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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Economy right now= NO BUENO

I've come to realize this whole saving money thing... Went to the grocery store to do research for a class project and was completely blown away... The price of EVERYTHING is reaching the level of outrageous. On this class project I was asked to take a simple cream of broccoli soup recipie and price out all the ingredients that it includes and set up the basic mise en place, etc..etc... So off to the vegetable produce I go.. Torn between organic broccoli or not. Ranged from $2.19-$2.69... Also two ingredients that really I was astonished by the prices were Heavy Cream and butter. Heavy cream was almost $4.00 for half the regular size amount... WOW! On to butter almost $4.00 just for 16oz... This is next to ridiculous. I have never really paid that much attention to prices going up on anything but gas. Now I have a whole new outlook.. Overall I can say I'm defenitly looking forward to some serious gardening this summer for my vegetables. The economy today is in a rough spot.  Before you know it you'll be paying $8.00 for a container of butter.. I think it's time we all took after the amish a little bit and learned to make these things on our own.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Gnocchi= love

One thing I've learned to love is Gnocchi! I was watching top chef masters today and Chef Michael Chiarello made this gnocchi as a memory to him. It sounds fabulous decided I would share! I hope to make this soon! My mouth was watering as I watched the show! 

 

Yield

Serves 4

Ingredients

RICOTTA GNOCCHI
  • 6 pound ricotta cheese-drained overnight and pushed through tamis or ricer
  • 11 egg yolks
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • Gray salt
OLD HEN TOMATO SAUCE AND PECORINO
  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 chicken thighs, preferably from a large roaster hen
  • Gray salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/4 cup small diced carrot
  • 1/4 cup small diced celery
  • 1/2 cup small diced onion
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon minced rosemary
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/2 cup red wine
  • 2 each- 28 ounce cans Italian San Marzano roma tomatoes, milled
  • 1/4 cup torn basil
  • 1/2 cup grated Italian Pecorino Cheese
CRISPY POTATO GNOCCHI WITH FONDUTA
  • Kosher salt?
  • 1 pound russet potatoes
  • 3 or 4 large egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese?
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg?
  • 1/2 teaspoon gray salt?
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting board and dough
  • 3 tablespoons whole sweet butter (used for "crispy gnocchi)
TALLEGIO CHEESE AND BLACK TRUFFLE FONDUTA
  • 1 quart heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon fresh black truffles, finely minced
  • 2 pounds Tallegio cheese, rind removed
Spring Vegetables in Butter Fonduta: BUTTER FONDUTA
  • 1 pound Plugra, or other European style butter, small diced
  • 1 cup white wine
  • 1 fresh bay leaf
  • 2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
Spring Vegetables in Butter Fonduta: SPRING VEGETABLES
  • 1/2 cup fava beans, blanched and peeled
  • 1/2 cup English peas, blanched
  • 1/4 cup spring onions, blanched thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup blanched baby carrots, sliced crosswise into small coins
  • Pinch of freshly minced thyme
  • Pinch of freshly minced parsley

