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Articles by Chef Todd Mohr

Browse published articles attributed to Chef Todd Mohr, with full-archive search.

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By Chef Todd MohrRecently published1 topic

Christmas Dinner Ideas Start with Appetizers Too Fancy For You.

Christmas dinner ideas come easy. Turkey, Ham, or Beef with potatoes and vegetables. However, how you START your meal can be a more perplexing problem. There are infinite choices of holiday appetizers to choose from. How do you find the right recipe? You don’t FIND the right recipe, you create one. And you can create any holiday appetizer you’d like once you discover the secrets behind Pate’ a Choux. This is a basic puff pastry dough, often called éclair paste, but it makes an attractive shell for any filling you choose, creating an appealing holiday appetizer.

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,103 views1/5 (1)

By Chef Todd MohrRecently published1 topic

Do you recognize these things that make your cooking inconsistent?

Today’s cooking tip: Guessing does not help to make cooking easy. In fact, guessing doesn’t help your cooking at all and will make your cooking inconsistent. Think about it… people don’t guess at things they’re sure and confident in: • You don’t guess whether your left foot will follow your right in walking • You don’t guess how to drive your car today, you’ve practiced • You don’t guess how successful you’ll be, you plan it and work the plan

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

681 views2/5 (1)

By Chef Todd MohrApr 12, 20121 topic

This Chicken Kiev Recipe Was Invented in Culinary Arts School

Most home cooks would begin searching cookbooks for a Chicken Kiev recipe that met their tastes, cooking skill, and ingredients on hand. This is most often a time consuming task. Actually, it takes MORE time just to find the recipe that it would to cook this stuffed chicken entrée. In today’s Elements of Entrée Production class at Baltimore’s culinary arts school, we have to prepare lunch for 35 diners in the next classroom. Their class deals with elements of dinner service,

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

2,310 views

By Chef Todd MohrRecently published1 topic

Why Do They Call Them Mother Sauces?

The concept of having Mother Sauces from which to create most other sauces is a relatively new concept. Sauces have been used in cooking just about as long as fire has. Sauces in French cuisine date back to the middle ages. In those days, sauces were used to hide the bad texture and flavor of spoiling meats or preserving other foods by blocking out air.

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

2,230 views

By Chef Todd MohrFeb 25, 20121 topic

Mahi Mahi Recipes You Can Do in 15 Minutes

Mahi mahi recipes are no different than any other recipe. I’m sure you know by now how I feel about recipes. They have inherent flaws that make them very difficult to duplicate consistently. If you’re going to get varied results from the same recipe, why even follow it in the first place? Cooking is a chore when you have to follow someone else’s written instructions. However, cooking becomes inspirational and therapeutic in many ways when you follow your own creativity and d

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,665 views

By Chef Todd MohrApr 13, 20111 topic

The Turkey Gravy Thickener that Grandma Ignored

My Grandmother used cornstarch to make turkey gravy. My Mother inherited this procedure of dissolving cornstarch in water to thicken the drippings. Well, this generational laziness stops here! If your family is like mine, your elders will be sliding the roasting pan from the oven in a few weeks. The bird is brown and fragrant with simmering and sputtering fats in the bottom of the pan. Just before she’ll carve turkey, Grandma will turn your holiday meal into Chinese food. A

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,527 views

By Chef Todd MohrRecently published1 topic

Why Poaching Fish is Better Than Boiling

“What has less flavor than water?” I pose the question to my cooking college class. Nothing! Nothing has less flavor than water. If you’re thinking about poaching fish, chicken, or eggs, why not ADD flavor to the final result by cooking them in a flavorful liquid? That’s the first rule of cooking something in a poaching method. Don’t use flavorless water, always poach items in a flavorful liquid. Have you ever boiled carrots in water? The result is carrots that taste like water and water that is orange. Hmm, where did the flavor go?

