We're finally done with the first term... Thursday was our last day of exams, we had to make Mayo, Hollandaise and a mystery curve ball. Chef allowed us to get our mise en place all set except for getting the ingredients. He gave us the recipe for the mayo and hollandaise the day before and told us that we were to have only the recipe and no procedures on the card. So on the day of, he lines us up and has us show him our recipe cards and upon his approval had us start cooking... still there was someone with procedures on their card. Some people even showed up without writing anything out and had no clue... Needless to say they were a little behind on the game. Chef told us he wasn't even going to taste the mayo and hollandaise. What he was going to taste the Curve ball. He set the clock for 20 mins and off we were like busy little bees.
I get up to the ingredients table, grabbed my stuff and OOPS Ugh!!! I drop my eggs on the floor. Grrrr... Scrambled around cleaning up the mess as the clock is ticking. Boo. Thank Goodness I make mayo all the time at home and I watched the Hollandaise vid the night before. So I knocked those out and "Ready Chef!" before the buzzer went off. So a few of us are waiting for the buzzer then it goes off and he says... "I want you to make 1/4 cup of Vinaigrette". @@ OMG I had a total brain melt down and had no clue what he was talking about, I swear I think he must have said it in Greek . I knew that I Knew what the ratio was and how to make it but I was so fully blanked out. I looked at Thomas, No Talking, and whispered, OMG I can't remember the ratio, do you remember? He looks at me and just nodded and hummed MMHM and I stood there, and stood there and BING the light finally came on. I mean, Literally it was like an epiphany and the Angels were singing the ratio to me lol... So off I went with my measuring spoons and bowl. 3 to 1 Oo 3 what to 1 what? 30 seconds go by and BING again lol. So I measured out my dressing, TAAT salt, herb and lemon TAAT and "Ready Chef!"
Chef checked out my stuff and yay 38/40 was my score for cooking. Clean up time was a little daunting with all the cooking implements that were used, and the other half of the class deck brushing and off behind me at the computer is the Chef saying "LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" LOL He was trying to enter everyones grades and told people to leave him alone before everything started but as we all know there is Always that "Special" someone that fails at absorbing instructions lol...
So finally he passes out our reports/grades for Cuisine Foundations for the term. We sign one copy for him and get the other for our records. Then Chef D comes in and it's time for the Servsafe test. We took our term final the day before but the Servsafe is like the King of Foodhandlers Card. I took my time. I always take my time because those questions are sometimes worded where if you're not paying attention it's so close to the right answer that you mark the wrong one. And then finally I finished. Turned in my tests and got my final grade for Sanitations.
As most of you know, my Facebook friends, I was happy to announce going away with As in both classes but not only that but I can hold my head up and say that along the top of both Grade reports was a little sentence that informed me that I had the highest grade scores in class. These are the times when I miss my Mom and Dad but I know that it's because of them that the BING of lights came on in my brain. Thank the Lord for Guardian Angels...
I walked out of the school, Happy as can be, put my bags in the car, took out the phone and called Darcy with my good news, then called Sadie, my sister, to make arrangements to go out for a celebratory dinner.
Next term we'll be Cooking like mad chickens but until then I'm going to Enjoy Spring Break. Going to go to TX and check out their Renaissance Faire with good friends.
That's my blip for my BFFs today.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Culinary Cuts exam...
Well, I totally forgot that we had a cuts exam today lol... Good thing I know the cuts. I've been studying everything in its French terminology which I think has been helping me a Lot. I found a site online where all i have to do is type in the French word and it pronounces it for me. Poor Chef Knaup, French just is not his forté lol. I'm excited for CF2, we have Chef Knaup as our instructor for that class as well. We'll be doing a Lot of cooking in that class and I hope I can keep up.
Anyway, I went off track, Chef had us grade ourselves on our cuts lol... I have to say, I'm a little OCD so getting the cuts the right size is kind of well, ok, so I'm anal about it, so shoot me lol. I can't help myself. I gave myself mostly 10s because, yes, they all looked that good and precise except for the 9 I gave myself for the tourné cuts not being consistent. It's sometimes a curse to be so precise, I don't think i'll ever win a speed contest because i'd be all, OMG That carrot is bigger or longer than the other, Fix It!!! SOoooo that means I got an A for that portion of our finals lol...
Tomorrow we have to make Mayo and Hollandaise and a mystery basket of Lord knows what. So I showed Hannah, the teen i'm sitting with while her mom is off on a cruise, how to make mayo tonight. She's 16 and goofy. I told her to put the egg yolk in the bowl, and she proceeded to crack the egg with her forehead and it splattered all over the place. Yep... Anyway, we got the mayo made and i'll just hope for the best on the hollandaise tomorrow. I make mayo all the time now at home... Good stuff.
Well, servsafe test tomorrow so i'm off to go study.
That's my blip for my BFFs today.
Anyway, I went off track, Chef had us grade ourselves on our cuts lol... I have to say, I'm a little OCD so getting the cuts the right size is kind of well, ok, so I'm anal about it, so shoot me lol. I can't help myself. I gave myself mostly 10s because, yes, they all looked that good and precise except for the 9 I gave myself for the tourné cuts not being consistent. It's sometimes a curse to be so precise, I don't think i'll ever win a speed contest because i'd be all, OMG That carrot is bigger or longer than the other, Fix It!!! SOoooo that means I got an A for that portion of our finals lol...
Tomorrow we have to make Mayo and Hollandaise and a mystery basket of Lord knows what. So I showed Hannah, the teen i'm sitting with while her mom is off on a cruise, how to make mayo tonight. She's 16 and goofy. I told her to put the egg yolk in the bowl, and she proceeded to crack the egg with her forehead and it splattered all over the place. Yep... Anyway, we got the mayo made and i'll just hope for the best on the hollandaise tomorrow. I make mayo all the time now at home... Good stuff.
Well, servsafe test tomorrow so i'm off to go study.
That's my blip for my BFFs today.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Culinary Foundations Final
Today was Culinary Foundations 1 Finals. We get into class and the Teacher wants to do some classroom cleaning before he gives us the test and I'm like... OMG Can we just get it over with already? I'm old, what goes in my brain has a tendency to wander off and get lost.
So finally he passes out the test. 100 questions to answer and I'm so dreading the Math portion of it. I take my time, read everything slowly, 2 or 3 times even just to make sure. I'm sweating bullets when the math portion comes up and I'm sitting there looking at the numbers like it's Sanskrit. I think I sat there for 3 minutes before I just closed my eyes and had to take in a deep breath and when I opened my eyes it had turned back to normal. The last part of the test we had to write our answers on the questionaire and transfer our answers to the answer sheet.
I'm writing and transfering and finally I finish and I turn in my paper. The Teacher graded the tests during our Sanitations class so some of us waited around after class for the results. So he hands me my test and it's at 95% and I have 2 unanswered questions that have been marked wrong and i'm like... WTF??? and what I realize I'd done was answer the question on the questionaire sheet and not transfer the answer to the answer sheet, DAMN!!! I stand there looking and I say ... "OMG but I answered it HERE" (pointing to the questionaire) and he says "well, okay let me see..." He double checks my answers to see if they are right and BAM bumps me up to 97% Yay Me. I said "Thank you" and gave my teacher a high 5 lol. He then proceeded to tell me that with todays final scores I was at the Top of the Class. I did a little "YES!" and clapped as I jaunted out of the classroom to make my way home. Cranked up the Tenor singing on the CD, I smiled the whole way, then parked the car and called Darcy, my sugar mama, with my good news. =D
And That is my Happy blip for my BFFs today.
So finally he passes out the test. 100 questions to answer and I'm so dreading the Math portion of it. I take my time, read everything slowly, 2 or 3 times even just to make sure. I'm sweating bullets when the math portion comes up and I'm sitting there looking at the numbers like it's Sanskrit. I think I sat there for 3 minutes before I just closed my eyes and had to take in a deep breath and when I opened my eyes it had turned back to normal. The last part of the test we had to write our answers on the questionaire and transfer our answers to the answer sheet.
I'm writing and transfering and finally I finish and I turn in my paper. The Teacher graded the tests during our Sanitations class so some of us waited around after class for the results. So he hands me my test and it's at 95% and I have 2 unanswered questions that have been marked wrong and i'm like... WTF??? and what I realize I'd done was answer the question on the questionaire sheet and not transfer the answer to the answer sheet, DAMN!!! I stand there looking and I say ... "OMG but I answered it HERE" (pointing to the questionaire) and he says "well, okay let me see..." He double checks my answers to see if they are right and BAM bumps me up to 97% Yay Me. I said "Thank you" and gave my teacher a high 5 lol. He then proceeded to tell me that with todays final scores I was at the Top of the Class. I did a little "YES!" and clapped as I jaunted out of the classroom to make my way home. Cranked up the Tenor singing on the CD, I smiled the whole way, then parked the car and called Darcy, my sugar mama, with my good news. =D
And That is my Happy blip for my BFFs today.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Groucho, Chico, Harpo and Gazpacho?
Today we made Gazpacho. Not who but...What. This dish hails from Andalucia, Spain where havesters working in the hot sun would stop for lunch and have Gazpacho to refresh themselves and replenish nutrients lost in a hard days work in the sun.
Gazpacho is a cold soup to be served slightly chilled but not ice cold. Best made then left overnight to allow all the flavors to meld together. There are many different variations of Gazpacho but the base is always Bread, Garlic, Oil, Vinegar and Salt. Today we made Tomato Gazpacho, not my cup of tea but I myself don't really care for hot tomato soup either. I mean, I can only take so much of it.
It was very easy to make and is the Vegans dream soup as it only consists of Veggies, garlic, onion and the base ingredients mentioned above. We Finely diced 1/4 of the veggies to use as garnishment and texture and the rest went into the blender. You'll see in the vids how easy it was to make. The most time consuming part of this soup was chopping everything up. So, I leave you with the recipe, serving for 2, vids and let you have at it.
Please note that when you boil the tomatoes it's only for about 30 seconds or until the skin starts to look wrinkled and peels away.
1 pc of bread (not too much see vid)
1/2 onion
1/2 L. Green bell pepper
1/2 L. Red bell pepper
1/2 English cucumber
2 l/b Tomatoes peeled and seeded. (depending on size, we used 7 romas)
1 brs Fresh Basil
1 Large glove of garlic
3 1/2 oz Tomato paste
4 fl oz. Tomato Juice
1 3/4 fl oz. Olive oil
1 fl oz. sherry vinegar
pinch cayenne pepper.
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Tomorrow is final exam for cuisines so no dilly dallying on explanations so watch the vids. I gotta go study.
That's my blip for my BFFs today.
Gazpacho is a cold soup to be served slightly chilled but not ice cold. Best made then left overnight to allow all the flavors to meld together. There are many different variations of Gazpacho but the base is always Bread, Garlic, Oil, Vinegar and Salt. Today we made Tomato Gazpacho, not my cup of tea but I myself don't really care for hot tomato soup either. I mean, I can only take so much of it.
It was very easy to make and is the Vegans dream soup as it only consists of Veggies, garlic, onion and the base ingredients mentioned above. We Finely diced 1/4 of the veggies to use as garnishment and texture and the rest went into the blender. You'll see in the vids how easy it was to make. The most time consuming part of this soup was chopping everything up. So, I leave you with the recipe, serving for 2, vids and let you have at it.
Please note that when you boil the tomatoes it's only for about 30 seconds or until the skin starts to look wrinkled and peels away.
1 pc of bread (not too much see vid)
1/2 onion
1/2 L. Green bell pepper
1/2 L. Red bell pepper
1/2 English cucumber
2 l/b Tomatoes peeled and seeded. (depending on size, we used 7 romas)
1 brs Fresh Basil
1 Large glove of garlic
3 1/2 oz Tomato paste
4 fl oz. Tomato Juice
1 3/4 fl oz. Olive oil
1 fl oz. sherry vinegar
pinch cayenne pepper.
Salt and Pepper to taste.
Tomorrow is final exam for cuisines so no dilly dallying on explanations so watch the vids. I gotta go study.
That's my blip for my BFFs today.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Salade Brettone Vids
Please go onto my Youtube channel to see all the videos for this Salad... There are so many different aspects to this salad that it's easier to go to the channel than to try and fit it into the blog. As you can see the vid that is posted is #14. Thank you for your continued interest in my blog. ( The Link is just above "about me" top left corner.)
