Quarter SEVEN

Quarter seven is now underway. I am only taking Art Culinaire and my Internship this quarter. Since I only have 18 credits left, they are split up 9 and 9. I really think I am going to enjoy Art Culinaire. It is taught by the same teacher as Garde Manger, which makes me happy and slightly nervous at the same time. Other than Chef CJ, which taught me more than I can tell you about pastry, I think Chef Thompson has taught me the most practical information, not only about cooking but about presentation. He does not mince words and he will tell you straight up that something sucks...in front of everyone. Normally this would make me dislike someone, but he's so friggin' funny aside from that, that I tend to forgive him pretty quickly when he critiques harshly. He's usually right, anyways.

Art Culinaire, for those who are not familiar with it, is the study of current successful (by this I mean in the top 1% of Chefs) Chefs in cities across America that are known for their culinary delights. This week we were in New York City, and we were learning about and cooking food from Chefs such as Tom Collichio, Nobuyuki Matsuhisa, Jacques Torres, Terrance Brennan, Marcus Samuelsson, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Each day, our group prepares an Amuse Bouche, an Appetizer, and Entree, and a Dessert. We have ample time to focus on presentation as that is one of the main components of this class. We are nearing the end of our culinary journey. We know the basics. We SHOULD know something beyond the basics. Our hands are not being held anymore. Now it is time to push ourselves and work on excellence. We haven't come this far to look like we are putting out food from Denny's.

The first day, I prepared a raspberry souffle. I'd made souffles before, but this recipe was a little different. Chef swore up and down that these souffles would not fall after they came out of the oven. I took a picture before I pulled them out anyways because one of the dramatic thrills of souffles is how puffy they are when they first come out of the oven. This is also why they have to be served literally IMMEDIATELY out of the oven.

It didn't collapse as much as most souffles do, but it still fell slightly. I loved the crunchy texture of the top and sides of the souffle that this recipe produced, as well as the immensely light texture. It was almost like a personal serving of angel food cake. I dusted the tops with cocoa powder instead of powdered sugar and I enjoyed the contrast it gave.

I don't want to hijack ALL the desserts this quarter. Again, I want to push myself out of my comfort zone at least one of the two days every week. Day two I created an amuse bouche of fried lotus chips with tuna and white fish. I created several different platings that I had sketched out prior to class. I had so much fun with this dish.

One piece of tuna I decided to season and sear to give it added flavor and color. I also curled the lotus slice into a cylinder and secured it with a wooden skewer prior to frying.

For the second plating, I chose to thinly slice the tuna and roll it up, securing it with a chive.

Finally, I used a flat fried lotus chip as a base and fried a quartered lotus chip to give height. I also candied a lemon rind to give color and to play off the yuzu miso sauce that went with the white fish.

Next week on day two I have already chosen to prepare pumpkin cheesecake with a pumpkin seed brittle. I'm hoping to prepare the black pepper tagliatelle with parsnips and pancetta as an appetizer on day one.

Now THIS Is Life!!!

The last couple of weeks have been completely, utterly, totally fabulous. I have been able to spend real, QUALITY time with the kids. I have easily fallen back into the life of a stay at home mom, with work on the weekends. It's the best of both worlds, really. I have had 4ish days of hanging with the kiddos and just when we start to get tired of each other, we get a break. They get to spend time with our two amazing and almost family-like sitters, and I get to go spend time with other adults and make some money. Just when I'm starting to get ridiculously tired and missing the kids like crazy, my "work week" is over and I get to be home with my favorite people in the world again.

Now THIS is life!!!


On the 4th we had Banana Splits.....for DINNER!!!

We've built a zoo...

Spent some time dancing as Princesses...
(sorry it's sideways)


Made ice cream and toppings out of Play Doh...


And my always creative, ALMOST 6 year old made a chair out of Tinkertoys and filled it with books so her animals could ACTUALLY sit on it.

And of course, I can't forget my TOP favorite person in the world, my hubby. We've had juuuuuuust enough nights together and apart where we still savor the time we have together, but we aren't feeling crazy because we don't get enough time together or alone. It's been a pretty good balance, in my opinion. I know my husband would probably disagree because on HIS end he's been working his heiny off on a new venture he is working on right now. It's all going to be worth it in the end...we are feeling very hopeful for our future right now. Finally.

Too bad I go back to school this week. Only 6 more months and this WILL be life. I can't wait!!

Week 9- Latin

The food this week in Latin was very "blah" for me this week. The only dish that I thought was decent was the Shrimp in Green Sofrito Sauce. I thought it was actually a little too sweet and I would have liked a small amount more of heat to it, but it was simple to prepare and was tasty.

I also prepared the Salad of Hearts of Palm with Passion Fruit Vinaigrette. This was absolutely NOT a favorite of mine. I'm not a huge fan of Hearts of Palm. They smell funny and have a weird texture. The passion fruit vinaigrette was extremely tart and I just didn't love the passion fruit taste of it. I would not make or eat this again. Well, maybe if you paid me.

