Chef - Justine Piluso
Justine Piluso
Chef at justinepiluso.com, Participant in Top Chef France 2020, French Cuisine Inspired by the Mediterranean Sea
@justine_piluso
“Cooling extends the shelf life of foods without altering taste, appearance nor nutrient value. Many families do not have time to cook every day. This is why I defend the practice of Batch Cooking. We cook several dishes at once for the whole week. With this technique, we eat homemade food every night. Cold is our ally provided you know how to use it. Some preparations should be kept high in the fridge, others lower, and yet others in the freezer. Some will be better in the fridge’s airtight box and others with damp paper. But all need cold. Cold is life! ”
The chef's cool recipe
OCTOPUS RAGOUT
Take a whole chicken. Cook it in an aromatic broth with herbs, spices, citrus fruits, for about 1 hour. Drain it, let it cool, and roll it in a cling film to obtain a ballotine. Keep this ballotine overnight in the freezer. The negative cold will break the fibers and make the flesh tender.
Just before serving, cut the octopus ballotine with a ham machine so as to obtain very thin slices, almost translucent and an incomparable melt-in-the-mouth taste. You can marry it with fresh herbs, lemon, and seasonal fruits with parsimony. In short, make yourself happy!