Friday, March 18, 2011
Salade Bretonne ...Seafood and Artichoke Salad (UMAMI)
OMG this is some Serious food sex, I mean, talk about orgasmic explosion all over your palate, making you scream Umami give me more!!! And the Plating of this salad by Chef Knaup is truly Food porn at it's finest. I'm posting the recipe because you do Not want to miss out on this orgy. I'm going to go buy the ingredients, and a sieve and practice this one to perfection. That's right, I'm gonna say "What's my name?" and you're gonna breathlessly sigh "Oh Sol, may I please have more?" My eyes just glassed over just writing that, Somebody please turn on the AC...
A little bit of Geography: Bretonne refers to the North West Coastal region of France better known as Brittany. The food of Brittany is said to be the "Cuisine of the Open Sea".
So, here is the recipe, then watch the Vids on my youtube channel. The are a lot of steps but it is so well worth the time and effort. 4 person serving...
Ingredients:
Base:
7oz white beans (Chef used navy)/ 6pc Artichokes, turned / 3 1/2 oz Flour / 1/2 pc Lemon, (juice) salt.
Garniture:
14oz Mussels, cooked marniere/ 2pc shallots finely diced / 3 1/2 fl oz white wine / 1pc bouquet garni / 8pc Shrimps (shelled and deveined) / Chef also had some Large Scallops that he cut inot medallions (not in original recipe) / 1 3/4 oz Leek whites (cut into brunoise) / 1 3/4 oz Celery branch (cut into brunoise) / 10 brs of Parsley (roughly chopped) / 1/2 pc Cauliflower / Salt and Pepper
Vinaigrette:
3 1/2 fl oz Cream / 1 tsp Saffron / 1/2 fl oz Mussel cooking juice / 1 3/4 oz White beans (cooked) / 4pcs Garlic cloves (finely chopped) / 1 3/4 fl oz Red wine vinegar / 3 1/2 fl oz Oil / Salt and Pepper
Finishing:
4 pcs Tomatoes (peeled, seeded, and diced
To Serve:
1 3/4oz Parsley (finely chopped.
How to:
Base:
1. Soak the white beans for 12 hours in cold water...Then put beans in cold water, bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and let simmer for 40 mins. Add the salt 20 mins into the cooking stage and skim the surface periodically. Once cooked, drain and set aside to cool.
2. In a Large pan desolve flous in cold water, add lemon juice, and season with salt. (Blanc de cuisine)
3. Peel and turn the artichokes and rub with lemon to keep from discoloration. Put into Blanc de cuisine, cover with parchment lid, (watch vid) and cook over low heat until easily pierced with tip of a knife. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Garniture:
1. Cook the Mussels a la mariniere: Clean and rinse the mussels, butterfly and devein the shrimps, cut scallops into medallions. Heat some butter in a large pan over low heat, add the shallots and sweat until they are soft. Add white wine and bouquet garni and reduce by 2/3. Increase the heat and bring to a boil, add mussels, cover and shake to stir throught the cooking process, cook until done (Shells open), about 5 mins. Remove mussels from pan and let cool, Add shrimps to this pan now and cover and cook until done, (about 2-3 mins), Remove from pan and now add the scallops to the pan, cook until done (depends on size of medallions) about 2-3 mins. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Place pan back on burner and reduce to au sec.
3. Cut Cauliflower into floretttes, add to pot of salted water and boil until tender. Remove and Shock in Ice water to stop cooking process, remove when cool and set aside. Remove the mussels from the shells, discarding the unopened or cracked ones and set aside.
Vinaigrette:
1. Infuse the cream with Saffron over low heat for 5 mins. Add the seafood sauce that was reduced to au sec. Strain if you wish, but why?
2. Press the beans through a drum sieve (tamis) with a plastic scraper. (this will separate the meat of beans from the skin) Stir the bean puree into the cream then add the garlic, vinegar and seasoning.
3. Whisking continuously, drizzle the oil to incorporate until emulsified. (like making mayo)
Finish:
Drain the artichokes and reserve the 4 nicests bottoms. Cut the remaing 2 in small pieces and combine with the beans, cauliflower, tomatoes, mussels, shrimps and scallops. Season to taste with the vinaigrette, then stir in the parsley.
To Serve:
Place the artichole hearts on the chilled plate, Top with the Seafood salad. Decorate with fresh herbs and drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette.
Watch the vids, learn to make this then you're well on your way to some seriously succulent Food Sex...
(Eat your heart out Dr. Ruth)
That's my blip for my BFFs today.
A little bit of Geography: Bretonne refers to the North West Coastal region of France better known as Brittany. The food of Brittany is said to be the "Cuisine of the Open Sea".
So, here is the recipe, then watch the Vids on my youtube channel. The are a lot of steps but it is so well worth the time and effort. 4 person serving...
Ingredients:
Base:
7oz white beans (Chef used navy)/ 6pc Artichokes, turned / 3 1/2 oz Flour / 1/2 pc Lemon, (juice) salt.
Garniture:
14oz Mussels, cooked marniere/ 2pc shallots finely diced / 3 1/2 fl oz white wine / 1pc bouquet garni / 8pc Shrimps (shelled and deveined) / Chef also had some Large Scallops that he cut inot medallions (not in original recipe) / 1 3/4 oz Leek whites (cut into brunoise) / 1 3/4 oz Celery branch (cut into brunoise) / 10 brs of Parsley (roughly chopped) / 1/2 pc Cauliflower / Salt and Pepper
Vinaigrette:
3 1/2 fl oz Cream / 1 tsp Saffron / 1/2 fl oz Mussel cooking juice / 1 3/4 oz White beans (cooked) / 4pcs Garlic cloves (finely chopped) / 1 3/4 fl oz Red wine vinegar / 3 1/2 fl oz Oil / Salt and Pepper
Finishing:
4 pcs Tomatoes (peeled, seeded, and diced
To Serve:
1 3/4oz Parsley (finely chopped.
How to:
Base:
1. Soak the white beans for 12 hours in cold water...Then put beans in cold water, bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and let simmer for 40 mins. Add the salt 20 mins into the cooking stage and skim the surface periodically. Once cooked, drain and set aside to cool.
2. In a Large pan desolve flous in cold water, add lemon juice, and season with salt. (Blanc de cuisine)
3. Peel and turn the artichokes and rub with lemon to keep from discoloration. Put into Blanc de cuisine, cover with parchment lid, (watch vid) and cook over low heat until easily pierced with tip of a knife. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
Garniture:
1. Cook the Mussels a la mariniere: Clean and rinse the mussels, butterfly and devein the shrimps, cut scallops into medallions. Heat some butter in a large pan over low heat, add the shallots and sweat until they are soft. Add white wine and bouquet garni and reduce by 2/3. Increase the heat and bring to a boil, add mussels, cover and shake to stir throught the cooking process, cook until done (Shells open), about 5 mins. Remove mussels from pan and let cool, Add shrimps to this pan now and cover and cook until done, (about 2-3 mins), Remove from pan and now add the scallops to the pan, cook until done (depends on size of medallions) about 2-3 mins. Remove from pan and set aside.
2. Place pan back on burner and reduce to au sec.
3. Cut Cauliflower into floretttes, add to pot of salted water and boil until tender. Remove and Shock in Ice water to stop cooking process, remove when cool and set aside. Remove the mussels from the shells, discarding the unopened or cracked ones and set aside.
Vinaigrette:
1. Infuse the cream with Saffron over low heat for 5 mins. Add the seafood sauce that was reduced to au sec. Strain if you wish, but why?
2. Press the beans through a drum sieve (tamis) with a plastic scraper. (this will separate the meat of beans from the skin) Stir the bean puree into the cream then add the garlic, vinegar and seasoning.
3. Whisking continuously, drizzle the oil to incorporate until emulsified. (like making mayo)
Finish:
Drain the artichokes and reserve the 4 nicests bottoms. Cut the remaing 2 in small pieces and combine with the beans, cauliflower, tomatoes, mussels, shrimps and scallops. Season to taste with the vinaigrette, then stir in the parsley.
To Serve:
Place the artichole hearts on the chilled plate, Top with the Seafood salad. Decorate with fresh herbs and drizzle with the remaining vinaigrette.
Watch the vids, learn to make this then you're well on your way to some seriously succulent Food Sex...
(Eat your heart out Dr. Ruth)
That's my blip for my BFFs today.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Lobster Mania
How many of you Love that slot machine game Lobster Mania? I do lol...Especially the bonus round when you get to pick a few markers and the guy starts pulling out the traps to see how big your lobsters are.
Todays lesson was on making Lobster Bisque and it was from the killing of a Lobster all the way to making the soup. Please don't watch the video with the Warning on it if you are disturbed by the killing of live animals. But lets face it folks, that steak, BBQ rib, and fried chicken was at one point alive and then killed for the purpose of making food for consumption. It's life. Yes the circle of life sucks for some of us but we are at the top of the food chain, get over it. Watch the animal channel and the animals have no qualms about hunting down their prey for food. I apologize to those who are highly sensitive on such matters. As Chef said... Please step outside if you can't handle what I'm about to do...
The Worst thing for you to do is to stick a live lobster or crap right into a boiling pot of water. It's like burning at the stake... 2 easy methods for the most human way of killing a lobster (or crab) One is to put the point of your knife at the notch on the back of it's head, plunge into the head and cut downward towards and between the eyes. The other way is to grab the head with one hand, the body with the other then twist and pull to separate the head from the body. As with any living creature, the nerve endings are still active so even though the the lobster is actually dead, it's body will continue to twitch... Freaks me out. <shivers> I can't fillet fresh fish for that very reason. Freaking me out just writing about it...
I'll upload the vids for making the Bisque. It's kind of a long process to explain. It was very good. A little rich so i couldn't eat very much of it. OMG I almost forgot... He made Cheese crackers with parmesan cheese and chives and a Lobster guacamole. Plating the soup was so awesome. He put lobster meat in the middle of the bowl, a cracker on the top, then the guacamole on the cracker and ladled the soup into the bowl... It was Beautiful. Then he went to move the tray of lobster meat and... It all FELL ON THE FLOOR!!!!! So, we only got to have some of the soup and no meat. /cry
One of the cooking stages he adds congac/brandy and lights up a beautiful flambé. That's on the vids too. Then he does a little dance by the fire lol.
I got some Chef names to start researching for my externship... I'm liking the looks of Roy's restaurant in SF on Mission St. Roy Yamaguchi is on the forefront of the Hawaiian Fusion cuisine scene. His first restaurant opened in HI in 1988 and now has several all over the Mainland as well as the Islands. I'll keep you posted on where i'll be headed for my Externship.
That's my blip for my BFFs today.
Todays lesson was on making Lobster Bisque and it was from the killing of a Lobster all the way to making the soup. Please don't watch the video with the Warning on it if you are disturbed by the killing of live animals. But lets face it folks, that steak, BBQ rib, and fried chicken was at one point alive and then killed for the purpose of making food for consumption. It's life. Yes the circle of life sucks for some of us but we are at the top of the food chain, get over it. Watch the animal channel and the animals have no qualms about hunting down their prey for food. I apologize to those who are highly sensitive on such matters. As Chef said... Please step outside if you can't handle what I'm about to do...
The Worst thing for you to do is to stick a live lobster or crap right into a boiling pot of water. It's like burning at the stake... 2 easy methods for the most human way of killing a lobster (or crab) One is to put the point of your knife at the notch on the back of it's head, plunge into the head and cut downward towards and between the eyes. The other way is to grab the head with one hand, the body with the other then twist and pull to separate the head from the body. As with any living creature, the nerve endings are still active so even though the the lobster is actually dead, it's body will continue to twitch... Freaks me out. <shivers> I can't fillet fresh fish for that very reason. Freaking me out just writing about it...
I'll upload the vids for making the Bisque. It's kind of a long process to explain. It was very good. A little rich so i couldn't eat very much of it. OMG I almost forgot... He made Cheese crackers with parmesan cheese and chives and a Lobster guacamole. Plating the soup was so awesome. He put lobster meat in the middle of the bowl, a cracker on the top, then the guacamole on the cracker and ladled the soup into the bowl... It was Beautiful. Then he went to move the tray of lobster meat and... It all FELL ON THE FLOOR!!!!! So, we only got to have some of the soup and no meat. /cry
One of the cooking stages he adds congac/brandy and lights up a beautiful flambé. That's on the vids too. Then he does a little dance by the fire lol.
I got some Chef names to start researching for my externship... I'm liking the looks of Roy's restaurant in SF on Mission St. Roy Yamaguchi is on the forefront of the Hawaiian Fusion cuisine scene. His first restaurant opened in HI in 1988 and now has several all over the Mainland as well as the Islands. I'll keep you posted on where i'll be headed for my Externship.
That's my blip for my BFFs today.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Winding down.
