Co-Lin chef shares his secrets

Special to Wesson News

Chris McSweyn, the long-time chef at Wesson’s once world-renown Porches Restaurant before taking over as Executive Chef for Co-Lin’s Aladdin Campus Dining, shared his cooking secrets with more than 20 Institute for Learning in Retirement members seeking to improve their culinary skills in a special workshop at the college’s Thames Center last month.

            At the workshop, McSweyn shared start-from-scratch recipes for water melon and chicken salads, turkey cranberry sliders, red wine vinaigrette and chocolate chess pie, showed class participants how to prepare them from fresh ingredients, cooked and served the food to them in the tradition of his grandmother and shared thoughts on how to make the dishes extra special. 

            McSweyn, who grew up in a cooking family and still recalls his grandmother’s tutoring, engaged in conversation with his ILR students throughout the workshop, revealing his own secrets as they tested their knowledge and understanding with him.  Among his secrets:

• An increasingly popular all-purpose seasoning mix.  Originated in San Francisco, Everything Bagel includes a mixture of seasonings that enhance food flavor – garlic, onion, poppy seed, sesame seed and more.  You can’t go wrong!

• Rag it instead of brushing it.  When the recipe calls for brushing something, McSweyn dips a rag in the butter or sauce and heavily mops the food he is cooking.  More is better!

• Copiah tomatoes.   Copiah County, Mississippi, soil produces the best tomatoes in the world.  Alone sliced, part of a salad or stuffed with chicken or tuna salad, they make a big difference.

• How to salt & pepper to taste.  Salt is salt is salt when it comes to taste.  When seasoning, pay attention to the size of the salt you are using.  Size determines saltiness.  When it comes to peppers, kind makes the difference.  Red pepper is hot. Green pepper is mild.  Black pepper is somewhere in between.

• Brining fish, poultry and other meats and blanching fruits and vegetables.   Brining before starting to cook meats moisturizes and tenderizes them, enhances their flavor and reduces their cooking times.  A simple brine is a mixture water and salt, but brines may include sugar, spices and other seasoning mixed with broths, buttermilk and juices as well as water.  Usually, meats are refrigerated in a brine overnight.  Blanching – immersing a vegetable or fruit in boiling water for two minutes to cook rapidly and then abruptly stopping the cooking with an ice bath -- preserves the flavor, color, texture and nutritional value of vegetables and fruits like cauliflower, green beans and tomatoes. 

• Hand-mixing. While mixers are better for speed, large batches, and high-fat doughs, hand-mixing is preferred for developing a deeper understanding of your mix, particularly for breads, pastas, and pastries.  You can feel the exact moment the mixture changes, ensuring it is properly hydrated, smooth, and not over-worked.  You prevent crushing or over-compressing items that a machine might damage.  You have better control and greater precision for small batches or specific recipes.  Allows for immediate cleaning and avoids dirtying extra appliances.

TURKEY SLIDERS 

Yield:  12 sliders.  Prep Time:  5 minutes.  Cook Time:  18 minutes.  Total Time.  23 minutes

            Hawaiian roll turkey sliders use holiday leftovers.  With turkey, cranberry sauce and Swiss cheese in a roll baked to perfection with a butter drizzle, they are tasty follow-up to holiday feasts.

Ingredients

1 package of Hawaiian Sweet Rolls, 12 count.

3 cups of cooked turkey, diced, sliced or pulled.

1 cup of cranberry sauce (you can use a simple cranberry BBQ sauce as an alternative).

6 slices of Swiss cheese.

For the butter drizzle:

4 tablespoons of melted butter.

1 teaspoon of yellow or Dijon mustard.

½ teaspoon garlic powder.

1/8 teaspoon salt.

½ teaspoon poppy seeds (optional).

Directions

1.       Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.  Line a 9x13 inch baking dish with non-stick foil or use cooking spray on surface.

2.       Separate top and bottom portions of Hawaiian Rolls and place bottom half of the rolls into the baking dish.

3.       Layer with turkey, cranberry sauce and cheese and place top of the rolls on top of the layers of ingredients.

4.       In a small bowl, whisk together melted butter, mustard, garlic powder, salt and poppy seeds. 

5.       Pour butter mixture over the top of rolls and use a brush or spoon to spread the butter and spices evenly over the top.

6.       Cover with foil and bake 15 minutes.

7.       Remove foil and bake three more minutes uncovered

8.       Serve immediately.

Ingredients for cranberry BBQ sauce

2/3 cup of cranberry sauce.

1/3 cup of ketchup.

¼ cup of brown sugar.

2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce.

Directions:  Add ingredients to a small saucepan.  Place over medium heat until it begins to bubble, stirring constantly.

Spoon over top of turkey layers before baking.