Culinary School Graduation!

It doesn't seem that long ago that I filled out my application to The Cambridge School of Culinary Arts and explained why the kitchen is where I wanted to be. In my essay I wrote about how much of a part of my life food is and how, to me, there is no better satisfaction I get than through making people happy through food. I wrote about how 99% of my thoughts revolve around food and if I'm not creating a new recipe in my head, I'm planning out my next meal or staying up until all hours of the night reading cookbooks. Going to culinary school not only reinforced all of this but strengthened my passion and need to be in the kitchen, doing what I love best.

And now I am a graduate of the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts. My how time flies!

So what's next? The start of a new life and career in the kitchen by taking my business background and meshing it with my newly acquired culinary education to start my own personal cheffing and catering business. While at school, I was fortunate enough to get a lot of hands-on experience with catering events of both large and small scales. Instantly, I fell in love with it. There's something so satisfying about creating a menu, bringing it to life and presenting the dishes to guests. It's funny how you can just feel like you were born to do something, isn't it? Of course the blog isn't going anywhere, I'm still going to be cooking up new and creative recipes from my wicked small kitchen as well as doing restaurant reviews and covering other food-related topics. I'm really looking forward to this next chapter of my life and I cant send enough thanks and gratitude to those that have supported me through this. Big changes can be a little scary at times but every comment, every tweet, note and email that I have received has made this journey all the more special. In addition, I'd like to pass along a very special congratulations to my fellow grads! Over the course of the past couple of months I've watched us all work so hard to achieve this and grow so close. Thank you for making my experience as great as it was.

Now here's the part where I ask if anyone has a need for a personal chef or caterer? Have a party coming up and you'd rather have someone else take care of the cooking? Or have you ever thought of grabbing a couple of friends and enjoying a night in accompanied by a cooking class? It's hands-on fun that's way cheaper than the average dinner out. Contact me at KNBarszcz@gmail.com for a free consultation. I'll bring my Small Boston Kitchen to yours!

Pasta For My Practicum And A Giveaway Winner!

There are two scary moments of a practicum. The first being when the card gets drawn (as I explained before, the practicum is where you select a card at the beginning of class that only contains ingredients. Your job is to write out the recipe and then execute it before your plate gets presented to a panel of chefs by a specified time.) and second being when the food gets tasted. The card being drawn is one of those times in life when things turn to slow motion and I could swear my heart was just going to beat right out of my chest. A quick look at my card, I'm embarrassed to admit, sent me into a fit of smiles, cheers and I'm pretty sure at some point a fist pump was involved - spinach ricotta ravioli with marinara sauce and mixed greens salad of my choice. Pasta is sooo my sweet spot. With pasta, I knew I could get into my zone and I was beyond thankful that the card I drew wasn't one for a baking recipe.

After writing out my recipe, I was into the kitchen and buzzing along, feeling great about everything. My sauce was simmering away, my pasta dough had been kneaded, the filling had been made and I couldn't stop humming a Bob Dylan song. As my presentation time drew near, my speed increased and I blanked out my surroundings. I vaguely remember Chef standing over me for an extended period time, usually something that frazzles me, but I kept on moving. At about 5 minutes until presentation, I felt like I was on one of those reality TV shows. I was tearing through the kitchen making last minute tweaks and plating everything, ensuring that it all stayed warm. Finally, my plate was finished and was whisked away for the panel of tasters. I felt a huge rush of relief and a big push of excitement...I did it! I wish I had pictures to share of my final presentation but unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to take any before the food disappeared. All I can say is that I am happy with what I presented and am proud of what I accomplished and the feedback that I received. Only the written test to go and then it's graduation time!

In other news, I'd like to announce a winner for my giveaway to Sibling Rivalry! Congratulations Hungry Crafter! Please email me at KNBarszcz@gmail.com to claim your prize.

Lots Of Sauce And The Final Class!

