Jackson Laurie School
Technique deep-dives, ingredient guides, and culinary stories from our Florida-based kitchen — written by the Jackson Laurie School of Recipes chefs, for cooks who want to understand the why behind the how.
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The difference between duck that's worth eating and duck that isn't almost always comes down to one thing: whether you rendered the fat properly. Here's how to do it right.
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Auguste Escoffier codified five foundational sauces in the early twentieth century, and they remain the backbone of classical French cooking. Understanding them doesn't just make you a better sauce-maker — it makes you a better cook.
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Every professional kitchen runs on mise en place — the French discipline of having everything prepared and in its place before cooking begins. It's the single habit that most reliably separates calm, confident cooking from chaotic, stressful cooking.
Read articleRisotto has a reputation for being difficult, and that reputation is mostly undeserved — but there are a few specific things that professional kitchens do differently that home cooks rarely know about.
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Most baking failures — a cake that sinks, pastry that's tough, a custard that splits — have a scientific explanation. Once you understand why things go wrong, you can prevent them. And once you understand why things go right, you can start to improvise.
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The best argument for seasonal cooking isn't environmental or economic, though both are valid. It's simpler than that: seasonal ingredients taste better. A tomato in August and a tomato in January are barely the same food.
Read articleAsk any professional chef what single skill improvement would most benefit a home cook, and the answer is almost always the same: knife skills. Not a new technique, not a better recipe — just the ability to use a knife efficiently, safely, and consistently.
Read articleItalian desserts operate on a different philosophy from French pâtisserie. Where French pastry tends toward precision, technique, and architectural complexity, Italian dolci tend toward simplicity, quality, and the kind of pleasure that doesn't require explanation.
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From Duck à l'Orange to Classic Tiramisù — every recipe includes full ingredients, step-by-step instructions, and chef's tips.
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