Plating Week 2: Pork

Today marked the first day of our T1 finals at school. During the two hour time we had to make one chicken dish, one pork dish, two starches, two vegetables, and two sauces. At the end of the 2 hour time limit we also had to plate our food. I was impressed at how well our team did today since it was our first time ever cooking that much food in a single kitchen time slot. At the end of this week I will post pictures of most of the dishes we make in the following few days.

Last week our focus was pork. As I previously wrote, pork is not my favorite protein although I am starting to enjoy it more. Especially as I am becoming more comfortable cooking it. I think my highlight of last week was the time I butchered, brined, and cooked an entire pork tenderloin [pretty perfectly I might add] all by myself. It was the first time I had ever cooked a big hunk of pork before and I was happy with the results.

Last week we also learned how to make gnocchi which I am super excited about! I have been wanting to try to make these little potato dumplings for a while now and, as it turns out, they are super easy to make. I will post the recipe in the near future.

Now onto the photos, please excuse the iphone quality - they are the only cameras allowed in the kitchen.

Sage-brined Pork tenderloin with Robert sauce, apple-cheddar risotto, roasted butternut
squash and fried sage leaves

Stuffed and grilled pork chop with a modern demi-glace, creamy polenta cakes and
maple glazed carrots topped with fried shallot rings

Fig stuffed roasted pork loin with a creamy pan reduction sauce, roasted brussels
sprouts, and sautéed gnocchi with apple poached figs

I hope you all have a good night!
-c

Eggplant Parmesan

I made this a while ago but haven't gotten around to posting the recipe. This is a pretty easy vegetarian option that is easy to make you own by altering the spices that you put into the breading.  In class, we added some cayenne pepper for a spicier flavor and everyone loved it!

Here is one of the favorite dishes from my first class (I told you I made it a while ago).

Pan-fried Eggplant (serves 2-3)
1 medium eggplant (sliced in 1/4-1/2 inch slices)
1.5 c. Panko bread crumbs
4 eggs
1 c. flour
salt and pepper
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
canola oil

Once the eggplant is peeled and sliced ( I would recommend peeling it because the breading won't stick to the skin) you need to bread it. First, dip the eggplant in seasoned flour, then the egg mixture, then the panko crumbs and parmesan (mixed). Pour the oil into a cast iron frying pan until it will reach 1/2 way up the slices of eggplant. Heat the oil over medium heat to the point that the panko will sizzle if a few crumbs are dropped in. However, you don't want the oil to reach the smoke point. Place the breaded slices of eggplant into the oil until they are golden brown, flip and brown on the other side. Once both sides have been browned they can be placed into a 200 degree oven to keep warm until you are ready to eat them. (These are best eaten within 20 minutes of frying)

Tomato Sauce (serves 2-3)
1 medium onion, small dice (if you aren't going to blend the sauce you might want to only use half)
3 cloves garlic
1/4 c. olive oil
1 can diced tomato
2 Tbs. tomato paste (optional)
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
10 leaves fresh basil, sliced
salt and pepper

Saute onion and garlic in the olive oil. You can cook these as much as caramelizing them or just quickly sweat them, its up to you! (If you do caramelize them then you could add a little red/white wine to deglaze the pan which is super yummy!) Add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and the red pepper flakes. Let this cook [covered] until you are ready to blend it (up to 1 hour). Blend until smooth, stir in basil and season with salt and pepper.

We ate these with some pasta, tomato sauce, and parmesan cheese.

xx -c

sorry about the lack of photos for this dish most of them mysteriously got deleted off my camera...

More [Grilled] Cheese, Please!

A few days ago some friends and I got together and made some fancy grilled cheeses. We all agreed that fancy grilled cheese night was one of our favorites, it allows each person to make their own sandwich exactly how they want it and it is super easy. Not to mention that it helps you finish off random thing from your refrigerator that there isn't quite enough of to make a whole dish. I ended up buying some cheese, prosciutto, an avocado, and a loaf of bread. That's it! Along with the sandwiches I made a big pot of tomato soup which was delicious on this particularly chilly fall night!