We're starting to wind down, doing a lot of reviews and getting ready for our final tests for this term.
Today we learned the Oblique cut on a MONDO Carrot. Hopefully the vid will come up on keywords for this blog vid program they have. You hold your knife at a 45 degree angle and after every cut you turn the carrot/veggie a 1/4 turn and cut again. cut, turn, cut turn etc. This cut gives you more surface area and gives you more flavore and more even cooking. But that Carrot that's in the vid is Huge because it's fed massive fertilizers. The whole bag was full of them.
So... Who knows what Sriracha sauce is? Don't all jump in at once... WEEEeeell, It's a Thai hot sauce named after the coastal city of Si Racha, in the Chonburi Province of central Thailand and on the bottle there is a picture of the head of a Rooster and it's taken on the name of Cock sauce... And Then...You take that sauce and you mix it with Mayonnaise and you get...Wait for it... Hoochie Sauce. True Story. Honestly...
After the demo on the carrot we had to spend 30 mins cutting different cuts that we learned. Then after that was a test on cooking equipment. Yep, it was uneventful today. I'm glad this term is almost done. My brain needs a small break. I can't wait for Spring break.
I made more mayo today after i got home and made myself an egg salad sandwich with it... Nom nom nom nom nom...
That's my blip for my BFFs today.
Today we learned the Oblique cut on a MONDO Carrot. Hopefully the vid will come up on keywords for this blog vid program they have. You hold your knife at a 45 degree angle and after every cut you turn the carrot/veggie a 1/4 turn and cut again. cut, turn, cut turn etc. This cut gives you more surface area and gives you more flavore and more even cooking. But that Carrot that's in the vid is Huge because it's fed massive fertilizers. The whole bag was full of them.
So... Who knows what Sriracha sauce is? Don't all jump in at once... WEEEeeell, It's a Thai hot sauce named after the coastal city of Si Racha, in the Chonburi Province of central Thailand and on the bottle there is a picture of the head of a Rooster and it's taken on the name of Cock sauce... And Then...You take that sauce and you mix it with Mayonnaise and you get...Wait for it... Hoochie Sauce. True Story. Honestly...
After the demo on the carrot we had to spend 30 mins cutting different cuts that we learned. Then after that was a test on cooking equipment. Yep, it was uneventful today. I'm glad this term is almost done. My brain needs a small break. I can't wait for Spring break.
I made more mayo today after i got home and made myself an egg salad sandwich with it... Nom nom nom nom nom...
That's my blip for my BFFs today.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
French a Bone?!!
So...Frenching a bone is that technique of triming the meat off part of the rib bone so that the meat has that decorative, high end look to it. I'm going to try to keep these blogs at a minimum so please watch the vids by clicking on my Youtube channel link.
After trimming he used the meat to make the sauce. He then sliced the pork into chops, sauteed then finished them in the oven. Internal temperature of your pork should be at 145 degrees f. When he put the chops in the oven he placed a pan on the bottom for drippins and placed the chops directly on the rack. As you can see from the vids, they turned out beautiful.
How do you know where the tough part of the asparagus is? Just hold it at the ends and bend. It will break at the tender point. But instead of snappin all of them, snap one then take the that bottom end and cut off about the same length from the end of the rest, but first, level off the top so they are all at the same length when you cut. Chef also peeled them with a potato peeler. Not necessary for the Green ones but a Must for the White. Reband them with given rubberband. Blanche them until they are tender when you squeeze them... Not Mushy, Take them out of the boiling water and into the Ice water to stop the cooking process. Don't leave them in the cold water either because that can do more damage then the Hot water. Remove them as soon as they are cool. Then you can reheat them by putting butter and water in a pan. Or you can serve them cold with Hollandaise sauce.
A White asparagus is the same exact plant as the green one except the white ones never see the sun. Once the plant starts poking through the dirt sand is then added to cover it from the sun.
Yes, I subjected myself to learn how to French a Bone. (Hard to get your mind out of a gutter, I know...) And speaking of Frenching a bone, how many of you have actually, Really looked at a White Asparagus?? Let me tell you, there was a LOT of giggling going on in class today. And...so one of the guys asks the Chef, "can you eat the top of the asparagus?" and the answer was, after much giggling and a request to turn off the camera, (I didn't lol but they thought i did) "Yes, but don't swallow." Padampam...
After trimming he used the meat to make the sauce. He then sliced the pork into chops, sauteed then finished them in the oven. Internal temperature of your pork should be at 145 degrees f. When he put the chops in the oven he placed a pan on the bottom for drippins and placed the chops directly on the rack. As you can see from the vids, they turned out beautiful.
How do you know where the tough part of the asparagus is? Just hold it at the ends and bend. It will break at the tender point. But instead of snappin all of them, snap one then take the that bottom end and cut off about the same length from the end of the rest, but first, level off the top so they are all at the same length when you cut. Chef also peeled them with a potato peeler. Not necessary for the Green ones but a Must for the White. Reband them with given rubberband. Blanche them until they are tender when you squeeze them... Not Mushy, Take them out of the boiling water and into the Ice water to stop the cooking process. Don't leave them in the cold water either because that can do more damage then the Hot water. Remove them as soon as they are cool. Then you can reheat them by putting butter and water in a pan. Or you can serve them cold with Hollandaise sauce.
A White asparagus is the same exact plant as the green one except the white ones never see the sun. Once the plant starts poking through the dirt sand is then added to cover it from the sun.
Yes, I subjected myself to learn how to French a Bone. (Hard to get your mind out of a gutter, I know...) And speaking of Frenching a bone, how many of you have actually, Really looked at a White Asparagus?? Let me tell you, there was a LOT of giggling going on in class today. And...so one of the guys asks the Chef, "can you eat the top of the asparagus?" and the answer was, after much giggling and a request to turn off the camera, (I didn't lol but they thought i did) "Yes, but don't swallow." Padampam...
Monday, March 14, 2011
A Little Rusty and Unseasoned are we?
So you got yourself a Nice cast iron pan and you don't have a clue how to take care of it and now it's all rusted and ugly...Buy another? NO. Go buy some kosher salt and Veg oil of choice or whatever you have there at home (No Not motor oil). Heat up the pan, pour in the oil and add some salt like you're using commet or ajax to scrub your pots. Take a couple of paper towels and start scrubbing at the pan to get the rust out. Wipe down the pan, rinse and repeat until the pan is no longer dirty.
Seasoning anyone? Heat up your pan, pour oil in it, oh about 1/2" at the bottom of your pan, Heat up the oil and move it around to cover the upper parts of the pan. pour out the oil and you're good to go. Wipe out the excess with paper towel and hang it up til the next time you need to fry eggs.
Never use soap on your cast irons... Heat, Oil, Salt, scrub, wipe down and you're done. If the Heat doesn't kill the bacteria then you have some serious issues. If you need to, Rinse out your pan with hot water and scrub with metal scrubby without soap then heat, oil and wipe down.
That's my Blip for my BFFs again today.
Seasoning anyone? Heat up your pan, pour oil in it, oh about 1/2" at the bottom of your pan, Heat up the oil and move it around to cover the upper parts of the pan. pour out the oil and you're good to go. Wipe out the excess with paper towel and hang it up til the next time you need to fry eggs.
Never use soap on your cast irons... Heat, Oil, Salt, scrub, wipe down and you're done. If the Heat doesn't kill the bacteria then you have some serious issues. If you need to, Rinse out your pan with hot water and scrub with metal scrubby without soap then heat, oil and wipe down.
That's my Blip for my BFFs again today.
Plating
Well today was a pretty easy day at school. The teacher did most of the work. As you can see from the title that it was all about plating. I took some vids and will upload them asap. It's not really something that can be written and understood... Visuals are needed.
Tonight I decided to make dinner. I roasted chicken wings,(it's what was in the freezer. No comments from the Peanut gallery, or sniggering.) made tourné potatoes, carrots and zucchini and sautéed them in butter with a sprinkle of suger for a glaze. Then made a butter sauce to go with everything.
Sauce on the bottom of the plate, veggies on that and chicken beside the veggies then i sprinkled with cayenne pepper. Was it good?... I thought is was quite delectable. Sadie may have a different opinion lol.
She was on the phone with her hubby so i took her plate down to her room.
I snapped a photo of my winged plate. It's been a long day for me so this is going to be short. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. You may be able to see more of my vids if you go to youtube and look for qantonidas61. Sometimes the keyword selection bit doesn't pick up my vids for the blog.
That's my blip for my BFFs today.
Tonight I decided to make dinner. I roasted chicken wings,(it's what was in the freezer. No comments from the Peanut gallery, or sniggering.) made tourné potatoes, carrots and zucchini and sautéed them in butter with a sprinkle of suger for a glaze. Then made a butter sauce to go with everything.
Sauce on the bottom of the plate, veggies on that and chicken beside the veggies then i sprinkled with cayenne pepper. Was it good?... I thought is was quite delectable. Sadie may have a different opinion lol.
She was on the phone with her hubby so i took her plate down to her room.
I snapped a photo of my winged plate. It's been a long day for me so this is going to be short. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. You may be able to see more of my vids if you go to youtube and look for qantonidas61. Sometimes the keyword selection bit doesn't pick up my vids for the blog.
That's my blip for my BFFs today.
Friday, March 11, 2011
Grilled Salmon with Butter Sauce...Umami
Friday is usually the fun day at School and today we got to have Fried Shrimp dipped into the most amazing Mayonaise based sauce. (in the blog before this one.) He made the batter for the shrimps using corn starch for crispy, baking soda for leavening (you know, puff factor), flour and water mixed to the consistancy of thin pancake batter. What I'd like to concentrate on though is the Salmon rather than the Shrimp so...
Chef Knaup told us that the Salmon he was going to feed us is an Atlantic Salmon instead of Pacific and why? Because it's Farmed here in the West coast... FAIL!!! Farmed fish is not nearly as good wild, but eh, I guess it's better to have farmed than nothing at all. So we had a little Salmon lesson then he went about filleting, skinning and cutting out steaks. The vid of him cutting out the steaks didn't come out and i'm sorry but he sliced at an Angle about 3/4" thick.
He made a marinade for the fish. What you don't want to do with marinading fish is to leave it in marinade too long. It then becomes a sort of Ceviche. What he had us do was, Dry the fish to remove all moisture, salt and pepper both sides then brushed on the marinade before putting it on the grill. Prep the grill by heating it, scraping off with metal brush to clean then rub with rolled up towel dipped in oil.
To get the nice grill marks, place your fish on the grill at 10 o'clock then at 2 o'clock... Please see the vid if you're confused. When Chef flipped his fish over the grill marks were perfect and beautiful, one of the guys said "that is sexy". Good Food has been likened to good sex and seeing beautiful food is Food Porn lol. Just yesterday we had "orgasm on a plate". Yep, you just don't know what your missing just being on the reading side of my blog lol.
Your fish should be on the grill for about 2 minutes total. Place the bone side down first, dark side up (skin side) about 30 sec at 10, 30 sec at 2, flip... rinse and repeat and then off the grill. You'll know to flip when the edges of the fish start to change color.
With the beautiful grill marks you don't want to cover it up with the sauce but because the butter sauce is a white sauce you can put the sauce on a little bit of the fish.
Please watch the videos when you can (when i can get them on) because there was so much going on today that this Blog would be a Novel. I have a photo of my grilled Salmon and butter sauce. Yes, it was as good as it looks. Mmmhmm I may be blind in the morning...
That's my blip for my BFFs today.
Chef Knaup told us that the Salmon he was going to feed us is an Atlantic Salmon instead of Pacific and why? Because it's Farmed here in the West coast... FAIL!!! Farmed fish is not nearly as good wild, but eh, I guess it's better to have farmed than nothing at all. So we had a little Salmon lesson then he went about filleting, skinning and cutting out steaks. The vid of him cutting out the steaks didn't come out and i'm sorry but he sliced at an Angle about 3/4" thick.
He made a marinade for the fish. What you don't want to do with marinading fish is to leave it in marinade too long. It then becomes a sort of Ceviche. What he had us do was, Dry the fish to remove all moisture, salt and pepper both sides then brushed on the marinade before putting it on the grill. Prep the grill by heating it, scraping off with metal brush to clean then rub with rolled up towel dipped in oil.
To get the nice grill marks, place your fish on the grill at 10 o'clock then at 2 o'clock... Please see the vid if you're confused. When Chef flipped his fish over the grill marks were perfect and beautiful, one of the guys said "that is sexy". Good Food has been likened to good sex and seeing beautiful food is Food Porn lol. Just yesterday we had "orgasm on a plate". Yep, you just don't know what your missing just being on the reading side of my blog lol.
