Big Al's AWESOME Tomato/Basil Sauce

This recipe is super easy!

Just make sure you taste the basil...which means ONLY ADD IT IN AT THE END...if you put it in the heat too early you will kill the herb and lose the flavor.

 

16 oz can              diced tomato (no salt added)
1 cup                     fresh basil (chiffonade)
1 ea                        head of garlic
½ cup                    white wine
1 Tbsp                   butter
2 Tbsp                   Olive Oil
TT                           White Pepper
TT                           Sea Salt
 
Prep your ingredients…
·         Chiffonade your basil and set aside; mince/slice your garlic and sauté in the butter and olive oil (DO NOT BURN).
·         Pour full can of tomato in to garlic and fat…stew until color changes.
·         Add wine and cook off alcohol content.
·         Finish off with basil, salt and pepper…ENJOY!

Latin NORTHERN Mexico

This week we killed it!

We made the best food of the night and had great presentation of our food.

We made pozole, tequila lime pears, green mole, mexican rice, stuffed poblano with walnut sauce, and pork.

Chef said everything tasted great and the pozole was seasoned perfectly. The pozole was made by utilizing chicken stock, adding hominy and blending guajillo chilies. You top the soup with shredded lettuce, thinly sliced radish, dried oregano, lime and avocado for garnish.

The stuffed peppers with walnut sauce was very tasty and was very creamy. The dish consists of a roasted poblano pepper filled with a sweet meat mixture and then topped with a nut sauce. The nut sauce consists of walnuts, milk, creme fraiche, queso fresco and sugar. This dish is baked for 10 minutes to make the pepper easy to cut and the flavors are developed.

Our fried pork (Chilorio) was awesome! Mike braised the pork for over an hour and used ancho chilies to make the sauce. I thought one of the best dishes of the night was our Guatape Shrimp. The shrimp are cooked in a puree of poblanos, green tomatoes, parsley and hierba santa. The Pears in molasses and tequila were very tasty and took a long time to make. Mexican rice was made by Henry and the taste was perfect. It didn't taste burnt or over-cooked. Overall a very good night and we missed Maria this week.

WEEK "2" Baking Class

Baking Week "2"

This week we were kind of behind the 8 ball. We had a week off because of Martin Luther King Day and I think it threw us off. Maria and I had two new partners and although Angela was great; our other partner was not exactly trying to help us finish on time.

Nonetheless we worked really hard and produced most of our products. We had to make Lemon Bars, Zucchini Bread, Banana Bread, Almond Bar Cookies, and Italian Rolls.

Our Zucchini Bread (muffins) came out great and were made using the muffin method. Nice and fluffy, sweet, and crispy top. Our best work all night. As for the Italian rolls they were good but we forgot to score them on the top...before final proofing. Nice color however and the taste & texture were great.

Our Banana bread was one of the last things to finish in the oven and they turned out great but never got a chance to try any of them. As for the Lemon Bars same thing; they took long and almost burned on the top. This was not a good night for us and I hope to look past this week and remember the quiz...that's all!

The following pictures are from our attempt to bake this week...

Banana Bread

Italian Rolls

Almond cookies

Zucchini Muffins

Latin week 2

¡SANTO MOLÈ!

Ok maybe not so holy, but it was Chicken Molè instead.
What a night…the menu consisted of Tortilla Soup, Chicken with Mole Poblano, Enslada de napoles (Cactus salad), Frijoles refritos (refried beans), Shrimp Guatape, Churros and White Rice.

The tortilla soup is very FAST to make! It could have been one of the last things I did…however, I went directly at it and I’m glad I did. The patilla chilies are very temperamental when you fry them. The first chili I fried it burned; the next one was perfect! It literally takes 3-4 seconds in HOT oil. What I noticed that I did differently than the other teams was the way I prepared the tomato, onion, garlic mix. Most roasted their tomatoes and then peeled them; I blanched/shocked them removed the skin and then roasted them with the onions/garlic. The flavor was perfect; and Chef George felt that it was the best Soup of the night. After I boiled the pureed tomato/onion mix I added the chicken stock and brought to a simmer. I then added the two sprigs of epazote and skimmed the fat lipids on the surface. When the soup was done we ladled it into a bowl with the epazote. I then served from the bowl into smaller bowls; which had tortilla strips at the bottom. I topped the soup with a dollop of crème fraiche, avocado & patilla chili rings. Of course we can not forget a slice of lime on the side and a spoon.