Tomato Soup (serves 6)
1 large onion, medium dice
2 tbs. olive oil
1 c. Spicy V8 (or just plain tomato juice)
2 1/2 c. water
24 oz canned crush tomatoes (one big can and one smaller one)
1.5 tsp worcestershire sauce
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
6 oz heavy cream

Optional:
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried red pepper flakes
A dash of paprika (adds a smokey flavor)

Sweat onions in oil then deglaze the pan with the V8. Add water, crushed tomatoes, herbs, and pepper flakes. Let it simmer for 30 minutes. Blend with a stick blender (or a real blender) and return to the pot. Add the worcestershire sauce, paprika, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer and add the cream. At this point your soup is done, if you wanted to add in some fresh basil, parsley, or other herbs this would be the time to do so!

*The spicy V8 and red pepper flakes make the soup have a little spice to it, I like it but if you don't like spice then just use regular tomato juice and omit the red pepper flakes.

Our toppings:
-Fresh mozzarella
-White cheddar
-Ricotta
-Cream cheese
-Prosciutto
-Avocado
-Sundried Tomatoes
-Olives
-Jams and jellies
-garlic

I just laid everything out and let everyone else make their own combinations. I have to say they were all delicious!

 I put ricotta, mozz, sun-dried tomatoes, avocado, and prosciutto on mine. After I grilled it I also rubbed a raw garlic clove on the crunchy outside of the bread which gave it a yummy garlic-bread flavor!

Also, because it is national cat day here is a picture of the lovely Willow. 

This photo was taken by my friend Maya

xx -c

Bolognese Sauce

Good afternoon,

Today marks the start of "pork week" at school. To get ready for this I decided [on Friday] that I was going to make something with pork in it this weekend, as a way to kind of ease into it. Well, as of Sunday morning I still hadn't figured out what I was going to make. I had picked up a cooking magazine and I was flipping through it and I found this recipe for bolognese sauce. I was surprised about how delicious it sounded to me since I'm not normally a big red meat/pork person. I decided to give it a shot, I think it came out really well and it was really easy to make! The only down side is that it makes A LOT, like Matt and I each ate a serving and it still doesn't look like we have touched it! I think I might freeze some, and next time I make it I think I would cut the recipe in half. This would be a great thing to make if you were having people come over, especially on a chilly day!

Bolognese Sauce (serves 8ish)
1# ground beef chuck
1# ground pork
4 oz pancetta, finely chopped
1 carrot, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 large onion, diced
1 cup milk
2 cups chicken broth
1 14.5oz can crushed tomatoes
2 tbs. olive oil
1 1/4 cups red wine
Salt and Pepper
2 tsp. dried herbs
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
3/4 tsp. worcestershire sauce

Start by roughly chopping the onion, celery, and carrots then putting them in a food processor and pulsing until they are finely chopped. If you want the veggies to be more noticeable in the sauce or you don't have a food processor then just small dice them. In a big pot, brown the meats and veggies in the oil until all of the meat is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. Add the wine and bring to a boil and reduce for 2 minutes. Then add the milk and bring it to a boil again and reduce until all of the liquid has evaporated, 8-10 minutes. Now add the crushed tomatoes [both the tomatoes and juice] and the chicken broth. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. At this point you can add the pepper flakes and herbs of your choice [if you want]. Simmer the sauce for 2-3 hours. If the liquid evaporates before then you can add water in 1/2 cup increments. Add the worcestershire sauce once the sauce is done. Serve over pasta or spaghetti squash.

I think that this would also be good with some lemon juice or fresh basil. Something to freshen the sauce up since it is so heavy and rich!

xx -C

Plating: Week 1

Hello-

I hope everyone had a great weekend, mine was very relaxing and went by a little too quickly. In a previous post I mentioned that we started plating in school this past week and I thought I would show you my plates from our last four days of chicken. Plating is a lot harder than I thought it would be, you have to think about different colors, themes, shapes, heights, garnishes, and many other aspects of the dish to produce a beautiful plate. It seems that everyone has their own rules for what produces a beautiful plate, here are a few that we have learned so far:

         

          1: You want to add some height to your dish. It adds a different, more exciting dynamic to the dish. 

          2: We have been using round plates which is more conducive to a tight, centered look compared to using a rectangular plate. 

          3: You want to minimize the amount of negative space between the different types of food, this makes the dish look more clean and organized.

          4: Use edible garnishes; avoid overly potent foods such as rosemary. 

          5: Keep the rim of the plate clean and allow for ~1 inch of space between the food and the rim around the whole plate.  

