Cheese Store Field Trip!

Today we went on a field trip to the Beverly Hills Cheese store. Its about 50 years old and one of the oldest cheese stores in the country actually. Its small but very classy, old registers and meat slicers. Ironically enough, my stomach has a strong aversion to cheese. I never warmed up to like it and when i have had it on rare occasions, i got severe stomach pains. But i understand that as a chef i should be familiar with all food mediums. The guy who gave us the bulk of the tour was so sweet. It was very refreshing to see someone so passionate about cheese! We sampled cheeses (duh) but also some good olive oils, cured meats, salami, mustard, and this fig cake which i couldn't get enough of. they served it with a sheep's milk Gouda, but i brushed off the cheese and ate as much on this fig cake that was left on the sample tray. We still had to show up in "semi" uniform (as in we just needed our jackets and shoes, although i forgot about the shoes and wore my bright pink nikes, very classy, no?). It was funny walking back to my car, someone asked me if i am a chef and i said, "no, this is a costume". I was obviously joking but he believed me for second (hey, its la, you never know...). I can't lie and say i am 100% ok these days. I am actually falling a little a bit into this depressive hole i was in when i started culinary school. this whole website getting exposed thing i think made this negative aura around me and i think the whole class collectively hates me. I hope this won't affect me cooking, but i am just not happy right now, and its seeping to outside the kitchen as well. I already have self esteem issues, and having a bunch of haters doesn't aid that. I feel the relationship between my dad and i is deteriorating as well which is upsetting because i want to make him proud because he's done so much helping me pay for school and all. I need to start seeing a therapist again. I saw therapists since my mom died when i was 13 and stopped when i went to college. Than in college i started seeing one again and when i moved back home to go to culinary school, i sort of stopped therapy period. I am sorry to make this a sad post, i am just really upset lately. don't worry, more upbeat posts to follow.

Retraction

It has come to my attention that this blog has been viewed by most of my peers. To those offended by the comments i have made, from the bottom of my heart, I am so sorry. Understand that this blog is a diary of sorts and i forget that this is accessible to the whole world and that anyone can view it. Please, understand that my view points are probably made because of my ignorance about certain situations, and i try to be funny and together, it can come up as hurtful. I was about to cancel the whole blog, but i still feel i should document my journey, but from now on I will no longer gossip about ANYONE (even chefs and top chef contestants). To those i have hurt, i respect you to the bone and hope you accept my since apologizes. I meant no harm, everything should be taken with a grain of salt (kosher salt, of course).

"Cooking" Demo

so i went to the book festival yesterday and Brian Malarkey (from Miami Top Chef season) signed my book and gave me a hug. I saw Padma Lakshami's scheduled cooking demo too. It was rather silly, everything was already made basically and she didn't even assemble anything! she made goat cheese flauntas and after she assembled one, she asked someone from the audience to do the rest and fry them! in the meantime, she did a reading from her book. I think she is gorgeous and not your typical "model/actress" but i don't think she's a chef, and i have a feeling she didn't come up with the recipes in her book all on her own. I love that she proudly displays her scar shamelessly. I have a scar too on my right shoulder, not as noticeable as hers but still, a good conversation starter (although i never wear tank tops). Anyways, here's the picture of Padma "cooking". the line for her to sign was too long and it was 90 degrees outside and i was already beginning to resemble a lobster.

Tea Party!

Our chef went to New Orleans Thursday and he only comes back on Tuesday. We have a sub who i absolutely love. He's laid back and very chill-axed, no drill sergeant methods of teaching. Not that our subject for yesterday was that hard, tea sandwiches. We had a whole lecture of "tea" and what's served with classic "tea time" and as the British call is "elevenses" (an in between breakfast and lunch snack/tea time, like a daily brunch, if you will). We made some classic, albeit rather boring sandwiches like cucumber, watercress, egg-salad, smoked salmon, curried chicken, and we needed to present two "signature" ones. We were in groups of four and since chola chika excommunicated me from her aura, i was a group of fairly ok people. I am a bit bossy, i admit so we ran with my tea sandwich ideas which turned out really delicious, date and cream cheese filled sandwiches and a peanut, chicken, slices apple open faced sandwich. Tomorrow i go to the Los Angeles Times festival of books to meet some cookbook authors and hopefully get them to sign my book. I wish i could be at the Coachella music festival, but i am a book worm too so i am excited about the book festival (man i am dork). Btw, this is the Reuben from the other day, cholesterol city!

