More year end catch up

The rest of the world cusine was interesting, I will write a little about it and move on so I can catch up and begin fresh in the new year. My personal favorites aside from Mediterrean were Japanese and Thai. I wasn't a huge fan of Latin American or for that matter North American as I didn't particularly care for the recipes and regions that were represented. Some of the highlights in photo's will be added as soon as I reach a location with some real internet connection. Advice don't plan on working online while at Canyon Ranch, Tuscon.


The high point of interest for me in the last month  was the raw food day. I was really quite impressed by the recipes, information, the quality, presenatation and overall taste. I also physically felt amazing after the meal. It is inspiring me to do more research and considering adding a good deal of raw into my personal diet.

The start of the holiday season, time to focus

Time to catch up - Globe Trotting at Bauman


I haven't been able to get on this for a couple weeks, I missed it. Where did I leave off - baking? So, I didn't get to the international section we completed before Thanksgiving. So lets see, we did recipes from the Mediterrean, North Africa, Japan, Thailand, South America, and North America. Those who know me can guess that Mediterrean was my personal favorite. I got to make a Risotto using brown rice and mushrooms, plus work with my name mate and pal Julie D., we always have fun working together and create yummy food while we are at it. Those of you who know me, know it wouldn't be like me not to finish it off with a dash of white truffle oil, truffle salt and a little cheese. While I'm not the worlds biggest mushroom fan, this is probably  one of my favorites so far. We made it so creamy, you may not have even realized it was brown rice, and the mushrooms weren't too overpowering. Julie and I were super pleased, adn our classmates seemed to like it a lot.

North African was more interesting to work with than I thought it would be, the resulting foods we prepared that day weren't things I'd be likely to repeat at home except for the Labneh Stuffed Dates. I worked with the always sweet, and hard working Kathy. We prepared Baked Falafel with Tahini Sauce, and the stuffed dates. These were fun to prepare, especially since falafel is normally a fried food, the Bauman twist was pretty cool. The yogurt cheese used to stuff the dates was prepared ahead of time for us, and it is a really cool process allowing the yogurt to drain through a cheesecloth over a bowl so that it drains and turns it into more of a cheese than a yogurt.

A Major Issue - LEGUMES

   I have been eluding through out this blog that I've had personal issues along this culinary school journey. At this point I have determined that I have an intolerance to the legume family. Here comes the BIG problem, almost 80-90% of what we do involves legumes of some nature. Since coming to this conclusion a few weeks ago after a few severe bouts of acute belly pain, I have banned legumes from my body. I am so done with them!
   I tried so hard to like them at first such a great alternate source of protein, so many health benefits. But every time I ate them I wound up sick. I am headed East next week for Thanksgiving and have to see a Gastroenterologist for an endoscope to give me a true diagnosis. Regardless of what my test results turn out to be - no more legumes for this future chef!

Baking Week

Cake, Quiche and Pizza


   For baking week I was very excited, I love to bake. I had great partners and pretty good recipes. Baking spelt pie crust, didn't love it so much. It didn't form well and Chef Julia had to gives us hers the next day for the quiche. The quiche came out tasting and looking really good. I was surprised again that I enjoyed something that had never been in my food repertoire.

Caramelized Onion and Cheddar Quiche

   Our almond cake was easy to make, but it didn't hold together so great and the next class we frosted it. Our frosting was an issue that annoyed me. It didn't stay in a consistency that made it easy and pretty to work with, however in the long run it looked and tasted pretty good.

Almond Cake with Dark Chocolate Decadence Frosting

   Pizza day I was really excited about, Pizza is like a major food group in my personal world, but in the vein of our school and its philosophy all the crust were made with very alternative ingredients. That said a special dough had to be made for me, because all the others had some legume flour in them. You can begin to see my challenges. We all work on different recipes and are supposed to try them all. Due to my issue I can't eat a majority of the foods made, even one's I cook sometimes.

My Whole Wheat Pizza

Revelation Pastured Eggs

Just when you thought organic, free range was the way to go...


All that free range really means is that there is a door an the hen house, they don't get to run around the fields free and happy. Hens are raised in crowded houses and unless shown how to leave their house they will just move around. There is no regulation over this, which was a shock to me.

Pastured eggs are actually put in pens outside in fields on farms and the pens are moved around so the hens actually graze on different land and feed, making for a happier, healthier hen. These eggs taste great, are organic, and much more humanely raised.

Egg Day At Bauman


The most difficult procedure we learnt and I am still mastering is the technique of Poaching Eggs. If you saw the film - Julie And Julia, you probably remember the egg scene when she is attempting poaching. Like the Julie in the movie, I Julie Silver have never eaten a whole egg. Egg white omelette's, eggs inside souffles, cakes but never a true whole egg. I was quite trepidatious about trying it, but I liked it! I really liked it enough that I make them almost everyday and have it almost down perfectly.

One thing I find that makes it easier is to have the eggs at room temperature. The other keys to a great poached egg is to generously salt, and add white wine vinegar to the water, not allow the water to come to a full hard boil - it should be just getting there. Use a teacup or a tiny bowl and bring it down into the pot and very gently let it go, do not dump it in! Now is when the egg does most of the work, its hard to be patient and not play with it - but trust me it works best when you don't manipulate it too much. I usually get the perfect poached egg in 2-3 minutes. My favorite tool is a utensil that resembles a small strainer (pictured below), others like slotted spoons. Below are the photos of the one's I made that day in class, followed by a photo of ones I made at home.

Another Recent Revelation

Here is another revelation that is pretty amazing, you may or may not know but I promise if you try it may change you too.

