Regional Cuisines Make-up Work

FOODS!!!

So, as I believe I mentioned before, I missed more days than I would have liked this block. On the plus side, one of the ways that we can make up for a missed day is to cook some dishes of the day. Two days I missed foods from the south of this beautiful country, Florida/Caribbean and the Southern States. They both have tasty food!!! Oh well, I got to make it all yesterday :-D

Florida/Caribbean

Key Lime Pie:

So this I already made, (it's been 2 weeks now!) but it is one of the dishes we had planned for that day. As I wrote in that original post, I needed some more lime flavor, I think next time I will make an almost Creme Anglaise while seeping the lime zest and then strain it out. I was going to add more juice but that is EXACTLY the cause of my thumb disaster...

Jerk Chicken:

I really enjoyed making this. It was sooooooo tasty! I had to do a bit of a twist on the recipe that we had, I wrote everything down but apparently just didn't read the list when I went to King Soopers.

Marinade:

• 4 Limes - juice of all, zest of 2
• 2T Blackening Seasoning
• 2T Ground Allspice 
• 2T Ginger Paste
• 4 Green Onions - small dice
• 1/2 Fresno Chile - small dice
• 2t Cinammon
• Salt & Pepper - to taste
• 2 Cloves Garlic - minced
• 4oz Canola Oil
• 1-1/2 T Dried Parsley*
• 1T Dried Oregano*
• 1 Sprig Fresh Rosemary

Chicken:

• 6 Skinless-boneless Chicken Thighs

*The recipe calls for fresh cilantro, I totally forgot it and had to improvise for similar flavor*

1. Rinse off and pat the chicken dry with paper towels. Season with salt and pepper, rosemary.
2. Mix all of the remaining marinade ingredients in a bowl.
3. Coat chicken in marinade, ensuring all sides have some of the sauce. Chill for at least 1 hour.
4. Heat some oil in a non-stick pan on medium-high heat, (I have a great cast iron from my grandmother) and sear the chicken on all sides. Make sure you don't burn it!!!
5. Reduce the heat and cover with a loose fitting lid or some foil. Cook until chicken is done, about 15 minutes (165F internal temp).
6. Serve and enjoy!!!

The South:

For this day, I made some cornbread and finished the meal off with my favorite, Pecan Pie. I also apparently forgot to take a photo of the cornbread like at all during the whole process... I will update this when I get home!

I absolutely LLLOOOVVVEEE Pecan Pie, it's the best pie!!!!!!!!

Cornbread:

• 8oz All Purpose Flour
• 8oz Yellow Cornmeal
• 1/2oz Baking Powder
• Pinch of salt
• 2 Eggs - lightly beaten
• 8oz Heavy Whipping Cream*
• 4oz Unsalted Butter - melted*
• 2oz Honey
• 2oz Sugar

*The recipe called for half and half. I looked FOREVER at King Soopers and couldn't find ANY! Like any at all... So heavy cream it is! It also calls for half the butter, but I love it so oh well.

You can see my sifted flours in the bowl.

1. Heat the oven to 400F.
2. Sift together the dry ingredients, I use a dry whisk to ensure it is all properly mixed together.
3. Combine the wet ingredients. To make sure the honey gets incorporated I mixed it first with the hot butter and then added it to the eggs.
4. Combine all the ingredients until the flour is just incorporated. Immediately put into a greased baking pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean from the center of the bread. (I had to cook mine for closer to 40 minutes, my oven is hit or miss on baking)
5. Serve hot!