Grilled Veggie Sandwich

this is the grilled veggie. There's olive capanade in there too and "signature" side was tabouli which he said was too dry (boo!). Sorry the resolution is sorta crappy. Today we did a buffet of tea sandwiches (very english, no?) but i forgot my camera. Whats sad is that we threw most of them away, no one really wanted cucmber and watercress sandwiches.

Sandwiches!

we needed to bust out 3 snadwiches (reuben, club, and grilled veggie) with a bound salad for each. I just got home so I'll write more about them later, heres the club

what the #%@! ????

I recently came across an article in the new york times (which i find one of the few very good American newspapers) about chefs and this new cursing phenomenon (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/16/dining/16profane.html?_r=1&ref=dining&oref=slogin). Gordon Ramsey and Anthony Bourdain, both very successful chefs, have their cussing to thank for much of their recent popularity and fame. In the food industry, or any industry with lots of stress, cussing is bound to burst. Now i am not all innocent and proper, I curse, but only when appropriate. I like to use curse words in their simplest form, without adjoining words. Like lets say i spilled something, i often say, "Shit!". this to me is ok, and spills and burns happen all the time in the kitchen, and in this context, i find it ok to curse. I DON'T find it professional or beneficial when people start to inject curse words into semi-cogent sentences like, "get me that fucking pot into my fucking hands you shithead!". This is just a) a rude, condescending request, b) bad English, period!, and c) a desperate attempt to attract attention or superiority. That said, this Chola Chika bully of mine curse without end, and not in the context of my preference. I am not offended by people cursing, but why do it for the sake of wanting to portray power or attention. Like drinking, cursing is fine in moderation. I learned it from my mother (who without shame cursed infront of me in the car while driving in rush hour traffic). But she never said, "dont curse" and hence, i never felt the need to rebel and curse. I know its not the most polite thing to do, but i admit i do it. Anyhow, what do you think?

Canapes!

We actually had to produce 15 12 different kinds of canapes (9 with specific recipes, 2 what had to have smoked trout and duck rillet with whatever base or spread/garnish we wanted and 1 signature canape)per group. Our signature one is indeed on this chaud froid platter that i did which looks awful (the platter, not the canape). We used jicama circles as the base, a spicy peanut spread, shrimp, and a piece of coconut for garnish. I originally wanted to do a date jicama canape, but i was out voted by the rest of the group who killed my idea (i eve brought in dates!). I was still satisfied. anyhow, a canape must have 1) a base, 2)a spread, 3) a topping, and 3) a garnish. Now sometimes, like those boats of salmon mousse, the mousse is also the spread, its mainly so the topping will adhere. I cant take credit for making all the canapes you see in the picture because we worked in teams and everyone did a little of something, but i CAN take credit for those prosciutto and melon of shortbread cookies you see. For some reason, no one in my group wanted to do it. Needless to say, they were probably the best tasting.

About to start class!

I got here a bit early and i like to sip my oh so healthy diet Dr. Pepper and have a moment of blog zen before i take my quiz today. We had a whole canape spread yesterday (pic will come once i get home). I am writing this from the "wine classroom" that has an available computer (i am in a room full of booze, alone!). My test is on caviar and canapes. We also do a caviar tasting today. I have a feeling its not the expensive stuff but probably still worth it. I just wanted to reach out and write a quick post before i start in a few minutes. That being said i should start to suit up my chef's coat and try to squeeze my unruly hair into my hat. talk to you when i get home!

My culinary anti-heros

a couple months back i listed some true culinary legends that inspired me to go to culinary school and overall wonderful role models (amoung them, Julia Child, Ruth Riechl). These people had true success in their field, but most importantly, they had true heart. Lately, i've read about a bunch of people that bluntly, piss me off! They have no respect for food, no compassion, and probably were given a plethora of bad meals. heres the list:


Karl Largerlfeld: he recently stated: "I hate the smell of cooking. Some people love it, but I don't care for it. I don't eat sweet things. I don't eat greasy things. And I like fish better than meat. In fact, I hate meat. My doctor calls me to eat meat twice a week, as apparently we are cannibals. There used to be a Nobu here in Paris but it was very bad; it was horrible". Not to mention, he stated in the same article that he hates fat people. I know he must be a very talented fashion designer, but I think he needs to wise up, realize the world doesn't revolve around him and eat trans-fat laden fried twinkie for god's sake!

