Tomato Soup

March 7, 2010 in Healthy Living, Kitchen Rambles, Soup | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 2 comments

I’m sick.  I can’t remember the last time I had a cold this bad.  My throat is killing me, there’s a ringing in my ears… you get the idea.  I’ve spent most of the past 3 days in bed, and am extremely disappointed to have missed assisting a school event this weekend.  Not only was this supposed to be an interesting event (a cooking competition), but it was my first real chance to work with my Phase II instructors.  So their first impression of me is not showing up!  Not having the stamina to push through illness to perform as I would have to in a restaurant.  Oh well…

All I’ve wanted this weekend is tea, ice water, soup and ice cream to soothe the fire in my throat.  Today I dragged myself out of bed to make tomato soup.  It was easy to make and allowed me to feel slightly productive.  Now all I have to worry about is the research paper I was supposed to be working on this weekend.

This picture was taken with my new photography table setup.  It came out pretty well, needs some tweaking.  But I’m happy to be able to bring better quality images to the blog from now on.

Tomato Soup

Ingredients:

  • 1 28 oz can peeled whole tomatoes (I prefer San Marzano)
  • olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • fresh basil
  • chicken stock
  • cayenne pepper
  • soy milk and/or cream to finish

Method:

  1. Sweat the chopped onion on low heat with olive oil and salt.
  2. Toss in 2 whole cloves of garlic.
  3. After the onion is translucent, add the can of tomatoes.
  4. Add some chicken stock, maybe 2 cups worth.
  5. Add a small cluster of basil, attached to the stem so it will be easy to remove.
  6. Add some salt, pepper and cayenne to taste (cayenne adds a nice spice for sore throats).
  7. Let everything simmer for 45 minutes.
  8. Add some more stock if needed to thin the soup a bit.  Maybe 1/2 cup.
  9. Pick out the basil, then puree the soup well (I used an immersion blender).
  10. My soup was too thick at this point, so I added some soy milk and a splash of heavy cream.  You can use whatever you have- milk, soy milk, cream, chicken stock…  Thin the soup to the desired consistency.
  11. Add more salt and pepper if needed.
  12. Garnish with some chopped basil.

I think it’s time for another nap.

Week 8 – Exams and Comfort Food

February 26, 2010 in Culinary School, Dinner, Recipes, Side Dish, Soup | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 comments

The past two weeks have been intense. Due to the snow, we had a makeup class last Friday on my beloved day of rest.  Saturday was Open House, where we had to work the buffet.  Sunday was spent catching up on recipes and studying for exams.  And making homemade pasta again and again until I finally mastered it.  This week our recipe notebooks were due and we had our second written and practical exams. I’m up to around 130 recipes, if I’m counting correctly.

As usual, we made amazing food.  I’m wouldn’t say I’m exactly refined in the kitchen but I think I’m making slow and steady improvements.  My second practical exam went much smoother than the first one.  Though several times Chef walked by and told me to breathe.  And every time he said that I realized I was in fact holding my breath.  I don’t know how to be calm and speedy at the same time.  I need to work on my kitchen zen.

But I’m so happy to be there.  I don’t know exactly where I’ll end up after graduation but aside from my travel adventures I haven’t felt this alive in years.  Culinary school is where I’m supposed to be.

Between the weather and exams, I’ve been craving comfort foods recently.  School has made me a huge fan of soup.  And nothing goes better with soup than fresh bread.  I know bread-making is just around the corner because Chef has begun teasing us with fresh baguettes and focaccia throughout the day.  In the past two weeks we’ve made naan and cornbread, both of which I loved.  I thought I’d share the cornbread recipe with you.

Also on the menu this week was a delicious cauliflower soup.  Not something that would typically be pared with cornbread but I made them both one evening and they went surprisingly well together!  The cauliflower soup is rich with a delicate flavor, and the cornbread is one of the lighter, tastier versions I’ve tried.  You might want to make them separately.  This soup would go well with hearty artisan bread.  The cornbread goes great with chili or pork chops.

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Valentine’s Dinner For Two

February 11, 2010 in Dessert, Dinner, Gourmet, Kitchen Rambles, Recipes, Side Dish, Vegetables | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 comments

Classes have been canceled for the rest of the week!  I’m not surprised; it looks like the end of the world outside.  We had over two feet of snow this weekend and in the past 24 hours we were hit with another huge blizzard.  I’m getting a bit stir crazy.  Someone suggested I put together a Valentine’s Day dinner menu.  Perfect idea!

I’ve put together a menu I think you’ll love.  It’s not too heavy but is rich with flavor.  It’s also not super complicated.  There shouldn’t be any stress over a Valentine’s Day dinner!  On the menu is: chicken with a savory pan sauce, rice pilaf, broccoli, and chocolate mousse to finish.

  1. You can make the mousse in advance and let it chill until just before dessert.
  2. You can blanch the broccoli next, since you’ll finish cooking it before serving.
  3. Next take care of the rice, which can be kept warm under parchment paper while you cook the chicken last.
  4. You can finish the broccoli before serving dinner but make sure you time it with the chicken so that everything is served warm.

