Mondo French Fry...

And so I spent part of last night and most of this morning cutting Large Fries... and only 1 fry is served... It's more like 1 fry is the size of an eclair.  I cut out one fry from 1 potato and they had to all be the same size and I had to cut 300 of them. 

I started cutting them last night and after getting a sample out to cut out the ones this morning Chef Eric looked at them and said they were getting a little bit on the Fat side so I double checked the width and length on ALL of them.  Just my luck to pick out a Fatty for my sampler, and later Chef Eric came by again and picked one up and said that my potatoes look a 1000 times better than the Last set of Large Fries that were cut and He wasn't mentioning names lol...

There were, gosh I want to say, 7 buckets of Scrap potatoes and 2 1/2 buckets of the fries.  So at the end of the day Chef Eric asked me to get the potatoes because he was gonna start cooking them.  And so I get them and then go back to what I was doing and about 15 minutes later he comes over and says, "OMG Those potatoes look so good, they look like they've been run through a machine!"  Then he said the name of one of the guys'  and said that Joe Blow ('cause I couldn't hear his name) can't believe how good they look, and I look up at him and he looks at me and looks back at the potatoes in amazement and shakes his head while laughing.  LOL  And so I look at Chef Eric and say "Thank you Chef" and he says, "No, Thank you!  I'm impressed!  And, you're a Champion for doing all those fries."

And so...I'm Happy, They're Happy, We're All Happy...It pays to be a wee bit OCD LOL...

It took me so long to do the potatoes that I had to work 12 hours today in order to get done what was on my little work list.  But it's all good.  I'm TIRED but eh, I made an impression and that's a good thing.

I miss my LCB Family...

That's my blip for my BFFs today.

Me and My Family...Last day of CAC with Chef Herman 9/22/2011

This class was different from the ones past.  We mostly made the dishes banquet style as a team.  We would be assigned a team to work with then a recipe to knock out in a certain amount of time. 

For the most part it was rather enjoyable learning about the different cultures, spices and thier cooking techniques. 

Chef Herman has a wealth of knowledge and I was extremely fortunate to have been able to learn from her.  She makes her own blend of Garam Masala that is out of this world and it smells just Heavenly it puts "The Best" curries out there to shame.

I hate to admit it but there are people that go to Le Cordon Bleu who will get a barely passing grade and will be allowed to graduate.  In working with these people I fear for the general populace that walks through the door of their place of business.  Some people just don't learn, have bad cooking and sanitary habits and deserve to be shot for some of the things they have subjected us to try while in school.  But when all is said and done, reality will kick in at some point and time and it'll be time for them to get the picture and move on to something that they are better suited for. 

Taste, taste, taste your food while you are cooking.  There is nothing worse than a bland, improperly executed dish.  Nobody is perfect and even Chefs can make a bad dish just by missing a crucial step.
Salt is gold.  It brings out the flavors of EVERYTHING even the sweet stuff.  But remember, it's easier to add more salt than to try and take it away.  One of my favorite quotes is from Somewhere In Time where Christopher Plummer says to Jane Seymour  "Excess within control..." If you think it has enough salt then add just a pinch more and you're good to go.

What have I learned in Culinary School?  Move with a purpose, transcend boundries, use your creativity, Humility and TAAT TAAT TAAT!!! (Taste Analyze Adjust Taste)

Humility is a virtue that should be at the top of everyones list of character qualities.  For without it we lose the ability to learn all that we can.  If you think that you know everything and that it's your way or the hiway then you are only cheating yourself of all the fabulous things out there that are brought to the table by those with minds creative enough to "Bring it On"!  So if you're thinking of signing up to be on the tv show Chopped reassess your Humility levels because there is Always someone Better, Brighter and more Creative than you are and you need to keep learning in order to keep up and stay In the Game.

I want to thank ALL of my Chef instructors at Le Cordon Bleu Chef Knaup, Chef De la Cruz, Chef Frerichs, Chef Mah, Chef Carpenter and saving the best for last Chef Herman for all that I have learned in the short amount of time they've allowed for this course.  It has been quite the bus ride and only the strong survived.  We started out with 33 people in our class and on the last day there were only 17.  There are 14 in the photo because 3 had to move to different shifts. 

