Wednesday, September 30, 2009

appetizer feast and Hyatt Training...







So, I know I know I am flaking again. But, its not my fault this time (cross my heart). I have been very busy with training at my new job! No, I did not finally give up on serving I still have that job but I am now also part time order taker at the Hyatt. The training was intense though, and it hasn't given me any time to post. But, finally today I got out early so I posted.

Last tuesday in my Garde Manger class we did cold appetizers. Mango shrimp curry in phyllo cups, and turkey mousse on french bread. Oh, they were delicious. Here are some pictures.







And finally, this tuesday I we did hot appetizers a bacon wrapped shrimp, mushroom bouche, spankonitas and our own creation of shrimp wontons! .....

Thursday, September 10, 2009

the SANGRIA cake.. Ole!!




Well today was finally my day off after working like 10 in a row! I really don't know how I do it, and school work well it keeps me pretty busy. But, finally today I was able to bake! Yippppyyy!
I decided to go with something of my own invention rather than follow a recipe. So, as I browsed the aisles of the nearby grocery store I found a Sangria bottle. Lets make a Sangria cake, I though to myself so here is the result.





The recipe is fairly simple,

12 Tablespoons butter,
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups sifted all pourpouse flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Sangria
1 egg
2 egg whites

Instructions:

Combine butter and sugar and whip until smooth, then add egg beat well.
In another bowl mix salt, powder and flour
then combine dry mix into butter, alternating with Sangria mix.
Finish and Start with flour
Beat until mixed.

In another bowl beat whites until they form stiff peaks, fold into batter.
Put into molds.

Bake in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes or until the toothpick test comes clean.

The dessert also has a sangria syrup.

it is very simple to make

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1 cup water
2/3 cups Sangria

Instructions:

Boil sugar and water to create a simply syrup,
slowly add Sangria, let it reduce, then let it cool before putting on cake

And the apple crisps are also a cute and simple decoration.

Ingredients:

1 apple sliced
1/2 cup grahams crumbs with sugar
butter as needed

Instructions:

Put apples on a baking sheet, coat both sides with crust, butter a little so they wont stick.
Bake until crisp

To assemble, Position cake in the center of plate, Add apple crisps on side, pour the syrup on center of cake, letting it drip down to surround the dessert. Top with sour cream. voila!!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

fashion

"In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different." - Coco Chanel

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Show and Tell Tuesdays ...


So I had class again today ... Hospitality Law which is always fun with my favorite teacher and then GardeManger. I did have to dice half a pound of potatoes before class and make them into large dice for the chef to grade. But, that was forgotten once we got to the real cooking. Today was dip/spread day. gosh. All the fun things we did. First off out each person had to do mayonnaise a basic emulsion. 6 to 8 eight ounces of oil for 1 egg yolk and lots of whipping. WOW were my arms tired. But after that we got to play around and do hummus, babba ganoush, tomato coulis and pesto. My favorite no doubt is the Hummus. I could eat hummus for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I could eat it all day and I would feel like a winner . See? It even inspires me to write poetry.



Well the hummus was the fastest to make, since all that is needed is to puree all the ingredients, the coulis is a little more labor intensive, the pesto is same just to puree the basil leaves with pine nuts and parmesan cheese. Oh, I love basil leaves!!
And the babba ganoush is roated eggplant. The only hard part is to roast the eggplants...


But we could not eat the dips alone, so we made pita chips and zucchini sticks. Oh, that was the best dinner for me..
Im thinking of naming Tuesdays ... School Tuesdays? Taco Tuesdays? Show and Tell Tuesdays? Yup, thats what they will be called Show and Tell Tuesdays, every tuesday I will show and tell you what I did at school. They will only last as long as school does though. Oh, well nothing in life is permanent...