This morning on my way to school, which just so happens to be my last day of class before my review, practicum and final, I got to thinking. Maybe it was because I was so tired and my mind was just in a wandering sort of place, but there's so much I'm going to miss about school. I have a love-hate relationship with my commute but I couldn't help feeling sort of nostalgic about it today. Taking the Green line to the Red line, climbing that giant escalator in Porter Square and the newsstand guy that is always so determined to talk to me and who I can't help but smile at. I'm going to miss the smell of the kitchen first thing in the morning - a combination of coffee and veal stock that's usually simmering away. I'll also miss the guys in the purchasing room. (Anyone who has ever attended CSCA has a soft spot for Ralph's vibrantly bubbly personality and Ever's quiet sweetness.) Then, of course, the biggest thing that I will miss is seeing my new family of friends from school, weekly. They've made me laugh so hard I cried (several times) and I couldn't have hand picked a better group of people to have an experience such as this with. 

Of all that I'll miss, there's also some that I won't - for starters, the silly pants that I have to wear (which I affectionately refer to as my "fancy pants" but others in the industry call "checks"). I also won't miss the hour (or so) long commute, trudging to school, eyes still sleepy and my hair tied up in a knot on top of my head, lugging around my chef's bag and knives. I also won't miss having to study for quizzes. (Does anyone ever like taking quizzes anyway?) 

In addition to reflecting on what I'll miss (and what I won't..) I've also thought about how much this experience has changed me. I will never think of food the same way again and to me, that's a good thing. I feel as though I've gotten exactly what I came for: a solid foundation of knowledge to build upon further. I love that there's never an end to learning about food. There's always new flavors and combinations to discover and new techniques to try. Through school, I've also become more critical and analytical of what's on my plate and for that I am grateful as it will only strengthen my skills and make me better in my own kitchen.

Throughout this post I've also sprinkled in pictures of one of our last classes, devoted to practicing the Mother Sauces (Velote, Espagnole, Hollandaise, Mayonnaise, Bechamel (and Marinara). So many sauces, right? Next week I have a review on Monday, my practicum on Tuesday and then the final on Saturday. Then, if all goes well, graduation!

Buffalo and Bavarians...Two Weeks Left!

Buffalo Steaks on Toast Points

There's a lot of buzz at school these days as the end of the 16 week program is drawing near. On Tuesday, during one of our many fits of laughter (probably over something immature) Chef said jokingly that she wished that she could show us a video of our first day at culinary school. She said that she remembers us looking up at her with our deer-in-headlights eyes and how quiet we were. It's funny to think back to that moment - the first time I put on my chef's coat and walked into class and met everyone for the first time. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's amazing how fast cooking and food can bring people so close in such a short period of time. I feel like our class is like a little family and as much as I'm looking forward to the next stage of this crazy journey of mine, I'm really going to miss seeing my classmates weekly.

Moving on to the exciting focus of Monday's class: game. Being the ever so geeky food type, I was psyched to be sitting at a table full of meats that I've never had before. Little bites of Venison, Wild Boar, Pheasant and Buffalo, to name a few, were all on my plate and I was excited to try. After all, I think that's one of the most exciting things about my profession, there's never a shortage of new things to try. (I really liked them all except for the Boar. Boar didn't do it for me.)

Cream of Celery Root

During class, I worked on a cream of celery root soup as well as some beautiful buffalo steaks that were marinated in red wine, onions, rosemary and juniper berries. After they were seared, they got thinly sliced and were carefully placed atop toasted rosemary and juniper infused toast points. As we all sat around the table eating the various dishes of the day, it was noted how far we've come and how we seem to all flow better in the kitchen. There's less errors. There's more attention to detail and a better understanding of how to maximize flavor from ingredients on hand. It's amazing to watch us all progress.

Apricot Cake filled with White Chocolate Mousse

On Tuesday, the focus was Bavarian Creams. Bavarian Cream, if you haven't had it before, is a mixture of some sort of dairy product (i.e. cream or milk) and either fruit purees, chocolates or other flavorings mixed in along with gelatin (a rather finicky substance) and then chilled until it's slightly firm, yet still soft and creamy. Throughout the day I worked on an apricot pound cake that I then cut into slices, filled with strawberry jam, and then used to line a springform pan. The center was then filled with a white chocolate mousse and topped with strawberry whipped cream and fresh strawberries. As much as I've always maintained that I don't care for baking, I do love coming up with the final presentation and watching it all come together.

