February 22, 2010

Ahhh, it has been great not having to attend class every night.  I am enjoying the evenings cooking for my husband and entertaining on the weekend.  This past weekend I made taco burgers, dill potato salad, pasta salad, crunchy asian salad and strawberry angel food delight for dessert.  Check out a few of the recipes..

Taco Burgers
1 cup finely chopped crushed corn chips
1 envelope taco seasoning
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 ½ lbs. ground beef
6 slices cheddar or American cheese
Hamburger buns
Shredded lettuce/tomato slices
Salsa

In a large bowl, combine the corn chips, taco seasoning, onion and egg. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 6 patties. Broil or grill until a meat thermometer reads 160 and juices run clear (or until desired doneness).

Top each burger with a cheese slice, cook just until melted. Serve on buns with shredded lettuce and salsa.


Crunchy Asian Salad


1 envelope good seasons Italian salad dressing & recipe mix
¼ cup sugar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 pkg. ramen noodle soup mix
1 pkg. coleslaw blend (16 oz)
2 green onions sliced
¼ cup planters dry roasted sunflower kernels
¼ cup planters sliced almonds, toasted

Prepare salad dressing mix in small bowl as directed on envelope. Stir in sugar and soy sauce.

Break apart the noodles, place in large bowl. Discard seasoning packet. Add coleslaw blend, onions, sunflower kernels and almonds to noodles, mix lightly. Add dressing. Toss to coat. Serve immediately.

Strawberry Angel Food Delight

2 qts. strawberries, sliced
1 container strawberry glaze (marzetti's - found in the fruit section)
1 (8 oz) container cool whip, thawed
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. powdered sugar
1 Entenmann's pound cake, sliced and crumbled

Mix glaze and sliced strawberries together.   Set aside.  In a mixing bowl, beat the powdered sugar and cream cheese until smooth.  Add cool whip and mix.   Stir in the pound cake and mix well.  Spread in a 9 x 13 glass dish, then top with the strawberry mixture.  Cool in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours before serving.

Cuisine across Cultures - Day 24

Thursday, February 11th - last day of class.  Typically the last day of each class is spent deep cleaning the kitchen.. Here are pictures of the kitchen, some of my classmates and Chef Williams..

Cleaning the kitchen...

The kitchen is cleaned... took about 3 hours!

Look how it sparkles!  Myself, Ingrid, and Susan

Robert, Susan and Ingrid....  Cris, Chef Williams, and Myself

Cuisine across Cultures - Day 23

Wednesday, February 10th.  For two hours we sliced, diced, chopped, cooked, prepared and plated our dishes for the Chef to taste.  Everyone worked individually and had to make three different dishes from three different cultures depending on what product they drew.  I drew corn and from that I made - corn souffle, corn arepas with con carne filling and polenta with tomato and cheese sauce.

This was my last official night of cooking in the kitchen at Le Cordon Bleu College.  It's hard to believe my program is over.  The night was over before I knew it.  I had survived another practical and another class!  This class wasn't my favorite, but was a part of the cirriculum.  I love to bake and decorate cakes and hope to be taking advanced classes for cake decorating very soon. 

I am thankful that the long (sometimes 8 hour nights) are over and I can spend my evenings with my husband or doing something other than hurrying to get into my uniform and driving the 40 minute drive to school.  Best wishes to all my other classmates who are in the 15 month or 21 month program.  May the spirit of Escoffier be with you!

Cuisine across Cultures - Day 22

Tuesday, February 9.  Chef had everyone draw out of a hat the product they were going to use for their practical exam on Wednesday.  The choices were - corn, bean, rice or flour.  With this we had to make three different dishes from three different cultures.  We had the opportunity of researching and putting together a recipe for the chef and gathered together our mise en place (all of our supplies) for making our practical on Wednesday.  However, we could not use recipes or notes for our exam.  I drew corn, and with this I made corn souffle (New World), arepas with beef filling (Venzeula) and polenta with sauce and cheese (Europe). 

