Dani Dishes

Happy 2nd Birthday, Dani Dishes!

2011-09-14T10:37:00.003-04:00

It's hard to believe it's been a year since Dani Dishes's first birthday. Last year, I was drinking bubbles in the little Cooper Street kitchen in Charleston, surrounded by my girlfriends. This year, I found myself at my parents' house in NC for a much quieter, but nonetheless enjoyable celebration.

I know I've gotten off track with the blog this past year. I've been trying to get through culinary school, working all the time, and honestly just haven't felt like writing.

But, I've spent a lot of time trying to get my head straight, and I've decided that it's time for a change. As much as Charleston has meant to me, I'm looking forward to seeing some new places and making some new memories. So, next week, I'll be packing my car and moving to Denver, CO! It's a little daunting, and I know it's gonna be a cold winter for this Carolina girl, but I'm ready to do this thing.

I've got a couple posts up my sleeve, so stay tuned. Cheers to another year, Dani Dishes!

Guest Post: Sam in Morocco

2011-03-25T12:25:00.001-04:00

My sister's boyfriend, Sam Albetta, just spent the past six months in Morocco and Egypt. While he was there, obviously, he enjoyed a totally different cuisine than anything he was used to eating here in the States. So, when I asked if he would be interested in posting about some of his food experiences, he kindly obliged. Thanks, Sam, and I hope you guys enjoy this post as much as I did!

Hey everyone, I'm Sam.

My recent time in Morocco was quite a new culinary experience, not just because of the subtleties of Moroccan food, but also because it made me more aware of the intricacies of how food is obtained, prepared, and enjoyed in another part of the world. There are a lot of things that just work differently in Fez, which is where I spent most of my time. Hopefully I can convey some sense of that in this post.

The first thing you should know about eating in Morocco is that it really helps to be adventurous. In addition to there being some food items to which Westerners aren’t accustomed, there is also often no semblance of a health code. You should use common sense, but if you are overly-cautious you probably won’t have as much fun.

There are many different types of restaurants found in the Medina (older part of the city.) Some are larger, more tourist-oriented restaurants that are clustered around the main entrance. These can often be best described as “rip offs.” The food is comparatively expensive and often isn’t as good or authentic as what one can find a little further in to the city. At some point, one needs to decide if they want to be served tourist-safe food by a guy wearing boisterously exaggerated garb in a prop-laden restaurant, or food that Moroccans actually eat, prepared by a guy in jeans standing behind a bloody meat counter with a flat-top. If you think you might prefer the former, the rest of this post may not interest you.

flat top at a meat counter

It was just this kind of meat counter restaurant that ended up being one of my favorites. This type of operation is really more of a stall than a restaurant, but they do cook up some great food. There are fresh whole animals being broken down, hung, sometimes ground, and displayed, often including cuts of chicken, beef, lamb, liver, pancreas, and other various offerings of offal.

meat counter proteins

Walking up and choosing an ingredient is your first move. My favorites ended up being chicken, liver, and a large, reddish piece of charcuterie the locals called “pasterma” (like I said, be adventurous.) Your counter man will then take that item and throw it on the flat-top with some onions, chopped olives, seasoning (chili and turmeric plus some others) and lots of oil. You can also get a fried egg thrown into the mix (highly recommended.) It’s then served in a piece of bread that’s pretty similar to pita. The result can be had for a mere 15 dirham (a little less than $2) and you won’t be hungry afterward.

sandwich

Another type of restaurant in the Medina is the soup-kitchen type. Here you’ll find huge boiling pots of either harira, or a white bean soup called “bisura” or “baysr.” These are often accompanied by fried eggs, a salsa-like sauce, and these delicious little potato fritters that are constantly being fried. The spread at one of these places will only cost around 10 dirham ($1.25.)

soup counter

While both of the types of restaurants mentioned above serve great food, it certainly isn’t the food for which Morocco is best known. The tagine is undoubtedly the most recognizable dish from the Moroccan milieu, and while it tends to be a little more expensive than the aforementioned bargains, it is definitely something that travelers shouldn’t miss. While acceptable tagines can be obtained in many restaurants, the best tagine is the one made at home, preferably the home of a Moroccan whom you have befriended.

tagine

Tagine is actually the name of the vessel in which the meal is cooked; it is a heavy stoneware dish that has a flat bottom and a tall conical lid. This heavy stone basin is usually brought to the table, ensuring that the communal serving stays hot throughout the meal. A couple of times we were brought tagines that were still at an active boil even after they had been brought out because of how much heat the vessel retained. Varieties of tagines might include any combination of potatoes, zucchini, onions, garlic, tomatoes, beef, chicken, lamb, liver, or eggs. Ingredients are sautéed and then simmered together with a little broth or water while the heavy lid holds pressure inside. The result is a rich and tender meal that will heat the diner well after the food is gone. Forks are lunged across the table and rips of bread mop up steaming broth. Alcohol is rare to come by in Morocco, so a meal like this will often be preceded by tea, or “shai,” which in Morocco is usually just mint leaves, boiling water, and a staggering amount of sugar.

Lastly, I’m including a recipe for a dish that I made for guests in my home while I was in Fez. This dish was the result of my own interpretation of some of the Moroccan flavors and ingredients that I encountered while I was there. If you can’t make it to Morocco anytime soon, maybe you can bring a little bit of Morocco to your own kitchen. Have fun!

Moroccan Braise

4-5 pound cut of beef

turmeric

cumin

fennel seed

cinnamon

salt

garlic cloves

2 large fennel bulbs, quartered

2 onions, quartered

5-6 sweet tangerines or other citrus, zest reserved

Thoroughly rub the beef with the spices. Embed some cloves of garlic in the meat, cutting small slits if necessary. If desired, let the beef sit with the rub overnight.

Brown the meat on all sides and transfer to a large lidded pot. Add the onions and fennel bulb to the pot. For the braising liquid, peel the tangerines and crush them in your hand over the pot. Fit the lid on the pot and put it in the oven. The temperature and timing of the braise can vary depending on the size and thickness of the meat. For a larger, thicker piece, 3 - 4 hours at around 185 degrees should be about right. For a thinner piece, 2 - 2.5 hours at around 200 should do it. an expedited preparation of this dish can also be done in a pressure cooker in about half the time. When using a pressure cooker, set the pot over a low to medium burner and maintain a low simmer.

After cooking, plate the meat with the fennel and onions on a large platter and spoon some braising liquid over the top. For a garnish, make a quick gremolata combining the saved tangerine zest, some chopped garlic, and parsley. Sprinkle on top.

Charleston Wine & Food Festival: Opening Night Party

2011-03-10T21:24:00.001-05:00

Last weekend was the sixth annual Charleston Wine & Food Festival. I was really excited to get to help out at the opening night gala. It took place in Marion Square, and much like last week's Chef's Feast, about twenty local restaurants had tables set up with small plates for the partygoers to dine on while they drank and mingled.

Blake, John, me, and Chef Ramon

We had time to snap some photos before the crazy influx of people happened. There were over 1,000 attendees there, which made for a busy night, to say the least.

John and me

Blake and me

Chef Frank Lee and his Chef de Cuisine, Russ Moore

our dish

I was happy that, unlike at the Chef's Feast, our plate was cold rather than hot. There were so many people, we were busy enough as it was without having to actually cook or heat the food to order.

gorgeous tuna, fennel and radish salad, blood orange puree,

crispy beet chip, olive oil powder, and micro greens

The crudo tasted really great, too. All the flavors together made for a very refreshing, light couple of bites. I think it was a nice contrast to some of the other heavier (but still delicious) charcuterie-oriented dishes I saw.

I tried to get a crowd shot to show how many people were there

After the crowd started to die down, we enjoyed tasting some of the other restaurants' dishes. Chef Bacon from Oak was doing a gorgeous homemade (oxtail? not quite remembering...) ravioli, while Chef Brock from Husk was putting out pig's ear sliders which were pretty much amazing. Overall, it was a lot of fun, and I've enjoyed getting to go to so many exciting events in the past few weeks.

Chef's Feast

2011-03-01T00:18:00.005-05:00

Last night, I was able to help out at the 12th annual Chef's Feast, organized by Peninsula Grill's Chef Bob Carter. The event raises charity money for the Lowcountry Food Bank. Around 1,000 people attended, wearing tuxes and cocktail dresses, and over 25 chefs were there to represent their restaurants.

Each chef had a little station where his team could put out a small plate, and the guests came up to the stations as they wanted. There were tables all over the auditorium for the guests to sit and dine.

Blake, Chef Ramon, myself, and Chef Lee

The four of us, plus Jeff, a cook from SNOB, represented High Cotton and Maverick Southern Kitchens.

What we cooked.

Needless to say, with that many guests attending, we stayed very busy, especially for the first hour.

Our plate.

I thought our plate turned out nicely. It tasted good, and lots of guests came back for more.

Ramon and David Marconi, one of MSK's owners.

We saw lots of friends and familiar faces all night long. Blake and I ran into tons of students and teachers from our respective culinary schools (she goes to Art Institute, I go to C.I.C.). Of course, there were lots of industry people there who we knew just from working in food and beverage in Charleston.

Me and Chef Stefanelli from school. Love him.

While we didn't taste every dish, it was definitely fun to taste what the different restaurants were putting out. Chef Stef's braised oxtail and polenta was delicious, and I also really liked the sauteed calamari in tomato sauce from the Wild Olive, the restaurant we were stationed next to. A couple cold beers at the end of the night (of course) helped wash it all down. Overall, it was a blast, and I was happy to step outside of my usual realm to participate in something so big and exciting.

Cooking Competition at C.I.C.

2011-02-22T18:38:00.002-05:00

me, Josh, Rene

A couple weeks ago, my friend Josh, who I know from culinary school, asked me to help him out with a cooking competition he was going to be involved in. The challenge was a fundraiser, purchased at last year's Vintner's dinner. Three students were chosen by the school to prepare a three-course meal for about twenty people, and the winner was to receive a cash prize.

Each competitor was allowed to have a couple of sous chefs to help him or her out. Of course, this sounded like a blast to me, so when Josh asked me to help I quickly agreed. Our friend, Rene, also volunteered to help out.

He was go compete against two other girls, Ulfet and Talicia. Each student was to use a tilefish for the first course, a whole beef tenderloin for the second course, and had free range to create any dessert course he or she wanted.

Josh plating his first course: tilefish with roasted tomato, bok choy, and quinoa risotto,
buerre blanc, and basil oil

Ulfet's tilefish course

We prepped all day and had a blast. By the time we actually started serving, everyone was ready and in good spirits.

As the entrees were going out.

Josh's second course: whole roasted beef tenderloin, green bean saute, truffled parsnip puree,

balsamic red wine reduction foam

For dessert, our team played around with the idea of deconstructing a classic s'more. It was challenging to try to pull off, but it tasted good and we enjoyed playing around with it.

Rene and Josh finishing the plates

Chef Frank Lee was the judge. I've worked in his company for a long time, so we had fun and chatted over a glass of wine when it was all over.

Chef and me

In the end, our team didn't win, but we accepted our defeat without too much wounded pride.

Everyone who participated.