Pasta, Meringue, Dacquaise and a Freak Out

This week I got hit with a dose of reality: I have three weeks of school left. Three?! Seriously, where did the time go? These next couple of weeks are going to be crunch time for me and a little crazy. In just three weeks time I will be sitting for my final exam that covers everything that I learned over the 16-week program as well as turning in a professional portfolio complete with pictures of everything I made. I also have two more quizzes, a project to turn in and present on and the most of my worries - the practicum. From day one, there is much buzz about the practicum. In the middle of Chef teaching a new technique, he'll pause, look up at the class and say in an ominous and serious tone, "This will definitely be on the practicum". So what is the practicum anyway? I'll go into class and be asked to pick a card that will contain a couple of items that I'll then be asked to make. There will only be measurements and ingredients written on the card, no techniques. I'll then be asked to write the techniques down before heading to the kitchen to get cooking, making what will then be presented to a panel of chefs. No pressure, right?

Whew. Before I have a minor little freak out, let's talk about what happened this week at school, shall we? On Monday, the focus was on my dear, close friend pasta. I could muse on and on about the beauty of a fresh bowl of pasta, it's one of my favorites. I love chasing pasta around on a plate with my fork, soaking up all of the flavors and the way its subtly soft texture feels on my tongue. As much as I love to eat pasta, I also love to make it. I find it so therapeutic to flip on some music and kneed some pasta dough before rolling it out and shaping it. Sure, it's a little bit of work but the payoff is totally worth it. Fresh pasta also freezes beautifully so once you go through all that effort, you can keep it on hand for a busy night. Just pull it from the freezer and dump it into a large pot of boiling and heavily salted water for a couple of minutes (fresh pasta cooks way faster than that boxed up dried stuff) and make a quick sauce to coat the noodles - dinner in about 10 minutes.

In school, I was charged with making a rabbit ragu, which is rabbit that's been braised in a low (325 degree) oven for about an hour until the meat has soaked up all of the flavors of the sweet carrots, onions, celery, mushrooms and wine along with herbs and spices and it becomes tender. We then poured this rusticly hearty sauce over thin, wide, fresh papperdelle pasta. I loved the way all of the flavors came together and usually I can spot something that I'd change or do differently after I make a dish but in this case, I thought things were spot on, quite an accomplishing feeling!

On Tuesday, it was all about meringue and dacquoise (a meringue that has nuts, traditionally almonds, in it). I've always liked meringue and the way it just gradually fades away in your mouth.  I've made lemon meringue pie before but have never been able to get my meringue as fluffy as I'd like it to be. Turns out the trick is to add the sugar one TBS at a time and to beat it for an extended period of time. In the past I had always done it by hand and my recipes instructed that I add the sugar by halves instead of gradually. A mixer is also definitely needed for a nice fluffy meringue. In class, I practiced my skills by making a Raspberry Almond Dacquaise, which is a almond studded meringue that I piped into squares and then stacked, layering in a raspberry-brandy whipped cream, which was light and refreshing and perfect for spring.

Next week? Game week (no not like Monopoly or Truth or Dare, like Buffalo, Boar and Venison) and Gelatins and Bavarians on Tuesday. Until then, I'll be running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Wish me luck!

Good-bye Seafood and Cake

Good-bye seafood, it's been fun. (Sort of.) As of this week, my dreaded three weeks of learning about shellfish and fish are over and I can breath a sigh of relief and feel satisfied because I did it. I'm sure by this point you're sick of me going on about my dislike for sea creatures so I'll spare you the details. But before I close the book on my seafood adventures at school, I'll share some fun facts that I learned along the way:

