The "Hatting" Ceremony

Well, I graduated.

The ceremony was sweet, short, tasty, and hilarious. I graduated on March 3rd and it was a very memorable evening. It began with my class arriving to the kitchen at a very early 7 am starting time, dressed and ready to start cooking the day away for our Grand Buffet later that evening. My partner, Marina, and I had a very organized plan and time schedule to make sure we had everything done calmly and effeiciently with enough time to at least brush our hair for the ceremony :)

For our menu, we chose a simple sauteed chicken breast with a delicious port wine reduction sauce. We paired our protein with an Italian salad with garlic infused vinaigrette dressing. My personal speciality of the evening was a roasted garlic gnocchi pasta with creamy goat cheese sauce- YUM. It took me sooooo long to make and I ended up with 4 big sheet trays filled with pasta but Mmmmmm it was amazing! Finally, we ended our menu with a wonderful and citrusy lime curd tart. Here are some pictures from the evening:

* Our soon-to-be-sauced plate. Simple but delicious.

* Our Lime Curd Tart (This was mainly Marina's doing... hints why it looks perfect)

* Wohoo! I got my hat! It looks great BUT it's made of paper. Really ICE?? Can't you afford some cloth to make my first chef's hat???

* My wonderful culinary class. I am really going to miss these people.

* We were officially named the "back table girls." Us four always rushed to the back table to work together whenever possible. We worked as a well-oiled machine. 

* My roommate, Cristine, and my closest friend since 7th grade, Kate. I was so happy they were there to support me :) 

Overall, it was a wonderful evening and I feel so blessed. I am so lucky to have gotten to pursue what I am truly passionate about- the food industry. It is a tough business but overwhelmingly rewarding. The Lord has been so good to bring me here. Now, even though school is coming to a close, this blog will continue because the culinary industry is an ever-changing market that demands documentation. I am currently continuing my internship with the restaurant consultant (a job that I am LOVING) and I start as an editorial intern at Bon Appetit on March 17th! There is so much in store. Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive. 

Happy Eating!!!

The End's in Sight

When thinking about the past two weeks, I do not even know where to begin. It has been a blur of business, eloquent food, and crazy surprises.

Last week, we continued our tour through the styles of the renown master chefs. We started the week off in Asia as we studied the master chef, Ming Tsai (I honestly had no idea who this was). He has famous restaurants in Boston and other areas in the Northeast of the US. This wasn't significant to me. What was VERY significant, however, was the Butterfish with Soba Noodle Sushi that I was lucky enough to make. It was absolute heaven as the miso marinade on the fish caramelized in the oven into a flakey and sweet paradise. Butterfish has always been my favorite fish and the entire class was dying over how amazing it was! I urge you to try this fish if you have never done so. Other dishes that were made include Oyster Corn Fritters, Tea-Rubbed Halibut, and various stir-fry noodle dishes. 

* Blue Ginger Alaskan Butterfish with Soba Noodle Sushi

*Oyster Corn Fritters with Two-Vinegar Emulsion

The next few days were spent studying chefs such as Rick Bayless (Mexican cuisine), Daniel Boulud (French cuisine), and Thomas Keller (Eloquent cuisine). It was so fun seeing all of the various cooking styles of these famous chefs. However, the most annoying day was Rick Bayless' day when all I was assigned to make was the tomato-infused rice that I continued to mess up! For some inexplicable reason, I have always had trouble with rice. BUT, since I have been in culinary school since September, I laughed at my rice assignment thinking about easy such a simple rice dish would be for me. WRONG. Somehow the stock I heated to add to the rice reduced by half, making the rice still crunchy after it was suppose to be done cooking. The rest of the class was spent adding tiny bits of water at a time, putting the rice over heat, and letting it steam to cook. It basically took me the entire class to make ONE rice dish. I was beyond frustrated. Once it was finally cooked, I explained my troubles to the class and received joking applause from my classmates and chef instructor- they're so supportive. Thank goodness the other two days were fantastic- I got to make lobster ravioli on Daniel Boulud's day and Thomas Keller's version of pizza the following day (his "pizza" being roasted tomatoes on puff pastry with an anchovy and olive puree). 

* Daniel Boulud's Lobster Ravioli on Spinach Leaves in a Creamy Lobster Sauce

* Daniel Boulud's Maine Sea Scallops in Black Tie 

(Scallops layered alternately with black truffles and covered in Puff Pastry)

*Thomas Keller's Salmon Tartare Cornets with Sweet Red Onion Creme Fraiche

*Thomas Keller's Black Sea Bass with Sweet Parsnips, Spinach, and Saffron-Vanilla Sauce

Starting this week, we moved to a section of Module 5 called Market Basket. It was here that class took a spontaneous turn. On those days, we had a secret protein that we weren't told about until we got to class. Along with the mysterious protein, we had to pair with it a starch, vegetable, and sauce. It was quite nerve-racking. The first secret protein was scallops. Once Chef Chris announced the item, we were off and running to create our individual culinary masterpieces. I unfortunately had some trouble this day because my planned starch that was suppose to be a potato custard called Moussaline Potatoes completely messed up. This custard turned out to be nothing more than a liquidy mess of potato chunks. I had to start over and made a potato puree with freshly fried potato chips instead. Chef Chris laughed at me saying he was happy to see me have to sweat and recover from my mistake. The second day was Lamb Shank day and Chef Chris' only request was for the lamb shank to be braised. So that's what I did, I braised that shank until it was the point of fork-tender deliciousness, paired it with a butternut squash puree and roasted eggplant and BOOM- Market Basket's over. There's only two weeks left now...

In other news, I started an internship last week with a wonderful restaurant consultant in the city. It has been very interesting taking what I have learned in the classroom of my management class and applying it to real life business situations. Also, I finally have my externship all lined up- I will be externing for the managing editor at Bon Appetit Magazine! I am so excited to be a part of this highly respected magazine, especially as they are completing their move from LA to NYC. It will an incredible and challenging experience for me. 

That's all I have for now,

Happy Eating!

Savory > Sweets

Well, pastry is officially over. We had our practical last Thursday and then moved swiftly into Mod 5 on Friday with the "Almighty" Chef Chris. Our last few days of pastry were focused on presentation. We learned that a dessert is not complete without it's main component, sauce, and garnish. Each partnership was assigned 2 desserts to make complete with sauces, the ice creams we had previously made, and some form of decoration. One day my partner, Dominic, and I made caramel decorations by combining sugar and lemon juice and slowly cooking it until it turned amber in color. We then sprayed our table with PAM and drizzled the hot syrup right onto the table in cool shapes and designs. The caramel instantly hardened and looked extremely elegant. Who would have thought elegance would be so easy with only 2 ingredients?!? The caramel decorations were the crown of our dessert that featured an Apple Bistro tart, caramel sauce, and caramel ice cream. It was like eating a caramel apple that didn't get your face messy!

Our next dessert was a hazelnut sponge cake stuffed with a chocolate mousse filling and topped with chocolate ganache. We paired it with caramel sauce, caramel ice cream, salted hazelnuts, and chocolate decorations. Most of it was relatively simple, but the chocolate mousse filling was extremely difficult to make! Everything had to be at such a precise temperature and texture that we had to redo every step- from the whipping of the cream to the melting of the chocolate. Beware of the method if you are ever wanting to make chocolate mousse. However, despite the difficulties, the dish turned out great! Dominic and I felt like actual pastry chefs :)

The next day, we had our final pastry test full of piping out "Happy Birthday" in chocolate, rolling dough, and making custard. After that, it was off to Mod 5! Even though I just spent an hour peeling garlic cloves for homework, it feels so good to be around savory foods again. In the first few weeks of Mod 5, each lesson is dedicated to making the infamous creations of the most renown chefs in the world. Our first day was all about Mario Batali as we cooked our way through all of his masterful dishes. Mr. Batali (remember when I saw him at the Dumpling Festival this past fall?) is one of the most famous Italian chefs in the country and owns the only 4-star Italian restaurant in Manhattan, Del Posto. He his known for his creativity and putting a remarkable twist on traditional flavor combinations. Here are some of the dishes we made:

* Sauteed Skate and Shrimp in a Saffron Sweet Clam Citronette (this is the dish I made... I had never had skate before!)

