Celebratory Vegetables Wellington

Vegetables Wellington with Cabernet Mushrooms

I went on a mad shopping spree today. And when I say shopping, I mean grocery shopping. Duh. After a perfect afternoon spent with my pup, hiking in the hills, with one of the most beautiful and inspiring views of the bay, I decided to stop off at the Berkeley Bowl. I wanted to stock up on some veggies and add some super foods to my diet. Because, I have a confession to make. I have been eating pretty terribly lately. Now don't worry, I haven't gone to the dark side of those salivating sloth-like meat eaters (click on link to see how freaking adorable baby sloths actually are!). But I have been living off of crackers, cheese, hummus, cereal, and english muffins. All store bought, i.e., pre-made, processed foods. Not too great. I blame it all on the wine bar that I recently started working at. Plating all these yummy cheese plates has had me craving cheese and sweet french bread! With a glass or two of vino, of course.

This past weekend was my graduation commencement ceremony from the CCA. Yes, I did technically graduate back in December of 2011. But we had to wait until April 14, 2012 for our ceremony, and "walk". I really didn't know what to expect, and honestly I wasn't expecting much. But, boy was I wrong. Just seeing all of the graduates, and my few former classmates, (most of them) in their clean and pressed chef coats, and our chef instructors (some of them), there for our support. I was immediately uplifted, and felt a sure sense of pride.

My class was small to begin with. I was in the night class which are always the smallest classes. But out of the original 7 or so classmates, only three of us showed up and/or graduated on graduation day...

California Culinary Academy 2011 Graduates

...and it was really, really wonderful to see them. Once the ceremonies began, with a speech from our executive chef, chef Michael Weller, and master chef Ed Leonard. It was emotional, it was inspiring, it was laugh-out-loud, it was heartfelt, it was meaningful. It made me feel grateful for what I have. It made me feel proud for what I have accomplished. It made me feel confident for what I can accomplish. It made me FEEL PROUD. To simply be a part of it all. I will forever be an alum of the amazing school, the California Culinary Academy, in San Francisco. I will miss these people, the students, the halls, the kitchens, the stupid greasy pans, the instructors. I cried, I laughed, I smiled, and I held my head high.

And then came time for our walk across the stage. I was proud to have achieved awards with high honors (gpa of 3.75 or higher, I held a 4.0 throughout), as well as exemplary attendance (never missed a single day of class). The hard work was well worth it. For these silly little red and yellow ribbons...

And so after all of the inspiring words from our well respected, experienced, and talented chefs, I decided it was time to start cooking again. It is time to start making the foods that I am so passionate about. It is time to make this my own. It is time to stop having store bought crackers and hummus, or cereal for dinner. It is time to make a beautiful dish. And it is time to start making vegetarian dishes that are dynamic, healthy, delicious, colorful, and fulfilling.

So to kick things off, I put together this dish of Vegetables Wellington. I did cheat just a wee-bit, by buying frozen puff pastry, but I don't feel at all bad about that! I know exactly what it takes to make puff pastry, and after a long hike in the hills, and only running on coffee and an english muffin all day, I wasn't about to go making my own puff pastry. This Vegetables Wellington was quick and easy to put together. Here is a quick overview of how and what...

For one serving

Ingredients:
Shallot, fine brunoise
6 stems of Pencil Asparagus, chopped in half
4 Brussel Sprouts, chopped in half, chiffonade
4 Cherry Tomatoes, sliced in half
Half a carrot, finely shredded
4 Mushrooms, thinly sliced
small handful of pea sprouts
pine nuts
goat cheese
red wine
butter
canola/olive oil blend
salt and pepper
cumin
dried thyme
one package of frozen puff pastry, partially thaw, cut off 1/4 of one strip

Heat oven to 400, line sheet pan with foil and coat lightly with oil

Once oven is at temp, place thawed puff pastry on oiled foil lined sheet pan and place in oven, cook at 400 for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown on top. (Can coat with egg wash for better browning, but I chose not to use an entire egg for my single little piece of puff pastry)

Heat oil, add half the shallot, heat until almost cooked through, add the asparagus, cook 2-3 minutes, add the brussel sprouts, add the carrot, and pine nuts. Season with salt, pepper, cumin. Let cook for 2-3 minutes.