Your fish should be on the grill for about 2 minutes total. Place the bone side down first, dark side up (skin side) about 30 sec at 10, 30 sec at 2, flip... rinse and repeat and then off the grill. You'll know to flip when the edges of the fish start to change color.
With the beautiful grill marks you don't want to cover it up with the sauce but because the butter sauce is a white sauce you can put the sauce on a little bit of the fish.
Please watch the videos when you can (when i can get them on) because there was so much going on today that this Blog would be a Novel. I have a photo of my grilled Salmon and butter sauce. Yes, it was as good as it looks. Mmmhmm I may be blind in the morning...
That's my blip for my BFFs today.
Mayo recipe...& A pinch of whatever else you need to make the Shrimp sauce.
What a wonderful day in school today. We got to eat Grilled Salmon and Fried Shrimps. The sauce that Chef made for the Shrimp was so wonderfully seasoned that it took fried shrimps to a whole new level. Here is the recipe for Mayo that I use.
1 Egg yolk, 3/4 tsp White wine Vinegar, 1/4 tsp Dijon Mustard, 1/4 tsp salt, 6oz. Salad oil. Salt, Cayenne pepper, Lemon Juice to taste.
Put all the ingredients into a medium size bowl except for the oil. Place your bowl on a wet towel in order to keep it from moving around on you. Whisk in one hand and oil in the other. Moving your whisk quickly back and forth, elbow close to your side, and lots of wrist action to keep from killing your arm halfway through making your mayo. Mix ingredients in the bowl and VERY SLOWLY drizzle the oil into one side of the bowl Slowly incorporating the oil. It will start off with a bright yellow hue from the eggs and mustard but as you add the oil and whisk it will slowly lighten into what you normally know as mayo. If your mayo gets too thick before you finish adding the oil add a little bit of water to thin it a little... a little as in 1/2 tsp at a time. If your mayo breaks, Whisk a little faster. When all your oil has been added, Taste then season with salt, cayenne and squeeze in 1/4 lemon to start until you achieve the flavor that you want.
Now for the Sauce for Fried shrimps add Parsley, Dill, Basil, Cayenne, and Curry. Add a little more lemon to taste. As you see on the vid he just Adds stuff. A little bit of this, a little bit of that...
Don't limit yourself to just Dijon. Switch it up and use your favorite Mustard in it's stead. I used Walla Walla sweet onion Mustard and it was Umami...
Enjoy.
1 Egg yolk, 3/4 tsp White wine Vinegar, 1/4 tsp Dijon Mustard, 1/4 tsp salt, 6oz. Salad oil. Salt, Cayenne pepper, Lemon Juice to taste.
Put all the ingredients into a medium size bowl except for the oil. Place your bowl on a wet towel in order to keep it from moving around on you. Whisk in one hand and oil in the other. Moving your whisk quickly back and forth, elbow close to your side, and lots of wrist action to keep from killing your arm halfway through making your mayo. Mix ingredients in the bowl and VERY SLOWLY drizzle the oil into one side of the bowl Slowly incorporating the oil. It will start off with a bright yellow hue from the eggs and mustard but as you add the oil and whisk it will slowly lighten into what you normally know as mayo. If your mayo gets too thick before you finish adding the oil add a little bit of water to thin it a little... a little as in 1/2 tsp at a time. If your mayo breaks, Whisk a little faster. When all your oil has been added, Taste then season with salt, cayenne and squeeze in 1/4 lemon to start until you achieve the flavor that you want.
Now for the Sauce for Fried shrimps add Parsley, Dill, Basil, Cayenne, and Curry. Add a little more lemon to taste. As you see on the vid he just Adds stuff. A little bit of this, a little bit of that...
Don't limit yourself to just Dijon. Switch it up and use your favorite Mustard in it's stead. I used Walla Walla sweet onion Mustard and it was Umami...
Enjoy.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Braiser, to Braise. Not Brazier to lift and separate...
First of all I'm bummed because i forgot my phone on the Dining table so I didn't get any vids today. So, I want to apologize for that up front, but i'll look on Youtube for something comparable.
Poaching and Braising is the best way to cook the meats that are inexpensive but tough and gristly. The difference between Braised beef and a beef Stew is the size of the meat chunks. The chunks of meat were cut evenly in 1" cubes for braising today.
The Braising pot was on High heat, a little oil added to the bottom of the pan then he added the meat a little at a time not all at once. Then he used the tongs to turn the meat over one at a time, don't just stir. once all your meat has been browned/seared on all sides, remove it from the pan and put it aside.
He then added a little more oil, then add the mirepoix (50% onions, 25% celery, 25% carrots), shallots and sauté about 5 mins. Then add the Tomato paste, this gives it color and flavor. Stir this up for about 5 mins then move it all to one side of the pan and add flour onto the other side of the pan and brown it a little bit. Just stir the flour around on the one side until it browns. Kind of like a roux but it's dry. Now, incorporate the flour and the tomato paste and stir for about 5 mins. Add veal stock and a little bit of water. (cold) Mix it all up and add the meat. Bring it up to a boil then down to a simmer. Take the pot and put it in the oven at 350 f. Cook for at least 1 hour, check it in 30 mins to see how your meat is coming along. Should cook it until... take a spoon or fork and cut into the meat. you should be able to do this easily if it's done. The idea is to cook it long and slow so that the tough meat melts in your mouth and you can take your dentures off and gum the meat LOL...
Now you've got your pan out of the oven and meat is gumable, ar ar, take all the meat out of the pan and start to reduce the sauce so it thickens a little bit more. Don't throw this juice out, it's a sin. All the flavors from the meat is now in there and you want to use it's yummyness. Some foolish people throw this out and that's what makes them foolish. Remember that you already added flour so it will thicken... Pour this sauce into another container through the chinois, then add the already prep'd veggies. The veggies you'll want to prep for this is green beans, carrots, peas and turnips. Bring it up to a boil, what you're doing is reheating the veggies. Add your meat and you're ready to chow down.
The veggies are preferably cut into tourné (carrots and turnips) so that they are same size. All the Veggies will be cooked individually. In a small sauce pan you'll add about a tablespoon of butter, a sprinkle of sugar, a little bit of water to cover the bottom of pan, don't cover the veggies, salt and white pepper then cover it with a parchment lid. This lid will have a small hole in the middle to allow steam to escape, and will sit right on top of the veggies. Bring to a boil then down to a simmer. When veggie is done, (stick a fork or knife through it and if it comes out easily, NOT mushy, then it's done), set it off to the side and wait for your braised meat to be done.
Add veggies with the butter at the bottom of the pot to Strained sauce/juices. Stir it all together and go ring the dinner bell.
Find yourself a recipe for braised whatever meat you want... He used a shoulder of lamb for class today. Then apply the above and Enjoy.
Remember, Chefs cook at High heat. Remember this when you're braising, and make sure your meats are dry when you first start to braise/sear or it will burn.
So they handed us our grades and after doing the Math test and Cuts test i still have an A- average. I'm bummed about the minus but that couldn't be helped. I had to go to the funeral for Lua. Aaaand. When I went to talk to the Teacher about that minus after class, because i was wanting to bump that minus up to an A he told me that it pretty much wasn't worth my trying to do make up work... His make up work consists of cleaning the Garbage area outside lol. But while he was looking over my report he did tell me that I had the highest score in class for the Cuts test. Yay me. So, i'll just have to be happy with being an A- student and pray that i do well in my final exam.
I have a lot of reading to do today for homework otherwise i'd cover the poaching part of class but I don't have time tonight for another write up. I hope that you have enjoyed my blog so far. It's been quite the experience in school so far. I'm learning a lot and hope to be able to keep up my grades as I soak up more information.
That's my blib for my BFFs today.
Poaching and Braising is the best way to cook the meats that are inexpensive but tough and gristly. The difference between Braised beef and a beef Stew is the size of the meat chunks. The chunks of meat were cut evenly in 1" cubes for braising today.
The Braising pot was on High heat, a little oil added to the bottom of the pan then he added the meat a little at a time not all at once. Then he used the tongs to turn the meat over one at a time, don't just stir. once all your meat has been browned/seared on all sides, remove it from the pan and put it aside.
He then added a little more oil, then add the mirepoix (50% onions, 25% celery, 25% carrots), shallots and sauté about 5 mins. Then add the Tomato paste, this gives it color and flavor. Stir this up for about 5 mins then move it all to one side of the pan and add flour onto the other side of the pan and brown it a little bit. Just stir the flour around on the one side until it browns. Kind of like a roux but it's dry. Now, incorporate the flour and the tomato paste and stir for about 5 mins. Add veal stock and a little bit of water. (cold) Mix it all up and add the meat. Bring it up to a boil then down to a simmer. Take the pot and put it in the oven at 350 f. Cook for at least 1 hour, check it in 30 mins to see how your meat is coming along. Should cook it until... take a spoon or fork and cut into the meat. you should be able to do this easily if it's done. The idea is to cook it long and slow so that the tough meat melts in your mouth and you can take your dentures off and gum the meat LOL...
Now you've got your pan out of the oven and meat is gumable, ar ar, take all the meat out of the pan and start to reduce the sauce so it thickens a little bit more. Don't throw this juice out, it's a sin. All the flavors from the meat is now in there and you want to use it's yummyness. Some foolish people throw this out and that's what makes them foolish. Remember that you already added flour so it will thicken... Pour this sauce into another container through the chinois, then add the already prep'd veggies. The veggies you'll want to prep for this is green beans, carrots, peas and turnips. Bring it up to a boil, what you're doing is reheating the veggies. Add your meat and you're ready to chow down.
The veggies are preferably cut into tourné (carrots and turnips) so that they are same size. All the Veggies will be cooked individually. In a small sauce pan you'll add about a tablespoon of butter, a sprinkle of sugar, a little bit of water to cover the bottom of pan, don't cover the veggies, salt and white pepper then cover it with a parchment lid. This lid will have a small hole in the middle to allow steam to escape, and will sit right on top of the veggies. Bring to a boil then down to a simmer. When veggie is done, (stick a fork or knife through it and if it comes out easily, NOT mushy, then it's done), set it off to the side and wait for your braised meat to be done.
Add veggies with the butter at the bottom of the pot to Strained sauce/juices. Stir it all together and go ring the dinner bell.
Find yourself a recipe for braised whatever meat you want... He used a shoulder of lamb for class today. Then apply the above and Enjoy.
Remember, Chefs cook at High heat. Remember this when you're braising, and make sure your meats are dry when you first start to braise/sear or it will burn.
So they handed us our grades and after doing the Math test and Cuts test i still have an A- average. I'm bummed about the minus but that couldn't be helped. I had to go to the funeral for Lua. Aaaand. When I went to talk to the Teacher about that minus after class, because i was wanting to bump that minus up to an A he told me that it pretty much wasn't worth my trying to do make up work... His make up work consists of cleaning the Garbage area outside lol. But while he was looking over my report he did tell me that I had the highest score in class for the Cuts test. Yay me. So, i'll just have to be happy with being an A- student and pray that i do well in my final exam.
I have a lot of reading to do today for homework otherwise i'd cover the poaching part of class but I don't have time tonight for another write up. I hope that you have enjoyed my blog so far. It's been quite the experience in school so far. I'm learning a lot and hope to be able to keep up my grades as I soak up more information.
That's my blib for my BFFs today.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Rôtir et Poêler, To Roast or to Pan Roast? That is the question.
Today was a Busy day. I took a lot of videos and hopefully can get them uploaded on to youtube and on here but eh, it takes so long so it may be a couple of days before i can get it up, d'oh get your mind out of the gutter, but check back if you want to see the vids.
Today we learned how to Roast and Pan Roast poultry. First, Chef took the birds and seasoned the Inside. You know, that hole that has the innards in it sometimes? Yes, Season in there. Don't be afraid it won't bite. Then Truss the bird. No, not Trust, never trust a bird especially a dodo... Padampam! I'm a dork, i'm sorry... Trussing a bird, Bridage, is tying it up so that the legs and wings are close to the body... This ensures even cooking of the bird. The pictures in the book? Didn't help me one bit. Chef showed us a few methods and i'll upload that vid for you. Then you Dry it of all moisture (so it doesn't burn), season and pan sear it. The only seasoning he used was Salt and Pepper. After searing the chicken you put it in the oven to roast or Rôtir. The Poêler is Searing the chicken in a braiser, basting, and covering the pan before you put it in the oven. Your bird is not going to be as crispy brown because what you're doing is holding in the moisture but your bird is going to be more moist. He roasted this for oh 15 mins then he added aromatics, carrots, onions, bacon...then roasted it til cooked, turing the bird every once in a while.
