"It's Difficult To Think Anything But Pleasant Thoughts While Eating A Homegrown Tomato."

I awoke Saturday morning and immediately decided it was a good morning for a run: i was right. I ran from my dad's apartments, up the street, and on my usual 2.5 mile sidewalk loop run. The air was chilly; my blood was rising to my skin's surface and when i was back inside my face was flushed and my hands brutally cold. Perfect running weather--for me at least. Thankfully that chill warmed up a bit for Gleaning!

Gleaning:when a group of people are permitted to salvage crops after the top picks have been commercially plucked, after the crops are "gleaned" they are donated to a food bank or a soup kitchen to be then distributed to those who truly need it. It an amazing thing to do, i had fun doing it and throwing a half rotten tomato at my boyfriend Joshua. However not all of the gleaned crops are in good enough condition to give to the food bank, basically I got to glean the gleanings because they weren't rotten to the point of non-salvageable, but not in good enough to donate. As a result i returned to my Papa Bears Apartment with a big ol' bag of tomatoes! Upon my return i took the job of making tomato sauce.

And I obviously cut off the rot spots off of these so called "bad" tomatoes: only the good parts were left to enjoy.

There is something about made from scratch tomato sauce that just really tickles me. I mean how could anyone not just love it? Its fresh and flavorful and just darn delicious, plus you know what goes in it and that there are no additives or unnecessary sugar--not to mention it makes your whole house smell like an Italian love fest. Id also just like to state that it will not come out the "normal" red color you are accustomed to with jar sauces, this recipe creates a dark orange sauce; but that's just because I don't use food coloring, no one should.

First things first when you're crafting this sauce: you have to peel the skins off those pretty little red spheres.

You do not cut them off with a knife--you blanch them, then shock them, and then the skins come right off with just a little pressure from you're finger tips.

Step 1: Cut a tiny "X" on the bottom of the tomato.

Step 2: place in boiling water for 15 seconds--or until the skin begins to peel around the "X"

Step 3: Immediately transfer the tomato to an ice bath

Step 4: Gently shed the tomato of its skin with tender fingers.

Viola! peeled tomatoes. This was the same procedure used for peeling the plums in my "Spiced Plum Jam" recipe; but that's a different post.

Now to seed a tomato one must quarter it and cut out the core, then under cold running water brush out all the seeds and save the tomato meat to cook with [duh.]

No that we got that basic down, TIME FOR THE RECIPE!

A Gleaner's Tomato Sauce:

-1/3 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil [I refuse to call it E.V.O.O. fricking ever.]

-5 cloves of garlic, minced

-1 large red onion, minced

-1 large red bell pepper, diced

-2-3 lbs. tomatoes, peeled, and seeded.

-2 tbs. dried basil

-1/2 tbs. honey

-2 tsp. red pepper flakes

-2 tsp. rubbed sage

-2 tsp pepper

-2 tsp salt

-1 tsp crushed rosemary

Heat a large high sided pot over medium heat, Pour in the olive oil and then toss in the garlic and onion; sweat for 5 mins. Now dump in the tomatoes along with the basil, honey, red pepper flakes, sage, pepper, salt, and rosemary; stir, lower the heat, and let simmer--slightly covered--for an hour. Take a potato masher and crush up the tomatoes until your desired sauce consistency is reached, you can use a blender or a food processor if you want a smoother viscosity.

TA-DA you're skill in cooking has improved by 1 ! GRATS !

I hope you enjoy this yummy homemade sauce. It's delicious.

No, It Does Not Need That Much Sugar.

Today at Tech Center we were blessed with the opportunity to prepare chili and cornbread--which was perfect considering it finally is cold again so it was a little dank, grey, and dreary out this morning.The plus side to that was when i strolled out the door; the brisk air greeted me with a pleasantly harsh caress on my cheeks; the smell of wet pavement from a midnight rain still lingered. This is my kind of weather. Having said that, the warmth and comfort of chili and cornbread never hurt anyone, especially not me.

