day 111: stick a fork in me

I'm stuffed. Stuffed with all the culinary knowledge Le Cordon Bleu sees fit to bestow on me before throwing me out in the real world. I'm going to miss this group of misfits I've been cooking alongside everyday for the last six months. Some of these kids I think I'll be great friends with for a very long time, and some I will likely never see again...but all, I will carry with me the fondest memories of taking my first steps to pursue what I've always wanted to do, to cook.

day 110: korea: kalbi

What are Korean BBQ short ribs doing on our Chinese buffet?  I don't know, but I don't care...I just want to eat them with my mouth!  The marinade was dead simple: soy sauce, honey, sugar, sesame seeds, garlic, scallions, and the secret ingredient: kiwi. The acid made the ribs nice and tender without a braise.  Sohl suggested Asian pears next time I try it, as kiwis are hardly Korean.

day 109: japan: sake no miso

Today was one the funnest, most realistic exercises we've done yet. We fired our dishes like a real kitchen with Chef Watts expediting. I made the miso-marinated salmon with bok choy, and I glazed it with a teriyaki sauce made from soy sauce, mirin, sake and sugar...delicious.

day 108: vietnam/thailand: gỏi cuốn and pad thai

Somebody shattered a bottle of fish sauce all over the floor today.  P.U.!  But I won't lie...I will straight up drink the stuff in the nước chấm, like the one I made for the the spring rolls below.  The Pad Thai got stir-fried chicken, shrimp, tofu, eggs and Phở noodles, tossed in a sauce of Tamarind water, palm sugar, fish sauce, garlic, ginger, chiles and paprika.  I finished it with the carrots, bean sprouts, scallions and cilantro.  Spicy, salty, sweet and sour deliciousness!

My Vietnamese spring rolls were stuffed with shrimp, Thai basil, mint, mung bean noodles, carrots, cucumber, bean sprouts and scallions.  The carrots I julienned really thin and let soak in rice wine vinegar, and I also added it to the nước chấm, which was just fish sauce, water, sugar, lime, chiles, garlic and ginger.  I would have felt quite silly to have messed this one up.  Fortunately, I did not.

day 106: india: masala murgh

Another day, another buffet. I thought my dish would be a lot more exciting because it actually had a protein in it, but it was all about the Samosas today...little fried pastries of spiced potatoes, onions and peas. The Masala Murgh is a braised chicken dish with plenty of onions and tomatoes, finished with yogurt.

day 105: middle east: baklava

Today was buffet day again, and again I made a beeline for the dessert. I made two different kinds: one with the traditional honey syrup, and one with a Meyer lemon syrup, which Shonna kindly brought in today. For the Meyer lemon one, I zested a bunch of the lemons and steeped that with the juice in simple syrup. Then, I strained out the zest, and candied it with the sugar and cinnamon nut mixture which went in the filling. It was DELICIOUS! Tart + Sweet = mmmm.  Baklava is a crowd pleaser, for sure, and I'm gonna give it another go soon with Kataifi, a shredded phyllo dough that makes it look like a Baklava bird nest!

day 104: italy: insalata di arance, caccuccio, osso bucco and risotto alla milanese

As a culinary student, I get asked all the time what kind of food I want to cook out in the real world.  It's a tough question to answer, and I usually shrug it off...but I secretly think Italian all the time.  Nothing is quite as satisfying as a big bowl of pasta...which, we didn't even make today.  Instead, we started with a Sicilian orange and fennel salad.  I tossed in some red onions and baby arugula for good measure.

Next was the Caccuccio, a Tuscan soup of shrimp, mussels, clams and calamari in a tomato soup.  My problem with seafood soups is that poaching seafood is never really flavorful.  So instead, I sauteed all my seafood in garlic and butter.  I also used the anchovies in the soup since it was on our cart.  Why not?  It made the tomato soup taste seafood-y without having to poach all my fish...which wouldn't have given up a lot of flavor anyway.  Again, Chef Watts ate a whole baguette slice...I love when she does that.  I toasted my crostini in a pan with clarified butter and rubbed it with garlic straight off the heat.  I channeled ITALY today!