Back row: Jamie, Ulfet, Josh, Talicia

Front row: Rene, Bev, me, Arlene

All in all, I had a lot of fun being able to participate in this competition. I met some new friends, hung out with some old ones, and was able to mix up the daily routine a bit. I'll be looking forward to the next time I'm invited to be a part of something like this.

What I've Been Doing

2011-01-26T01:47:00.003-05:00

So. I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to say here. I realize that I have pretty much neglected the blog for an entire semester. Even worse is that my last post was a birthday celebration for the damn blog itself. Months ago. Awk-ward.

I admit that there is no excuse for this neglect. I have been formulating this very "I'm Sorry" post in my mind for ages now. Repeatedly, I have been shocked upon being asked, "So, whatever happened with the blog?" or, "Are you okay? I haven't noticed any posts in a while." It's gotta be a feeling akin to leaving a box of puppies on the side of the road somewhere. Except that I would never do that.

I've been somehow justifying my silence in repeating to myself what an ancient piece of crap the computer I've been working on is, and how I Just Don't Have Time to wait around for photos to upload and whatnot. Which is certainly true. Ultimately, though, I'm kidding myself. I've simply allowed myself to get caught up. I finally made the switch to back-of-house at work, have kept super-busy with school, and most importantly (and least tangibly), I've been enjoying the company of my amazing circle (family) of friends that I've become so amazingly close with along the way.

So, as a peace offering, here are some photos that recap my life the past few months:

Of course, there are my boys <3

Nick, Cam, Kristen and Andrew

I thought it was badass when they broke down the turkeys for Thanksgiving:

Ben, Brendan, Abbott, and Pat

More badass still was when they broke down the 800 pound local steer we got in:

Um, yeah, he took up the whole walk-in.

Andrew and Kristen got married on November 13th, 2010. They were cute enough to bring the whole wedding party to Moe's.

Before Face ditched the bottle for a pitcher. Wish I had a photo of Kristen, too. She was gorgeous.

Cam turned 21. We ate at SNOB before, of course, heading to Moe's:

Cam and Ben

Korey and me

Let's not forget the beautiful ladies in my life:

Amanda and Cindy (Sunday Funday?)

me, Blake, and Kristine (same day)

Caroline and I the night of the eclipse

Don't let me fool you, I actually did do a little cooking the past few months:

Final Presentation for my A la Carte I class:

Crab Cakes with Sauteed Squash & Zucchini, Creole Remoulade, and Fried Preserved Meyer Lemons

Christmas was a blast. Blake and I hosted a feast for the boys:

big, fat, 15 pound standing rib roast.

Tim, Seth, Cam, Ben, Brian, John, John

final plate: rib roast with shaved Sriracha Brussels sprouts, roasted winter veggies, and horseradish cream

I finally got to HUSK with Brady:

amazing.

Managed to see my best friend's kids the few moments I spent in Morganton:

Gracie, me, Henry

A couple times.

Love you, Brenna.

Lastly, I finally bought a new computer. My first Mac.

No more excuses.

Happy Birthday, Dani Dishes!

2010-09-14T09:26:00.001-04:00

Happy first birthday, Dani Dishes.

Cheers to a great year...

Bethany, Amanda, Caroline

...and to all my good friends who've supported me along the way.

me , Cindy, Carlie

Here's to another year of inspiration, creativity, and happiness!

U Cook with Chef Bob

2010-09-08T13:05:00.001-04:00

As soon as I finished my long summer semester in school, I took a week off work to help out with Chef Bob Waggoner's cooking show, U Cook with Chef Bob. We filmed all 12 episodes of the second season during that week. The days were really long and tedious, but it was enjoyable work, and I especially enjoyed learning about the filming and media side of the project.

The set.

Each episode is divided into two parts. First, Chef Bob cooks a first course and serves it to his panel of 3 "foodies", who are sitting to his right in the above photo. The foodies could be anyone from food writers to wine importers to fellow chefs to personal friends.

Can I please mention these bad ass, personalized butcherblock cutting boards Chef Bob had made? Eventually, they'll be available for sale through Charleston Chops. I am drooling over the dark cherry octagon one in the top right.

Okay then, for the second part of the show, Chef would invite someone out of the audience to cook a main course (hence the "U Cook"). While Chef was on screen with his guest chef, his former sous chef and good friend, Jason Houser, would be behind the scenes preparing the dish for the audience. The audience was generally around 25 people or so.

The "kitchen".

So keep in mind, we were in a production studio, not a professional kitchen. This is the set up the cooks worked off of for the week. Yes, that is a four-burner electric stove Houser is working off of. It was certainly an interesting and challenging feat.

Jason seasoning Waygu ribeyes. Yum.

I feel like now is an appropriate time to share some of the dinners I got to enjoy, with special thanks to Jason for making sure I was properly fed the whole time. :)

Beef tenderloin with salsify, morels, shallots, white wine reduction, and shaved black truffle.

A freakin' slab of foie gras with blueberry gastrique, hazelnuts, and roasted figs.

So, you wonder, what the hell did you do besides eat, Dani? I actually did do some work, guys. I was pretty much in charge of the front-of-house stuff. Aka setting the tables, taking care of wine and water, etc. Which was no small feat considering there was only one faucet in the place, halfway across the warehouse, to fill up my only water pitcher. Also considering that some of these shows took some time, what with technical difficulties and all, so these people were drinking.

Tons of wine.

My little station.

Let's not forget the production crew. Here is Jose, the sound tech, in front, with Tim, the director, behind him, and Chad in the background.

I felt like even though the filming only lasted a week, I really got to know everyone and made a lot of good friends. It was certainly a great experience. Seasons 1 and 2 are supposed to be airing on PBS in the late fall, make sure to look out for it!

Summer Semester in a Nutshell

2010-08-26T00:15:00.004-04:00

Over the summer, I took two classes at CIC: Hospitality 102, which was pretty much like proteins class, and Garde Manger, which is the pantry/cold side of the kitchen. Each class was twice a week, from 7:30 a.m. to either 12 or 2:30. It was exhausting, but I really enjoyed both classes and felt like I learned a lot. I was happy to be cooking so intensely every day.

In 102, we focused on cooking a different kind of protein every week. Here are a few of the dishes I cooked over the course of the semester:

Pan Seared Veal Sweetbreads with Green Apple Gastrique

Bison and Red Bean Chili

Slider Trio: Salsa and Avocado, Mushroom and Fontina, Bacon and Egg

Lamb Stew with Rosemary Polenta

For our final exam in 102, we had to randomly draw the name of a protein out of a bowl and cook it with a starch and a veg. Somehow, we had to incorporate a classical knife cut into the dish. I randomly drew a sirloin steak. I served it with fennel roasted potatoes, grilled asparagus, and caramelized onion gravy.

It turned out really well and I was happy with the results. The potatoes are one of my mom's recipes, which have been a family favorite since I was a kid.

In Garde Manger, we covered everything from preserving techniques to sushi to charcuterie. The first day of class, we brined and cured beef tongue.

Here is Chef Mitchell, trying not to laugh because we were cracking jokes about the beef tongue. Love him.

And myself, with previously mentioned tongue.

This class was a production class, so everything we cooked was served buffet-style on Wednesdays. We cooked with the same group of 3 to 4 people all semester long and set up our buffet tables by group.

My group: Erik, Venus, and me. Love them too.

Like I said, we served a lot of really diverse food over the course of the semester. Our group later ended up shaving that beef tongue and serving it warm, tossed with spicy BBQ sauce on slider buns. It was a hit!

One group did this Cobb salad, which I thought they did a really nice job with.

One week, we had an Asian-influenced theme. Here were my sushi rolls. This was the first time I ever rolled sushi, and I had a lot of fun with it.

Not-so-great photo of me with my rolls.

For our final project in this class, our group had to design our own buffet, making sure to incorporate specific techniques that we learned over the course of the semester. Erik made some badass sliders with homemade breakfast sausage, tomato sauce, peppers and onions. Venus made a chilled cantaloupe rum soup. I made 2 different types of hors d'oeurves:

Pita with Chicken Liver Mousse, Spicy Orange Marmalade, and Candied Orange Peel

and

Deviled Eggs 2 Ways: Curry with Caper Creme Fraiche, and Pimento Cheese with Smoky Bacon

Our group's dishes got a ton of compliments on the comment cards, and I think we were all proud of each other.

Hopefully this post helps to justify my break from the blog. School and work has kept me intensely busy this summer; I love the blog, but staying sane without any sacrifice has proven impossible, and I've regretfully had to let Dani Dishes go by somewhat by the wayside. Even though I'm at the start of a new semester, I hope now I'll be able to make more time for this little project in my life.

Daring Cooks' July Challenge: Nut Butters

2010-07-18T16:15:00.002-04:00

The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.

So. I know. I haven't posted in a month. Moving, school, work, life, blah blah blah, I know, no excuse. Please don't be mad at me, friends. I am going to do my best not to let this happen again.

Speaking of moving, here's a photo of my new kitchen:

I moved in with my friends Cindy and Blake about two weeks ago, and I'm absolutely loving the new place. Even though I haven't been posting that much, I've been having a lot of fun cooking in our little kitchen.We've been doing a lot of late night, post-work dinner parties. Kind of ridiculous, really.

Back to the Daring Cooks. We had to make a homemade nut butter and use it in a recipe. I chose to make almond butter and banana pancakes.

My chef at work said I should steep the almonds in milk to get them kind of soft, which I did.

When the almonds were a little softer to bite, I strained them.

After the almonds were strained, I put them in the food processor (Finally! A food processor! Yay for Blake!) and slowly added the reserved milk as needed.

I actually ended up using all the milk, plus a little oil. Finish to taste with a sprinkling of kosher salt.

For the pancakes, I used my favorite recipe from Joy of Cooking. My blueberry pancake post lists the recipe, if you want it. This time around, I chopped up a few bananas and added them to the batter, along with some cinnamon.

I spread a little of the almond butter on each pancake, and drizzled them with some local honey.

Served with some sausage and a little fresh banana. Delicious and easy!

A Trip to Chapel Hill

2010-06-22T15:24:00.003-04:00

Last week, I went on another fun trip to the triangle area. The main reason for going to was to take the intro level sommelier exam in Raleigh through the Court of Master Sommeliers. My friend, Morgan, who works at McCrady's, also took the test. It involved a pretty intensive two-day seminar prior to the exam, and I was happy to have a friend there with me. There was a lot of information to absorb, and I think I might have felt a bit more overwhelmed had I gone by myself.

Morgan and I just before taking the exam

I couldn't help but to be a little nervous about the exam, even though I was overall fairly confident about it. Much to our relief, however, we both passed!

So that was pretty exciting. I've been pretty stressed out about the whole thing, and I'm glad to have one less thing looming over my head right now.

The other purpose of the trip was to celebrate my birthday! Tuesday was my actual birthday, but I didn't want to party too hard because the wine exam was the next day. But, you better believe, on Wednesday after I found out I passed, it was on.

We finally had dinner at Lantern, after having drinks there my last two visits. My sister and I asked the bartender to just pick dinner for us because, truly, I would have been happy with any single item on the menu. He happily obliged us, and I loved every bite.

To start, I got Chaat, which is kind of like a warm salad with roasted chickpeas and cauliflower, crispy potatoes, pickled red onion and a nice, refreshing herbed/minty chutney. I absolutely adore both chickpeas and cauliflower, and I thought this dish was delicious and certainly unique, with lots of fun texture.

For dinner, I had the steamed wild striped bass, which was served with lots of herbs, crispy ginger, a fermented black bean-type broth, baby bok choy, and rice. This was excellent as well, along with Margaret's lacquered pork tenderloin lettuce wraps, and Sam's crispy duck noodle soup. Gotta say, though, I did enjoy mine the best.

The dessert was rave-worthy. Roasted banana ice-cream with peanut brittle, caramel, and whipped cream. To.die.for. And I'm really not even the kind of person who just raves over dessert.

Here's one of the sis and me at Lantern. Sissy bought me the dress for my birthday :)

And one of the sis and her hunky boyfriend, Sam, whom I got to officially meet.

So that's about all I have to share with you, except for a couple gem photos from our hungover trip to the Maple View Dairy Ice Cream Store in Carrboro the next day.

*mmm...*

Don't be jealous of the fact that I ate really delicious ice cream two days in a row.

A Rare Visit from the Parents and the Resulting Foodie Weekend

2010-06-09T16:49:00.004-04:00

At McCrady's Saturday for Dad's bday celebration

So, the parents came in town this past weekend for my dad's big 6-0, and we all enjoyed a tightly scheduled food-and-drink oriented weekend in honor of the occasion. The last time they managed to escape to Chucktown from our quiet little hometown of Morganton, NC was for their 30th anniversary, over a year and a half ago, so we (rightfully) made a big occasion out of it.

The first night they were in town, I buckled to my mother's gentle but persistent urgings to cook for them, and went with a fun, regionally-inspired theme.

To start, I made fried green tomatoes with a ginger-peach relish. For the relish, I simmered some skinless, chopped peaches with ginger, sugar, vinegar, cinnamon, red onion, and jalapenos. I let that bubble for about an hour, until it reduced a good bit, then let it chill in the refrigerator.

For the green tomatoes, I sliced them up and breaded them with flour, egg wash, and a mixture of panko and breadcrumbs.

Heated some oil in a skillet and pan-seared them until they were nice and brown.

Topped them off with the peach relish and some sliced green onions. They turned out remarkably well! I was really pleased with the flavor of the peach relish against the slightly tart green tomatoes.

For the shrimp & grits, I started by making a shrimp stock with the fish fume I made a couple weeks ago. By using the fume instead of tap water in the stock, I was really able to build a nice flavor base. I've been freezing shrimp and crab shells, so I tossed them in, along with some onions, tomatoes, celery, parsley, and a couple bay leaves. I let that simmer for a bit, then strained it a few times.

The stock turned out nice and rich, with a mildly sweet flavor from the shrimp. Next, I gathered the ingredients for the saute. I used the stock, leeks, garlic, concassed tomatoes, andouille sausage, and local shrimp.

While I was getting my chopping done, I put the grits on to start cooking. I like to start with 1 part grits, 2 parts water, and 1 part chicken stock. Once it gets boiling, I add more chicken stock and cream alternately, much like a risotto. This can cook for a long time, like an hour, at a low simmer. Just let them get all lovely and creamy.

After the grits were on, I browned the andouille sausage.

For the saute, start by cooking the leeks and garlic in a little oil until they are soft and translucent.

Then, add the shrimp stock, the tomatoes, and a splash of white wine to taste. Let simmer until slightly reduced.

When the sauce is reduced to your liking, add the shrimp, sausage, and a touch of cream.

Cook the shrimp until it is no longer translucent. Serve the whole mixture over a bowl of grits, and top with scallions.

I was really happy with the way this dish turned out! Nice and rich and full of flavor. After dinner, we headed out to see a Brazilian jazz show at the Cistern, and really enjoyed it.

Saturday, we hit up the farmer's market, the beach, and finished it all off with a decadent meal at McCrady's. We had an amazing time and were all collectively blown away by Chef Brock's tasting menu.

Before the parents left town, we hit up High Cotton. The boys in the kitchen really outdid themselves, and we were stuffed before we even ordered.

Overall, all three of us had an amazing weekend. The only thing that could have made it any better was if my sister, Margaret, could have made it down. She stays pretty busy, though. Next week, I'll be traveling up to Chapel Hill to visit her and to take my first level sommelier test. Kinda nervous about that. I'll keep you posted.

Breaking Down my First Fish :)

2010-05-27T13:40:00.002-04:00

I've been craving fish for a week or two now, so yesterday I finally I decided to make it happen. I do live in the beautiful coastal city of Charleston, SC, after all, where there's certainly an abundance of fresh, local seafood readily available at all times. So, I headed to Crosby's Seafood, my favorite little fish purveyor, to see what they had.

I named him Nemo.

This is what I ended up with! A whole, 2 lb., locally caught red snapper. Kind of ambitious of me, but I decided that it was high time I attempt to break down a fish myself. I get it theoretically, but practically I've never done it.

First, I had to get those scales off. So, I put the fishy in a plastic bag in the sink to try to make as little mess as possible. I grasped his tail with my left hand, and with the right hand I ran a spoon down his body against the grain of the scales, and they came off pretty easily. I did this on both sides of the fish, up to just below the gills. When I was done, I rinsed him off to make sure no scales were left.

Next, I cut off the spiny fin on his back, just because I knew I would probably hurt myself if I left it on. Because I am ridiculously clumsy.

Next, I started outlining the fillet. I found the fish's backbone with my fingertips, and ran my knife all down one side of it, staying as close to the bone as possible.

Then, I cut through from the top to the bottom, making a little flap at the tail.

The next step is to run your knife along the belly. You want to try to keep the bones under your knife, with the nice meaty fillet on top.

To finish the outline of the fillet, I ran my knife along the head, behind the gills and the little swimmy fin (yeah I have no clue what that's called). Now there should be a nice outline of the fillet, with just the meat in the middle keeping it attached to the body of the fish.

So, this picture sucks, but I tried to sharpen it up as best as I could. I didn't want to leave it out because its kind of an important step. In this step, you actually finish separating the fillet from the body. Just run your knife along the body of the fish, trying to keep most of the bones on the bottom of the knife. It's a little tricky, but eventually, the fillet will come free.

So, do the exact same thing for the other side of the fish to get your second fillet. I cut a little V out of the center of each fillet because there was a line of big, stubborn bones that weren't worth it to try to pull out.

This is the little piece with all the bones in it.

Here are my two fillets. I scored the skin before searing to keep the fish from curling up as the skin shrinks. But wait! What to do with the carcass? You wouldn't throw it away, would you?

I threw it in a pot with some onion, green onion stems, celery, garlic, peppercorns, star anise, fennel seed, and a couple bay leaves.

I covered all that with water, brought it to a boil, and then turned it down to a simmer.

I let that go for about 20 minutes, strained it a few times, and voila!

I ended up with a lovely fish fume which I then froze to have around for a later use. I've actually got something in mind for it, so stick around and see what happens.

Okayyy so back to the snapper fillets.

Salt and pepper the fillets. Heat some oil in a pan, and lay the fillets skin-side down first. Cook until the skin gets nice and crispy, then right before you flip them, add some butter and garlic to the pan. Flip, and baste in the butter for a couple minutes more.

And that's it! I had my snapper with a simple chilled cucumber / heirloom tomato / red onion salad, some pan roasted red potatoes, a squeeze of lemon, and a simple basil pesto. The fish was sooo good. I'm still dreaming about that crispy skin this morning. And seriously, it probably took me just as long to post about breaking down the fish as it took me to actually do it.

Good Lunches in Charleston

2010-05-21T13:40:00.000-04:00

For some reason, I never really blog about the food I eat out at restaurants. I think its partly because there's a fine line between being a food blogger and trying to be some amateur-ish food critic, which is exactly what I don't want to be. I'm not trying to go out to a restaurant and pick apart the food and draw attention to myself by taking pictures and whatnot. I just want to go out and enjoy a good bite to eat.

That being said, I have taken a couple pictures of some lunches I've really enjoyed lately. These were at places casual enough that I didn't feel like a jerk for snapping a couple shots.

This is a cheese and meat plate at Caviar & Bananas, a little gourmet food shop downtown. I went in by myself, really just craving a simple lunch, and asked the guy behind the counter put together a simple plate for me. I told him I really just wanted a nice cheese and meat plate, and that I didn't like blue cheese, and I would pay whatever he asked if he would just pick the cheeses and stuff for me.

This is what I got! Not really sure of the names of the cheeses anymore, but I know there was a brie-style cheese, a simple goat cheese, and the third was a little more firm and sharp. I got prosciutto, and I think some sort of speck. Honeycomb, fig jam, candied walnuts, almonds, and fruit. I ended up paying something like $12 for the plate, which was totally worth it. Along with a little half bottle of white wine, this was the perfect little lunch for one.

This burger came from Sesame Burgers & Beer, which has 2 locations, one at the Citadel Mall in West Ashley, and the other in Park Circle in N. Chas. I've eaten at both locations, and while both are awesome, I prefer the dive-bar feel of the Park Circle one.

Their menu is set up so that you can design your own burger. This one came out a perfect medium rare, with bacon, tomato, mozzarella, and basil mayo. It was delicious. I had one of their turkey burgers recently, and it was equally delicious, but without as much of a guilt factor.

Lastly, I was super impressed upon discovering the hot dogs at Tin Roof in Avondale, right around the corner from where I live. I love a good dive bar, and yet somehow I've only been here for drinks once or twice before. Their hot dogs are enormous, as in, you can barely eat the whole thing, and they're only $5! This one was called something like the Texas BBQ dog - it had BBQ sauce, french fries, and cheese on it. Plus, they have a little stage and host local bands on a pretty regular basis. It's a badass little bar, and I'm going to start going there a lot more often.

Daring Cooks' May Challenge: Enchiladas!

2010-05-14T13:47:00.003-04:00

Our hosts this month, Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Bunnee of Anna+Food have chosen a delicious Stacked Green Chile & Grilled Chicken Enchilada recipe in celebration of Cinco de Mayo! The recipe, featuring a homemade enchilada sauce was found on www.finecooking.com and written by Robb Walsh.

I'm glad to get back into the swing of things with Daring Cooks. I was kind of bummed that I missed out on last month's challenge because of all the craziness that has been going on in my life. Anyways, I really enjoyed this challenge, and appreciated all the room for creativity.

The mandatory part of this challenge was to make a homemade Mexican-style sauce for enchiladas. I know my mom has a few great enchilada recipes, so I asked her to send them to me. I based my enchiladas on one of her recipes, which focused on a tomato and spice based sauce.

Chicken and Cheese Enchiladas

For chicken:

2 large chicken breast halves

2 cups chicken stock

1 cup water

1 clove minced garlic

1 bay leaf

1/2 an onion, finely chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, minced

1/2 a serrano pepper, minced

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

2 thinly sliced green onions

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 teaspoon oregano

salt and pepper to taste

For sauce:

2 tablespoons oil

3 cloves minced garlic

3 tablespoons chili powder

3 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon cumin

1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

1/3 cup tomato sauce

To assemble:

10-12 6-inch corn tortillas

3/4 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese

sour cream and cilantro for garnish

For chicken:

Arrange chicken in heavy medium saucepan. Add stock, water, garlic, and bay leaf. Bring to boil.

Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until chicken is cooked through. Transfer to bowl using slotted spoon and cool. Discard bay leaf. Reserve liquid.

In the meantime, heat oil in a small pan and saute onions and peppers until slightly softened and aromatic.

Peel skin off chicken and remove meat from bones. Tear meat into bite size strips. Place in a large bowl. Mix in green onions, cilantro, pepper and onion mixture, and oregano. Add salt and pepper to taste.

For sauce:

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 3 minced garlic cloves and saute 30 seconds. Add chili powder and saute 1 minute. Add flour, cumin, and cinnamon and stir 1 minute (mixture will be dry). This seemed like a lot of spice to me, but it ended up tasting great. Don't use less!

Whisk in 1 cup reserved poaching liquid.

Add remaining poaching liquid and tomato sauce.

Cook until thick and smooth, whisking frequently, about 5 minutes. Adjust seasonings. I added a dash of Sriracha chili sauce. I think a splash of strong coffee would have done the sauce justice, but I didn't have any brewed so I skipped it. Next time, though.

Cool slightly before assembling.

To assemble:

Lightly oil a 13x9x2" baking dish. Heat heavy medium skillet over high heat until hot. Add 1 tortilla and cook until heated through, turning frequently. Using tongs, dip into sauce, coating both sides.

Spoon about 3 tablespoons of chicken filling into the tortilla and roll. Repeat. (Can be prepared one day ahead- cover with foil).

Spoon any remaining sauce over. Sprinkle with cheese.

Cover with foil. Position rack in top third of oven and preheat to 425. Bake enchiladas 10 minutes. Uncover and bake until hot and bubbling, about 10 more minutes.

And that's it! These were delicious and easy, despite the seemingly long amount of steps. They would be great to make ahead and throw in the oven after a long day at work.

I served mine with some spicy red rice, sliced avocado, and sour cream, and cilantro. These would be great with a margarita, but I thought a couple Modelos with a bit of salt and lime were perfect.

Biscuits & Gravy

2010-05-08T03:50:00.001-04:00

So, after a long hiatus, I'm finally back! I promise I'm going to post with a little more regularity, it's just been a whirlwind month for me. Thanks to my little group of loyal readers who are bearing with me and have patiently waited for this phase of my life to pass.

I'm done with my first semester of culinary school! With all A's to show for it! It did get a little hairy there towards the end, but I still feel really good about my decision to start [and stick to] this program.

For my first post in a while, I decided to make biscuits and gravy. I've been eating a lot of comfort food lately, which is definitely the opposite of what I should be doing at the start of bikini season here in beautiful Charleston, SC. Regardless, I'm doing it anyways, so I figure I might as well post about it.

This could even be a nice breakfast to make your mom or your wife or whomever you deem appropriate on Mother's Day. If you're not working brunch, that is. Which I am doing, along with everyone else I know, considering nearly everyone else I know is a Food & Bev kid.

I guess some [not southern] people have a hard time understanding the concept of biscuits and gravy. I'm always appalled when people have never heard of, or tasted, biscuits and gravy for breakfast. It's in that same category as grits. It's surprising how many people are like "What are grits?" when I'm waiting tables. It's a pretty difficult concept for me to grasp. I mean, my sister and I were spoonfed this stuff as kids. But I digress.

I made buttermilk biscuits by scratch, but they didn't turn out remarkably well. I actually threw out the first batch of dough because it just wasn't right, and the second batch still didn't turn out as fluffy and nice as I wanted it to. So, I'm leaving the biscuit recipe out of the equation. Here is my favorite recipe for country gravy, which is based on a recipe I found on allrecipes.com.

Country Sausage Gravy

1 pound pork sausage (I used less than a pound, and threw in a hot bratwurst I had leftover from a pool day this week)
3/4 onion, finely chopped
3/4 bell pepper, finely chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
S&P to taste
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
2 cups milk, divided
chicken stock, to taste
white wine, to taste
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley

In a skillet on medium heat cook pork, onion, peppers, red pepper, chili powder, and garlic.

Cool until pork is crumbly. Drain off excess fat, leaving a small amount.

Combine butter, salt, and pepper with the meat mixture and stir until the butter melts. Slowly sift flour over the top. Mix gently and allow mixture to cook for 5 minutes. Be careful not to let it burn. Don't forget to scrape the bottom of the pan. Add the thyme.

Slowly stir in milk, about a half cup at a time, and incorporate it well. when the mixture thickens, add more milk. Do not let it boil vigorously, or it will burn.

Add a splash of chicken stock and white wine to taste. I thought this added flavor and a hint of acid, which this heavy gravy needed. If it thickens too much, add more milk. Adjust the taste with more salt and pepper as needed.

Just before serving, add the parsley, and about 1/4 cup more milk; the gravy will thicken quickly as it cools.

Apparently, the leftover gravy develops more flavor if you let it refrigerate overnight. Obviously, I had leftovers, so I'm curious to see what happens. All I know is that this recipe is easy and delicious.

Happy early Mother's Day!

Biding Time

2010-04-28T00:16:00.001-04:00

Sooo, again, I'm apologizing for not posting in a while. I'm kinda in the middle of a housing crisis - my apartment flooded with sewage on Friday, along with 7 others on the bottom floor of my unit. Right now, I'm staying in a hotel down the road while all this stuff gets taken care of. Needless to say, I'm not doing much cooking because my place is in shambles, and I don't have daily access to a computer. So, bear with me, hopefully this will all be resolved in a few days. <3<3<3

Culinary School Update: End of semester wrap up

2010-04-20T23:27:00.002-04:00

So, I have to start this post by telling everyone how incredibly sorry I am for waiting so long to post again! It has been a long, rough, past few weeks, so again, I have to apologize for how I've fallen off with the blog.

That being said, I owe you guys a culinary school update. Its the end of the semester, and I have exams all week long. I can't believe my first semester is already almost over! But I do want to pick up where I left off with the school updates.

A couple weeks ago, we played with fresh pasta dough in cooking class. First, we made ravioli with mushroom duxelles.

Then, we made fettuccine alfredo.

We also made orzo with creamed leeks.

We didn't have baking class that week, so I'm moving on to the following week. The next cooking class we had, we worked on grains. We were really busy that week.

We made grits,

risotto,

fried polenta,

and red beans and rice.

The past couple weeks in baking class, we've been decorating the sponge cakes we baked a while back. They were frozen immediately after we baked them. Here is the chiffon sponge with oreo whipped cream frosting that we decorated 2 weeks ago:

Last week, we decorated the walnut genoise cake. We made a Swiss buttercream icing to go with it. This was really hard to decorate! The meticulous, nit-picky side of me struggled with trying to perfect the cake, but I really enjoyed the process.

Cross section: the bottom layer was spread with raspberry jam. I loved this cake- the ground walnuts added a nice texture to the cake.

Finally, we had breakfast week in cooking class. I didn't really think anything was photo-worthy except the eggs benedict I made. Obviously, we didn't have any Canadian bacon, so I just used regular bacon. I wanted to practice making hollandaise sauce because its on the final next Monday.

Whew! That was a lot of catching up to do! So, I'm off to my baking final to make pate a choux. Wish me luck!

Roast Chicken with Herb Butter and Veggies

2010-04-10T01:52:00.000-04:00

A while ago, I randomly bought a whole chicken because it was dirt cheap at the Teeter. I put it in the freezer, where it stayed until a few weeks ago when I decided I wanted to roast it. I haven't posted about it yet because I've had so much other stuff to post about, but I figured I needed to go ahead and write about it now since its kind of a winter-y recipe and spring is all of a sudden upon us.

I looked at a whole bunch of recipes and techniques for roasting chickens, and decided to kind of blend a bunch of techniques. To start with, I made a butter with lemon zest, garlic, and rosemary, and spread it under the skin. I stuffed the cavity with half an onion, half a lemon, and some rosemary sprigs. I decided to truss it because so many people said it helps the chicken cook more evenly.

Interestingly enough, I also found out that some people swear by preheating the roasting pan with the oven. This helps the thighs get a head start, which keeps them from being underdone when the breast is ready to come out. So, I decided to give it a try, and preheated the pan in a 425 degree oven. When it was ready, in went the chicken.

The skin was kind of torn, so that pin is kind of holding it in place. My mom taught me this trick.

In the meantime, I got the veggies ready by cutting them all down to about the same size. I decided to go with fennel, carrots, pearl onions, potatoes, and whole garlic cloves. I lightly tossed them in some EVO, salt, and pepper.

After about 20 minutes at 425, I took the chicken out, laid the veggies down (yes, I used a rack), and replaced the chicken. Turned the temperature down to about 375, and added some more butter on top.

I roasted the chicken about another hour ( I can't remember exactly how much time it took). Don't forget to baste periodically. I also turned the pan around halfway through the cooking time to make sure it cooked evenly. When a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees, or when the juices run out clear instead of cloudy, the chicken is done.

Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and let it rest 10 -15 minutes before carving.

Although the veggies were done, I thought they needed to brown a bit more, so I put them in a Pyrex dish and put them under the broiler for a minute or two.

I made a quick, easy gravy with the pan juices, and sauteed some blanched broccoli rabe with some garlic and lemon juice, and that's it!

Blood Orange Polenta Upside-Down Cake

2010-04-01T12:40:00.002-04:00

This recipe caught my eye as soon as I saw the photo in the March '10 issue of Bon Appetit magazine. It was one of those recipes that I immediately knew I would have to make. The oranges were just so striking, and polenta is one of my favorite things to eat. What's not to like?

Make sure you slice the oranges as thin as possible. I talked to my Bakeshop Production chef after I made it, and he suggested using a mandolin. The flavor of the cake was amazing, but the peels were still a bit overwhelming on the palate. I think if you cooked the slices with the simple syrup for even just a minute or two, rather than just laying them in the already cooked syrup, it might help candy the peels and take a bit more of the bitterness out. That being said, here is the recipe:

Blood Orange Polenta Upside-Down Cake

From Bon Appetit, March 2010

7 tablespoons sugar, divided, plus 3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons water

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp, divided

3 unpeeled small to medium blood oranges

3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons polenta or coarse yellow cornmeal (preferably stone-ground)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, separated

6 tablespoons whole milk

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Combine 6 tablespoons sugar and 3 tablespoons water in a 10-inch diameter ovenproof skillet with an 8 inch diameter bottom and 2 1/2 inch sides *my trusty cast-iron skillet worked beautifully for this cake*. Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves. Increase heat and boil wihout stirring until syrup is golden amber (not dark amber), occasionally brushing down sides of skillet with wet pastry brush and swirling skillet, about 4 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and whisk 2 tablespoons butter into caramel. Set aside.

I think I could have cooked my syrup a bit longer. This is also where I probably would have added my orange slices.

I'm thinking all this could have been done in a separate pan, and then laid in the cast iron skillet afterwards.

Cut off both rounded ends of each orange so that ends are even and flat. Using sharp knife *or mandolin,* cut oranges into 1/16 to 1/8 inch rounds. Remove and discard any seeds.

Arrange orange slices, overlapping slightly, in concentric circles atop caramel in bottom of skillet.

I also would eliminate that center circle of oranges you see on top here.

You really only want one total layer of oranges, with maybe a very slight overlap.

Whisk flour, polenta, baking powder, and coarse kosher salt in medium bowl to blend. Using electric mixer, beat 3/4 cup sugar, remaining 6 tablespoons room-temperature butter, and vanilla in another medium bowl until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture in 3 addtions alternately with milk in 2 additions, beating batter until just incorporated.

Clockwise from top: flour/polenta mixture, butter/sugar mixture, whites, yolks

Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in a large bowl until soft peaks form. Add remaining 1 tablespoons ugar and beat until stiff but not dry. Fold 1/3 of egg whites into batter to lighten, then fold in remaining egg whites in 2 additions.

whipped whites and polenta cake batter

Drop batter by large spoonfuls atop orange slices in skillet, then spread evenly.

You don't want to pour the batter because you might disturb the arrangement of the orange slices.

Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. *I underbaked this by 5 minutes, and I think I could have taken it out even a few minutes earlier than that. It would have been pretty dry had I left it in the full amount of time. This could also just be my oven...*

Run small knife around cake to loosen. Place platter atop skillet. Using oven mitts, hold platter and skillet firmly together and invert, allowing cake to settle onto platter. Rearrange any orange slices that may have become dislodged. Cool completely at room temperature and serve with whipped creme fraiche (or whipped cream).

So ultimately, this recipe turned out pretty well, with some room for improvement. I think if I made it again with these slight changes, it would turn out perfectly.

This cake is a good one to have up your sleeve because it's stunningly beautiful, but not that hard to make.

Culinary School Update: Vegetables, Jelly Rolls, and Potatoes

2010-03-27T13:00:00.005-04:00

Okay kids, its that time again. I've been trying to do longer culinary school updates, spaced farther apart so as not to bore you to death. Do you readers out there think its better that way? I know you're out there! Based on the comments I've been getting however, I'm beginning to believe that only my mom and my sister read this blog ;)

Soooo, onwards. We're still kinda hooked on veggies in Food Production class. Two weeks ago, we made a pan-fried eggplant Parmesan. We used the tomato sauce that we made and immediately froze few weeks ago, which we thawed out and spruced up a bit with some fresh herbs. This dish was an exercise in the standard breading procedure (flour, eggwash, breadcrumbs).

We also made a vegetable strudel: puff pastry layered with mushroom duxelles, blanched asparagus, toasted pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese. For the sauce, we made a simple red pepper coulis.

The duxelles were really rich so I didn't really want more than a couple bites. Plus, I like mushrooms, but I don't absolutely love them. Regardless, I thought the flavor was right on. This was very filling for a vegetarian dish.

Two weeks ago in Bakeshop Production, we made jelly rolls. Although these tasted great, they seemed like such a strange, rather outdated desert to me. To make them, we baked spongecakes in a sheet pan. Then, we spread whipped cream on the cake, and lined the whipped cream with cherries, blueberries, and mandarin oranges. The cakes were carefully rolled up, then decorated with buttercream frosting or chocolate ganache.

chocolate buttercream on the left, chocolate ganache on the right

My ganache covered jelly roll looked kind of like doo-doo because I didnt heat the ganache enough and it got kind of separated. So don't look at it any more because its ugly :(

Here's a picture of my friend Allie's ganache jelly roll instead:

Allie's ganache turned out smooth and pretty, like it was supposed to.

Here's a cross-section of my buttercream jelly roll:

See all the fruit? I ate so much whipped cream and frosting during this class. Ech.

That's about it for jelly rolls.

This week in Food Production, it was potato day. First, we made Potatoes Duchesse, which is kind of like mashed potatoes that are piped into little mounds and baked. Again, this seemed like kind of a weird recipe, but they tasted delicious.

My partner, Mo, and I added some chopped parsley and cream in ours for a little extra flavor.

We also made Rosemary Roasted new potatoes:

I pretty much nibbled on these the whole class.

We made candied sweet potatoes that were roasted and basted with a syrup made from brown sugar and a hint of vanilla.

We also made scalloped potatoes, which were delicous, but I kind of forgot to take a picture of them.

In baking class this week, we each made a chiffon sponge cake and a walnut genoise cake. I didn't take pictures, because next class we're going to frost them, so I thought I'd save it for next time.

Guest Post: Margaret's Mexico Trip

2010-03-22T01:12:00.002-04:00

For this post, I'm going to let my little sister, Margaret, take the reins. She recently got back from a trip to Mexico, and I thought it'd be fun to give her a chance to share some photos with you guys. So, without further ado, take it away Margs!

Hola amigos! I'm Margaret, Dani's little sister.

You might remember me from the Margaret's 21st birthday trip post. After sampling some delicious treats on my recent trip to la Ciudad de Mexico (the city of Mexico), Dani has kindly invited me to be her first guest blogger. So here I am- how could I resist such an offer?

I went to Mexico City over my spring break with a class called "Mass Communication in Mexico" that I'm currently taking at UNC Chapel Hill. Now, if you know anything about the Craig family, you know that we plan entire vacations around our eating schedules. Naturally, my mouth started watering weeks before my journey. Unfortunately, the nature of the trip didn't allow me to seek out all the fabulous eateries I'm sure exist in Mexico City, but I did make a simpler mission for myself: eat some dope street tacos, get a hot churro, and drink some good Mexican tequila.

On the first day of the trip, we ventured out to the Teotihuacan pyramids, which are some of the largest pyramids in the Americas. This was probably my favorite day of the trip; the ruins were absolutely mind-blowing and there's not much better than exploring all day in the warm sun.

This is the Sun Pyramid, the largest of the group. The pyramids seemed to go on for miles!

After checking out the pyramids all day, the whole group (all 12 of us!) went to a traditional Mexican restaurant for lunch. Thank goodness we had a few locals and a fluent girl (hey Marlene!) with us, because ordering was a chore! We all started with tortilla soup, which is a tomato based soup topped with crumbled homemade tortilla chips, fresh avocado, queso fresco, and some sort of delicious cream sauce. Even though it was a hot day, this soup was amazing! We tried a few other tortilla soups later that week, but none beat this one.

tortilla soup

I also had some taquitos, which are rolled up corn tortillas filled with either cheese or some sort of meat and then fried. These were yummy, but I really just wanted another bowl of that soup!

Everything was served with the best avocados EVER. We were, however, advised against eating fresh fruits and veggies that don't have a natural peel because they were washed in the water. Thank GOD for avocados having peels!

Later that night, a few of us decided to get some dinner at a place called Samborn's. I don't think there is an American equivalent to this place, but its kind of like a department store combined with a restaurant, a bakery, and a pharmacy. Kind of like an upscale Wal-mart, but with no clothes. Anyway, I had my first taste of tequila in the form of a margarita there - fab!

That's Marlene's pina colada in the background, which she said was fabulous.

The second day we did a bunch of touring in the city, including Chapultepec Park which has Maximilien's castle and a TON of roadside tiendas (shops). After seeing the castle, we were famished and decided to stop at a taqueria. Hooray!

Here is the sign for the taqueria we stopped at. 5 tacos for 15 pesos!

By the way, 13 pesos roughly equals 1 dollar. CHEAP FOOD. I ordered 5 tacos and told 'em to give me 5 different kinds of meat.

I was too hungry to figure out exactly what I was eating before I devoured every single one!

The sign has things like tripa (tripe), ojos (eyes), tacos de cabeza (tacos of the head), longaniza (sausage) and some others which don't have a clear translation, like campechano (hearty?) and birria (rubbish?). I could have ended up with some interesting things, but it was all tasty. Oh, AND mission one...complete!

That night, after getting back from touring all day, I couldn't resist stopping in at another taqueria because I was starving. These weren't as cheap, but they came with a soda.

All the sodas came in glass bottles and were much sweeter than the American stuff because they are made with real sugar.

These condiments were pretty typical of any eatery: salsa fresca, lime wedges, and 2 types of hot sauce.

And the tacos! I had chorizo and steak. The chorizo was so good I ordered 2 more!

My buddy Brian and I searched fruitlessly for some churros. Apparently, you have to specifically ask for the churro that you eat because, after asking about 50 different vendors and getting dirty looks from Mexicans all day, one guy was kind enough to let us know that churro is also slang for marijuana in Spanish. No bueno. Anyway, we finally found a place, and Marlene bought one for Brian and I.

Good pic. Mission 2: completed

The only thing left: tequila! I know, I know, I already had a margarita, but that hardly counts. So, Brian, Zakiya, and I went out drinking one night.

The bar special read something like taza por 84 pesos. We thought taza meant "pitcher"... turns out, it just meant GIANT mug of beer.

The beer was called El Sol. It came light and dark, and I became pretty partial to both kinds in just one week.

El Sol claro (on a different night)

To celebrate finishing the huge beer, we had tequila shots!

The tequila was strong, but I'm not really used to drinking it. They chase tequila with clamato juice, which I was skeptical about, but it was actually pretty successful. Mission 3: success!

I ate a lot of great food. I wish I would have taken more foodie pictures including the amazing gelato Brian and I got one night (I had cookies and cream and coconut, he had queso and chocolate) after we had tacos at another taqueria. I had tacos de lengua (tongue!). So weird seeing a huge tongue being sliced in front of you, knowing you're about to eat it, but it was actually really delicious.

So, thanks for letting me borrow Dani Dishes for a little while! Hope you enjoyed my post. Eat well, friends! Viva la Mexico!

-Margaret

Daring Cooks' March Challenge: Risotto!

2010-03-15T18:08:00.002-04:00

The 2010 March Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Eleanor of Melbourne Food Geek and Jess of Jess the Baker. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make risotto. The various components of their challenge recipe are based on input from The Australian Masterchef Cookbook and the cookbook Moorish by Greg Malouf.

Hey guys, I feel awful that I had to post this challenge late (Daring Cooks are supposed to post on the 14th of each month!). I've been so busy that I put it off til the last minute, and then the past few days I've been stricken with a nasty little spring cold. So, I'm sorry, but I just haven't felt like standing over the stove stirring risotto. But today, I'm feeling better and am dosed with DayQuil, so I got it done for lunch!

I've been thinking about this dish since I first found out what the challenge was nearly a month ago. It's a red wine and goat cheese risotto with roasted asparagus. I really wanted to sear a few nice, fat sea scallops as a protein accompaniment, but that seemed a little overkill for lunch. So, I went vegetarian (except for the chicken stock).

basic ingredients: Arborio rice, garlic, onion, red wine

Start by sweating some chopped onion and garlic in a little EVO. Add the rice and stir to get a nice coat with the olive oil.

Add a generous splash of chicken stock and stir until absorbed. At first, this will happen pretty quickly. Although I didn't make it specifically for this challenge, I did use my own homemade stock. Repeat this step with red wine.

Keep repeating the stock and wine process, stirring continually. Don't stop stirring for long.

Not there yet! Keep stirring!

You can stop when the rice has a nice, soft bite. I probably cooked mine a good 30-40 minutes before adding the goat cheese.

cheese makes everything better

Then, when you think you're done, add a bit more stock and wine for good measure, season with salt and pepper, stir a bit more, and you're probably good to go.

creamy goodness

As for the asparagus, just a toss with some EVO, salt and pepper, and into the oven it goes on a baking sheet at 425 until the tips brown. Sprinkle with a bit of lemon juice and yer done.