Chili is one of those dishes that i love in fall--I also loved apple cheddar sandwiches, but that's another story for another post--and having chili without cornbread is like having a dog that meows, just plain wrong. If you already didn't realize this, I'm a bonafide southern cook, I know how to make southern food right and good, ergo, I make damn good cornbread.

A common mistake with cornbread is adding an excess of sugar, rightly so considering it shouldn't have any sugar in the first place. I myself won't use more than 2 tablespoons of the stuff, the corn in the bread provides enough sweetness but unfortunately the American palate has been warped into a sugar-happy child. I mean seriously?! Look in any canned tomato sauce and there will be sugar added in, It don't need that! People need to get back to the heart of food and in the name of Gaga stop raping Mother nature's already perfectly delicious ingredients. But I digress.

Rule Number One of cornbread: never ever over sugar. Rule Number Two: whip the egg white(s) till stiff peaks form and then gently fold into the batter and the very end before baking. This creates a light delicate cornbread with a moist crumb, if you've had cornbread before you know it can be dense and feel like its sticking to your throat or stomach walls, not yummy, not one bit. The Third and final rule of cornbread is: Always sprinkle the top with sugar before baking, and brush with melted butter once it's out of the oven.

I'd also like to throw out there that you don't need to measure everything down to a kilogram. I've mastered the art of eyeballing measurements, as everyone should, i hate getting out a teaspoon or tablespoon, even for baking powder or soda.

Cloud Nine Corn Bread:
-1 c. yellow corn meal
-1 c. AP flour
-1 1/2tsp. baking powder
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-2 tbs. sugar
-pinch of salt
-1 large egg, separate. [put the egg white in a small mixing bowl]
-1c. buttermilk
-3 tbs. vegetable oil
-2 tbs. melted butter. [measure after melting]
-1/4 c. yellow corn

Preheat hotbox to 325 F

In a large bowl combine corn meal, flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt. Set aside
Beat the egg white until stiff white peaks form. Set aside.
In a medium bowl whisk together the egg yolk, buttermilk, oil, and butter. Slowly pour into the dry ingredients while whisking at the same time. Mix in the corn. Finally gently fold in the egg white; be sure not to over stir or all the air incorporated in the egg will be released, and we wouldn't want that now would we?

Pour into a greased 9" pie pan. Spinkle the top with an extra teaspoon or two of sugar. Bake for 25 to 30 mins, or until it sounds hollow when tapped. Also, the toothpick method will work just as well for checking done-ness. Once out of the oven brush generously with melted butter.

Slice and enjoy! Be carefully not to drop it when eating, this is a very delicate crumbly bread. I recommend eating with chili, gravy, honey, hell jut eat it plain.

Goodnight!

"1,2,3,4. Can I Have A Little More?"

A few classes ago at Tech Center, Chef Kimmel taught us how to cut a whole chicken into 8 pieces-two breasts, two wings, two thighs, two drumsticks-it was far from glamorous.

A video to help explain [not mine of course]:

First things first, wash your hands, then rinse and dry the chicken [carry the chicken in a bowl so it doesn't drip and cross-contaminate everything withe salmonella.] Place the chicken breast side up on a plastic cutting board, never use a wood cutting board when handling raw meat, it absorbs the bacteria. Pull one of the legs away from the body and slice through the skin between the body and the sides of the thighs. Bend the whole leg away from the body until the hip bone pops from its socket- cut between the ball and socket to sever the leg. Repeat on the other side.

Once the legs are separated divide them into the and thigh. Do this by cutting through the joint of the drumstick and thigh.Repeat with other leg. Now you have your two thighs and drumsticks.

Now you need to get the wings off that bad boy! Pull the wing away from the body and slice diagonally 1" away form where the wing joint meets the body. Cut off the tip of the wing-save for making stock or throw it out. Repeat with the second wing.

