Restaurant-Quality Meals

I Want restaurant-quality food but aren’t feeling up to dinner out? You’re not alone. Most of us crave those deep flavors and perfect textures that seem possible only in a professional kitchen. What if you could reproduce this at home? As it happens, you can. You can duplicate this magic at home with just a few easy techniques and some extra attention to detail. How to Make Restaurant-Quality Meals at Home

Of course, even a spaghetti bolognese or a curry tastes extra special if a chef makes it. So what do restaurants do different? It’s not the ingredients—it’s how they use them. Flavor balance, proper techniques, and creative touches—these are the things that elevate a dish from really great chefs, like Arnaud Thulliez with a two-decade history in top kitchens. With these tips, you can elevate your home cooking to rival your favorite restaurant meals. How to Make Restaurant-Quality Meals at Home

First, key in on three things: seasoning, technique, and presentation. Proper seasoning with salt, fat, acid, and heat makes the difference between good and great. Technique, like searing meat or correctly deglazing a pan, allows both flavor and textural elements to shine in a dish. Proper presentation raises the meal and makes it feel special. By incorporating these strategies, you can enjoy restaurant quality without stepping out of your house.

Slow Cooker Orange Chicken

I love Chinese takeout food; however, I know it’s really high in sodium and fat. So I got to work at home and created a healthier version. Now when I eat this crockpot orange chicken, I have peace of mind because I know exactly what’s in the ingredient list and that it’s better for my family.

Ingredients

2 cup chicken broth

1 cup orange juice

1-1/2 cup orange marmalade

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1-11/2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar,

1-2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon minced fresh gingerroot

1 teaspoon garlic powder

3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

2 tablespoons molasses, optional

2-3 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4-inch pieces

1/2 cup cornstarch

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 large sweet red pepper, cut into 1

Optional garnishes: Chopped green onions, peanuts and fresh cilantro

How to Cook

1. In a small bowl, combine the first 11 ingredients; stir in molasses if desired. In a 4-qt. slow cooker, combine chicken, cornstarch, salt and pepper; toss to coat. Top with red pepper. Pour stock mixture over top. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until chicken is tender.
2. Mix in broccoli. Cover and cook on high 30-40 minutes longer or until broccoli is crisp-tender. Serve with rice. Sprinkle with toppings of your choice.

 

Butter Steak

This garlic butter steak recipe is that restaurant-quality steak you’ve been searching for. Pan-searing the steak makes it amazingly rich and garlicky, while the butter makes it oh, so tender—even when you use a budget cut such as top sirloin or flat iron steak. How to Make Restaurant-Quality Meals at Home

If you think great steaks are found only at restaurants, think again. This garlic butter steak recipe elevates budget-cut steaks like flat iron and top sirloin to make meat that’s as tender and flavorful as any steakhouse entree. The secret ingredient: butter.

You can use ribeye or New York strip to make steaks, as they are marbled with a high percentage of fat, which tenderizes the meat when melted during cooking. This is literally our garlic butter steak recipe taken a step further, for leaner steaks—although you can use the technique to turn any steak recipe into an amazing one. The rich, creamy butter enhances the natural texture of the meat by keeping it moist while it cooks. Meanwhile, the milk solids found in the butter brown and caramelize to give this pan-seared steak an amazing crust—a flavor almost like toffee. How to Make Restaurant-Quality Meals at Home

Butter to the rescue again after the steak has been cooked. Almost all the restaurants I’ve worked at finish their steaks by giving them a pat of compound butter or ladle full of clarified butter. Garlic butter for steak offers a glossy sheen and gives off an intoxicating aroma. This steak doesn’t stand a chance of not tasting as wonderful as it looks and even smells good.

What is Butter Steak?

Butter steak is just a cute nickname for flat iron steak or top blade steak. It originates from the top shoulder blade muscle of the chuck, which actually is located at the front shoulder of a cow. Although chuck is known for its tough cut that’s usually used for braising, the top blade muscle is tender enough to pan-sear or grill.

Flat iron steaks contain less intramuscular fat compared to high-end steaks so, for this reason, they will dry up on you. To achieve the juiciest result, we suggest that our flat iron steaks will be served at a medium-rare steak temperature.

How to Pan-Seer a Steak with Butter

Pan-seared steaks bear many similarities to cast-iron steaks. To start with, allow your steak to come to room temperature for at least 45 minutes; then, right before cooking, pat it dry with a paper towel. One step makes your steak sear well and deliver a beautiful crust.

Next, preheat the pan—preferably a well-seasoned cast iron one, which heats evenly. Butter has a low smoke point, so obviously you want to keep the dial lower than you would for a seared steak. Because you need to cook a butter steak over medium heat, very high temperatures—over 350°F—can give off-flavors to the meat.

Once the steak has reached your preferred doneness, allow it to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing. You want the juice in the meat, not all over your cutting board. Finally, slice against the grain, and finish this steak off with a pat of garlic butter.

Ingredients

Boneless top sirloin steak

Salt and pepper

Creamy butter

Aromatic garlic

Umami-rich soy sauce

Herbaceous parsley pairs

Directions

• Mix 1 tablespoon butter with parsley, garlic and soy sauce. Set aside.
• Sprinkle the steak with salt and pepper.
• In a large skillet, heat the remaining butter over medium heat. Add the steak, and cook until the meat fully cooked, four to seven minutes per side. Lightly cooked, a thermometer should read 135°; for medium, 140°; and for medium-well, 145°.
• Top the steak with the garlic butter.
• Let the steak rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing.