blueberry cheesecake

I had fond memories of the baking class I finished 2 weeks ago as I enjoyed a dessert from my old classroom at dinner tonight. It was a creamy, not-too-sweet, slice of cheesecake. It was perfect. I love how food does that, transports you and paints pictures of memories you hold dear. And all from a little slice of cheesecake.

food t.v.

This morning I had the privilege of staying in bed late and watching food network episodes on hulu. There is a particularly hostile attitude towards food t.v. here on campus for a variety of reasons, some reasons are justified, others are not. As for my opinion on food t.v., it was a huge inspiration to me because it exposed me to the possibilities of food. This morning was a sweet reminder of the wonder I feel when I'm around food. I want to share a realization I had this morning as I found myself annoyed with the t.v. host, but first let me explain what food t.v. does well.

The produce featured on t.v. is always of peak ripeness, I don't know how this happens or where this seemingly endless supply of perfect produce is coming from. I will admit, I think it's nice to slip away for 30 minutes into a world where apples don't grow ugly, carrots don't mold, and milk never curdles. The knives on t.v. are always wicked sharp. How do I know that? Have you seen the ease with which t.v. chefs slice through a tomato, or the perfect strings of basil that result from a "quick run through with your knife"? I always struggled way more than they do and never quite got their results when I went to replicate their recipes in my kitchen at home because I didn't have sharp knives like they did. Those thin tomato slices and wispy basil ribbons are thanks to someone who knows their way around a sharpening stone with those sexy knives. I only know this now that I sharpen my knives 2-3 times a week and I can slice a tomato super thin. The kitchen on t.v. is always spotless, and cleaniness is univerisally admirable. Their mise en place is always on point. Ingredients are all individually measured and ready to use, there is no fumbling around to peel the tomatoes while their garlic burns in the sauce pot with olive oil, as they make tomato sauce. Finally, everything always cooks perfectly. Macaroni and cheese doesn't stick to the baking dish and roasted chickens never come out pink or dry. Seeing perfectly prepared food makes me happy.

This morning, the t.v. host was making marshmallows and put the utensil covered in the marshmallow mixture right into the sink. I was immediately appalled because as a cook in a restaurant, you are constantly hearing about a little thing called "food cost". If food cost only applied to restaurants, I would be unreasonable for applying that standard to a situation outside a restaurant. The truth is, food cost applies to everyone, everywhere. It's the cost of food which includes the land and seeds used to grow produce through the cost of fuel used to transport that food to you. Those "scraps" of marshmallow on the utensil were money. So here's the realization: cooking shows are often intended for home cooks, and applying the standards/attitudes taught/practiced in a professional kitchen are often inappropriate. I would be reprimanded for washing that money in the form of marshmallow down the drain at school or in a restaurant, and could a home cook benefit from scarping that marshmallow back into the bowl? Yes. However, criticizing food t.v. based on the expectations of a professional kitchen is unreasonable, and "that's the way the cookie crumbles".

fattoush

We call Cuisines of the Mediterranean the "Meds" kitchen for short, and our third day of Meds was not so bad. My class is a talented group of individuals and while we still have some of the tried and true members of my June 21st-start-date-family, we have some new very welcome additions that really complete our class. I love working with people who have a passion for what they do and a good sense of humor. My class seems to have a good handle on both.

As for today, we'll start with the bad and work our way to the good.

I don't get along with my chef. I'm okay with that because it happens. People don't like me and I'm not going to like everyone I meet either because we are all so unique and different. We think differently, speak differently, act differently, and believe differently. I like that, I like the differences. I don't like when I don't communicate effectively with someone and our relationship is full of misunderstandings and disagreements. I guess the important thing is how you deal with it. I haven't quite figured that out yet but I have 3 weeks. As much trouble as we seem to have communicating, I still think he's a brilliant cook.

One of his simple, beautiful recipes we served today was a toasted pita bread with bell peppers, tomatoes, and cucumber salad called fattoush. It was fresh and light. I loved the tang of the red wine vinegar soaked pita chips and the cool, sweetness of the cucumbers. It was also our last day of Middle Eastern cuisine, which is my favorite three days of the meal rotation here.

canned=cooked

As it turns out canned chickpeas cannot, under any circumstance, for any reason under the sun on this wide green earth, by anyone ever throughout all of history, ever, ever, ever be substituted for dried and then soaked chickpeas. Yup, I learned that the hard way.

....that may be a slight exaggeration. But it is important to know that the difference between canned chickpeas in water and dried chickpeas that have simply been soaked overnight in water, is that canned chickpeas have also been cooked while dried chickpeas are still raw. While soaking dried chickpeas does make them softer like canned chickpeas, they are still not the same. Take note, kids.

tabbouleh and falafel

The Mediterranean kitchen is my favorite kitchen to eat from at CIA. And how lucky am I that I have the Chef whose food I love most for my teacher!

The kitchens and coordinating meal times at CIA run like complicated clockwork and after being here almost 1 1/2 years, I still don't know what time I should go eat if I want lunch (1st time consideration) upstairs (2nd consideration) from the Americas' kitchen (3rd consideration) with Chef _____(4th consideration). It feels like a wacky game of Clue. Anyway, I always consider myself lucky when I wander into the Mediterranean kitchen at just the right time and my favorite chef is there with his class putting forth delicious food. Those are always good days.

Today, I got to be one of those students putting forth delicious food. I was part of the tapas team featuring the hummus; baba ghanouj; falafel; and fresh, fluffy, warm pillows of pita bread that I could happily eat for a week. I was in charge of the tabouleh and the falafel, both heavily consisting of parsley. Tabbouleh is a beautiful tangy salad of bulghur, parsley, green onions, and tomatoes. The falafel were bright green, fried, chickpea patties eaten like hash browns swapping the ketchup for hummus. Oh, it was a good day.

the girlfriend+my grandmother

My grandpa says he only dated two women: an Army nurse and my grandmother. He actually met my grandmother while he was with the Army nurse and then the rest of that story is history.

...except that a few years after my grandmother died, my grandfather found the Army nurse (who was also recently widowed) and the two re-kindled a flame. I have wonderful memories of Christmas with my grandmother growing up but I have recent memories of Helen (the Army nurse) bringing bright, red santa hats from Columbus, Ohio for our annual family portrait at Christmastime. Each time she would fly out to visit my grandpa, she would bring Columbus' famous confection: Buckeyes. Helen has passed away and my family is no longer up to our necks in chocolate-coated peanut butter candies, but Helen and Buckeyes will always go together. She would have been proud of the Buckeyes we made in class today.

miracle berry

Pomegranate?

Blueberry?

Acai?

d.) none of the above

The miracle berry is a small little tablet dissolved on the tongue that changes the perception of sour to sweet. Making food that should taste sour taste fantastically sweet! I had the privilege of enjoying this very odd and cool sensation with the Modernist Cuisine Club on campus. They made lime juice tastes like lime syrup and vinegar tasted like sweet and sour grape juice...orange juice was oddly sweet. The orange juice was actually funny because I had forgotten that the effects of the miracle berry lasted after I left the demonstration. I was drinking a class of oj in my dorm room and I almost spit it out because it felt so weirdly sweet.

Imagine the possibilities of this tablet for those restricted to low/no-sugar diets....

eating lemon peels

....was delicious!!!

I never thought I would like eating raw (not candied or sugared) lemon peels but in lemon sorbet, raw chunks of lemon rind are sooooOOooooOOoOOoO deliciously refreshing. It's starting to get cold and summer is slowly slipping away, but today for 6 bites of lemon sorbet I thought it was hot outside and school was about to get out for summer break.

Lemons were juiced, mixed with water and sugar until a clean egg would float with only about a nickel size amount of shell poking out of the sweet/sour mixture. This fancy little trick works to measure the amount of sugar needed in a sorbet mixture because of the density of the sugar in the water against the measured density of a raw egg. For those chemistry folks, the egg acted as a make-shift hydrometer. How cool!!

The lemons that had been juiced, were chopped into 1/2 inch chunks and added to the sorbet mixture after it had been frozen in our ice cream machine.

Chef reminded us that we have 4 basic tastes--sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. The sorbet was already sweet and sour, so why not add another taste element---bitter? He was so spot on. The peel was a perfect addition to an already splendid food.

modified food starch

You may recognize those three words from some of the food labels in your kitchen. As we talked about the history of baking in class today, I learned that MFS (modified food starch) was invented to thicken fruit juice in frozen pies. Also, cake decorating was originally intended to cover up mistakes. Finally, desserts laden with fat+sugar (both natural preservatives) were used to preserve ingredients through the autumn and winter.

being understood

I had a job interview with a Chef today and as we shook hands and parted ways, we also casually swiped tears from our eyes. Not sad or angry tears, but just straight emotion. The topic of how special the Culinary Institute of America brought us both to tears. This may sound goofy or corny, and maybe it is. But it was so honest and wonderful to know that someone else feels the same way I do about this place. This is a place full of tradition, passion, and excellence. That's how I feel anyway and he understands that.

knife tray

About a year ago, I was working on my knife tray in my Skills I,II, and III classes which consisted of a particular set of skills demonstrated on a variety of vegetables (onions, potatoes, etc.) Above is an example of knife tray that I recently submitted for an application.

On the far left of the tray, the potatoes shaped into tournes (7 sided, 3/4" diameter by 2" long) are not up to standard. So I have been practicing after class, as I did today, to make them better.

my cool friends:)

How beautiful, huh? My friend MADE this!! Yup, with his own two hands. I asked if his was like the best in his class, he said no, most were actually better. I could only imagine the talent present in that classroom!

These flowers have a delicate shimmer on them (not conveyed in the photo) and they are meant to decorate a cake. Aside from the wire used as a stem, they are entirely edible and made of sugar. My friend didn't want them anymore, so now these striking flowers adorn my dresser.

racquetball=fun.

My only regret about playing racquetball today was that I didn't discover it sooner! I was laughing out loud like a fool as I whacked the ball all over the court today.

Ceiling, wall, floor, ceiling, wall, other wall, run, jump, laugh, wall, floor, bounce, hit, wall, wall, smile, swing (hit nothing), laugh, run, slide, wall, ceiling, door(!!), wall, ceiling, SMACK!

So fun. If racquetball wasn't available at the Rec Center (which I pay for in my tuition) I wouldn't pay for a gym membership to discover I love this game. However, three cheers for utilizing my campus' resources! HOORAH! HOORAH! HOORAH!

my classes' food memories

As I mentioned, we didn't have class yesterday and instead we had an alternate learning assignment (beside my self assigned apple picking). The assignment was to make or buy a candy, cookie, or confection that had a significant impact on your life and tell the story while sharing the food with the class. Above is the box of food memory samples including a family recipe brought from Greece over 100 years ago, a variation of a childhood summertime favorite, and a weekly family breakfast tradition (with the accompanying coffee!!).

Food has an incredible capability to tell a story in a language that everyone speaks. How cool it is that this is my life.

apple picking

Nom nom.

Today is a Special Project Day, so my friends and I took our education to the fields and picked apples. It was a beautiful, delicious, and wonderful day. This place is about 25 min from school and a bag (that should fit about 10 lbs) for apples was $14.

I will make my mom's apple crisp recipe tomorrow night. It'll probably make me miss home more than I already do, but for this apple crisp I'm okay with that.

pumpkin, coconut, banana cream, chocolate custard, lemon meringue, Key Lime pie

Over the past 3 days we have been learning about pies and today we finished our pie studies with a tasting of the aforementioned pies. All I can say is that I didn't hate it one single bit. In fact, I don't think I could even register the emotion "hate" while those six slices of goodness were in front of me.

My chef also shared his grandmother's trick to use up leftover pie crust. Spread cinnamon sugar (sugar+cinnamon, to taste) on the counter and roll out the leftover pie crust until about 1/4 inch thickness. While rolling out the dough continue turning, rotating, and flipping dough as you would normally. Gently roll the dough into a log and wrap in foil. Bake in a 325°F until cooked through. While still warm, unwrap dough roll from foil and slice 1/2 inch thick spiral slices. Share them, or don't.

3-2-1

I ate the best pie crust I've ever eaten today.

According to my chef, butter is good. But how much better is butter when it's browned? It's sweet, nutty aroma steals my heart everytime. So pie dough (flour+butter+water) that has a brown crust is essentially an indirect form of browned butter, and how good might that be?

So incredibly good. The best I've ever had, in fact. The icing on the cake? I'll never forget the recipe and I'll start proving that I know right here, right now.

3 parts flour (soft wheat flour-- "soft" flour means there is less gluten in the flour which is what becomes tough if it is overworked, so soft wheat flours are less likely to be overworked and create tough finished products. An example of soft wheat flour is pastry flour)
2 parts solid fat (butter tastes best is most natural)
1 part water

1/2 oz salt/ 6 lbs dough
Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add the cold butter in small cubes, toss them in the flour and squish them flat until they are the size of nickels, dimes, and quarters. Be very careful not to squish them too small. You want visible chunks of butter. Then add the water, and start roughly folding the dough over from the outside of the bowl to the center. Each time creating layers and combining the dough. Once the dough has come together in a solid piece (still with large chunks of butter) wrap it in plastic, parchment, or wax paper and store in the refrigerator until firm and cold (1-24 hours). Roll the cold dough out to fill a pie tin. Prepare the pie according to the filling and then bake at 425°F in a thin, reactive pan in order to create a crispy brown butter crust.

It's love. Truly.

fudge brownies

Today, my classmates made brownies. The kind that melt as soon as they hit your tongue, inducing a deep moan followed by your eyes rolling back in your head. The kind of satisfaction that makes you believe. Believe in world peace, a cure for cancer, or promised happiness. You know that each time you eat that food, even though it's not, everything in the world will feel right.

bakeshop sweet bakeshop

That was a very tired attempt at a rendition of "home sweet home". That I'm explaining it is an indicator that I should press backspace and just delete my lame attempt at humor, but I'm just too tired and happy to care. So there it is, bakeshop sweet bakeshop.

I got back into my whites today, unrolled my knife kit, and tucked my hair into my toque. If the day had ended there, it would have been good enough. However, my day went on to include fresh bread, strawberry shortcake made with buttermilk biscuits, peanut butter cookies, a cute lady who knew my hometown, and a wonderful community.

I started Baking and Pastry Skills Development this morning bright and early at 5:45 a.m. This is the only baking/pastry class I will take here as a culinary arts student. My classmates produce the bread served in Banquets (the required 3 course meal for new students) and of course we needed to taste test the product... of course! Rough life, I know. We also had to taste our strawberry shortcake dessert that was made for the faculty dining room. Needless to say, these were not difficult tastings to handle, they were in fact beyond enjoyable. My team made peanut butter cookie dough that was wrapped and refrigerated. I assume it will be used later this week--- more to come on that mass of butter, sugar, and peanutty love. I am training to become a tour guide and a sweet lady with family in my hometown happened to be on the tour I was shadowing. I enjoyed hearing her wildly compliment the place I grew up. Finally, tonight a club I am leading with my friend had a successful meeting complete with fantastic company and home-made caramel apples. It was truly a lovely day.

Awesome #435 and 532

One of my favorite blogs/ideas in the whole world is appreciating the little things in life that are actually Awesome. One groovy guy has compiled a whole list of Awesome things in the form of a blog, which I naturally think is Awesome.

I have running list of Awesome in my head (with numbers assigned in no particular order), and two things got added to the list today:

#435: recognizing the right answer on a test
You are checking over a test after you have bubbled in all your answers on the scantron sheet, (that my third grade self used to anxiously wonder "did I bring a #2 pencil today?!?!" I was always relieved to find that I had. I'm pretty sure 99.9999% of pencils are #2.) and recognizing the right answer like a sunflower in the dessert of a question you had previously doubted. But now you see the correct choice, clear as day. This happened to me today during my Costing Exam final. Love me some right answer(s).

#532: finishing L-block
Usually Awesome things are daily occurences we can all relate to. I understand most people have not been through L-block, so I'll compare it to finishing a marathon and finally getting that bagel you were running for the whole time, or eating a whole box of cereal to get to the toy at the bottom, or writing a whole novel so you can sell millions of copies, or tightening the last screw on your antique model car so you can drive around town and pick up hot babes--- whatever your goals are, it feels good to finish one part and start reaping the sweet success of your hard work. That's how I feel on this Friday night. Yes, I am one step closer to graduation, but what really tickles my fancy right now is that I've finished my classroom time and I'm back in the kitchens. Cooking in a kitchen is my new toy at the bottom of a cereal box, it's been good so far but its only about to get better.

dones-oh!

I am finished with Introduction to Management and Nutrition, which means 2 more classes (Costing and Menus) and I'm done with L-block!

Not that I didn't like these classes, I'll be honest, I did. I think they were beneficial because they taught skills we don't learn in the kitchen and gave names to the experiences we have. For example, in Management I learned that when a supervisor treats you as though you are inherently lazy and is always surprised when you finish a task to their specified standards, they posses what is called Theory X Leadership. This Leadership theory includes the belief that work is unnatural to people, people are lazy and will avoid work, and finally they need to be threatened, coerced, or bribed in order to get work done.

I'm also a little more than excited to get back into my whites and carry my knife bag to class on Tuesday morning.

time-out.

I got a pedicure today and it was wonderful. Three of my friends and I snuck away in between classes and sunk our toes into a warm water bath, let automatic massaging chairs wiggle us around, and absorbed the sweet sounds of John Mayer over the salon's radio.

I'm grateful I still get to act like a normal college student sometimes even though my college experience is radically different than most college students. Its easy to get caught up in the differences when I talk to my friends at other schools because it's so difficult to relate to their experiences and their's to mine. Taking an unexpected break in the middle of the day to get away from it all is something I think we can all relate to. It's the small things, I suppose.

friends you can cook with

My older sister gave me a book the day I left for college titled 101 Things a College Girl Should Know From an Big Sister Who's Been There, and even after one whole year of being at college I still keep her little words of wisdom close by.

One piece of advice the book gives is to make friends you can hug. I thoroughly agree with that but I think it should say friends you can hug and cook with, because those are the best kind of friends. I spent time with my friend tonight who I can both hug and cook with. We made Crab Boulettes, Chicken Kiev, Cheesey Cauliflower, steamed broccoli, and funfetti cupcakes. Food and hugs make this faraway place feel a little more like home.

inspiring people

Reason #2 why I came to CIA: the people (students, professors, chefs, alumni)

I like to believe that every person in this world has something to offer every other person. Its people like two of my friends here that give me reason to believe I might be right. Today in particular, I was inspired by two of my stunning classmates.

Inspiring Friend #1 has a beautiful blog complete with lovely words, poignant photography, and mouth-watering recipes. Check it out here!

Inspiring Friend #2 was talking about how as we get older we tend to lose our sense of wonder with the world. She said, "I wish I could love everything the way a five year-old loves everything." And I couldn't agree more. Her comment made me lean in close to the saute pan this evening as butter sizzled and melted into a bubbling pool that sauteed a steak for my dinner. When I was a child, solid fat that melted into liquid was as close to miracle status as anything I had ever experienced. Remember the things that impressed you as a 5 year-old? Allow yourself to be impressed again.

memory lane

My front door the day I moved into my house

My bedroom window

Late afternoon winter bike ride

An early spring day



Three months ago, I was on extern not quite believing that I had less than a month until my extern was finished. Time plays the funniest tricks on us and I remember taking these pictures as if they were yesterday.

el Bulli

Dear President Ryan,

I very much enjoyed your presentation this evening about your historical meal at el Bulli. Your stories and details were captivating and inspiring. Ferran Adria's food is unlike any I have experienced and hearing about it planted a seed to find food that achieves high complexity but stunning accessibility. I want to experience food that is as provactive as you described Chef Adria's food to be. Since I first heard that el Bulli was closing its doors on July 30th, 2011 I felt a sudden jolt of panic that if I didn't eat at the best restaurants in the world today, they might disappear by tomorrow. I guess that's the truth with anything great though. Regardless of the fact that I will never eat a momentous 50-course meal at one of the best restaurants in the world under one of the most influential chefs of my time, I am honored that you shared your experience through photos and anecdotes.

I ask that you continue to offer presentations once a month about your experiences, your philosophy, or your thoughts on current events/trends in the food industry. Tonight, you mentioned that one of the 4 keys to greatness is having disciples or followers. It is no news that you have achieved greatness. Some of your disciples and followers are right here on your campus. We are ready and we want you to teach us.

meetings, projects, and L-block

Nothing teaches you to manage your time like multi-tasking, deadlines, and projects. This 6 week block of classes following your return from extern is referred to as L-block because each 3 week block has an letter associated with it, we started with A or B-block and now we're at L-block which is full of projects, meetings, and powerpoint presentations. As you can imagine, L-block is often purposefully mis-pronounced. I am glad the powerpoints are about ways to incorporate vitamins in a vegetarian diet or analysis of a local restaurant's management style, which are topics that I can relate to and I find interesting. However, the day is starting to loom though where I just might jump out of my skin if I don't start peeling onions or sprinkling salt between my finger tips. I miss the kitchen.

tropical storm irene

I'm not even capitalizing irene because that's about how much impact she had on me. Now, I won't be insensitive to those who are still without power or whose lives were/are greatly impacted by the storm's effects. But to be clear about the storm's impact on me, not even a capitalized name. I was without power for about an hour last night when I left campus and took my frozen vegetables, yogurt, and smoked salmon with me out of my slowly warming fridge. I returned late last night and placed my veggies back in the freezer and snuggled into bed with the air conditioning on. For those affected by Irene, my heart goes out to you.

the view

Just studying in the library and this is my view. I don't have to tell you its beautiful, because you already know.

Re-discovered this beautiful blog today. Saturday morning breakfast anyone?!? Oh yes, yes.

Happy Friday!

go get em'

The attitude that wins.

St. Andrew's

After returning from extern I now have the opportunity to eat at Apple Pie Bakery or St. Andrew's Cafe 1 time each day. My lunch at St. Andy's today was one of the best meals I've had at CIA.

My first course was a roasted beet and asparagus salad, composed of tender cooked asparagus and candy-sweet roasted baby beets as a garnish for baby greens tossed in a sherry vinaigrette atop a cold potato salad. It was an elegant, fresh salad.

My main course was 2 pieces of sauteed Baramundi propped on a bed of spaghetti cut squash served over polenta fries with a warm tomato sauce. Everything was delicious. The fish by itself was juicy and well seasoned with a sexy, crisp skin. The squash was tender and full flavored, easy to eat and stellar by itself. Polenta fries were creamy polenta cut in strips and breaded to create a crisp outside as a perfect balance to the unctuous center. The tomatoes were sweet and sassy, full flavored and unexpectedly accented with orange. Each component demanded respect of its own, but they joined together humbly and created a magnificent harmony.

pastry

One of my most emotional experiences last year was watching the documentary Kings of Pastry. It is the story of pastry chefs competing in France under immense pressure, stress, and tension. The stakes are high. The competition is fierce. The talent will blow your mind. There were times during the film that I had to cover my ears and bury my face in my chest because the horror of failure was so humiliating, I couldn't bear to watch. No movie has ever made me so scared that my heart beat out of control, causing me to be concerned for my health, however there were moments in this movie that felt like the beginnings of a cardiac arrest. Its truly a beautiful, heart wrenching story that has contributed to my deep respect and appreciation for pastry chefs and pastry cooks.

We are privileged to have one of the most talented pastry chefs in America as a faculty member here. Today, I had the honor of sampling Chef Francisco Migoya's food at the Apple Pie Bakery (one of our four campus restaurants open to the public). He was named one of the Top 10 Pastry Chefs in America for 2011 by Dessert Professional, he has a stunning blog, and he was nominated for a James Beard award. It is because of faculty members like Chef Migoya that I came to CIA, so thank you Chef for reminding me.

pass

I may not have mentioned this before, but there is a large report, the Extern Manual, due when students return from their extern. It is possible that after working for 18 weeks and at least 600 hours, you could receive no credit if your report is not completed properly. My group turned our manuals in 3 weeks ago and we received them back today. Good news---I passed extern!

Also, I didn't have class today because Restaurant Law is only 3 weeks (instead of 6 weeks like the rest of my classes) and it was my only Monday class. Guess who passed their Law final last Wednesday? That's right, this chick.

things I learned in Menus class

-small graphics draw your attention to a certain item

-$ make you focus on how much you're paying and leaving them out will give you the illusion you're not paying as much

-the most profitable (and in some cases most expensive) menu items are located in the upper right hand section of the menu because it is the most "looked at" spot

-your attention is drawn to menu items in boxes

-scientific studies were conducted that prove there is a pattern your eye follows when looking at a menu that depends on the panels, boxes, colors, and graphics

gold digga

Never ever in my life have I considered marrying for money, I would be miserable. The idea did occur to me during my costing class, where it has been made painfully clear that a.) I will not have enough time to spend with anyone but my kitchen and that will be far from relaxing or romantic and b.) it will be a good month if I break even in the costs associated with my restaurant, we're not even talking about paying for the roof over my head or the bed I'll probably sleep in for 3 hours each night. I will not be a gold digger, but the odds of having a successful restaurant makes sensible people who believe in love and honesty want to consider it.

forgot your sunscreen?