Robert Irvine: I never liked his show (dinner: impossible) because it was totally staged, aparently so was his resume. he lied about his resume including cooking at the White House, knighthood, a university degree and making Lady Diana's wedding cake. I hate nothing more than people who name names to further their career. He may be nice, but a chef should set a good example (it does mean "cheif" in french).

Natsuko "Gal" Sone : The leading Japanese competitve eater, i give her props because she's unconventional (being a female in a male dominated "sport") but i put her on my list because i think competetive eating degrades the purpose of food. Food is pleasure, nourishment, art, but i dont think you can really get that by shoving X amount of hotdogs, cakes, or wings. this just kind of makes me sick and i want people to taste food, not force it down.

Healthy sushi choices!

adress the comment from my previous post, i'll give you my little guide to health sushi navigation. First of all, let me just say that every sushi place will vary a little bit so ask when your unsure. Some places sneak in mayo into basic rolls like cucumber and spicy tuna rolls. ask if they do this. Nigiri is ok because there usually is no chance of mayo getting in there. Tuna, Salmon, yellow tail, shrimp, and crab are the good choices for seafood. mackrel is great but fairly high in fat so if your watching that, just be aware. Eel is sometimes fried but some places bake them so agian, ask. sushi rice does actually have sugar in it so don't load up on the rice, unless theres a marathon tomorrow, then by all means carbo load. Miso soup, edemmae and seaweed salads are great starters. Soy sauce has A LOT of sodium so try tamari which is what soy sauce is based out of only it has about 1/3 less salt (and its good if you gluten intolerant, soy sauce has wheat). Wasabi and ginger are also harmless condiments. Tempra anything is battered and fried, its like the KFC of sushi. some crazy specialty sushi's like those "rainbow" or "spider" rolls are usually slathered in may somewhere. go for simple rolls and go easy on the rice. and bring a case of emergency fork if your like me and are a complete chop stick novice! (ps, i didn't make the top roll with the avocado on top, i did the inside out one next to it)

Sushi Buffet!

This is from friday's sushi buffet. I must say sushi is overrated and over priced. Our chef explained to us it one of the oldest tricks to milk money our of consummers. Many people put huge price tags on sushi when you really only get a little bit of fish or seafood and a lot of veggies or rice. I never loved sushi, i like fish, i am not crazy about rice (i am more of a bread lover when it comes to starches) and i have never left a sushi resturant very full. I usually load up on miso soup, edammae, and maybe tuna and salmon rolls when got to sushi bars. But in general, sushi is not my all time favorite food. I came home with so much sushi that night!

The Asian Appetizer Buffet!

Here's our cold asian appetizer buffet. I was in the group with all the asian students in the class (ironic?). I am the one staring to the distance and not at the camera on the far left (and obviously, the only one thats not Asian.

Welcome to Garde Manger!

Wow, so the new term started and boy i am i in for a whirlwind. first of all, my apologize for not posting sooner, this class is major busy! Its actually infamous around the school as being the toughest because A LOT of material is covered in a very short period of time. As i explained in earlier posts, Garde Manger is a lot about cold food and buffets. Presentations are a big chunk of the class as well. On Monday, we had a long lecture about preservation methods like curing and confit. I am sure if you watch top chef (review of this weeks top chef to come soon!), you may have heard that phrase such as "duck confit" or "tuna confit". Well let me tell you, if your watching your weight or fat grams, stay away from anything confit. Confit means preserved and cooked in its own fat. So we made duck condif this week. Duck has a thick skin (which equals fat) and so we rubbed a curing mixture and let it cure in the fridge overnight, rubbed off the mixture the next day to let it form whats called a "pellicle" which happens when you let stuff air dry. Then we cooked it in the rendered duck fat and cooled it in the duck fat. We are going to use the duck probably next week, and guess whats going to keep it nice and fresh until then, yep the fat. We began to make smoked salmon, gravlax, bacon, turkey, corned beef, and sauerkraut. You see, we are doing a whole week of sandwiches week 3 so this stuff needs to cure. It amazing how long it takes to make things like turkey and bacon, I mean its there ready to eat at your local grocery store. So the first few days we worked on stuff for next week and the week after. We did do a few cold appetizers because we had an Asian appetizer buffet (pics to be uploaded soon!). It was actually very delicious we made tea smoked duck (smoking using tea is genius!), fragrant chicken, five spice beef, chui-sui pork (i dont think that means anything, but maybe they though chui sui is some word in Chinese of whatever), spring rolls (very fun to make! a great idea to for a dyi dinner party, its like a step above dyi burritos and tacos, and probably healthier as well!). We also learned how to carve since its all about presentation in this class. So i had bring in 5 radish roses Tuesday for homework and a "kissing swans" melon carvings. I got home tuesday night and began to work on my melons, when i woke up the nest day, my dad's girlfriend's daughter decided to have one of my swans for breakfast! it was so embarrassing to tell the chef, "um, this little brat ate my homework!".

Top Chef Chicago overview!

I remember when the first season of top chef ran back in 05 when i was living in the college dorms. I thought it was ok, but I really fell in love with the show during the second season (and totally had a crush on the winner, Ilan). Now i am addicted. the Miami season wrapped just when i was beginning culinary school and now that the Chicago one premiered, i haven't realized how i view the show in a completely different light now. Before, i did have an interest in their food, but more into the drama (which i am sure is semi-staged, as with all reality shows). So i thought each week, I'd give a quick overview and my thoughts of the weeks episode. I dont know if any of my readers care or even watch the show, but maybe if you just listen to my ramblings about it, you won't even need to watch. Now i know i am sort of jumping into this kind of late in the game since its already had three episodes for the new Chicago season but I'll briefly fill you in. Right now, theres a lesbian couple who new each other from before the show (Jennifer and Zoi), a quirky new Zealand (Marc), a kinda cute wise crack (I have a crush on on of the chefs in EVERY season, last season it was CJ, this time its Spike, the token Latina (Antonia), the other cute but kinda dumb guy (Ryan), a know it all gastronomy whiz (Richard), the token Asian (cause every top chef season needs one or they would be prejudice, Dale), the quiet ladies (Valerie, who was voted off, Lisa and Stephanie), the token black girl (they always need someone black, in this case it was nimma, voted off the first episode), the scary tattoo dawning guy (Erik, voted off last week for soggy corn dogs), the pretty girl with little culinary knowledge (they always need some really pretty girl, usually shes just eye candy for producers, she wont win, but will be around for beauty's sake, its sad but its a pattern I've noticed, anyway, this season its Nikki), the comic relief (Andrew), and the quiet guy (Manuel, who was voted off this past episode). I think they cast strategically, as with all reality shows, but i love the show for the fun culinary creations and challenges, not for the "diverse" cast. I like that Ted Allen is one of the judges this season, joining Padma Lakshmi (Salman Rushdie's ex wife) and Tom Collichio (a very good chef i might ad, just opened Craft in LA and it got three stars in the times which is very rare). I wont go over the first two episodes because that could take a while, but I just loved this past one. They had to do a dish with a partner based or inspired by a movie with film critic, Richard Roeper, and kick-ass actress, Aisha Tyler, as guest judges. One team did Vietnamese Spring rolls for the film, "Good Morning Vietnam" and Padma commented that she though they chose the film because they want to make Vietnamese food, when it should have been the other way around. I agreed with her, and if it were me I might make something like twist on chili and corn bread (a la one of my favorite films, "Blazing Saddles")or some southern inspired dish (a la "Gone with the Wind", don't make fun, i still cry when i watch it!). What would your film/dish be? imagine if someone chose Silence of the Lambs! what would they serve, their partner's kidneys or liver with fava beans and a nice Chianti!?

How-to's for those "duh" items!

Its funny, i remember when i first started in my intro I class, I was rather agravated at what were learning. At first, LOTS of time spent in class just cutting up carrots and potatoes! NOT for consumption, but to hone our knife cuts. And lets not forget that week where all we made was stuff like rice pilaf, blanched broccoli, hard boiled eggs, chicken stock.. i mean i wanted to do what they were doing on "top chef", i wanted to play up with new flavors and ingredients. Now that I am almost nearing the end of my formal cooking classes (because after Garde Manger, I go to international, and then its "restaurant rotation" where i work for a few weeks at the school's bistro), I realize just how those intro I classes were. I mean they are basic things, and surprisingly, most people (culinary students aside although many forget these basics as well and are guilty of this too) do these "duh" items incorrectly. so i thought I'd go back to my Intro I lessons and review with you some items you should know how to do properly. mind you, many people do things differently and if it works your way, great, but its good to know these "core" techniques.

