The Recipes Chefs Cook At Home To Unwind (2024)

The Recipes Chefs Cook At Home To Unwind (1)

For many people, cooking is like meditation. Professional chefs and home cooks alike view cooking as a way to relax and unwind. Spending time in the kitchen, working with your hands and focusing all your energy on a methodical recipe can be therapeutic. Maybe you crack open a bottle of wine and dive in for some solo time, or maybe you're cooking amongst friends or family. Whatever your style, cooking can be the perfect way to unwind.

We take relaxation seriously at the The Huffington Post. Unplugging and recharging isn't only something we value -- it's something we think is imperative for success and happiness. Predictably, we at HuffPost Taste are big fans of the cooking-as-relaxation school, and practice as often as we can. We have our own comfort recipes -- bucatini all'Amatriciana, roast chicken, buttermilk ranch dressing and mac & cheese -- but we're curious about other people's favorites. We're really curious about what the pros make at home to relax.

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Restaurant chefs may cook elaborate meals all day and all night long at work, but at home they're often cooking the same, simple meals that the rest of us are making. (Although most likely they're a lot better!) Some chefs, like Marcus Samuelsson, have been kind enough to publish books on the food they make at home -- sharing with us an intimate look into their home lives and the comfort they take in their own family recipes. (Samuelsson's "Marcus Off Duty: The Recipes I Cook At Home" comes out in October, 2014.)

If you're as curious as we are about what professional chefs are cooking at home to relax, here are eight go-to comfort meals from some of the country's best chefs:

1

Salade Meridionale

The Recipes Chefs Cook At Home To Unwind (2)

amrufm/Flickr

Daniel Boulud, the famed French chef with restaurants from New York to London to Singapore, makes Salade Meridionale at home when he wants to relax. It's a vegetable salad with eggplant, piquillo peppers, zucchini and cucumbers to name a few, with shrimp, fresh pesto and a lemony vinaigrette. Get the Salad Meridionale recipe from New York Magazine

2

Roasted Tomatoes

The Recipes Chefs Cook At Home To Unwind (3)

Alex "Skud" Bayley/Flickr

Didier Elena of Chef's Club by FOOD & WINE makes Riviera Roasted tomatoes.

"Tomatoes can be used as a fruit, vegetable or juice. I'm from Monaco and grew up on them as a simple, flavorful dish to eat at any temperature. I suggest them fresh and from a garden."

Elena slices his tomatoes and places them cut side up on a baking sheet and drizzles them with olive oil. He sprinkles garlic, sugar, salt, pepper parsley and bread crumbs on the slices and roasts them at 450 degrees for about 30 minutes. He then seasons the tomatoes with arugula, black olives, shaved parmesan, lemon zest, salt, pepper and some juice from the tomatoes. Simple and perfect.

3

Pasta

The Recipes Chefs Cook At Home To Unwind (4)

Food52

Jonah Miller, chef and owner of Basque-inspired, New York restaurant Huertas makes pasta.

"PASTA! Comforting to eat and to cook. If I have some co*ckles or manila clams at the restaurant, I'll steal a few to make Vongole. I've always got some respectable anchovies and pecorino at home, so an anchovy sauce or cacio e pepe is always a distinct possibility." Get a Linguine Con Vongole recipe from The Wimpy Vegetarian via Food52 and a Spaghetti Cacio e Pepe recipe from John Kernick

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4

Green Asparagus With Parmesan Shavings

The Recipes Chefs Cook At Home To Unwind (5)

Steamy Kitchen

Alain Ducasse, another fameous French chef, makes green asparagus with Parmesan shavings at home on his perfect weekend off. Get the Green Asparagus With Parmesan Shavings recipe from New York Magazine

5

Steel cut oatmeal

The Recipes Chefs Cook At Home To Unwind (6)

Brandon Dimcheff via Getty Images

Chef Mads Refslund of farm-to-table restaurant ACME starts his day by rehydrating dried fruit in hot water, and uses this to make steel cut oatmeal, adds fresh seasonal fruit, butter and cold milk. Get some oatmeal recipes worth waking up for from HuffPost Taste.

6

Preserved lemon co*cktail

The Recipes Chefs Cook At Home To Unwind (7)

Kam & Co. via Getty Images

Marcus Samuelsson of The Red Rooster makes a no-cook, preserved lemon co*cktail on his days off.

"Preserved Lemons. A staple in Moroccan flavor profiles, lemons get packed in salt, and develop a rich, interesting (and versatile) flavor. You’ll find them in tagines, but you can also add a bit of the lemon rind to pesto for a deeper flavor, or chop it up in a pasta dish or grain salad...But to keep on relaxing, try adding a bit of the brine to a co*cktail for a surprising addition of salt." Get the Preserved lemon co*cktail recipe from marcussamuelsson.com.

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7

Chicken Curry

The Recipes Chefs Cook At Home To Unwind (8)

Food52

Chef Frank McMahon of the Brasserie Gigi in Charleston, SC likes making Indian-style chicken curry with Madras curry powder, served over basmati rice.

"It's one of those slow, relaxing dishes with the ingredients added bit by bit. I pair it with a nice Gewurtztraminer from Alsace and of course, sip some while cooking."Get a Cheap Creamy Chicken Curry recipe from Food52

8

Shakshuka

The Recipes Chefs Cook At Home To Unwind (9)

cyclonebill/Flickr

Brad Farmerie, executive chef of New York restaurants like Public and Saxon + Parole and Napa restaurant The Thomas makes simple meals while he's trying to feed his family (he's a father of two.)