In a separate pan, heat small amount oil and two pats of butter, add rest of shallot and heat until almost cooked through. Add mushrooms, cook until lightly browned. Add more butter or oil if more fat is needed. Season with salt and pepper. Add red wine and cook at low-medium simmer until slightly thickened and the alcohol has evaporated. Taste and adjust as needed.

Plate vegetables, goat cheese, mushrooms. Drizzle with red wine reduction. Add puff pastry, and garnish with pea sprouts.

Bon Appetit!

The Last Dance at CCA

Gingered Carrot Latkes with Apple Jalapeno Salsa

So it is here, our very last night of class at the California Culinary Academy. Tonight was bittersweet, with many mixed emotions. I am excited and definitely feeling that it is time to move on. But I will certainly miss the school, walking the hallways, the chef instructors and students. There is a positive energy to the place, and I will miss all of it....maybe except for the dish pit in our last class...I really hated that dish pit!


These last few nights were focused on our final competencies, written final, and preparing for our final dishes. We had a competency on tournes, rice pilaf, and a sauce competency on the makings of a hollandaise sauce, beurre blanc, and a demi-based sauce. I had to go back through my notes to remember how each was made, since I haven't made them in some time now. 


We had 30 minutes to complete the three sauces. When chef called time, we all quickly got to work. I started my demi based sauce first, Sauce Robert. And that came together beautifully. I then got to work on my beurre blanc, using a technique taught to us by our former chef Dan, it is much easier than the traditional whisking method. However, I let my sauce get too hot, and it broke. Bummer! By this time, I realized I only had 8 minutes left! So I quickly started my hollandaise sauce, and I whipped that together with no problem....which was kind of a miracle because hollandaise is NOT an easy sauce to make. Once that was done, I quickly started a new beurre blanc, using this time an even newer technique in which I didn't use cubes of butter, but rather used a half pound of butter and simply stirred that around in the pan. The sauce was really coming together wonderfully, but I ran out of time, and had to pull it before it was really thick enough. I did get two points off, one point for my hollandaise not having enough lemon (I disagreed), and one point for my beurre blanc not being thick enough (agreed). So overall I was happy with my sauces, and with my grade. And then it was time to get back to work on preparing for our finals dishes...

Grilled Tofu with Thai Peanut Ginger Sauce and Cucumber Pineapple Salad

African Ginger Cake with Ginger Ice Cream and Caramel Sauce

Our finals dishes was to consist of a three course meal, all using one main ingredient, and each dish was to be centered around a particular cultural region. We were able to chose our main ingredient, and what cultures to focus on. I chose ginger as my main ingredient. I just love ginger, and how it adds a lovely hot and sweet kick to most any dish. After some research and talking with other chefs, I finally decided on my menu. My first course appetizer was to be a Jewish dish of gingered carrot latkes, with an apple jalapeno salsa, and a sour cream dill sauce. My second course entree was a Thai dish of marinated and grilled tofu, with a Thai peanut ginger sauce, and fresh cucumber pineapple salad. And my third course dessert was an African dish of African ginger cake, with ginger ice cream and homemade caramel sauce. 


We had two and a half hours to complete our three course menu, so we had more than enough time to cook off each plate and present them to chef. My menu was simple enough so there were no surprises. The only thing I could have done better was to add some additional flavor to the fresh cucumber and pineapple salad on my entree plate, and to have baked a better version of the African ginger cake, as it came out a little tough. I think I over mixed the dough. And I did get one point off for one of my carrot latkes not being quite hot enough. But overall, chef liked my menu, the creativity in each dish, the flavors and textures. So I was happy. It was a good and fun way to end our time in culinary school. We each shared a shot of sake and said our farewells. 

Cheers!

Next week we are due to start a 6 week externship program, in which we are to complete about 30 hours per week, for a total of 180 hours. I feel incredibly lucky and am very excited to have been selected for my externship at a great little restaurant in Woodside called Station 1. And I am looking forward to many new experiences there!

Order Up!

Goat Cheese and Walnut Salad

Green Pea Soup with Mint Cream

Spaghettini Puttanesca

Peppered Halibut with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Parsley Sauce

Strawberry Shortcake

Tonight was restaurant simulation night, where we were to produce a 5 course menu as if we were working in a restaurant. We were paired up in teams of two, and were given plenty of time to prep all of the ingredients for each dish. Chef would tell us when to fire up each dish as if they were being ordered in a restaurant. So we wanted to be sure we had as much prepped ahead of time as possible, so that the customer is not waiting too long for their food to arrive. This was an exercise in speed, organization, and is designed to give us a taste of what it is like to work the line in a restaurant. The dishes were all fairly simple, so basic techniques were applied. We were able to put our own spin on each dish, so it was most interesting to me to see how each teams dishes came out slightly different in look, taste, and texture.