Then it was time for our cuts test. A potato, onion, carrot, and celery and in 30 minutes he wanted us to cut out tourné and brunoise with potato, Dés onion, Macédoine the carrot and Julienne the celery. I'm confident that i received a good score on my test. I practiced for HOURS last night lol. Used up half a bag of potatoes for tourné alone. He also returned my flex assignment on Favorite Food that was one of my blogs and he gave me Full credit for it... Yay me.
So for the rest of the class he showed us how to cook up the aromatics and make the Glaze for the chicken as well as the Sauce. If you want to learn how to make good sauces, learn now to make stock. You can use the Bouillon cubes but the Base pastes are better or you can use Stock in a box sold in stores now but the best is for you to make your own Stock at home. Stock is also used for the aromatics.
Then he carved and plated the bird for us and he said that watercress is what the French usually use as a garnish for birds. Then lucky us got to taste all that yummy goodness and mmmm it was Delicious.
Resting your meats before you cut into it is VERY important. Why do you Rest meats? When you first bring it out of the heat the juices are just bouncing around going OMG where should I go? What shall i do? So you let it sit for a little while so that all the juices settle back into the meat. If you cut it too soon then all the moisture bounces right out onto your cutting board and you get to eat dry meat for dinner. How long should you let it Rest? Half the time it took you to cook it. Eh? If you cook it for 30 minutes then let it Rest for 15 minutes. Comprendez vous? Good...
To Roast or to Pan Roast is up to you. The question is did this help you at least a little bit?
That's my blip for my BFFs today.
Today we learned how to Roast and Pan Roast poultry. First, Chef took the birds and seasoned the Inside. You know, that hole that has the innards in it sometimes? Yes, Season in there. Don't be afraid it won't bite. Then Truss the bird. No, not Trust, never trust a bird especially a dodo... Padampam! I'm a dork, i'm sorry... Trussing a bird, Bridage, is tying it up so that the legs and wings are close to the body... This ensures even cooking of the bird. The pictures in the book? Didn't help me one bit. Chef showed us a few methods and i'll upload that vid for you. Then you Dry it of all moisture (so it doesn't burn), season and pan sear it. The only seasoning he used was Salt and Pepper. After searing the chicken you put it in the oven to roast or Rôtir. The Poêler is Searing the chicken in a braiser, basting, and covering the pan before you put it in the oven. Your bird is not going to be as crispy brown because what you're doing is holding in the moisture but your bird is going to be more moist. He roasted this for oh 15 mins then he added aromatics, carrots, onions, bacon...then roasted it til cooked, turing the bird every once in a while.
Then it was time for our cuts test. A potato, onion, carrot, and celery and in 30 minutes he wanted us to cut out tourné and brunoise with potato, Dés onion, Macédoine the carrot and Julienne the celery. I'm confident that i received a good score on my test. I practiced for HOURS last night lol. Used up half a bag of potatoes for tourné alone. He also returned my flex assignment on Favorite Food that was one of my blogs and he gave me Full credit for it... Yay me.
So for the rest of the class he showed us how to cook up the aromatics and make the Glaze for the chicken as well as the Sauce. If you want to learn how to make good sauces, learn now to make stock. You can use the Bouillon cubes but the Base pastes are better or you can use Stock in a box sold in stores now but the best is for you to make your own Stock at home. Stock is also used for the aromatics.
Then he carved and plated the bird for us and he said that watercress is what the French usually use as a garnish for birds. Then lucky us got to taste all that yummy goodness and mmmm it was Delicious.
Resting your meats before you cut into it is VERY important. Why do you Rest meats? When you first bring it out of the heat the juices are just bouncing around going OMG where should I go? What shall i do? So you let it sit for a little while so that all the juices settle back into the meat. If you cut it too soon then all the moisture bounces right out onto your cutting board and you get to eat dry meat for dinner. How long should you let it Rest? Half the time it took you to cook it. Eh? If you cook it for 30 minutes then let it Rest for 15 minutes. Comprendez vous? Good...
To Roast or to Pan Roast is up to you. The question is did this help you at least a little bit?
That's my blip for my BFFs today.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Pike Place Market Class Field Trip
I left the house early so i could get a good spot to park the car... Spendy to pay for parking there at nearby parking lot. $25 smackaroos, sorry sugar mama but I was not going to take the bus in my uniform. Not that i'm embarrassed, I'm proud to represent, but eh, bad knees have been sore the past few days and I wasn't up to standing and waiting and standing and riding and walking at the market and standing and waiting and... you get the point but that's beside the point.
I'm an hour and a half early so i take the time to stroll down the road going towards Starbucks for a morning brew. I get that then walk back up and stop at Le Panier. It smelled so warm and buttery it was hard to just walk by it the first time, but i had to go get my drink first then get my bread for breakfast. I purchased a sweet walnut roll. It was not sticky sweet like a cinnamon roll. It was light like a croissant, lightly sweetened with walnuts on top... Nom nom nom nom nom. I highly recommend this place.
Our assignment was to interact with the vendors about thier places, try something new, check out the kitchens at different restaurants etc. For our Sanitations class we were to observe the different food places and spot different Sanitation violations. Before i went to meet everyone I was snapping shots of Sanitation violations and the first place i see with a violation is Piroshky Piroshky... Oh, I'm sorry, do you like that place? WEEEEeeeell, So there are 2 huge things of dough on the counter Uncovered left there unattended to rise, and one is right next to the Dirty window... and it's rising and getting fatter and now it's touching the windeow with oh, I don't know, streaks of fat maybe, and splatters of flour that Lord know how long it's been on the window. Not to mention not knowing whether a fly has buzzed on by and decided to light it's feces landing body on the dough. Then I look down and there is an uncovered 5 gallon bucket of sugar under the counter, and on the handle of this container is what looks like oh, maybe 3 or 4 pieces of 1/4" long hair. I'm not saying that it was hair but that's what it looked like. And next to the sugar was a trash bin. So, I'm rolling the dough, I'm throwing something into the trash, oh, it went into the sugar... Um... Don't eat there. Well, I'm not going to eat there, you can if you really want to.
The first place we went to was downstairs and out to the alley to look at the Gum Wall. It was Cool and totally disgusting at the same time. You can smell the gum before you turn to walk out the door and into the alley. Then you look up and across the way and the brick wall is just Covered with "chewed" gum. It was all full of vibrant colors and germs. As I was taking pictures I was hoping i didn't trip and fall into the wall. It looked cool but it grossed me out. So after gawking and snapping photos, up the stairs I went and after using the hand rail I pulled out my Hand Sanitizer because one never knows what germs are lurking on the rails. Sanitation class is Not helping my germ phobia. I won't even read magazines in a Dr.'s office. Sick people touch those magazines, coughing into their hands then turning the pages... (shiver)
Into DeLaurentis we went. An Italian Deli full of Cheeses and cured meats. My new thing to try was Euphoria, cheese made with sheeps milk. It was quite good with a sweet undertone, mildly sharp and salty aftertaste. Then there was Speck, a type of Prosciutto that was to die for. I should have bought some, now that i think about it. Good stuff.
So, there is this place that Ofa, one of my friends from the boat, likes to buy gibblets at. It's called Chichen Valley. First thing i thought to myself before the field trip was, I want to check the chicken for Time temperature abuse. Food is supposed to be held at 41 degrees f and lower for cold or 135 degrees f and above for hot foods. So i buy a piece of chicken and stuck my thermometer in it... Good news, it was at 165 degrees... I'll not be hesitating to eat there anymore lol. Too bad i wasn't hungry because i gave the chicken away to a classmate. Damned skinny people are Always eating...
The fun part for me was being able to go into The Athenian restaurant, my favorite place to eat at the market, and walk up and have a conversation with the Executive Chef and get a look at the kitchen. The kitchen is TINY but they can sure crank out the food in that place. On a regular lunch time they crank out around 400 meals , and on a busy lunch day it's up around 600. If ever you're around the Market and looking for a place to eat... The Athenian is the place to go. If you're lucky you'll get a window seat with a gorgeous view of the Sound. And Yes, it's the restaurant that Tom Hanks and Rob Reiner filmed some of Sleepless in Seattle.
We walked, talked, tasted and observed many things. Thanks to Sanitation class I walk around noticing all the Nasties that I normally would not have noticed. I'm really bummed about the fact that the woman behind the counter at my favorite hole in the wall baby donut place had her hair just flying all over the place with not even a hat to attempt to restrain her hair from getting into the food. Boo Hiss...
What i did buy though is the most wonderful truffle cream/butter and truffle salt from the Truffle lady. Sorry sugar mama it was spendy, but I have to practice my cuts for a test tomorrow and all i could think of while tasting it was mashed potatoes and truffle cream. And from Micks Peppourri I bought a jar of Merlot jelly... YUM.
It was a great time looking at the Market with a fresh and new perspective. Scroll down for the pictures from todays activities. Micks Peppourri has a huge sign and a cool slogan written on it that says...
"Do your mouth a flavor". I hope that one day I could start a place of my own or cook you a meal and as Chef Sol I can "do your mouth a flavor"...
That's my blip for my BFFs today.
I'm an hour and a half early so i take the time to stroll down the road going towards Starbucks for a morning brew. I get that then walk back up and stop at Le Panier. It smelled so warm and buttery it was hard to just walk by it the first time, but i had to go get my drink first then get my bread for breakfast. I purchased a sweet walnut roll. It was not sticky sweet like a cinnamon roll. It was light like a croissant, lightly sweetened with walnuts on top... Nom nom nom nom nom. I highly recommend this place.
Our assignment was to interact with the vendors about thier places, try something new, check out the kitchens at different restaurants etc. For our Sanitations class we were to observe the different food places and spot different Sanitation violations. Before i went to meet everyone I was snapping shots of Sanitation violations and the first place i see with a violation is Piroshky Piroshky... Oh, I'm sorry, do you like that place? WEEEEeeeell, So there are 2 huge things of dough on the counter Uncovered left there unattended to rise, and one is right next to the Dirty window... and it's rising and getting fatter and now it's touching the windeow with oh, I don't know, streaks of fat maybe, and splatters of flour that Lord know how long it's been on the window. Not to mention not knowing whether a fly has buzzed on by and decided to light it's feces landing body on the dough. Then I look down and there is an uncovered 5 gallon bucket of sugar under the counter, and on the handle of this container is what looks like oh, maybe 3 or 4 pieces of 1/4" long hair. I'm not saying that it was hair but that's what it looked like. And next to the sugar was a trash bin. So, I'm rolling the dough, I'm throwing something into the trash, oh, it went into the sugar... Um... Don't eat there. Well, I'm not going to eat there, you can if you really want to.
The first place we went to was downstairs and out to the alley to look at the Gum Wall. It was Cool and totally disgusting at the same time. You can smell the gum before you turn to walk out the door and into the alley. Then you look up and across the way and the brick wall is just Covered with "chewed" gum. It was all full of vibrant colors and germs. As I was taking pictures I was hoping i didn't trip and fall into the wall. It looked cool but it grossed me out. So after gawking and snapping photos, up the stairs I went and after using the hand rail I pulled out my Hand Sanitizer because one never knows what germs are lurking on the rails. Sanitation class is Not helping my germ phobia. I won't even read magazines in a Dr.'s office. Sick people touch those magazines, coughing into their hands then turning the pages... (shiver)
Into DeLaurentis we went. An Italian Deli full of Cheeses and cured meats. My new thing to try was Euphoria, cheese made with sheeps milk. It was quite good with a sweet undertone, mildly sharp and salty aftertaste. Then there was Speck, a type of Prosciutto that was to die for. I should have bought some, now that i think about it. Good stuff.
So, there is this place that Ofa, one of my friends from the boat, likes to buy gibblets at. It's called Chichen Valley. First thing i thought to myself before the field trip was, I want to check the chicken for Time temperature abuse. Food is supposed to be held at 41 degrees f and lower for cold or 135 degrees f and above for hot foods. So i buy a piece of chicken and stuck my thermometer in it... Good news, it was at 165 degrees... I'll not be hesitating to eat there anymore lol. Too bad i wasn't hungry because i gave the chicken away to a classmate. Damned skinny people are Always eating...
The fun part for me was being able to go into The Athenian restaurant, my favorite place to eat at the market, and walk up and have a conversation with the Executive Chef and get a look at the kitchen. The kitchen is TINY but they can sure crank out the food in that place. On a regular lunch time they crank out around 400 meals , and on a busy lunch day it's up around 600. If ever you're around the Market and looking for a place to eat... The Athenian is the place to go. If you're lucky you'll get a window seat with a gorgeous view of the Sound. And Yes, it's the restaurant that Tom Hanks and Rob Reiner filmed some of Sleepless in Seattle.