Pecan Pie:

Dough:

I'm not a fan of the traditional pie dough for pecan pies. I really like the graham cracker crust on dessert pies. This was the first time I used one for a pecan pie, it got a bit of the liquid in the dough and got a bit of the caramel chew to it. Next time I think I will make a thicker crust and see what happens, it's all a learning process in the end :)

Filling:

• 5T Unsalted Butter
• 8oz Packed Brown Sugar
• 6oz Light Corn Syrup
• 1/2t Salt
• 2c Chopped Pecans*
• 1oz Bourbon*
• 2t Pure Vanilla Extract
• 3 Eggs - lightly beaten

*The chopped pecans at the store were TWICE as much money as the halved ones. Yep, I wasn't about to pay extra money for that. I just smashed them, still in the bag, against my bannister in the kitchen. Chopped pecans folks!!! For my bourbon I used the slightly better Gentleman Jack, yes I also made a rosemary infused whiskey :-D

1. Heat oven to 350F.
2. Gently whisk the eggs in a bowl. Set aside.
3. In a a saucepan, combine the butter, corn syrup, salt and brown sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. DO NOT BURN!!! Remove from heat.
4. Stir in the bourbon and vanilla. Let cool for 5 minutes.
5. Whisk in the eggs until smooth. Fold in the pecans. Pour into the pie crust and bake for 40-45 minutes, until the edges are set and the center is almost there. Cool 10 minutes and serve wish fresh whipped cream!

This in-action shot of sautéing the carrots was so hard to do! 

Overall it was a really good meal! I made the sautéed veggies to add the balance to the meal, you need a proper one. They were carrots, onions, and red peppers sautéed with a bit of rosemary, garlic, and salt. I really loved cooking all of it, even if it was something I HAD to do! Can't wait to go home and eat it!

Farm to Table (Day 84)

Mostly just bread:

I'm finally on the right track for making baguettes. On monday I made some for our Vietnamese sandwiches, they did not turn out (I found out yesterday that the flours were mislabeled, that I might have used cake flour instead of bread flour, that doesn't work...). Today I made some awesome looking ones! They still needed a bit more salt but I'm on the right track!

Farm to Table:

So I didn't take a lot of photos today, I was consumed by my bread and it's fairly difficult to take photos with dough hands. Maybe if I win the Powerball I will hire a photographer to just constantly take photos for me (fingers crossed). Anyways:

Keenan made a really, really good Beet Marinated Pork Tenderloin with a beet reduction sauce. Definitely one of the better dishes of the day!

Chef Marcus Lepke is back at it! With his hand almost healed he is back and ready to blow us all away with his skills. This is a much better way to present the Gravlox that he is known for.

Look at that plate! Simplistic and so very pretty! I forgot to come back and taste it with his horseradish sauce, I did get to sneak a bite of the lox though :-)

Jakob Schmidt helped us all learn on how to make beautiful presentations. He made an exquisite pork loin that was so tender with a nice zingy Asian fusion sauce. Chef Carlos Ruiz actually plated this dish for all of us to see. It was an awesome learning experience!!!

We only have 2 more days left in this block! I can't believe it, I remember being in foundations and being so intimidated by the class that was in Regionals at the time. It has flown by. Tomorrow is the written final for me, I will cook on Monday, so I will do my best to take a bunch of photos! This weekend and definitely next week while on vacation will be a "catch up" period where I will write a few more in depth posts about the last 2 months. Until then, good night!

As a side note:

I'm not saying I judge whomever bought this and forgot it at Eureka, but I am. Please, please look this up online! Literally one of the ingredients listed is "children's laughter at 999hz". It tasted like a sad version of Pom Wonderful juice. We all tried a bit, it was a hilarious time!

New UPDATE!!!

First, my thumb:

This photo was from Monday. Exactly one week after cutting it off! I can't believe how fast it healed, this is some Wolverine level healing (ha! I wish!). I'm super happy I can use it again, just trying to open the bandaids without it was awful!

On to the Good, good:

Kind of like last week, [where I did promise follow updates and didn't get to them :( ] this will be a short and sweet post. This week we finished our tour of the world in East Asia with Vietnam, Thailand, and finally Japon (that's the French spelling).

Vietnam:

So this was kind of a failed day. We didn't really do the Vietnamese proud. Although I thought the spring roll, peanut sauce, and Vietnamese baguette had good flavor, it was not true to the dishes. We also failed miserably in making the soup. I will post more about it hopefully tomorrow!

