Nutriton and Healthy Cuisine - Barley, Soba and Hearty Greens

Chef took away our butter today. We are now, after months of sauteing in oils and finishing our sauces with butter, having to develop flavor with out too much fat. We will rely on reduced stocks, wine, juices, herbs and spices.
We began without as much as a reflection on fusion and jumped right into Nutritional Cooking.
We arrived this morning to a wonderful vegetable stock that Chef had made for us to work with. We began with a barley salad. (above) Cooking this grain in the stock helped to give it some flavor. We roasted some cipollini onions to add to the barley along with some leeks. We steeped some currants, chili's and orange juice together then added it to some curry, lemon juice and honey. All this was tossed with the barley and left to marinate for awhile.
The next dish we made was a soba noodle salad. We used an arrowroot slurry with stock to thicken this dressing. This enabled us to cut back on much of the oils normally used. This Asian flavored dressing (soy, ginger, lime, garlic) was tossed with the noodles, a scattering of sauteed shitakes and blanched snow peas to create a very nice chilled salad.
The last recipe we prepared was a warm salad using beet greens, radicchio, arugula and spinach. The dressing again was thickened with an arrowroot slurry incorporated with orange and pomegranate juice to from vinaigrette. Only one tablespoon of oil was used. Flavorful and healthy!
What a concept. It does take more planning and prep to use this stock and slurry method. Especially if you want to have a cold salad like the soba noodles. A good a flavorful stock takes time, but once you have some on hand, the possibilities are endless. Thanks Chef.

Goodnight.

Current Topics-Food Costs,Trends

I'm not used to drinking beer and tequila in the afternoons. I came home and went to bed. I could have slept for three days.
I woke up, stumbled around the house doing laundry and feeding my orchids,(poor things are starving), read my new syllabus on current topics then went back to bed.

Chef began with a lecture on Food Cost. I felt like I had been transported back to a high school math class. Here was the story problem. You are a chef that purchased veal from a distributor for $10.00 a lb. How much do you need to sell your veal dish, sides included, on the menu in order to make a 30%o profit?
I didn't sign up for this.
Actual price, edible portions. Do I really need to know all this?
I suppose so if I want to make money on this food someday. I snapped a picture of his lecture board instead of taking notes and mentally wrote an add for a food cost manager..

Chef then demonstrated some various recipes that exemplified current trends in todays'
market place such as fusion cooking, low carbohydrate verses high carbohydrate menus, alongside of some popular new grains. We made a roasted chicken with sage butter and mushrooms. Chef had some fresh morels that we used instead of shitake mushrooms that were so delicious. We served the chicken with some baked millet croquettes, a grain that was new to me. Very nutty. We made a minestrone stir (a little Asian/Italian fusion) and pork tenderloin with prosciutto and sun dried tomatoes.

Chef talked about design and food styling when it comes to plating dishes and then gave us the outline for the next final.
What! Already?
I have to create a fusion dish, type up the recipes and procedures along with a 3 page essay on the dish, have a cost analysis of the complete dish, and a equipment list and time line typed up as a full report.
This is the first time I thought seriously about quitting.
I was going to have fun playing with menus, but not with the report part.
It's a good thing that my oldest daughter is back living at home for awhile, is an editor, and needs some extra cash.

So much for a weekend filled with long bike rides, movies and going out to dinner.

Goodnight.

Breakfast Cookery-Egg Benedict Corned Beef Hash and Omlettes

Breakfast day two. We began our day off with omelets. I can add this to the list of food items I have been making all wrong. My omelets have always been a bit brown. Eggs should be cooked "slow and low" to keep the color a nice yellow. The finished omelet is turned right onto the plate.

We then moved on tho eggs Benedict. I know I am making progress because a hollandaise sauce no longer makes me nervous. I also felt quite comfortable with poaching an egg.
Growing up, I loved when my Mom made "eggs mixed up in a bowl". She would have a perfectly poached egg in a bowl, nice and runny, then give me a piece of toast to tear up into the bowl so I could then mix it all up. Well, I continued the tradition for my kids and it is paying off for me in class. I know how to poach an egg. I did learn a new trick. Put a little vinegar in the water to help the white keep it's shape. We finished with corn beef hash, another one of my favorites.