On to week 10! Week 10 is the cooking final in Latin, but we have one more week before the final in American Regional. After that you will all have to deal with a 3 week break, aside from all the yummy dessert treats I'm sure I will be making here at home since I will actually have the time. (HOPEFULLY!!!!!)

Week 9

American Regional- Pacific Northwest

I was really excited to prepare mussels this week. As I told Chef Ridsdale, I somehow had managed, again, to not prepare mussels in the entire 5.5 quarters I've been at AI. He looked at me and says, "HOW?!?" I respond with, "I just never did." I've been pushing myself this quarter to really work on things I'm not totally comfortable with. I mean, school is the place to mess up, right? I'd rather do it there than at work.

Speaking of work, the station behind me to my left prepares a mussels dish that looks SO fabulous. That is the REAL reason I wanted to make the mussels this week- because they look so amazing coming off the line at work. The mussels we prepared were in a Thai Coconut broth. Oh my goodness. This sauce was AMA-AAAAAA-AAAAAA-ZING! I made some Crostinis to go with it by slicing some french baguettes really thin and spreading them with garlic butter and sprinkling them with fresh parmasean and toasting them. I didn't care much for the mussels themselves, but the broth with those crostinis were divine.

Friday I prepared a Roasted Pear Salad. Not too much to say here. Basically pears were peeled and roasted (I roasted mine with a little brandy and a little water) and then two of them were pureed with a little oil and vinegar, salt and pepper, then chilled to make the dressing for the lettuce. The top was sprinkled with blue cheese and toasted hazelnuts. The flavor was decent, but nothing spectacular. In my opinion it was a "I wouldn't send it back, but I wouldn't text a friend about it either" kind of dish.

Chef asked me to make the dessert this week. The original recipe for this Strawberry Brulee just has you chopping up strawberries and tossing them with a little sugar and lemon juice and then topping it with whipped cream before sprinkling it with sugar and attempting to brulee, or caramelize, the sugar. The problem with this is that heat and whipped cream do NOT mix and it usually ends up, apparently, being a soupy mess.

Chef asked me to prepare a meringue, instead, to top the berries with. I thought this was a perfect time to try out a really cool presentation idea I saw recently. This presentation was a cupcake topped with a hollowed out strawberry which was filled with a liquor and LIT ON FIRE. Dessert. Fire. Um, yes please!!! It was really hard to get a photo of the fire because the flame was blue and didn't show up very well, but I was able to get an alright photo where you could see it a little. The photography department was working on food photos this week so I took the food down there and they weren't able to get photos with the flame either. They did get some pretty good ones, though. I haven't been able to get those photos yet, though. I'll get them back next week.

Week 8

Growing up, it was always extremely important that I got enough sleep. I was never one of those kids that could just sleep all day the next day and make up for it. When the annual "Lock In" happened at church with the youth group, I always had to make the decision on whether or not it was going to be worth the fun of hanging out with my friends all night, because I would pay for it the next day and following week. My body shuts down when I have a lack of sleep. I make it a point to take care of myself because of this. I get the sleep I need. I try to eat healthy with the occasional indiscretion here and there. I exercise.

Well. I WAS sleeping, eating healthy, and exercising. I look at the calendar and there is not ONE smiley face (my indication that I exercised that day) for the last almost two weeks.) Not to say that WORKING isn't a form of exercise, but it's not quite the same as lacing up my running shoes and going for a jog with a good stretch afterward. I think back to what I ate over the four days of working long shifts and realize that I barely ate at all just because I was too busy at work and too tired once I got home. So, to review, the last two weeks (as of Monday) have had me barely sleeping, eating, or exercising.

It caught up with me in a big way.

Sunday evening at work I started feeling...not well. I was able to push through the bouts of nausea and the beginnings of a sore throat to finish my shift, but when I woke up Monday morning, I knew that my luck had run out. I felt like I had swallowed my whole knife kit. NEVER have I been so thankful for a sitter. I dropped Layla off at the babysitters, came home, and passed out until time to get Harmony off the bus. We went and picked up Layla, made it through the afternoon, and I passed back out when the kids went to bed.

Tuesday was a repeat with the addition of sneezing and congestion.

Wednesday I got up and began to get ready for school before giving up as I got the sweats every time I tried to exert any sort of effort. I gave myself ANOTHER day in bed. I began to wonder if I had mono. I had it once ten years ago and I haven't been as laid out as this was making me since then. I realized after some research that it wasn't mono, so I had some hopes of feeling better in less than two weeks.

Thursday I got up and went to school loaded up with Alka Seltzer Plus. I made it through the cooking and managed to mop half the floor while the others were still finishing up their food. I asked Chef to leave since I had cleaned and my food was finished. I wasn't feeling well again. I went home and crashed.

