THE CHOPPING BLOCK – CHEF PROFILES

Stuart Davis

Favorite class to teach:
101 classes and Knife Skills

Training/education:
Associates From New England Culinary Institute. Worked at Les Nomades (Chicago), TRU

Cooking since:
16 yrs old

Favorite childhood food experience:
Cooking with my Mom

What made you want to become a chef?
My mother was an incredible home cook

What is your signature dish?
Anything Braised

What are the 5 ingredients you can't live without?
Piment d'espelette, Good French Olive Oil, Lemons, Garlic, Free Range Chicken, Late summer tomatoes

What do you love about cooking?
That it allows you to express your self through the dishes you create

When you're creating a new recipe, what influences and inspires you?
I tend to fall back French Mediterranean cuisine because I love the flavors and the simplicity of that style of food

What advice would you give a new cook?
Keep trying, no one is born a great chef, they all had to learn as well from somebody else as well

What are you doing when you're not cooking?
Hanging out with the family, road cycling, reading

Describe your perfect evening.
Rock Band2, beer and grilled burgers with family

If you had friends in from out of town, where would you take them to eat?
The Bristol

Where are you from?
Lawrence, KS

What was your favorite vacation?
Honeymoon in France for 2 weeks

What are your hobbies?
Cooking, Cycling, Reading,

What is your favorite band?
Death Cab For Cutie

What is your favorite sports team?
I really don't watch sports

If you could have dinner with one person, who would it be?
Alain Ducasse

What are your guilty pleasures?
Portillos' Italian Beef, #9 sandwich from Ba Le Bakery on Broadway

Who is your favorite celebrity chef?
Alain Ducasse

What 5 tools should every new cook have in the kitchen?
A good chef knife, Wood Cutting Board, Food Processor, Silicone Spatula, Tongs

List/describe three of your favorite tips or techniques you use in the kitchen.
Don't move the food around too much in the pan; let it sit undisturbed in order to develop good color and flavor.
Always allow for the pan to heat up for at lest 5-8 min before adding any food. If you don't do this, the food will sit and steam in the pan not cook properly.
If you are making fresh pasta and it seems dry in the kitchen substitute the water for olive oil. This will help it from drying out and it will also add elasticity to the dough, which is helpful when making stuffed pastas (ravioli, tortellini, agnolotti)

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