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I met Jim Berman years ago on Chef Talk. The website was still relatively small and obscure, and populated by, mainly, by very passionate chefs and a few serious homecooks. Even then, Jim’s passion for food was clearly evident and made him standout. Years later, as I’ve watched friends and collegues burnout and lose their passion for this business, Jim still seems to be going strong. I can’t help but feel that this partially due to his choice to educate and inspire a new generation of chefs.

Originally from Pittsburgh, Pa, Jim Berman received his formal culinary training through the American Culinary Federation’s Chefs’ apprenticeship program at the Community College of Santa Fe, New Mexico. He eventually settled in Old New Castle, Delaware where he has lived for the past sixteen years. As a former Executive Chef for Brandywine River Museum and DuPont Experimental Station, Jim left the corporate dining world behind to become the Chef Instructor at Delcastle Technical High School, where he has been since 2003. Jim is the founder and faculty advisor of the Cooks and Bakers competition/service team. He, along with his team, the Cooks and Bakers, has twice been honored with the Governor’s Award for Volunteer Service and the President’s Award for Youth Service. An advocate of utilizing fair-trade and locally-sourced products, Jim, his teaching partner and culinary class finished at the top of this year’s “The Farmer and the Chef” following up to last year’s third place finish. To underscore Jim’s belief in using seasonal, local goods, he and his students travelled to Italy this past summer to explore the practical kitchen applications of Italian cuisine’s approach to local produce. In his spare time Jim also regularly contributes articles for Cheftalk.com as well as helps administer the forum boards there.

Anyone who knows Jim would agree that his students are very lucky to have someone like Jim teaching them. His passion and love of food are pervade all he does, as evidenced by the numerous awards and acolades both he, his program, and his students receive.

What made you decide to leave the restaurant world?
I suppose the predictable answer would be that I had burned out on the day-to-day grind, the hours, the physical demand. The more accurate answer would be that I had just turned 30 and felt that I really wasn’t doing anything meaningful with my life. I was surrounded by people that were solely in their jobs for the money and I was serving people that simply did not give a damn about me, my plight or the amount of work that went into making their food. I had three kids that I scarcely knew and, more importantly, I was starting to not know myself. I know… deeply philosophical and all, but it was true. My life had succumbed to the kitchen; free time was spent in some aspect of work, whether worrying about work, planning for work or attending to some detail for work, what was once fun, or at least engaging, had lost its appeal. I was writing a food column for a local newspaper in my ‘free’ time and reading about food in the little pockets that were left of non-kitchen time. Way too much tunnel vision!

What do you miss most about the restaurant world?
There is no mistaking the camaraderie is addictive. The rush, again another predictable answer, is a real adrenaline kick, as well. I know a lot of people go into cooking so that others can appreciate the creativity that has been born. I have never thought myself creative, so I simply miss having something ‘come out’ as intended. Cooking is still a part of my everyday, but the combination of fuel, food and the frantic pace is the greatest absence.

What do you find to be the most rewarding part of teaching the next generation of cooks and chefs?
That’s a tough question! I think seeing students use what they have learned and applying it. We just got done working with shellfish. A few students took apart some Dungeness crabs and decided to make ravioli. They put their background knowledge to work to get the pasta made, filled and cooked. They seasoned the filling using what they had learned earlier in the year when we got into tasting food and how our mouths’ react to different tastes. I stood back and watched. The kitchen was quiet sans some banter about the size or shape of the filled pastas. That’s a good moment! Then there is the personal stuff. When a student comes back after a few years of being in industry or at school, that just burns bright throughout the day. There is certainly no mistaking the personal connections with some students and even their parents. Many students have moved away, but we remain in touch and I get to be a part of their kitchen experiences as newer members of the industry. I get to live vicariously through them! I get to hear about and see pictures of some amazing food and the frenetic kitchen life. And, while many students leave the field before even really getting started, their energy is contagious and their youth has kept me young.