* Mint Fettuccini with Lamb and Olives (a lovely twist on the lamb/mint combo)

* The front dish: Spinach Goat Cheese Gnocchi with Sun-dried Tomatoes, Pine Nuts, and Lemon
* The back dish: Fennel-Dusted Sweetbreads with Bacon and Onions

Some of the upcoming master chefs that we will study this week include Daniel Boulud, Ming Tsai, and Thomas Keller. I am so excited for the intricate dishes we have coming our way this week- you can guarantee that I will have my camera with me at all times! Well, there's only 17 lessons left and I am sad/scared/happy for the little time that's left!

Happy Eating!

Ice Cream is the New Peace Treaty

I just found out that is the coldest and most snowy winter that New York has ever had... ever. That is exciting for days like today when we wake up to over 15 inches of snow and have a snow day!!! This is our second snow day for the month of January, and although I would love to be in class making sorbet right now, it's kinda nice to have a day to simply walk around the city and, of course, blog.

In class, we have moved from yeast breads to desserts. I am personally loving every second of this pastry module, but my classmates are growing weary of the lack of savory foods and the slower pace of the class. At the beginning of last week, we made various forms of "petit fours." To most people that means a miniature cake, but petit fours are actually just a bite-sized treat of any kind. Our petit fours consisted of vanilla bean marshmallows, almond buttercrunch, biscotti, and macaroons. We spent a full day making all of these fun treats, while the next day we learned how to temper chocolate to dip the petit fours in. I have always heard the term "tempered chocolate" but have never quite understood the importance of it. It's amazing because by raising the chocolate to a temperature of 130 degrees F and then stirring it to cool it down to 85 degrees F, the chocolate is able to harden at room temperature into a shiny and appetizing coating. If you don't temper chocolate, it hardens in a dull, grayish color and melts too quickly in the hand. Many agree that tempering is the most important thing you can do with chocolate. After the tempering was complete, we spent the rest of class dipping and coating our petit fours in our chocolatey goodness.

*Vanilla bean marshmallows with a dark chocolate drizzle

*Almond Biscotti, Pine Nut Macaroons, Sea Salted Truffles, and Rose Marshmallows

*Almond Buttercrunch topped with Chocolate, Coconut, and Toasted Almonds

After petit fours, we moved to cakes. Now, if you want to see a group of culinary students become uncomfortable in the kitchen, just ask them to decorate a cake. Everyone in my class was having a very difficult time. I looked over and one guy had 3 finger cots on because he kept cutting himself trying to slice a cake horizontally. We spend one day baking various kinds of cakes and the next day preparing the frostings and fillings and actually decorating the cake. Chef Scott took us through the icing process step by step and showed us how to make a cake look perfectly frosted. His demonstration made me think back to all of the many cakes I have iced and how horribly wrong I was doing it. At home I would always get impatient and frost a cake while it's still warm- and I wonder why they always lean awkwardly?!? Although it tested our patience, made us angry, and took much longer than it ever should have, we all ended up with decent-looking cakes. I think it was the proudest my class has ever been of ourselves.

*My (not leaning) Lemon Coconut Sponge Cake

The latest kind of desserts we have learned to make are custard-based desserts. This includes ice cream, creme brulee, and bread pudding. The ice cream part was fun. All the partnerships got to choose their favorite flavor and make the ice cream base. The next day, Chef Scott rolled in this very large, very professional, and very expensive ice cream freezer that turned our liquidy bases into ice cream in minutes. My partner, Lindsey, and I chose cinnamon and it was HEAVEN. There is nothing like the taste of freshly frozen ice cream. I swear it has the power to turn cynics into optimists and solve world wars. All of us, including Chef Scott, were giddy and beaming as we tasted flavor after flavor. Other flavors made were caramel, coconut, vanilla bean, coffee, pistachio, and ginger. All of them were amazing (even though I am biased with my cinnamon). I think tasting all of these ice creams has been my favorite part of pastry. We also made very traditional bread pudding and creme brulee recipes that used real vanilla beans and the freshest of ingredients. I have never been a huge creme brulee fan, but the ones we made it class were really delicious. It was really fun torching the caramelized sugar topping on the creme brulee, once Lindsey and I figured out how to turn the torch on. Overall, it was a fantastic section of our pastry module.

*Chef Scott showing us how to properly torch the Creme Brulee

*Creme Brulee: the most fat-filled, high-cholesterol dessert you can find :)

*Bread pudding. It looks dry on top, but its very custardy and delicious once you dive into it

We only have a week left in Pastry before we move on to our final module with Chef Chris again. Time is flying by and my classmates and I only have a month left to finalize our externships and enjoy every last moment of class time. It's going to be fun to see where we all end up in this ever-changing culinary world.

Happy Eating!!!

A Fishy Morning

So it is about 9 am and I have already been up since 3:30. Today was my management class' field trip to the Fulton Fish Market!!! Therefore, please excuse any gramatical errors or confusing sentences.

Fulton Fish Market supplies 30% of all fish to New York restaurants. It is an incredible facility with sooooo many seafood goodies! It was very exciting to walk around and see all of the fish varieties. My management teacher, Steve, said that I looked as excited as Cinderella at her ball (that could be depressing that my "ball" is a smelly fish market, but I'm just gonna take it as positive).

We walked down the entire length of the building admiring each fishermen's catch of the day. All of the men were surprisingly friendly to us and were excited to answer our questions. Here are some pictures that give much better detail of our experience:

Every fishing company had piles of freshly caught fish waiting to be bought, fabricated, and enjoyed

I have come to LOVE raw tuna such as this. My mouth may have started watering at the sight....

Look at all the scallop options!!! All of them were sooooo fresh!

There were all kinds of crab: live crab, lump crap meat, frozen snow crab legs, etc. This crab was particularly feisty. I think he will make for a delicious meal...

We couldn't go 2 feet without seeing various kinds of oysters and clams. It makes me squirm thinking about the unlucky individual who has to shuck all of those shellfish...

This is a new fish for me- Strawberry Seabass. I wanted to buy them just for the name :)

There was a room off to the side with all of these men just filleting fish. And let me tell you- they were so fast!!! I just learned how to fillet a fish this year, so I am still very slow. These guys were experts as they sped through about 20 fish each in the few moments we were watching them work. I was amazed.

There was this one fish I liked a lot with a bulging eye and the nice fisherman let me hold it with a hook for a picture!

My classmates and me as we came to the end of our tour. It was a fantastic experience that I am so happy to have been apart of. We left the market, boarded the bus, stopped for bagels (duh), and headed home to recoup from our early waking hour.

Happy Eating!!!

Baking My Way Through January

It has been soooo long since I have blogged which means I have too much to talk about for one post. Currently, our class has transitioned into the pastry module, so I have to start there (then I will backtrack on another post)! Baking is very near and dear to my heart because it is here that my deep love of food was sparked. I keeping saying that I am "baking my way through January," and I cannot think of anything that I would rather be doing. 


Our pastry instructor is Chef Scott, a man who is as chill and laid back as they come. The one strike against him is that he does not like college football, but his other qualities outweigh that negative :) On our first day of pastry, we dove in headfirst with learning the poaching and candying of various fruits that we later used for fillings. My favorite part of that day was at presentation time when we were getting ready for the tasting and Chef Scott pulled out two pints of Haagan-Daz vanilla bean ice cream to accompany the fruit (it was then that I knew I was going to love this module). After fruits, we moved straight into learning how to make the PERFECT tart. We eacgh made 3 small tarts and one big tart. We used a variety of doughs so we could learn the differences between flakey, cakey, and cocoa doughs. I made a poached-pear custard tart with a pate sucree crust. It was really good except for the piece of crust that fell off when I was taking the tart out of the pan (Ooops... something like that ALWAYS happens to me). Despite the slight mess up,  I am so happy to have at least seen how to make a perfect tart :)


Next, we moved into the dreaded puff pastry where we spent an entire class just making the dough. Now, I know that butter is a very common ingredient in pastry, but the amount of butter we used to make puff pastry dough is unbelievable. To quickly summarize how to make it, you start by making the "detrempe" dough with flour, butter, salt, etc. Then you make the "beurrage" which is 2 POUNDS of butter and a pinch of flour that you flatten out into a square. You then wrap the detrempe around the beurrage and pound it and roll it into a flat rectangle where all the butter is fully incorporated into the dough. This pounding and rolling process is then repeated 8 more times, taking a total of 4 hours. My arms got quite a workout that day. Once the dough was made, however, the next day was really fun turning this buttery dough into apple strips, herb twists, and palmiers. Even though I would never make this kind of pastry again, it was great to make it once to gain appreciation for the intensive labor and warning for it's nutritional content. 