Last but not least: getting the breast off the chicken. Set the chicken up vertically, so you can look down the neck cavity, and cut down through the shoulder bones to detach the back from the breast. You can save the backbone for a stock, eat the meat if you want, or just dump it. Once the breast is by itself cut it in two down the length of the breastbone.

Viola! a whole chicken divided into eight pieces. You can leave the skin on or take it off, its up to your personal preference, I usually take it off except for when i fry it.

Which reminds me, after we divided up our chickens, Chef Kimmel let us decide how to prepare our pieces. I chose to fry it, mainly because I am fried chicken champion, in the words of Chef, I "knocked Colonel Sanders out of the park," I was most pleased.

The breading was a crispy golden brown crafted with a perfect Melody of flavors, the chicken was tender and juicy, the ideal tasting conditions.

Southern Fried Chicken:
-8 pieces of chicken, skin on, [breasts each cut in half]
-2 eggs
-3-4 c. buttermilk
-1 tsp. liquid smoke
-6-8 c. flour
-3 tbs. dried rosemary
-2 tbs. paprika
-1 tbs. seasoned salt
-1/2 tbs. cayenne pepper
-2 tsp pepper
-Vegetable or soy oil for frying

In a medium bowl whisk together eggs, buttermilk, and liquid smoke. Set aside. In yet another medium bowl, combine the flour and seasonings. Take one piece of chicken, dip in flour, then buttermilk mixture, then dredge in flour, dip in buttermilk mixture again, then the flour again. This creates a nice breading on the chicken and dredge multiple times builds the potential crispness off the skin. Repeat with each piece of chicken, If more buttermilk mixture is need combine 1 egg and 1 cup buttermilk. For more flour combine another cup of flour with 2 tsp. rosemary, paprika, seasoned salt, and cayenne pepper.

Pour about 4" of oil into a large saute pan or pot with high sides. Heat the oil on medium heat. To check if the oil is ready, stick the end of a wooden spoon in the oil, if it bubbles all around it then its time to fry! Fit as many pieces in at a time as you can, make sure its not too crowded though. The biggest piece, usually the thigh, will obviously take longer to fry than the others, it should take around 20-24 mins. 10-12 each side. The pieces should be a delectable dark golden brown. If you are paranoid about it being done, check the internal temperature, 165 degrees is the safe zone.

Put on a plate, serve with biscuits, gravy,potatoes, etc. etc.

Enjoy!

[Beatles Lyrics For Title]

No Need To Be Sloppy

Oh how wonderful today was. I had my first day at the Chesterfield Technical Center, It's where i get to go every other day to study culinary instead of school. This place is spectacular, my teacher, Chef Kimmel, Is amazingly nice, and the kitchen is awesome. The gas stove has 20 burners, 10 in the front, 10 in the back; not to mention the pantry is filled with so many spices! After Chef Kimmel tested our knowledge of kitchen and culinary tools, he got us working on our cooking project of the day, Sloppy Joes. First Chef demonstrated mise en place basically having everything ingredient you need prepared and ready before you begin the actually cooking. Once we got started it was hectic,the 22 of us running around with pots, knives etc etc. It was exhilarating. The clang of the cooking spoons against the pots, the sizzle of the ground beef, the swift chopping noises; I was in my element.

After we had finished making the sloppy joes, we began to clean up our station a little before we went off to the cafeteria to eat.It was awkward since i didn't really know anyone to sit with, thankfully this one girl from my class invited me to sit with her friends. They were all girls so i mean i didn't have much to talk about with them, I'm more into talking about video games, not listening to pointless gossip. I appreciated it none the less.

When we returned to the culinary room,we began the clean up process. There were two super large sinks, each divided into thirds; one part for cleaning, another for rinsing, and the final one for sanitizing with water mixed with bleach. We also had to sweep and mop the floors, clean the stoves, take the garbage out, make sure all of our supplies were accounted for, turn in our knives, and was the tables with water and bleach. Sounds like it might be dull, but trust me, it's never boring in the kitchen, there was always something to do.