If there is one thing that you want your students to take away from your courses what would that be?
I have resorted to quotes, cliches and the occasional sermon from the kitchen pulpit. Take your pick. From my stage I preach that there is simply no mistaking hard work. Reward is directly proportional to the amount of energy invested. Practice is part of routine and routine is part of becoming better. “Train the way you fight, fight the way you train.” There are personal facets that I want my crew to take with them, from understanding differences (in ability, in opinion, in goals, etc) to valuing responsibility (and even defining responsibility) to appreciating autonomy, excitement, risk-taking and organization. Yeah, I know you asked for one piece. Each day is made up of a series of teachable moments, little victories and some salty tears. So, there are many adventures throughout the course of the day that pop out to benefit the students.

If you could do it all over again would you follow the same career path?
Yes. No. I don’t know. I started my working career heading in the direction of investment banking. More accurately, my parents started my working career heading in the direction of investment banking. Cooking was a part time gig that I got by lying about my experience. And I never left. Do I still love to cook? Yes. I like to be around food; I like to eat; I like to read about it. And I certainly enjoy watching others cook. But, you know, it has been a hard climb. Not to say that the challenge was unwelcome. Adversity reveals character. Pragmatically speaking, money is tough as a cook and, as a teacher, well, no complaints but credit card companies aren’t exactly knocking on my door to offer me Platinum cards. No, it isn’t about the money. As I have gone on in age, though, I see a daughter on the brink of college with two more to follow. Am I fascinated and happy by what I do? Yes. I think I would have liked to have been in the armed services and maybe been a carpenter so I could build my own cabinets… for my kitchen.

Jim has kindly offered up his recipe for Potato Gnocchi. Gnocchi has, once again, become a somewhat trendy food, partially due to its popularity among the chefs of Top Chef, and because its rustic nature makes it fall into that category of “comfort food” that Americans seem to crave so much. Either way, potato gnocchi is a fantastic dish; easy to make and impressive to serve. Following Jim’s recipe will help to ensure your gnocchi is light and fluffy, not the heavy, sodden nuggets that are the hallmark of poorly made gnocchi.

Potato Gnocchi

2 lb Potatoes, russet*
1 Egg, large
10 oz Cake Flour, plus additional for dusting
Salt
Pepper
Corn meal for dusting trays

Simmer the potatoes until a knife easily passes to the center. Remove the cooked potatoes from the water. Peel the potatoes while still warm. Pass potatoes through a ricer into a bowl.

Add egg and flour into bowl with potatoes. Add salt and pepper. Lightly knead the dough to reach a pliable consistency. Sprinkle rolling surface with flour; slice dough into 6 balls. Roll one ball into a length that is about ½” thick.

Use a bench knife to cut off ¾” pieces.

Repeat until all the dough is cut. Place gnocchi on a tray lined with corn meal. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and add the gnocchi. When the gnocchi float on the surface of the water, remove and serve with choice of sauce and garnish.

*Stick with Russet potatoes and stay away from starchy potatoes like Baby Reds or Yukon Golds. Their moist, waxy interior will make leaden gnocchi, not light ones.

Once again, I’ve been neglecting my blog. This is one of my major resolutions this year; to post more regularly. Yes, I know I have promised this quite often, but I really am going to buckle down and write more often. I expect you, my readers, to hold me accountable for this resolution.

My wife will tell you that I’m not a big fan of leftovers. It’s true, while I don’t hate leftovers, I am usually not a fan of eating something 2 or 3 days in a row. I will agree that certain things are definitely better the second or third day. Soups, stews, and most braised dishes fall squarely into this category. And who can resist a meatloaf sandwich the day after? Or a roast turkey sandwich the day after Thanksgiving? But these are the exceptions. To really get excited about leftovers, I have to come up with a whole new way to disguise and serve them.

Not long ago we had some leftovers from a pork roast. Usually, I would just slice and eat it as a sandwich or chop it up and make BBQ’d pork sandwiches with it, but I wanted something different. Then I remembered one of my favorite chinese dishes that I used to eat regularly, when I lived in Chicago-Char Sui Bao-steamed dumplings with barbecued pork. Suddenly, I was very much looking forward to leftovers.

I knew I couldn’t make traditional Char Sui. That starts with marinating your pork before cooking. My pork was already cooked. Even if I couldn’t make “real” Char Sui, I could approximate its flavor. The buns were a different matter. I had never attempted Bao before so I searched the web, reading numerous recipes and came up with one I thought would work well. The texture turned out well, and the flavor was excellent. The only thing that I wasn’t happy about, and this is a small compliant, is that my ends didn’t end up beautifully white like the ones I would buy at restaurants. Mine were more of an off-white, with a slightly yellowish tinge. If anyone knows how I can fix that please let me know. Other than that, these turned out great!!! These buns are very versitile and I imagine that I will find excuses to make these again and fill them with all sorts of great fillings, so be on the lookout for future posts about Bao.

