Good day, everyone!
So it looks like I have about 20 blogs on draft that I never posted while going through culinary classes. I was so excited and thoroughly invested in my classes that I put this blog on the back burner. I honestly should not have done that but I have since finished and graduated and am now working as a Certified Gourmet Chef as well as running my own catering business. Now that everything has settled I will be revamping this blog. I plan on taking those 20 or so blogs, re-editing and posting them.
I am really excited to continue this blog. My time has leveled off and I will be cooking a lot more at home, practicing and polishing skills. My lovely wife has been eating my food and loving every minute of it...I think. (/snickers) Maybe I will also have her guest post once in a while.
Until next time, let your taste buds salivate!
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Friday, January 27, 2012
Second Week of Classes
This week was great for classes.
On Monday, we prepped stocks and other items for the next day's class and practice knife skills.
It was a lot of fun.
Tuesday was great. We ran a banquet meal set up, with every class providing something.
My class provided the soup. White Bean Au Pistou. It was a delicious soup, starting with browning bacon, and sweating the celery, carrots and onions. Deglazing the pan with a bit of white wine, and adding tapioca flour. Adding 2 gallons of chicken stock, bringing to a boil. Salt, pepper and Worchestershire sauce to taste. Once a nice simmer is going and the beans a re soft, we added a little tomato pistou (a mix of tomatoes, garlic and basil) and used an immersion blender to thicken the soup a bit.
Topped with a sliced bagette crouton, a tomato-basil concasse and a freshly baked parmesan cheese crisp, it was very delicious. A nice hearty soup that is right for any occasion.
What a great week!
On Monday, we prepped stocks and other items for the next day's class and practice knife skills.
It was a lot of fun.
Tuesday was great. We ran a banquet meal set up, with every class providing something.
My class provided the soup. White Bean Au Pistou. It was a delicious soup, starting with browning bacon, and sweating the celery, carrots and onions. Deglazing the pan with a bit of white wine, and adding tapioca flour. Adding 2 gallons of chicken stock, bringing to a boil. Salt, pepper and Worchestershire sauce to taste. Once a nice simmer is going and the beans a re soft, we added a little tomato pistou (a mix of tomatoes, garlic and basil) and used an immersion blender to thicken the soup a bit.
Topped with a sliced bagette crouton, a tomato-basil concasse and a freshly baked parmesan cheese crisp, it was very delicious. A nice hearty soup that is right for any occasion.
What a great week!
Friday, January 20, 2012
Philly Cheese Steak Wraps with Raspberry Chipotle Sauce
Philly Cheese Steak Wraps
Ingredients
32 ounces Thinly Sliced Angus Beef Sirloin Philly Steak
3 large Green Bell Pepper, sliced in strips
2 large Vidalia Onions, cut in half and sliced
2 or 3 Garlic cloves, minced with salt and EVOO
2 cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese
8 ounces Cream Cheese
8 ounces Butter
10- 12 inch flour tortillas
Macadamia Nut Oil with Chili and Lime
Salt
Pepper
Directions
Take a mixing bowl and add the cream cheese and the butter together and using a beater (electric would probably be best here since they will be pretty firm), beat for 2 minutes until they have combined evenly into a nice fluffy mixture. Set aside while you prepare the rest of your mise en place.
Heat a teaspoon of macadamia nut oil in a skillet and add onions and peppers. Cook veggies until tender. I like to seared a few until they are half blackened. Add salt and pepper to taste, if you like.
In a separate skillet or after the veggies are done, you can set them aside and use the same pan. if using a separate skillet then heat another teaspoon or two of the oil up.
If using the same pan as the veggies, pour a tablespoon or more of white wine vinegar into the pan and scrape the pan for any veggie particles left on the pan. Once you have a nice little sauce add your garlic. After the garlic has become tender and a little tan, toss in your philly steak and cook thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Once all the cooked meat and veggies are done, you are ready to make some wraps!
Set up an easy assembly line of all your products and make sure you heat up the tortillas for easy folding.
