Ingredients:

Ice Cream Base:

• 6 yolks
• 5 oz sugar
• vanilla extract (just a splash)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream

Additional Ingredients:

• 10 very ripe white peaches
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Method:

1. Add cream, milk and a splash of vanilla to a saucepan on medium heat.  Bring the liquid to a gentle simmer.
2. While the cream is warming up, whisk egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl.  Make sure they’re well combined.
3. When the cream is just starting to simmer, slowly temper it into the yolks while whisking.
4. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and turn the heat down to medium low.  Stir in a figure 8 motion with a wood spoon for several minutes until the mixture coats the back of the spoon.  Remove from the heat.  Continue to stir over an ice bath until cool.
5. Move the mixture to the refrigerator.
6. Next, you need to remove the skin from the peaches.  You can either do this by blanching them or peeling them carefully with a paring knife (I prefer peeling them).
7. After the skin is removed, halve and core the peaches.  Remove any tough inner flesh from around the core with a spoon and then puree the peaches in a food processor until smooth.
8. Combine the peach puree with the ice cream base and then make the ice cream according to the manufacturers instructions.

This recipe succeeds or fails depending on the quality and ripeness of the peaches.  You want them to be very sweet and extremely ripe.  Otherwise the flavor will be lost and the texture will be grainy.  But when everything comes together properly, this is a dessert that tastes like summer.

Phase III has been quite a mixed bag.  I know I haven’t been writing about culinary school or my externship.  It’s easier to come up with a new recipe post than to attempt to articulate my experiences at the moment.  At work I do a lot of prep and I work on cold side.  There’s a lot of repetition and not much rest.  There’s a lot of standing and a lot of opportunities to practice my knife skills.  I’ve pretty much kissed my weekends goodbye but somehow still get to enjoy my evenings.

No matter how stressful work is, this blog is definitely an escape when I allow it to be.  When I come home, I get to cook what I want.  And I get to practice taking better photos.  And when I type up my recipes and upload my photos, I get to sit on my butt the whole time, which is awesome.  At the end of a long day, I really enjoy sitting.

Ingredients:

Filling:

• 8 ripe peaches
• a splash of Grand Marnier
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cake or AP flour
• 1/3 cup water

Topping:

• 1 cup pecans
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup butter

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. To peel the peaches, cut an X on the bottom of each peach.  Immerse them in boiling water for 15-30 seconds and then shock them in ice water.
3. Halve, core, and slice your peaches into wedges.  Add them to a saucepan on medium-low heat along with white sugar, flour, water and a healthy splash of Grand Marnier.  Stir to combine.  Allow mixture to simmer for several minutes until the peaches cook down a bit and the sauce thickens to an applesauce consistency.
4. In a food processor, pulse the pecans until coarsely chopped, then add the rolled oats, brown sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and butter.
5. (If you want to prep this in advance, you can make everything up to this point and then refrigerate the ingredients until just before dinner.)
6. Divide mixture evenly between 4 single-serving gratin dishes.  Cover generously with the topping.
7. Bake 15 minutes and enjoy!

I’ve always loved oatmeal.  It’s warm comfort food and a quick healthy breakfast when I’m on my way out the door.  I am not a morning person.  I like my weekday breakfasts fast and relatively mindless.  Which is why I was very pleased to discover I could microwave rolled oats.  In 2 minutes I could have fibrous oatmeal with minimal dishes!  I don’t care if that’s pedestrian of me.  Great things do not happen in my kitchen until I’ve had at least an hour to absorb my coffee.

So recently I ran out of oatmeal and decided to try steel cut oats after hearing yet another person talk about how awesome they are.  Why not?  I’m open to new things.  I purchased steel cut Irish oatmeal along with the rest of my groceries and it wasn’t until I returned home and observed the box more closely that I realized my acts of oatmeal travesty could not be performed on the steel cut variety.  No microwave instructions!  What I read was:

Boil 4 cups water, add 1 cup of steel cut oatmeal, stir well.  Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Yikes.  That sounds more like oatmeal risotto.  And if you read this blog, you know I love risotto.  But certainly not for a quick morning breakfast.  I attempted to make it for dinner a few nights later following the directions on the box and was pretty underwhelmed.  But I wanted to give it another try.  I took to the internet for inspiration.