• Scallops have 25 eyes. Freaky, right? But kind of cool too. Because they are shucked at sea, we only see them as those flabby disks.
• Dover sole only comes from Dover, England and if you're not paying a boat load for it than it's probably flounder.
• Scrod is not a particular type of fish. Instead, scrod stands for "School Catch Run Of the Day". So when you order scrod, you're getting a random fish of the day, usually cod.
• Atlantic Salmon is only farmed raised and because of this, tastes the same no matter where you get it from. (This is usually a hot button argument with many people as they claim that they can tell the difference).
• Pacific Salmon, on the other hand, does taste different based on where it's from because it's not farm raised (for the most part, although this is changing)
• Let's not forget about lobster love..
• It is highly illegal to harvest the body of a stone crab, you're only allowed to break the claws off then you've gotta toss 'em back.
• Ocean water affects the flavor of oysters and Wellfleet Oysters are the hallmark.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of my last seafood dish at school, I somehow managed to forget my camera on Monday. But to make up for that, I do have pictures from the last day of cake making; chocolate cake day. Yes, a day where by 3:30 PM there were 10 chocolate cakes and a positively fantastic caramel ice cream floating around the school's kitchen. I came home reeking of chocolate and buttercream, not too bad of a thing if you ask me. I was responsible for making a Chocolate Buttercream Kahlua cake, which I liked the look of but thought it was a little too sweet for my liking. In other news, next week is pasta. Can I even begin to tell you how excited I am about this?

Lobster Love, Scallops and a Cake

Let's talk about lobster lovin' for a moment. As much as I don't like seafood, I do like learning about it. I find it fascinating that there's a whole other massive world under that ocean that's totally different than the one we live in. Take for example the lobster. There's so much I didn't know about these guys. For example, did you know that they are cannibals? That's why people put rubber bands around them before they go into those giant tanks. It's not to protect us, it's to protect them from each other. That's also why if you ever see a one-clawed lobster, you know that guy got into a little scuffle. Granted their claws grow back, but still. I had no idea. Because of the fact that they are programed to eat each other, you can only imagine how hard dating is (and we thought we had it bad). To mate, (we're all adults here, right?) the female lobster woos the male lobster and once she's got 'em, she shoots this stuff (nobody knows what it is yet) out of her eyes at him. This paralyzes the poor guy so she can have her way with him and then scurry off.  Crazy, right? You can only imagine the jokes that were flying around the kitchen after this fun fact was learned...

Moving on from lobster love, this week I was charged with making a scallop dish on Monday and a Raspberry Crown Cake on Tuesday.  Starting with the scallops, no surprise to you I'm sure, I've never made scallops before. While I don't like them, I did like the way that they came out and thought that all of the bright and vibrant colors made for a pretty presentation.  I will say, if there's anything great that's coming out of these torturous couple of weeks on seafood, I'm happy that I'm starting to learn how to get over making things that I don't personally like. I feel is so very important to my culinary education.

Moving on to the cake, it was a little complicated to make, especially in such a short period of time.  I started by making a thin layer of toasted almond and hazelnut sponge cake.  Then I made ladyfingers and a rich raspberry mousse. Then utilizing a cake mold, I arranged the ladyfingers into the mold, cut the cake to size and layered it with the mouse. While I was pleased with the outcome, I found the whole process of baking the cakes to be a little stressful. To begin with, I have a huge fear of overcooking anything and this only gets amplified with baking because in most cases you can't taste as you go to get an understanding of where you are in the process. There's just such little room for error. That being said, with each class and with each thing that I make, I keep learning how things interact with each other. I think it's normal for me to be a little anxious about something that I make for the first time and it's the practice that will only make me better.

On tap for next week at school? Last week of seafood on Monday (hooray!) and chocolate class all day Tuesday...

More Fish and Cake Decorating

Catfish Etouffee

Ahh fish. So we meet again. You and your slimy, gross ways. I went into Monday's class wanting to like you. Heck, I was practically begging my taste buds to derive some sort of pleasure from a giant plate of various fishes but I'm sorry to say, no dice. I still just don't like you.

After my last run in at school with fish, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous about a whole day based around those creatures of the sea but I kept hoping that maybe the more exposure I get, the easier it will become.  Still being a little scarred, my first reaction to fish day was to avoid it all together and (for the first time ever) volunteer to make the day's dessert.  But then I got disappointed with myself for trying to take the easy road. Dammit, I wanted to learn to make fish! So I volunteered to help make the Catfish Etouffee.  Maybe if I made it and got a better understanding of it, I'd develop more of an appreciation and like it more?

