9 Tips from great chefs to take your recipes to the professional level

Many Brazilians love the good old-fashioned food of our little land, with seasonings and spices that, sometimes, only Tupiniquins seem to understand. But what if we tell you that the MasterChef judges, in addition to mastering the art of Brazilian cuisine, also share some tips that can improve the dishes we know and prepare in our daily lives? Have you ever thought about being a professional chef in your own home?

Today the awesome.club separated some of these culinary tricks from the experts that can give a taste of restaurant in “ordinary” dishes that most Brazilians love. Come with us and check out the step by step!

Ah, rice, one of the most traditional dishes of our beloved Brazil. Did you know that there is a perfect recipe reproduced by chef Paola Carosella so that it stays super loose and tastes like a restaurant? No? So let’s tell you:

For what have the ideal texture, it is necessary to wash it several times, so that all the excess starch comes out. After that, give it a final rinse, and let it sit for an hour. Voila! Just cook it the way you like it best. 🇧🇷

Tired of using store-bought tomato sauces? Or the ones you make at home that never have the desired taste and texture? Well, we just found a pretty cool solution to your problem! Former judge Paola Carosella taught on her channel how to make a delicious sauce in an uncomplicated way and with that taste of booty country.

Separate the ingredients and the other seasonings, sift canned tomatoes separate the “juice” it, in addition to the skins and seeds — don’t forget to add hot water to reuse the rest of the sauce left in the cans. Don’t forget the salt and pepper (if you prefer), see? Let it cook over medium heat with half a lid on, after 15 minutes, throw in the basil, and voilà, the sauce is ready!

Making a puree may even seem like a very simple recipe and task, but to masterfully execute it, a lot of attention is needed — because, according to chef Jacquin, there are some secrets to making the dish the same way that professionals do it in their culinary establishments.

Don’t wash the potatoes – peel them and cut them in half; cook them with milk, water and spices; when they are ready and warm, mash them in a sieve over a pan with cream🇧🇷 After this procedure, mix the potato and cream with a fouet — without letting them cool down — and finish with butter (the same amount as the potato) and salt of your choice. In this way, to have a puree worthy of a “Masterchef”, there is no need to add artificial spices that only tend to intensify the color of the food, the butter together with the cream will make it tasty and slightly yellow, as it should be.

Feijoada is one of the most famous and well-known dishes in our country, and it’s so tasty that it’s a hit even among foreigners, but it couldn’t be any different, right? The flavor is unmistakable and unique like our Brazil. Therefore, we have separated some excellent tips from none other than chef Jacquin to make your feijoada amazing and with a professional touch. Were you curious? Just take a look:

Let the meats soak for two to three days to remove excess salt; Add the beans after the meats are cooked – or cook them separately so that no ingredient gets past the point;Use an orange in the mixture to remove the fat from the feijoada;Tie fresh herbs on a string and toss in the pot — it adds flavor to the dish. Great, isn’t it?

According to chef Henrique Fogaça, chicken is one of the animal proteins that Brazilians consume the most, but you can’t eat the same recipe every day, right? In a video, he teaches some techniques to season it deliciously. We separate our favorite recipe to teach you. check out🇧🇷

You’ll need chimichurri, water and olive oil — let the seasoning soak in this mixture for five minutes. Fry the chicken with olive oil and butter and once it is ready, cut it into juicy slices and place the chimichurri mixture over the food. That way, it will be much juicier and won’t have that ′′ cold ′′ appearance and not juicy.

Anyone who thinks that the French chef, Jacquin, doesn’t know how to season meat for barbecues is wrong. He told some details that make all the difference when preparing the food before being placed on the grill, such as salting the meat only when serving it, using only salt and lemon. In addition, he said that for the meat to be tender and at the ideal point, we need to roast the piece on the grill over low heat, as the skewer takes all the juice out of the food.

An extra tip that can make all the difference: if you prefer to use charcoal, throw a piece of firewood on the coals to leave a smoked flavor in the food. With these chef’s tricks, our barbecue will be different, you bet!

On her YouTube channel, Paola called her friend Leide to teach her how to make Rio beans at the point that the chef likes and approves of. According to Leide, it is the ideal recipe for those who work and hardly have time to cook the grains. Let’s learn?

Separate a pan already heated over high heat, add the vegetable oil you like, add two cloves of garlic, pre-fry it, put the beans with a bay leaf and salt. After that, sauté a little with water and cook for twenty minutes. The right moment for each thing can make all the difference!

Bye! It’s ready, loose, seasoned in a practical way — simple and tasty.

Still talking about Paola’s recipes, she decided to reproduce one of the most beloved by the Brazilian people — the stroganoff. According to the chef, she studied the recipe and now decided to make some changes. Just look at how simple and delicious it can be:

Separate the seasonings, such as salt, pepper, thyme, bay leaf… cut the meat (already seasoned with salt and pepper a day or 15 minutes before) into medium cubes. Pre-cook the meat and other seasonings, remove it after preparation and set aside🇧🇷 Right after this step, brown the onions and the other seasonings in a pan, throw the meat over them, put a spoonful of mustard, hot water and the cream. Ready! Who knew that these details could make the typical dish that became part of Brazilian culture look like a restaurant?! Too much, isn’t it?

Chef Jacquin shared on YouTube that he has a love-hate relationship with French fries, as they are delicious but a lot of work to make. But that’s not why, thinking of sharing his “culinary secret”, the Frenchman showed step by step how they should be made. Look:

Peel the potatoes and cut them into strips; Wash them in warm water to remove the starch (that way, they will become red); Then, dry them on a kitchen towel and, meanwhile, let the oil heat up in the pan; Then, throw them in the hot oil and let them fry — when you see that they are cooked, place them again on a cloth, wait to cool down, and throw them once more in the pan (a kind of bath, according to the chef).

You’ll soon notice that they’re golden and crispy, so take them off the stove and serve with your favorite sauce! From now on, we’ll only eat potatoes at that fancy restaurant.

Do you know any “culinary secrets” that can improve some of our daily dishes? Tell us and, who knows, your tip will be included in one of our articles? 🇧🇷