After class I went to Sur la Tab and bought the attachment for my Kitchen Aide that grinds meat. After making all the farce meats and sausages in the Garde Manger unit, and then today the corned beef hash - I couldn't stand it. I wanted to be able to do this at home.

Garde Manger - Salads

How refreshing to learn some new and different salads. Or at least new to me.
Either way, they were all delicious. Watching the Chef demo these recipes I became so excited: my Easter Brunch menu dilemma was being solved before my eyes. I knew my family wanted a ham, but I wasn't sure which sides I wanted to prepare - until this morning! By the time school was over, I had practiced three new salads and finished my shopping list for Easter.
The school had another chef visiting today. We had to be done by 11:oo so we could sit in the special class by Chef Raimund Hofmeister, CMC/AAC, a master chef (one of some sixty in the world who has cooked across the globe-including a job as head chef for the Regan's while they were in the White House...Google him-he's amazing!)
So quickly, we made three salads. First was a watermelon and red onion salad with watercress. The simple and refreshing mix was a nice combination of sweet and sharp. The next salad was a roasted beet salad, dressed in simple wine vinaigrette and served over some bib lettuce. The last salad was composed of warm haricots vert with prosciutto and gruyere. The vinaigrette was light: lemon juice and white wine with shallots. A perfect combination. Just before I plated my salad chef told me to hold off. They were preparing lunch for the visiting chef and needed some sides of salad to serve him after the demo. My salad for this Master Chef?? Talk about nervous.
I cleaned up my station and headed out to the demo kitchen where I became lost in the story and cooking of this Master Chef. What interesting and different cooking experiences he had had.
He made us three different versions of Gazpacho: a thousand-year old White Gazpacho, "Ajo Blanco de Malaga" (before tomatoes were introduced to Europe), a five-hundred year old "Salmorejo," and a Gazpacho Rojo de Sevilla - a modern recipe. All three were unbelievable.
Next he made fresh seafood sausage that he poached then sautéed and served over a lobster sauce. Incredible is all I can say. I can't wait to try to make these at home.
This demo began at 11:00 and by now it was after 2:00. He said who's staying for the lamb?
I knew I didn't want to miss a thing I'd stay as long as he cooked. He made a beautiful rack of lamb served over a ratatouille that was surrounded by alternating scallops of white potatoes and Sweet potatoes.
It was a picture. (His recipe came with a diagrammed plating method!)
Before I left, I plated up the trio of salads and set them out where there was a lunch set up for him and left feeling so lucky to have experienced this class and this chef.
His passion and love for food was contagious.
Goodnight.

Physiology of Taste - The Final

Today's final consisted of three parts.
The first component was to taste the dish that Chef had prepared for us before school started. After a thorough tasting we had to describe the various elements and tastes that we experienced as we sampled the dish that consisted of a meat, sauce, vegetable, starch and a fruit. We had to reference the 14 tastes we had explored over the past few days.
The meat portion of the dish Chef made was the same recipe from the book I choose to do for my final so I was familiar with the ingredients. Some of the side dishes, however, I were not familiar with so my taste buds were challenged.

The next part of the final was a blind tasting of various herbs, spices and flavors.
I did not do as well as I thought I would. It is very hard hard to put a name to a smell and taste that you can not see.
A humbling experience.

The last part of the final was the main entree that I had to prepare using the provided ingredients.

Grilled Stuffed Pork Chop w/ Celery, Mustard and Cumin
Served over a Mulled Apple Cider and Mustard Reduction
Topped with a Hash of Prosciutto, Apple and Turnips
Shoe string style Sweet Potato Fries
Sauteed Cabbage Slaw

I was pretty confident about this seeings how I had made up a few different dishes with these ingredients for our friends the Taylor's. Virginia, a chef in her own right and David, palate extraordinaire have been our dear friends for more years than I can count. David and my husband go back to second grade and Virginia and I have shared a love for cooking, family, and fun from the time we met. She is my mentor and inspiration. She came over early and we played around with three pork dishes, some turnip recipes and some sauces. David, my husband Eric and daughter, Ryan waited patiently with knife and fork. They all gave the thumbs up to the stuffed pork.
I could have done better. My Sweet potato fries were a bit overdone and my cabbage was so so. I thought my pork chop was better than my practice round though, so I hung on to that.
I got a 45 out of 50.
I was a little disappointed but who has time to dwell on imperfection?
I do but I'm learning not to.