One of the first results I got back was for a recipe from Alton Brown that really does treat the oats a lot like risotto: toasting them with butter, adding boiling liquid and then finishing with fat.  So with my own spin on things, I decided to give it a try!

Ingredients:

• 1 T butter
• 1 cup steel cut oats
• 3 cups boiling water
• 1/2 cup 2% milk
• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
• fresh sliced strawberries
• brown sugar
• cinnamon

Method:

1. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and add the oats, toasting them for a minute or two on medium heat.  Then add the boiling water and reduce the heat to low.  Cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. After 25 minutes add the milk and yogurt, stirring to combine ingredients.  Continue to heat on low for an additional 5-10 minutes.
3. Spoon oats into a bowl and garnish with cinnamon, lots of brown sugar, and sliced strawberries.

It’s definitely more of a weekend breakfast but well worth the time.  These oats are rich and creamy with a chewy texture that balances well with the sweetness of the brown sugar and strawberries and tartness of the yogurt.  Some great alternative preparations might include using maple syrup or agave nectar instead of the brown sugar and the addition of nuts such as slivered almonds for more texture.

This is a simple side dish that’s beautiful to look at and easy to make.  I love purple potatoes.  What an easy way to elevate a dish to a whole new level!

When it comes to vegetables, roasting is my favorite way to go.  It really brings out their natural flavors, while adding a nice caramelized crunch to the outside.

Ingredients:

• purple potatoes
• olive oil
• fresh chives
• dried sage

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 425.
2. Wash, halve and then quarter the potatoes.
3. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper.
4. Roast for approximately 30 minutes, periodically moving the potatoes around for even browning and to prevent sticking.
5. While the potatoes are cooking, chop up your chives with a good sharp knife.
6. Toss the finished potatoes with the chives, a generous helping of dried sage and some additional salt.

• 6 yolks
• 5 oz sugar
• vanilla extract
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• fresh basil (minimum 2 oz)
• basil-infused olive oil (I used Olave)
• optional: green food coloring

Method:

1. Quickly blanch basil in boiling water and then move to ice bath to halt the cooking process.  Drain and set aside.
2. Make créme anglaise: add cream, milk and a splash of vanilla to a saucepan on medium heat.  For an incredibly rich ice cream, you can use all heavy cream.  Bring the liquid to a gentle simmer.
3. While the cream is warming up, whisk egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl.  Make sure they’re well combined.
4. When the cream is just starting to simmer (don’t boil it), slowly temper it into the yolks while whisking.
5. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and turn the heat down to medium low.  Stir in a figure 8 motion with a wood spoon for several minutes until the mixture coats the back of the spoon.  Remove from the heat.  Continue to stir over an ice bath until cool.
6. Puree the basil and cream in a blender.  Allow the mixture to infuse for at least an hour in the fridge, then strain the basil cream through a fine mesh strainer into your ice cream machine.
7. If using, add a few drops of green food coloring.
8. Whisk in the olive oil, 1/4 – 1/2 cup.
9. Make ice cream according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Sorry there’s no picture of the final product!  We were hungry.

(L) Pepperoni pizza (R) Pesto pizza with sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese.

Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

• 2 cups warm water
• 2 tsp yeast
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 egg
• 2 tsp salt
• 5 cups AP or bread flour

Method:

1. Combine warm water and yeast and whisk.   You don’t want the water too hot or it will kill the yeast.  It should be warm, not hot.  Let the mixture sit for a minute.
2. Whisk in the oil and egg.
3. Combine in the flour incrementally, as well as the salt. You can use a spatula until the dough comes together.
4. Fold out onto table and kneed for several minutes.  The dough will be very soft and sticky.  You can add some additional flour (1/4 cup or so) to make it more workable.
5. Place in an oiled bowl, cover, let rise at room temperature to double size.  I find this works better in warm spots, such as on top of the dryer.
6. Cut into 6 portions, fold sides under to make rounds.  If you’re not making 6 pizzas, you can wrap up the extra dough and refrigerate it for a few days.

You can stretch/roll out the dough as thin or thick as you like.  You can do this by hand for a more rustic look or with a rolling pin (you may need more flour while rolling out the dough.)

Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 can of whole, peeled tomatoes
• fresh or dried oregano
• dash of crushed red peppers
• salt and pepper
• garlic olive oil

Method:

1. Throw everything in the blender or food processor.
2. Puree, taste, adjust seasoning.  Just a splash of the olive oil or your sauce will be thin.