We walked, talked, tasted and observed many things. Thanks to Sanitation class I walk around noticing all the Nasties that I normally would not have noticed. I'm really bummed about the fact that the woman behind the counter at my favorite hole in the wall baby donut place had her hair just flying all over the place with not even a hat to attempt to restrain her hair from getting into the food. Boo Hiss...
What i did buy though is the most wonderful truffle cream/butter and truffle salt from the Truffle lady. Sorry sugar mama it was spendy, but I have to practice my cuts for a test tomorrow and all i could think of while tasting it was mashed potatoes and truffle cream. And from Micks Peppourri I bought a jar of Merlot jelly... YUM.
It was a great time looking at the Market with a fresh and new perspective. Scroll down for the pictures from todays activities. Micks Peppourri has a huge sign and a cool slogan written on it that says...
"Do your mouth a flavor". I hope that one day I could start a place of my own or cook you a meal and as Chef Sol I can "do your mouth a flavor"...
That's my blip for my BFFs today.
Monday, March 7, 2011
You say Tomaytoes, I say Tomahtoes
Today we learned, the Chef demo'd, how to make Tomato sauce. All a pretty simple procedure. First of all he used a Braising pot to sauté the onions, carrots, and tomato paste. Continued stirring it till you got some color and flavor into the mix. Adding the celery and leeks in later so the juices from the 2 don't ruin the browning process. Well, why don't i just download the video for you lol.
What i'd really like to discuss with you is, what kind of tomatoes to use when making tomato sauce. Roma was the big winner because of the meat to seeds ratio. But now here's the important question. It's really not tomato season and the tomatoes you have don't really have much flavor, is it okay to use the canned tomatoes? You say No? Why not? But i want to use Fresh ingredients!!! you whine... Well heres the deal... Those tomatoes in the can were harvested at Peak tomato season then packed in that can with all their wonderful Peak season juices and flavors. So, do you want to use the tasteless tomato that you just bought at the market that's out of season or do you want to use the canned tomatoes that were packed during tomato season? I'm gonna use the canned ones because, personally, I like flavor in my food. Just because it's in a can doesn't mean you're not making it from scratch. Hello, there are only tomatoes in there, just pretend someone else prep'd it for you and put it in a can.
The video i'm gonna put up really isn't complete because he had us doing cuts while he finished up the sauce so i wasn't able to catch the rest of the process for you. But let me explain why he used a braising pot... after sautéing the veggies and adding the tomatoes he cleaned off the side of the pot and covered it then put it in the oven for 30 minutes to cook instead of leaving it on the stove top. Why? Because it's more of an even cooking process. Instead of having just the heat on the bottom of the pot you have the heat encompassing the pot.
So, he took to pot out of the oven then he took the Bouquet Garni out and used and emulsifying blender on the tomatoes then ran it thru a food mill then poured it through a Chinois to strain. And Voilà there you have your Tomato mother sauce to use as a base for your marinara, puttanesca... Oh, oh, oh!!! And so we're having this discussion about derivatives and someone yells out puttanesca sauce, and the teacher goes into...
"well know puttanesca comes from" and he starts to squirm, "well the word Putta-nesca comes from" someone else says "OMG oh" teacher says "yes, you've got it, uh huh, yes" pointing at another. Leslie the mother of quadruplets says "what? I don't get it." most of the class is giggling by now and the teacher looks at her and says "wEEeeell, it means Sauce of the Whores. Yes, I know it's not right and it sounds horrible but thats what it was called back then and it's what it's still called." GASP!!! Eh, i'm not a prude, I got it right off the bat because well, sailors hear lots and learn lots on the boats lol. But PLEASE, don't go to the restaurant and ask for Spaghetti alla Sauce of the Whores and say it's because i told you so.
I've gotta say one thing... Politically correct is so out the window when it comes to some cooking terminologies. You know that strainer that's cone shaped that you like to strain your spaghetti noodles in? It's called a China cap and the smaller cone shaped one thats more of a wire mesh strainer, that's called a Chinois which is French for Chinese...Take that strainer and put it over your head like you're gonna where it like a hat... Uh Huh... See why it's called a China cap? Puttanesca, Chinois... I wonder what else are they gonna teach us.
Do you put oil in your boiling water for spaghetti noodles? If you said yes then Chef asked Why? The oil floats on the top of the water in the pot then you go and pour out the water and the first thing out of the pot is the oil because it's on the top so... Does that oil ever touch the pasta? No. Do you rinse the pasta after you drain it? No says Chef. You can rinse it if you want to remove more of the starch but eh, it doesn't remove that much. If you want to add your olive oil, do it After you've drained the pasta.
If you want your pasta to be Al Dente then you don't go and fling it on the wall to see if it will stick lol because it won't stick if it's Al Dente. Take the pasta and bite into it.
Oh, The sweetness from the carrots offset the acidity in the tomatoes. A little bit of sugar was added to the tomato sauce to help out the carrots. Some people don't want to add sugar in their food but let me tell you, it makes a world of difference. You don't add it till it's sweet, no. You shouldn't taste the sugar at all. What I used to do on the boat with the sauce they'd shove at us is, I added honey. People looked at me funny but hey, just a little bit of sweetness goes a Loooong way.
Well that was a lot to discuss and i'm sorry that my blogs are a little long but hey, there's a lot on my mind lately lol...
So, that's my blog for my BFFs today.
What i'd really like to discuss with you is, what kind of tomatoes to use when making tomato sauce. Roma was the big winner because of the meat to seeds ratio. But now here's the important question. It's really not tomato season and the tomatoes you have don't really have much flavor, is it okay to use the canned tomatoes? You say No? Why not? But i want to use Fresh ingredients!!! you whine... Well heres the deal... Those tomatoes in the can were harvested at Peak tomato season then packed in that can with all their wonderful Peak season juices and flavors. So, do you want to use the tasteless tomato that you just bought at the market that's out of season or do you want to use the canned tomatoes that were packed during tomato season? I'm gonna use the canned ones because, personally, I like flavor in my food. Just because it's in a can doesn't mean you're not making it from scratch. Hello, there are only tomatoes in there, just pretend someone else prep'd it for you and put it in a can.
The video i'm gonna put up really isn't complete because he had us doing cuts while he finished up the sauce so i wasn't able to catch the rest of the process for you. But let me explain why he used a braising pot... after sautéing the veggies and adding the tomatoes he cleaned off the side of the pot and covered it then put it in the oven for 30 minutes to cook instead of leaving it on the stove top. Why? Because it's more of an even cooking process. Instead of having just the heat on the bottom of the pot you have the heat encompassing the pot.
So, he took to pot out of the oven then he took the Bouquet Garni out and used and emulsifying blender on the tomatoes then ran it thru a food mill then poured it through a Chinois to strain. And Voilà there you have your Tomato mother sauce to use as a base for your marinara, puttanesca... Oh, oh, oh!!! And so we're having this discussion about derivatives and someone yells out puttanesca sauce, and the teacher goes into...
"well know puttanesca comes from" and he starts to squirm, "well the word Putta-nesca comes from" someone else says "OMG oh" teacher says "yes, you've got it, uh huh, yes" pointing at another. Leslie the mother of quadruplets says "what? I don't get it." most of the class is giggling by now and the teacher looks at her and says "wEEeeell, it means Sauce of the Whores. Yes, I know it's not right and it sounds horrible but thats what it was called back then and it's what it's still called." GASP!!! Eh, i'm not a prude, I got it right off the bat because well, sailors hear lots and learn lots on the boats lol. But PLEASE, don't go to the restaurant and ask for Spaghetti alla Sauce of the Whores and say it's because i told you so.
I've gotta say one thing... Politically correct is so out the window when it comes to some cooking terminologies. You know that strainer that's cone shaped that you like to strain your spaghetti noodles in? It's called a China cap and the smaller cone shaped one thats more of a wire mesh strainer, that's called a Chinois which is French for Chinese...Take that strainer and put it over your head like you're gonna where it like a hat... Uh Huh... See why it's called a China cap? Puttanesca, Chinois... I wonder what else are they gonna teach us.
Do you put oil in your boiling water for spaghetti noodles? If you said yes then Chef asked Why? The oil floats on the top of the water in the pot then you go and pour out the water and the first thing out of the pot is the oil because it's on the top so... Does that oil ever touch the pasta? No. Do you rinse the pasta after you drain it? No says Chef. You can rinse it if you want to remove more of the starch but eh, it doesn't remove that much. If you want to add your olive oil, do it After you've drained the pasta.
If you want your pasta to be Al Dente then you don't go and fling it on the wall to see if it will stick lol because it won't stick if it's Al Dente. Take the pasta and bite into it.
Oh, The sweetness from the carrots offset the acidity in the tomatoes. A little bit of sugar was added to the tomato sauce to help out the carrots. Some people don't want to add sugar in their food but let me tell you, it makes a world of difference. You don't add it till it's sweet, no. You shouldn't taste the sugar at all. What I used to do on the boat with the sauce they'd shove at us is, I added honey. People looked at me funny but hey, just a little bit of sweetness goes a Loooong way.
Well that was a lot to discuss and i'm sorry that my blogs are a little long but hey, there's a lot on my mind lately lol...
So, that's my blog for my BFFs today.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Favorite Food
I just finished writing my paper for school and well, it's about food so i thought i'd share it with you. Don't go grading and tearing it to shreds with critique. It's just my thoughts on my favorite food lol. :
Right off the top of my head I would say that Chinese food would by my favorite food. But that is just because it tastes so good but it’s not all encompassing. It’s not the food that tells the story of my life, the person that I am, and truly, the food that I Love.
If I was to say what my favorite food is it would have to be Samoan food. Some people would see the food and think, “That really doesn’t look very appetizing”, and in all honesty looking at some of the food would make a person think twice about trying it. But I guess I should first go into, what exactly does Samoan food consist of?
Let me first start by saying that in the Samoan culture it is the male that does the cooking. It is probably because it was and still is considered hard labor and time consuming. The men in the village go out and hunt for the meat, slaughter and butcher it then prepare the fire pit for the cooking of it. Some go fishing for various fish, sea urchin, snails, octopus, squid etc. The meats are usually baked, BBQ’d, roasted in a fire pit or stir fried, and some of the seafood dishes are prepared raw, like ceviche, called oka. The Umami of many of our Samoan dishes come from nothing more than the mixture of juices from the meats, onion, coconut milk, salt and pepper. It’s all very simple, rich, savory and yes, extremely fattening.
Then there is the climbing of the tree for the coconuts, husking, opening, grinding of the meat and squeezing it out to make the milk. This practice is still in effect to this day in some villages. There is no using of the can opener for the tasteless milk in the cans. There is nothing like the flavor of fresh coconut milk. As for the starch we like Green bananas, taro, manioka, breadfruit, sweet potatoes, potatoes or rice (I know I’ve missed a few). These things farmed and harvested on a daily basis. These are baked, roasted in the fire pit, or boiled. Usually if it’s boiled there is a coconut sauce made to accompany it. Now, of course, things are easier and yes, you can go to the markets and simply buy them but as mentioned before, some villages (the Hillbillies lol no offense intended) still do it old school way.
Now, we all have to take into account the many cultures that have made their way to the islands that have influenced the food. Chinese, Korean, German, French and yes, the Americans. Americas’ greatest influence on the islanders in my opinion is SPAM and Cabin crackers introduced to them by the military stationed at the harbor in Samoa during the world wars. Yes, we love SPAM. These many cultures have shared their foods and the Samoans have embraced them as their own. If you look carefully at some of the foods it is the Samoans’ twist to another cultures food. Samoan Sapasui is their variation of the Chinese Chop Suey. My Mom, as well as I, made hers with Corned beef, rice noodles, and vegetables with soy sauce to taste. Pani Popo (coconut bun) is their twist on the Cinnamon Roll made with a coconut milk sauce. And the list goes on.
Breakfast is simple, usually consists of Hot Samoan cocoa (<spelled for the English/American), or Cocoarice, likened to the Hispanic Arroz con Leche but oh, so much better with Samoan cocoa. Kopai, a pot full of sweet dumpling soup made with caramelized sugar and coconut milk, sweetened to taste. Sua fa’i which I would describe as a soupy ripe Banana tapioca. And these things would be accompanied with buttered bread or cabin crackers (or both). If there was leftovers from dinner then that would be reheated for breakfast.