Goodnight

Physiology of Taste - Bulby, Spiced Aromatic, Sharp

This is the last day of the Physiology of Taste unit. The recipes we made emphasized the "Bulby" flavors and the "Spiced Aromatics," along with another tangy sauce that had a note a note of "Bitterness," sometimes referred to as "sharp," in it.

I was off today. For some reason, probably the Monday blues after spending a weekend in Carmel, I was having trouble focusing. I wanted to be back on the balcony of the Lodge at Pebble Beach, sipping wine, enjoying the view and watching the golfers come in.

Back to the kitchen.
The first recipe we made went ok. It was a seared Tilapia with a Grapefuit-Shallot-Ginger Sauce.
Grapefruit is considered Tangy and Sharp at the same time. (Like some chocolate.) We reduced it down to bring out the sweetness and rounded it out with a little butter to finish. We served it with some slices of grapefruit and Roasted Green onions that had a topping of nuts and dates. Very unusual, though it worked.

The next dish would have been nice if I had been paying attention, and not ruined it with so much soy. It was braised kale that we served with a spiced-rub shrimp in a coconut sauce, which came out a bit too salty. Chef asked my partner and I if "we were back on the crack pipe." He comes up with some interesting comments.

Tomorrow is another final. For this one, we were given a list of ingredients that will be available to us and we have to come up with a dish that uses some of the flavor profiles we have been working on.
Pork is our meat, or rather our platform. Other ingredients on the list are cabbage, turnips, prosciutto, Gruyere cheese, and apples.
Looks like a "stinky" and "sweet" day.

Goodnight.

Physiology of Taste - Tangy, Vinted and Funky

Where the "push" tastes have a tendency to push all taste forward, the pull tastes seek out underlying flavor to highlight them. Tangy, sometimes referred to as sour, was the next flavor we explored. What better way than with a Tamarind-glazed flank steak topped with a jicama salsa? The tang of the tamarind combined with the sweet of the salsa and the meaty flavor of the grilled steak was a perfect balance. I brought home the leftovers and my husband, who happened to stop by home, was quite pleased to stumble into this tasty late lunch.
Next we experimented with the "'vinted" taste using a full-bodied Chianti to braise a turkey leg with pan roasted winter vegetables. Hearty and delicious. I think next Thanksgiving everyone might be getting a drumstick at my house.

The last flavor of the day was "funky," better know as stinky. You will find foods like cabbage, truffles and pungent cheeses in this group.
We made a saute of butternut squash, celery root and truffles in a light cream sauce with wine and shallots. We served this over roasted spaghetti squash. I wasn't too sure about this during demo but when I tasted it I knew it was going to be my new favorite side dish. It was unbelievable.

My palate is exhausted.

Goodnight.

Essential Skills 3 - The Final: Meat, Fish & Poultry

For today's final we prepared four different dishes, complete with starch and vegetable. In the previous finals we prepared recipes that we had made in class. Today, however, three of the four dishes were ones we had never made in class. We were given the recipes for these dishes ahead of time, so of course I did a dry run at home, and, once again, the Traina's graciously offered to be official tasters.

Jimmy Allen says he going to start a tasting blog.


The four dishes I made today were Veal Marsala, Salmon En Papillote, Apricot and Bourbon Grilled Chicken, and Pork Chimichurri Kabobs.
I was pretty excited about my Chimichurrri sauce. I had a spice blend that I bought on my recent trip to Argentina, so I brought it in today and added it to my sauce. I had made a batch Monday night for dinner and received rave reviews. I knew I needed practice on the grill since this is one thing I never do. This has always been my husband's domain. I tried to get him to give me a grilling lesson, but I realized that after 30 years on the BBQ, perfection can't be taught in a night. He said it was a "sense." I needed something more concrete than that. I tried recruiting my good friend Terry (The BBQ Queen) but she was at the Keith Urban Concert. (Terry, I can't believe you chose Keith Urban over me!)
I had to go it alone. I resorted to my book and the clock. I poked it every few minutes and prayed a quick confession for all the times I yelled at Eric for overcooking the meat.
I think I got lucky. My pork and chicken were both cooked perfectly. I served the pork over rice with some grilled squash and black beans. I made some couscous with sauteed carrots and onions, and some green beans with butter and toasted almonds to accompany the chicken.