Pepperoni Pizza

Ingredients:

• pizza dough
• tomato sauce
• pepperoni
• fresh mozzarella (don’t get processed cheese.  Get the real stuff).

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
2. Roll pizza dough thin, lay on sheet pan.  Roll edges inward slightly to create a raised crust.
3. Spread tomato sauce, scatter pepperoni.  Break up mozzarella and distribute evenly.
4. Bake for 15 minutes.

Pesto Pizza

Ingredients:

• pizza dough
• sun-dried tomatoes
• goat cheese
• fresh grated parmesan
• pesto: pine nuts, garlic, basil, olive oil, salt

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees and roll out the dough as described above.
2. Place sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl, cover with boiling water for several minutes to reconstitute.
3. Make pesto: in food processor combine pine nuts, garlic, basil, salt and olive oil.  Process, taste, adjust flavors.
4. Sprinkle some Parmesan evenly on the dough.  Spread the pesto on top.  You can either spread it evenly or spoon out small bites.
5. Distribute the sun-dried tomatoes and goat cheese.
6. Bake for 15 minutes.

These pizzas are amazing because the only limit is your imagination!  Make it with pineapples, black olives and mushrooms, even duck confit!  Probably not all at once, though.

Culinary school has been an emotional roller coaster filled with wonderful highs and intense lows.  But I made it, and I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.  I’m looking forward to fine-tuning the skills I’ve learned now that I won’t be on daily information overload.  I have so much cooking to do!  And still so much to learn.

For something slightly different, I thought I’d share a recipe for lamb sausage.  It’s delicious and surprisingly simple.  You need a sausage stuffer (they are sold as stand-alone units or attachments for KitchenAid mixers).  But even if you don’t have the equipment, I still highly recommend this recipe.  Impress your family with some insanely good lamb patties!

Merguez: North African Lamb Sausage

The ingredient amounts are a bit odd here; the original recipe is for very large bulk quantities.   I recommend a digital scale to weigh these out.  The results are worth it!

Ingredients:

• 10 pounds ground lamb (70% meat/30% fat- preferably thick ground)
• 2.875 oz salt
• .875 oz white pepper
• .25 oz nutmeg
• 2.5 oz harissa
• .5 oz ras el hanout
• .25 oz cayenne
• 8 oz olivc oil
• 1.75 oz garlic
• .5 oz cumin
• 8 oz tomato paste
• 1 cup water or veal stock
• lamb casings

Method:

1. Combine all ingredients in a very large bowl.
2. Make a small patty and saute to test for seasoning levels.  Adjust as needed.
3. Stuff the sausage maker tightly, making sure there’s no air.
4. Fill the casings and twist off sections.  Poke some small holes in each sausage.
5. Hang in the refrigerator to dry.
6. Grill or saute.  I recommend serving this with cumin-spiced couscous!

I think I did well across the board!  I was worried about the practical with my new chefs, but I’m very proud of myself.  I stayed calm and focused, got my food ready and was third to finish.  Chef said my pate brisee dough was perfect.  As was my omelette. The dessert wasn’t all that it should have been, but overall I put forth a solid effort.  Tomorrow we’ll find out our teams for the next month.

I’ve been offering a lot of dessert recipes lately.  How about some fried, savory goodness?  These samosas are as good as any you’ll find in a restaurant.

Samosa Dough

Ingredients:

• 2 cups AP flour
• ½ tsp. salt
• ½ cup cold water
• ½ cup Crisco
• ½ tsp. Kaligira (onion seeds)
• pinch of sugar

Method:

1. Combine ingredients (if using a mixer, turn it on and off until the ingredients are just mixed).
2. Put dough together with hands on table, don’t kneed.
3. Make 2 oz portions, roll into balls.
4. Cover with a damp towel in a non-oiled bowl until ready to use.
5. When the filling is ready, roll each ball flat into a circle.  Slice in half.  Shape into cones, stuff with samosa filling.  Like this:
6. Seal ends with water.

