Culinary School - Q7 Week 3 European

Menu: Tomato Bruschetta, Roasted Garlic Aioli, Tagliatelle al Peperoncino, Melanzane Involtino, Pollo alla Toscana, Basic Polenta, Asparagi al Parmigiano-Reggiano, Tiramisu

Summary: While I don’t always agree with the recipes we are given to cook, I do follow them. This week was especially frustrating to me because we had a hard time, there was no security guard to open the door. We did not get all the ingredients we needed and still had to present our food at the same time we would have if we had started on time.

Food: I liked our bruschetta. It was really good but Chef said that he couldn’t taste the roasted garlic aioli. I followed the recipe we were given but it didn’t turn out the way Chef was expecting it to be an he suggested making it by hand next time.

Tagliatelle al Peperoncino – Chef said ours was nicely seasoned and cooked properly. I really liked the flavors. This would make a nice winter evening dinner.

Melanzane Involtino – Ours was a little salty because the sauce was salted as were the cheese and ham. Chef asked us to pay attention to the size of each ingredient. Our eggplant was a nice thickness but the cheese was sliced too thick.

Pollo alla Toscana – Our porcini sauce was broken because it reduced too much. The chicken was very nicely cooked. Chef said we are going to work on the sauce again next week because everyone’s sauce was broken. Chef said our polenta was a little too hard and needed more seasoning. After critique we added some parmesan cheese and the left over bruschetta and it was delicious.

Asparagi al Parmigiano-Reggiano – I liked this dish a lot. Chef said our asparagus was very nicely cooked. It had a nice crunch to it. Chef also said next time to pile it higher so that it would add some visual interest.

Tiramisu – Even though our dish didn’t have the time to fully set up and collapsed when we removed the ring, the flavor was yummy. Although, Chef thought the ladyfingers could have used more espresso. We used the amount we were given. This is one of the ingredients that we were shorted on our req.

Culinary School - Q7 Week 2 European

Menu: Peperonata, Braciole, Caponata, Pomodoro Sauce, Orechetti con Carciofi, Insalata de Seppie, Calamari e Gamberi, Tunnu a Palirmitana, Torta Caprese

Summary: I love all Italian food. When I cook at home, Italian is my specialty, and Southern Italy is my favorite region.

Food: Peperonata – I thought this was tasty. Chef wants us to pay more attention to equal sized portions and make sure each dish gets the same amount of each color of peppers.

Fresh Pomodoro Sauce – I make a similar sauce at home at least once per week. This time we used it for the Braciole. Chef thought ours needed more salt. I would disagree. When paired with the Braciole I thought it was good. The Braciole had Asiago cheese in the stuffing and was quite salty on its own. If I were going to serve this by itself as a sauce for pasta I might give it a little more salt.

Braciole – Unfortunately, our pork was over cooked and thus dry. But the stuffing had a nice flavor to it. I tasted this dish from another group and theirs was quite good. Much more moist than ours.

Caponata – Chef thought our Caponata had too many capers in it, and I would have to agree. The capers drowned out the taste of everything else in the dish.

Orechietti con carfioci – Unfortunately, We were not given Orechietti to work with. We were given Penne Rigate. This is very different pasta from the Orechietti. Pasta comes in so many different shapes and sizes because they all have a specific use. While our pasta dish tasted good, the pasta was a bit too al dente for my taste. This might be because of it being the wrong shape. With the Orechietti, the sauce would have clung to the little ear shape better. Chef said the pasta had a nice texture. The Artichokes were very well cooked.

Insalata di Seppie – This salad of cuttlefish, squid and shrimp looked nice on the plate but chef said he wanted the tails off the shrimps. We thought it looked nicer for the presentation. He also said the potatoes were a little over cooked and the dish as a whole was under seasoned. I can’t vouch for that because I couldn’t taste it.

Tunnu a Palirmitana – We presented our tuna in two different ways. One was a whole tuna steak and the other was sliced in small slices. Both were served with the arugula salad. Chef said the Arugula salad needed more acid and I agree. Even just a squeeze more of lemon juice would have brightened up the whole dish.

Torta Caprese – This is one of my favorite things we have made. Chef said the taste was “very delicious!” It had great chocolate flavor and a lovely texture. I would have loved to put a dollop of whipped cream and some chocolate shavings on top of it. It reminded me of a chocolate soufflé!

Culinary School - Q7 Week 1 European

This is going to be an especially hard class.  Our Chef Instructor is new and has never taught before.