My partner and I worked well together, and things were smooth sailing until he got a pretty nasty sugar burn on his finger. So while he was incapacitated for bit, I was doing double duty. But he was a trooper and soon got back to work. All of our dishes came out as planned, on time, hot, and tasty. We were both pleased with our efforts and gave each other the kitchen handshake on a job well done!

Our menu tonight started with the first course of Goat Cheese and Walnut Salad, second course was Green Pea Soup with Mint Cream, third course was Spaghettini Puttanesca, fourth course was Peppered Halibut with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Parsley Sauce, fifth course a Strawberry Shortcake. Cheers!

Mole Has Landed...

Mole Negro in the making....

I know it’s been way too long since I last posted (I hang my head in shame).....But, but, but....well truth is that I have many excuses, but none that you really care about. It’s just that these past few weeks have been flying by directly over my head like the Blue Angels do every time that my birthday comes around. Oh yeah, I have one really good reason, it was my birthday!! I turned 35 this year. Enough said.....

Getting back to culinary school.... Well folks, we are down to the wire, and I am in the last two weeks home stretch. Next Thursday will be my very last day in class, I can barely believe it myself. It has been quite the roller coaster ride these past 9 months. It has been an amazing learning experience. Scary, fun, intense, stressful, blissful, eye-opening, are just a few words that come to mind. 

So let's start from the most recent recipes. And since there are so many dishes we have made as a class, I will only share the dishes that I made myself. This week we have been learning about, and making, Mole! I was very excited to learn about mole, (I think to the dismay of many of my classmates!).  But I was excited because mole is of my cultural heritage, and a good mole sauce can be an amazing culinary experience. Making mole was a pretty amazing culinary experience as well! It is quite labor intensive when you consider all of the ingredients that can go in to most any mole sauce. However, it is all very simple enough once you understand the process. I made a Mole Negro sauce with pork, which consisted of a variety of dried chiles, toasted seeds and nuts, tomatillo's and green tomatoes, plantains, and a variety of spices, Mexican chocolate, pureed raisins, and some tahini. The pork came out beautifully fork tender, and I had a few bites more than my vegetarian self should have had!

Vanilla Chiffon Cake with Chocolate Buttercream and Toblerone topping

As a side note, I made the above Vanilla Chiffon Cake with a Chocolate Buttercream Frosting for one of my best friends' 40th birthday. Thanks to the help of Chef Richard, and my good note taking skills, it came out tasty and beautiful!

Sordampete Nypoteter

Here, I basically made potatoes in a butter dill sauce. A Norwegian dish by the name of Sordampete Nypoteter. Or as chef called them, "little balls of goodness". And that they were! Buttery herbally potatoes. And for the Halloween spirit, one of my classmates made his very own Jack Skellington potato...What's this! What's this!!

Falafels

One night I made fava bean falafels. I spent almost the entire class messing with these falafels! The recipe called for fava beans, rather than the usual chickpea. So I was having a pretty darned time getting the consistency we needed. I fried up a few test falafels, and the centers were not cooking properly, but the outside was done. So I was getting burned crusts in order for the center to be cooked. So I had to add more chickpea flour to the mixture, which made the falafel more and more dense. But in the end I did find the right consistency to where I was able to get the centers cooked just enough and not burn the outer crusts. They were just a little too dense.....dumb fava bean falafels! Next time I will stick with the chickpeas!

Tok Dahl with Basmati Rice

Here we have Tok Dahl with basmati rice. Not much to really say about it, as it is just cooked lentils and a handful of spices. But boy were those some spicy lentils!

Asian Cabbage Slaw

This Asian Cabbage Slaw with Edamame was an extra dish that was a collective team effort, with some knife skills help from chef Steve, and the edamame from a classmate. Most nights, our menu is lacking in some sort of vegetable or greens, so chef usually asks me to make a salad. Chef helped by chopping the cabbage and radishes, I sliced up some snow peas and made a dressing, threw on some black sesame seeds, and voila, we had this beautiful and very tasty salad!