Vegetable or Lamb Samosa Filling

Ingredients:

• 3 medium potatoes (or ground lamb)
• 2 Tbsp. cooking oil
• ½ tsp. black or white mustard seeds
• 1 tsp. cumin seeds
• 1-2 dried red chili peppers, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1-2 fresh green chili peppers, coarsely chopped and seeded
• ½ tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. salt or to taste
• 1 Tbsp. chopped coriander leaves

Method:

1. If making vegetable samosas, boil potatoes in their skin, allow them to cool, then peel and dice them.
2. Heat the oil and add mustard seeds.  As soon as they begin to crack add cumin seeds and red chili peppers, then the onions and green chili peppers.  Fry until the onions are soft.  Add the turmeric, coriander, and cumin.
3. Stir quickly and add potatoes (or lamb) and salt.
4. Reduce heat to low, stir and cook until the potatoes/lamb are thoroughly mixed with the spices.
5. Remove from heat and stir in the coriander leaves.  Cool thoroughly before filling the samosa.

Fry the samosas in canola oil until crispy and golden brown!

These crepes are heavenly and simple.  They’re great for entertaining because you can prepare the crepes and zest well in advance and then cook everything together at the last second with an audience!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• pinch of salt
• 4-5 eggs
• 1.5-2 cups milk
• clarified butter
• orange zest
• simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar, simmered until dissolved)
• Triple sec or Grand Marnier
• 1 lemon
• 2 oranges
• sugar
• butter
• garnish: orange supremes

Method:

1. Blanch orange zest in water and then cook in simple syrup.
2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, a pinch of salt and 3 eggs.
3. Add milk and continue whisking.
4. Brown some clarified butter, add 1 T or so to batter.
5. Add more eggs and milk as needed until crepe batter is a thin, smooth consistency.
6. Make crepes, sprinkling sugar on each as they’re finished to keep from sticking together.  Set aside.
7. Combine the juices of 1 lemon and 2 oranges in a bowl.
8. Melt whole butter in pan. When its melted and bubbly, add sugar and make a light caramel.
9. Deglaze the pan with citrus juice.  Thicken and reduce the sauce over the heat.
10. Add zest with simple syrup.
11. Add several crepes, folded into quarters.
12. Flip when they’re well coated with syrup.
13. Add some liquor to the pan, flambe with a long lighter or cook out.
14. Serve with orange supremes!

The second big change is in production.  In Phase I, we watched a demo in the morning and then hit the kitchen to make a three-course meal.  We still have our morning demo, but now we cook to order.  We take orders from staff members, do as much prep as possible and then fire on command.  We cannot plate the entree until the appetizer is gone.  The same goes for dessert.  Once we’ve finished service, we’re allowed to eat the leftovers.  It’s intense!

I miss my old chefs, but the new team is full of knowledge and experience.  They’re teaching us some serious refinement.  Phase I was technique.  We’re still learning technique, but now we’re also focusing on beautiful plating and perfect execution.  Chef examines our food before it leaves the kitchen and if he isn’t satisfied, we fix it.  The soup must be hot, the meat must be cooked perfectly to order.

I’ve also begun the process of finding my externship restaurant.  I’ve met with the school adviser and have several places in mind.  Now I just have to start making phone calls.  I’m really hoping to find a restaurant that teaches me a new cuisine.  I’ve also become completely enamored with the pastry side of culinary school.  I would love to explore this further.  I’m even contemplating moving on to the Pastry Arts Program after graduation!

Speaking of desserts, we’ve been making some delicious and simple treats in Phase II.  This has been one of my favorites so far:

BANANAS FLAMBE’

Ingredients:

• bananas
• rum
• butter
• sugar
• simple syrup, slightly caramelized (equal parts sugar and water)
• optional – golden raisins, softened (I highly recommend using them!)
• optional – toasted almond slivers

Method:

1. Get a saute pan nice and hot, then add 1-2 pats of butter.  Add some sugar.  This will form a caramel.
2. Halve some bananas long ways and in half.
3. Saute bananas, skin side down.  Let them caramelize.
4. With a large spoon, flip bananas.  Add more sugar.  Add simple syrup.
5. Remove bananas from the heat.
6. Add some more simple syrup to the pan (the sauce should be reducing throughout the process).
7. Add rum, raisins, and some butter.
8. Carefully flambe the sauce with a lighter (use one with a long handle).  Let the alcohol cook off.
9. Top bananas with the sauce.
10. Top with toasted almonds.
11. Serve with vanilla ice cream!