If this seems like too much, you can skip the rice or broccoli and just serve the chicken with one side.

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Homemade Chicken Stock

February 7, 2010 in Recipes | Tags: , , , , | 5 comments

I’ve mentioned the importance of homemade stock over store-bought products.  There are countless recipes for stock on the internet, but I thought I’d post one here.

There are two types of stock: white and brown.  The main differences between them is that the bones and vegetables are roasted when making brown stock, and tomato paste is an ingredient.  Both should be made with raw bones, a detail I’ve noticed is missing from many recipes.  You want raw bones because the prized ingredient in stock is collagen, a natural protein found in animals. Collagen is used to make gelatin, which is then used to make an assortment of commercial products from marshmallows to jello and some low-fat yogurts.  This gelatinous material is what gives homemade stock the thick, rich flavor found in many restaurant sauces.  Not only do commercial stocks lack collagen, they are often full of salt and even sugar.  Real stock should be salt free, so you have the option to season your dishes to the desired level.

Stock pots come in a variety of sizes; mine holds eight quarts, which is kind of small.  Stock isn’t difficult to make but it takes time.  You might as well make it in large batches.

I made chicken stock this weekend.  I bought three whole chickens, broke them down, and used the carcasses in the stock.  The next day I used the dark meat for coq au vin, which you can make following the exact recipe I posted for beef bourguignon.  Just swap out the beef chuck for legs and thighs.

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Week 5 – Are you going to blog about that?

February 5, 2010 in Culinary School, Kitchen Rambles, Soup, Vegetarian | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 2 comments

I learned an important lesson this week: don’t mention your culinary school blog while at school because heckling will ensue.  I also realized that I cannot stay up late on a school night.  I become practically useless in the kitchen.

More importantly, I learned about food!  Among other things we made puff pastry, grilled fish, coq au vin, melting hot chocolate cake, decadent mashed potatoes… and started learning about food costing, which may be a challenge for me.  I’m kind of embarrassed to admit that I haven’t touched math in at least 10 years.  It’s a shame because I used to be pretty good at it.  Now, my head spins while trying to figure out how to put the numbers together.  I know what I’ll be studying this weekend.

And it may be an extra long weekend!  We’re supposedly in for a blizzard.  I stopped by the grocery store to pick up ingredients for stock and I’ve never seen so much madness.

During these chilly winter months, I can’t get enough soup. It’s warm, comforting, and simple to make.  I thought that in honor of this week’s blizzard I’d offer up a yummy version of potato leek soup.  In Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Julia Child states “Leek and potato soup smells good, tastes good, and is simplicity itself to make.”  I love Julia and I like her recipe, but I really really like this recipe.  Again, I highly recommend using homemade stock.  It’s easy to make and the results are dramatically different.  Real chicken stock contains collagen (gelatin) from the bird, which gives a richness and thickening power to recipes that cannot be replicated by store-bought products.

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Weeks 3 and 4: Things Get Intense

January 30, 2010 in Culinary School, Dessert, Gourmet, Recipes, Sauce, Stew, Things I love | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 comments

When I decided to leave my desk job to attend culinary school, I knew it would be a challenging experience.  What I didn’t anticipate was the mental and physical exhaustion.  It feels a bit like I’ve just come home from a trip overseas.  I often have no idea what time or what day it is.  Starting at 6:30-7am is starting to take its toll.  Many of us chug coffee and Red Bull all day like our lives depend on it.  And it’s kind of true.  We have to be fast and focused and the crash at the end of the day seems inevitable.  If we’re not learning, cooking or eating we’re supposed to be mopping, scrubbing, doing dishes and making stock for the entire school.  The days, the dishes, and my kitchen teams have all started to blend together.

We’re making three or four technique heavy recipes per day.  I now have a binder containing fifty recipes.  Fifty!  In a month!  When I’m not at school I’m practicing techniques (the knife skills need a LOT of work), reading, writing papers, typing up notes and recipes… it’s time consuming, to say the least.  My desire to cook and clean at home has diminished for obvious reasons.  I’m still working on finding the proper balance between my personal and culinary worlds.  Sometimes they feel like two entirely separate universes.

I’m sharing my favorite sweet and savory dishes from the past week.  On the savory side, I’m offering up a beef bourguignon recipe that knocks the socks off every other version I’ve tried.  Like most of the my culinary school recipes, this one relies heavily on technique.  I can give you the ingredients, but if they’re not used properly the results won’t necessarily be special.

On the sweet side… poached French meringues on crème anglaise, topped with caramel.  It’s a light dessert that plays with texture and temperature.  School is definitely turning me into a sweets person.  When I eat out I’m typically too full at the end of the main course to order dessert.  But the desserts we’ve been making are fun and have that perfect level of sweetness.  I’ve enjoy making them so much that a few times I’ve wondered if perhaps I belong in the pastry program!

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Zest, anyone?

January 19, 2010 in Salad, Things I love, Vegetarian | Tags: , , | 5 comments

Today we made a salad so incredibly tasty I’m just dying to share it.  I promise to post pictures as soon as I get a chance to practice at home.