Delicious! Thanks for the new plate, Margaret!

Culinary School Update: Braised Cabbage, Cookies, Danishes, & More!

2010-03-11T15:33:00.003-05:00

Okay guys, it's school update time again! It's the middle of the semester, and we've been cooking up a storm.

In cooking class, we've been making a lot of veggies. Last week, we made apple and wine braised red cabbage. I'm not the biggest cabbage fan, but this turned out pretty well and I was happy about it.

We also made ratatouille. It obviously would have been better with beautiful summer veggies, but we worked with what we had.

And, to get started on frying, we made onion rings and blue cheese dressing.

In baking class last week, it was a cookie extravaganza! Our little group of 3 people made oatmeal raisin,

snickerdoodles,

oreo biscotti,

and sugar cookies (in dinosaur shapes!)

Other groups also made peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies. By the time we were done, I didn't think I could ever look at another cookie again.

This week, we didn't have cooking class because of a short spring break. Yesterday, in baking class, we learned about laminated doughs, which include puff pastry, croissant, and danish doughs. There's an entire class dedicated to laminated doughs, because it is such an intensive process. So, we just watched our instructor demonstrate how to do it, and used ready-made puff pastry and danish doughs to practice different ways to use them.

With the puff pastry, we made apple turnovers.

They were nice and flaky.

Even with the packaged danish dough, we had to roll, cut, and proof the danishes.

We filled them with cherry, blueberry, and apple fillings. Then, we lightly brushed them in a marmalade glaze, and finally, they were drizzled with a simple icing.

I usually think of danishes as being dry, but man, these were so soft and delicious.

Homemade Blueberry Pancakes

2010-03-08T19:14:00.001-05:00

And a special thanks to Jen Yu from the beautiful blog Use Real Butter for the lovely scarf I recently received! A little while back, I won one of her featured giveaways, and the prize was a scarf made personally by her from Manos del Uruguay wool. I even got to choose my own color (agate multi)! Thanks again, Jen :)

I'm wearing it right now :)

Okay, on to pancakes. I'm getting down to the nitty gritty, grocery-wise (pay day is tomorrow), but I did have this container of nice blueberries sitting in my fridge, begging to be used up. So, I decided to make pancakes from scratch. I know it doesn't seem like much, but I've pretty much always been a Bisquick girl when it comes to pancakes (or biscuits, for that matter), so this was kind of a big decison for me. So, of course, I consulted good ol' Joy of Cooking, and was surprised at how easy they were!

Blueberry Pancakes

from Joy of Cooking

*I halved this recipe*

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons butter, melted

1 1/2 cups milk

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

(blueberries)

Whisk dry ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk wet ingredients in a smaller bowl.

dry & wet

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. Some lumps are okay- you don't want to overmix.

Add wet to dry.

Add blueberries!

Blueberries

Make sure your griddle or skillet is very hot before you start to pour the batter. To test it, sprinkle a bit of water on the hot surface. If it hisses and sputters, it's ready. Drop batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto the griddle.

They're ready to flip when you see bubbles forming.

Cross-section

Serve with butter and syrup!

A New Look!

2010-03-06T01:38:00.003-05:00

TAAA DAAA! Here is a fun picture of Bam Bam in a box to celebrate my new blog design!

So, this is the new look, courtesy of Erin from Designer Blogs. I've been wanting to spring for a custom blog design for a while now, and I'm really happy with the results. I did a lot of research, and this little company does a great job for very reasonable prices.What do you guys think? I want your opinions!

Culinary School Update: New England Clam Chowder, Hollandaise, Pound Cake & more!

2010-03-02T14:25:00.000-05:00

So I'm gonna have to catch you guys up a bit on how school is going. We're a little behind!

In Food Production class a couple weeks ago, we made espagnole sauce. It is one of the 5 main "mother sauces," or sauces from which many other sauces are derived. It is basically a brown stock to which a brown roux, tomato puree, and mirepoix are added. We also made a New England clam chowder to practice bechamel, another mother sauce, and knife skills. A bechamel is a roux-thickened milk or cream sauce.

New England clam chowder.

I missed baking class that week, so we're moving on. In Food Production last week, we made tomato sauce, yet another one of the 5 main mother sauces. Sadly, I don't have a photo of the tomato sauce. We also made hollandaise, a 4th mother sauce, and arguably the trickiest to make.

Made me crave eggs benedict.

We also made maple glazed carrots, to practice blanching and knife skills.

These are batonnet, or french-fry cut.

In baking class last week, we made pound cake.

Chocolate swirl pound cakes, strawberry coulis, lemon glazed pound cakes.

The chocolate pound cakes were made European style, where the butter and sugar are whipped, the eggs are then added in stages, and the flavorings and dry ingredients are finally added.

Chocolate swirl pound cakes.

We made the swirl by adding a paste of cocoa powder, sugar, and milk to half the batter, coloring it brown. We then gently folded the brown batter into the light batter, stopping after a couple of folds so the chocolate wouldn't become completely incorporated.

A cross-section, with strawberry coulis.

The lemon pound cakes were made American style, where butter and shortening are first creamed, and dry ingredients are then added alternately with lemon juice and eggs.

Lemon-glazed pound cakes.

I preferred the slightly lighter texture of the chocolate swirl (whipped) cakes, but I think I would have like a simple glaze on them, like the lemon glaze we added to the American pound cakes.

That should do it for the time being. Be looking forward to my new custom blog design, which should be installed in the next week or so. I know I am!

Tim's Birthday Feast

2010-02-26T00:02:00.005-05:00

I've got to start this post by apologizing for the annoying gap between posts! I've been super-busy this week, which is no excuse, so here is a nice long one for those of you who've been so loyally keeping up with my little blog.

The lineup

My buddy Tim celebrated his 25th birthday this past weekend. Much to my dismay, I had to work Sunday night, so I was unable to join our little group of friends at Charleston Grill. So, I promised him that our next day off together we would get together and cook a big feast.

We didn't really have a plan for what we wanted to eat, so we shopped around until we found something we liked. We ended up with a pork loin roast, which is kind of silly because the last time we cooked we did a pork roast too. But, they're good, and affordable, and can feed several people at once.

We decided to rub the roast down with a paste of finely minced garlic and rosemary, salt, and pepper.

All rubbed down.

Then, we seared it to give it a nice head start on the browning process.

Onion bed.

So, in the oven it went, and we got started with a fun game of Apples to Apples, which always seems to get broken out when this particular group of kids gets together. While everyone got started playing, Tim and I puttered around in the kitchen and whipped up some Caesar salads.

I love a good Caesar salad.

Tim's girlfriend, Amanda, got started on a kickass risotto, made with lots of chicken stock and wine.

Tim was a big helper.

When we got closer to eating, we made some green beans with bacon (one of my favorite things to throw together)...

Bacon makes everything better.

...and some carrots with chile and mint, inspired by this recipe from the March 2010 issue of Bon Appetit magazine. We didn't roast them because the pork was roasted. Instead, we blanched them and sauteed them with butter, mint, and crushed red pepper.

Carrots are good for you.

Finally, it was time to eat. I'm not gonna lie, we managed to overcook the pork, because, well, you saw the wine lineup. So we threw together a simple red wine-pan sauce-reduction-type-thing for a little moisture, and it tasted fine. Granted, the pork could have been a little more on the medium-rare side for us foodie restaurant kids, but the taste was there.

Mmm.

It was all good, but I've gotta give it to Amanda- the risotto was outstanding. She stirred it the entire time- I don't have that kind of dedication. But it was sooo creamy- and it didn't have a drop of cream or milk in it (one thing we forgot at the store)!

Happy birthday Timmy!

And now for the post-dinner, full-belly, wine-drunk pictures that everyone will just love that I posted:

Patrick, Cindy, Tim

Amanda, me, Brandon

Let's not forget sweet Stella.

She was so GOOD the whole time!

Mmmkay so that's about all I've got. Cheers to Timmy on his quarter-century!

My First Soufflé!

2010-02-17T23:56:00.003-05:00

It fell a little while I was trying to get a good picture...

Ive been wanting to attempt a soufflé for a long time now. I hate to admit it, but I've been putting it off because, quite frankly, it intimidated me. For those of you who aren't familiar with the soufflé, it is an egg-based dish that can be savory or sweet, in which whipped egg whites are folded into a base to give it a delicate lift when baked.

Finally, I mustered up the courage to try this thing. I decided on a savory cheese soufflé because I'm less familiar with savory soufflés than sweet ones. I adapted the recipe from The Joy of Cooking, and I halved it for 2 individual soufflé ramekins:

Cheese Soufflé

(makes about 4 servings)

For Béchamel (or white sauce):

(makes 1 cup)

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

pinch ground nutmeg

herbs and seasonings to taste

*I used about 2 tablespoons of chopped parsley and a dash of lemon juice*

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk in flour until well-blended and smooth, about 1 1/2 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and slowly whisk in the milk.

Return the pan to heat and bring to a simmer, whisking constantly to prevent lumps.

Continue to cook, whisking until the sauce is smooth and hot and has thickenened, 1 to 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Add herbs and seasonings.

For soufflé:

butter and grated Parmesan for ramekins

1 cup Béchamel

6-7 tablespoons grated cheese

*I used about 3 Tbs Parmesan, 2 Tbs Gouda, and 2 Tbs sharp Cheddar*

3 egg yolks, beaten

4 egg whites

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter soufflé ramekins and dust the insides with Parmesan cheese. Shake out the excess.

Bring the Béchamel to a boil in a large saucepan. Remove from heat and let stand for 30 seconds. Add the cheese, and stir well.

Add egg yolks one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

Beat the whites until they are stiff, but not dry. Fold into the cheese mixture.

Pour into the prepared ramekin(s).

Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until risen and set.

Not gorgeous, but they puffed!

We had these for breakfast, with some bacon and fruit. These could be a lunch or dinner-type thing as well, just remember that the timing is tricky. I wish the tops had risen a little more evenly, but I don't know what I could have done differently to fix that.

Mmm, breakfast!

They tasted better than I hoped they would! Very delicate and light, and the flavor was really nice. Subtle but definitely there. I'll make these again- they really weren't that hard! First, I'm going to tackle chocolate ones for dessert. I'll let you know when it happens!

Daring Cooks' February Challenge: Mezze!

2010-02-14T03:41:00.002-05:00

The 2010 February Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Michele of Veggie Num Nums. Michele chose to challenge everyone to make mezze based on various recipes from Claudia Roden, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Dugid.

Mezze is kind of like a Middle Eastern version of Spanish tapas. The required part of the challenge was to make hummus and pita bread from scratch, and to build your table from there. Here is my spread:

My spread, moving clockwise: At 9'oclock, you see a veggie plate with cucumbers, carrots, and roasted almonds. Followed by grilled Haloumi cheese, couscous with chicken and parsley, pita bread in the black & white checkered cloth, hummus just below that, assorted olives, steamed artichokes with lemon garlic butter, and roasted cauliflower in the middle.

Brandon, his brother Justin, and I all had a lot of fun eating this dinner. None of the components were too difficult to make, but I did kind of get a little overzealous with the number of dishes I chose to make. I stayed busy with all the prep, but I like keeping busy with that kind of thing so it didn't bother me.

