Cookin No. 35 - First Snow Flake On My Tongue and Thanksgiving Dinner

Butternut Squash Salad




Last night, or rather this morning, as I was leaving my friend Chris’ home from a lovely evening of making sweet potato gratin, good conversation and an invigorating game of Halo, I stepped outside to stand in the middle of the first snow fall. What a lovely surprise to see white flakes falling from the sky, and as usual when it snows, it felt like the whole world was silent. I stood outside for a little while, just taking it all in, realizing that the winter is really here. Then I ran around catching snowflakes in my mouth, and making plans with Chris about our annual snowball battle. This year I shall crush her with a mighty force that the heads of her ancestors will roll and crack like dried peanuts! It will be a battle that will go down in history, oh yes, and after we will share the ceremonial cup of hot chocolate.

So after our usual battle taunts I headed home. It was beautiful driving home, every time I drove under a street lamp, the snowflakes were lit up and perfect. The ground was covered in a white dusting. I can’t wait for some real snow. I’m not a big skiing person, but I appreciate curling up on cold days with a cup of tea and watching the world outside. Sometimes I like to walk in the snow, and just take it all in, a white outline around everything, the limbs of trees, its just beautiful.

Aside from the first snow, today was also thanksgiving, and we had a bit feast at my parent’s house. My brother, his wife and his in-laws came to join us. I woke up early and headed over to my parent’s house to start cooking at 9:00 am. It is such a pleasure to cook with my father, sometimes it feels like we read each others minds, because when I need something, he’s right next to me with the item I need, and vice versa. This was also a good opportunity for me to show off a little. Even though I have only been in school for three months, I have learned such a wealth of knowledge, and my skills have really improved. I kind of wanted to show everyone what I am capable of so far, and its only going to get better. There is always room for improvement, and I don’t think I will ever reach the point of perfection, in fact I hope I don’t. Because it’s not fun to be perfect, I enjoy making mistakes, and learning how to fix them. Like the pumpkin bisque soup that we started with. I got the recipe out of the Culinary Institute’s text book, which is my textbook for school, and following the recipe exactly was disastrous. The liquid that was the soup was not a bisque, its was really thin, and you couldn’t taste the pumpkin. The original recipe called for 5 ounces of pumpkin flesh, I ended up cutting up the whole pumpkin and putting it in, and even then the chicken stock was still too overpowering. I also ended up putting in a corn starch slurry to thicken the soup. In the end all turned out well, but there is room for a lot of improvement. Next time I will probably use more pumpkin, less chicken stock and more water, potatoes to create a natural thickness, and some cream. But that is for next time.

In the spirit of not wasting anything, I roasted the pumpkin seeds and used them as a garnish for the soup, along with some fresh chopped parsley. The plate presentation was very nice; unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of one. Oh well, I hope you get the idea.

So the menu this evening was:

Pumpkin Bisque soup

Butternut squash salad with spinach, crazens (cranberries that are raisins without the singing and dancing), and walnut encrusted goat cheese.

Lasagna bolinase

Brine roasted turkey breast
Apple orange cranberry sauce
Stuffing muffins
Brusslesprouts with apple wood bacon and chestnuts
Ginger ale glazed carrots
String beans almandine

Cherry pie
Pecan Pie
Ice Cream
Coffee and tea









Stuffin Muffins
















Ginger Ale Carrots




It was a lovely feast. Although for a while I was a little anti-social, because when I get in the groove of cookin I don’t really want to talk to people. I am lost in my little world of wonderful smells and tastes, and it’s hard to pull me away. Only when all is out on the table and the work is done, can I really relax.

This dinner took us a little over three hours to get threw, but that’s the way I love to feast. I want to take my time, and savor each taste. Each course should be a separate entity, so that it can be fully enjoyed. And there should be time for drinking and conversation. You shouldn’t leave the table so stuffed that you feel like the bird that was just in the oven. You should be relaxed and full, but not uncomfortable. Eating should be a joy, not something that causes you to run to the bathroom with stomach cramps. The food takes a journey, starting with the taste buds in the mouth, then finds its way down to your stomach, where you stomach should take part of the same pleasures that the mouth has just experienced. The food should sit there, and take its time to be processed, just like the time it took to be prepared.