Using a flexible spatula, spread some cream cheese butter mix on half a tortilla, stack on some meat. Not too much so as to prevent folding/rolling. Top with strips of onion and bell pepper, as well as some Mozzarella cheese.
Fold as you would a burrito, closing both ends.
Once all your wraps are folded, using a dry and clean flat skillet, or a panini sandwich press, heat your wraps until the tortilla is firm and a bit browned. This will melt all cheese and butter and spreading it through the meat and veggies.
After the browning, cut all the wraps in half with a diagonal cut and serve hot with a cold Raspberry Chipotle Sauce as a dip or drizzled on top.
Raspberry Chipotle Sauce
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 large jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 teaspoons adobo sauce
12 ounces of fresh raspberries
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
Directions
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in jalapenos; cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Mix in the garlic, and adobo sauce and bring to a simmer. Stir the raspberries into the sauce and cook until soft, the raspberries should start falling apart, about 3 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, salt, brown sugar, and white sugar. Mix well. Simmer until thickened and reduced by half, about 15 minutes. Pour the sauce to a bowl and allow to cool overnight before serving.
Note:
A well-rounded partner for this meal is a dark green salad.
You can find a nice mixture of baby lettuces (Green Romaine, Red Romaine, Red Oak, Green Oak, Tango, Lolla Rossa, Red Leaf, Green Leaf), baby greens (Mizuna, Arugula, Tatsoi, Mache, Red Chard, Green Chard, Baby Spinach), Endive and Radicchio at any store, usually pre-packaged. Or you can just make your own mix from anything you prefer. Top the lettuce with mandarin oranges, brown sugar pecans and feta cheese. Using the Raspberry Chipotle Sauce as a dressing will take the flavors even further. Just make extra sauce!
Healthy Options:
Use fat free cream cheese.
Change the butter to any veggie spread.
Use whole wheat tortillas.
Try low fat mozzarella cheese.
Enjoy this great meal with friends and family!!
WARNING!!! WARNING!!!
Please be aware of friends and family's allergies. In this recipe, a nut oil was used. If there are people who are allergic to nuts, please use another type of oil, such as Olive Oil.
Ingredients
32 ounces Thinly Sliced Angus Beef Sirloin Philly Steak
3 large Green Bell Pepper, sliced in strips
2 large Vidalia Onions, cut in half and sliced
2 or 3 Garlic cloves, minced with salt and EVOO
2 cups of shredded Mozzarella cheese
8 ounces Cream Cheese
8 ounces Butter
10- 12 inch flour tortillas
Macadamia Nut Oil with Chili and Lime
Salt
Pepper
Directions
Take a mixing bowl and add the cream cheese and the butter together and using a beater (electric would probably be best here since they will be pretty firm), beat for 2 minutes until they have combined evenly into a nice fluffy mixture. Set aside while you prepare the rest of your mise en place.
Heat a teaspoon of macadamia nut oil in a skillet and add onions and peppers. Cook veggies until tender. I like to seared a few until they are half blackened. Add salt and pepper to taste, if you like.
In a separate skillet or after the veggies are done, you can set them aside and use the same pan. if using a separate skillet then heat another teaspoon or two of the oil up.
If using the same pan as the veggies, pour a tablespoon or more of white wine vinegar into the pan and scrape the pan for any veggie particles left on the pan. Once you have a nice little sauce add your garlic. After the garlic has become tender and a little tan, toss in your philly steak and cook thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Once all the cooked meat and veggies are done, you are ready to make some wraps!
Set up an easy assembly line of all your products and make sure you heat up the tortillas for easy folding.
Using a flexible spatula, spread some cream cheese butter mix on half a tortilla, stack on some meat. Not too much so as to prevent folding/rolling. Top with strips of onion and bell pepper, as well as some Mozzarella cheese.
Fold as you would a burrito, closing both ends.
Once all your wraps are folded, using a dry and clean flat skillet, or a panini sandwich press, heat your wraps until the tortilla is firm and a bit browned. This will melt all cheese and butter and spreading it through the meat and veggies.
After the browning, cut all the wraps in half with a diagonal cut and serve hot with a cold Raspberry Chipotle Sauce as a dip or drizzled on top.
