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Monthly Archives: February 2007
Deeeeepppp thoughts…about culinary school.
So, not exactly, but relatively, I’m pretty close to finished with the program. I basically have one more class this year — and 6 more classes (6 months) next year and then I need to figure out how the heck I’m going to do this internship thing.
The problem is that I’m not ready to actually leave my current job for a couple of years. I like the people I work with, I just got a new position here, and I’d like some major time to save some major money before taking a pay cut.
Yikes! If I do an internship/coop next Spring, that means I’ll have to work my 9-5 job AND figure out a way to work about 40 hours in a kitchen somewhere. How am I going to be able to juggle that??? And the thing is, I’d just not think about it for a while, but I know it’s going to come really fast. And I need a plan. *Gulp*
Reflecting on my first year-plus in culinary school, I realize that I’m so happy that I made the decision to sigh up. Sure, getting up at 5:30 a.m. on a Sunday can stink, but what I’ve gained is tremendous.
I was making a white sauce the other day and realized I didn’t even need to look at a recipe to get an idea of what I was doing — I just knew how to do it. I’m really learning the methods that make recipes unnecessary.
But, what I’m really enjoying is meeting people who I would never meet otherwise. People in my classes are fairly diverse and at different places in life, but we all have a common desire to cook.
Socially, being in school as an adult is both similar and different than my previous educational experiences. In some ways, I am still holding on to insecurities that I’ve had throughout life, i.e. I *suck* at making friends. However, knowing this, I’m able to push myself more to try and be more outgoing and social — and to knock those bad feelings about myself out of my mind as fast as possible.
I’m also *still* a school-nerd. I get my kicks off of getting A’s. As much as I say, “eh, I don’t really care about this quiz — the average of my quizzes is only 10% of my final grade,” I hate when I get less than a 90 and it makes my day when I know I’ve done the best in the class. I suppose I’ll always be competitive regardless what I’m doing. Playing poker and a practical exam are the same to me — I just like to win.
Posted in Culinary School
1 Comment
How long do I cook …
So, I’m noticing a few visits to my site from people who are googling “How long do I cook {blank} at {blank} degrees?” What a great question…with no easy answer.
Wouldn’t it be easy if we could stick a piece of chicken in a 350 degree oven and know it would be done in 20 minutes every single time? The problem with that is all chicken isn’t the same size and all ovens don’t heat the same.
The best way to tell if your food is done is by checking the temperature. In school, part of our uniform is one of those digital instant read thermometers — we are constantly opening oven doors and sticking our thermometers into our food to see if it’s done.
And it’s done when the food is up to the minimum safe service temperature as determined by the FDA. Here’s a handy list:
Fish and shellfish, 145 degrees
Eggs, 145 degrees
Pork (smaller pieces and chops), 145 degrees
Beef, 145 degrees
Roasts, 155 degrees
Poultry, 165 degrees
Stuffed meat, 165 degrees
Casseroles and leftover food, 165 degrees
Of course, these are minimum temperatures and people prefer meats like beef and pork cooked to different degrees of doneness. But these minimum temperatures should help you know when you can safely eat the food you’ve cooked.
As for thermometers, I use two different types. Of course, I use the digital thermometer given to me with my uniform. It’s a quick, easy, accurate way to get a temp. I also like the cooking thermometer
I’m still dying to get my hands on one of those cool, sci-fi infared thermometers that Alton always uses on Good Eats…
Posted in Advice, Culinary School, Misc.
2 Comments
Calorie Counts
I just got a comment from my friend Christine (i.e. the Princess):
“Do you ever calculate the calorie content of your recipes? I’d be curious to see how bad that white ziti is!”
That’s a great question. And it’s really something I *should* get in the habit of doing. I might just do that going forward since it’s an easy enough calculation to do using CalorieKing.com.
I did figure it out for the white ziti. This calorie count is based on the recipe as posted below. I used part-skim mozzarella cheese in my calculation since that’s what I always use in things like baked ziti and lasagna. For more health conscious people, you could also replace the ziti with a whole wheat pasta for more fiber and a few less calories.
These serving sizes are guesstimates based on the number of people eating at my house that night. When you consider 2-lbs of pasta is supposed to serve 16 people and add in all those veggies and the sauce, I’d say that you could get 16 decent sized portions — but if you’re hungrier 12 portions would fill you up well!
Total Calories: 6,341
12 servings: 528
16 servings: 396
Speedy Roasted Garlic
Who doesn’t like golden brown, soft, spreadable garlic? Not many people I’ve ever met. The problem is that to roast garlic in the oven takes FOREVER to get it to just the right creamy consistency. And, once it’s perfectly roasted, there’s still the matter of getting those cloves out of the bulb. It’s messy and almost impossible to get it all out and on to your bread.
Here’s a method I picked up from my last cooking class (one of the best things about school is that I get all sorts of great little tips from the chefs.) I did this for the first time last night for Valentine’s dinner (nothing says lovin’ like crazy garlic breath!) and it turned out perfectly!
Speedy Roasted Garlic
1 bulb of Garlic, cloves peeled (but still whole)
Olive oil, enough to cover the garlic in a small pan
Red pepper flakes, to taste
Salt & pepper, to taste
In a small pan, add garlic and enough oil to cover the garlic. Place the pan over a low flame. Let simmer until the garlic cloves become golden brown and soft. You’re looking for low, slow heat here. You’ll see some bubbles, but you don’t want the oil boiling or spitting at you. You’re garlic will likely be to the perfect state in about 1/2 an hour (without taking up valuable oven space!)
Once golden brown, move the garlic cloves to a small bowl. Pour in some of the (now really delicious & garlicky) oil. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper. Stir gently to combine.
Spread the garlic over crusty bread and dip in the flavored oil. Alternately, mix into some mashed potatoes or mashed white beans or a vinaigrette…or anything that needs some garlic! You can hold on to the garlic oil for a few days, but it will go bad after long.
Posted in Comfort Food, Cuisine, Culinary School, Italian, Recipe, Side Dish, Vegetarian
1 Comment
“White” Baked Ziti.
I came up with the idea for this recipe because I needed something easy, cheap, and large for a poker night at my house. Lasagna came to mind, but, lasagna can be a pain to put together with all that layering. And what is baked ziti but a messy lasagna?
I didn’t want to use red sauce (I didn’t want to take the time to make my own and let it cook all day and I *really* didn’t want to use jarred sauce), so I replaced that with a creamy, cheese sauce. I love the way it turned out — but of course, I’m definitely a fan of white sauce. It also seemed as if my guests enjoyed it — we only had just enough left over for dinner the next night (it was really good left over, too.)
The bad news is that my camera appears to be broken, so I couldn’t take pictures, but believe me, this is some comfort food at its best!
I use the quotes on the word white because there *is* some tomato in this recipe, but instead of a thick red sauce, it’s in the form of diced tomatoes.
“White” Baked Ziti
2 lbs. ziti, cooked until al dente
1 tbsp. olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, diced small
2 small summer squash, diced small
2 small zucchini, diced small
1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and drained well
1, 28 oz. can petite diced tomatoes, drained
1 tbsp. fresh thyme, chopped
1/2 cup fresh basil, torn into small pieces
2 oz. butter
2 oz. flour
1 quart, 1% milk
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grated aged provelone cheese
1 1/2 cup part skim ricotta cheese
12 oz. mozzerella cheese
Salt and pepper, to taste
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Preheat nonstick pan with olive oil over medium heat. Saute half of the onion and half of the garlic for 2 minutes or until translucent. Add the summer squash and zucchini and saute for about 5 minutes until cooked through. Add thyme, diced tomatoes, and spinach. Toss together, add salt and pepper to taste, and set aside.
To create the cream sauce, melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add the remaining onion and garlic to the butter and cook for two minutes. Whisk in the flour and cook for a few minutes. Whisk in the milk. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. The sauce will start to thicken (it should be able to coat the back of a spoon.) Stir in parmesan and provelone cheese. Add salt and pepper to taste.
In a large, oven-proof casserole dish, mix the cooked ziti with the vegetable mixture. Add the basil. Add the cheese sauce and stir to coat. Mix in the ricotta cheese and mozzerella cheese.
Cover with foil and bake at 375 for 45 minutes or until the center of the baked ziti is 165. Remove the foil for the last 10 minutes to brown the top of the ziti.
Posted in Comfort Food, Cuisine, Italian, Main Dish, Recipe, Vegetarian
1 Comment
Salt, etc.
I realize it’s been a long time with no updates. I’ve gotten behind in my cooking and updating this blog sort of revolves around making something other than Lean Cuisines and sandwiches.
But I did get a good question about one of my recipes and salt. And it’s not the first time people have questioned the amount of salt in a recipe (as in, “it’s too high”). The problem is that the actual amount of salt I use is generally non-scientific. Usually, I’m tasting my food as I go along and add salt as needed.
However, for the buffalo meatballs, the chicken is raw, of course, and so, unless you want to risk a bad case of salmonella, you’re not going to be tasting that mixture before it’s cooked. Therefore, I did reduce the amount of salt in this recipe. My reader was right, it was high (1 tbsp.) and with the added sodium in the Frank’s Buffalo sauce, I think for two pounds of chicken, 1/2 tbsp. would be better. So thanks for that heads up!
On a side note, it’s awesome to be getting comments from people who are reading my blog, so thanks! It made my day.
To answer another question (from my dear old dad), “Are there realy good brussel sprouts?
Who would take graden space to grow them when you can grow hot peppers……………Now we’re talking!”
Yes! Brussel sprouts ARE delicious — I think they deserve a little garden room next to the hot peppers.
Ok, that’s it for now. Stay tuned for a new recipe coming tonight or tomorrow for a “white” baked ziti. This one going to be a new favorite in my recipe arsenal for a long time.
Posted in Advice, Misc.
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