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,521 views

By Chef Todd MohrApr 26, 20111 topic

Don’t Leave Shirred Eggs Off Your Menu For Brunch

If you’re writing a menu for brunch, don’t forget Shirred Eggs. They’re extremely simple, can be made well in advance, and make a great table presentation. People love foods in individual serving dishes. In my many years of Catering, I’ve seen the trends come and go, but high visual appeal never goes out of style. Individual appetizers in a flat-bottomed Asian spoon are always a hit. Hors d’ oeuvres served in martin glasses or desserts in chocolate cups are delicious to the

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,377 views

By Chef Todd MohrApr 13, 20111 topic

Mixing is More Important Than Baking in Christmas Cake Recipes

Have you ever taken the results of your family’s Christmas cake recipe out of the oven and been disappointed? How can the same recipe created year after year always come out differently? “Why didn’t my cake BAKE correctly?” I’m here to tell you that the problem with most home baking mistakes isn’t in the BAKING, it’s in the MIXING of your cakes that most mistakes are made. There are three goals in cake mixing, whether it’s a Christmas cake recipe, or any other baked good at

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,377 views

By Chef Todd MohrRecently published1 topic

How We Fry In a Pan at Cooking College

You can fry in a pan or sauté on the stove top, but knowing the differences between the two methods is an important lesson in cooking college. There are big differences between the basic cooking methods of Pan Frying and Sauté, but most people think they’re the same.

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,370 views

By Chef Todd MohrMar 10, 20121 topic

How To Cut Onions Without Buying A Chopper Device

If you want to know how to cut onions and aren’t easily fooled by late night TV commercials, I’m about to save you a tremendous amount of time and money. I have a neighbor that owns every kitchen gadget and appliance available. She must have the QVC shopping network on speed-dial. These devices are advertised to save your time and lower your kitchen stress, but they do just the opposite. I imagine a race between my neighbor and I. We’ll both dice an onion, she with her chop

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,331 views

By Chef Todd MohrRecently published1 topic

What is Demi Glace?

What is Demi Glace? It’s only the most indispensible ingredient for making brown sauces. Professional chefs know that the secret to making rich and flavorful gravies for beef, veal, lamb or game lies in the few simple steps needed to make their sauces pop. Demi Glace uses one of the mother sauces called “Espagnole”. The brown sauce is combined with brown stock and reduced by half. This means that the two ingredients are combined and softly simmered until half the moisture evaporates, intensifying the flavor and reducing the volume.

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,325 views

By Chef Todd MohrRecently published1 topic

How To Make Homemade Sauces Like The Pros

Professional Chefs know how to make homemade sauces using basic cooking methods, not written instructions. That’s why you won’t see a truly skilled cook run for a recipe when they need a sauce. Empowered with HOW to make a sauce, they don’t need a recipe to say WHAT to put in it. A good sauce can make or break a dish. An overcooked piece of chicken can be saved by a flavorful, rich and attractive sauce covering it. However, a bad sauce will ruin the flavor, texture and appearance of even the best cooked piece of protein.

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,318 views

By Chef Todd MohrAug 29, 20121 topic

How To Make Homemade Sauces Like The Pros

Professional Chefs know how to make homemade sauces using basic cooking methods, not written instructions. That’s why you won’t see a truly skilled cook run for a recipe when they need a sauce. Empowered with HOW to make a sauce, they don’t need a recipe to say WHAT to put in it. A good sauce can make or break a dish. An overcooked piece of chicken can be saved by a flavorful, rich and attractive sauce covering it. However, a bad sauce will ruin the flavor, texture and appea

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,310 views

By Chef Todd MohrApr 13, 20111 topic

Salmon Gravlax Roses Make an Attractive Holiday Appetizer

Gravlax Roses can make a simple and attractive holiday appetizer from dry-cured salmon. Whether you cure the salmon yourself, or just purchase it, my simple procedure can be the focus of a fancy appetizer selection that only you know was quite simple. To me, the definition of cooking is coagulating proteins in a food product. Most often, this is accomplished by applying heat. You’ve seen the coagulation of proteins in any hamburger on your barbeque grill. The raw hamburger i

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,305 views

By Chef Todd MohrApr 13, 20111 topic

Catch a Taco Fish, One of the Quick Dishes for Everyday Cooking

If you could cook like me and create quick dishes every night of the week, you’d never need a recipe book. Without a recipe book, you’d never need to stress about dinner. It’s the written recipe that causes so much anxiety about preparing family dinners. Are you always trying to figure out “what’s for dinner”? Is it a constant battle of finding recipes, sharing recipes, deciding which recipes work and which don’t? Before you start cooking, do you have to search for a recipe

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,286 views

By Chef Todd MohrRecently published1 topic

This Chicken Kiev Recipe Was Invented in Culinary Arts School

Most home cooks would begin searching cookbooks for a Chicken Kiev recipe that met their tastes, cooking skill, and ingredients on hand. This is most often a time consuming task. Actually, it takes MORE time just to find the recipe that it would to cook this stuffed chicken entrée. In today’s Elements of Entrée Production class at Baltimore’s culinary arts school, we have to prepare lunch for 35 diners in the next classroom. Their class deals with elements of dinner service, and our class provides the food. We’re the chefs, they are the servers.

