Jovanny's Grandma

One day my classmate Jovanny mentioned to me that his grandmother had told him a trick to fix salty soups or sauces. Put a hunk of raw potato in your sauce or soup, and the potato will absorb salt. I remembered her trick as I made soup today for my Practical Exam that consisted of cooking a meal for two, including properly seasoned lentil soup. My soup was thin and salty, it needed to be less salty and thickened (I planned to cook it down to thicken it-- which would make it even more salty). So I quickly peeled a small potato and stuck it in the soup. I don't know if it only sucked up salt or if it also thickened the soup, but the judge said my soup was perfect.

the nitrite/nitrate debate

We are currently working on making our own sausages in class. My team is making a French Garlic Sausage and we are using a salt mixture that contains nitrite. Many people are concerned about the compound that can develop from the body's digestion of nitrite because it is carcinogenic. However, over 700 other compounds have been tested to replace nitrites/nitrates and none are as effective at keeping the sausage safe from a food borne illness called Botulism, which is fatal. In addition, we did the math tonight and you would need to eat 55 lbs of sausage in one sitting to obtain the amount of nitrite that would be potentially hazardous to your health due to health regulations of how much nitrite can possibly be used in food.

reception food

One of the types of food we learn about in Garde Manger is called Reception Food. It's exactly what you think it is--- food served at receptions. Of course, there is more to it than just being food, it needs to be flavorful, easy to eat, 1-2 bites, leaves you with clean fingers, and stimulates your appetite. So tonight we held a reception for the students and served about 15 different foods including two different soups (1 cold chickpea and avocado, 1 hot carrot, giner, honey), salmon and tuna sushi, spicy Thai shrimp skewers, mini filet mignons on toasts with salsa verde, curry puffs, pickled onions on polenta triangles, mini dill pancakes, spicy pork empanaditas, and tomato basil mozzarella skewers. The food was all beautiful and rarely does a cook see all their work from the last two days displayed in front of them.

fraulein

If my grandfather were a chef, I hope he would be just like my Garde Manger chef. He is strict, firm, and happy, everything a grandfather should be. He also calls me fraulein because my last name is German.

"Isn't zis fun?" he beamed at me opposite my work table as I tied plastic wrapped warm mozzarella logs into little balls. Gosh , it was.

bacon, ham hocks, and salmon

I started Garde Manger today which is the "Art and Craft of the Cold Kitchen" according to my textbook cover. Garde Manger includes sausage, hors d'oeuvres, and pates.

We started curing our bacon today that will be rotated daily (by my team) until next Tuesday, then it will be left uncovered in the refrigerator for two days, and finally it will be hot smoked. The bacon is curing in a mixture of salt, brown sugar, and spices.

The ham hocks are being soaked in a solution of corn syrup, water, salt, and sugar. They will be rinsed, dried, and hot smoked just like the bacon.

We also started a salmon curing today that we'll smoke--- I'm not really sure when. But it is sitting on a sheet tray in the refrigerator packed in a mixture of salt, sugar, all spice, onion powder, and other spices.

knowledge

It's humbling to realize in one day that I only experience one tiny corner of the world. But its so neat to be able to learn about other corners of the world from where I sit at my desk. The amount of knowledge we can share in just seconds with the internet is awesome. Here are some corners of the world I found fascinating today:

My sister living and working in Bolivia

A school employee in the midwest eating the same lunches as her students

A passionate foodie and hilarious writer from my hometown

A man appreciating all the beautiful, simple things in life


A food loving photographer from San Francisco with recipes for delicious, fresh food and stunning photos to go with it

What's going on in your corner of the world?

s'more muffin

Graham cracker crust+ chocolate muffin+ home made marshmallow= s'more muffin

Chef suggested doing a little research for a s'more muffin, so this morning I showed up with chocolate muffin recipes, marshmallow recipes, and a graham cracker crust recipe. It is so cool to have a vision and then see it through to fruition.