We also had the glory walk tonight.  The glory (or as some same victory) walk is when students who are finishing their last block of classes walk down the red mile.  (The red mile is a long stretch of kitchens on both sides).  Students and Chefs who are in the classroom come out into the hallway and clap as you walk down the red mile.  There were over 50 of us who walked the red mile.  I am officially finished with my program on Thursday, February 11th.  There is a 6 week externship and then graduation is scheduled for July.  It has been a fun, long, and sometimes difficult road, but overall this experience has been very rewarding to me.  I have learned more in the past 9 months than I could have ever imagined. 

Here are a few pictures of myself and some of my classmates taking the glory walk....

Cuisine across Cultures - Day 21

Monday, Feburary 8th.  Today is our last day of cooking in this class.  We are preparing dishes from the Old World... Piri piri (a hot chili sauce from Portugal), Harissa (A Tunisian spice paste), Etli Biber Dolmasi (stuffed green peppers from Turkey), Bogras Gulyas (beef stew from Hungary), Romesco, and Chicken Paprikash.

Due to unforeseen circumstances I was not able to attend this class.  This was our last cooking class.  Tuesday we are reviewing, Wednesday is our practical exam and Thursday we deep clean the kitchen.  Then class is over.. Whew!

Cuisine across Cultures - Day 20

Thursday, February 4th.  Today the dishes we prepared were from across Asia...  They included green curry paste, red curry paste, Eggplant sichuan style, Gan bian si ji dou (spicy stir fried green beans from Western China), Gaeng ped hoi mang phu (Thai mussels with coconut red curry sauce), Qiang Huang Qua (spicy cucumbers from Western China), Marsala Murgh (marinated braised chicken from Northern India), Tom Ka Gai (Thai coconut chicken soup from Thailand), Chicken Satay, and Goi Ga (chicken and cabbage salad from Vietnam).

Spicy green beans and spicy cucumbers

Braised chicken and chicken satay

Two versions of chicken and cabbage salad

Coconut chicken soup and braised chicken

Thai mussels and a duck confit salad

Cuisine across Cultures - Day 19

Wednesday, February 3rd - today's recipes focused on dishes from the New World.  They included - Tea smoked duck, mole poblano with chicken (mole is a sauce which consists of onion, chocolate and ground seasonings), jerk pork (Jamaica), Chili Rellenos (Central Highlands - this is poblano chili stuffed with cheese), Pico de gallo, and corn souffle.  Several other dishes were made with leftover protein, and rice side dishes accompanied them.

Tea smoked duck and jerk pork with rice

Jerk pork and striped sea bass with rice

Two versions of corn souffle

Chili rellenos and jerk pork

Cuisine across Cultures - Day 18

Tuesday, February 2nd... today's recipes were from Cuisines of Asia... The recipes included - Bang bang ji si (Western China - chicken with bang bang sauce), Crispy Duck, Chapatis ( Indian flatbread), Som Thum (Thailand - green papaya salad), Soft shell crabs, sweet breads (not what you think!  they are a gland in a cow - sort of looks like a brain), seared duck breast, and other protein dishes as asked by Chef...

Bang Bang ji si (both dishes)

Crispy duck with rice and  vegetables

Soft shell crabs, deep fried

Assortment of fried shrip, broccoli,zucchini and a plate of the sweetbreads with flatbread

Som Thum (green  papaya salad) two versions

Pan seared salmon with rice and snow peas....

Cuisine across Cultures - Day 17

Monday, February 1st.  Today we are using fats, olive oils and using fats as preservatives.   Our recipes include Smordampete nypoteter (Norway - butter steamed new potatoes), Confit de Canard (French - duck cooked and preserved in duck fat), pasta aglio olio (pasta with garlic and olive oil), prawns poached in beurre monte, sardines, saute ris de veau, and mixed greens with various dressings.

Fresh mixed greens with citrus viniagrette dressing and a creamy dressing with avocado

Pasta aglio olio and shrimp on pitas

Duck Confi with new potatoes and shrimp poachedin beurre monte over lettuce

Two variations of sardines over crustini

Fried sardines and prawns poached over noodles

Prawns poached in buerre monte over noodles