I some how managed to get two hours worth of homework done in one. What a champ! Today was a fun day at tech center, we made chowder. It's called a chowder, not a soup, and not a stew. Don't mix em up! Super delicious no matter what you call it though. The only problem was it was extremely hard for everyone to cram in on the stove. Two kids got burnt today. However one of the guys determined we were all gonna be "close" friends by the end of he year do to this cramped space. I enjoyed the pun. We made a vegetable chowder with chicken stock. I cant wait till meat is brought into the class. Meat is neat after all. I also got fitted for my chef uniform today at Tech Center, I cant wait to parade around in it.
Chef Kimmel went over the idea of a roux and how it thickens sauces and soups, showed us the proper way to scald milk, an peel the skin off tomatoes.
Scalding milk is where you heat it up so its hot but make sure it doesn't boil or curdle, that would result in an off taste and viscosity.
To peel the skin off a tomato, first cut a small "X" on the top of it. Now place in boiling water for around a minute or until the skin starts to pop off. Shock in ice water to make sure it doesn't cook and keeps it color. now using your fingertips, gently peel off the skin. To seed the tomatoes cut into quarters and squeeze out the seeds into a bowl. After this julienne them and then make small dices of the tomato for this recipe.
Creamy Vegetable Chowder:
-2 oz. butter
-3 oz. flour
-1 clove of garlic, minced
-1/2 onion, small dice
-1/4 to 1/2 zucchini, medium dice
-1/4 to 1/2 yellow squash.medium dice
-1/2 carrot, medium dice
-2 celery ribs, medium dice [half-moons]
-3 to 5 white button mushrooms, sliced
-1 tsp. salt
-1 tsp. dried basil
-2 bay leaves
-1/2 tsp. thyme
-1/4 tsp. white pepper
-4 c. hot chicken stock
-1 medium tomato, peeled; seeded; diced
-2 c. hot milk
-1 large russet potato, peeled; medium diced; boiled till fork tender
In a large saute pan, melt the butter on medium-high heat. Add in the garlic and onions, saute for a minute or two. Throw in the zucchini, squash, carrot, celery, mushrooms and seasonings, cover and sweat until the veggies are a little under aldente, so they are still slightly crunchy. 5-10 mins. Stir in the flour to the vegetable medley and cook for 5 mins, stirring constantly to ensure the flour doesn't burn. The addition of flour makes a roux to make the chowder thicken up. Next pour in the chicken stock and tomatoes, whisk the mixture vigorously for a few mins to incorporate air and to keep the flour from clumping. This aids the thickening process. dump in the milk and potatoes. Whisk and cook for another 5 to 10 mins. take off the heat and allow to thicken up a bit more for around 5 mins. REMOVE THE BAY LEAVES. they can get stuck on the inside of your throat since they are so thing. you will choke and die.
Ladle into a bowl and enjoy. I prefer to have it in a mug so i can drink it.
[Louis P. De Gouy Quote For Title]
Showing posts with label Tech Center. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tech Center. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
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.
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
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
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