Our breakfast foods are our comfort food, eaten at any time of the day. Usually after dinner, a pot of Koko (<Samoan spelling) or Kokorice is prepared to await possibly visiting friends and family. The People don’t call and say “hey, I’m coming over.” They just go for a visit when they are compelled. I remember many times scrambling around looking for food to cook for unexpected visitors. We didn’t just offer them a drink, we made them a meal. Maliu maia ma tala mai a’ao, come on in with open arms…
I grew up in America but my parents were from Samoa and they brought us up in the traditional Samoan way except for the women cooking. In these modern days it’s the women do the cooking while the men go to their daily jobs. Unless you were guided by someone from the Islands, as I was by my Mom and Dad, the food would not taste authentic. I go to parties, weddings, etc. and I am just appalled at how bad the food tastes or that it really doesn’t taste like the traditional Samoan food. But if you get lucky, as one of my sisters did, (she can’t cook, don’t ask me why), you can find someone that can cook for you (like her hubby) or that can teach you how to cook so you can achieve the authentic Samoan flavors.
These are just a handful of wonderful dishes in the Samoan culture but All these foods bring back to me a flood of memories of my childhood, my Dad helping my Mom in the kitchen for big Holiday festivities, the Sunday dinners with the extended relatives, Picnics at San Bruno park in CA, the Luaus or just sitting around late nights laughing and talking about the good ol’ days while sipping on a cup of Samoan koko. Samoan food brings my family and friends together, a bonding ritual of sorts. All these things, people past and present, remembered and brought to the fore by my Favorite Food.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Mayonnaise and Hollandaise.
So you read that i practiced my hollandaise technique last night and it came out just ok. Today i walk into class and on the board for production we're to make Hollandaise AND Mayonnaise.
What can i say? He did his demo then he said "You have 40 minutes, Run Forrest, RUN!!" and we all scrambled around like chickens with our heads cut off lol. We were not working with a partner today, this time you were on your own and I swear, i can't believe how many people don't pay attention in class. There were so many people that looked lost. They probably didn't do their homework either. Well thank goodness I do my homework (phobia of failing) and for as much as i hate it i did my shopping too. I almost gave up last night at the supermarket and was telling myself maybe I'll just do it in class tomorrow and take my chances. But I've made it a habit to not listen to my brain but to my inner voice when it comes to making decisions... That still small voice that some of us learned about in Primary is My saving grace.
So i started with the mayo, I got my spices, vinegar, and egg yolk in my bowl. Got the oil in my left and whisk in my right and i just started pouring and whisking, and whisking and pouring and i was feeling the burn in my arm and forearm but, no pain, no gain right? And dammit if i didn't get that emulsion going and my mayo looked like mayo Yay!!! Time for TAAT, Taste, Analyze, Adjust, Taste. Hmm? A little salty, and that was what i added from the recipe so i added some water, whisk, whisk whisk, TAAT, TAAT, TAAT, TAAT...STOP!!! I gotta get my Hollandaise going. I could TAAT forever lol.
So since i worked on my Hollandaise, failed and tried again last night, I was feeling more confident today so off i went to get my mise en place set up (everything in it's place) and then there i was sweating and whisking in front of the burner slow burning my right arm muscles. BAM! I whisked up my Hollandaise and TAAT, TAAT, TAAT, and I was done. Back to TAATing my Mayo because I was Not happy with how salty it was. Step away from the bowl... "TIMES UP! Bring your bowls up for tasting! If you're done then good if Not then get it done before the end of the tasting line."
I sit in the middle of the class so i was kind of in the back of the line and while I wait my turn I'm worried about my Hollandaise getting too cold. The teacher is asking, do you want to take your mayo home? Ok, i won't double dip... He asked all the people in front of me. I get up to him and he sticks his spoon in my mayo, tastes it. Dips again and tastes, looks up, "Oh, i'm sorry, did you want to take that home? I just double dipped in your mayo" (looking at me with a big grin, he's a funny guy) "eh, i'll go home and make more for practice" He dips in the mayo and tastes it again lol...Hollandaise time. Dip tastes, dip tastes... "hmmm Very good flavor in both, Next?" Was i walking away with a big grin on my face? But Of Course!!! I worked it baaaby. =D
So, it's clean up time and Chef always says, "don't get stuck doing the same thing every day", so i grab the sprayer at the sink and start spraying down the used bowls with mayo and hollandaise in them, and i'm sprayin and sprayin and this young guy, I don't know his name, comes up next to me and reaches for the sprayer in my hand and says, do you mind? Oo... Big mistake. I'm like "what?" "do you mind, I can take this over." Now i've watched this guy every day and I think he worked as a dishwasher before he started school because that is where he is all the time during cleanup and he's like the Tazmanian devil but you know what? The dishwasher wasn't waiting on me and I'm not new at this so i'm like, "no, I've got this." He reaches again for the sprayer and says, "well I need to wash my hands" "well, the hand washing station is down there" (as i point him in the right direction) and this whole time i'm still rinsing away... Tons of bowls and cups and pots and spoons and ... 10 minutes later here he comes again right next to me and he starts to move things in my directions and all up in my work space... Yes, you guessed it, I Dropped the "F" bomb, "F*ck, What, are you doing?" "I'm trying to organize stuff" shoving the bowls in front of me...Me, my Samoan AND Scottish came to the fore... "Get the F*ck away from me!!" Aye, I may not have red hair but if you could have listened real carefully, that Scottish brogue was there all over the "F" bomb and in a split second he was Gone. The poor dishwasher cracked up at me and said, "that guy is always like that", and I looked at her and said, "it's not like you were standing here waiting on me, as if Noboday else but him knows how to wash dishes" Sheesh Some people. Eh, I'm an old sailor, I drop "F" bombs, get over it lol.
I want to share a story from Sanitations class, I know, I know, this blog is a little long but eh, I have to tell you this one last story... So, Chef De La Cruz worked at a Very high end restaurant, where the chairs had the wings that came around your head so if you leaned back it would give you the feeling of privacy, and the waiters ran around in tuxedos, and the food was just simply Marvelous. Well, Chef D was the Chef de Legumes (vegetable chef) and this particular night was very busy and he ran out of all the veggies he prep'd for the day, so, he tells the Executive Chef then heads to the refer to get more veggies to prep etc... the Ex. Chef looks at him and says, " no, no, no, we don't have time for that. You see that over there?" Get this... There is a bin where the waiters put the vegetables that people didn't eat. He was pointing to that bin..."Go get those, fire up the saute pan and reheat those and serve it." OH HELL TO THE NO HE DIDN'T!!! But he did and Chef D said he quit. And this an Executive Chef in an Upscale restaurant. Shame. Sanitation classes make me afraid to go to restaurants but then I get a hankerin for that really good General Tsaos Chicken at Twins Garden and I forget All about the Nastiness that goes on behind closed doors. Admit it, you do too. lol.
Well, i'm sorry (Sue) that i didn't take any pictures in class but honestly, the stuff in the bowls looked all nasty because it's not all plated and presented in a visually pleasing manner. =P
And that's my blip for my BFFs today.
What can i say? He did his demo then he said "You have 40 minutes, Run Forrest, RUN!!" and we all scrambled around like chickens with our heads cut off lol. We were not working with a partner today, this time you were on your own and I swear, i can't believe how many people don't pay attention in class. There were so many people that looked lost. They probably didn't do their homework either. Well thank goodness I do my homework (phobia of failing) and for as much as i hate it i did my shopping too. I almost gave up last night at the supermarket and was telling myself maybe I'll just do it in class tomorrow and take my chances. But I've made it a habit to not listen to my brain but to my inner voice when it comes to making decisions... That still small voice that some of us learned about in Primary is My saving grace.
So i started with the mayo, I got my spices, vinegar, and egg yolk in my bowl. Got the oil in my left and whisk in my right and i just started pouring and whisking, and whisking and pouring and i was feeling the burn in my arm and forearm but, no pain, no gain right? And dammit if i didn't get that emulsion going and my mayo looked like mayo Yay!!! Time for TAAT, Taste, Analyze, Adjust, Taste. Hmm? A little salty, and that was what i added from the recipe so i added some water, whisk, whisk whisk, TAAT, TAAT, TAAT, TAAT...STOP!!! I gotta get my Hollandaise going. I could TAAT forever lol.
So since i worked on my Hollandaise, failed and tried again last night, I was feeling more confident today so off i went to get my mise en place set up (everything in it's place) and then there i was sweating and whisking in front of the burner slow burning my right arm muscles. BAM! I whisked up my Hollandaise and TAAT, TAAT, TAAT, and I was done. Back to TAATing my Mayo because I was Not happy with how salty it was. Step away from the bowl... "TIMES UP! Bring your bowls up for tasting! If you're done then good if Not then get it done before the end of the tasting line."
I sit in the middle of the class so i was kind of in the back of the line and while I wait my turn I'm worried about my Hollandaise getting too cold. The teacher is asking, do you want to take your mayo home? Ok, i won't double dip... He asked all the people in front of me. I get up to him and he sticks his spoon in my mayo, tastes it. Dips again and tastes, looks up, "Oh, i'm sorry, did you want to take that home? I just double dipped in your mayo" (looking at me with a big grin, he's a funny guy) "eh, i'll go home and make more for practice" He dips in the mayo and tastes it again lol...Hollandaise time. Dip tastes, dip tastes... "hmmm Very good flavor in both, Next?" Was i walking away with a big grin on my face? But Of Course!!! I worked it baaaby. =D
So, it's clean up time and Chef always says, "don't get stuck doing the same thing every day", so i grab the sprayer at the sink and start spraying down the used bowls with mayo and hollandaise in them, and i'm sprayin and sprayin and this young guy, I don't know his name, comes up next to me and reaches for the sprayer in my hand and says, do you mind? Oo... Big mistake. I'm like "what?" "do you mind, I can take this over." Now i've watched this guy every day and I think he worked as a dishwasher before he started school because that is where he is all the time during cleanup and he's like the Tazmanian devil but you know what? The dishwasher wasn't waiting on me and I'm not new at this so i'm like, "no, I've got this." He reaches again for the sprayer and says, "well I need to wash my hands" "well, the hand washing station is down there" (as i point him in the right direction) and this whole time i'm still rinsing away... Tons of bowls and cups and pots and spoons and ... 10 minutes later here he comes again right next to me and he starts to move things in my directions and all up in my work space... Yes, you guessed it, I Dropped the "F" bomb, "F*ck, What, are you doing?" "I'm trying to organize stuff" shoving the bowls in front of me...Me, my Samoan AND Scottish came to the fore... "Get the F*ck away from me!!" Aye, I may not have red hair but if you could have listened real carefully, that Scottish brogue was there all over the "F" bomb and in a split second he was Gone. The poor dishwasher cracked up at me and said, "that guy is always like that", and I looked at her and said, "it's not like you were standing here waiting on me, as if Noboday else but him knows how to wash dishes" Sheesh Some people. Eh, I'm an old sailor, I drop "F" bombs, get over it lol.
I want to share a story from Sanitations class, I know, I know, this blog is a little long but eh, I have to tell you this one last story... So, Chef De La Cruz worked at a Very high end restaurant, where the chairs had the wings that came around your head so if you leaned back it would give you the feeling of privacy, and the waiters ran around in tuxedos, and the food was just simply Marvelous. Well, Chef D was the Chef de Legumes (vegetable chef) and this particular night was very busy and he ran out of all the veggies he prep'd for the day, so, he tells the Executive Chef then heads to the refer to get more veggies to prep etc... the Ex. Chef looks at him and says, " no, no, no, we don't have time for that. You see that over there?" Get this... There is a bin where the waiters put the vegetables that people didn't eat. He was pointing to that bin..."Go get those, fire up the saute pan and reheat those and serve it." OH HELL TO THE NO HE DIDN'T!!! But he did and Chef D said he quit. And this an Executive Chef in an Upscale restaurant. Shame. Sanitation classes make me afraid to go to restaurants but then I get a hankerin for that really good General Tsaos Chicken at Twins Garden and I forget All about the Nastiness that goes on behind closed doors. Admit it, you do too. lol.
Well, i'm sorry (Sue) that i didn't take any pictures in class but honestly, the stuff in the bowls looked all nasty because it's not all plated and presented in a visually pleasing manner. =P
And that's my blip for my BFFs today.
Happy Hollandaise
I have been wanting to learn how to make Hollandaise sauce from scratch ever since my friend Heather Andrews turned me on to them. We worked opposite shifts as QCs on a fishing boat in Alaska and when she'd come to relieve me she'd help me finish up and i'd help her start up then we'd go up and have breakfast...The cook made, thank goodness, really good eggs benedict and i was hooked ever since.