And for our entree, we braised Osso Bucco and served with Risotto, both in the style of Milan.  I topped my Osso Bucco with Gremolata, equal parts minced lemon zest, parsley, garlic and anchovies.  The Risotto I made with saffron, and finished with parmesan, butter and Mascarpone, for extra creaminess.  Okay, maybe it should have been more SPLAT! than molded, but whatever.  Leftovers are gonna be delicious tonight!

day 103: morocco: b'stilla and tagine lham bil zitun wa l'hamd mrakad

B'stilla are delicious Baklava-like pastries, filled with chicken and Ras el Hanout, a delicious spice blend that contains fennel seeds, allspice, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, sesame, coriander and cumin seeds, ginger, nutmeg, and 742 other spices. We served it with Harissa, a spicy paste, and Charmoula, sort of a cilantro pesto.

The Tagine is a braised lamb dish with olives and preserved lemons, served over couscous.  I sweat some onions with parsley, oregano and saffron, and braised my seared lamb in chicken stock, finishing with the olives and lemons, which added a very interesting salty flavor.  Sort of like using anchovies or fish sauce, it adds another nice layer of flavor.

day 101: germany: kartoffelpfannkuchen, linsensuppe, and rheinischer sauerbraten with spätzle and rotkohl mit äpfeln

 

After being in a weird (cooking) funk for the past couple of days, I was all about being the comeback kid today. The potato pancakes I've made about four times in school now (once with apples!), so hopefully I know what I'm doing. Chef Watts ate a whole pancake, which made me feel really good.

The Linsensuppe, or lentil soup, also came out really nice.  Unlike yesterday, I remembered to add the bacon back in...no vegetarian soup today!  It also didn't hurt that I brought in my extra bacon fat.

And for the entree today, I braised the Sauerbraten and served it with spätzle tossed in butter and sage.  I didn't get a single critique today for any of my dishes, which was awesome...although I'm not too sure about this cabbage I made.  I never know how cabbage dishes are supposed to taste because I never eat it (e.g. cole slaw, sauerkraut), so I just tried my best to balance the acid with sweet and salty.  Not too shabby.

day 100: russia/denmark: borscht, pel'meni and mørbrad med svedsker og aebler

I thought Eastern Europe day would be a lot heavier foods, but the soup and appetizer were quite light. The Borscht is a beet soup, with parsnips and celery root, braised in veal stock and red wine vinegar. Chef Watts said I didn't have enough meat flavor in mine, and when I went back to my station I realized I, uh, forgot to put any meat in at all. I should have advertised it as Vegetarian Borscht. 

The Pel'meni are little dumplings of ground beef, pork and onions, poached in veal stock. Our book says these were traditionally made with horsemeat. Uh, delicious.

And for the main course, we have the one that's hard to prounounce, which hails to us from Denmark.  It's a pork loin, stuffed with apples and prunes that were cooked in Aquavit and finished with cream.  I seared mine in bacon fat to give the hunk of meat some flavor, and I tossed my potatoes in the bacon fat too.

day 99: mexico: churros

Today was supposed to be a trip through Spain, but I think I went on the cheap and headed to Mexico instead.  The churros got chocolate and caramel sauce, which was delicious.  But the horchata just tasted like sugar-y water...I guess two hours isn't quite enough.

day 98: france: poulet sauté à la normande avec la purée de céleri-rave

We visited France on the first day of International, really a radical departure from everything we've done so far.  Or not.  I guess slapping that Camembert on the seared chicken breast makes this "in the style of Normandy"...uh, whatever.  Hopefully, the final three weeks of school will be a lot more exciting.

day 97: mushroom terrine

Garde Manger has to be my least favorite class of all.  Aside from the bacon that we cured, I can't think of a single thing we made that I care to make again.  Thank God that class is over.  Unfortunately, Garde Manger is probably one of the first jobs I'll get in a real kitchen.

day 96: sushi

Sushi is a nice snack, but I don't know how you get a whole meal out of it unless you're just wiping your ass with cold hard cash.  Even then...for raw fish?  Pass.  And the sticky rice reminded me of enrobing chocolate truffles...a big hot mess all over my hands.  Double pass.