Thailand:

Unlike Vietnam, on the day we were in Thailand we really made amazing food! The Pad Thai that Laurice made (2nd of the 3 photos) was soooooooo good! It was definitely one of the best days we have had this block, I can't wait to make these recipes again at home!!!! I will post a few of them for you if I'm in the mood ;)

Japan:

So as you can see, we got to make SUSHI!!!!!!

Today was awesome! This was one of the best days I've had. I think it is going to be where I will plan to go after school is out. I'm trying to get my externship at Matsuhisa in Cherry Creek, fingers crossed. I'm definitely a HUGE FAN of eating sushi and I had a blast making it!

More to come on all of these days soon!!!


Closing note!!!

7000!!!!!!......

In the past week the number of views have literally skyrocketed! Almost every day there has been at least 200 views! I'm going to get my ad thing set up this weekend, (yes I did finally get accepted into it! It is going to help me so much in life right now, and hopefully I can make it be custom to this field so you can join in with the fun!) so you will be seeing them soon.

THANK YOU!

I will keep on working here and having you come back for more! And as my life allows even after school this will become even bigger, we start winter break in a few days and I will get right on making the side project come to life!!!

Good night!

Quick Update (prelude to day 78 & 79)

5000!!!!!

THIS IS SO CRAZY!!!
In the last few days the views on the blog have gone up by 1000+!

WHAT?!?!?!

I am really at a loss for words. This is so cool that a little idea to keep track of this for me has gone this far. Seriously. Thank you. I can't wait to show you were we will be going soon!!!

Yes, I did take this while driving. In my defense I was maybe doing 15mph. It's the first REAL snow of the season and I wanted to show you how pretty it is!

I hope that in a few years time, I can look back on this while sitting somewhere warm drinking a beer. Wondering how and really why in the world I chose to be here sitting in my car while it's slowly getting colder, (it was 11 degrees today when I started writing this and then needed a nap, I only slept for maybe 20 minutes until it got too cold! I need to get a sleeping bag to stay warm).

Not even 6 months ago I would have been talking to someone about why they should buy an LG television over a Sony or a Samsung. I would have slapped you silly if you told me the direction my life was about to go. I'm really glad to be back in a semi-happy place. Sure I'm still working out a few things, but I do have a better outlook on things.

Anyways, quick update before I have to go to bed.

Day 78: Philippines and Indonesia

So I've stopped brining my knife kit to class. We have had an unfortunate bout of missing items lately, someone nabbed my apron last week, so I've been a bit uneasy about brining my nice tools. I know that's a bit of a bummer but I can do almost everything I need with my trusty pocket knife (yes I sanitize it every morning! I bet it's cleaner than your silver wear!).

Chef Carlos Ruiz demos how to properly make a skewer, NOT a kabob!!! 

Rigo made a tasty beet stir fry. I absolutely love the colors here. The deep hues of red and almost purple are awesome! Bubba where is the nice camera?!?!? 

Keenan made a fancy presentation of his Pork Adobo. 

I will post a more in depth article this weekend on the days, I have to close the next 3 nights (I worked tonight too) so I won't be getting much sleep or free time to write. I should be doing my production sheet, don't tell Chef Carlos!!!

Kitchen Day 79: Korea

Mitch was trying to take a serious photo here but I waited until he couldn't anymore! Ha, I win Mitch!!!! 

Last night I turned on the wonderful Anthony Bourdain on Netflix. After letting it play a few episodes while I did homework it happened upon his trip to Korea. It was a cool coincidence because they talked about a dish called Bi Bim Bop, one that we made in class. Kind of a cool thing!

 Kurtis (foreground), Keenan (middle), and Mitch (background) plate the Bi Bim Bop

 

I will talk more about the dishes we made and the prep that went into the day as a whole. I have noticed that I have absolutely slacked on taking good photos, and even photos of all the dishes for the last few days. I will try and get some better ones starting tomorrow.

Anyways goodnight! Honestly thank you to everyone that spends time reading this, I would never have imagined that this could be so interesting to anyone besides me. 

Salut!

December 5th (Kitchen day 77...)

So, it finally happened...

I cut myself with one of my knives... Pretty badly actually. As I said earlier I was planning on making an incredible dinner tonight. I did, but I also cut off a bit too much. Literally... >:(

I won't start off this post with a photo of the damage, (I will post a photo though) I don't want you to stop reading immediately......