* Apple Strip 

* Paillettes (puff pastry with paprika and parmesan cheese)

Yesterday was bagel and pretzel day! Bagels have always been a mystery to me because of it's unique texture. Turns out, that uniqueness is achieved by poaching the dough rings right before baking them. It is so simple but makes all the difference. So, we made the dough, formed it into even sized balls, rolled the dough balls out and connected the ends to form the traditional bagel shape. We then poached them in a sugary water, sprinkled sesame seeds on the wet rings, and baked them until they were a golden brown. So simple. So delicious. Pretzels are done in the exact same poaching/baking method. At the end of class, we busted out the spicy mustard and cream cheese and dove into our freshly baked treats. 

* New York-Style Pretzels

* Sesame Seed and Poppy Seed Bagels 


Although I only have a few more months in school, there is so much coming up. Tomorrow, we are having a 23 variety cheese tasting in my management class and we will be making fresh brioche rolls and croissants in pastry class. Also, the time has come to start interviewing and trailing at various restaurants and magazine establishments, so wish me luck as I embark on those experiences!


Keep warm and Happy Eating!!!

Diets and Culinary School must be Enemies...

I feel like it has been so long since my last blog. I have missed it... so much has happened since the last post. Thanksgiving has come and gone again. I would love to explain my Thanksgiving day in detail, but only one picture will suffice:

Oh yes. This is my dad, armed with his water-proof yellow hat, smoking 4 turkeys, 2 racks of pork ribs, and a 30 lb ham all by himself. Not only is he a pro at the smoker, but he is incredibly dedicated to his food- so dedicated in fact, that the woke up at 3 am and faced the freezing cold to turn the ham. Obviously, our Thanksgiving meal tasted amazing this year.

As for school, we began our tour through various culinary nationalities. It began with France as we cooked our way through all of the fatty, butter-filled foods that define the renown French cuisine. Each region has their fat of choice, ranging from duck fat, pork fat, butter, etc- Light eaters beware! Duck fat was a particular favorite as most recipes incorporated duck fat by the quarts. We made Duck Confit which is basically duck legs that are simmered for 2 hours in duck fat and are then re-submerged in the fat. The fat acts as a preservation technique that allows the duck to be saved for up to 2 years. Besides the few legs that were used for "educational" tastings, the majority of the duck legs were put away to be saved for our graduation buffet so we can see how much flavor the legs develop while in the fat (sounds delicious right?). One dish that was particularly exciting for me to make was Julia Child's infamous Beef Bourguignon. After being inspired by the movie "Julie and Julia", making her well-known classic was very thrilling. I felt a part of the "club" having taken my first step into the culinary industry. Overall, France was great, but I was ready to leave the fat behind us...

This week, we have moved to Italy! (studying these countries REALLY makes me want to go see them- anyone interested??) So far, I have loved studying Italian techniques because, unlike the French who cover up their foods with fatty complications, the Italians put their efforts into finding the freshest products and highlighting that freshness with the simplest of recipes. This was a refreshing change. Today, I got to the fulfill my dream of making homemade pasta! We started by kneading the dry, stiff dough until it got to the necessary consistency. Using a pasta maker, we then rolled out the disks of pasta into long, thin sheets of soon-to-be-deliciousness. With these sheets, we made butternut squash ravioli and traditional trenette pasta (basic angelhair noodles).  We also made my favorite pasta- gnocchi! The recipe we used called for riced potatoes, flour, eggs, nutmeg, and salt. We kneaded, rolled, cut, and boiled those marvelous pockets of pasta into a divine pasta experience. I definitely have eaten my fill of carbs today.

Another cool part of this week was a seminar I just attended this evening about how to meet human needs with a culinary profession. At the seminar, there was a panel of individuals who are currently in jobs that fight against hunger, strive to increase the nutrition of meals served in schools, and bring awareness to the economical importance of local farmers. It was really encouraging to know that there are so many untapped opportunities to use this crazy industry to meet the real needs of people. I, for one, am determined to work towards something that brings beneficial change directly to people. I am not sure exactly what that will be, but I'm sure the Lord will tell me in due time...

Sorry for the lack of pictures this week. I AM bringing my camera to school tomorrow so I will make up for it :) For the rest of the week, we are continuing our journey throughout Italy as we knead, boil, and sauce our way through the classic pastas we all know and love.

Happy Eating!