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,263 views

By Chef Todd MohrRecently published1 topic

All the Butter Facts From Culinary School in Baltimore

There are a lot more butter facts than salted versus unsalted. This a question often asked of me. “Should I use salted or unsalted butter in my cooking”? Of course, it depends on the application, but there is so much more to consider when using this cooking staple than whether it has salt added to it or not.

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,262 views

By Chef Todd MohrApr 13, 20111 topic

Apple Cranberry Sauce that Didn’t Slide From a Can

Apple Cranberry Sauce is something unique that you can add to your holiday table this year and avoid the gelatinous creature that slides from a can every holiday meal. I’m not crazy about cranberry sauce in the first place. Cranberries are very tart and sour. That’s why they’re combined with sugars and corn syrups, binders, and preservatives before being molded into the shape of a can. Rather than eating what the cranberry cannery is serving up, I choose to make my own cran

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,240 views

By Chef Todd MohrAug 29, 20121 topic

How To Make Homemade Sauces Like The Pros

Professional Chefs know how to make homemade sauces using basic cooking methods, not written instructions. That’s why you won’t see a truly skilled cook run for a recipe when they need a sauce. Empowered with HOW to make a sauce, they don’t need a recipe to say WHAT to put in it. A good sauce can make or break a dish. An overcooked piece of chicken can be saved by a flavorful, rich and attractive sauce covering it. However, a bad sauce will ruin the flavor, texture and appea

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,229 views

By Chef Todd MohrApr 13, 20111 topic

This Strawberry Pie Recipe Is a Great Method for Any Other Fresh Fruit Pie.

This Strawberry Pie Recipe Is a Great Method for Any Other Fresh Fruit Pie. Unlike canned fruit, fresh fruit does not come with extra liquid. However, we do need some liquid to use as a binder for our pie. If we just sliced strawberries, placed them on the right type of flakes pie crust, and baked them, this would be considered a tart. But a true pie has a binding agent, something that brings all the fresh fruit ingredients together so you get an attractive triangle slice of

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,199 views

By Chef Todd MohrRecently published1 topic

Thanksgiving Potatoes that Beat Boring Boiled or Mundane Mashed

Thanksgiving potatoes are boring. If you’re serving the same mashed potatoes year-after-year, you know what I’m talking about. Do you have relatives that insist on the same old menu each holiday? Will Aunt Francis refuse to attend if you don’t serve the family mashed potato recipe? Face it, tradition always gets in the way of innovation. I want to share some ideas, inspirations, and methods from the professional kitchen that will become the start of a new holiday tradition this year.

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,191 views

By Chef Todd MohrRecently published1 topic

How To Cut Onions Without Buying A Chopper Device

If you want to know how to cut onions and aren’t easily fooled by late night TV commercials, I’m about to save you a tremendous amount of time and money. I have a neighbor that owns every kitchen gadget and appliance available. She must have the QVC shopping network on speed-dial. These devices are advertised to save your time and lower your kitchen stress, but they do just the opposite. I imagine a race between my neighbor and I. We’ll both dice an onion, she with her chopper/dicer device, me with my chef’s knife that I bought 17 years ago for twenty dollars. Ready? Go!

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,159 views

By Chef Todd MohrApr 13, 20111 topic

A Chef’s Potluck Party Tips to Make Them Jealous.

A potluck party can be a food nightmare. As a professional Chef and caterer, few things offend my culinary senses more than the holiday potluck party. With hot items going cold, badly portioned and picked-through platters, nacho dip next to brownies, and unidentifiable entrees all sharing the same table, it’s no wonder that this random buffet will impugn all the work you’ve put into your dish. To be a stand out in this noise of nourishment, this cafeteria of chaos, you need a

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,149 views

By Chef Todd MohrRecently published1 topic

This Strawberry Pie Recipe Is a Great Method for Any Other Fresh Fruit Pie.