My Birthday Carrot Cake

Let me just state that I can not claim this gorgeous carrot cake as my own, unfortunately! This beauty was a birthday cake baked by my former chef Richard. A HUGE thanks to chef Richard for making me such a stunning and incredibly tasty cake. It was very special and I managed to save a few of the adorable little mascarpone pumpkins with the clove stems :)

A visit from Chef Martin Yan

One evening we got to attend a talk and demo from Chef Martin Yan. It was really great to hear him talk about his experiences, offer some advice, and tips on knife skills. It was inspiring watching him work, his knife skills are impressive!

Crepe Suzette

I saw Crepes on the menu a few weeks ago, and decided I need to make them! I have never made crepes before, so was excited to see how they are done. I quickly made the crepe batter and let is rest a bit, and then I got to work on some fillings. Chef suggested I make the popular Crepe Suzette, and other than that, I could do whatever I wanted with them. I decided to make a savory crepe, with sauteed mushrooms, garlic, spinach and cheese. And another filling that I could not decide whether it was savory or sweet. The filling was yummy good! It was a lemony ricotta with fresh mint. I have a hard time calling ricotta a "sweet", since it is afterall cheese. But we decided it was in the sweet (versus savory) category. And lastly I made the Crepe Suzettes, the entire time I was folding over the crepes into triangle shapes and flambaying them in brandy, I couldn't help but feel like Coleman the butler in the movie Trading Places, preparing the Crepe Suzette dessert for Winthorpe and his girl. Ha!!! 

Empanadas

And here we have Empanadas. Again, I was excited to make empanadas, as I had never made them before. I started off by making the dough, which I was quite proud of. I think my dough making skills has greatly improved in the past few weeks, as I have been making a lot of different types of doughs. Even chef came by and complimented me on the dough, with a "nice dough". It was beautiful, and I rolled it out beautifully. It was a work of art. But then came the filling. I followed the recipe, knowing it wasn't going to be too great, but I am of the opinion that you start first with the traditional and the basics, and once you have that down, then you begin to make it your own. So I did the "traditional" recipe, and I was not impressed. It was a ground beef filling, not very flavorful, so I added some capers to it to just give it some kick. That helped, but they still needed something extra. The best part was the dough!

Baklava

Baklava is a hard dessert to get right. I have tried it at home once before, and it really didn't turn out right. It was a sticky gooey mess. So when I saw Baklava on our menu, I jumped at the chance to do it again, so that I could get it RIGHT! I struggled a bit with the phyllo dough, as it is so hot in the kitchen, and you really have to keep the phyllo dough cool and damp. I even went into the empty kitchen next door so that I could spread out and concentrate. Our recipe only called for about 8-10 layers of phyllo and nut filling, as we only had about 45 minutes of baking time. Normally a baklava will have double the layers and take twice as long to bake. I assembled my baby baklava, and got her in the oven. I thought I managed to do everything just right, but she came out a little too crispy. I honestly think it has to do with the shorter number of layers as it just didn't seem it had the chance to get the right balance of crispness and chewiness as a great baklava should have.

Swan Princess

And here is me, with my Swam Princess headset. One of the students in the class before us left this foil swan headband thingy at my station, so I had to try it on!

So that about gets us all caught up, for now....

From Europe to the Middle East to South America in One Week

Paella

The past few nights in class we have been learning about cereal grains from across the globe. Specifically Europe and the Middle East. We learned the differences between winter wheat, and spring wheats. It's one of those common sense things that you just never really think about. Winter wheats are planted in the summer and harvested in winter, are a harder wheat, have a higher gluten content, and are more rich in protein. Whereas spring wheats are planted in the winter and harvested in the spring, and are a softer wheat with less protein. Therefore winter wheats are best for bread, and spring wheats are best for baking and pastries.

We also learned about, and made, Paella!! A traditional Spanish dish, there are many ways to make Paella. But it most always consists of the "sofrito", the Spanish mirepoix, made of onion, garlic and parsley.

Grabhar Biabhog
We made a few Irish dishes, one was a dessert called Grabhar Biabhog. It is a rhubarb crumble type of dessert. I added strawberries to the mixture for any added flavor. Very yummy!

I also made a broccoli salad with a homemade French dressing. The salad was simple, but I was most happy to learn how to make French dressing. Again, it's one of those things that you don't really think about. I have always liked French dressing, and now I know how to make it!