Friday I decided to take my last day. I had work Saturday. I NEEDED to be well. Harmony and Layla were off of school. I thought about keeping them home with me to spend time with them but I knew it would be selfish motives. I miss them so much. But the sitter was taking them to the zoo and I knew they would have more fun there than camped out on the couch watching movies with me. I also knew that I wouldn't get as much rest that way. Most importantly, the less time they were in my proximity, the less likely they were to catch whatever I have. So off they went.

Yesterday I went to work. I loaded up on AlkeSeltzer Plus again. I made it through. I'm feeling some better. Not 100% by any means, but I am making it through. I've been making an effort to eat better. By that I mean, I've been making an effort to eat. I'm waiting to squeeze exercise in until I can breathe through my nose again. I was switched to the day shift Saturday and an earlier shift on Sunday.

Marc and I just keep telling ourselves that we need to make it through this quarter, this year and things will be better schedule wise. As Marc put it, "When you graduate, we are SO having a party!" We will have made it through one of the most challenging yet rewarding times in our lives. Together.

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All that being said, in class Thursday I made Spicy Pork Empanadas and fried another Stuffed Poblano. I have made both this items in Latin this quarter but there were noticable differences in the recipes. The most blatent difference was that the empanadas were fried this week, as opposed to being baked in Latin. I prefer the texture (and slightly more healthy!) aspect of the baked empanadas, but I really loved the Spicy Pork filling. The dough of the fried version was different, as well. This version had cream cheese in the dough and was slightly stickier. It needed to be chilled well before working with it. Then I found that once I cut them out, and folded them in half, I needed to chill them again before attempting to make the decorative fold on the outer edge or the dough would just...mush together.

The poblanos were stuffed with a different filling this week, too. I liked the Latin version better, actually. This filling was mainly corn and sour cream with a little queso fresco. It wasn't BAD...just not as interesting or flavorful.

Tex Mex!

This was week 7 in American Regional Lab. We prepared Tex Mex food and it was one of my favorite weeks yet! Thursday was mostly prepping for Friday, but Friday was a feast!!! Tex Mex is HUGE on protein, after all.

Thursday I prepped the beef brisket by placing it in a marinade to sit overnight. Then I got everything ready for the bbq sauce. I also made Pico de Gallo for the next day. Then I made what is called a Starburst Salad. Oh. My. Goodness. I am a huge fan of strawberries as it is, but the vinaigrette that the strawberries were tossed with is making my mouth water as I type this. Two grapefruit were zested and sectioned, and all the juice is saved from that process and the segments are saved for the salad. Then you combine the juice with sherry vinegar, salt, sugar, and oil. Toss in the poppy seeds and zest and you have an amazing vinaigrette that perfectly complimented the strawberries. I ate all the strawberries except a few that others tasted. But it was mostly me.

Friday the brisket was popped into the smoker immediately. It still needed about 30 minutes to be REALLY tender, but that's one of the drawbacks of such a short class. It had a really wonderful sweet, tangy, and salty flavor to it with the bbq sauce. It was served with Tamales that another girl made.

I also prepped everything for the Shrimp Tacos with Green Chili Chutney. I decided to make the tortilla shells into little tortilla cups instead of the normal taco shape. I really liked the presentation I ended up with. I also enjoyed the flavors of the shrimp in this recipe, especially with the added heat of the green chili chutney.

I made the flan, as well. I made a double batch and they all were eaten.

After all that, I still had time and I had seen some extra strawberries in the fridge left over from the day before. I decided, after asking Chef if it was ok, to make the strawberry salad from the day before, with a twist. He agreed I could have SOME of the strawberries to do what I wanted with. I made the vinaigrette and then I brought it to a simmer with some cream and tempered some egg yolks. I chilled it down and folded in just a little whipped cream to lighten it a little. A Grapefruit Juice Creme Anglaise. Delicious. Strawberries dipped in said anglaise. Divine.

This has been my favorite week so far in American regional.

Latin- Week 7

This week we hopped over to the Caribbean in Latin. I'd been pushing myself to prepare more savory items this quarter, but this week I really wanted to make the Sweet Potato Cake that we had a recipe for. I told the girl that has been doing the desserts most of the time this quarter that I'd been letting her do them all quarter and it was my turn today. She wasn't too happy, but she didn't fight me on it. This Sweet Potato Cake can best be described as a pumpkin pie type of filling baked in a loaf pan. I made a creme anglaise to go with it flavored with orange, rum, and cinnamon. It was delightful. I wouldn't describe it as a cake, though. It had no flour in it whatsoever and had the pie filling texture to it.

I also prepared the salad of the day. This salad consisted of pineapple, red onions, and iceburg lettuce tossed with an orange and lime vinaigrette and garnished with avocado and lime wedges. I did enjoy the flavor of the salad, but if I were to prepare it at home, I would definitely use romaine since it is highly nutritious.