Everything else came out great! Our rice was the only thing we needed to add more salt too; otherwise everything was beautifully seasoned. I also made the refried beans and they came out good but I didn’t need to make them as concentrated. Loida’s Shrimp Guatape was very tasty and almost hinged on over cooked, but it was perfect. Henry made the Chicken Mole and it was very flavorful; however there was a little discrepancy about how to plate. Henry was very creative with the small 4oz cup portion, but the 9in. plate was a little too big. Instead we packed a soup cup to make a volcano topped with toasted sesame seeds and tortilla strips. It looked great! The Sauce for the Mole was a PROCESS!!! Henry sautéed ancho, pasilla, chipotle & mulatto peppers in 2Tbsp of oil. He then soaked the peppers in hot water for 20 minutes, drained the water and reserved it. Henry then roasted, peeled and seeded the tomatoes; blended the tomatoes along with the peppers. He used the oil where the peppers were sautéed to sauté the onion and garlic, and transferred the mix to a blender. Using the same oil again Henry sautéed almonds and peanuts; transferring the mix to the blender with the rest of the ingredients. With the same oil again he sautéed for 3 minutes cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon, aniseed; transferring this mix to the same blender along with raisins. In a large saucepan with a cup of hot oil; Henry cooked all the purees for 5 minutes stirring and degreasing constantly! When the started to boil he added 1 qt of the chicken stock, covered the sauce and cooked for another 20 minutes. It never got too thick so we didn’t need to add any more stock; but we did have to degrease the sauce. We then added the shredded chicken, covered and cooked another 10 minutes... PHEW!!!



Maria made a very tasty cactus salad which tasted a lot like ceviche…and Mike made the rice along with the Churros. WOW, the churros were awesome; however, they were a little too doughy.

Overall the night was a big success with a few miscommunication missteps. Otherwise great night and great food! I have started a part time job at Mex Café in Sunrise and will contribute the Tortilla soup recipe to the kitchen. Hey I finally get something I make put on a menu!

Fancy Food Show 2010

These are some of the new exciting trends from the Fancy Food Show courtesy of Andrew Whitman, 2xPartners.com

Baking week 1

The first week in baking was a good one but very tough. We had a lot to make in a short amount of time and did a good job overall. We made Peanut Butter Cookies, Chocolate Jumble Cookies, Blueberry Muffins, and soft yeast rolls. We learned three different methods of baking; muffin method, straight dough method and creaming method. You would only make bread using the straight dough method; like the yeast rolls. As for the muffin method we used it to make the blueberry muffins and the creaming method was used to make the cookies.

Our Blueberry muffins turned out great and there was no tunneling. Which is caused by over mixing the muffin mix. You combine the dry ingredients (including the fruit) and the wet ingredients separate. Then you combine the two mixes together loosely and scoop into greased muffin tins.

As for our cookies we needed some work. One of them was dry and the other was too cakey. The creaming method consists of creaming the butter and sugar with a paddle in the mixer until creamy. Then you mix in the other ingredients being careful not too over work the batter.

Our Yeast rolls were great...so much so that chef wanted to use them for the restaurant. Our grade that evening was a flying success and we were the first team finished. If only we can do this every night.

Below are our photos from week one...hopefully we can duplicate our success; with the use of the four flours...cake, pastry, all purpose & bread.

These photos are from baking week 1

Peanut butter cookies

Soft Yeast Rolls

Blueberry Muffins

Chocolate Jumble Cookies

Week 1 Latin Cuisine

PICTURE: Chicken Pibil, Sopa de Lima, Panucho, Pickled Red Onion, Tamulada Sauce, Arroz con Verduras, Jericayas

First week in Latin class was full of information. We began to learn about all of the nuances of Mexico & Latin America. How the Mayans would barter with other tribes and were responsible for sending cacao throughout the Americas. Latin America was responsible for introducing beans, cacao, maize to the rest of the world.

When European influences weren't introduced to Latin America yet they relied on what was around them. Instead of goats and cattle the natives would eat turkeys, other birds, grasshoppers and hairless dogs such as the xoloitzcuintli.

We also discussed how the Europeans such as Christopher Columbus influenced the Latin American people; which at the time weren't Latin at all and had no Religion. The natives such as the Mayans, Aztecs & Incas relied on the food around them and worshiped the sun, moon, etc.

In our first class we made dishes relative to Southern Mexico...the menu consisted of chicken baked in banana leaves (Chicken Pibil); Lime Soup (Sopa de Lima); Pickled Red Onion; Tamulada Sauce (Habanero & Sour Orange juice); Corn Tortillas; Panuchos (tortillas filled with beans and fish mixture); Jericayas (vanilla custard).

Our chicken was good but needed a little more salt; something I need to work on...I am always too worried about over salting my food. I remade the chicken at home and it came out beautifully. In fact the leftovers were shredded and pan fried to be used as tacos with queso blanco and pickled red onion.

Mike did a great job with the corn tortillas and Maria as usual made great rice. Our vanilla custard was a hit and everyone in the class including chef loved the way it tasted; it also had the perfect consistency.

Mike did another home run with the Panuchos and the fish was perfect. Henry made a great soup and it was the right color, consistency & taste. However, chef felt we needed again more salt. We will work on the salting of food but I hate to over salt my food.

I made the Pickled Red Onion and Tamulada Sauce...they both came out great! The tamulada sauce was however made with scotch bonnet peppers instead of habaneros. The taste was great, peppers were finely diced perfectly and seasoned properly with salt and sour orange juice.

The Pickled Red Onion could have sat in the Sour Orange juice a little longer and it would have been perfect!!! A picture of our work is posted above...

Overall a great success in the first week of class and next week we are focusing on Central Mexico...although I don't think we are cooking any hairless dogs...

Penne Tomato Basil

Catering event for 50 people for my cousins 18th bday...this was Casey's 18th birthday party and I catered the event.

I cooked the dish above - Tomato Basil Penne; Creamy Mac & Cheese; Baked Chicken; Salad...

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Random pics from my last class...

Pics from my last culinary class (Fundamentals)

Coq Au Vin

Grilling night...red beans/rice, shrimp skewers, apricot bourbon chicken

Poached seafood

Yankee Pot Roast as Beef Stew...

Homemade Potato Latkes

Saute Week

This week was all about sauteing...

We made Chicken Chardonnay with sauteed roasted red peppers and brussels sprouts. Sauteed beef tenderloin with maitre d' hotel butter, mashed potatoes and sauteed spinach.
The following day we made pan fried chicken, creamed corn & twice baked potatoes.

The chicken chardonnay came out great! You lightly dredge a fabricated chicken breast in flour and then place it on the saute pan browning both sides. Place the chicken into a 350 degree oven and bake till done. In the mean time roast the peppers until black, place them into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Par cook the brussels sprouts, remove the skin & seeds from the cooled peppers, slice the peppers into strips and slice the sprouts in half; then saute the sprouts and the roasted red pepper slivers. Saute the veggies in the rendered diced bacon, shallots & clarified butter.

In the pan where the chicken was sauteed add the mushrooms and saute them for 3-5 minutes and add shallots.
Deglaze the pan with the white wine and reduce by half, add some chicken stock and reduce by half again. Optionally heavy cream can be added and reduce the sauce until thickened, season with salt and pepper to taste.
To serve, coat the chicken breast with the sauce and garnish...

The next day we made twice baked potatoes that were phenomenal and pan fried chicken. Pan fried chicken are the other pieces chicken we dredged in buttermilk and seasoned flour. Then we fried them in the pan with fry oil; placed the browned pieces on top of a wax paper lined sheet pan and placed in the oven until done.

Meanwhile we roasted ears of corn in their husks and then cut the corn off the husks. We simmered the corn in a pot with hot simmering cream and sauteed onions. Added salt and pepper and served hot with the pan fried chicken and twice baked potatoes.

We made Filet Mignon!

Pan fried beef tenderloin seared in a saute pan and then removed to make steak diane sauce. The sauce has brandy, red wine, mushrooms, shallots, clarified butter, and heavy cream. As the sauce was reducing we sauteed some fresh spinach with sauteed onions; we then plated the steak and spinach. Drizzled the steak diane sauce over the steak and viola!

For Thanksgiving I made a feast...

I trussed a 22 pound fabricated turkey and stuffed it with oranges, lemons, garlic cloves, rosemary, thyme, sage, salt, pepper and paprika. Then rubbed the bird down with the same spices and oil blend. Placed the turkey on a roasting rack/pan and started roasting it at 400 degrees for 20 minutes...I then reduced the heat to 325 degrees and basted the turkey every 30 minutes for another 3 1/2 hours.

The bones that were removed, the neck and gizzards (minus the liver) were placed in a pot of cold water, mirepoix and sachet. This was simmered to create a turkey stock and was used in the prep of many other dishes.

I also roasted a chicken with the same seasonings and mirepoix for my mother who is allergic to turkey.

Later on I created an awesome turkey gravy and chicken gravy with the drippings from the roasts; while they rested to be carved.

Cranberry relish was made with a supreme orange, raw sugar and cinnamon stick. Creamy mashed potatoes, my roasted red pepper soup, glazed carrots, pumpkin pie, chocolate mousse, and TINGA...a Mexican dish. Tinga is a Mexican dish made with chipotle peppers, shredded chicken, sauteed onions and spices; served on a corn tortilla.

This was a feast! People also brought green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, bread and drinks...fifteen people had a great time minus the leak in the kitchen...lol...overall awesome night to give thanks!