Pac-Manwhich [lolpun!] photo cred to http://www.insanewiches.com

Sloppy Joe Sandwiches:
-8 oz. ground beef
-1/4 onion, diced
-1 clove of garlic, minced
-2-3 un-pitted green olives, minced [optional]
-1 tsp flour
-1/8 tsp. dry mustard
-1 tsp.paprika
-1/2 tsp. rubbed sage
-1 tsp. salt
-1 tsp. ground black pepper
-1 tsp. honey
- 1/3 c. ketchup or tomato sauce
-1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
-1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

First heat a pan on medium high heat.When hot enough to the point where the meat sizzles when it touches the pan, brown the meat with the onions, garlic, and olives. Drain some of the excess fat, but not all of it. Stir in the dry ingredients, simmer for 5 mins. Mix in the wet ingredients, simmer for another 5-10mins. Serve the sloppy Joes on toasted hamburger buns, a warm bun always tastes better.

It was a nice tasting Joe, or Jane in my case I suppose. Making these from scratch always tastes better, and you know whats in it, not to mention you can pronounce the ingredients. So basically, this recipe demolishes "Manwhich." Manwhich is for pussies! Whoopzie Doodles, i need to mind my mouth.

Its a basic recipe, but that's what this place is all about, learning the basics, knife skills, how to handle certain ingredients, etc. etc. So basically its legit awesomesauce to the max. I also have to wear a chefs uniform, which is freggin sweet, cant wait till the order comes in for it.

OH,on top of all that i had my first ever interview,for a job at "Party City", I nailed it. The manger said he put me in the "hire" pile. So in 1-3 weeks ill be working at one of my favorite stores! Excitement!

May the force be with you...

<3

La Roux

While listening to some pre-workout jams consisting of Blink-182, Lady Gaga, and La Roux, I got to think about well, roux. You know, the thingy that makes soups and sauces thicken up? The basic formula for a roux is to heat butter, lard, alien fat, zombie, or other fat in a saucepan and slowly add an equal weight of flour. Then you have to gently stir until the flour granules evenly absorb the fat and the end result should be an even textured smooth paste. Then to add to the stock to make the sauce, you must slowly and gradually add the hot stock to the roux and whisk continually.

There are 3 types of roux; white,blond, and brown.
White roux is used to thicken white sauces, and you need to heat for a minute or two, only until bubbles devlop on the surface.
Blond roux is best for lighter sauces with chicken or fish entrees. To make just heat 3-4 mins till it reaches a pale blondish color.
Brown Roux is used for thickening brown sauces such as Bordelaise. Down in the good ol' South we like to use pan drippings instead of butter.

There are 5 mother sauces and, Marie-Antoine Carême, is considered the founder of french cuisine. He made the mother sauces, and then created daughter sauces by adding spices, herbs, wine, etc. Here's the family tree [I would die without "Paint"] Oh BTW you gotta click on it to actually view the size where you can read it.

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The Four Mother sauces are Bechamel [cream] sauce, Veloute [white] sauce, Hollandaise [butter] sauce, and Espagnole [brown] sauce.

Milk+White Roux= Bechamel sauce

White Stock+Blond Roux= Veloute sauce

Brown Stock+Brown Roux= Espagnole sauce

Clarified Butter+ Egg Yolk+ Lemon Juice= Hollandaise sauce

Now I like making a combination of mustard, butter, and flour to make a roux for my favorite mac n' cheese, then i take that roux and add milk, that makes it a Bechamel type sauce except then i melted various types of cheeses in it.

This post is kinda pointless because the only reson i'm posting this is because i was reading 101 Things I Learned in Culinary School last night like a toon.

WOOOO AWESOMESAUCE