ROASTING WEEK

Two weeks ago was roasting week...

Perfect timing before Thanksgiving time and I learned a lot. The trussing of the chicken seems so HARD; but it's so easy! We trussed and fabricated a chicken (Maria & I) and stuffed it with garlic cloves, herbs & lemon. We placed the bird breast facing up on top of the wing tips and roasted it in a saute pan within a 350 degree oven. With 30 minutes left in the cooking we tossed the medium diced mirepoix into the saute pan and continued roasting the bird.
After we pulled the chicken (temp read 180 degrees behind the thigh/leg area) and let it rest off to the side. We created a pan gravy in the saute pan adding flour to the mixture and then straining the gravy.
Within the two days we made 6 different sides one of which was make your own potato. Yea...I screwed that one up...I made this awesome mashed potato that I piped into these awesome swirls. I then (stupidly) placed them in a hot oven and forgot about them...they were actually really good but looked terrible.
As for the other sides we made glazed carrots, acron squash soup, sauteed green beans, stuffed tomato duxelles and steamed broccoli.
The glazed carrots were made the same way in a pan with water, butter, salt, pepper and sugar. The acorn squash was roasted in the oven scooped out and simmered with onions, carrots, celery, and chicken stock.
The tomato duxelles is a mushroom mush that is reduced to a paste and stuffed inside of a tomato. Then baked in the oven for 5 minutes with parmesean cheese to warm it up...kind of bland if you ask me.
The twice baked potatoes I made the following day were awesome! They had chives, bacon, parmasean cheese, creme fresh, salt and pepper. As for the roasted sirloin...WOW!
Rubbed down with only coarse salt, black pepper and white pepper; we roasted the sirloin in the oven (trussed) for about 45 min and then as the meat rested we made the sauce (au jus lie) to go on top of it.
Overall awesome week and learned alot about roasting...

Good Grains...

This past week we made a lot of carbohydrates...!
I also cooked for my Step-Mom's 50th bday party (Mike High)...

During class we made alot of potatoes, rice and corn. We made polenta, risotto, potatoes au gratin, garlic smashed potatoes, twice baked potatoes, styrofoam potatoes, potato gnocchi, potato croquettes, rice pilaf, homemade pasta & ravioli...

The rice pilaf was of course very easy...we used parboiled Uncle Ben's rice and sauteed it in sweated onions in a sauce pot. Then covered it with 2/3 liquid and simmered until it was almost all absorbed.

As for the risotto; Maria and I made a smooth cheesy risotto while standing by it making sure it wouldn't burn. We used about 7 (4oz) ladles of chicken stock and 1 cup of risotto...alot of Parmesan cheese and drizzled truffle oil over the top. As for the competition...lol...Mike didn't think I could finish a whole plat of risotto...of course I did!

On to potatoes...we baked some russets in the oven for a while and then split them in half dug out the potato and mixed it with some creme fresh, salt, white pepper, cheese, and piped it back into the shell. Then topped them with Parmesan cheese and baked them once more for twice baked. The extra skins were fried and baked with topped cheese and bacon for potato skins.

We boiled red bliss potatoes and garlic cloves next...mashed the softened mix with salt, pepper, olive oil and made smashed garlic potatoes.

The potato gnocchi was awesome...almost same recipe as the potato croquettes. I made the gnocchi and Maria made the croquettes. The gnocchi came out great and I topped it with a quick sauce I whipped up. The sauce was sauteed shallots, garlic and clarified butter/olive oil mix with white wine. Then I add diced tomatoes and cook them down...top with chiffon basil and drizzle over the gnocchi...of course season the sauce with salt & pepper to taste.

The polenta was very easy...saute some shallots with butter or oil...then add in the milk to boil...after the milk boils and the corn meal and stir in. We made the firm type so we poured it out onto a sheet pan, smoothed it out and then pan fried them into shapes...topped it with Queso Blanco and my quick red sauce.

The fresh pasta was FUN! We made the dough first and let it rest before anything else. We then rolled it out through the pasta roller and made raviolis with Chef Bills ravioli shells. The filling was from James (It was Killer!)...and we made a quick garlic red sauce for the pasta. All Together it was an awesome CARB week...

As for the party Mike & I made our own menu of small meals featuring the following:
Canapes: Smoked Salmon/Manouri Cream Cheese; Red Wine Cream cheese pom; Greek Yogurt/Goat Cheese & Chive...
Roasted Eggplant Turin
Endive Boats (topped with diced pear, pom seeds & Gorgonzola)
Hen Pops (Cornish hen drumsticks with sugar, red wine & salt...topped with manouri)
Thunder Thighs (Cornish hen thighs with coarse sea salt, cayenne, black & white pepper...roasted in the oven)
Meatballs in Gravy (family recipe...shhhh)
Corny Beef (mushroom/cheese polenta topped with a piece of filet, drizzled with mushroom sauce & drop of truffle oil)
Roasted Stuffed Umami Hen (Cornish hen breast filled with cornbread/sage stuffing, spinach, onion, garlic, with pate and white truffle oil)

The night was an overall success and a lot of people left happy! Especially the birthday girl!
Thanks for all the awesome comments ...it keeps us cooking great food!