Catfish Etouffee

I did not (ugh). I still found myself totally grossed out by it and thought I was going to pass out when I realized that my partner and I had to make a giant pot of Fumet (fish stock...i.e. fish parts cleaned out and simmering in a pot and then drained). Ugh. I get chills just thinking about it.  But I somehow survived and found myself sitting at our end of the day family dinner with a plate of salmon, bass, sardines, halibut and the catfish. I took a bite of every single one and nada, zip, nothing. That's not to say that my fellow chefs-in-training did a bad job, they put together truly beautiful dishes and everyone else in the class was really enjoying them, except me.

After all was said and done I got to thinking about this whole fish subject. Maybe it's okay that I don't like it. In fact, I know many chefs that have strong dislikes for a certain food item. One of my chef instructors absolutely hates raw vegetables. Another chef friend of mine gets so grossed out by the texture of cornstarch he can barely be in the same room as it. Heck, even Indiana Jones had a severe phobia of snakes. (Granted he wasn't trying to cook them but I think I can still draw the parallel.) I tried and tried and gave it my best shot but I just don't like fish. Cutting my losses and moving on..

On the flip side of that, on Tuesday we had cake decorating day. As much as cake isn't my favorite thing to eat, I absolutely love decorating it. With a pastry bag in one hand and a blank canvas of a cake in front of me, I find it so therapeutic and totally meditative to focus so intently on transforming a plain old cake into a work of art.

On tap for next week, shellfish (yeck!) and more cake decorating (hooray!) Only six more weeks of school. How is this moving so quickly?

Lesson Learned: Never Apologize in the Kitchen

I've read My Life in France, at least half a dozen times in the past couple of years. Written by Julia Child with the help of her grandnephew Alex Prud'Homme, this book chronicles the years that Julia spent living in Europe with her husband, Paul.  It details her time at Le Cordon Bleu as well as the 10 years that she spent composing the acclaimed and ever popular Mastering the Art of French Cooking. One of my favorite books, it tells the story of a true pioneer in the culinary world, from her standpoint and her voice and I can't get enough.

One thing that has always stuck with me from reading (and rereading) this book is how determined Julia is to never apologize for anything in kitchen. Regarding her time at Le Cordon Bleu she says, "..I made many boo-boos. At first this broke my heart, but then I came to understand that learning how to fix one's mistakes, or live with them, was an important part of becoming a cook." This week in school I learned this oh so important  lesson firsthand as I was making my assigned Moroccan-inspired millet salad.

Millet, if you've never cooked with it before, is a tiny little seed that looks like something that would be dinner for a bird but is actually something quite tasty.  It's also a refreshing change up from other more familiar grains and seeds.  Millet is a little finicky in the sense that like most grains, it requires a certain ratio of seed-to-water (1 part seed to 2 parts water in this case). However, once the water evaporates, the millet still might be a bit too tender and more water needs to be added. Now this is the tricky part, the key is to add just a tiny bit of water so that the millet will stay nice and fluffy. My hand got a little heavy with the water and my millet ended up melding together into a giant gooey mass. After adding other flavors to the salad (like little cubes of carrots, chickpeas and fresh mint, parley and cilantro) it tasted fine but it wasn't the intended texture - a total bummer (or "boo-boo") for a culinary school student.

Looking down at my pile of millet, I couldn't help but be a little bummed until Chef reminded me that I need to use this to my advantage. "Make individual cakes" he helpfully suggested. Realizing I still had a fair amount of time left before we were to have completed our dishes, I was itching to be more creative than that. The main focus of the day was a giant leg of lamb (glorious, delicious lamb..) and my millet was to accompany that. Thinking that a leg of lamb sounded a little rustic, I got the idea to hand-shape individual leaves out of the millet, just for something a little different.

While it wasn't the ideal, it still worked and to that I say, Julia, you are so right. Lesson learned. When life hand you over-saturated millet, make millet leaves. Or something like that.  Culinary school lesson for the day: never apologize in the kitchen, just make things work and learn to live with it.