The company at a dinner party is also important. I usually enjoy 3 or 4 people at my dinner parties, because small groups tend to mingle together better than a large group. In large groups there are usually many conversations, and a bit of fighting to be heard so that after a while everything is so loud that you can barely hear the person you are speaking to. In small groups, the conversations are usually things that the whole table participates in. The entire evening is a shared experience, and more intimate. But I did enjoy the large party that took place this evening. Two families of intellects gathered together, and conversation was good. And even better, two families comprised of people who enjoy food gathered at our table. Such a lovely thing to experience, for me at least, because food is the base of a good dinner, and if you don’t enjoy the food, then you better hope the wine is good.

I have recently been thinking about my dream kitchen. Many people like open airy kitchens, with tons of wonderful gadgets. But I prefer smaller kitchens. My dream kitchen would have a clay tile floor, so that in the summer it will be cold and nice to cook barefoot, and in the winter, warm from the oven’s heat. There will be a large open window that looks out over a garden, or a wide sea view that goes on and on, or looking out in the street filled with people going about their business, or even a beautiful lush forest. If the window looks out over a garden, it should be large enough for me to open and pluck a sprig of an herb at my leisure. After that I would like lots of shelves, no cabinets, I want to see where everything is, the only things that should be hidden from view are the cleaning products and garbage bags. My stove will be a deep black gas stove, with an electric oven, it will be an island surrounded by counters. My pots and pans cast-iron, aluminum, and copper. My knives will be displayed on a magnetic strip running along a wall next to the stove, over my largest counter space. And of course counter space; I will require lots of it. The sink will be wide with a high spout. The colors will be copper and maroons, with some sage colored trim. Appropriate colors for all seasons. This is my dream kitchen, I think it would be quite lovely to cook in.

Aside from dinner parties and all that jazzy stuff, I have started skill development 1. My teacher Chef Scott is a very abrupt and energetic man. You really couldn’t stand in his presence for more than 10 minutes without being infected by his enthusiasm and puritan ideals. Because I am a purist myself I can completely understand and appreciate this kind of thinking. He started out the first day of class by talking about how method, technique and attitude are the most important tools to a cook. Then we went into the kitchen and started to work on our knife skills. We had to cut an onion, two stalks of celery, a carrot, and a turnip, into different cuts. It took me about and hour to do all of that, and then on the second day when we went into the kitchen, we had to do pretty much the same thing, and I improved over night greatly, along with the rest of my class. It only took me twenty minutes to do all the cuts. What a great sense of pride I felt. I know that nothing I did was perfect, but to improve like that felt so wonderful. And the best part was that the other people in my class improved like that too.
















I can’t wait until Monday, we do some more cuts, and then start to talk about soups and stocks. Soon I will learn all of the mother sauces. This is technically my first cooking class in school so far. Yes, I did some cooking, but that was just because we were learning about the products that we were working with, not because we were learning theories and all that jazzy stuff. So its will be good to build my repertoire.

Anywho, until next time my friends, Bon Appetite.

Cookin No. 34 - The New York Chocolate Show and The End of Meat Cutting

What is it about chocolate that makes it so absolutely wonderful? What secret drug is hidden in delicious delectable wonderful gooey succulent chocolate? I don’t know these answers, but I know that when I walked into the main room at the New York chocolate show this weekend, all I could smell and see was delicious chocolate. The moment I stepped threw the threshold a man was offering me a sample of the most delicious truffle that had ever entered my mouth. It was nearly impossible to go far without grabbing another sample. Sample after sample my friend Jeremy and I made our way threw the show. There was a company from Japan called Mary’s, they had employees making designs on the chocolate so the customers could see how it was done, and I have to say it was amazing. Such delicate work went into designing an intricate flower, such fine details. And the samples that they were offering were green tea and white chocolate ganache. I am not usually a white chocolate fan, but these were so refreshing, such a flavor that just cleansed your palate and sent you back on your way to taste dark sinful chocolate.

Everyone has a secret food that they savor in the confines of their private home, my secret love is chocolate. Although I share this with many people out there, I always feel like the only person who is tasting something utterly divine at that moment. For me, dark bitter chocolate, and the way it melts in my mouth, warming my body like a fine wine, nothing can top that sensation. And so I walked threw the chocolate show singing and dancing on cloud nine.

Chef Susan also appeared at the show, and it was refreshing to see that she is a normal person who wears clothes other than her uniform. We tasted some desert wine together, and then lost each other in the crowd. Jeremy and I found our way to the chocolate spa, where people were receiving chocolate massages and drinking green tea. Its amazing what people will do with chocolate. After the spa, we decided to take a break and headed out into the streets for a lunch of something other than chocolate. We found a cosi and sat and chatted for a while. I am glad to have made such friends in school, to be able to go into New York with someone who will watch food like I do is wonderful. It almost feels like we share an inside secret, knowing how food is put together. I am sure that the jokes we make seem kind of silly to other people, but to sit in a diner wondering if the lemon meringue pie was made with a French or Italian meringue is really funny to us. I suppose its true, no sane person will ever enter this industry.


