Chef’s Corner

In the months from May to August , California produces 90 percent of the nation’s avocados. Roughly 60 percent of those come from San Diego County, the undisputed avocado capital of the United States. California avocados are hand grown on more than 6,000 small family farms throughout Central and Southern California. These growers, and their passion and dedication to sustainable agriculture, truly make California avocados a premium fruit. There are 8 varieties of commercially grown avocados in California, but the Hass represents 95 percent of the total crop volume. The other varieties are the Bacon, Fuerte, Gwen, Lamb Hass, Pinkerton, Reed, and Zutano.

Here are a few helpful hints for working with this silky and luscious fruit.

• When selecting avocados, the first thing to remember is that the prettiest skin color doesn’t necessarily mean the best fruit. Hass avocados turn almost black as they ripen, while other varieties remain a bright green. Once you’ve spotted a possible candidate, gently squeeze the fruit in the palm of your hand. The fruit should be firm, but should yield a little softness. If you get some avocados that need ripening assistance, place them in a brown paper bag with an orange, apple, or a banana for a couple of days. Make sure to check the bag each day, so the avocados don’t get overripe.

• Before cutting an avocado, first wash the outside thoroughly and place it on a clean work surface. Then make a horizontal slice to the seed, rotate the avocado around the blade of the knife, and then twist the avocado to separate the halves. Remove the seed by sliding the tip of a spoon gently underneath and lifting it out. Scoop out the pulp and either slice, dice, mash, or reserve. Make sure to sprinkle some lime or lemon juice on the outside surface of the pulp so it doesn’t oxidize and turn black. If you’re mashing the avocado into guacamole, cover the entire top of the guacamole directly with plastic wrap, pushing out all of the air. Avocados are amazingly versatile and can be easily frozen — they’re great for salsas, soups, sandwiches, or in sorbet.

As far as I’m concerned, the seasons dictate which soups to make when. Spring soups can capitalize on fresh vegetables like asparagus, green peas, and seasonal mushrooms. Summer soups can be cool and refreshing, like gazpachos or cold fruit and cold vegetable soups. Fall and winter soups — like chili, chowders, and stews — utilize legumes and root vegetables and are usually much heartier — perfect for colder weather! Whether you’re making soups, bisques, chowders, consommés, or cold soups, the basic skills are the same. All these dishes require the right balance of liquid to solid ingredients, as well as the right level of thickness and flavor intensity. Often, the ingredients that go into these recipes vary significantly in volume, water content, and flavor concentration. In many cases, you will need to get your soup completely assembled, let it cook for a little while, then taste, season, and thicken as needed. Remember, trust your senses, and always use your great stocks as a base.

Maintaining the proper ratio of bones to water is crucial for making an excellent-quality stock. For beef, veal, poultry, or game stocks, here’s the basic rule of thumb: To make 1 gallon of stock, use 8 pounds of bones, 6 quarts of water, 1 pound mirepoix and 1 standard bouquet garni. It is important to combine the bones with cool water and bring the water slowly to a boil, but then to reduce the heat to a simmer if the stock continues to boil. Any blood or impurities will cloud the stock. Constant skimming of the impurities will determine how clear the final stock is. After 1 hour, add the flavoring ingredients. Spices and herbs will generally release their flavor sufficiently after about 15 to 30 minutes. Other flavoring ingredients can be added to simmer as well (ginger, mushrooms, tomatoes, wines, etc.). Brown stocks generally take about 6 to 8 hours of simmering time. White and brown poultry stocks should be allowed a minimum of 3 hours, and vegetable or seafood stocks need about 1 hour. Many chefs will take a finished stock and use it as a flavorful poaching liquid or as a base in soups and stews. Beef and chicken stocks can be reduced by a little over a half — to a “demi-glace” — at which point they are thicker and have a more concentrated flavor. Demi-glaces are often used as a base for sauces. If a demi-glace is reduced again — roughly by half — it will thicken to a gelatinous consistency when cool. This is called a “glace” and can also be used as the foundation of a sauce or in other recipes where an intense, rich flavor is called for.

Cut the onions into 1/2-inch slices. In a large sauté pan on high heat, add some oil and then the onions. Break up the onions and coat them with the oil. Continue on high heat until the water from the onions has released and evaporated. As soon as the pan is fairly dry, turn down the heat to low. Stir the onions so all pieces get equal time making direct contact with the pan: if onion pieces are on top of each other they will not brown. Some people cheat by adding sugar, but there’s plenty of sugar in the onions to give you a really nice caramelized color and flavor.

Salt is perhaps the most important and also controversial flavoring tool in any kitchen toolbox. Whenever I teach a class, we always get into a salt discussion: which to use, if any. A lot of doctors and nutritionists are trying to steer chefs away from using salt for health reasons. I say: “No way.” As I tell my students: Salt makes the world go ’round. There’s just no substitute. Here’s a short list of salt varieties; each delivers its own distinctive quality to a dish. Kosher salt is the most universal and well known; it’s inexpensive and has pure salt flavor. The coarse texture gives it more volume and makes it easy to control when salting food. Sea salts are available as both coarse or fine and are a bit more expensive than kosher salt. They tend to have a marine taste and a milder saltiness. Hawaiian sea salts are either pink, gray, or black and are very rich in trace minerals. Moderately priced, large-flaked Maldon sea salt from England is another great choice for both cooking and finishing. Nowadays, smoked salt is all the rage. There’s alderwood, hickory, apple, juniper, elm, and the list goes on. Basically, any smoked salt is considered a finishing salt and can add a degree of complexity and smokiness to any dish. Fleur de sel is harvested in Brittany, France, by hand from the surface of salt beds. Its sweet marine taste and crunchy texture make it a fantastic finishing salt preferred by many top chefs around the world.