Moving on to the cereal grains of the Fertile Crescent... I was happy because I enjoy grains of this region. On the menu was a rice pilaf with currants and pine nuts (the way I usually make it at home), pita bread, gosht pulao (lamb stew), grilled vegatables, and baba ganoush.

The menu was fairly simple for the night, and I ended up making some very interesting pita bread, and the grilled veggies. I was quite embarrassed about my pita breads....everything was coming together fine, and I was working on them across three different kitchens. The proofing box was in a kitchen down the hall, my station was in our kitchen, and an available working oven was in yet another kitchen. So I think between all the running around, and working on my vegetable dish, I forgot one major component to the makings of actual pita bread....I forgot to roll them out before I baked them!! Doh! So they came out to be pita dinner rolls! Tasty though! And I conveniently forgot to get a picture of the pita rolls....bummer!

Grilled Vegetables

Gosht Pulao

Tonight we worked our way down to Central America and Southern Mexico. On the menu was tortillas! Oh yeah! One of my favorite foods since childhood. My grandma used to make fresh tortilla's every morning. I remember she would be in the kitchen before the sun came up, rolling out tortilla's. And I could never get enough of grandma's tortilla's. The ones we made in class tonight were not "grandma's tortilla's", but nonetheless they were fresh and handmade tortilla's, and they were delish!

Ecuadorian Quinoa and Peanut Soup

One of my classmates made a very tasty soup called Ecuadorian Quinoa and Peanut Soup. I will definitely be making that at home soon, it was healthy and delicious, a warm cozy soup perfect for fall and winter.

Arepas

I made Arepas for the first time. Arepas are a latin dish, similar to a tortilla, but made of masa or arepa flour, and are thicker and smaller than a tortilla. They can be topped or cut open and filled with any number of things. The dough was certainly tricky to work with. But I got the hang of it after my first batch. They were just like making that first batch of pancakes, where you need the skillet to be seasoned and at the exact temperature for them to come out just right. For my arepas dish, I made a ground beef mixture with bell pepper, onion, tomato....very, very yum!!

We also had a number of other items on the menu tonight: guacamole, salsa, cheesy grits, corn bread, corn pudding, and a huge batch of chicken and andouille gumbo.... tonight's meal was my very favorite so far!

Chef Steven drizzling warm honey butter on our skillet corn bread

End of Days in Baking and Pastry

Lemon Stacked Cheesecake with Caramel Wafer, Candied Lemon Slice, Spun Sugar, and Caramel Sauce

Lemon Cheesecake, Tuille Leaf Cookie, Caramel Sauce

Tonight was our last night in chef Richard's Baking and Pastry class. It was a normal night just like any other, really. We had a lot to do so we got right to work, and before we knew it, it was time to start cleaning, and everyone was anxious to get home. So there was no celebration or much of any goodbye's, but I did take a moment to say a heartfelt "thank you" to chef. 


I feel good about what I have learned in B&P. It certainly opened my eyes to the world of pastry, and I know that I made the right decision in making the savory side my home.  I still enjoy baking just as much as I did prior to this class, just enough to make some yummy desserts. But now I can add yummy breads, pastries, sauces, and garnishes to my repertoire. Which makes me very happy! So overall, it was a really great class, and I learned a LOT. So much so that I really couldn't tell you off the top of my head how to make biscuits, or bagels, but I would just need to refer to my detailed notes, and I can produce some great products.

Citrus Creme Brulee

In our last few nights leading up to tonight, we made some fun and yummy items that I have not yet mentioned. So let's just take a moment to look at those.....


We learned about custards, which is by definition an egg protein-gel suspended in sugar and liquid.  We made Creme Anglaise, ( a stirred custard), and Creme Brulee ( a baked custard). The Creme Anglaise was used to make ice cream....and silly me, I did not get a photo either the Anglaise or the ice cream! But I did get to sample my strawberry ice-cream tonight (lucky me!). And who ever thought of ice cream as being a "flavorful cream-base suspended in ice crystals, fat, and air"?! But that is exactly what it is.


And then we moved on to making a cheesecake, which was really much more simple than I ever thought it would be. Just a handful of ingredients, some nice little ramekins, a little bit of patience, and voila, we have cheesecake! Our cheesecakes were to be used for our final plated desserts, as shown in my pictures above. I made my cheesecake with a bit of lemon extract, which gave it a nice bright flavor. 


