spring comes we can use them in soup. They are a burst of flavor and remind everyone of spring!" —Gavin Kaysen, Cafe Boulud
The Dish: Soupe de petits pois: onion soubise, jambon de Paris, pea shoot
Daniel Krieger3/16"You have to shop well. Buy good ingredients. And don't go beyond your skill set—you're going to want to be able to socialize." —Jonathan Benno, Lincoln Ristorante
The Dish: Biscotti
Daniel Krieger4/16"My style of food is not that scary—I don't use chemicals or crazy ingredients you can't find. And we pickle a ton, like pineapple. You can pickle just about anything. It adds a layer of acidity and brightness, and you can leave it in the fridge forever." —Joaquin Baca, Brooklyn Star
The Dish: Smoked pickled pineapple, jicama, serranos, cilantro
Daniel Krieger5/16"The [goat] meat is absolutely delicious straight out of the roasting pan, and would make for an impressive Sunday night meal with some roasted potatoes and a vinegary salad. It's total 'set it and forget it'–style cooking and, and you can even surprise your friends and family. [They're going to say], 'This is goat!?'" —Brooks Headley, Del Posto
The Dish: Braised goat agnolotti with carrot and berbere
Daniel Krieger6/16"All of our dishes are riddled with dried chiles—you can make your own, too. [Commercial] red pepper flakes are like white noise heat. Making your own gives heat and flavor, and you can use them for more than just Mexican food." —Alex Stupak, Empellon
The Dish: Sliced mango, arbol chile, lime, peekytoe crab salad
Daniel Krieger7/16"Don't be scared! [Cooking] really isn't that hard. Especially the food I cook. So don't kill yourself. Take shortcuts. Go family-style." —Danny Bowien, Mission Chinese
The Dish: Suckling pig "David Chang"
Daniel Krieger8/16"We don't waste anything. We utilize every part of our ingredients, like with our turnip greens. They're great raw, they're great cooked." —Alexandra Raij, Txikito
The Dish: Corned ham hock terrine, carola potato, turnip greens, deviled egg, manzanilla en rama
Daniel Krieger9/16"Cooking with a cast-iron pan gives you an incomparable crust, for both vegetables and meat. To clean ours, we just douse it in oil and salt, burn it out, then wipe it clean." —*Justin Smillie, Il Buco & Vineria* **
The Dish: Cast-iron-seared octopus, fingerling potatoes, fava beans, pimentón
Daniel Krieger10/16"If you want to cook rabbit at home, be sure not to overcook it—it's a very lean meat. You could braise it; that would help. And balance the leanness with fat, like with a classic French mustard cream sauce." —Anita Lo, Annisa
The Dish: Black sea bass sashimi, trout roe, yuzu pearls, and shiso
Daniel Krieger11/16For this event, we have to make our dishes at a small station setup instead of a full kitchen. It's important for us to plan ahead and figure out our limitations. It sounds simple, but it's a big part of cooking at home, too. When you're trying out a new dish or cooking for a large group, planning each step ahead of time will help you avoid making many mistakes." —David Chang, Momofuku
The Dish: Roasted baby beets, sunflower hozon, duck prosciutto
Daniel Krieger12/16"Moisten the polenta before putting it into the liquid. That helps, but you really are just going to have to whisk it a lot. And listen: There's polenta, and then there's polenta. Don't buy instant polenta—that's nonsense. We buy ours from Anson Mills. —Tom Colicchio, Craft
The Dish: Porchetta: milk-fed pork, polenta, bitter greens, bacon jus
Daniel Krieger13/16"You can use oats like you would use any other grain. They're not just breakfast." —Frederik Berselius, Aska
The Dish: Oats and onions
Daniel Krieger14/16"Listen to your grandmother…and listen to the Franks when they say our book is an easy guide to simply the finest. Oh, and check out this video." —Frank Falcinelli, Prime Meats
The Dish: Vitello tonnato
Daniel Krieger15/16Home cooks should practice their dish as much as possible. Practice, practice, practice. —Rich Torrisi, Torrisi Italian Specialties
The Dish: Duck maraschino
Daniel Krieger16/16"A little bit of sweet helps balance things. We use more natural sweeteners, like maple syrup and honey—not refined sugar—in our savory dishes. There's an earthy, subdued sweetness that doesn't overpower things." —Kevin Pemoulie, Thirty Acres
The Dish: Salt cod tortellini in kohlrabi broth