HOW TO:

-Boil Rice: Its different but each kind of rice has a standard. Long grain white rice is 1/2 cup rice to 1 cup water. Ive read some packages that say to boil the water first, but don't do this, i dont know why but my rice never turns out nice this way. I usually "pearlize" the rice with a bit of olive oil on low heat and then add my water. Bring to a boil and once boil cover and put in a bay leaf and seasoning and pop a lid on it and put it in a 350 degree oven for 8-10 min. Once you get it out of the oven, fight the temptation to open the lid, let it rest off the heat for 10 min. The you can fluff with fork and i promise, perfect rice! Jasmine rice works a bit differently (but I LOVE jasmine rice so to me, this is important) there is no exact ration, but you simply cover the rice in the pot by 3/4 of an inch and bring to a boil uncovered. then pop on a lid and on a very low heat, let it simmer for about 20. Take off the heat (again, no peaking!) and let it rest for 10. Like with meats and even cookies and cakes, rice needs its rest after its been in the heat.

-Hard Boil an Egg: i love hard boiled eggs and i make it a lot in batched so i always have a few ready on hand. There are loads of ways I've seen people do it but here the way we were taught (i find it the most effective for not overcooking the yolk so it turns green). simply place egg in water unboiled water and let it come to a boil and boil for 8 min and done!

-Poach an Egg: this bit me in the ass when i took my Baking I class because we had a "pop quiz" where we all had to make two poached eggs with hollandaise. like hard-boiled eggs, people over the years came up with little tricks and what not for the the perfect shape, there are even cute egg poachers in nifty stores like bed and bath. But here's the old school way: add regular distilled vinegar to your water or poaching liquid (it helps keep it together) and bring to an almost boil (you don't want a full on boil because it'll break up the structure of the egg). It sounds theoretically appealing that if you stir the water rapidly to create a vortex in the middle of the pot, and you crack an egg into that vortex, it will magically wrap the whites around the yolk. It rarely works this way, though.Once the egg is in the pot, you can shape it a bit using a spoon or spatula. This definitely helps to rein in the loose bits. It's not going to transform a totally incoherent egg into a beautifully contained one, but it can make some difference.
fish out with a slotted spoon and i like to let it rest over some paper towels because it'll still have a fair amount of water on it thus making your English muffin or plate watery.

-Blanch veggies: Many SO many people screw this up. in boiling water dump your veggies. if its leafy like greens, almost immediately fish out and shock in an ice bath (i cant stress this shocking step enough! it will over cook if you leave it). broccoli, green beans, and cauliflower take about min and then shock, carrots can be left for about 2 min. it might seem like little time but i get over steamed veggies in restaurants and people's house all the time. I dont like it raw (unless intentional, of course) but you do want so snap. Unless its meant to be pureed or for baby food, it should not be uber soft it practically melts in your mouth.

-Sear meat: even if your baking meat in the oven, it often wise to sear because it adds color (for appearance) and seals in juices. You do need so sort of fat (you can go healthy like me and use canola, olive or sesame oil, or go French and use butter, or go american and use crisco, or if your really gutsy, go with lard). You dont need a lot of fat but a little. heat the fat FIRST and do the sizzle test (drop or water in the fat pool, if it reacts immediately, its ready for the meat). sear all side evenly, dont walk away and change the TV channel or answer the phone, it easy to over cook meat which if you ask me is more serious of a crime than overcooked veggies.

there you have it, some simple "duh" moves you may have been doing differently, but try the old school approach.

Possible Business Venture???

So a couple weeks ago when i went to get my hair done for my UCLA audition, i brought a tin of the cookies i made in class (hoping to get a slight discount...). Well i did get a discount (i doubt the cookies had anything to do with it, i just my dad is family friends with my hairdresser) but the owner of the salon asked me if i ever thought about selling the cookies. When i cam back a week ago just for a blowout, she said she gave them to a few customers and they loved it and wondered if they could buy some. She suggested i give her my card (which the closest thing i have to a business card is my head shot i give when i go on auditions)so people could contact me and buy my cookies. Well this got me thinking...maybe i could make a healthier assortment of cookies and sell them. I called my nutritionist and she said she'd gladly help me figure out the correct nutritional info for labeling. I am thinking of selling all sorts of low sugar biscotti. what do you think? could i possibly sell them online? maybe through nutritious junk? would people actually buy them? Tell me what you think?