Then we moved on to plated desserts. Chef showed us how to make spun sugar (awesome!), and piped sugar designs, which is really tricky and scary because you have to work with the sugar while it is still hot, VERY hot! As you have to heat the sugar up to 320 degrees. Before class started tonight, we ran into our former chef instructor, Chef Tony, who we asked if he has ever worked with piped sugar, and he quickly replied "oh yes, even 20 years later I remember working with piped sugar. If you have ever gotten a sugar burn, you will definitely remember it 20 years later!" 


Chef also showed us how to make Caramel Batter and Tuille Batter, which are used for garnishes (and are required as garnishes on our final plated desserts). And we also made a caramel sauce and a pipe-able chocolate sauce. And we got to spend some time working on our final plate designs, figuring out every element for each. 

Candied Lemon Slices

Our final consisted of making a simple chiffon cake, two plated desserts - one banquet style, one VIP style, and a written test. We had three hours last night in which I made my chiffon cake, got it assembled and frosted, and also made two of my garnishes for my plated desserts. I made my caramel batter wafer, and tried my hand at making candied lemon slices....pretty huh?!?!

Lemon Buttercream Chiffon Cake with Cherry Liquer

And tonight we had two hours to complete and present our chiffon cakes and plated desserts. I was having difficulties managing my time as I was not certain about when to start my plating. I was worried that some of the elements would begin to melt, and they did. I was excited to try my hand at the spun sugar, because it looks so amazing and fun on the plate. I wound up burning my first batch of sugar as the temp jumped to almost 400 degrees, but it was more of the brown color that gave it away! I quickly got my second batch of sugar together, and threw in a little red food coloring, and kept a closer eye on it. She turned out great, and I did the little spun sugar action across two yardsticks, pulled my sugar together into a neat little cone shape, and set her aside. After some time, she started to melt, and fall into itself, as it was gathering moisture from the air. Remember, sugar is "hygroscopic" (one of the first things we learned in B&P), meaning that sugar absorbs moisture, and the moisture was making my beautiful spun sugar a little ball of mess. 


So I am fumbling around trying to decide on what to do next, as my pinkish spun sugar is withering away. I tried to make a strawberry ice-cream quenelle, but it wasn't holding shape as it wasn't frozen enough. So I finally decide to just got for it and get this thing done with! I quickly wrap up all the elements for both of my plated desserts, take a few snapshots, and let chef know that I was ready and next in line to present. He acknowledges, and shortly comes by my station. He first looked at my glowing white chiffon cake, said I did good on smoothing out the sides and the top, and piping the rosettes, and that it just takes practice to perfect. I felt good in that was only the second cake I have ever made in my lifetime. And then he moved on to my plated desserts. I don't recall he said very much, just a nod of approval as he has always been pleased with my work. And a mention of them being elegant and cohesive. Which is exactly what I was shooting for. I got perfect scores, and the highest score in the class overall. Yay for me!


Next week we move on to our very last class at CCA, Cuisines of Cross Cultures. I am really looking forward to getting back into savory cooking! And looking forward to learning about some new cuisines! Till then...Happy weekend!


Oh, and just a few more little garnishes we practiced in class with piped chocolate...

Chiffon Cake...You Little Tart!

Hazelnut Chiffon Cake with Coffee Buttercream Frosting

I have some catching up to do here, as I haven't posted in a few days. Last I mentioned we were about to finish our second practical exam in B&P. We were being tested on three different doughs and the makings of a quiche, almond tart, profiteroles and eclairs. 


The night went very smoothly for me and I managed to stay on track and on time. Chef Richard ended up giving us an extra 30 minutes though, as he said the class before us needed the extra time, and figured we would too as there was a lot to get done. I really didn't need the extra time, but since I knew I had it, I took my time in the assembly of the profiteroles and eclairs, and served chef my tray of baked goodies just 5 minutes after the original deadline. And chef Richard was pleased with my work at first sight, and after a second closer look, he said that I "rocked it"! I did get a small percentage off of the quiche because the dough was likely too thin on the bottom as it was a little gooey in the very center. Ah well! It wasn't a perfect score, but my work looked fantastic, and chef gave me great compliments. I was happy!