Reason #34,789 why I love this industry: creating.

3 hour lunch

When you have a good group, it is one of the best things that can happen to you at CIA. Your group is the collection of individuals you will travel from Skills III through Garde Manger with. These are your class mates and you spend 5 days a week with them bonding, laughing, sweating, busting your butt, stressing, and cooking. I've been thinking that I've had a good group since the start, but after sharing lunch with them for 3 hours and laughing so hard our stomachs hurt, it's confirmed: they're awesome.

the hidden waffle

It wasn't until I had been a student here for about 3 months that I finally ate a waffle for breakfast. Not because I didn't want one but because I didn't know where to get them. There are waffle griddles in the dining hall, but no waffle batter in sight. That's because its in the refrigerator below the griddles. I had no idea. The batter can't be stored on the counter in plain view because it is full of butter, eggs, and buttermilk. It was my job this morning to make the waffle batter cups. When I made one as a tester (to ensure the quality of course) I was so glad that someone decided to mix flour, butter, sugar, baking powder, eggs, salt, and buttermilk together to create such a warm fluffy treat. I'm even more glad that I know where to get them.

banana carrot blueberry

It may sound like an unlikely combination but it was pretty yummy. I used carrot juice, frozen bananas, Banilla yogurt, and milk to create a rich orange smoothie. Then frozen blueberries and orange juice whirled together to create an icy deep blue counterpart that was poured into the glass alongside the carrot smoothie, to create a 1/2 and 1/2 look. The two could be drunk separately (alternating sips from opposite sides of the glass) or swirled together for a combo effect.

smoothie station

I'm infamous in my house for dirty dishes. I used to make smoothies and leave the sticky blenders on the counter to dry in all their strawberry banana glory. Smoothies kept me occupied during the time before I wasn't allowed to use a knife on a regular occasion. They were more complicated than I expected and I loved trying new ingredients and weird flavors--- and I can only think of one smoothie my mom wouldn't drink although there were dozens I found disgusting.

Now that I've entered breakfast class, we serve smoothies on our buffet and I have the honor of blending up our specials. Each day we feature a dairy and non-dairy option to accommodate those avoiding dairy or those who are lactose intolerant. Here's the smoothies featured so far:

Jeff's Juice (Cranberry Orange--- named after my Florida native class mate): frozen cranberries, orange juice concentrate, orange juice, plain yogurt, milk, half and half, sugar, and ice

Jovany's Jamba (Coconut Banana Tamarind-- named after one of my favorite classmates): coconut milk, frozen bananas, tamarind puree, soy milk, yuzu juice, sugar, ice

Coconut Banana Kiwi: coconut milk, frozen bananas, kiwis, soy milk, pineapple juice, Vanilla Rum, sugar

Chocolate Cherry Banana: chocolate milk, frozen cherries, bananas, Banilla Yogurt (banana+vanilla), cocoa powder, sugar, Creme de Cassis

Mixed Fruit: frozen fruit salad-- honey dew, cantaloupe, pineapple, grapes, strawberries, bananas, strawberry puree, pineapple juice

The mixed fruit smoothie was my favorite so far. The Coconut Banana Kiwi was super good until I added the kiwi, which once blended made the back of your throat itch. My chef warned that there's an enzyme present in kiwi that makes for a really unpleasant feeling. I was careful not to over blend the smoothie and Chef said it was okay, but I don't like kiwis in smoothies.

breakfast class

There is a certain thrill associated with being so totally different than everyone else. Very few college students will ever have the experience of waking up at 2 a.m. and cooking breakfast for their school. I had that experience today and it's pretty cool because its so totally weird.

commitment

Classes were canceled today and as I've explained before, we cook the student meals, so no class=no meal for students. But at 6 a.m. three incredible chefs showed up in one of our kitchens and started cooking breakfast with student volunteers. The chefs and students served breakfast and linner (lunch+dinner)today and it was awesome to witness not only a commitment to our community here but also to our craft because these people worked hard when it wasn't a requirement.