day 95: antipasti platter; caprese salad

Today, I made Caprese salad with the mozzarella we pulled yesterday...it was a million times better than the chunks of sliced mozarella I put in the one for our BBQ buffet. We also had heirloom tomatoes instead of the usual roma tomatoes, which was a lot nicer. Chef Pastore likes to meander past our plates a lot this term even though he's not our teacher, and he tried to take credit for the inspiration of my stacked Caprese salad.  Sorry Chef, Jacques Pepin beat you to it! But your plate was impressive, nonethless. I also made a ton of different kitchen cheeses yesterday, and I oven dried some roma tomatoes and soaked them in olive oil, garlic and basil overnight. It was delicious with the baby artichokes Jennifer marinated, and the crostini we toasted in butter and rubbed with garlic. And kudos to Brittany for iPhoning a beautiful platter presentation for us. An antipasti success!

day 93: chicken galantine, vegetable terrine and pate en croute

I might vomit if we have to do another week of meat pastes. Or meat jellos. I thought sandwich day was pretty silly in Garde Manger 1, but it was so nice to get Monte Cristo sandwiches from the other class today. Too bad all we had to give back was meat jelly bread. The chaud froid platters were sort of fun to make, but I don't remember signing up for arts and crafts. I told Patrick yesterday I felt like Martha Stewart, but hey, if I could become a billionaire making these platters, I'd do it.

secret ingredient challenge: mangoes

After convincing myself it was going to be an herb, the secret ingredient turned out to be a fruit.  Sweet!  I toasted some crostini with olive oil, rubbed it with garlic, and topped it with a salsa I made out of mangoes, tomatoes, pineapples, onions, jalapenos, lemon juice and some basil.

 

The dish that sunk me.  My mango beurre blanc never came together.  I didn't score my fish skin all the way so it curled up.  The mango rice pilaf sucked, and there is way too much of it on that plate.  But worst of all, I missed my plating window and was promptly disqualified.  This just happened like an hour and a half ago, so...I don't really know what to say.  I'm pretty disappointed in myself for this dish.  I could have done better.

 

And because of that snafu, they never even looked at this.  So all I had for judging was stupid crostini and salsa.  I steeped mint into my simple syrup, and the mango sorbet was really cool and refreshing.  I knew it would be a hot day, so this was going to be my secret weapon.  Which I never got to fire.

day 88: bbq buffet; shrimp and andouille bbq skewers

 

 It's a pretty good feeling when a mob of people comes through and annihilates your buffet in like 90 seconds. Thanks, Patrick, for one of the best buffet ideas ever. Aside from the skewers, we also made brisket, bbq ribs, kielbasa, duck confit, caprese salad, potato salad, cole slaw, cornbread, bbq beans, mac 'n cheese and corn on the cob. What a week! 

day 87: lox, smoked salmon and smoked trout

Our days long garde manger buffet is nearly complete...but we had time for a quick fish tasting today.  The smoked trout was quite salty, even though we doubled the water in the recipe.  The smoked salmon was quite delicious, but the lox...well, I think that's an acquired taste.  Ugh.  We've been working on all sorts of bacon and charcuterie items, but I'm most looking forward to the Andouille sausage we stuffed yesterday, and will smoke tomorrow!

day 83: creme brulee and revenge of the truffles

Whatever chocolatier zen I possessed the other day, it was not with me today at all. These truffles really did a number on me. Luckily, I had the creme brulee to help balance my grade out. Not too shabby on the sable cookies either. So long, baking!

day 82: gateau l'opera and sachertorte

Yesterday and today, we worked really long and hard making the components for and then assembling our beautiful layer cakes. And withinin 5 seconds at the end of class today, bad penmanship ruined it all. I have a newfound respect for the lady at the Ralph's bakery that writes "Happy Birthday" on everyone's cake. It takes a lot of experience and a steady hand. The opera cakes were pretty delicious, with one layer of chocolate ganache, one layer of coffee buttercream, and a coffee soaked sponge cake. We garnished with a little gold flake on top, just for extra fancies.