Directions

RICOTTA GNOCCHI
Mix together egg and cheese. Gently fold in flour so as not to overwork. Let the dough rest chilled for 30 minutes. Roll out as for regular gnocchi. Cut the gnocchi and toss them gently in flour to coat them evenly. Allow to set up chilled on a sheet tray lined with parchment paper. Freeze the raw gnocchi and cook in boiling salted water from frozen.
OLD HEN TOMATO SAUCE AND PECORINO
Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Lightly brown the chicken and remove from the pan. Add the carrot, celery, onion and garlic and sweat until soft. Add the rosemary, bay leaf and red wine, as well as the chicken thighs back to the pan. Reduce the wine until just about dry. Add the milled tomato and cook slowly for about 1 hour. Remove the chicken pieces and reserve for another use. Finish the sauce with the torn basil and spoon over the cooked ricotta gnocchi. Sprinkle with Pecorino Cheese and serve.
CRISPY POTATO GNOCCHI WITH FONDUTA
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Spread a layer of kosher salt on a baking sheet and arrange the potatoes on top. Bake until a bit overcooked, about 1 hour. Let sit until cool enough to handle, cut in half, and scoop out the flesh. Reserve the potato skins, if desired, for another use. ?Pass the potatoes through a potato ricer or grate them on the large holes of a box grater. You should have about 2 cups.
In a large bowl, whisk together 3 of the egg yolks, the cheese, nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Add the potatoes and mix well. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the flour over the potatoes and, using your knuckles, press it into the potatoes. Fold the mass over on itself and press down again. Sprinkle on more flour, little by little, folding and pressing the dough until it just holds together.
Work any dough clinging to your fingers back into the dough. If the mixture is too dry, add another egg yolk or a little water. The dough should give under slight pressure. It will feel firm but yielding. To test if the dough is the correct consistency, take a piece and roll it with your hands on a well-floured board into a rope 1/2 inch in diameter. If the dough holds together, it is ready. If not, add more flour, fold and press the dough several more times, and test again. Keeping your work surface and the dough lightly floured, cut the dough into 4 to 6 pieces. ?Roll each piece into a rope about 1/2-inch in diameter. Cut into 1/2-inch-long pieces. Lightly flour the gnocchi as you cut them.
You can cook these as is or form them into the classic gnocchi shape with a gnocchi board, ridged butter paddle, or the tines of a large fork turned upside down.
Rest the bottom edge of the gnocchi board on the work surface, then tilt it at about a 45-degree angle. Take each piece and squish it lightly with your thumb against the board while simultaneously pushing it away from you. It will roll away and around your thumb, taking on a cupped shape with ridges on the outer curve from the board and a smooth surface on the inner curve where your thumb was. (Shaping them takes some time and dexterity. You might make a batch just for practice.) The indentation holds the sauce and helps gnocchi cook faster. As you shape the gnocchi, dust them lightly with flour and scatter them on baking sheets lined with parchment paper or waxed paper.
Cover with a kitchen towel and set aside until ready to cook, up to several hours (unless the room is very humid).
Poach them in salted simmering water until they float on the top. Remove with a skimmer then carefully toss the gnocchi with a little olive oil, let cool, then refrigerate several hours or overnight.
To crisp the gnocchi:
Heat two tablespoons of the butter in a large sauté pan on medium heat until the butter stops foaming and turns light brown.
Add the gnocchi to the pan in a single layer and cook, without moving them until brown on one side.
Add the remaining butter if needed. Carefully turn and toss the gnocchi until brown on all sides, about ten minutes total. Regulate the heat so the butter does not burn. Carefully remove and hold warm.
TALLEGIO CHEESE AND BLACK TRUFFLE FONDUTA
Heat the cream and the minced truffle to a simmer over medium high heat in a heavy bottom sauce pot. Separate the Tallegio into about 8 pieces and whisk into the truffle cream. Lower the heat to medium low and slowly reduce the cream by about 1/3 of its original volume. Cover and reserve.
Spring Vegetables in Butter Fonduta: BUTTER FONDUTA
Combine the shallots, bay leaf and wine in a medium sauce pot. Reduce until about 2 tablespoons of wine are remaining. Slowly whisk the butter into the wine reduction and strain through a chioise to remove all of the shallot and bay leaf.
Spring Vegetables in Butter Fonduta: SPRING VEGETABLES
In a sauté pan heat the mixture of spring vegetables in a small amount of water, until the water is almost cooked dry.
Add some of the butter fonduta to the vegetables and simmer gently until they are just hot throughout…remember they are already all cooked and just need to be heated in the butter. Finish the vegetables with the thyme and parsley.
FINAL SERVING: Pour 4 ounces of Cheese sauce on the bottom of each plate. Top with Browned Gnocchi and top with Spring vegetables in butter fonduta.

by: Chef Michael Chiarello

Sunday, March 27, 2011

What #WINNING taste like

My day began before sunlight as my alarm violently rang at 5:30am. Spent the whole night finishing two papers I needed for class this morning. So tired didn't even begin to explain how I was feeling. Of course I waited until last minute to print my papers and just my luck the printer is out of ink. Managed to put the papers on a disk and turned it in. I take a basic English Comp class for some gen-eds it's a piece of cake. The class is just a refresher course for me so it's not to bad. Only downfall is the class is 3 never ending hours long. Massive amounts of homework is always assigned in that class considering it only meets once a week... ehh :/ 11:30 hits and I'm on my way back home to "amishville". I get home and don't get me wrong I love being home but the only other place I'd rather be is at work. My new job is amazing! It's such a positive work atmosphere and I LOVE IT! Luckily enough a "tweet" to my co-worker and I get to go in early!! YAYY! I get to work and start learning. First thing I worked on making the REAL Maryland crab cakes. Which are amazing needless to say! I then worked on a few things here and there and catch up on some dishes. Also, was surprised with a huge bouquet of flowers from the boy, made my day :) Then the evening starts to begin. We have a new kid working in the restaurant and I taught him tonight how to peel onions and told him the secret on how to avoid the onions making you emotional... Works like a charm half a bag of onions later no tears were shed. The trick is to not open your mouth while cutting them. Sounds crazy but the next time your chopping onions try it. The new kid is a quick learner and defenitly plowed through massive piles of dishes!  Ohh, so the dinner rush begins... I'm still learning the line and I hate to be in peoples way but I try to help where needed! Chef had me set up the charcuterie board for a table tonight. It consisted of our house patte mason, sweet bread terrine, and of course the turduckin. All of which had there complimentary sauces and a few other things on the side, They are beyond delicious. The other chefs worked on the hot side as they pushed out plates that looked like they were sent from heaven... Can I get an amen! There is so much skill in that kitchen that's what I love so much. Everyday I learn something new,  I CANT GET ENOUGH!! Also, sampled a few things other chefs made tonight... I seriously can't explain how much I love food. If #Winning had a taste it would be anything made at overlook farm.
One of the plates Chef sent out! Can you say awesome!