Raspberry Chipotle Sauce
Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 large jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 teaspoons adobo sauce
12 ounces of fresh raspberries
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
Directions
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in jalapenos; cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Mix in the garlic, and adobo sauce and bring to a simmer. Stir the raspberries into the sauce and cook until soft, the raspberries should start falling apart, about 3 minutes. Stir in the vinegar, salt, brown sugar, and white sugar. Mix well. Simmer until thickened and reduced by half, about 15 minutes. Pour the sauce to a bowl and allow to cool overnight before serving.
Note:
A well-rounded partner for this meal is a dark green salad.
You can find a nice mixture of baby lettuces (Green Romaine, Red Romaine, Red Oak, Green Oak, Tango, Lolla Rossa, Red Leaf, Green Leaf), baby greens (Mizuna, Arugula, Tatsoi, Mache, Red Chard, Green Chard, Baby Spinach), Endive and Radicchio at any store, usually pre-packaged. Or you can just make your own mix from anything you prefer. Top the lettuce with mandarin oranges, brown sugar pecans and feta cheese. Using the Raspberry Chipotle Sauce as a dressing will take the flavors even further. Just make extra sauce!
Healthy Options:
Use fat free cream cheese.
Change the butter to any veggie spread.
Use whole wheat tortillas.
Try low fat mozzarella cheese.
Enjoy this great meal with friends and family!!
WARNING!!! WARNING!!!
Please be aware of friends and family's allergies. In this recipe, a nut oil was used. If there are people who are allergic to nuts, please use another type of oil, such as Olive Oil.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
First Week Complete!
Well my first week of culinary classes is complete!
I am so thankful to my wife who let me start this course to my dream. My excitement when I got home tonight was so thorough that I was shaking! I can't wait to get into the meat of the courses and start my projects and get to know the other students.
My guinea pigs (wife, cousin and other friends) are also excited.
Since this was my introductory week, I don't have a lot of information to share, other than it was fun.
Tomorrow I will have a recipe up and next week I will have another post concerning the classes.
Enjoy your food!!
I am so thankful to my wife who let me start this course to my dream. My excitement when I got home tonight was so thorough that I was shaking! I can't wait to get into the meat of the courses and start my projects and get to know the other students.
My guinea pigs (wife, cousin and other friends) are also excited.
Since this was my introductory week, I don't have a lot of information to share, other than it was fun.
Tomorrow I will have a recipe up and next week I will have another post concerning the classes.
Enjoy your food!!
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Culinary Classes!
Well this is it! I took the jump and applied for culinary classes and will be starting them January 17th, 2012. I am really excited. I honestly can't tell you how excited I really am.
I am also hoping that with these classes I will get new insight and will start this blog back up. While I think I was doing really well, I felt I was missing something. Along with the new start up, new recipes will come in. Not just the homemade recipes, but some exotic ones as well.
So Happy New Year!
I am also hoping that with these classes I will get new insight and will start this blog back up. While I think I was doing really well, I felt I was missing something. Along with the new start up, new recipes will come in. Not just the homemade recipes, but some exotic ones as well.
So Happy New Year!
Monday, October 17, 2011
Chapati: The Bread Spoon
Chapati is an unleavened (no yeast or baking powder) flat bread and a staple food among the people of East Africa, similar to the American Indian fry bread. Chapati is normally served with other foods like vegetable and meat dishes. Tearing off pieces of a chapati and using it to pick up other foods is the norm. Chapati is a bread and a utensil. I think it goes great for thick stews and chilis!
Ingredients:
2 cups white flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
oil
water
Directions:
Mix dry ingredients well. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the flour mixture and mix in with your hands until flour feels a little bit like sand. Add enough water to form an elastic dough. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts.
Roll out 1 ball into a circle and spread 1/2 teaspoon oil over it. Roll the circle up, like a jelly roll, then roll it up again. It should resemble a snail shell. Do the same for the other three balls.Let the dough sit 20 minutes to 8 hours, depending on when you make them. Roll out into circles 10 to 12 inches in diameter. Melt a bit of shortening in a frying pan and wait until it is hot to cook the chapati. Cook rapidly and watch them bubble up.
