Food at home

I haven't updated in awhile so here are a few things I have recently made at home.


This is Chislic I made by marinating meat then grilling it on skewers like Kabobs with caramelized onions. It was very good.









This is a mixed fruist smoothie I made at home for my orientation class to write out a recipe for it.
Here is the recipe for it that I handed in. Its a really simple drink to make.



Mixed Fruit Smoothie

Yield: 4 Servings of fruit smoothie

Ingredients:

3 cups Mixed frozen fruit
1/2 cup Ice (crushed)
2 cups Orange juice
1tsp Vanilla
Whip cream (optional)

Instructions:

1. In blender blend frozen fruit, crushed ice, orange juice and vanilla.
2. Puree in blender about 1-2 minutes until mixture is smooth with little or no
fruit or ice chunks.
3. Pour smoothie in glasses and top with whip cream if desired.


Tip: If smoothie is too thick add orange juice, if smoothie is too thin add fruit to blender.


And this is a three tier chocolate chip pound cake with chocolate frosting covered with fondant that I made for my sister's 22nd birthday. I am pretty proud of it since this is the first time I ever used fondant. I actually bought plain white fondant already made in a box from Wilson's it isn't difficult to work with but, the fondant didn't taste very good.

Hopefully there will be more posts to come.

Roasting

This week in class we did roasting method I think the food turned out better than ever in our class. The roasted chicken was delicious so I was excited that it was for our assignment to make one. I ended up making two at once since I had family in town. I also made Tarte Au Citron Meringuee and Pommes Duchesse since I didn't have a chance to make them in class. The roasted chicken was very good as it was in class however, it took a lot longer than I had anticipated for it to reach 180degrees so we didn't end eating til much later than expected. Once it was all done my family said it was definitely worth the wait. The Tarte Au Citron Meringuee also tasted good but, it didn't set up as well as I had liked and am not sure why it didn't. The Pommes Duchesse turned out well and is an unique way to present potatoes making it look appetizing. I am excited for learning new things next week.

Fried foods.

This week in class we made fried foods such as catfish, chicken, hush puppies, okra, and fries. I don't normally fry foods and have never used a big deep fat fryer until in class so it was a new experience for me to make all fried foods. I thought the fried chicken turned out the best and tasted great. I learned a few different techniques in class as well since I don't normally fry foods in a deep fat fryer I had never heard of the swimming method before class. In my group a partner and I for in charge of making the hush puppies however, we had a few mishaps while making it for instance we grabbed a different kind of cornmeal than that which is normally used for hush puppies, also we almost didn't saute the onions since the recipe didn't call for it, and then put too much onion in the mixture. What I learned from this is to go more with my instinct of what to do while making a recipe rather than following the recipe exact except of course with baking which happens to be my culinary option of choice.

Risotto

For class this week it was all about rice. I learned about the many different ways to make rice and different rice dishes. In my group in class I was in charge of making the shrimp and chicken jambalaya . It turned out pretty good but, it got a little dark on the bottom. I also learned how to cut a whole chicken which is something I had never done before.
For the homework we were to make a risotto dish for our loved ones so I made a three cheese risotto that actually ended up being a for cheese risotto because I took a suggestion from a comment and added ricotta as well. I found the recipe on the food network website by Emeril. My family and I thought the risotto turned out very well and was really good however, the cheeses used were very strong flavors. The risotto in the picture has a little bit of broth surrounding it and is topped with ricotta cheese and parmesan crisp.





http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/emerils-three-cheese-risotto-recipe/index.html

Steak and Potatoes

This weeks class was a learning experience in many ways. In the kitchen I learned how to work as a group to create a meal. Before, I mainly cooked on my own in my home and did things myself so I didn't have to rely on anyone else. I liked the teamwork involved with working with a group. I also learned to become more prepared for classes this week I didn't hear that we had to write out the recipe if we needed it so at first I was a little lost without it. Next week I will come fully prepared for class. In class I practiced my julienne cutting skills and even though they arent perfect yet I am pleased that I haven't cut myself. As far as cooking we made several dishes and I learned a lot in the process of making them. I learned different tips how how to make a good steak and how to make a good plated presentation instead of TV dinner style. Most of the dishes we made in class I had never made before so it was nice to try something new and that I would make. For instance I had never made French Fries from scratch before and was surprised about how easy it was to make. I also was surprised with how good the Spinach Cream was and that I liked it so much considering I don't particularly enjoy spinach. I actually ended up making the Spinach Cream and Caramelized Onions for my family this weekend both of which they enjoyed and are looking forward to trying some new dishes I will learn in class.

French Omelet

Week one of Culinary School and the task at hand is to make the perfect french omelet, no white spots, no brown or burnt spots, just yellow and not runny. The omelets I tried to make in class didn't turn out one had brown on it and the other was really runny on the inside. So for my homework I tried again, again, again, and again until I was able to get it just right. I feel confident that if needed to I would be able to get it right much quicker. And after making the perfect omelet I felt much more accomplished because it did take me many tries to get it right. I never would have thought that making a simple thing like an omelet would take so much time and be so difficult.