Working on the Charcuterie board :)

My finished product :)

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Work Pictures

Turdukin in the making

Finished Turduckin

Add caption

Me covered in stuff at work! AS ALWAYS

Turduckin layered with Chicken Farce

Wrapped in Caul Fat

Fresh out of the oven

The pepporoni we have in the making mmmmm! CANT WAIT TO TRY IT! 

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Learning

The amount of progress I have made in cooking has absolutely amazed me. I can successfully cook an egg! Maybe not 101 different ways but I sure as heck can make quite a few. In school I'm currently learning things from mise en place to stocks, soups, starches. Yet, most importantly the GRAND SAUCES! My culinary fundamentals book is a book I cannot get anough of. A few weeks ago I was unable to even memorize the beef cuts and a silly tune I made up and help from chefs I have them memorized. Oddly enough I am really interested in learning much more about the fabrication of beef. I plan to soon go watch beef fabrication from the beginning to the end. I will say that will be a learning experience. I'm not a squeamish person and really enjoy breaking down large cuts of meat. My first week at the new job chef had me breaking down a pork shoulder and dicing it up to make the most delicious breakfast sausage. Defenitly beats the stuff in the package, the herbs and spices we added just made it awesome. Yet, a pork shoulder isn't anything to large and crazy but it was still great. I see the chefs I work with putting together fabulous specials and plating them in ways to really awe' the guest. Also, I've learned to successfully break down duck, turkey, chicken. My favorite part about breaking down a turkey for brine and to be smoked is taking a clever to the bone portion not needed on the carcass. Weird I know. The clever, my chef knife, and the boning/filet knives are by far my favorite. I have the starter set of two Wustof knifes that my dad bought for me for Christmas and I love them to death they are like children to me. I have a 8in Chef knife and the pairing knife which I use on a daily basis. I could go on and on about the amount Ive learned in the past few months but I think this blog would become a novel. Well followers that's what Ive got for ya today! Stay posted as I keep track of my progress as I work my way through culinary school and my job. :)

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

The start of something new

So yesterday I began gardening. Really enjoyed it to my surprise. The weather was in the 70's the wind was a subtle warm breeze and the soil was smelling like spring. Ive never been able to keep any plant alive for the life of me. (Not even a cactus) So, I've turned a new leaf and am learning everything I can from my grandfather. Yesterday, I sat in the garden planting onions and beets. I was a way for me to just relax. I was barefoot covered in soil from the garden and I absolutely enjoyed every second of it. At my house we have a couple of incredibly large gardens. This year I am going to start my own little garden in hopes I can keep it going without killing everything. Lets hope right? Well, seeing as I'm new to this any advice on soil; compost or no compost: what to plant: etc... I could use some insight!

Family means everything

My wonderful family..:) Im the blonde one next to the goofy guy in green whom I call my dad.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

The start of my journey

So this is my first blog ever. Not sure how this goes.
About me:
I'm currently in my first semester of culinary school. It sure is an adventure; Cooking is truly my passion. When I'm in the kitchen I'm happy. I always say cooking has to come from the heart. Its a difficult field to go into but as long as you have the passion that's all that matters. I currently began working at a new restaurant in a small town close to where I live. Aboslutley, love it. This is the 2nd Ive worked in. Just began really cooking 7 months ago and sadly enough I couldn't even fry an egg. Now, 7months later I am eager to learn more. I currently work for some great chefs I have learned so much! I have a dream to be the next julia childs. I'll get there :)