Chicken Fricassee with sautéed green beans and Arancini (fried risotto balls stuffed with cheese)

Pan-seared chicken with roasted butternut squash, fresh apple-walnut ravioli and brown butter sauce.  // this was my favorite plate that I produced last week. 

Yakitori chicken with shittake-asparagus stir-fry and rice.

Chicken cordon bleu with roasted fingerlings, sautéed summer squash and béchamel sauce. 

Tomorrow starts the beginning of pork week. I am pretty nervous about this since I normally stay away from most pork products (other than bacon). I'm not exactly sure why, maybe because I grew up in a household that didn't eat any red meat or pork? Anyway, I'm looking forward to learning lots in the upcoming week. Keep an eye out, tomorrow I will be sharing a easy recipe for bolognese sauce that I tried out today!

xx -c

Sunday Muffins: Coffee Cake Muffins

Happy Weekend!

This morning has been a lazy one - not getting out of bed until 10:30, staying in pajamas, drinking coffee, and making muffins. In a previous post I wrote about how I love the weekends because it gives me time to enjoy breakfast [my favorite meal] and sometimes I even bake something. Welllll I made a goal for myself. I want to try to bake at least one thing every Saturday [or Sunday]. This feature will be called Sunday Muffins (I know, I know this time it was on a Saturday). Anyway, today we decided to make coffee cake muffins. I found a basic recipe here and changed it a little bit.

Coffee Cake Muffins (Makes 12)
Streusel Topping
1 c. packed brown sugar
1 c. AP flour
Pinch salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 stick butter

Muffins
1 stick butter
1 3/4 c. AP flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
6 oz. plain yogurt
2 oz. milk
1 c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 350˚ F.

For the streusel: Mix brown sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together. Cut in the butter and mix with a fork or clean hands (using your hands is easier) until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Let sit out the counter until you are ready to use it.

For the muffins: In an electric mixer beat butter, yogurt, milk, sugar, and vanilla together until smooth. Add the flour, baking powder, and baking soda. Mix until just combined and almost smooth.

Spoon a small layer of muffin batter into the bottom of the each hole in a paper-lined muffin tin [using about half of the batter]. Then sprinkle a layer of the streusel. Cover that with another layer of the muffin batter [finishing it off] and another layer of the streusel. Bake for ~20 minutes or until golden brown and a knife inserted into the middle of the muffin comes out clean. 

 Bake for ~20 minutes or until golden brown and a knife inserted into the middle of the muffin comes out clean. 

xx -c

Baked Feta

Good evening,

The past two days have been really exciting and sort of stressful at school. Monday marked the beginning of individual plate presentations, meaning that instead of just serving food family style on platters we are now making actual plates (such as you would see in a restaurant). We also switched into new groups, and after working with the same people for the past few weeks and getting to know their habits, we now have to figure out how to work with new individuals. It's both fun and challenging. Check back this weekend for photos of my plates from the week.

Now onto the recipe. Matt loves feta, like loves it so much he could eat an entire container plain. I, on the other hand, could take it or leave it. It's far from my least favorite but it is also far from my favorite. This being said, Matt would be happy adding feta to just about anything; pasta, pizza, salad, and so on. Since knowing him, he has mentioned this baked feta dish that he had at a restaurant years ago. This weekend I decided that I was going to try my hand at this "baked feta". Not knowing where to start we found a recipe on one of my favorite blogs and tried it out. I changed a few things such as omitting an onion because Matt hates them and adding extra garlic because I love it. I also used sun-dried tomatoes because it is hard to find good tomatoes in late October but if they were in season I would have used those. I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it (I'm pretty sure I ate an obscene amount).

Baked Feta (serves 3-4 if Matt isn't included)
10 oz fresh feta
1 c. sun-dried tomatoes, julienned
1/3 c. kalmata olives, chopped
2 big cloves garlic
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
black pepper, to taste
crackers, bread, crostini - for serving

Preheat oven to 400˚F.

Fill ramekins half way with feta or place feta in an oven safe dish. Mix sun-dried tomatoes, olives, garlic, olive oil, oregano, and black pepper together. Spoon this mixture over the feta and bake for 10-15 minutes until the top starts to brown. Serve hot! If it cheese cools it will firm up, but you can always pop the cheese back in the oven to re-soften it! We ate this by spreading it onto some crostini - it was delicious.

xx
-c