This Strawberry Pie Recipe Is a Great Method for Any Other Fresh Fruit Pie. Unlike canned fruit, fresh fruit does not come with extra liquid. However, we do need some liquid to use as a binder for our pie. If we just sliced strawberries, placed them on the right type of flakes pie crust, and baked them, this would be considered a tart.

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,147 views

By Chef Todd MohrApr 13, 20111 topic

Poaching is the Path to More Quick Dishes

I’m so happy to share more quick dishes for everyday cooking with you. Earlier this week, I caught a Taco Fish and helped you discover the simplicity of a basic breading procedure you can use on any ingredient in your pantry. In the time it takes most people to just FIND the right recipe, I can apply a basic cooking method to the ingredients already found in my kitchen. In the time it takes most people to go back to the grocery store because the recipe told them to, I’ll ha

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,146 views

By Chef Todd MohrRecently published1 topic

Mahi Mahi Recipes You Can Do in 15 Minutes

Mahi mahi recipes are no different than any other recipe. I’m sure you know by now how I feel about recipes. They have inherent flaws that make them very difficult to duplicate consistently. If you’re going to get varied results from the same recipe, why even follow it in the first place? Cooking is a chore when you have to follow someone else’s written instructions. However, cooking becomes inspirational and therapeutic in many ways when you follow your own creativity and desires.

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,135 views

By Chef Todd MohrRecently published1 topic

Mahi Mahi Recipes You Can Do in 15 Minutes

Mahi mahi recipes are no different than any other recipe. I’m sure you know by now how I feel about recipes. They have inherent flaws that make them very difficult to duplicate consistently. If you’re going to get varied results from the same recipe, why even follow it in the first place? Cooking is a chore when you have to follow someone else’s written instructions. However, cooking becomes inspirational and therapeutic in many ways when you follow your own creativity and desires.

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,133 views

By Chef Todd MohrApr 13, 20111 topic

Thanksgiving Potatoes that Beat Boring Boiled or Mundane Mashed

Thanksgiving potatoes are boring. If you’re serving the same mashed potatoes year-after-year, you know what I’m talking about. Do you have relatives that insist on the same old menu each holiday? Will Aunt Francis refuse to attend if you don’t serve the family mashed potato recipe? Face it, tradition always gets in the way of innovation. I want to share some ideas, inspirations, and methods from the professional kitchen that will become the start of a new holiday tradition t

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,124 views

By Chef Todd MohrRecently published1 topic

Mahi Mahi Recipes You Can Do in 15 Minutes

Mahi mahi recipes are no different than any other recipe. I’m sure you know by now how I feel about recipes. They have inherent flaws that make them very difficult to duplicate consistently. If you’re going to get varied results from the same recipe, why even follow it in the first place? Cooking is a chore when you have to follow someone else’s written instructions. However, cooking becomes inspirational and therapeutic in many ways when you follow your own creativity and desires.

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,113 views

By Chef Todd MohrRecently published1 topic

Mahi Mahi Recipes You Can Do in 15 Minutes

Mahi mahi recipes are no different than any other recipe. I’m sure you know by now how I feel about recipes. They have inherent flaws that make them very difficult to duplicate consistently. If you’re going to get varied results from the same recipe, why even follow it in the first place? Cooking is a chore when you have to follow someone else’s written instructions. However, cooking becomes inspirational and therapeutic in many ways when you follow your own creativity and desires.

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,111 views

By Chef Todd MohrApr 13, 20111 topic

These Uses for Leftover Turkey Will Un-Clog Your Refrigerator

Do you start thinking about uses for leftover turkey as soon as the meal begins or does all that food just get loaded into your refrigerator? Since thanksgiving cooking planning starts at your desk and not your stove, you may not have any food remaining after the meal. To reduce wasted time, money, and food, this is the best approach. However, if you’ve planned to create leftovers or it just worked out that way, there are many uses for leftover turkey that you can assemble

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,109 views

By Chef Todd MohrRecently published1 topic

Top 10 Eating Healthy Tips for 2012

Eating healthy is not just a fad. It’s not just for hippie granola types, it’s not something to practice only under a doctors direction. Carefully choosing the foods you eat has an impact on every aspect of your life, happiness, social interactions, and overall well-being. However, eating healthy means different things to different people, and that’s okay. To some, it means salads and carrot sticks at every meal. To others, it’s simply finding a new way to enjoy more wholesome ingredients without feeling like they’re depriving themselves of flavor and enjoyment.