First, dinner!

So I made a super, super tasty meal:

Pork Tenderloin

A Rosemary infused Pork Tenderloin, 

with Golden Beets

& a Mushroom/Rosemary sauce

Key Lime Pie

Fresh squeezed Key Lime pie,

with homemade Vanilla Whipped Cream

I should have used a sprig of rosemary for a garnish...

Until tonight, the best pork loin I've ever had was at Aurum in Steamboat Springs. Now I can say that the best was today. Rosemary is by far the BEST herb for seasoning. Honestly I'm going to name my first daughter that. You can use it in anything, sweet, savory, spicy. I should have maybe used a bit in either the whipped cream or the pie, next time! Right up until I cut my thumb I was having a blast. So for the prep:

Pork:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Rinse and dry pork tenderloin, season with salt and pepper.
3. Chop up 2t fresh rosemary, place in a small bowl with 1oz olive oil and heat in oven 3 mins to infuse flavor. Rub tenderloin with the rosemary and rosemary oil. Chill 1 hour.
4. In a hot, oiled cast iron pan, sear the outside of the pork, don't burn. Make sure all sides are a nice golden brown, remove from pan. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.

Sauce:

1. Deglaze the cast iron pan with some hot milk. Add 3T butter and stir, keep on very low temp.
2. Sauté mushrooms in a pan and when they are nice and golden, add to sauce. Keep on low.
3. AFTER COOKING PORK: Add any juices from baking sheet and from cutting pork (after resting) to sauce and reduce, I used some beurre manie (equal parts butter and flour) to thicken it quickly.
4. Serve with pork.

Golden Beets:

1. Peel and medium dice the beets. 
2. Heat 1T oil in a pan, sauté the beets for 5 minutes, season. Reduce heat to medium, add 2T water and simmer for 10-15 minutes until done.
3. Remove from heat, season with olive oil. Serve.

Key Lime Pie & Whipped Cream:

1. Whip 6 egg yolks and 1 can sweetened condensed milk (14oz).
2. Add the zest of 4 Key Limes and 6oz Key Lime juice.
3. Pour into a graham cracker pie crust (I had one leftover from last Thanksgiving) and bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes.
4. Cool 1 hour.
5. Whip cream with 1t vanilla extract and 2T sugar.
6. Serve pie with whipped cream.

The limes are what ruined me. I had already cut and zested them, about 8 for the juice, and decided I needed just a bit more juice. Grabbed one more lime, went to cut it, and immediately realized I also cut the end of my thumb off. Found out that my knife is actually sharp though! I didn't think the tool was working... 

Kitchen Day 77!

I did want to write a bit more about the day in the kitchen today. Sitting here, with my destroyed and throbbing thumb, I am tired. As I said before we made Indian food today. Here are some photos, I didn't remember to take them until we were almost done.

 Keenan's Tandoori Chicken, nice and smokey!

 I made Samosas with Megan today. Apparently they are the best fried, it wan't clear in our production that was the case :(

Rigo's take on Tandoori Chicken. He used more sauce than Keenan did. This was definitely a favorite dish of the day!

So now I'm going to bed. It might be a full on blizzard tomorrow so I'm going to have to wake up early and clean off the cars. I'm also going to try and get my production sheet done then, typing with this thumb is one thing, writing is a bit more difficult, I have to hold my hand to ensure the skin isn't stressed and pulls the liquid bandage off. 

Here is the photo, I will update with a better, more gruesome one tomorrow! :P

This was after I realized I could make a tourniquet with a hair tie, it went right through all the layers of skin. It was definitely bleeding so fast that the liquid bandage would just run off. During cooking I had to reseal it, even without using the thumb your skin moves a ton! I did find out it isn't impossible to live without a thumb, just super difficult...

Here is is after a few days in bandages. It's a pretty sizable hole in there! The hardest thing is getting used to holding things without a thumb. Today I picked the stems off spinach without it, go try to do that and let me know how it goes!!! :'(