The veal Marsala came together fairly quickly. I sauteed a mix of mushrooms before making the pan sauce and served it with pureed potatoes, and a julienne of carrots and zucchini.

The Salmon E Papillote was the simplest to prepare and the one recipe we had made in class. A mix of julienned vegetables, stock and herb butter baked in a parchment pouch. This I served with rice. It did get a bit hectic at times and I was a little worried about the time, but eventually it all came together.
I felt good about my dishes as I presented them.
It seemed chef liked them as well. I received full points on all four of them along with some nice comments. Coming from a chef of his caliber, I savored every word.

Goodnight.

Essential Skills 2 - The Final: Vegetables, Potatoes, Grains and Pasta

I was ready. I had all my recipes down. I practiced them over the weekend and decided how I was going to present and created my time line. Despite all my efforts to prepare, I was still up most of the night with crazy food dreams.

These were the dishes I had to prepare.

1 portion of Rice Pilaf.
4 portions of Duchesse
1 portion Roesti Potatoes
1 portion of Roasted Tomato, Onion and Goat Cheese Frittatini
1 Grilled Portobella Mushroom
1 portion of Deep Fried potatoes of my choice.
1 portion of Beer Battered Onion Rings.

I had about 2 1/2 hours. Let the games begin.

Sharing the grill, and deep fryer got a little tricky. I opted to wait until the very end to fry and was the lastt to use the grill. I wanted my mushroom to marinate as long as possible.
I followed my time line pretty well and presented my dishes as I finished them. I really had fun. I served the grilled Portobella over some simple greens tossed with olive oil , salt and pepper and a drizzle of reduced balsamic over the top. My Frittatini was served over greens as well but I used a basil vinaigrette. I had roasted some extra tomato rounds and used them for a garnish. Both dishes turned out nice. My pilaf was perfect. I garnished it with a few toasted almonds. The Roesti went slow. It was hard to get the flame right with the fans going so browning evenly was challenging. My Duchesse potatoes looked like cousins instead of identical twins so I got a point taken off. I made shoestring potatoes (yes, hand cut,) that came out great and finally my onion rings that could of used another minute in the deep fryer. Another point taken off. I guess I got a little excited to finish and got impatient. All in all I was quite happy with my points and comments.
48 out of 50.
Not bad.
Chef is going to Las Vegas to judge a food competition for three day so tomorrow we will have a substitute to star us off with Meat Cookery!
I am definitely ready for some protein.

Goodnight.

Essential Skills 2 - More Vegetables

We finished up our vegetable run with Brussels sprouts in Pecan Butter, Parsnip puree - piped into cute little spirals, and braised celery hearts, which I had never had before, and to be quite honest wasn't too excited about it. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked them. I'm sure the Basil Beurre Blanc that we made from the braising liquids and served over it helped. No pictures today. No matter how many shots I took I didn't seem to be able to quite capture the beauty of braised celery.

I like going to the movie on Friday afternoons with my girlfriends. I think I was going a little vegetable crazy today when the new Veggie Tales Movie appealed to me. I couldn't talk my friends into seeing it. They wanted to take me for an In Out Burger after the movie to bring me back to my senses.

I am looking forward to beginning Potatoes on Monday.



Goodnight

Essential Skills 2 - Vegetables, Deep Fried and Fried

After today, my worrying about too much healthy eating shifted to a concern for my arteries. A fleeting concern, thank goodness, that vanished from my mind as soon as I tasted a beer battered onion-ring fresh from the fryer. A crisp golden exterior, perfecttly salted with the soft sweet onion consealed in the center. Nice and moist with no greasy flavor.


I know I sound like Florence Henderson in a Wesson oil commercial but it really was that good!

It also helped that we had a commercial deep fryer that kept the oil at a perfect temperature



Another crucial Mise en Place day. When deep frying, you especially need all your vegetables blanched, and ready to go. We made an Asian style dipping sauce for the tempura vegetables, and the different batters were all made and kept in an icebath to stay cold. ( I learned that having your batter ice cold is one of the most important factors to deep frying) You want a reaction when the food hits the oil. ) And finally our breading station was set up. Chef made it all look so easy when he demonstrated.