Attack of the Giant Eggplant!

It was a humid evening in South Florida and the AI campus was buzzing with students eager to get to the next class; and of course the overly crowded parking garage doesn't help the situation...

Down stairs in the Fundamentals kitchen the groups of infantile chefs await their fate for the next two days...

Chef Bill saunters across the room and opens his attendance book; as he begins to call everyones name out and they flash their recipe cards...Bill selectively finds his next victim...!

Bill says today & tomorrow you will swim in vegetables...we will make Cauliflower Au Gratin, Grilled vegetables, tempura vegetables...
Vegetables! yes folks not shrimp or lobster but VEGETABLES!
Bill continues...we'll make Rata-ta-ta-ta-ta-touille (not the movie folks; no rats in this recipe), steamed broccoli & green beans, glazed carrots and (lightning/thunder sound) glazed beets...

Little did we know we'd be making one more thing...
THE GIANT EGGPLANT...(lightning/thunder sound)! muahahahahah ahahahha hahaha!

Ok enough of the scary crazy sound effect although they were a great change of direction. This week was all about veggies...and yes the Eggplants we used for the eggplant parm were HUGE!

We made all the above dishes...the cauliflower au gratin was basically blanched cauliflower with bechamel sauce, topped with parmesean cheese. The tempura batter was ice water, egg yolk and flour mixed well...it's light (internal joke of a video on our eclassonline).

Grilling the vegetables were awesome...I helped make the marinade which consisted of minced garlic, minced ginger, soy sauce, olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, red pepper flakes and (shhhh) honey...we tossed cherry tomatoes, summer squash, zuchinni, onion, and mushrooms in the marinade and Delmig made perfect grill marks. I of course practiced this at home last Thursday and grilled them up the same way...but I added green onion and Eggplant.

Steaming the broccoli and green beans were easy...blanch them in boiling salted water and then shock them in ice water...in case any of you wanted to make perfect steamed veggies...

As for the Rata ta ta tat at at at ta touille it was yummy! We basically let some yummy veggetables meld together with some tomato and added herbs...a slow cooking process but yummy none the less.

I almost forgot...I made AWESOME collard greens...my mother thought I bought them from a soul food restaurant...lol
In a pot a made the "liquor" by simmering a ham hock with red pepper flakes...added the sliced collard greens into the liquor and added onion, brown sugar...the collards simmered until very soft and I added salt, white pepper to taste...

The Eggplant parm was not intimidating at all...lol...the Eggplants were big...we filled a whole sheet pan (lined with paper towels) with them and sprinkled salt on them to drain the water.
We then did standard breading procedure and pan fried them. Served them with some Rata ta ta ta ta ta touille and of course I can't forget we made tostones too (twice fried green plantains).

Good week overall and the next week we are working with grains, potatoes and STARCHES...muhahahahahh ahaha hhahahaha...!

Egg-celent Week...

This week we prepared eggs over easy, sunny side up, scrambled, rolled , hard, soft, boiled, poached and frittata'd!

I also had my practical exam (midterm)...this included knife cuts, sauces & soups.

It was definitely not my cup of tea; but I stuck through the egg day. Most of you know I hate eggs...but I will tell you this: the scrambled eggs I made in the puff pastry with burnoise tomatoes, chives & parsley...drizzled with truffle oil is awesome!

I was able to make a perfect sunny side up egg and flipped it perfectly to make over easy. The key with this egg is using clarified butter it won't burn the egg white like oil or whole butter will.

We also made Hard & Soft boiled eggs...the soft ones were gooey and runny like an over easy egg with a hard white. Timing these eggs is what makes them perfect....the only egg I really ate was the hard boiled egg that wasn't like chalk...lol...made golden yellow.

The poached eggs were always so hard to make at home but now I know what I've been doing wrong.

When you poach and egg you need to make sure you do not have too much water; not boiling (simmer) and vinegar to help cook the egg whites faster (protein). Then you have to slide the egg into the water (at water level) with either a tea cup or ramekin. Sliding in the egg will literally let the white wrap around the yolk and make a pocket. Then of course make sure you don't over cook these bad boys. Shock them in cool water to stop the cooking and BAM poached eggs...!

The rolled omelet is gooey! You have to make it that way...it's 2 eggs whipped with a little cream and then placed in the pan sliding back and forth to set the sides...then you roll it up towards the edge of the pan and fill in what you want as a filling. Underhand the pan and roll the sucker onto a plate; fix it with a clean paper towel and top with garnish...after you shine it up with a little glaze (melted butter).