I'm sorry, but I hate fish

Well now that the cat's out of the bag, I should elaborate a little. It's weird and I can't help it but fish really, and I mean really, gross me out.  I don't even like standing next to fish tanks.  Those slimy creatures with their flappy gills and their buggy and beady little eyes...no thank you, I'd like no part. Gross times a thousand. (Ironically, I love the ocean though. Explain that to me, please.). When I saw on my school syllabus that I'd have to spend three hours in a seminar on fish butchering I tried not to think about it, but tonight was the night and I had to face it.  (Before I get too into this post, I should warn you (especially if you really like fish) that this post might get a bit gory.  I'd understand if you don't want to keep reading.)

I went into tonight talking myself up.  Reminding myself how I wasn't grossed out in the least about deboning a chicken, even when asked to do so by barely using my knife.  I've always been fearless in the kitchen, why should this be different? I psyched myself up, telling myself that no one would even have to know about my strong feeling towards sea creatures.  I can do this.  I'm tough and that's that.  I'm going to show that fish who's boss.

I started to feel a little queezy as a giant striped bass was slapped down on the cutting board in front of me. With a shaky hand, I took my boning knife and started to slice through the belly of the fish.  Out slid a mass of slimy and unidentifiable organs and whole lot of what I'll politely call "goop".  My face got hot. My throat went bone dry and then I knew I was in trouble.  I flung off my apron and ran to the bathroom. And vomited. Three times. At culinary school.  It was mortifying and it's the type of thing that is real easy to beat yourself up about.  How can I be in this profession if I can't break down a fish without getting rid of my lunch in the process?  I felt like I was in there forever.  I finally straightened myself up and sheepishly walked back out there and tied my apron around me.

At this point, I'd love to tell you that I conquered my fear and I gallantly picked up that knife and gutted the next one without missing a beat.  I did not.  Instead, I swallowed my pride and begged my friend Simone to remove the head and innards of the next fish and I shot the chef an apologetic look.  My other friend Genevieve cracked jokes that made me laugh. "You can do this" she then said with such conviction I almost believed it.  I did pick my knife back up, tried to think happy thoughts and cut fillets from the flesh of the fish. I was at least doing that and that has to count for something, right?

While I am disappointed because I couldn't seem to get past it, I'm proud of myself for at least facing it to the best of my ability.  I tell you this story because, although embarrassing, it's important to my development and kitchen education, thus important to the story I tell of my experience at culinary school.  Often times people think that culinary school is easy and that it's "just playing around in a kitchen all day".  While it's awesome and I appreciate each and every last minute of it, it constantly challenges me to be better and to get a better sense of my strengths and weaknesses and for that, I know I'll be even better in the kitchen.  Through tonight, I also got a better understanding about kitchen life.  You see, it's totally a team effort on all fronts, sort of like playing sports and even though I felt a little defeated, I felt such a strong sense of camaraderie with my fellow kitchen mates that made this night feel like it's not a total wash.

This Week in Culinary School: Steak, Popovers and Donuts

Steak Au Poivre made three ways

Not having a nose that is functioning properly and taste buds that are not on their game makes for a rather frustrating week.  Perhaps I should back up a bit.  I have been sick all week.  This past Sunday, I was inexplicably exhausted.  Usually I'm like the energizer bunny - I seriously keep on going and going.  Not this week.  Although no one likes being sick, I find that I get seriously frustrated when it happens because that means that's a couple of days that I can't smell or taste anything, which to someone who is constantly trying to create new recipes is a rather important.  Sigh.

Lemon- Thyme Popovers

Since I'm on this self-pitting rant, let me further say how sad I was that my nice little head cold happened to arrive just in time for steak day and rich dough day (i.e. donuts and cinnamon buns, etc). And I couldn't taste a thing all week.  It's so sad to look down at a plate of beautiful steak slices, nicely colored with a bright pink sheen and a puffy lemon-thyme popover and to not be able to taste a darn thing.  Oh woe is me.  

 My Sour Cream Poppyseed Bread

Anyway, while I putter off to take another round of cold medicine, I'll leave you with pictures from this week at school and some cool take-aways of what I learned.  Hopefully I can shake this thing soon...I have high kitchen aspirations for this weekend!