Well, today we learned how to make Hollandaise sauce. I'm gonna upload the vid i took in class. We're supposed to make it in class tomorrow so I went to the store and bought the ingredients for it and attempted to make it. My first try was a flop, my emulsion well, it wasn't an emulsion so i tried again lol... My second try was a success as far as the texture of the emulsion but the white wine vinegar was a little strong and a little strong on the lemon too but is still made for a good topping on the eggs.
So, I made fob benedicts lol. It was getting late and i didn't want to go about poaching the eggs and all so...I toasted and buttered Hawaiian sweet bread, flash fried canadian bacon, and fried 2 eggs and put the sauce on it and well, it was pretty good. I'll have to work on the sauce a little more but it's a start. =}
It's late and i'm tired so that's my blip for my BFFs today.
Well, today we learned how to make Hollandaise sauce. I'm gonna upload the vid i took in class. We're supposed to make it in class tomorrow so I went to the store and bought the ingredients for it and attempted to make it. My first try was a flop, my emulsion well, it wasn't an emulsion so i tried again lol... My second try was a success as far as the texture of the emulsion but the white wine vinegar was a little strong and a little strong on the lemon too but is still made for a good topping on the eggs.
So, I made fob benedicts lol. It was getting late and i didn't want to go about poaching the eggs and all so...I toasted and buttered Hawaiian sweet bread, flash fried canadian bacon, and fried 2 eggs and put the sauce on it and well, it was pretty good. I'll have to work on the sauce a little more but it's a start. =}
It's late and i'm tired so that's my blip for my BFFs today.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Bechamel mucho...
Today we actually got to do some cooking. Yep indeedy we did. We read about sauces for our homework last night then today we got to make Sauces Bechamel which is a white sauce made with butter, flour, and milk, with some spices added for flavor...And might I say that Darcys' Mom makes an Awesome gravy to go with biscuits for breakfast which is a derivitive of, yes you guessed it, Bechamel.
So, Chef does his lecture and then demos how we are to make the sauce, he then has us pair up to make our sauce and i had Thomas as my cooking partner. We had to make the sauce and in between that cut potatoes. And just like on Chopped he says "Okay you have 30 minutes...Run Forrest Run!!!" and we all start scrambling for ingredients (okay run forest run isn't in Chopped but it is in our class lol). Thomas and I worked quite well together. I got our pots and turned on our burner and...Nothing. The pot is not getting hot and it's not melting the butter. "Chef, Chef the burner isn't working..." Chef comes over and says, "well they were all working this morning" Looks at the pot and burner. "Hmmm, nope it's not working. Get another pot, this pot must be warped." Why would that matter, you ask? Well, we use Induction burners in class and if the metal pot is not sitting on the burner porperley then it won't induce the necessary electric current to heat the pot. An alternating electric current flows through the coil in the burner, which produces an oscillating magnetic field. This field induces an electric current in the pot. Cool huh? Well, to me it was because well, learn something new everyday right? (Darcy, you might want to suggest this burner to Gordon and Jorge.)
Anyway, in the meantime i'm thinking tic toc tic toc my 30 minutes are melting...and Yay the new pot works. So, Thomas gets the roux together, butter and flour, while i'm peeling our potatoes to cut. The roux is now done and i get the milk on the burner. It's heating, i go and get our onion, bay leaf and clove, plop, into the pot of milk it goes. Thomas is like, "I think the onion, bay leaf and clove is good enough, I don't think we need the Bouquet Garni". Me, I take off to the cooler, grab the leak, parsley, thyme, celery leaf, and peppercorns and start making our Bouquet Garni, why? Because i don't like to do things half ass... I wrap up my garnishes in my leak, tie it up and plop it into the milk. Back to potato cuts, Thomas is stirring and stirring the milk, i finally had to tell him to stop lol, the milk was never going to boil with him stirring it so fast. I'm cutting and cutting, look up and the milk is steaming so i walk around to the other side of the table to check it out. I stir and Thomas says, "I think it needs to cook some more", and i'm like, "it's frothy and steaming, it's hot enough lets pour it in the roux now." So there we are with our milk and roux getting whisked by Thomas. He was cutting his potatoes while i was getting the Bouquet Garni together so he stirred while i got my potato cuts done. He's stirring and stirring, I look up and it's boiling and getting thick. I'm cutting and cutting, I look up again and it's doing that blop blop blop kind of boil. I take my spoon, dip it in the sauce and check it's consistancy or Nappe. Looked good to me, back around the table i go to get a better look. Yep, looks good. We start seasoning. Thomas adds a 2 finger pinch of salt and 1 finger pinch of pepper. I'm stirring and stirring while Thomas goes and gets our nutmeg and spoons for tasting, I taste, mmm bland, needs more salt. Taste again, needs more salt, Thomas tastes and says, "we better stop, we don't want it to be too salty", i'm thinking hmm needs more salt. Off Thomas goes to get the Chinois to strain our sauce, and... I add more salt and pepper lol.
Into the bain marie our sauce goes though the chinois. Stir, taste again, I think it's still in need of just a tad more salt. Thomas tastes, he says more salt. More salt, stir, i look up and the teacher is coming around now to taste our sauce, Taste, one more pinch, stir stir stir... Chef takes his spoon and dips it into our sauce to test, "hmmm good consistancy, good color..." and into his mouth our sauce goes. "MMMmmmmm, Very good flavor, the best Bechamel i've tasted all day..." Thomas and I with BIG smiles on our faces... "Thank you Chef!" We reach across the table... High Five. YES!!! It was AWESOME!!! All around the room we were getting razzed by our classmates, "OOOooooo the best he's tasted all dAAaay" Thomas and I..." don't hate, don't hate..." Both with grins as big as the Cheshire Cats'.
I pray that I can keep this up. It is a lot to absorb in a short amount of time. We recieved our grades today for our second week and i got lucky and got another A even though i missed a class due to my trip to St. George for Lua.
Sanitations was boring, but who wants to write about that when we could end on a high note from Culinary class? lol.
So, that's my blip for my BFFs today.
So, Chef does his lecture and then demos how we are to make the sauce, he then has us pair up to make our sauce and i had Thomas as my cooking partner. We had to make the sauce and in between that cut potatoes. And just like on Chopped he says "Okay you have 30 minutes...Run Forrest Run!!!" and we all start scrambling for ingredients (okay run forest run isn't in Chopped but it is in our class lol). Thomas and I worked quite well together. I got our pots and turned on our burner and...Nothing. The pot is not getting hot and it's not melting the butter. "Chef, Chef the burner isn't working..." Chef comes over and says, "well they were all working this morning" Looks at the pot and burner. "Hmmm, nope it's not working. Get another pot, this pot must be warped." Why would that matter, you ask? Well, we use Induction burners in class and if the metal pot is not sitting on the burner porperley then it won't induce the necessary electric current to heat the pot. An alternating electric current flows through the coil in the burner, which produces an oscillating magnetic field. This field induces an electric current in the pot. Cool huh? Well, to me it was because well, learn something new everyday right? (Darcy, you might want to suggest this burner to Gordon and Jorge.)
Anyway, in the meantime i'm thinking tic toc tic toc my 30 minutes are melting...and Yay the new pot works. So, Thomas gets the roux together, butter and flour, while i'm peeling our potatoes to cut. The roux is now done and i get the milk on the burner. It's heating, i go and get our onion, bay leaf and clove, plop, into the pot of milk it goes. Thomas is like, "I think the onion, bay leaf and clove is good enough, I don't think we need the Bouquet Garni". Me, I take off to the cooler, grab the leak, parsley, thyme, celery leaf, and peppercorns and start making our Bouquet Garni, why? Because i don't like to do things half ass... I wrap up my garnishes in my leak, tie it up and plop it into the milk. Back to potato cuts, Thomas is stirring and stirring the milk, i finally had to tell him to stop lol, the milk was never going to boil with him stirring it so fast. I'm cutting and cutting, look up and the milk is steaming so i walk around to the other side of the table to check it out. I stir and Thomas says, "I think it needs to cook some more", and i'm like, "it's frothy and steaming, it's hot enough lets pour it in the roux now." So there we are with our milk and roux getting whisked by Thomas. He was cutting his potatoes while i was getting the Bouquet Garni together so he stirred while i got my potato cuts done. He's stirring and stirring, I look up and it's boiling and getting thick. I'm cutting and cutting, I look up again and it's doing that blop blop blop kind of boil. I take my spoon, dip it in the sauce and check it's consistancy or Nappe. Looked good to me, back around the table i go to get a better look. Yep, looks good. We start seasoning. Thomas adds a 2 finger pinch of salt and 1 finger pinch of pepper. I'm stirring and stirring while Thomas goes and gets our nutmeg and spoons for tasting, I taste, mmm bland, needs more salt. Taste again, needs more salt, Thomas tastes and says, "we better stop, we don't want it to be too salty", i'm thinking hmm needs more salt. Off Thomas goes to get the Chinois to strain our sauce, and... I add more salt and pepper lol.
Into the bain marie our sauce goes though the chinois. Stir, taste again, I think it's still in need of just a tad more salt. Thomas tastes, he says more salt. More salt, stir, i look up and the teacher is coming around now to taste our sauce, Taste, one more pinch, stir stir stir... Chef takes his spoon and dips it into our sauce to test, "hmmm good consistancy, good color..." and into his mouth our sauce goes. "MMMmmmmm, Very good flavor, the best Bechamel i've tasted all day..." Thomas and I with BIG smiles on our faces... "Thank you Chef!" We reach across the table... High Five. YES!!! It was AWESOME!!! All around the room we were getting razzed by our classmates, "OOOooooo the best he's tasted all dAAaay" Thomas and I..." don't hate, don't hate..." Both with grins as big as the Cheshire Cats'.
I pray that I can keep this up. It is a lot to absorb in a short amount of time. We recieved our grades today for our second week and i got lucky and got another A even though i missed a class due to my trip to St. George for Lua.
Sanitations was boring, but who wants to write about that when we could end on a high note from Culinary class? lol.
So, that's my blip for my BFFs today.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Stocks and Fonds...
No cuts today... Mostly learned about making brown and white stock from bones. Watched a video about Jose Andres. He is on the forefront of the Molecular Gastronomy style of cooking in America. He trained under Ferran Adria at El Bulli, a famous Restaurant in Spain. I'll post a youtube video for your enjoyment. I found it quite facinating.
While we watched the video Chef Knaup was cooking up our cuts from prior classes and using the stock that he made in yesterdays class to make different reductions of the stock then he added it to the potatoes, celery and zucchini. He also made a mayonaise for the julienne cuts of carrots, celery and zucchini to make slaw. Then we had to "suffer" through the process of tasting everything that the Chef made. It was all very yummy and I wish I could have had more than just a small taste of everything lol.
Sanitation class was fun. We got to go to the other classes and do a sanitations inspection on them. Walked around with our little sheet of paper to mark off specifics. We went off in groups of 4s and let me tell you, these newbies are brutal in their judgements lol... They were marking against people for not having a thermometer in their pocket even though they were only cooking rice, carrots and green beans. But it's amazing how people don't pay attention to what they are doing like, double dipping, scratching or running their hand across their face or rearranging their hair while they are cooking... And the teacher the other day was taking about Chefs sweating into the food instead of taking the time to wipe themselves off. Sanitations class is serious gross out awareness. Blegh. It just makes me think twice about eating out.
Well that's my blip for my BFFs today.
While we watched the video Chef Knaup was cooking up our cuts from prior classes and using the stock that he made in yesterdays class to make different reductions of the stock then he added it to the potatoes, celery and zucchini. He also made a mayonaise for the julienne cuts of carrots, celery and zucchini to make slaw. Then we had to "suffer" through the process of tasting everything that the Chef made. It was all very yummy and I wish I could have had more than just a small taste of everything lol.
Sanitation class was fun. We got to go to the other classes and do a sanitations inspection on them. Walked around with our little sheet of paper to mark off specifics. We went off in groups of 4s and let me tell you, these newbies are brutal in their judgements lol... They were marking against people for not having a thermometer in their pocket even though they were only cooking rice, carrots and green beans. But it's amazing how people don't pay attention to what they are doing like, double dipping, scratching or running their hand across their face or rearranging their hair while they are cooking... And the teacher the other day was taking about Chefs sweating into the food instead of taking the time to wipe themselves off. Sanitations class is serious gross out awareness. Blegh. It just makes me think twice about eating out.
Well that's my blip for my BFFs today.
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