The frittata was easy...placed whipped eggs into a mix of onions, peppers, etc that was sauteed in oil ready to go...lift it to get all the egg cooked...brown slightly and then slide onto a plate. Place the pan over the top of the plate and flip it back into the pan on the opposite side. Brown this side and top with garnish.

The scrambled eggs in puff pastry...mmmmmm....the key is scrambled eggs with 2/3 egg 1/3 cream...then salt and pepper. Must break up all the lumps in the egg mixture on the pan and don't let it overcook...let the carry over heat finish it off and place inside a puff pastry bowl which is easy to make. You need a square of puff pastry and cook till done...then punch in the middle and fill. Add the garnish on top and the cou de ta was the truffle oil...BAM!

As for the practical man that was cool...it was like running your kitchen...

We had a pot of Bechamel going; while our Espagnole was simmering and we whipped mayonnaise into shape. Together with Maria we created a roasted red pepper soup for our chef's choice soup...and of course my damn knife cuts...

Overall I got an 89...missed the A by one point because we screwed up on the Espagnole sauce. We didn't brown the mirepoix long enough or add enough tomato paste to pince. The part where I need to practice more is in the julienne carrots and 1/4 dice...

The Roasted Red Pepper soup recipe was posted last week and I urge you all to try it out...it's awesome!

The next update will be veggie week...!

Cream of Roasted Red Pepper

Last night Maria and I teamed up as part of our practical and created a Cream of Roasted Red Pepper soup...

Following the classic (idea) recipe of cream of mushroom soup; we browned 1 tbsp of diced bacon in a hot ban with clarified butter...we then added approx 8 oz (weight) of small diced mirepoix, with green leek and minced garlic.
After we glazed the veggies and made them nice and brown we added 1 tbsp of tomato paste, and 4 oz of diced tomato. We added 2 -3 oz of burgundy wine to deglaze the pan and then pinced the tomato products (1 tbsp of tomato paste & 4 oz diced tomato/concosse).
We then added approx 4 oz of flour to the mix and created a brown roux...after the mix was thick and brown we added 1 qt of cold veal stock to the mix and deglazed the pan. We then added one whole unseeded and diced roasted red pepper (which I roasted over an open flame with olive oil and salt) to the mix. I also dropped in a sachet we made of white & black peppercorns and bay leaf. We brought the soup to a boil and then simmered for approx 20 -30 min...

Maria and I then created some easy to make croutons (like popcorn) and some extra diced roasted red pepper for garnish.

When the soup was ready we pureed the soup with a blender (submersion blender was missing...lol). We poured the finished soup through a strainer into a large bowl; where we seasoned with salt & white pepper to taste. We then began to ladel out the goodness into individual bowls. We drizzled approx 1 tbsp of warm cream into the soup and added the croutons and roasted red pepper garnish...

WOW...this soup was awesome! I would totally make this again...in fact put it on the menu...!!!!
We got so caught up in making this soup (chef's choice on practical exam) along with the bechamel, espagnole (which we screwed up), fresh mayonnaise and all the knife cuts we had to do...that we forgot to take pictures...LOL...oops!

Week 3 Fundamentals

This was SOUP week!

We made French Onion, Split Pea Soup, Mushroom Soup, Chicken Consomme and Minestrone.

I loved making the split pea and french onion...ok I liked the mushroom soup too...!

Chef thought all of our soups were good except some needed more SALT...and I can't stand a lot of salt...lol.

The french onion soup was such a hit for me that I took the recipe home and as you might have seen in my earlier post.

Tomorrow night I'm making grilled sirloin and portabello mushroom soup...mmmmmm

To make the pea soup you needed to sweat the vegetables (onion, garlic, celery, leek -green, etc...) and fry the bacon in the grease. Then add the ham hock and chicken stock. After all of this you add the peas and let it simmer. After the peas are soft you are ready to serve...you need to make sure you make the croutons though...WOW...we made croutons in class and they were awesome! Take some bread and cut into small cubes...then toast them in clarified butter in a skillet...they will blow your mind.

Included in this post you will see some pics from week 3 of our Consomme, Pea Soup, Mushroom soup and OHHHHHH...I almost forgot our chicken pot pie...I mean Chicken Water Zoi....lol...I will post the recipe for this tomorrow...

Tonight's dinner...

So for dinner tonight I'm going to cheat a little and use store bought kielbasa. I'm using it to make my sausage and kraut dinner...but here is the awesome part- I'm going to make homemade french onion soup to go with it. 
A yummy bowl of fresh french onion soup topped with a crispy french bread crouton and melted guyere cheese...
depending if there's time I may make a roasted pear salad with candied pecans...The one thing I will do with the sausage; leech out as much salt as I can by simmering it in a nice brown ale...