Jess's Glazed, Sprinkled and Boston Cream Pie Donuts

Key takeaways from this week:

1. I learned how to breakdown a chicken a couple different ways.  The coolest by far was learning how to beak it down using the "glove-cut method" which is exactly as it sounds: using your gloves and just the slightest bit of help from a knife to totally debone a chicken.  I think someone's going to be attempting a Turducken at some point soon..

2. I made popovers.  I love, love, love popovers and their delightfully crispy crust and soft airy center.  I had never made them before and they aren't all that tricky either.  What took me so long?

3. I also learned how to "tourne" potatoes, which is a really long and complicated cut of taking a regular Russet potato and whittling it down until it sort of resembles a small football that has seven even sides.  If you are ever presented with a plate that has tourned potatoes on it, you should walk back and give the chef a high five or even a hug because man did he work for that..

4. There's a whole big world of bread out there and I'm just scratching the surface.  This week a lot of our breads were stuffed with all sorts of delicious things and then shaped into things of beauty.  Who says food isn't art?

Sophie's Cinnamon Buns

Gnocchi, Braising and Bread: This Week In Culinary School

Gnocchi with an Herbed Mushroom Sauce and Flemmish Beef Braise

"Heeelloo gorgeous!" is how our beloved Italian classmate, Simone (pronounced Sim-own-eh), greeted us as he walked into class, which of course, broke everyone out into hysterics.  Then in the midst of our bread making, we had (several) laughs over the fact that my friend Genevieve made Chinese Buns.  "Buns" being the operative word here and I'll let you imagine all the wise-cracks that came from that.  It seems amongst all the learning and studying and cooking, our class is developing little family atmosphere.  My favorite part of the day is when, after hours of lecture and running around the kitchen, we all exhaustedly sit around the table and relax into our chairs with a plateful of all of the fruits of of labor in front of us.  I just love the sense of community that comes with school.  

Gnocchi

Getting to what we made in class this week, this might just be my favorite week in class so far.  Monday was all about braising techniques and I learned that I had been doing it all wrong. Well, not wrong, but there's such a better way and little tricks that you can do that yields a much more flavorful braise.  For example, it's not just about throwing things into a pot.  It helps to think about what flavors you want incorporated into your meat before you get started.  For example, do you want straight up onion flavor or are looking more for the delicate sweetness that caramelized onions provide?  I'm just loving how school is totally changing the way I think about food.  And if at all possible, I think I'm falling even more in love with it.  

Sweet, Sweet Gnocchi

In addition to braising, I fought and wrangled my way into being part of the team that made gnocchi.  If you're a long time follower of my blog, you know that gnocchi holds a very special place in my heart.  I make it frequently but, being the kitchen perfectionist I am, wanted to know what I could do to make it even better.  (I think I've been using a little too much flour). Can't wait to make them again!

Genevieve's Buns

Tuesday's class was all about making yeast-based doughs (i.e. French bread, bagels, rolls, etc.) and I was in absolute heaven at the end of class, sitting in front of plates of fresh, just-out-of-the-oven breads of all shapes, sizes and flavors.  I'll take hot bread out of the oven over most anything, any day of the week.  Sigh...

Rosemary Kalamata Rolls

In addition to all the cooking and baking, this week was also a big test week.  I had a baking quiz and my ServSafe test all on the same day.  For the first time in I don't know how many years, I picked up a number 2 pencil (I didn't even know they still made those) and filled in the bubbles on a computerized sheet.  I get the results in a little over the week but I studied my cinnamon buns off this weekend so I feel confident.  It's amazing how much we cram into two days. No wonder I'm so exhausted come Wednesday.  

I think I hear my kitchen calling me....some fresh bread might need to be made...enjoy your day!

Butter Butter Everywhere

Cinnamon Bun Danish

Is it possible to experience a butter coma? Or maybe it's the fact that I'm pretty positive that I can actually feel my arteries thickening up. (Now that's a nice thought isn't it?) The focus of today's class was danishes and croissants and through my buttery haze (or would it be considered a butter hangover?), I'm going to do my best to post about it.  It's funny, usually our classes are very lively and abuzz with all the clank and clatter and racing around that goes along with the working in a kitchen and at about halfway through class, after we had sampled a couple different varieties of danishes and croissants, it suddenly seemed like everyone had gotten their feet stuck in molasses and we were moving at a snail's pace.  Some were even sitting down and just taking quiet breaks, which is totally not normal.  Damn you butter, you are pure delicious evil.