In good news, my Nutrition professor recommended that we gain 20-30 minutes of sun exposure each day without sunscreen which blocks the absorption of vitamin D. It is also important to be in direct contact with the sun's rays, so leaning your chair up against the sunny window doesn't count. We should all take 30 minutes each day to romp around outside when its sunny in the name of nutrition and vitamin D absorption.

kwash

The image of young African children with large bellies is almost misleading because it appears for an instant that the children are overfed when in fact their inflated belly is really a sign of starvation. Distended bellies are a symptom of a malnutrition condition called kwashiorkor or "kwash" for short. In short, the belly becomes swollen with fluid because there is not enough protein in the body to maintain healthy cells. The lack of protein allows the cells to break down and the fluid that would normally be contained within the cell walls is released. The swelling commonly occurs in the abdomen but can implement itself in other areas of the body as well, such as the legs which is the case of the little boy in the video below.

The cure for kwash is protein and depending on the severity of the case the symptoms can be reversed in as little as one week. Here is the video my Nutrition professor shared with us about the treatment of kwash.

crab cake

Today I had a delicious lunch that was slightly unexpected... being from Virginia, I love blue crabs and I love crab cakes. Now, blue crabs are not good for crab cakes because they have such low yield of meat and the crab is so delicate and sweet it would be disrespectful to add anything but a little dunk of vinegar to the delicious meat. However, I appreciate the luscious chunks of crab meat that are formed together to create beautiful crab cakes. I had one of those yummy crab cakes today-- minus the huge chunks of crab but certainly still crabby in flavor and oh so yummy. Good food is really such a treat.

undiscovered gems

How awesome it is when you find something unexpectedly wonderful. As I put the final touches on my Investor's Letter (for the hypothetical restaurant I am creating for my Menu Development class), I needed a quiet place to work and I decided I'd step outside into the beautiful courtyard. The only thing I could possibly be upset about in the world at the moment I walked out there, was that I hadn't found this stunning spot sooner. It was a warm, sunny, and puffy white clouds in a bright blue sky kinda day. Truly one of Hudson Valley's finest moments.

dream list

"Remove your judgement cape and just write, okay?" my Menu's instructor directed us. He called it our dream list. Projected on the screen at the front of the classroom was a blank powerpoint slide, he quickly started clicking through phrases that ellicted deep, personal, food related memories. We jotted down our responses and at the end he told us of a student who came up with 365 different food responses.

"If you have only 10 or 20 phrases on page, you need to ask yourself why you're here. Do you really love food? If you can't think of foods you love, what are you doing here?" He recommended we go home, put in our ear buds, drink a glass of wine, and continue our dream lists.

It feels really good to think about things you love, here's some of the phrases I remember:
-favorite seafood
-favorite cereal
-favorite summer time hamburger toppings
-ethnic foods from your childhood relating to your heritage
-favorite ice cream
-favorite snack
-foods to bring on a picnic
-favorite childhood food
-best bed time snack
-favorite shape of pasta

fight dementia

Food not only satisfies the soul but is in many cases medicinal for the body. Early onset dementia can be a result of a Vitamin B12 deficiency. Once the vitamin is restored in the body, the symptoms of dementia disappear.

restaurant law

Ever feel like you're just so far behind that in order to stop the recklessly, out of control train that is your life, you would have to pull all the plugs, get all the pieces in front of you, and by yourself put them back together so that you can start traveling again? That's how my restaurant law class feels. Like a super fast moving train, totally out of my control. Thank God that there are people in this world (like my outstandingly knowledgable professor) who actually retain this information and can navigate around the mine field that I'm beginning to understand as Restaurant Law.

"AND I'M BACK AGAIN!" said Leah with a monumental crash

My parents used to read this book to my sister when she was a little girl, and the above saying has now become a family favorite to yell upon arrival at home (as the character, Nora does in the book).

I returned to CIA, last Monday afternoon to warmth, sunshine, and the campus I love just the way I remembered it. Except this summer, I'm a little more jaded and I know that soon this place will be so disturbingly cold these warm moments will seem almost impossible to remember so what do I do--- but walk around barefoot, eat juicy strawberries, and smile at the sun each time it blinds me in the face.

CIA has adopted a new curriculum that I know little about other than that it includes the extinction of 3 week block classes. However, I am continuing my education here in the 3 week class format, except for this initial block back which is 6 weeks consisting of 5 classes: Introduction to Management, Restaurant Law, Controlling Cost and Purchasing, Menu Development, and Nutrition. The schedule is similar to normal college with Tues/Wed and Thurs/Fri classes. I have been surprised by the amount of effort it requires to transition from standing at a kitchen counter constantly moving, working, and changing as I was on extern, to sitting at a desk. I am reminded all over again, that I'm a kitchen person not an office person.

Today was a Special Project Day, which allows students an independent study day and an opportunity for faculty and staff to have meetings. Today was also an opportunity to volunteer in the one kitchen that was providing food to the entire school, because the students cook the food for our meal plan, so no class=no food. I worked with a student from Miami today who taught me how to make the best tostones I've ever eaten. They were twice fried and dipped in a seasoned lime-garlic bath to give them a wonderful flavor. Yum yum.

Finally, I had an incredible experience on externship. I was inspired, challenged, and strengthened. I was at the right place at the right time...not sure I could ask for anything more.

Sayonara!

Today was our last day of Garde Manger meaning two things: cheese and the end of our first year.

Each team was assigned one of 6 cheeses to do research, write a paper, make a presentation, and create an original recipe featuring the cheese. My cheese was Epoisses, which we added to apples, creme fraiche, eggs, ham, nutmeg, salt, and pepper, then baked into a tart pan lined with puff pastry. The sliced tart was served with arugula and a Balsamic reduction.

The end of second semester also indicates that I'm leaving for my externship! I will return to CIA in August and resume the blog then.

Happy Eating!

Our very own Grand Buffet

I was so incredibly proud of my class at Grand Buffet today, the food was not only beautiful, but delicious.

(I will upload photos when technology and I become friends again)

shredded chicken

Once again, I'm reminded of how quickly time flies here because I am finally in that class that cooks the food for Grand Buffet ("Grahhhnd Boofay" as my chef affectionately calls it). My team was assigned one of the Asian Food Stations and our menu is as follows:

Sesame Chicken Noodle Salad
Seafood Salad w/ Wasabi Vinaigrette
Seafood Stickers w/ Citrus Mint Dipping Sauce
Pork Egg Rolls w/ Spicy Bean Paste Sauce

Today, I worked on the Chicken Noodle Salad which calls for shredded chicken. Shredding chicken sounds easy, right? Not when it's cold. I anticipated it would take 5 minutes to shred two chicken breasts into fine shreds but it took about 25 minutes. The whole time I was working, my brain was saying "There has to be a faster way to do this, there has to be a faster way to do this..." but the truth is there isn't. Sometimes, food just makes you wait.

I'm sure of it

If there were two things bread was made for in this world, its this:

1. being eaten hot out of the oven with butter
2. crusty, dipped in a hot brothy soup

again

Those grapes I peeled on Friday--- they were nasty. So my partner peeled more green grapes today. If you should ever feel it necessary to serve peeled green grapes, don't blanch them to get the skin off easier (its not that much easier and it turns them an undesirable beige color), peel them as close to serving as possible (so they also don't turn brown), and don't soak them in water to keep them green (they will taste like water sponges).

The green grapes were a garnish for a Chicken and Foie Gras terrine (above). We simmered a whole chicken with carrots, celeriac, onions, bay leaves, peppercorns, thyme, and garlic, until the chicken was falling off the bone. We picked off all the meat and shredded it. Then we strained the cooking liquid and clarified it like a consomme. To the consomme we added gelatin sheets, which we then used to bind shredded chicken, foie gras, and herbs together in a terrine mold. It was like Chicken Foie Gras jell-o :) The plate also had crushed pistachios, powdered hazelnut praline, Melba toast, Ravigote sauce (walnut oil, balsamic vinegar, chopped tomato, shallots, garlic, and herbs), and a frisse salad.

Tonight was an unusual night in Garde Manger, because we are not a kitchen that serves meals. However, tonight we served 6 different beautiful plates for free to anyone who walked into our kitchen.

photo credits: Shawn Dickensheets

one day in Garde Manger....

I peeled a pound of grapes.

the end

"Now this is a real sausage fest!"

The hanging sausage is my team's French Garlic sausage that has been poached, dried, and smoked.

The other picture includes my classmate's sausage-- we had our own little party. It was basically summer time except we were all cold and there was no watermelon.

the commraderie

Reason #574 why I'm in this industry.

I like being on a team because success is multiplied by your team mates. I like working so closely with someone that you learn things about them nobody else probably knows. I like looking across a blazing grill and hearing the person at the griddle ask me if I need anything at all. I like laughing so hard I pee in my pants because someone has spent enough time with me that they know exactly how to make me laugh. I like relying on other people to do their part and knowing they will.

snow day

It snowed again and it is simply stunning around here!

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.