The Sachertorte was good chocolate cake, but nothing too special. It got a layer of apricot jam in the middle, and we soaked it in rum. Eh.

day 80: toffee, truffles, marzipan and marshmallows

I'm not sure who's a bigger bitch, sugar or chocolate, but they can both suck a big fat one.  I'm gonna have to say sugar was tougher to deal with since I had to go through four batches of sugar to get my toffee not to become a big crystallized blob.  The chocolates, although annoying because I had to keep putting it over the double burner, off the double burner, over the double burner, off, etc., at least didn't seize or do any funny business on me...today, at least.  The milk chocolate truffles, toffees and marshmallows were my favorite.  I added a little lemon oil to my marshmallows and it tasted fantastic.  The dark chocolate truffles were a bit rich for me, and the marzipan cookies just tasted like something my great-great-great-great-grandmother would probably like.

day 78: sexy bananas foster

For our practical exam today, we re-did our bananas foster and chocolate souffle.  I had to do another cage...a simple and great technique we learned yesterday.  James overheard Chef Watts say this looks like something you'd find in Vegas...I'll take that! She also said my souffle plate was very whimsical.  I'll take some of that, too.

day 77: flan, pot de creme and creme brulee

We made some pretty rich and custardy desserts today. For the flan, we spun caramel into cages and nests, which was a lot of fun.  But there was such a short window you had to do it in before your caramel set, it would probably have been easier to just start a new batch of sugar each time.

I did my nest after my cage, and you can see those big globs of sugar stuck in there because the sugar had gotten too cool. That caramel sauce that came out of the flan was delicious.  I ate every last drop of mine.

The chocolate pots were really delicious, especially with the earthquake cookies, which were just like little brownies.  Also, I'm glad I learned the trick to quenelles a lot sooner than I learned the trick to tournees. Whip the cream until it's really stiff, like just before the point of being overwhipped and getting grainy...that allows it to best hold its shape.  It really is just push, and pull back with one spoon.  I'm gonna have to ask Chef about the two handed technique.

The creme brulee might have been delicious.  I did eat it.  But at this point, I was about two clicks past my custard limit.  And to save the richest one for last.  What was I thinking?  One thing I do know for sure is that those sable cookies are purely decorational.  They tasted pretty bland.  Impressive technique, though, as with that caramel cage...simple, but incredibly elegant.

day 75: souffles, tuiles and nut lace cookies

Chef Pastore would say I've got a case of the 1980s, my plates are so cheesy. I aimed high, but I executed kinda meh. This "Plan B" plate looked a bit nicer than my original one below, but my ice cream totally needs a base before it starts flopping around that plate.

This is my original plate, sans the crowning acheivment. I made a wheel out of the nut lace dough, but I didn't bake it long enough so it wasn't sturdy enough to hold its shape. I just didn't have the time to redo it.  Without it, the circles on the plate don't really build to anything. I also should have started with a larger base so that the top of the chocolate base layer could be seen. It was a great idea to put that chocolate nut lace cookie in the freezer to make a nice cold base for the ice cream and slow its melt.

The frozen souffle, we made yesterday out of raspberry puree and an Italian meringue. Quenelles are the tournees of spoonery...very hard to pull off without a lot of practice. I think I should have pulled the acetate off from frozen for a cleaner edge.

The hot souffle was our first project today, which we flavored with chocolate and served with a creme anglaise. These are absolutely delicious, and that's all I have to say about that.

day 74: bananas foster

Delicious? Yes. Baking? No.

day 73: chocolate mousse cake and charlotte royale

It's nice to be in the baking lab again even if (1) Chef True is missing and (2) 82 new students have joined us and it seems like we have nowhere to work. But it is fun to be making cute little desserts, and this chocolate mousse cake we made sorta wowed me since it was completely flourless...the rise was all in whipping the eggs.

The chocolate mouuse cake was made by layering little rounds of chocolate cake with mousse. I ate mine from frozen yesterday, and although the cake was light, the mousse really gave it a lot of richness. You would not miss chocolate cake at all, eating this thing...you would also never know it was flour and gluten free.

The Charlotte Royale is a sponge cake rolled with raspberry jam and filled with Bavarian cream. I don't think it was anything really special, but I do like the colors, so I made a little Valentine's plate.