Danish with jam, cream cheese and fruit filling

In my opinion, the danishes were good (way better then any Danish I've ever had.  But then again, I'd be surprised if I've had more than four danishes in my whole life. They just aren't my thing).  On the other hand, the second part of today's class was focused on croissants.  Again, not something I usually gravitate towards but I think that's just because I haven't had a good croissant before.  That is, until today.  These croissants were just so amazingly delicious with savory stuffings (sauteed mushrooms and pan-fried cubes of crispy pancetta, spinach and feta, ham and Grueyere..etc.) of all sorts crammed into the center of the dough and then baked up until it was all nice and warm and oozing with delicious flavor and golden, flaky, buttery crusts.  Oh my. They were pure bliss.  And now I need a nap.  And then a couple trips to the gym.  And a salad.  Yes, definitely a salad.

Croissant

Thoughts on Puff Pastry

There was a little part of me that was dreading today's class on puff pastry. It seems anytime anyone mentioned the puff pastry class, eyes would roll and maybe a sigh would follow, not to mention that up until this point, puff pastry sounded labor intensive (it is), totally fussy (yep), high maintenance and just a plain old pain in the neck (totally a pain in the neck).

What those same people didn't mention, however, is the fact that homemade puff pastry is deliriously delicious.  With rich flaky layers that almost melt in your mouth, leaving behind only wet slicks of butter on your fingers.  I also found the whole process of making puff pastry to be sort of like learning the secret behind a magic trick.  Starting with flour, salt, water and a giant mess of butter, you handle the ingredients very delicately and folding them just a certain way and then, like magic, it all miraculously comes together and puffs up under the heat of the oven.

Once my puff pastry was made, I was charged with making it into an onion tart and I was psyched with the way it came out.  I had caramelized four giant onions ever so slowly for what seemed like eternity (or about an hour and a half) and that really brought such a sweet balance of flavor to the appetizer.  Topped of with a healthy pinch of fresh grated Grueyere and these are something I would be happy to pass at a cocktail party.  

You know what puff pastry? You're not so bad.

Today's Culinary School Recipe: Barszcz

When I was about 14, I came across my Babcia's (the Polish word for grandmother but I'm actually referring to my great-grandmother here) cookbooks that she brought with her when she immigrated to the States. Sitting cross-legged on my parent's couch, I flipped through the pages, pouring over each word and even though I didn't understand it (it was in Polish after all), I liked looking at all the letters and wondering what each recipe was for.  A couple pages into the cookbook, my eyes were drawn to a familiar word that was printed repeatedly: my last name.  There it was in black and white type, plain as day.  Turns out, my last name means soup.  Beet soup to be exact (or what is most universally known as Borscht).

Running seven letters in length, one vowel and a whole mess of silent letters, it's the sort of last name that everyone who comes across it has to comment on. "Wow, that's some last name! How the heck do you say that?" or my personal favorite, "Where are you from?" said in a tone that infers I'm sort of alien.  The truth is, I've always liked my last name.  It's unique and I've never met anyone who has it that wasn't related to me and seeing my last name in that cookbook made it seem all the more special and gave it meaning - my last name is a recipe!

Hmm.  Maybe I have always meant to be doing something with food?

Anyway, today's focus at culinary school was soups and stocks and, for the first time, I made borscht.  I can't say I knew what to expect.  In the past when I thought of borscht, images of old Polish and Russian gentleman sitting around in those tall puffy hats, drinking "vood-ka" and smoking cigars while slurping back borscht in a room that smelled vaguely like cabbage is what came to mind.  What I made today was a beautifully vibrant reddish color with bright hues of magenta.  It was beefy and surprisingly sweet at the same time and had a voluptuous quality to it.  And now that's that's a word I wouldn't think I'd ever use to describe borscht - "voluptuous".  But it's true and quite frankly, it was delicious.  Dotted with smooth and tangy sour cream, I found myself totally smitten.

So in homage to my first borscht, I decorated appropriately: