Cajun and Creole Cookin'

Ooooooooooouuujiiiii…or is it OOOOOOOwwwweeeee…
Either way that is sum go’ ole gumbo! Yez sir…and to make a good gumbo ya need to know how to make a goooooooood roux.

Ok enough of the down home Cajun talk; in fact not sure if you knew this but the word Cajun came from the French settlers that were kicked out of Canada. They traveled down the Appalachian Mountains and onto the Bayous of current day Louisiana. The Creole cookery was derived from the classic French cuisine mixed with the Spanish settlers. Current day Louisiana was at one time the property of Spain, France and the United States.

It is true what is said about a good roux. You know in the first few weeks of culinary school you learn about roux and the properties associated with roux. However, we only really used maybe two styles of roux. In Cajun cooking you go through all of the colors of the roux rainbow. In fact the darker the roux the less moisture it absorbs and more of a flavor enhancer it becomes. In terms of a classic Cajun gumbo you need the darkest roux, or chocolate roux.

Our menu this week of Cajun and Creole consisted of the following: Chicken and Andouille Sausage Gumbo; fried fish in pearly meal with remoulade sauce; crawfish etouffee; bread pudding with whiskey sauce; red beans and rice; baked cheese grits, braised beef daube with glazed carrots, and sugar snap peas; fried oyster po’boy and pecan pralines.
With the gumbo you need to either pan fry the chicken in a deep pan with oil or cook separately and then use the fat in the pan to make the roux…

Go ahead and add the flour to the fat and continuously stir so it doesn’t burn. When you get to the chocolate state (dark reddish/brown); remove from the heat and add the diced “holy trinity” (celery, onion and green pepper) use the vegetables to scrape the pan. You can then add the stock slowly; at the same time whisk the mix to incorporate the roux/veggies with the stock. Bring this to a boil, then simmer, add garlic and andouille sausage. As the gumbo starts to thicken add the fried chicken to the pot and adjust the seasoning. Remember to add the file powder at the end to thicken the gumbo and give it the signature taste.

The fried fish was excellent; I believe we used grouper for the fried fish. Maria made it and it tasted great along with the fresh remoulade I made to go along with the fish. Remoulade is a mixture of creole mustard, mayo and spices. In this case the spices included paprika, salt, lemon juice and Tabasco. The breading for the fish is a mixture of spices, yellow corn flour and yellow cornmeal.
The crawfish etouffee was made by Mike and it turned out great. In this dish you use roux as well but it’s the blond roux; which can thicken and add flavor. After you make the roux (blond/medium brown) you add the “holy trinity” sauté; and then add the crawfish, lemon juice, green onion, parsley, crawfish fat, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Then you want to add clam juice or fish stock; bring to a boil, simmer and set aside. We used clam juice in this recipe and it tasted great!

I made the bread pudding and we no left overs! Take old bread and cut it into 1 -2 in cubes enough to make 2 cups of diced bread. Then toss in a little drawn butter and toast in the oven for 10-15 minutes; then soak in about 6 ounces of milk. The oven should be pre-heated to 300 degrees and get a 1 quart pan (or equivalent) buttered in waiting. While toasting the bread beat 1 cup of milk, 1 egg, 1/3 cup of sugar and 1 ½ tsp of vanilla extract. Whip this mixture really well until the consistency of custard; then add the milk soaked bread and raisins soaked in orange liqueur (Cointreau, Gran Marnier) mix well. Pour the mixture into the buttered pan in waiting and sprinkle with cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar; and top with small cubes of butter. Bake for 1 hour or until set; allow to cool 30 min before cutting. Serve with whiskey sauce, caramel, chocolate sauce…whatever your heart desires. My Whiskey sauce was really a ganache; of cream, caramel and whiskey. MMMMMmmmmmm!

As for the rest of the menu Chef thought everything tasted great! Our red beans and rice were cooked thoroughly and we made this before in fundamentals class. Same thing with our glazed carrots and sugar snap peas; we did them in fundamentals class. The cheese grits were made by Mike and they were AWESOME!!!!!!!! Wow they were so good! Mike baked a mixture of cheesy grits that had added whisked egg, sautéed garlic; baked for 30 minutes and topped with cheese.
The braised beef daube is just like Yankee pot roast which we made back in fundamentals…lol…again! It tasted great but just another Yankee pot roast. Our pralines were burnt unfortunately; the person who cooked our pralines burnt the sugar in the pot (caramel sauce with brown sugar). The big thing of the evening was the oysters! We shucked a lot of oysters and I schooled Maria in oyster shucking…lol…Maria then went on to make oyster po’boys with the remoulade suace I made earlier.

Check out the video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WN4kIRTiFU

Overall a great week and awesome food…as they would say New Orleans…
Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler! (“Let the Good Times Roll!”)

Floribbean Cuisine

Our hometown cuisine was what we focused on this week in class. Of course on my mind all I could think of was not screwing up something I am good at...

The food turned out to be amazing!!!

In fact here is the link for you to see yourself... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzH_kM1GOKg great camerawork by Chef Bill.

There are many different varieties to Floribbean dishes; and it is influenced by so many cultures. Of course the biggest culture comes from the immigrants of Cuba and the Caribbean islands.


This week we made conch chowder, golden gazpacho, hearts of palm salad, pan seared (coconut crusted) grouper, cube steak, key lime pie, corn custard, white bean salad, tostones, and roasted pork loin with mango mojo. We also made various mango chutneys and mango salsas.




I made the key west conch chowder which came out awesome! The taste was spot on and authentic; reminded me of being in a small shack in the keys with fresh conch. We ended up using frozen conch of course but the taste was right there evident of using clam juice to make the soup. The only thing I needed to do was to cook the potatoes a little longer; probably about five minutes. I served the soup with a side of sherry (again very authentic) and it gave it just enough heat. I can't wait to make this soup again at home for the family...

The Key Lime pie was made too late in the night and it turned out runny; which of course led to some crazy ideas to plate. This was not a bright spot on the menu; which was very disappointing. The hearts of palm salad and white bean salad were very different. The hearts of palm which comes from an indigenous palm bush in Florida; called "swamp cabbage"; was very easy to make. The white beans needed to be cooked a little longer; otherwise the taste was spot on. I noticed in the making of most of these dishes they have a lot of acidic qualities. Such as the chutneys and vinaigrette we made for the salads and proteins.


The golden gazpacho was a hit with Chef and the taste was perfect. We minced some jalapeno into the mixture along with the called for Tabasco. If you are not a fan of cold soups; then this is not for you. But I will say it was extremely tasty and worth the very easy process. The most time you will put into this soup is when you roast the peppers and peel off the skin. The rest of the way you are pureeing the vegetables and then chilling the soup. We accompanied the soup with twisty puff pastry straws.

The coconut crusted grouper was killer; chef said we could use shredded coconut so we did. The breading consisted of panko bread crumbs, shredded coconut, sugar, salt, pepper and then we used the traditional breading method. After you fry the fish, dry it on paper towels and finish off with an accompaniment of mango salsa.


The roasted pork loin with Al Cacace Floribbean marinade was stupendous! The rub was a mixture of traditional jerk spices along with traditional mojo ingredients. Shhhh it's a secret...
After trussing the pork loin I rubbed it down with the marinade and roasted it for about 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven. I topped the finished sliced pork with a mango mojo I mage by cooking and pureeing jalapeno, cilantro, mango, and white wine. We accompanied the pork and mojo with mango chutney and black beans.


The star of the night was the tostones. We made them both nights, but the second night we made them three different ways. In the video posted above you can see how I made them. Maria made the plantains into spiders and we dipped all of these yummy, crunchy bananas into a ketchup/lime/mayo dip. The other tostones got tossed a mojo of olive oil, minced garlic, salt and white pepper.

Overall amazing week and awesome menus...we should just have a class of Floribbean cuisine...

The South

No I am not talking about the South in terms of the Civil-War; although a great deal of what we eat today in the South was created during that time.

The South is obviously known for it's Barbecue meats and one pot dishes. A lot of today's cuisine in the South was adopted from slaves brought over from West Africa.

I was only in class for the first of the two days we worked on the South cuisine. Unfortunately the second day was when we made the pulled pork. However, I liked the menu we had the first day of class; which consisted of the following: Grilled Quail with spicy eggplant relish; Tomato and Bib Lettuce salad; Pecan encrusted catfish; slow-cooked greens (collard greens) and Peanut Brittle.

I made the pecan encrusted catfish; which was breaded with finely chopped cornmeal, pecans, bread crumbs and parsley. You season the following mix with salt and pepper; then proceed with traditional breading method (flour, egg wash, breading). You pan fry the fish and dry on paper towel. They came own great; seasoned well, crispy and great pecan flavor. The Quail was in brine for about an hour in a sugar/salt water mix; then split rubbed with olive oil, salt and pepper then grilled. We placed the quail on top of a bed of spaghetti style zucchini and squash; which we made the first week of class. This was a great dish and even better to photograph. The spicy eggplant relish was surprisingly very tasty with the quail as well. The collard greens turned out pretty well and the tomato with bibb lettuce was pretty standard. A good way to cool down the meal.

Overall the one day I was in class was very good; only wish I was there for the pulled pork!

The Mid-Atlantic

This week we created dishes indigenious to the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.
The states included in this region are New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania. The settlers of the region were German, Dutch, Irish, English, just to name a few. Below you will see what our Founding Fathers likely ate on the eve of the Revolutionary War; or after they declared Independence.

Our menu consisted of spicy crab soup with crab puffs; egg, cucumber and tomato salad; buffalo chicken wings; roast duck; applesauce cake with caramel; vichyssoise; beets, endive and feta salad; scallops with mushrooms and asparagus; "shaker-style" turkey cutlet; croquette potatoes; roasted spaghetti squash; ginger pound cake with warm cranberries.

I know this seems like a lot of food but we manage to finish all of these within two days. The first day we made the spicy crab soup, crab puffs, roasted duck, applesauce cake, buffalo wings and cumcumber tomato salad. The soup came out great with great flavor, the right amount of heat and a lot of crab. The puffs were a little dry; I think they may have been cooked too long. The roast duck was extremely juicy and the glaze we made for it was perfect. The applesauce cake was very moist and had great flavor. My favorite was the buffalo wings; which I made my garlic/bluecheese dipping sauce. They were crispy, spicy and was very moist inside; it caused me to buy a fry daddy that weekend.

The next day we made vichyssoise, beet endive and feta salad, scallops with mushrooms and asparagus, "shaker-style" turkey cutlet, croquette potatoes, spaghetti squash and ginger pound cake. Vichyssoise was not my favorite but a very classic soup. This soup was taken off the shelves; when it gave people bottulism for not cooking the soup. These folks were use to eating the soup cold; which is the traditional method. The shaker cutlet was awesome; and the sauce Mike made was killer. The spaghetti squash was tossed in butter and parmesan cheese; and was placed back in it's shell for presentation. The scallops were good but kind of small for my liking. The pound cake was amazing and I took a piece home. My mother said it was to die for and I needed to make more...lol...it had a great texture and just the right amount of ginger.

Overall good week and not super excited about the menu; however a lot of highlights.

American Dinner: Mac n Cheese!!

Makerouns

Ok the title isn’t too American; but I can assure you the end product is as American as warm Apple Pie. Recorded in an English cookbook in the 14^th century; Makerouns is a cheese and noodle casserole. Yes good old American Mac and Cheese!

Although the roots of Mac and Cheese can be traced back to Marco Polo and his trip to China; this down home, stick to your bones American comfort food has a strong American past. In 1787, Thomas Jefferson returned to the United States after a trip to Europe while he was the minister to France. Jefferson was a foodie and he brought with him a pasta machine along with many recipes from Italy. What happened next is up for debate but it has been documented in the Library of Congress; one of his guests reported eating “a pie called macaroni,” an early version of what we now call Baked Macaroni and Cheese. It is also said the first serving was by Thomas Jefferson at a White House dinner in 1802 and the first American recipe was published in 1824 by Mary Randolph (Jefferson’s cousin); titled “The Virginia Housewife.” Another American President, Ronald Regan, who absolutely loved Mac and Cheese, had his White House staff prepare the following recipe:

Ingredients
½ pound macaroni, 1 tablespoon butter, 1 egg beaten, 3 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese, 1 cup of warm milk, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce and pinch of paprika.
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 350⁰F, butter a 2-quart casserole dish; add macaroni to 2 quarts of boiling salted water and cook for 10 minutes; drain in a colander, transfer to a mixing bowl; stir in butter and beaten egg, add 2 ½ cups of the grated cheese. In a small bowl combine milk with salt, mustard and Worcestershire sauce; spoon macaroni and cheese into the prepared casserole; pour milk mixture over and sprinkle top with the remaining cheese. Sprinkle with paprika; bake on the middle shelf of a preheated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until macaroni is firm to the touch, the top is crusty and browned. Serve at once, either as a light entrée accompanied by a hot green vegetable and a crisp salad; or as a side dish with hamburgers or meatloaf, two more American staples.

Obviously times changed since Jefferson introduced us to Mac and Cheese. Women began to look for changes outside of the kitchen, and convenient foods were introduced into the market. Mac and Cheese was already a family favorite in American kitchens at the start of the 20^th century; Kraft Foods decided the time was right to introduce a dinner in a box, called Kraft Dinner. In 1937 Kraft Macaroni and Cheese made it to the grocery shelves in the USA and Canada; it soon became an instant success. At the start of World War II rationing went into effect; meat, milk and dairy were some of the products rationed. This was also the time when women joined the work force; while their men were serving in the military. After working 12 hours these same women needed something easy to prepare; hence the enormous boost of Kraft Mac and Cheese.

There are numerous names throughout the United States and our American timeline; and of course a wide variety of recipes. In Southeastern Connecticut it was called long ago a macaroni pudding; in Italy the dish was classically made with Parmesan cheese. There is also a variation in Switzerland called Alplermagronen; which means Alpine Herder’s Macaroni. Recently our beloved Mac and Cheese has received a bad rap for obesity. The boxed versions of this homemade favorite actually have fewer calories and fat then the higher quality homemade version. At home there are alternatives by using whole wheat noodles, skim milk, olive oil, etc. Overall I still like Mac and Cheese the way it comes; sticky, gooey, cheesy, yummy goodness.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaroni_and_cheese
http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/MAIN/pastas/gourmet-mac2.asp
http://www.macaronicheeserecipes.com/Macaroni-and-Cheese-History.htm
http://southernfood.about.com/cs/casserolerecipes/a/macncheese.htm
http://www.cliffordawright.com/caw/food/entries/display.php/topic_id/16/id/105/

Modern Cuisine - working with seaweed

So my first day at the Modern Cuisine - Culinary Club was fun and successful.

We worked with a hydrocolloid called Carrageenan; which is derived from Red Seaweed found in the Atlantic Ocean. It's used to thicken different foods and drinks we use everyday. You boil the seaweed to extract the carrageenan; which is ironic because then you boil your liquids with carrageenan to thicken the product.

Referenced: http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/question315.htm

We created some pretty interesting gels, deserts, drinks, etc...

I worked on two different recipes; one was a pineapple gel which didn't turn out so well...I found out later that I should have put the pineapple juice in a blender. After I had the juice spinning in a vortex then I should have added the iota carrageenan. (two different forms of carrageenan; iota and kappa) Then I could have heated the juice and chilled as specified.

My next recipe was a Chocolate chantilly, foam, desert...it was a chocolate mousse/gel desert and then broken in too two other properties. The first was a mixture of water, sugar, heavy cream, melted chocolate, instant coffee and carrageenan. You heat all the ingredients to a minimum of 80 degrees Celsius (or 176 degrees Fahrenheit); then place in molds and chill. This first form is the desert portion...carrageenan causes the finished product to be silky smooth in a gel form. The second form was to but the gel into a blender and make a liquid gel...finally the final form was to place the liquid gel and charge it with nitrogen. You can then create the foam...the finished product is pictured below.

This was a lot of fun and brought me back to my scientific/lab days in middle & high school...

New England Week

This week was New England week...we had New England Clam Chowder, Gingerbread with whipped cream, New England Boiled Dinner (corned beef, cabbage, carrots, turnips, onions, potatoes), Cod Cakes, Clams Casino, Roasted turkey with sweet potato mash, glazed turnips and stuffing...oh and of course blueberry/peach cobbler!

Whew!

In the two days of New England food and learning the idea behind most of the food; I realized I am not a New England fan. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I am a Dolphins fan and can't stand the Patriots; or I just wasn't thrilled with the mostly bland menu. Don't get me wrong however, the food we created tasted great! But, I look for more flavors to pop in a dish.

Our boiled dinner came out great...all the cuts were done great and chef made the corned beef (because of time constraints). The clam chowder was a hit! Everyone loved it and the taste was perfect. I waited until serving time to add the clams and made sure I used enough clams so every bite had one. As for the condiments; I had Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce on the side to add to the soup if you desired. Our cobbler was awesome; although it could of sat in the oven another 10 minutes to cook the very center. Otherwise the taste was perfect...and the crumb was seasoned well.

On the second day we had a lot to do...

I roasted the turkey (1/2 a bird) with a rub of olive oil, salt, pepper, sage and thyme. We also made clams casino; which consisted of bacon, burnoise red pepper, green pepper, fine diced onion, panko bread crumbs and of course the clam. You saute all the goodies and after steaming the clams and removing from the shell; place back in the shell with a scoop of the breading. Bake the clams in the oven until done. Turnips were glazed the same we learned how to glaze carrots, but we used maple syrup instead of sugar. The stuffing was a little wet because we used panko by accident; but it turned out great!!! The sweet potato mash was very easy to make and Maria added brown sugar to the mash to add sweetness. The cranberry sauce was a boiled reduction on orange, cranberries, sugar and water. Finally the Cod Cakes were a hit, made by Vanessa. Vanessa made the patties of potato and poached cod; then pan fried them. Everyone loved the cakes...

Overall good week and I look forward to the Mid-Atlantic this week...please see the pictures below...

Avocado Tuna Salad

Ok so I tried something out last night for Christina's lunch...

I took one 5 oz can of Bumble Bee Solid Albacore (in water) tuna; mixed it with 1/4 of a Haas avocado, 2 minced dill gherkins; 1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes; 1/4 tsp onion powder; pinch of salt; pinch of black pepper; pinch of garlic powder; 1/4 tsp olive oil; 1 tbsp of red wine vinegar; 1 tsp of low fat mayonnaise (NOT miracle BLAH!)...
Mix all ingredients well making it very smooth...

You can add back into half of the avocado shell; top with thin sliced 1/4 of plum tomato; rest of other 1/4 part of avocado and alfalfa sprouts...or put mix in a wrap with tomato, alfalfa and avocado. If you like onion taste add a few thin slices of onion...
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Al Cacace
954-475-2525 ext 18
-- Sent from my Palm Pre

Latin Week 9

Last week in Latin we made a lot of food and finished in the allotted time. Only wish the group would learn how to clean and stop screwing around. We finished at 9:00 and didn't get out until 10:45...I hope some of them who are there to receive their diplomas; get some discipline before getting a job in the real world.

Our menu for this week consisted of the lower Antilles...Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Trinidad, etc...
We made pepper pot soup, yuca mufongo with cilantro aioli sauce (we made mufongo with plantains instead), camarones sofrito (shrimp in red sofrito), salad of hearts of palm with passion fruit vinaigrette, Sorullos de maiz, guava fool, and corn pudding.

Let me start by saying this week's food was awesome! I made the Pepper pot Soup and the Hearts of Palm Salad; with passion fruit vinaigrette. The pepper pot soup is a mixture of greens, simmered meats, shrimp, scotch bonnet pepper, root vegetables, boniato, taro root, okra and coconut milk. Chef said the taste, color and texture were perfect. I should have used a different garnish instead of the chives...obviously this one slipped past me with green on green. Our salad was great; the vinaigrette according to chef tasted great and it was very refreshing. I should have cut the cherry tomatoes in half and cut the hearts on the bias. Other than the fore mentioned; the salad was great...a good mix of red onion, hearts of palm, tomatoes, red bell and green bell pepper.

The mufongo was made by Maria and it contained pork rinds, plantain chips, fresh garlic cloves, plantains...it was AWESOME! We filled the mufongo with Loida's Camarones Sofrito. We made the red sofrito instead of the green and it turned out great. Chef said the shrimp were perfectly cooked, the sofrito tasted great and the mix with the mufongo was great! In fact chef had us bring around our mufongo for everyone to try...

Henry made the sorullos de maiz from Puerto Rico. They are made with fine corn meal, water and salt...then you fill them with queso fresco. WOW! Maria made a dip that was basically mayo, ketchup and lime juice...what a perfect compliment. Mike made the guava fool and corn pudding...chef thought both deserts were great and I thought the same. Guava Fool is basically guava puree (confectioners sugar and softened guava) strained and chilled. Then you fold the puree into whipped heavy cream; garnish with mint leaves and almonds if you wish. The corn pudding is a can of creamed corn, milk, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and coconut milk. You blend the corn, coconut and half the milk; pass through a strainer and add the rest of the milk. Then you add sugar, vanilla bean and boil. Reduce the mixture to a simmer add the cinnamon; dissolve the cornstarch to make a slurry and add to the mix. Once the pudding is thickened, turn off the heat and remove vanilla bean. Pour the pudding into individual cups and dust with ground cinnamon.

Overall it was an awesome week...we finished on time and we made awesome food! This week is our practical final...look for my pictures on this awesome dish!