Menu: British Isles – Roast Beef with roasted potatoes, broccolini and glazed shallots, Yorkshire pudding, Langoustine soufflé, Fennel – Onion salad, Cheese Herb Bread, Strawberry shortcake

Summary: While I am not generally a fan of the food from Britain, there were things I liked about this menu and things I didn’t like. In my own experience, I find most foods that are truly British to be overwrought. I believe in letting the ingredients speak for themselves.
Food: Langoustine soufflé: I didn’t get to taste it because of my allergies, but Chef said that it was nice. It had a good creamy flavor. They were very pretty and well raised when we took them out of the oven but deflated while we were waiting for Chef to get to us.

Fennel and Onion salad with Tarragon Dressing: I really enjoyed this salad. The combination of the licorice-y fennel and the red onion was nice together. The tarragon dressing was a nice choice but I feel that tarragon has such a delicate flavor that it can get lost if the food it is used with is too strong. Chef said our salad had a nice well balanced flavor.

Roast Beef with roasted potatoes, broccolini and glazed shallots: Chef said our meat was a little over. I still thought it was good. The potatoes to me were a little undercooked. They could have used a tad more color. The broccolini was ok. I think we could have skipped the sauté part and it would have been perfect. The glazed shallots were my favorite part. They were so tasty that I could eat them for every meal! Chef said ours were nicely cooked but he thought they were a little too caramelized (is there any such thing?).

Yorkshire pudding: Chef said it had good flavor but it could have used a little more color. I thought it was one of the most disgusting things I have ever tasted and that is saying a lot because I have tasted some pretty disgusting things since starting culinary school. I mean, this is basically flour cooked in beef fat. ICK!

Sauces: Our mustard sauce was too thick. The flavor was ok but it was like gelatin. The horseradish sauce was delicious! I love horseradish! The gravy had too much pepper and not enough salt. I also thought it was too thin but chef said no, that was fine.

Cheese and Herb Bread: This was the very first time I have made bread using yeast. I have had a fear of yeast that I am working on conquering so I took on the bread this week. Ours had a great color on the outside and nice crust. The flavor was good, but the loaf was kind of dense. Chef said that was because it didn’t have the full time to rise properly. I will pay more attention to that next time, but for my very first loaf I thought it was good.

Strawberry shortcake: One of my favorite parts of this menu. The shortbread cookies were super yummy. And the flavor of the strawberry coulis was delicious. Even Chef agreed.

Culinary School - Q6 Grades

The Grades are in... I can go into my week off knowing that my 4.0 GPA is secure.  I got an A in both "Management, Supervision, and Career Development" and "Latin".  Next quarter I will be taking Classical European and Nutrition Science.

Culinary School - Q6 Week 11 Latin Final

This week there was no menu.  When we arrived in the kitchen we were given a card that had the dish we were expected to make listed on it along with our assigned presentation time. 

These were the possibilities:
#1 - Green Mole with Arroz Verduas


#2 - Vatapa with Arroz Blanco

#3 - Arroz con Pollo

I was given #3 - Arroz con Pollo. We didn't get a critique on our dish.

Culinary School - Q6 Week 10 Latin

Menu: Mystery Basket

Summary: This week we are working with mystery ingredients and no recipes!

Food: Our menu for this week was 1 fish, 1 cup of rice, 1 cup of beans, 2 roma tomatoes, and another ingredient from the pantry. I made a roasted tomatillo salsa, frijoles negro, rice with green onions, roasted corn with cayenne pepper and cod crusted with Dijon mustard and crushed cashews.

I was really pleased with how my dish turned out. Chef said my fish was perfectly cooked. The beans were tasty but maybe could have gone a few more minutes. I cooked my rice in chicken stock to give it some flavor and I thought it was really good. The way the flavor of the salsa combined with the flavor of the fish was delicious!

Next week is FINALS!  I have really enjoyed this class. Thanks Chef!

Culinary School - Q6 Week 9 Latin

Menu: Camarones Sofrito, Black Bean Soup, Hearts of Palm Salad, Curried Lamb Stew, Stuffed Dates

Summary: This week we are working on Shrimp cookery, Bean Cookery, Stewing, and Emulsions.

Food: First up is our Camarones Sofrito. The tomato sauce had a little kick to it. Chef said that our Shrimp was perfectly cooked. The flavors were really good and we had a nice presentation. I wish I could have tasted the whole dish. I only got to taste the tomato sauce that was still in the pan.

Next was our Hearts of Palm Salad. We paired it with the Stuffed dates. The Salad has an unusual combination of flavors. The lettuce was still crisp. It was dressed properly. We need to be consistent with the size of the tomato slices. Chef said he could eat a lot of this salad. We topped ours with queso fresco and some of the filling from the stuffed dates.

I really enjoyed the black bean soup. It was thick and creamy. We also topped this with some queso fresco. Chef said that soup had good flavor.

Last but not least was the Curried Lamb Stew. This was really good. The meat was nicely browned and cooked perfectly. The Sauce was really good with just the rice. I think it would have been really good with some coconut milk added. Chef said it was a nice job.