First, the pita. The recipe Michele chose was adapted from Flatbreads & Flavors by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. I'm glad we've been working with yeast in baking class, because I've never really had the guts to play around with it at home. I think my class helped me not be too intimidated to try a yeast based dough at home.

Kneading the dough. I look pretty.

While the dough was proofing, I worked on all the other stuff.

Hummus sprinkled with paprika, EVOO, and parsley.

This was not the first Daring Cooks challenge to remind me of how much I need a food processor.

Cucumbers and carrots for dipping in the hummus, roasted almonds.

The veggies were nice, sprinkled with a pinch of sea salt.

After the bread was finished proofing, it had to be rolled out and baked. This was when I got the hot stuff going.

Steamed artichoke.

I absolutely loved this recipe for Artichokes with Lemon Garlic Butter. I've got it bookmarked, and I will absolutely make it again.

Grilled Haloumi cheese.

The cheese wasn't the prettiest thing you've ever seen, but it sure did taste good. It had a nice saltiness to it.

Roasted cauliflower.

I definitely wouldn't consider myself picky, but believe it or not, until this year, I never thought I liked cauliflower. Finally, I tried some at work, and I can't believe how awesome it is! I mean, I've been craving it. So, I simply roasted this with some EVOO, salt & pepper, and it was delicious.

Pitas!

Finally, my pitas. Mine didn't balloon up like so many other people's did (like they were supposed to), but they still tasted good. They definitely brought the meal together.

Close-up view of the spread.

I didn't have a separate picture of the couscous (seen above in the middle, to the left of the hummus). It was more of an afterthought, really. I had some boxed couscous, and folded in some diced leftover chicken, lemon juice, and parsley. I also set out a little olive plate.

This challenge was really fun. Brandon and Justin both devoured it, forgetting their largely carnivorous palates. I was tickled to tell them the entire spread, with the exception of the bit of chicken in the couscous, was vegetarian.

I will definitely make this kind of spread again, but next time I will probably just buy pita bread. It was nice to try making it, but the convenience stuff tastes fine, and would definitely cut down on messes and timing issues.

To see everyone elses' posts, check out The Daring Cooks's Mezze page.

Culinary School Update: Cream of Broccoli Soup and Pate A Choux

2010-02-11T12:19:00.002-05:00

Good for cold days.

This week in cooking class, we made brown stock and Cream of Broccoli soup. The recipe calls for 2 cups chicken veloute, which is a roux thickened chicken stock, as my mother correctly guessed. In class, we just added flour to the sauteed veggies, and added the 2 cups of chicken stock on top. My friend Delia suggested that I post the recipe:

Cream of Broccoli Soup

3/8 oz butter

1 1/2 oz onion, medium dice

3/8 oz celery, medium dice

3/8 lb broccoli, chopped

2 cups chicken veloute

1 cup chicken stock

3 fl. oz heavy cream

salt and pepper

blanched broccoli florets for garnish

Over low heat, sweat the onions, celery, and broccoli in the butter, without browning, until they are nearly tender.

Add the chicken veloute (or sprinkle the veggies with flour and add chicken stock). Bring to a simmer, and cook until the veggies are tender, and the stock begins to thicken, approximately 15 minutes. Skim the surface periodically.

Puree the soup, then strain through a chinoise, if desired.

Return the soup to the stove and thin it to the correct consistency with additional chicken stock. Bring the soup to a simmer and add hot cream and salt and pepper to taste. Garnish!

*This was good- it was nice and thick, and I did choose to strain mine to give it a nice, clean texture.

In baking class, we made Pate A Choux.

From this dough, we made cream puffs, chocolate eclairs, and profiteroles.

Cream Puff.

The cream puffs were filled with pastry cream, which was then topped with whipped cream (chocolate or vanilla).

Chocolate Eclair.

The chocolate eclairs were piped with pastry cream, and dipped in chocolate ganache.

They were good, but really rich.

Fun Photos for a Rainy Day

2010-02-09T12:22:00.002-05:00

Since today is rainy and nasty, I thought I'd write a not-all-food-related post about recent things in my life that might make you smile.

Here is the most bizarre:

double - yolked egg.

For some strange reason, the carton of eggs that is currently in my refrigerator has so far produced 3 out of 8 double-yolked eggs. I cracked the first one the other day and was really surprised and kind of excited because I have never seen one before. Then, when I cracked another one a few minutes later, I got kind of weirded out. I mean, I spend more on the organic, cage-free eggs, but does this mean they're all genetically mutated and stuff?

So, I looked up a ton of stuff online about it, and apparently, these eggs happen on a fairly regular basis, especially with young layers. Since they weigh a little more than single yolk eggs, they tend to get grouped together by the machines. So, if you find one in a carton, you have a good chance of finding a few more. I will keep you posted on how many more end up being double-yolkers. Weird stuff.

*Update: 6 out of 12 eggs ended up being double-yolkers. I was on the fence about it, but I've decided that this definitely weirds me out. I'm going back to the local Celeste Albers eggs - don't know why I ever veered away from them to begin with! They're worth the extra small effort! If you live in Charleston, you can find them at The Glass Onion when the Marion Square Farmers Market is closed for the winter season.

"Party like it's 1989" employee party

This is a special one of Brandon and I at our employee party this past weekend. The theme was 80's inspired, so we got all decked out. What you can't see is that he sported 2 earrings all day and had his pants all rolled up. Yes, that is a white windbreaker that he wore around his waist all day long. I'm definitely rockin' the side pony and leggings, although you can't really tell from the photo.

Dad and Chloe.

My mom sent me this one last week and I had to share it. This is my dad with Chloe, one of two recent additions to their household. Chloe and her two sisters Joey and Muffin (who my sister is now taking care of) showed up on my parents doorstep about 6 months ago, tiny, sick, and starving. Seems like they've adjusted fairly well.

Culinary School Update: Minestrone, Foccacia, and Cinnamon Rolls!

2010-02-04T00:11:00.003-05:00

So, I need to post about school before I get too far behind to catch everyone up.

Mise en place for minestrone in cooking class.

First, I'll go over my Culinary Arts class this week. We put together a chicken stock, and made minestrone in groups of two. While the minestrone was cooking, we made roux. For those who aren't familiar with what a roux is, it is a mixture of equal parts flour and fat (oil, butter, bacon grease, whatever) that is used to thicken things (like soup or gravy).

Blanc, Blonde, and Brown roux

We didn't use the roux to thicken anything, it was more like a skill development exercise. And by the way, yes, I dropped a little spot of brown roux into my blonde roux example :( . The chef said my blonde roux was just a teeny bit dark, but the brown roux was perfect. Made me want to make a New Orleans style gumbo or something. I've never actually had to make anything with a brown/black roux- it takes a lot of patience to get it that dark without burning. We're talking like 20+ minutes of constant stirring!

I still can't eat minestrone without thinking of sledding and snowmen.

My best friend Brenna's mom used to make minestrone on every snow day. Now Brenna makes it for her own kids. This was pretty good, but it wasn't the same.

So, that's about it for Culinary Arts class. Now for Baking...

Last week in baking class we made lean yeast rolls, cheddar cheese rolls and foccacia bread.

Cheddar cheese rolls and lean yeast rolls.

These rolls were pretty good, but the foccacia bread was great. We turned it into pizza... mmm. Here is my pizza.

Almost the whole pizza.

Yes, there is a piece missing. I was hungry and almost forgot to take a picture.

Okay, this week in baking class we made cinnamon rolls, and they were delicious! Cinnamon rolls don't usually get me going, but these were so soft and tender.

Same dough, different shapes and decorations.

The rolls in the pie tin were definitely my favorite. We put a caramel coating on the bottom of the pie tin, laid in the dough rolls, proofed and baked them. Then, when they came out, we flipped the tin so the caramel was on top.

These make me drool like Homer Simpson.

We made traditional looking cinnamon rolls, of course, and we also made these braided loaves. These were pretty fun and fairly challenging to make.

Not perfect, but not bad.

Okay, well that's about it. That was a long one. Ya'll let me know how you feel about these culinary school posts - do they need changing? I don't want to go into too much detail because I don't want to bore you to death.

Also, I'm now officially on Twitter as @danidishes. I need you guys to help me figure it out- it doesn't make complete sense to me yet. So, until next time...

Crock Pot Pot Roast

2010-01-31T01:21:00.002-05:00

Comfort-tastic

Right now, everyone seems to be getting snow but us poor Charleston kids. I've been waiting for a good comfort food type-day to post this recipe, and I think the time has finally come. Plus, my sister is whining for me to post again. Which I understand, because I get sad when my favorite bloggers (see left sidebar) wait more than a few days between posts.

So, pot roast it is. This is a great, easy, ridiculously cheap recipe that takes very little effort. One of my mother's. To make this, I woke up before working a morning shift, seared the beef, threw it in the crockpot. 9 hours later, voila!

I used a 3-ish pound bottom round roast, but really, you could use any cheap, large, tough cut of beef. I tend to buy different cuts when they are on sale at the grocery store and freeze them for later. This roast was like $6 or $7, a serious bargain. Obviously, you can adjust the recipe to make it the kitchen sink type- that's definitely what I did. So, here is what I ended up using:

Crock Pot Pot Roast

3 to 4 pound cut of beef, such as bottom round roast or chuck roast

flour, for dredging

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 28 oz can diced tomatoes

1 medium onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 ribs celery, chopped

1/2 cup red wine

2 tablespoons tomato paste
several cloves chopped garlic
3 bay leaves

herbs to taste (I used a good amount of crushed red pepper, dried oregano, and a few sprigs fresh rosemary)

Dredge pot roast with flour and sear in hot oil in heavy frying pan.

Place in crock pot with remaining ingredients.

Yes, there is actually beef under there!

Cook on low at least 8 hours. I cooked mine 9, but I don't think it would have hurt to have left it on a couple more hours.

smells so good!

In the last 15 minutes, remove meat. Mix 1/2 cup of pot juices with 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Add to pot. Cook on high, and stir until thickened.

I served this with some delicious rosemary mashed potatoes and some green beans sauteed with bacon. Don't think I've mentioned this yet, but rosemary is my favorite herb for wintertime.

This made SO many servings! I ate this for like 3 days straight. Even after all the meat was gone, there was still a ton of hearty, meaty tomato gravy. So, I decided to serve it on top of some pasta. Finish with a fresh grating of Parmesan cheese, and you have another meal!

Leftovers.

Cheap, cheap, cheap. College kids, I'm talking to you! Impress your friends and cook dinner one night. Everyone will go home happy and stuffed.

Ya'll say hi to the snow for me.

Culinary School Update: Knife Skills & a Delicious Breakfast

2010-01-25T20:04:00.003-05:00

Today we went over basic knife skills in Food Production class. Aren't you proud of me for bringing my camera, charged and ready to go? The top row is potatoes; from left to right are Brunoise, Julienne, and Batonette (french fry cut). Bottom row I have carrots, both Brunoise and Julienne, and fine minced garlic.

I've been trying to work on my knife skills at home for a while now. I've been small dicing everything I can get away with. Overall, a pretty easy, fun day at school.