Almond Tart with Apricot

The next day I attended the daytime class which is the same class, chef and kitchen, but different students. It was a great experience getting to work with a new group of people. They were all mostly younger, quite chatty and friendly with each other, and they were all having a really fun time. So it was fun to listen to them as I did my work. That night we made a Chiffon Cake and a Buttercream Frosting. Finally, we got to learn about chef Richard's buttercream frosting! He told us about it at the start of the class four weeks ago, and I have been anxious to learn about it ever since. And of course, it's really simple. As was the chiffon cake. Chiffon cake is made differently from your standard cake, as it is a hybrid of a high-fat cake and a sponge cake. It gets it's light and airy texture by whipping together egg whites and sugar that make a meringue, then carefully fold in the meringue into the rest of the wet and dry ingredients. All of this did take up the entire evening, so we had to wrap up our beautiful little chiffon's and buttercreams, and store them in the walk-in for the weekend, (how sad!). There they waited patiently for us to come back to them tonight....


So tonight we got to assemble our pretty little chiffon cakes. And that alone took all our class time, as it was detailed work, especially given this was all our first times putting a cake together in this fashion. And we all enjoyed getting to pick and choose our own flavorings and colors for our individual cakes. For mine, I chose a coffee buttercream frosting, with a hazelnut liqeur simple syrup to add some extra moisture and flavor to the cake. It was a bit tricky to get the cake cut into 3 even layers, and evenly frosted in between each layer. And then to straighten out the top layer and the sides. I was having a hard time with mine because it seemed that my buttercream wasn't at the proper temperature to evenly coat the cake, but I did the best that I could with it, and I think she turned out pretty nice. Oh, and we still didn't get to take home our pet chiffon cakes, as we still had to leave them in that lonely dark walk-in, until tomorrow when we will meet again....

It's Puff Pastry, Y'all!

Palmiers

Let's just start with two sticks of butter y'all..... or if you're making puff pastry like we did this week, we actually started with, ( I think), 2 pounds of butter. Oh what?!?! Oh yes, the 2 pounds of butter is used to make the beurrage for laminated doughs, that we then turned into PUFF PASTRY. Oh yeah! 


Puff pastry does take some work, there was a lot, and I mean a lot of rolling out the dough, and folding, and putting in the walk-in to chill, and more rolling, then folding, then chilling, and did I mention rolling? But it was all very well worth the efforts. When I learned that we were doing another laminated dough, I wasn't too excited. But then I heard what we would make with said laminated dough, and chef Richard had me at Palmiers. I love palmiers for a number of reasons. First of all, they are French, second they are simple, pretty, and sweet. And once your laminated dough, (or Paton), is finally finished, they are pretty simple to make. I was actually very surprised that mine turned out correctly, because as I was cutting them and laying them on the sheet pan, they didn't "seem right". But as I sneaked a peek at them as they were rising in the oven, I had a sigh of relief as they looked perfect. Yay! 

Turnovers

Oh, and we also made Turnovers and Twists with all the laminated dough. But let's get back to my Palmiers...one of the things that makes them so wonderful is the sugar. LOTS of sugar. French law states that a proper Palmier must use a 1/4 of the weight of its dough in sugar. And the way to add that much sugar into the dough is to replace your bench flour with sugar. Awesome! Oh, and as if that wasn't enough sugar, before you lay them on the sheet pan to bake, you lightly roll them in more sugar. You know, just to be safe. 

Cinnamon Twists

This week is a short week with the Labor Day holiday, and we have our second practical exam. It's a two-nighter. And we are being tested on three doughs: Pate Brisee, Pate Sucree, and Pate au Choux. And with those doughs we are to make a Quiche, an Almond Tart, Profiteroles and Eclairs. We had two hours last night, and will have another two hours tonight. It took us the full two hours last night just to make all the doughs, and I think most of us were able to blind bake the Pate Brisee for the quiche, and bake our pate au choux. So that means for tonight, I have to make the quiche filling, the tart filling, pastry creme, chantilly creme, chocolate glaze, bake the quiche and tart, and assemble the profiteroles and eclairs. I hope I can get it all done in time!

Lemon Tarts and Pate au Choux....Gesundheit!

Pretty Little Swans

Tonight in B&P we got a visit from Amy who works in the Career Services Department of CCA, and she came today to talk to us about our upcoming externships. There wasn't any new information, but it was a nice reminder that I really need to figure out what I am going to do. After the visit from Amy, we got a nice demo from Chef Richard on the makings of Creme Chantilly and a chocolate glaze he named 4-2-1 Glaze. Then he showed us how to put together Creme Puffs, Eclairs, Paris Breasts, and those fancy little Swans. And then we all got to work!