We were not as smooth at the deep frying when set loose in the kitchen.
My tempura and eggplant was great - my Chile Relleno - I threw away, though I was blow tourch queen at blackening the skins and prepping the chilis.





It was not as easy as Chef made it look. I will be practicing deep frying this weekend.

"The only way to learn to cook is to cook."

Alice B. Toklas (1877-1967)

American writer

Goodnight

Essentail Skills 2 - Vegetable, Stir Fry

I love Asian style stir-fried vegetables.


However, the prepping for all the various vegetable and sauces can
be tedious.

Our menu for today was;
Stir-Fried Asparagus with Shiitake Mushrooms
Mixed Wok Vegetables
Spiced Bean Curd (Tofu)
Duxelles
Ratatouille

Mise en place took up most of the class. Everything had to be completely at hand and ready to go.

Asparagus, cut, blanched, refreshed and dry. Mushrooms sliced.
Cabbage, carrots, zucchini all julienne. Ginger and garlic minced. Cilantro chopped. Tofu cubed. Bean sprouts cleaned. Spicy sauce put together.
Onions, eggplant, zucchini, red and green pepper all in an even dice
Shallots and mushrooms minced.

Let the games begin.
With 16 woks going and 16 sauté pans - things were smoking! Aside from the ratatouille, which simmered a bit in the sauce after sautéing the vegetables, it was amazing how fast the dishes came together.

“...organization is just as important in the kitchen as in any business office…
Dione Lucas (1909-1971)English-American Chef

One mishap today. After cooking up are duxelles, (minced mushrooms with shallots and wine-usually used as a stuffing) chef had us combine our finished product and lay them out on a big sheetpan to dry. Well, at the end of class they were gone. Chef was not happy. Oh where or where have the duxelles gone?

Goodnight.

Essential Skills 2 - Vegetables, Baked and Roasted

Though I love them dearly, all the freshly steamed, blanched, and grilled vegetables I'd been making, were beginning to make me feel a bit too healthy.
I was happy to see a baked garlic custard and a frittatini on the class syllabus. This girl cannot live on vegetables alone! I don't know how Jeremy does it or what he's going to do when we move into meats.

The Garlic Timbales were first. The garlic was first blanched a bit to take out the "bite" and also to softened the cloves. I blended it with cream until smooth then added the eggs and seasoning - white pepper and "thyme tea." I poured the mixture into the little Timbales molds and then baked them in a water bath. Served with carmalized onions in a glace de viande. It melted in your mouth with the creamy taste of garlic.

Practicing my knife cuts , I prepared the squash in two different sized dices and one in a disc shaped, scored. Which I thought was quite nice. It will be my new vegetable presentation until my family tires of it and tell me to stop. The squash was baked with a little brown sugar and cardamom glaze, and a few other ingredients that I will reveal only to my faithful commenters.

The frittitaini was just a mini version of a frittata (baked omelet) . It looked much cuter than a frittata and was fun to plate and garnish. This is one of the items that I will have to make for my next final. Are you ready Jim and Ginna for some frittatini tastings? Judy, are you in too?

The baked corn was like a Corn con Queso. Roasted corn in a spicy chipotle sauce then baked with cheese. I can't wait until summer when I can make this with fresh corn in season.

Goodnight.

Essential Skills 2 -Vegetables, Grilled and Steamed

More vegetable cookery today. Our one vegetarian in the class (Jeremy) is quite happy right now. When vegetables are prepared and cooked properly they can be exquisite. When cooked poorly, it’s a waste of time to put them on a plate.We made grilled vegetable skewers and grilled portabello mushrooms, a simple assorted vegetable platter, and some broiled tomatoes with a Persillade Sauce, which is basically bread crumbs, parsley, garlic and butter. The only trick was to make sure that you cut your vegetable uniformly and attractively, and blanche them to the proper doneness. Too much time in the water, and the grilling would turn them to mush, not enough time, and they end up raw on the inside and charred on the outside.