Yesterday, I made a rather indulgent breakfast for Brandon and myself: steak and eggs! I had one lonely New York strip tucked away in the freezer, left over from some steak night dinner, which I tried to Pittsburgh because its Brandon's favorite way to eat steak. I think I'm slowly mastering the art of Pittsburgh-ing steak, if I may say so myself :)

I made a cheesy potato hash with the Simply Potato pre-shredded stuff (hey, it was a workday people) and some frozen peas (getting down to the nitty-gritty, grocery-wise). I would have felt guilty if I hadn't incorporated some sort of veggie! An over-easy egg finishes if off!

Culinary School Update: Dinner Rolls, Whole Wheat Bread, & an Easy Weeknight Dinner

2010-01-21T00:50:00.002-05:00

This week I was determined to be overly prepared for my baking class. I did not indulge in one single drink before bed, and checked my alarm at least 3 times so as not to repeat last week's oversleeping incident. FYI, 7:30 a.m. is very early for us Food & Bev kids. Plus, this campus is a solid 20 minutes away, so this is not like CofC where I could roll out of bed and stumble to class in my jammies. Not that I ever did that...

The last thing I did before I went to bed last night was check my camera battery to make sure it was charged (which it was).

At 5:30 this morning, I woke up anxiously and well before my alarm clock, deathly afraid of oversleeping. Three cups of coffee and several hours later I found myself taking my first batch of yeast rolls out of the extra-industrial-sized classroom oven. I rummaged around in my pocketbook for a fairly ridiculous amount of time before I finally accepted, with disbelief, that I left my camera at home. Thankfully, again, this week's baking lesson produced results that were small enough to take home in a paper bag. I need to get this routine figured out before we start getting into the larger, less portable goods. Geez Dani, get it together and bring the camera, charged and ready, to class! On time!

All griping aside, don't you especially like my double-knot technique on the white rolls? I was proud of myself. I've always been pretty intimidated by bread. Can't really say I've ever made any kind of yeast bread at all.

Side note - no cooking class this week because of MLK Jr. Day. Remember, cooking class on Mondays, baking class on Wednesdays. Once I actually start getting involved in cooking class I will start keeping you posted on it as well.

I thought I would also include a random photo of a dinner Brandon and I enjoyed this week. I was craving fish, so we stopped by Crosby's Seafood and picked up some really pretty local red snapper. Diced and blanched some carrots and broccoli I had laying around. Threw them in a saute pan with a chopped onion, thawed frozen peas, butter, mint, and parsley. Cooked some wild rice with chicken stock. And finally, seared the snapper, skin-on, and made a very easy parsley lemon butter sauce in the same pan.

Easy, easy dinner, and all we paid for was the fish and a cheap white burgundy to go with it!

Daring Cooks January Challenge: Satays!

2010-01-14T12:36:00.003-05:00

This challenge was hosted by Cuppy from Cuppylicious, and it was actually really fun to plan out. I decided to make 2 different marinades, one for beef and one for chicken, and 2 different dipping sauces. I marinated the beef in the Daring Cooks' recommended recipe, and for the chicken I decided on a coconut curry inspired marinade. I made the peanut sauce posted on Daring Cooks, and decided on an herbed cucumber Raita-style sauce as well. I know I kind of blended Thai and Indian flavors, but the recipes seemed really tasty, and well, I can do what I want!

So, here are the recipes:

Beef Satay Marinade

1/2 a small onion, finely diced

2 garlic cloves, finely diced

2 tablespoons ginger root, finely diced

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

I chose to use a top sirlion steak- it was much cheaper than even a flank steak or a skirt steak

Mix ingredients well. Cut beef into 1 inch strips, against the grain. Cover and chill.

Chicken Satay Marinade

Adapted from allrecipes.com

1/2 cup coconut milk

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts, lightly pounded, and cut into 1 inch strips

Mix marinade until brown sugar has dissolved. Toss marinade with the chicken, cover and chill.

Herbed Cucumber Raita

I looked at several different Raita/chutney recipes, and kind of took elements from all of them to make this sauce.

10 ounces plain Greek yogurt

1/2 cup minced mint leaves

1/2 cup minced cilantro leaves

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely diced

1 jalapeno, seeded, minced

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 tablespoon lime juice

1 tablespoon tarragon vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoons cumin

salt and pepper to taste

pinch paprika

Blend all ingredients, and adjust components to your liking. Chill. Before serving, sprinkle with paprika.

Peanut Sauce

3/4 cup coconut milk

4 tablespoons peanut b utter

1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

2 dried chilies, finely chopped

Sriracha to taste

Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add soy sauce and lemon, and mix well.

Just before you are getting ready to serve, combine coconut milk, peanut butter, and your soy-lemon-seasoning in a small pan. Warm over low heat, stirring well. Add Sriracha to adjust heat.

Cooking Instructions

Just before you're ready to cook the satays, soak your wooden skewers in warm water for 20 minutes. This keeps them from catching on fire. Thread the meat onto the skewers, accordian-style.

You choose whether to grill or broil them. I used a grill-pan because I don't have an outdoor grill. Cook over medium-high heat until done.

I served mine with some simply steamed baby bok choy and jasmine rice with coconut milk. Both sauces were good, but I loved the cucumber Raita. It had a nice cooling effect against the heat of the satays. These were pretty easy to make, but there was a lot of prep involved. They would be a good weeknight recipe if you had the forethought to get the marinade going before work. Overall, this was a fun, tasty, and slightly unusual dinner!

Culinary School Update: Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins & My First Week!

2010-01-13T23:16:00.006-05:00

Check out the sour cream blueberry muffins I made today in baking class! They actually turned out really well - muffins aren't usually my thing, but these were so light and fluffy! I had mine with a tall glass of milk :)

This semester, I have Principles of Food Production on Mondays, and Bakeshop Production on Wednesdays. Monday we didn't do too much- it was your typical first day introduction and orientation stuff. Today we still had a bunch of housekeeping things to go over, but we did at least have time to make these muffins. Everyone else put chocolate chips in theirs, but I was a little ~~hungover~~, er, under-the-weather, so chocolate wasn't really working for me. I was going to just leave mine plain sour cream, but the chef asked if I would prefer to use blueberries. Which, I do, always, or at least when it comes to muffins.

I brought my camera to class, but the battery died as soon as I turned it on. At least Chef Vagasky let us take some muffins home so I could snap this shot. I'm going to try to keep up with the things I'm doing in class so I can show it to you guys. I can't promise I won't fall behind, but the goal at least is to post the pictures of what I make in class on a regular basis. We'll see how it goes!

Don't forget to log on tomorrow to check out my second Daring Cooks challenge!

Shrimp Scampi

2010-01-10T13:17:00.003-05:00

I start culinary school tomorrow! I'm really excited. I'm taking Principles of Food Production and Bakeshop Production, and online I'm taking Nutrition, Safety and Sanitation, and Intro to Baking Science. So, a pretty basic first semester. I'll keep you posted on how classes go.

I chose to make this shrimp scampi the other night because its easy and delicious. A good school-night recipe, perhaps :) This is adapted from one of my mom's recipes:

Shrimp Scampi

2 pounds fresh jumbo shrimp

1 medium onion, finely chopped

7 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup butter

zest and juice from one lemon
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon

1/2 teaspoon steak sauce

1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon Tabasco

1 pound hot cooked fettuccine

chopped fresh parsley, about 1/4 cup

Peel and devein shrimp. Melt butter in large skillet. Add onion and garlic, and saute over medium heat, stirring constantly, about 4 minutes.

Add lemon juice, zest and next 5 ingredients. Adjust flavors to your liking. Bring to a boil; add shrimp.

Cook shrimp, stirring constantly, 3 to 5 minutes or until shrimp turn pink.

Season with salt and pepper and adjust lemon juice if desired. Add parsley. Toss with cooked fettuccine.

Hearty Breakfast Oatmeal

2010-01-03T11:50:00.004-05:00

So, I'm still sick. And my tooth is still kind of bothering me, so I've been brainstorming on hearty, easy to eat, feel-better foods to make myself. When I thought of oatmeal! Not the cinnamon & brown sugar variety that comes in a packet (which does have a place in my heart), but the real stuff, the kind that takes a little patience to make.

I went as far as to go to the store just to get said real stuff, along with some blueberries and cream (antioxidants!). As far as anyone in the Craig family is concerned, there is only one brand to get.

While Mom typically does most of the cooking, Dad always seems to make the oatmeal. And he only buys this kind. Its a little more expensive, but I was okay with a splurge.

Looks a bit like hamster food

So, its pretty easy to make, but like good grits, it takes a little time. Stir one cup oatmeal into four cups briskly boiling water. Stir well.

Be patient...

When the oatmeal begins to thicken, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

That's more like it

About 10 minutes before the oatmeal is finished cooking, I like to add a touch of heavy cream and a pat of butter. Stir well, and add water if you feel like its getting too thick.

That's about it! Everyone likes to eat theirs differently. First, I added some honey.

Brown sugar is nice too

Then, lots of blueberries and a little cream floated on top!

And there you have it! Brandon was gearing up to watch his Gamecocks play, so he ate his like a true Irishman, with a dark porter in hand. I kid you not. As for me, hot tea is all I'm drinking these days. Sigh.

Chicken Pasta Soup

2009-12-31T12:10:00.004-05:00

The last few weeks of '09 have not been very kind to me. I've had food poisoning, a root canal, and now I've come down with some kind of yucky flu-ish illness. So, I'm kind of depressed because I haven't really felt like eating like usual. Nothing really strikes me, but I need energy because these next couple days are the busiest days of the year in the food and bev industry. Even if I wanted to call in sick, there would be no one to cover the shifts for me! Plus, I'm broke, and its all about the mon-ay.

So, I buckled down and made some feel-good chicken and pasta soup. This is my Aunt Loralee's recipe, which I fell in love with when I was like 10 years old. I only tend to make it when I'm feeling really crummy, or have someone sick to care for. It's super easy, and you can use any old vegetable-bin staples you have laying around. There's no specific measurements- just a dash of this, pinch of that, little bit of this, handful of that, so you can tailor it to your liking. Her recipe called for green beans, which I didn't have on hand, so I added a diced potato for some additional starchy energy.

Loralee's Chicken Pasta Soup

Rotisserie Chicken

2 or 3 bay leaves

Garlic/Cumin/Sage/Crushed Red Pepper/Salt & Pepper

Veggie Bouillon (2 or 3 squares, dissolved in soup broth)

Carrots, finely chopped

Celery, finely chopped

Potato, diced

Tomatoes (one can or a couple of fresh, finely chopped)

Dry White Wine

Soy Sauce

Worcestershire Sauce

Tabasco

Orzo, Pepini Noodles, or other pasta of your choice

Boil chicken in large soup pot of water. (It doesn't have to be a full chicken- you can eat some for lunch and use the rest for the soup). I let the chicken boil while I diced the rest of the veggies. Take chicken out and cool in colander, keeping broth in pot. While chicken is cooling, add remaining ingredients, except for the pasta, to the broth. Pull chicken off bones and tear or cut into bite size pieces and add back to soup. Let simmer for 1-4 hours, tasting and adding additional spices as desired.

Twenty minutes before serving, turn up heat to boiling. Once boiling, add pasta *I used half a box of orzo.* Enjoy!

Have a happy new year! Be careful tonight!