Chef Barbie cooks: Culinary School - Week 10 Pacific Northwest

American Regional
Mar 14-15, 2011
Pacific Northwest Cuisine

Day one
The Menu:
Red Lentil Soup with Onion Marmalade
Mussels in Thai Coconut Broth
Pear and Hazelnut Salad with Oregon Blue Cheese
Sautéed Halibut with Apple, Dried Cherry Compote
Gai Lan (Chinese Broccoli with Crispy Garlic)
Creative Dessert – Apple Crumble with Rum Caramel Sauce

The Food:
Let’s start with the Red Lentil Soup. I never knew I liked lentils. This soup is definitely something I would make again. I did taste the Coconut Broth before the Mussels got added. It was quite good. The Pear and Hazelnut Salad with Blue Cheese was also really good. And is another dish I would make at home. Halibut is my favorite fish. Pairing the halibut with the Apple and Cherry Compote made the fish extra delicious. I eat Gai Lan all the time so I enjoyed this dish. We made an apple crumble with a rum caramel sauce for our creative dessert. This was so good! I wish we had more.

Summary:
I thought the food from the PNW would be all Salmon and Crab. Boy was I wrong! The food tonight was really tasty. I think that since Washington is known for apples, they really lend themselves to all kinds of food. You could make the Pear and Hazelnut salad with apples instead.

Red Lentil Soup

Mussels in a Thai Coconut Broth

Pear, Hazelnut
and Blue Cheese Salad

Grilled Halibut with Gai Lan

Apple Crumble with
Rum Caramel Sauce

Day Two
The Menu:
Broccoli Soup with Tillamook Cheese and Toasted Hazelnuts
Grilled Cod with Cucumbers and Ginger Salad
Roasted Lamb with Thyme-Merlot Sauce
Savory Bread Pudding
Brussels sprouts with Hazelnuts
Zucchini and Snow Peas with Basil
Strawberry Brulee

The Food:
One can never go wrong pairing broccoli and cheese. If we had had Cod, I think I would have really enjoyed the cod and cucumber salad. But since the Cod had worms we had to substitute shrimp. I was afraid I had destroyed the Lamb by over cooking it but it was good. I like lamb a lot but don’t get the chance to eat it very often. The bread pudding seems like a good idea. I wish ours had been a little firmer. I love Brussels sprouts and eat them all the time so I enjoyed this dish. My team somehow missed the Zucchini and snow peas. I think it was because of the Dean coming in to the class and announcing some changes to the programs.

Summary:
Overall I liked all the food from this week. I can’t believe how quickly this quarter has gone. I have learned so much about the different regions of the United States.

Thank you, Chef Jim for broadening my horizons!