Mock Char Sui

1 pound cooked pork, cut into 1/4″ dice
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1 1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 1/2 Tbsp. honey
4 Tbsp. Hoisin sauce
1/4 tsp. Chinese 5 spice powder
3 Tbsp. water

Heat a saute pan over medium high heat. Add oil and allow to heat. Add pork and cook for 3-4 minutes. Meanwhile combine all the rest of the ingredients and mix well to dissolve the honey. Add remaining ingredients to the saute pan and cook until sauce has thickened and coats the pork. There should be very little excess liquid. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature, or make ahead and chill until ready to use.

Bao

1 1/2 tsp. instand dry yeast
3/4 cup lukewarm water
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 Tbsp. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
3 scant cups all purpose flour
1 tsp. salt

Combine yeast, water, oil and sugar, stirring to dissolve sugar. Set aside and allow 10 minutes for the yeast to start to activate. Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the remaining ingredients. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the yeast mixture. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the liquid until a soft dough forms (if it doesn’t seem to come together easily add more water, a teaspoon at a time, until it does. Turn the dough out onto a flat surface and knead for 5 minutes. The dough should be tacky, but not sticky at the beginning. If it sticks to your fingers add just a sprinkling of flour. Lightly oil a bowl and add the dough. Cover and put in a warm place to rise until doubled, about 1-1 1/2 hours. Gently punch down and divide into 12 (this will make rather large bao so if you want smaller, appetitizer sized bao divide into 24). Flatten into a 3″ disk, with the sides thicker than the middle.

Add about 1 1/2-2 Tbsp. of the Char Sui filling and pinch the top closed, sealing in the filling. Place the Bao on pieces of wax paper (cut 3″x3″) and place in a bamboo steamer.

Allow the Bao to rise for 30 minutes, then steam for 15. Do not open the steamer during the 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

If you haven’t realized by now that Fall is my favorite season and that apples are one of my favorite foods then either: 1. you haven’t been paying attention, or 2. you are new to this blog and haven’t yet read many of my previous posts. Either way I am not going to bore you today with a rehashing of my previous sentiments. Read a few earlier posts from the last few weeks and you’ll get the picture.

The only thing I will say, before moving on to the recipe for today is that this recipe rocks!!! I know I should be more humble but really, I really liked these when I came up with the idea. I’m sure there have been plenty of others who have thought of stuffing an apple with caramel before turning it into a dumpling, but I haven’t come across any recipes. Besides, this recipe gives you the best of both caramel apples and apple dumplings. What isn’t there to like? I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

Caramel Filled Apple Dumplings

1 recipe Your favorite pie dough for a double crust pie
4 each Apples (choose a good baking apple such as Granny Smith, McIntosh or Gravenstein)
10-15 each Individual Caramels
3/4 cup Sugar, granulated
1/2 cup Water
1/2 cup Cider or Apple juice
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Ground Ginger
2 Tbsp. Butter

Preheat the oven to 375F. Peel and core all the apples, leaving just a bit of the blossom end intact. Roll out the pie dough and cut into 4 7″x7″ squares. Pack the cored apple with the caramels, packing it in lightly. Wrap the apples in the pie dough. There are 2 ways you can do this. 1. Bring the corners of the dough up, over the apple and pinch them together in the center. Then pinch together the seams giving yourself an elegant little package, or 2. wrap the dough around and over the apple, forming it to the apple so that the package maintains an apple shape. I then use some of the scrap dough to form decorative leaves “glued” in place, on top, with a little water. Place in a 9×13 pan and bake at for 30 minutes. Meanwhile combine the remaining ingredients in a saucepan, bring to a boil and cook for 3 minutes. Remove from heat. After the apples have baked for 30 minutes pour syrup over dumplings and bake 20-25 minutes more, basting the dumplings with the syrup every 8 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5-8 minutes before placing in a bowl with a little of the remaining syrup and a couple of scoops of vanilla ice cream.