We worked in teams, and while Laurie was blanching her heart, out I made the tarragon aioli for the vegetable plate. I can add aioli to the list of things I have been making all wrong. My aioli has always resembled mayonnaise. This aioli that Chef made was silky smooth and more of a sauce consistency. It's all in the whisking. Too much and you have mayo - not enough and you have oil!Mine came out a little thick but with a bit of warm water it was perfect. We marinated our mushrooms, which I "de-gilled" first. A step I was unfamiliar with. I always have just dealt with the black juice that comes from leaving the gills on. This was much cleaner. We grilled our skewers together along with the mushrooms, starting them at a 10 o'clock angle, then rotating them to 2 o'clock to achieve a nice criss-cross. We popped out the tomatoes in the oven and assembled our dishes. We placed our skewers on top of a little red pepper coulis. Every day things get a little smoother.

Goodnight.

Essential Skills 2 Vegetables - Blanching, Steaming and Sautéing

The feel of Friday was in the air once again. Everyone had a skip in their step, especially Chef. He began the morning by passing back our written final. I got a 100! I think everyone did pretty well. We went over the test, and then he told us all to get in our aprons and hats and come into the kitchen. He started giving everyone random tasks like: "cook this bacon," and "crack a flat of eggs;" "cut up some baguettes, grate some cheese." Then he said "Do you guys see what's going on here?" We were all a little confused, thinking were supposed to start vegetable cooking this morning.
"We're making breakfast. I'm hungry," he declared. This made some of the boys in our class very happy.

It felt like a class party. As everything was being set out, a couple of pastry angels came in with fresh apple muffins. It became a joint party with the class next door! We had a great breakfast, mixed it up with the pastry class (no pun intended) then began our first lesson on vegetables.

I learned more today about cooking vegetables than I have in all my years of cooking.

Chef had pots of water boiling, each with a different additive. Alkaline (baking soda) in one, lemon juice in another, salt in the other. It was so interesting to learn what all the different type of vegetables needed to cook properly, retain their color and stay tender.
All my life I have blanched green beans in salted water thinking it would add to their flavor. Wrong. Salt water will make them tough. I always wondered why it took so long for them to sauté after I had blanched them.

We made cabbage turn blue, green beans turn dingy. Cooked and sautéed cauliflower and brussel spouts. (The troublesome and unpopular vegetables.) After properly cooking these vegetables, he finished them off with a quick sauté, creating some wonderful little sauces as he did this. Quickly and effortlessly.
The cauliflower was perfectly roasted, after a quick blanch in acid to retain its white color (instead of turning yellow) then finished by sautéing in a little butter with some caramelized onion, pear vinegar and toasted pine nuts. Delicious.
It was like Chef was just playing with different vinegars and seasonings, and just happened to create these beautiful sides of vegetables in mini Beurre blancs. Effortless.

He sent us off to kitchen with a challenge to come up with the best cabbage dish and best cauliflower dish. We worked in teams of two. We could use anything we found in the refrigerator. He gave us 30 minutes.
We all had a ball. He blind tasted them all them gave us his reviews. Laurie and I did well with our cauliflower but created a pickled cabbage with some leftover jalapeños from breakfast that came out way too hot! We almost made it work.
It was a fun day.

Goodnight.

Essential Skills 1 - Mire Poix, Knife Cuts andParsley Dust

Everything always seems brighter in the morning and having it be Friday was a double bonus. We practiced more knife cuts. This time I felt a bit more comfortable.

We made a mirepoix (above) for our stock and practiced a few different cuts on some onions and shallots, and minced garlic. We made garlic paste, then attempted a "tourner cut" on some potatoes. (Very difficult-even "the pro" had trouble with this one.)

My biggest thrill of the day, however, was to learn the secret for beautifully minced parsley. (I'm passing this on to my faithful readers! You can thank me later.) After 5 minutes of finely chopping the parsley until it is almost like dust, you place it in a piece of cheese cloth and rinse and squeeze until it runs clear. This takes a bit of rinsing and squeezing. It magically comes out dry and almost like a powder that sprinkles beautifully. I was quite impressed. No getting wet, or clumpy or tasting like wet grass.We finished up the chicken stock then strained it along with the brown stock and put them all away for sauce making on Monday. I have to say that we are moving right along. Finally, chef deep fried all our practice potatoes, sprinkled some cheese on them and reheated them in the oven. Yum.

After a weekend to catch up on my reading and workbook, practicing with my sword, and letting my brain reel from all this information overload I'll be ready to attack the sauces!

Goodnight.