Eclairs

We had already baked our Pate au Choux dough last night, and made our Vanilla Pastry Creme, so those were all ready to go. The Pate au Choux dough is different in that it is a hot dough. So you actually mix the ingredients over heat in order to sort of cook out some of that flour flavor, and this is the dough we used to make our creme puffs, eclairs, Paris breasts and swans...

Profiteroles

We then quickly whipped together our creme chantilly, and got to work on cutting and poking holes in  the profiteroles and eclairs and swans, then filled them with pastry creme, topped them with creme chantilly, and dipped some in chocolate. It was tedious work, but kind of right up my alley! These are the parts I enjoy most about baking, the finishing touches and making all our hard work look beautiful. My eclairs turned out on the thin side, so by the time I filled them with pastry creme, then went to top them with a big cloud of creme chantilly, they were wanting to fall over. Well, some of them did! So I struggled a little with that, but I wasn't the only one... I kept hearing one of my classmates saying "man down!". Ha! 


I put together my pretty little swans last, I kept checking other swans to make sure that I put the wings on the correct way, because I didn't want "angry swans"! And I must say, they sure are pretty! 

Paris Breast

Lemon Curd Tart with Swiss Meringue

Once I was finally done, (this basically took us about 2 hours I think), I put all my work on one sheet pan as chef instructed, and carefully walked my tray over to be graded. We were also graded on our Lemon Curd Tarts with the Swiss Meringue from the other night. And as we are winding down on our third week of B&P, chef gave us each individually a little overview of how we are doing thus far. He had all good things to say, that I "do nice work", and while not everything has been perfect, such as the piping work on my lemon tart, he could still sell that in a bakery, and that this is just my first time ever making any of this, so he is really grading on technique. It all makes sense to me, and I agreed. It was nice to hear and makes me feel good in that I am on the right path.

Oh For The Love Of Baking!

Well our first week of B&P is fully baked. It's been an interesting week, but not so much to really write about. The pace of baking is so much slower, less intense, there's fewer ingredients, and lots of waiting time. Each night this week we basically gathered our ingredients, measured everything out, maybe got a demo from Chef Richard and some brief discussion, then we mix our ingredients together and then we typically wait. Well, we aren't actually just standing around waiting and watching the ovens. We clean, or we usually have a few things to bake each night, thanks to Chef Richard. He usually adds an item or two for us to make so that we aren't standing around watching dough proof. So we have actually made a LOT in just our first week. 


We did have a little bit of drama and laughter during the week...let's see....Chef Richard showed us how to roll out a baguette using "Spirit Hands", also known as "Jazz Hands". Lol! And then we had some drama when he had to leave class to tend to his daughter that was in an accident, so we were kept company by Chef John and Head Chef Michael Weller (Thanks Chef's!). And we were all relieved to hear that Chef Richard's daughter was ok.


 And last night a really funny thing happened when another chef instructor, who seems to have an affinity for my food, came into the kitchen. You see, a few classes back I had made some cupcakes for two people that were having a special event in their lives, and before they were able to enjoy my cupcakes, she swooped in and ate them both! So last night she comes into the kitchen and my partner and I have our bagels beautifully baked and resting on one sheet pan together. And I start seeing this go down as if in slow motion....she approaches our sheet pan of bagels, and starts touching them as if trying to decide which one to take. I politely suggest for her to take one of the cinnamon ones (because those were Sean's!), and she says "No, that would be sweet", (she is a candy or pastry chef so she didn't want more sweet), and I see her hand going for one of my beautiful sesame seed bagels, and she says "I'll take THIS one"! But I guess I can't blame her, I know my food always looks the best!! And she did come back to show that she ate it all :)


All in all this week we first made Biscuits, then Cookies, Brownies, Blueberry Muffins, Focaccia Bread, French Bread Baguettes and Batards and a Round Loaf, and last night we made Bagels and the dough for Brioche that we will bake on Monday. (YUM!!!!)

And everything for me has come together very quick and simple like, and they have all turned our pretty nice, with perfect scores for far. So even though there isn't a whole lot to say about it all, I think the pictures are worth a thousand words.....and it's just too bad you can't taste them!!