"I...am most relaxed doing simple rustic dishes and large presentations, or oven-to-table dishes, where everyone just gets to dive in and help themselves." These often include meals like shakshuka and whole split chicken grilled with salsa verde and vegetables. Get a shakshuka recipe from The New York Times.

9

Bucatini

The Recipes Chefs Cook At Home To Unwind (10)

Food52

Chef Michael Franey from Nitehawk Cinema likes to cook bucatini with cherry tomatoes, red onions, roasted garlic, basil, fresh mozzarella and extra virgin olive oil.

"The best way for me to relax while cooking on my days off is to do it with my girlfriend. I will pick her up from work and we will stop by the greenmarket in Union Square or just the grocery store near home, see what we like and go from there. Usually its some sort of very simple pasta with vegetables or protein, like bucatini with cherry tomatoes. The most important thing is that we are cooking everything together. We will open a bottle of wine, talk about our days, what's coming up, anything that we may have missed over the course of the week, making it less about the food and more about connecting through cooking." Get a Bucatini with pesto and cherry tomatoes recipe from Food52.

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The Recipes Chefs Cook At Home To Unwind (2024)

FAQs

How do cooks remember recipes? ›

Every restaurant has their own system for teaching recipes to their cooks. Some have recipe books, some have recipe viewers, and some chefs just write the recipes freehand, photocopy them and hand them out at the beginning of the shift.

What do chefs eat on their day off? ›

Surprisingly simple fare, it turns out, with eggs, noodles and pasta prepared with simple, quick-cook sauces featuring heavily … I've often wondered what chefs eat for dinner on their night off – I'm in need of easy, delicious meal ideas!

What should I cook for a chef interview? ›

Some chefs give their candidates a mystery basket, some expect them to come in prepared to cook a favorite dish or two, and others—especially old-school chefs—ask for a simple preparation on the fly, such as an omelet or a sauteed fish fillet.

What is the hardest chef dish to make? ›

1. Consommé Devilish dish: A clear soup made from meat, tomato, egg whites and stock, slowly simmered to bring impurities to the surface for skimming. Techn-eeek: Even some of the most experienced chefs cannot master the complex clarification process required to make consommé.

How did Gordon Ramsay learn how do you cook? ›

After earning a vocational diploma in hotel management from North Oxon Technical College in 1987, he moved to London and began honing his culinary skills under chef Marco Pierre White at the restaurant Harvey's and under chef Albert Roux at La Gavroche.

When did Gordon Ramsay learn how do you cook? ›

Gordon Ramsay is an actual cook. He started working in kitchens in the mid-1980s, when he was a teenager. As a very young man, he got a job in the kitchen of Harvey's restaurant in London, which was then run by a brilliant, charismatic and famously hot-tempered chef named Marco Pierre White.

How do chefs take notes? ›

Every chef has their own creative process and preferred method for documenting their ideas — ideas which eventually morph into recipes. This can range from notebooks, scrap paper and post-it notes, to note apps like Evernote and Apple Note, Google Docs and countless other ways.

Why do chefs yell all day? ›

In chef slang, the expression all day is used to indicate the total number of orders needed. As tickets come in, a chef will shout out the orders followed by all day. If there are three orders of fries on one ticket and four orders of fries on another ticket, there are seven orders of fries all day.

Do chefs get tired? ›

Physical Exhaustion: Feeling constantly fatigued, experiencing muscle aches, and battling frequent headaches are telltale signs of burnout. The demanding physical nature of the job, coupled with excessive work hours, takes a toll on chefs' bodies.

What does Gordon Ramsay eat on a regular day? ›

When it comes to the rest of his meals, Ramsay likes to stick to grazing on small dishes throughout the day. “I like the Asian approach of four, five meals a day—small meals—because by the time I get to an entree, I'm full,” he explained to Delish. “I like eating small bits and moving on.

What is the secret of a good chef? ›

The best chefs know exactly what and how much ingredients they need, where all of their utensils are located, how to pace themselves during crunch time, and what they can do to make the day as efficient as possible.

What are 3 things chefs do? ›

Chefs and head cooks typically do the following:
  • Check the freshness of food and ingredients.
  • Supervise and coordinate activities of cooks and other food preparation workers.
  • Develop recipes and determine how to present dishes.
  • Plan menus and ensure the quality of meals.

What makes you stand out as a chef? ›

Leadership skills are important for a top chef, as if you're aiming to run your own kitchen one day you need to be able to give direction to staff so everything runs smoothly. It's also a big part of your job to inspire everyone to produce the best quality food and service you can for your customers.

What does a chef always need? ›

10 Tools You Need in Your Chef Utility Belt
  • Chef's Knife. It's true there are all sorts of specialized knives out there. ...
  • Honing Steel. As mentioned above, it's crucial to keep your knives sharp! ...
  • Bench Scraper. ...
  • Wire Whisk. ...
  • Kitchen Scale. ...
  • Fish Spatula. ...
  • Meat Thermometer. ...
  • Tongs.
Mar 22, 2017

What dishes does Gordon Ramsay use? ›

Gordon Ramsay's best recipes include Beef Wellington, Coq au Vin, Beef Stroganoff, Chicken Piccata, Rack of Lamb, Baked Salmon with Lemon and Dill, Shrimp Scampi, Beef and Guinness Stew, Spaghetti Carbonara, and Beef Burgundy.

What is the chef's signature dish? ›

A signature dish in the F&B context represents a chef's unique creation that embodies their culinary expertise and creativity. It's more than just a popular offering; it is a representation of the restaurant's style and expertise.

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