Chia Seeds - Yes this is what the Chia pets were grown from but more important they are an incredible superfood with nutrients so abundant you will be running out to buy them.

Here are just some highlights : 

Contain 27 key nutrients

6x more calcium than milk

100% more Omega 3's than Salmon 

Double the anti-oxidents of blueberries

6x more iron than spinach

64% more potassium than banana's

Abundance of amino acids and minerals

The Chia Seed becomes mucilaginous when soaked, it lubricates dryness, relieves constipation, reduces nervousness, treats insomnia, and improves mental focus. I think everyone wants at least 1 of these benefits!

Chia Seeds are simple to add into your diet, I take a tablespoon and soak them in filtered water. Then I add them into my morning oatmeal, protein shake, even over eggs, tossed over a salad, and they can be used in place of poppy or sesame seeds as a condiment or garnish.

The first picture is 1 tablespoon of dry Chia Seeds the 2nd is the same tablespoon soaked abut 10-15 minutes later.

New recipe that I worked my butt off on

Excuse the typing errors in the steps, when I copied it from the document this is what I got and couldn't change. I hope you try and enjoy it!

Flank Steak Tacos

A healthy twist an a Tex-Mex American favorite, this cut of beef is high in protein and iron and is great cooked Mexican style. The blue corn tortilla are a healthier option than flour or yellow corn tortillas. Homemade salsa adds that extra flair, and tastiness, if possible make day before and refrigerate for maximum flavor infusion. Use organic ingredients whenever possible for the ultimate in taste and health benefits.

Ingredients:

Steak:

1/2 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves

1 small red onion, roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 1/2 jalapeño chile, stemmed, seeded and chopped

1 teaspoon ground cumin

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice

2 Ibs grass fed organic flank steak, trim off excess fat and cut lengthwise (with the grain) into equal size pieces

1/8 teaspoon of sea salt

1/8 teaspoon of black pepper

6 blue corn tortillas, warmed

1 lime, cut into wedges for serving

Salsa:

6 medium vine-ripened tomatoes, chopped

1 tomatillo, chopped 

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

1 jalapeño, seeded and minced

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

2 garlic clove, minced

1 lime, juiced

1 tbs olive oil

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Procedure

Steak:

1.  Combine the cilantro, red onion, garlic, jalapeño, cumin, and 1 tbs olive     oil into food processor and pulse 10 times or until it looks like a paste. Transfer 2 tbs of the paste to a bowl, whisk in the juice of the lime and     reserve separately for serving.  

1. Pat meat dry with paper towel, poke several holes into each piece of steak on both sides using a fork. Season with sea salt, place into baking dish then coat thoroughly with the remaining herb paste, cover and place into refrigerator to marinate a minimum of 30-60 minutes.

1. Take steak out and season all sides lightly with sea salt and pepper. At this time preheat oven to 300 F for warming tortillas. Heat a large skillet over a medium flame, add 2 remaining tbs olive oil until hot (not smoking). Add meat and cook about 4 minutes on each side for medium rare, add a little more time for more doneness. Meat should read at least 130 F on a meat thermometer to be at medium rare. Remove and put to rest on carving board for 5-10 minutes, meat will continue to cook a little further as it rests.

1. Wrap the tortilla’s in aluminum foil while meat is resting and heat them in oven for 10 minutes. Slice the steak thinly across the grain, transfer to large bowl and toss with the reserved herb-lime mixture.

1. Serve with warm tortillas, lime wedges and fresh salsa.

Salsa:

1. Chop the tomatoes, tomatillo, onion and cilantro. Mince the jalapeño, and garlic, mix well. Add the lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and combine well. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. For a smoother texture you may use the food processor.

Servings: 6

Author: Julie SIlver, adapted from The America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook, Ellie Krieger, EatingWell.com

The Begining

 In early September, 2011 I moved to Boulder, CO to start the Bauman College Natural Chef Program. I entered the first day to meet my 9 female classmates, and the 1st of my Chef instructors Chef Lisa Turner, along with the one man Chef Nelson Schwab our Kitchen Manager.
 Our 1st 2 weeks weren't the most fun, though the instructors tried to keep the dry material interesting. We weren't able to get our knives chopping really until the 3rd week. 
 From then till now we have been super busy learning knife skills, the basic techniques starting off with stocks. Not my favorite parts at this point.
 Week 4 we move into salads and appetizers - the fun is beginning! 

The top is a White Bean Canape, the bottom is a fantastic Spring Roll with Almond Sauce.
Photos courtesy the lovely Crystal Klataske

 Week 5 is a pivotal week for me personally which I will get to later. It starts great with greens and vegetables. I made the gorgeous Cabbage and Fennel Salad with a Citrus Vinaigrette that I will post a picture below. I think this was my first proud moment, also I had no co-chef that day so it was all me. Then we did a grain day - not that exciting. The Grain, Legumes, Nuts and Seed day very cool and significant for me. Here we learn that almost everything in this group gets soaked in filtered water. Did I forget to stress that we use filtered water for almost everything, this was introduced at the beginning, oops. My personal issues began on this day I believe, more on that soon.

 Week 6 we get very interesting, Sea Vegetables, Alternative Ingredients, and Breakfast and Eggs. Sea veg day I made an interesting dessert. Dessert from sea veggies you think no way, however yes I did and you will see the photo below. Alternative ingredients day I worked on a recipe that was again very out of my realm, Spicy Tempeh Sausage Patties with Alternative Ketchup. I'm not sure if I have the picture for this 1 but will check with my friend/classmate/photographer for the first several weeks. 

An Apple Kanten With Vanilla Maple Cashew Cream
Sea Vegetable Caviar