you know you're a college student when---

1. You go out to play in the snow at 2:15 a.m. because you can, no parents to tell you its too late, no class that you should sleep for, and because there are street lights everywhere so its not sketchy

2. You go sledding with no sort of sled--there's no garage to grab a sled from and you can't steal a cafeteria tray because it won't fit in your knife kit

3. You drink hot chocolate out of a mug with your college logo on it

4. You hang your snow clothes all over your shower because there's no where else to put them

5. You wear sweatpants in the snow because your real snow pants are at home

float fry

Fish and chips--crunchy, golden coating over white flaky fish and cripsy, salty french fries. I fried about 20 lbs of Haddock today using the technique known as float fry.

A piece of battered fish will sink when dropped in oil. Dropping to the bottom of the oil will cause the fish to cook to the surface of whatever vessel it is being fried in, and make it impossible to get the fish out in one piece, unharmed and unblemished. So you swish the tip of the battered fish back and forth lightly in the oil, and then drop the whole piece in. This will keep the fish from sinking by cooking part of the batter and keeping the piece of fish afloat.

seasonality

In the dead of winter here in New York (complete with 5 inches of snow today), I ate raspberries for breakfast this morning. They were pretty darn good. Its kind of cool, this idea of get whatever you want, when you want, wherever you want it. Eating sweet, bright raspberries reminded me of the warmth of the sun and summer break.

What's not cool is how much fuel those raspberries needed to travel to me in New York. While they were good, I would not say they are worth the 3,000 miles they traveled from California and the ozone depleting gases that were emitted in order for me to eat them in my fruit salad.

I also ate sliced tomato on my portabello sandwich at dinner tonight. Anyone who's eaten a tomato still warm from the garden, knows they are not winter fruit but the epitome of summer.

So while I ate very un-seasonal produce today...

What foods did you eat that are directly related to seasonality and/or are responsible choices for our environment?

Madeira Marinated Mushrooms

Portabellos marinated in Madeira wine, olive oil, garlic, dried oregano, salt and pepper are delicious grilled and topped with chopped, grilled onion and melted Muenster cheese.

Penne Pomodoro with Arugula and Garlic Bread

The penne pasta was cooked off and laid out on large trays to cool. After it cooled, it was loaded into large plastic containers and kept until dinner time. When we were ready to make an order of pasta, we could drop a handful of pasta into a fryer basket, then add a handful of arugula and dunk the basket into the large bath tub-esque kettle. Once the arugula was wilted and the pasta was hot, we tossed them with hot tomato sauce and seasoned with salt and pepper. The tomato pasta was topped with creamy little cubes of fresh mozzarella and shredded parmesan then a garlic bread was placed in the pasta to stand straight up.

The garlic bread was made by slicing a crusty baguette into thin slices. Then garlic and olive oil were heated in a sauce pan over low heat for about 15 min, until the oil released a wonderful smell but the garlic was not browned at all. Season the garlic oil mixture with salt, then spread on the bread and arrange flat on a sheet tray. Bake the garlic bread at 350° F for about 10-15 minutes, until golden and crispy.

Quantity Food Production/K-16/Jones Dairy Kitchen

It's another Day 1 and I'm not going to lie, I'm starting to feel like the big kid on campus. I'm totally not at all but its cool seeing the kids with name tags walking around for their orientation, knowing that I've been here long enough to make it to K-16 (the kitchen number for the class Quantity Food Production).I'm only at the end of my second semester but there is a certain amount of awe and respect for the students in K-16. Up until this point, the kitchens that feed other students have done between 70-90 plates of food for lunch or dinner. As the name implies, Quantity Food Production is about producing food in large volumes. We make between 300-400 plates of food at each meal. Its really quite a cool thing because its so different than cooking one chicken breast at a time or boiling one box of pasta. We sold 16 lbs of pasta today and cooked them in an amount of boiling water equivalent to a small bath tub.