Sunday, May 15, 2011

Final College Pictures Till the Fall

Black Forest Cake
Fruit Flan

Sirloin Steak with Roasted Root Veg, Beans, Zucchini and Yorkshire Pudding



WINGS! Three Different Flavours; Pesto, Chipotle Sweet and Spicy, And one more I cannot remember

Poutine and Quesadillas

Mac & Cheese, Souvlaki

Pizza

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Awesome Labs - Pork Leg, Sausage, Beef, and Some Smoking

Smoking Lab

 Gravlax, Cold and Hot Smoked Shrimp, Smoked Trout, Shrimp Bisque (from peeling shrimp)
Pork Leg Lab
Disassembles\d a whole pork leg and used all the meat we could, ground up trim for the tourtiere.
Tourtiere (trim)

Pork Cutlet on a Bun (Top Round and Outside Round)

Stuffed Pork Roast (inside round)

Pork Goulash (Outside Round)

Sausage Lab
Italian Sausage (homemade), Breakfast Sausage (crepinettes), Seafood Sausage (bleh)
Beef Lab!
Medium Steak with Green Peppercorn Sauce, Zucchini, Roasted Root Vegetables and Yorkshire Pudding

Same as above, but better pic in my opinion.

The Meh Labs

These are some things i thought were not the best tasting, or sometimes downright gross (like the liver mousse)
(clockwise from left)Salmon Rillettes, Scallop Ceviche, Salt Cod Brendade (actually quite good)

Liver, onions and turned potatoes. Braised cabbage not shown.

Pate Lab.... Liver Mousse, Pate, Chicken Gallantine

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Past Few Weeks (and some bad photography)

Butter Tarts - For mid terms

Bakewell Tart aka Frangipane Tart -Mid term



Shrip Cocktail and Spring Rolls

Medley of Grilled Vegetables with Balsamic Reduction

Vichyssoise

Monday, February 28, 2011

Veal, Lobster, Sandwiches and Hors D'Oeuvres

Various Sandwiches (Rueben, Monte Cristo, Clubhouse, NCI Burger)

Veal Emince with Wild Mushroom Sauce, Rapini, Harvard Beets and Spaetzle

Lobster with a Vanilla Beurre Blanc
Clockwise from top: Ceasar cups, Goat Cheese Mousse, Smoked salmon and Caviar, Egg Salad
Same as above

Seared Scallops with Anna Potatoes
Same As above

Friday, February 4, 2011

Dips and Breakfast (plus videos!!)

Ok Well this post is about dip and breakfast week. for the dip lab we made babajanouj, tzatziki, hummus, guacamole and pico de guillo (as well as naan bread).
For the breakfast lab we were basically given a flat of eggs and told to practice :P. We had to present a "big breakfast" which includes 2 eggs cooked any style, hash browns and any breakfast meat. We also had to do a French Omlette. I chose to do Eggs Benedict, which is poached eggs on top of an English Muffin with peameal bacon and Hollandaise.














Omelettes 101
(video tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXsklE1RBOo
Ingredients:
3 eggs
1 tbsp milk or cream
1tsp butter
1tbsp oil
salt

Method (also see video above):
  1. Heat non-stick pan. over medium high heat until butter foams.
  2. Add eggs and stir until it starts to set, but still plenty of liquid (see video). Reduce heat to low
  3. Stop stirring and distribute liquid evenly so it cooks
  4. Loosen sides of omelette making sure it isn't sticking
  5. When top is nearly set, flip the omelette as shown in the video, and then fold onto a warm plate. Serve immediately.



    Monday, January 24, 2011

    Last Weeks Labs (Plus a tutorial YAY)

    OK Gonna post the finished products first (yeah some are in stainless steel bowls... w/e) then I'm going to do a bit of a lesson on the three soups I made in class: French Onion(god-tier),Spicy Black Bean Soup(high tier), and Gumbo (meh).
    Pinwheel cookies

    Bull's eye cookies

    Checkerboard cookies

    Marble Cookies

    French Onion Soup

    Gumbo

    Spicy Black Bean Soup

    French Onion Soup... again

    Soups cookin'

    Brown roux


    Soup Tutorials
    French Onion Soup
    Ingredients:
    3 onions, julienne (thin slice)
    2 tbsp butter
    1 tbsp flour
    2 tbsp sherry
    1 litre beef stock
    1 bay leaf
    Salt and Pepper
    3 slices baguette per bowl
    1 whole clove garlic (optional)
    Gruyere and Parmesan cheese (about 4-1 ratio. amounts will depend on ho many bowls u plan to serve)

    Method:
    1. Toast baguette slices and lightly rub with garlic. Set aside.
    2. Heat a heavy pot (that can hold all the soup) over medium-high heat. Melt butter and add onions. As soon as the onions soften and turn translucent, turn heat down to low or medium low. Allow the onions to turn a nice brown color (stirring frequently to prevent onions from sticking an also to prevent the residues of the onions from collecting and burning on the pan).
    3. When onions are thoroughly browned, sprinkle the flour on top and stir in vigorously. This serves two purposes: 1) To absorb any excess fat from the butter and 2) Slightly thickens and adds body to the soup.
    4. Deglaze pan with sherry (you don't need to set it alight...) by pouring it in and scraping all the good brown bits off the bottom of the pan. Then add the stock and the bay leaf. Season lightly (the soup will reduce and concentrate the flavors, so be careful with the salt) Simmer until reduced by 1/3 (as in 2/3rds will be left). You can simmer for longer if you wish, you will just have to add water (or preferably stock) if it reduces too much.
    5. When soup has reduce, preheat the broiler and warm the soup bowl slightly(there is a traditional kind of bowl used for this soup but any oven/broiler-safe bowl will do). Fill the bowl with soup and put toasted baguette on top. Top with the cheese mix and place under broiler until golden and bubbly.
    6. Serve Immediately. 
    Spicy Black Bean Soup
    Ingredients:
    2 tbsp olive or vegetable oil
    1 onion, small dice
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    1 tbsp coriander
    1 tbsp cumin
    1 tsp chili powder
    1 tbsp tomato paste
    1 cup black beans, soaked
    1 liter chicken stock
    1/2 cup canned tomatoes, crushed
    2-3 jalapenos (depending on your tastes), seeded and minced
    1 bay leaf
    salt & pepper

    Method:
    1. Saute onions and garlic over med-high heat till softened,add spices and cook 1 minute.
    2. Add rest of ingredients and simmer until beans are cooked thoroughly (mushy is fine in this case).
    3. Puree. adjust thickness with water or stock.

    Gumbo
    Ingredients:
    3 tbsp oil
    3 tbsp flour
    1 onion, small dice
    2 cloves garlic, minced
    1 green bell pepper, medium dice
    1 stalk celery, medium dice
    2 tbsp creole seasoning
    1/2cup canned tomato. crushed
    1 4inch link andouille or chorizo sausage, cubed
    1 Liter chicken stock
    3-4 large shrimp, peeled, deveined and diced (tail off)
    3-4 okra, sliced
    1 tsp file powder

    Method:

    1. Heat oil with flour in large pot over medium heat. Mix thoroughly and cook until a deep brown (like in picture), stirring constantly and lowering heat as it starts to brown. This creates a brown roux, which adds flavor and thickening to the soup.
    2. Brown roux



      add onions, garlic, celery and pepper and cook until softened. ad creole powder, tomatoes and sausage along with the stock.
    3. Simmer for an hour at least. add shrimp in last 2-5 minutes of cooking as they cook very quickly (they are done when they turn pink and opaque). Serve sprinkled with file powder, over top of rice.