Chocolate Geisha


















Joque Torres

















Speaking of the industry, on Friday in meat cutting class we worked on duck. And Chef Susan got out a package of grade A foie gras and seared it quickly on each side for us to taste. Oh, it melted in my mouth, such a wonderful flavor. I do enjoy foie gras, it’s a shame that other people can’t truly appreciate the rich wonderful flavor of this delicacy. So Rob and I took it upon ourselves to have as much as possible.

On Tuesday we started on fish. Because the Fulton Fish market in New York was moving its location, our fish order was late, and the poor delivery guy got lost trying to find the school, so Chef Susan headed out to find him. He was found, and we got our fish. We started by cutting into turbots, and then we had to gut and scale a whole fish. I actually found that a little hard to take, I can’t say that I enjoy the feeling of fish guts in my hands. But at least I only had to do one. On Wednesday we moved onto mollusks and cessations. I got to make my Moules Mariniere, which is mussels in white wine. We also made clams casino, calamari and other things like frog’s legs, which tasted like chicken with the texture of flesh, and Beluga caviar, which was salty, and I have no idea why this is such a sought after delicacy. Then Thursday, the day which we had to do what I had been dreading this whole class, Lobsters. These poor beasts were just sitting in a cardboard box waiting for their boiling doom, and many of the kids in my class were joking around about it. Doing childish things like positioning the lobsters in suggestive ways, or purposefully irritating the lobster trying to get it to fight with another one, it was a somber day for me. After the lobsters were killed we made sushi, I have to admit, that I am no good at sushi. Or maybe it was because it was my first time, but my spider roll came undone. Oh well, I just had to eat it all. Hee hee, I love spider rolls.

Moules Mariniere (Mussels in White wine):

1 shallot diced
1 onion diced
A lot of butter
A lot of white wine (enough to fill 2 inches of the pot)
mussels

Start with the shallot, onion and butter in a large pot, cook until they are translucent in color and the butter is melted, then add the wine. Let this come to a simmer, and throw in the mussels. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until the mussels have opened and are an orangish color. Take out and put in a nice bowl. Grab a chair, the rest of the wine and have at it!



Today we had our final exam, I did very well, I got a 100, which I was very happy with, that means that I have a perfect score so far. I got a 100 on every test, I am sure that I won’t end up with a 100 for my final grade, because no one gets perfect participation points, so I hope that I got a 96 or something along those lines. I still can’t believe how well I’m doing, if only I applied myself like this in high school… egh, who cares about high school.

On Monday I start Skill Development with Chef Scott, I am looking forward to a new class, but I will miss Chef Susan, and I’ll have to get used to a new teacher.

My Sushi















Fish Heads













The Lobsters













Until next time my friends, Bon Appetite.

Cookin No. 33 - The Chicken Sisters

Jeremy and a chicken






So I get out of work around 9, and decide that I am awake enough to head over to the tap room for some internet access, and when I arrive who is sitting down smoking like a fiend? My friends Chris and Matt. So I sat my weary self down and had a good chat, and they have just existed the building. That was a nice surprise, I have been so involved in school and work that I haven’t had a chance to see many of my friends, let alone call them. I knew going into school that I was going to become nonexistent, but the shock of suddenly working on nights and weekends is still setting in. 9-5 jobs are nice, they allow you to have a social life. I kind of miss mine, but I’m having a great time regardless.

Work was great tonight, I made just the side dishes that are on the menu, because Wednesday nights are kind of slow, and to cook a turkey would be kind of pointless. I did have a lot of interested customers, and I had some good conversations. This job is great because my customers give me good ideas, and I can go home and try them. I also spent some time cleaning my station, when I first arrived at Wegmans it was a mess. No order to anything, and today it was driving me so crazy that I started on the spice rack. I put everything in alphabetical order, arranged the herbs so they were easy to find, and condensed a lot. It was fun, and satisfying.