Makes 4 chapatis.
Recipe doesn't really work with doubling due to the fact that it's easier to work this recipe when the portions are smaller, but they are quick and easy to make.
Notes:
Spread some butter or margarine on the warm chapati and sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on it for breakfast.
Healthy Substitutions:
*Use 1/2 white flour and 1/2 wheat flour or all wheat flour to make a healthier chapati.
*Skip the oil used when rolling up the chapatis.
*Cook the chapatis on a dry skillet or frying pan.
Ingredients:
2 cups white flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
oil
water
Directions:
Mix dry ingredients well. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the flour mixture and mix in with your hands until flour feels a little bit like sand. Add enough water to form an elastic dough. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts.
Roll out 1 ball into a circle and spread 1/2 teaspoon oil over it. Roll the circle up, like a jelly roll, then roll it up again. It should resemble a snail shell. Do the same for the other three balls.Let the dough sit 20 minutes to 8 hours, depending on when you make them. Roll out into circles 10 to 12 inches in diameter. Melt a bit of shortening in a frying pan and wait until it is hot to cook the chapati. Cook rapidly and watch them bubble up.
Makes 4 chapatis.
Recipe doesn't really work with doubling due to the fact that it's easier to work this recipe when the portions are smaller, but they are quick and easy to make.
Notes:
Spread some butter or margarine on the warm chapati and sprinkle some cinnamon sugar on it for breakfast.
Healthy Substitutions:
*Use 1/2 white flour and 1/2 wheat flour or all wheat flour to make a healthier chapati.
*Skip the oil used when rolling up the chapatis.
*Cook the chapatis on a dry skillet or frying pan.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Mexican Minestrone
Today I thought I would share something that is quick, easy and delicious. After a long day at work, sometimes you just want to sit and relax and not spend time in a kitchen. Since it's starting to get a bit chilly now, a soup is fantastic for warming up. I found a recipe several years back and adapted it to what my wife and I like. Hope you enjoy this soup!
Ingredients
1 lb. Ground Beef ( or any ground meat of preference)
1 can Rotel Tomatoes and Green Chiles (Hot, Medium or Mild)
3 - 15 ounce cans Progresso Minestrone soup
3 - 15 ounce cans of Progresso Vegetable soup
1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1 teaspoon Chili Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Box Chee-its or other cheese crackers
Directions
Start by browning the meat in a medium stock/soup pan, tossing in half the seasonings. Once browned, toss in the can of Rotel (my preference in Medium) and while simmering, toss in the rest of the seasonings. Let simmer for about 3-5 minutes.
Add in the 6 cans of soup, salt and pepper to taste and let the soup heat to slightly boiling.
After heated thoroughly, ladle into your bowls, add half a handful of your cheese crackers to the top and serve the soup hot.
All-in-all, this should take you no less than 15 minutes and no more than 20 minutes.
I know using already can soup is kind of a cheat, but when your long day is over sometimes shortcuts help you relax.
Mangiar Bene!!
Ingredients
1 lb. Ground Beef ( or any ground meat of preference)
1 can Rotel Tomatoes and Green Chiles (Hot, Medium or Mild)
3 - 15 ounce cans Progresso Minestrone soup
3 - 15 ounce cans of Progresso Vegetable soup
1 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1 teaspoon Chili Powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Box Chee-its or other cheese crackers
Directions
Start by browning the meat in a medium stock/soup pan, tossing in half the seasonings. Once browned, toss in the can of Rotel (my preference in Medium) and while simmering, toss in the rest of the seasonings. Let simmer for about 3-5 minutes.
Add in the 6 cans of soup, salt and pepper to taste and let the soup heat to slightly boiling.
After heated thoroughly, ladle into your bowls, add half a handful of your cheese crackers to the top and serve the soup hot.
All-in-all, this should take you no less than 15 minutes and no more than 20 minutes.
I know using already can soup is kind of a cheat, but when your long day is over sometimes shortcuts help you relax.
Mangiar Bene!!
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