“LA SALADE D’ORANGE ET ZESTES CONFITS”

We’re supposed to write the names of our French recipes in all caps because capitalized French words don’t require funny accents over the letters.  Cool, eh?

Ingredients:

  • Oranges
  • Simple Syrup

Method:

  1. Remove zest and pith from oranges
  2. Julienne zest
  3. Triple blanch zest
  4. Cook zest for 10-15 minutes in simple syrup
  5. Slice oranges, top with zest and drizzled syrup

The long version:

Take 2 oranges.  Slice both ends off, and carefully peel each orange from top to bottom with a paring knife, removing as much pith (white, bitter stuff) as possible.  Maintain the round sides of the orange as you angle the knife downward.  Don’t throw the skins away!  You need the zest.  Technically, you can get it before peeling the orange by use a vegetable peeler but where’s the fun in that?  This way gives you more control over the shape.

Use the paring knife to remove the rest of the white pith from the zest.  Once you have pretty orange chunks, slice the zest julienne style.  You want it very thin like angle hair pasta.

Next, add the zest to a pot of cold water and bring it to a boil.  Blanch for one minute, then drain with a fine mesh strainer.  Repeat this procedure two more times.

Create a simple syrup from 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water, bringing them to a boil in a medium sauce pot.  Don’t stir, just let the sugar melt and the syrup will form itself.  Once it’s at a nice consistency where the syrup coats the back of a spoon while hot, add the zest and let it cook for 10-15 minutes.  Scoop the zest out of the pot onto a plate and let it stiffen up while you plate the rest of the salad.

Make sure you’ve removed all the pith and then slice the oranges and arrange them in a circle on a plate, layering one over the other.  Artfully place the candied zest in a circle on top of the oranges and then drizzle with simple syrup.

Impress your guests!

Update:

I made this tonight and took a picture, but the quality of the photo isn’t great.  It tastes good!

Week 2 – Tarts, Birds, and Food Safety

January 17, 2010 in Baking, Culinary School, Dessert, Kitchen Rambles, Recipes, Vegetarian | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 8 comments

I have survived my second week of school! And I have a holiday weekend to get ahead on my reading. And write my first paper since college. Sigh.

Several readers inquired as to whether my classmates are really as competitive as I made them out to be.  Truthfully, the atmosphere in the kitchen isn’t competitive; it’s disorganized and frantic.  We’re still learning where things are located and trying to complete several new recipes every day.  We have 2 1/2 hours to make everything, but the time vanishes in the blink of an eye.  In that time we have to get our mise en place together, cook, clean up everything and have the room ready for lunch with benches, drinks and silverware.  In addition to making our own plates we usually have to make one or two trays up for school employees and guests.  There aren’t always enough burners, since we often need to use more than one at a time.  There also aren’t always enough tools for everyone.  It’s a mad race to the finish line and sometimes we bump into each other along the way.  But I honestly like everyone I’ve spent time getting to know.  There are all kinds of personalities and some of us work better together than others.  I think in time we’ll evolve into a well-oiled machine, but for now things are a bit messy.

This week we learned how to properly butcher a chicken, made a few new salads, mayonnaise (finally something I’m comfortable with!), strawberry tarts, and spent two full days getting a crash course in food safety.  We were also served an amazingly delicious 3 course meal by the Phase II students.  I was in awe of their skill and the fact that I’ll be able to do that in 4-5 months.

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Week 1 – Welcome to Culinary Boot Camp

January 10, 2010 in Culinary School, Recipes, Soup | Tags: , , , | 11 comments

My first week of culinary school was both exhilarating and overwhelming.  I learned so much and also accepted that this will be one of the most challenging experiences of my life.  We arrive every day at around 6:30am, lecture begins promptly at 7. At 9 we move into the kitchen and cook until 11:30, when our kitchen must be spotless and set up for lunch (which is whatever we happened to be cooking that morning).  After eating we all have chores and then our afternoon lecture begins at 12:30pm.  Our final 2 hours are either lecture or lecture/cooking.  Dismissed at 2:30pm.

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Want to win a $25 gift certificate to Zingerman’s?

January 4, 2010 in Contest, Foodie, Gourmet, Zingerman's | 17 comments

I’ve decided to celebrate the New Year with a contest to thank you all for taking the time to read Savory Simple.  As I’ve mentioned before, Zingerman’s is one of my favorite online gourmet shops.  They have an amazing selection of oils, vinegars, cheese, baked goods, and pretty much any treat a foodie like me desires.

The entry rules are simple.  Leave a comment here telling me your best kitchen tip!  It can be anything related to cooking, kitchen cleaning, products… whatever you think others might find useful.  And make sure to submit the comment with your name and real email address (it will be hidden) so I know where to send the prize!

To stay informed of future contests, become a fan of Savory Simple on Facebook.

A winner will be selected at random.  The contest will remain open until Friday.  Good luck!

Update:  The contest is now over.  Congratulations, Jessica!