Week 2 Fundamentals

This week we were involved with sauces!
Yes I know what most of you are thinking why not just buy a bag from Publix pour into some liquid and make a sauce. Obviously that is not what I am going to school for...lol.
We went over & were quizzed on the five "mutha" sauces (Espagnole, Veloute, Bechamel, Hollandaise, Tomato Sauce) and of course made all of them; including the un-official "mutha" sauce - Mayonnaise.
Our Espagnole (KFC Gravy) started out a little on the greasy side, but the end result was awesome! Although it tasted like a base sauce not a yummy demi glace. Which we did as well...
The demi glace; equal parts Espagnole Sauce and Veal (brown) Stock then reduced by half; was extremely tasty! Very yummy on a nice piece of Rib Eye steak...you can also make other sauces out of the demi glace too...
Our Veloute was very boring but then again so is Veloute; however on a nice roasted chicken probably amazing...
Veloute is Chicken (White) stock and White Roux combined...mmmmmm good...
Bechamel is pretty easy to make; it's milk simmered with an onion pique (pricked onion with bay leaf and cloves) and then combined with white roux.
Our Bechamel tasted very good and when we added the cheddar cheese it took it to a whole new level! Talk about MAC & CHEESE...all of the class' bechamels were combined with cheddar cheese, poured into a big bowl of pasta elbows (al dente) and smeared into a hotel pan. We then added bread crumbs and shredded cheddar to make a baked Mac & Cheese!!!!!!!!! YUMMMMM!
Jamal & I whipped up Mayonnaise and Hollandaise...they were AWESOME!
Mayonnaise, mix of dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, white pepper, salt, egg yolks, vegetable/canola oil...it was definitely tiring but the taste was great!
Now...our Hollandaise was KILLER! We made a reduction of white wine & vinegar with peppercorns; added it to whipped tempered egg yolks (and water) and emulsified the mixture with clarified butter.....HEART CLOGGER ALERT! Let me tell you after we added the white pepper, salt and cayenne the taste was KILLER! I HATE hollandaise and this sauce was amazing...thanks Jamal. I will say this I made it at home this past weekend for the family and they loved it...!
Of course excelling at making Fresh Tomato Sauce is my thing; but it's not as easy...you need to make sure the vegetables in the sauce cook through and become soft. For some reason my small diced vegetables stayed crunchy. I guess things happen sometimes...

Shrimp Fried Rice

Shrimp (Seafood) Fried Rice...came out awesome...I added my own homemade seafood egg rolls too...below is the recipe for the rice.



1 cup cooked rice, al dente
1/2 lb of lg/xl shrimp (peeled completely)
2 oz red pepper small dice
4 cloves of garlic minced
1 tbsp minced ginger
4 oz onion small diced
4 oz chives chopped
8 oz imitation crab meat
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/3 cup (low sodium) soy sauce
1 tsp white pepper
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp olive oil (can substitute canola or veg)
salt & pepper to taste
*1 egg optional

cook rice separately
In a large pan/wok combine onions, peppers, ginger, olive oil, vinegar, white pepper...sweat onions until translucent. Add 1/2 of garlic and mix together.
In another pan combine shrimp, crab, 1 tbsp sesame oil, rest of garlic and a little soy sauce...heat over medium-low heat cover for 2 min.
While the shrimp mix is covered add other tbsp of sesame oil and mix in rice with the onions and peppers over HIGH heat. Get rice nice and crispy addins remainder of soy sauce a little at a time until rice soaks up soy sauce.
Uncover shrimp (no more than 2 minutes) they should all be nice and pink...add to the rice mix and saute together...at the end add salt/pepper to taste and all the chives...

*add beaten egg to the oil with onions after they get translucent if desired...no egg was used in my recipe.

Fundamentals (lab) Week 1

This week was an ode to stocks...the building blocks of all classic/modern cuisine. We glazed/deglazed pans; sliced and diced mirepoix; and supreme an orange.

The cuts learned this week were: julienne, brunoise, small dice, large dice, batonnet, chop an onion, chop parsley, chop garlic and create garlic paste. We also learned how to Supreme an orange and peel/core & dice a tomato to make concasse.

All of us created the Mirepoix...we then used the cut mirepoix to deglaze pans that were roasting veal bones for brown stock. We roasted our own bones for brown stock; pulled chicken and brown stock, chilled, labeled and stored the stock.

I thought I did an awesome job with my knife skills and I continue to practice at home all the time. As for the stock; I actually took what I learned and made my own version of pot roast with short ribs and ossu buco...mmmmm good stuff!

The pictures above are from this week...my knife cuts and deglazing a veal bone pan...and Chef Bill tourne cut a potato...