The cooking technique everybody uses by default. And why the chef community cringes every single time. It is possible to boil hot dogs. Nothing terrible happens. However, this is the cost you are paying for choosing that particular method. And the reason why no chef ever does it anymore. Hot dogs are precooked. Boiling does nothing in terms of killing off potential pathogens. What it does accomplish is removing everything which gives those hot dogs their unique quality. Flavors get extracted directly into the boiling water. Salts, the smoking process, seasoning – anything added to develop its flavor profile during processing – goes right into the water which gets dumped afterward. You are cooking flavors out of the food and throwing them away. What is left after the boiling process is a colorless, softer and flavorless imitation of a hot dog. Boiling ruins the texture. Properly cooked hot dogs snap when bitten because they maintain internal pressure thanks to a casing. Boiling removes all that tension. What is left is a soft, swollen sausage which is not what hot dogs stand for texturally speaking. Boiling cannot cause the Maillard reaction. Caramelization of meats exposed to dry and extremely high temperatures – what causes browning and the development of new flavors – takes place at temperatures above 100 degrees Celsius. Water has an absolute temperature limit, which means it never exceeds 100 degrees no matter how long or intense the boiling process. For the Maillard reaction, temperatures have to be at least 150 degrees. Grilling, pan-frying, broiling – any cooking methods using direct contact with a source of intense heat – work perfectly for this task. Boiling cannot. Grilling is the preferred method of cooking hot dogs due to several scientific principles. The direct exposure to fire causes the browning reaction while the inside cooks slowly from the inside out. The casing shrinks a little bit, allowing the pressure to build up inside. Some fats render during cooking, intensifying the flavors. And smoking adds a layer that boiling cannot provide. Dry pan-frying yields superior results compared to boiling while requiring almost the same effort. Use medium-high heat. Toss the hot dog in a hot skillet to ensure even browning. Take three to four minutes. Add some butter in the last minute for enhanced flavoring.

Part of my philosophy behind helping couples connect through food, is really that we need to have fun in our lives. There’s so much going on, businesses to create, connections to be made, products to sell. But we have to have fun as well. Furthermore… We have to have fun with our partner and our families. I know a lot of you will say well my job is fun or my business is fun and I get that. But what message does it send your partner when all the fun you’re having is doing something without them? Cooking together should be fun, it should be light and engaging. You should be stepping into the kitchen with the intention of connection, but fun connection. So often cooking is a chore, but we need to make it more than that. It has a power to be something more, so let’s take advantage of it. Let’s make every moment count and have fun.

Want to know the definition of bliss?! Dinner with my fam. Billy and JJ, sure, we are always here but today the Lovely Miss Riley is home from training camp… ooooohhhhhhh my heart! ♥️ Made fish and chips - first time ever lol Resounding success I’d say. These little moments f connection - brought together by a good meal - this is why I do what I do because I know the magic exists in the recipe of food and love. It’s Chef’s Kiss type magic 🥰

It’s funny, lamb is a bit of a thing in our family. We all loved it. Even the kids who tried to say they don’t like it, love it ha ha My dad was the OG fanatic in our family. No matter what the occasion, no matter where we were, he wanted lamb. He would often want to throw dinner parties when we were in France, and invite a number of people that we had connected with. Being a chef, trained in France, with all the beautiful ingredients at my fingertips, I always had wonderful ideas of great meals to make, and I’d have them planned out in my head and then my dad would say or we could have lamb. This was the subtle order that wasn’t to be denied. Not that I minded it was wonderful, but sometimes I just want to spread my wings a little bit and make something different. Something special. At my dad’s funeral, myself, and a couple other people stepped up to speak about him, and every one of us mentioned lamb 🤣 Nowadays, the price of lamb like everything else is crept up, so it’s a rare treat, but every time we have it, it just brings back so many memories. There’s so many wonderful ways to cook it: roasted with mint sauce, roasted with Bernaise sauce, curried, stewed, grilled… The options are endless, and for the most part, they’re all wonderful! What’s something that your family loves to eat over and over again? Is there a story behind it?

If you watched yesterday‘s class recording, you will already seen this. It’s a good reminder to things. Don’t have to be perfect to be enjoyable. Take that in perfect step, have fun with someone close to you even if it’s spontaneous and imperfect.