Le Cordon Bleu is my Family.  My classmates are my brothers and sisters.  I love you all and Thank you for the Memories.  I miss you all so much already.

As my beautiful cousin Lua would say... We're Making Memories.  We made great Food, great Friends and lasting Memories.  Now go out and Make some Money!!!  WOOT B Shift Class November 4th Graduates Class of 2011, WE ROCKED THE WHOLE FREAKING CAMPUS!!!

That's my blip for my BFFs today.

My Samoan Koko Recipe...

                                             

And so I woke up this morning and I got it in my brain to make french bread.  Ashley, my niece, came up and asked me what I was doing and after I told her she says, "OOooo, do we have koko?"  Are you kidding me? Darcy loves Samoan koko so much she makes sure we have TONS on hand lol.  And then I'm like, Hmmmm today would be a good day to work out my recipe for Samoan Koko.  So I measured and weighed, added and tasted and came up with the way that I like my Koko to taste.  Here it is folks.  Make it, drink it and weep. 

One of the breakfast of Champians in the Samoan household is Fresh baked bread and Samoan Koko. Mmmmmmmmmm oh so goooooood...  I like it just the way it is or I also like to add Evaporated milk or coconut milk to taste. 

Try it out and if you have the time please leave me a review...

1 gallon  Water
5oz (2cups)   Samoan Koko, Grated with the smaller plane
1 1/2 cups  Sugar

Bring the water to a boil.  Add the koko and stir.  Reduce heat to a simmer.  Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes.  Add sugar, stir.  I suggest you start off with 1 cup of suger in case you don't like your koko as sweet as I do.

Yep, it's as simple as that.  The hard part is grating the koko.

That's my blip for my BFFs today...Enjoy!

Lalibela, Ethiopian Cuisine.

Lalibela Ethiopian Restaurant.

As we came to the intersection where Lalibela is located one can’t help but notice that the neighborhood is a little rough around the edges and I thought to myself that it would be a little scary walking around come nightfall.  Little Ethiopia is what I would have called it because Lalibela was amongst several Ethiopian restaurants and stores on the block.  From the looks of the outside it seems as though it was once a minimart. 

Opening the door brought the sound of reggae music floating through the air.  The walls are painted a muted merlot hue and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust and as I looked around there were various Ethiopian art pieces scattered about as well as reggae memorabilia, huge speakers in a section that looks as though they might have live music on occasion and party lights that suggested that this place was used for dance parties or celebrations.  The atmosphere was very relaxing and enjoyable.

Our waitress was kind enough to take the time to explain the dishes to us, and after much deliberation we placed our order, I think she thought it was a bit much because she came back a couple times to double check that, yes, we did want Everything and she had written the order correctly.

She brought to our table what looked to me to be Spanikopita on steroids.  It was the Sambusa, both Lentil and Beef.  Biting into the Lentil Sambusa was a burst of flavors and I regret ordering only 6 to share between the 6 of us because 4 bites was not enough and I plan to go back for more.  The next thing she brought out were 2 HUGE platters with various meats and vegetables and 2 baskets of injera.  The injera felt like a Swedish pancake infused with silicone.  I broke off a piece of injera and picked up some of the meat in the platter and OMG my mouth was on FIRE.  I don’t usually like Hot spicy food but it was hard to stop eating because everything was so wonderfully delicious. 

Without writing a novella, the best way that I would describe the food would be India meets Mexico.  Like, taco meat cooked with the pungent flavors of India infused with Hispanic Fire, flavors and herbs. 

It was a fantastic experience, one that I will repeat with family and friends.  And I believe new friendships were formed as well.  Also can I just say that it was fun just eating with my fingers instead of having to wielding a knife and fork.  Barbaric, I know…

So where is this place you ask? 

So this is actually a flex assignment for class and I just copied and pasted so the Font is a little weird but eh, who wants to rewrite everything?

That's my blip for my BFFs today.