We finally left 4 legged beasts behind at school, and moved onto fowl. I think that I processed 12 chickens today. We had so many, probably 100 for the whole class to de-bone and all that jazzy stuff. Chef Susan was walking around like a slave driver today, telling us to pick up the pace, but you can’t take her too seriously, she’s such a sweet woman. After the chickens were cut, de-boned, bound and more, we made the family meal. My group was in charge of making the buffalo wings. So we collected all the wings from the class and set them in the deep fryer. Then we made bleu cheese dressing, and I have to say, this was the best bleu cheese dressing I have ever had.

Bleu cheese dressing:

2 cups of mayo
1 cup of sour cream
½ red onion small diced
Bunch of chives minced
Garlic powder
Worchester sauce
Pepper
Crumbled gorgonzola cheese

I don’t have exact measurements for the garlic powder, Worchester sauce and pepper, just add things to taste. Mix up and enjoy.

I think that I ate more of the bleu cheese dressing than chicken. But I also had chicken liver for the first time. It was pretty good, we wrapped it in bacon and marinated it in a soy sauce concoction, pretty tasty, but I don’t think that I’m a liver person.

I felt like talking like Julia Child while we were cutting up the chickens, I loved when she did chicken. In one of her earlier episodes she arranged a bunch of different types of chicken, and ran off their names calling them the chicken sisters. It was a good laugh.

The lamb













Tomorrow we move onto turkey, so that should be fun. So until then, Bon Appetite my friends.

Cookin No. 32 - Etruscan Salmon and Meat Cutting Class

It has been a while, I seemed to have gotten wrapped up in work and school. I started my job at Wegmans, and I love it. I am learning a lot too. The first recipe that I made was Etruscan Salmon, which means Salmon made in the style of Tuscany. Basically you are poaching the salmon.

Etruscan Salmon:

½ cup white wine
1 cup marinara sauce
1 ½ cup seafood stock
1 shallot
2 cloves of garlic
A sprig of rosemary chopped
Dash of red pepper flakes
8 olives chopped
Some cappers
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil
Salmon filet

Start your pot with some olive oil, garlic and shallots. Sauté` until they become translucent, then add the white wine and the red pepper flakes. Let reduce to 1/3. Add the marinara sauce, seafood stock, rosemary, olives and capers. Cover and let come to a boil. Rub some salt and pepper onto you salmon. When the sauce has reached 170o put the salmon in skin side up. Cover and cook for about 3 minutes, then turn the salmon over. Continue to cook until the salmon has reached the internal temperature of 130o.

Plate and enjoy.

This is a great fall dish, it has rich flavors, and I love the red pepper flakes, because they add this little bite to the dish.

This Sunday our menu changed over and we are now making a thanksgiving feast. With Brine roasted turkey, butternut squash salad, Brussels spouts, and cranberry orange sauce.

The brine turkey is new to me, but I have to say, brine is the way to go with this bird. I hate dry turkey, and by soaking the turkey in some salt and water, you will have the most moist and delicious bird ever. But I’ll give you recipes later

On to meat cutting. We started class with the noble beast, the cow. We learned about all the different cuts made to break down the cow, and then were given whole legs to work on. You know, I have a strong stomach, but wow, sometimes while I’m butchering something, I suddenly realize what I’m doing and my stomach starts to turn. We got to try steak tar-tar, which is raw beef… it wasn’t bad, but you know, I don’t think I will ever go out of my way to order it. I’m not big on the idea of raw things. I don’t know, they kind of… skeeve me out. On Friday we moved onto veal, and cut up a veal leg, which was just like the cow leg, so it was just like more practice. Today though, was a great day. We made osso buco from the veal leg, which is a great Italian dish, and the cut comes from the shin. You braise the meat so that it just falls off the bone and melts into your mouth. We also made sauerbraten, and spetchle. Mmmm family meal was great. Then we worked on the pig, frenched the ends of some ribs, made a dry rub for boneless spare ribs, and roasted a boston butt. Which actually doesn’t come from the pigs, butt, its pretty much the shoulder of the beast.

I know that butchery is not my thing, but this is a great knowledge to have, that way in the future I will know what to do with a carcass when someone throws it at me. And its good to know what cuts of meat need to be cooked in what way. Tender cuts can be sautéed or roasted, and tougher pieces of meat should be braised so they can become tender.

Anywho, I have to run off and do some laundry at my parents house. By the by, Griswold has entered the home and turns out that Griswold is a she. But my parents kept her name. She is starting to gain weight and seems very happy in her new home. So I’m going to head over and get some kitty lovin. Well, other than the kitty loven I get here from Riley and Penny.

Pork Loin

Osso Buco




Until next time my friends, Bon Appetite.