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,094 views

By Chef Todd MohrRecently published1 topic

Mahi Mahi Recipes You Can Do in 15 Minutes

Mahi mahi recipes are no different than any other recipe. I’m sure you know by now how I feel about recipes. They have inherent flaws that make them very difficult to duplicate consistently. If you’re going to get varied results from the same recipe, why even follow it in the first place? Cooking is a chore when you have to follow someone else’s written instructions. However, cooking becomes inspirational and therapeutic in many ways when you follow your own creativity and desires.

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

1,083 views

By Chef Todd MohrAug 9, 20111 topic

Fresh Cooking Starts With Finding Out Where Your Food Comes From

Are you looking for fresh cooking ideas for your family? You may need to start paying more attention to where your food comes from. Fresh cooking starts with fresh ingredients and the fresher your ingredients, the more "gourmet" your cooking is going to taste. Where my food comes from is of great conce to me because I want to make the best dishes that I can. And, I know that the best ingredients yield the best dishes. You don’t need to be a chef to know good ingredients, you

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

968 views

By Chef Todd MohrAug 3, 20111 topic

Cutting Vegetables Blindfolded is Still Easier

Cutting vegetables is so much easier when you don’t have to take out your chopper/dicer device. You might think that the electric gadget is quicker and easier than your standard chef’s knife, but you’d be wrong. Let’s have a race. Ready, go! Get your chopper appliance down from the cabinet. Plug it in to the electric outlet. Then, fiddle with the bowl a little because it never fits just right the first time. Next comes the blade. You have to twist it a few times before it fi

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

947 views

By Chef Todd MohrApr 13, 20111 topic

Mixing is More Important Than Baking in Christmas Cake Recipes

Have you ever taken the results of your family’s Christmas cake recipe out of the oven and been disappointed? How can the same recipe created year after year always come out differently? “Why didn’t my cake BAKE correctly?” I’m here to tell you that the problem with most home baking mistakes isn’t in the BAKING, it’s in the MIXING of your cakes that most mistakes are made. There are three goals in cake mixing, whether it’s a Christmas cake recipe, or any other baked good at

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

945 views

By Chef Todd MohrAug 4, 20111 topic

How to Make Sauces Quickly

Knowing how to make sauces is a necessary kitchen skill. The best sauce can make up for a dry piece of chicken, but the worst sauce will certainly ruin any dish. There are three basic ways to thicken liquids, but they all have to do with gelatinization of starches, the point at which starch molecules absorb liquids and swell. This is what thickens sauces. The quickest and easiest way to thicken a flavorful liquid is something that Grandma has been doing for years. She makes

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

941 views

By Chef Todd MohrRecently published1 topic

Cutting Vegetables Blindfolded is Still Easier

Cutting vegetables is so much easier when you don’t have to take out your chopper/dicer device. You might think that the electric gadget is quicker and easier than your standard chef’s knife, but you’d be wrong. Let’s have a race. Ready, go! Get your chopper appliance down from the cabinet. Plug it in to the electric outlet. Then, fiddle with the bowl a little because it never fits just right the first time. Next comes the blade. You have to twist it a few times before it finally clicks into place.

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

829 views

By Chef Todd MohrApr 13, 20111 topic

Spritz Cookies – It’s All In The Bagging!

Spritz cookies are my favorite cookie at the holidays. I don’t make them any other time of the year, just as I don’t watch “A Christmas Carol” or “The Grinch” in July. These cookies bring back strong childhood memories for me, mostly of my Mom’s frustration with her antique cookie press. If I had only known how to use a pastry bag when I was 5, I would have helped ease some of that mate al angst. The correct use of a pastry bag is an easier way to make spritz cookies, and it

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

812 views

By Chef Todd MohrApr 13, 20111 topic

The Number 1 Method for Great Cookies From Scratch

The idea of great cookies from scratch is what brings people back to their kitchens this time of year. Even people that don’t bake for the other eleven months of the year, somehow find themselves back in the kitchen for holiday cookie time. Whether you have fond childhood memories of baking with Mom or Grandma, want to be sure of the ingredients that go into your cookies, or share time with your children, making cookies from scratch is a great way to accomplish all these thi

Primary topic: Cooking and Recipes

Cooking and Recipes

770 views

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