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Posts tagged ‘Eggs’

Feb 11

5 Comments

Valentine’s Dinner For Two

2011 © copyright Savory Simple, all rights reserved

2011 © copyright Savory Simple, all rights reserved

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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Jan 30

3 Comments

Weeks 3 and 4: Things Get Intense

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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Jan 17

10 Comments

Week 2 – Tarts, Birds, and Food Safety

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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Nov 5

14 Comments

Olive Oil Cake

Olive Oil Mini-Cake

If you’ve been following this blog from the beginning you may have picked up on the fact that I’m a bit obsessed with olive oil.  I love this cake because it really celebrates one of my favorite ingredients.

You can use a basic extra virgin olive oil for this recipe, such as Colavita. I was hoping to really showcase the olive oil flavor, so I used 7 ounces of Colavita (found at any grocery store) and 3 ounces of Maussane-les-Alpilles, which is a fruity, high quality olive oil with the slightest peppery kick at the end.

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Oct 19

7 Comments

Spiced Apple Cider Muffins

2011 © copyright Savory Simple, all rights reserved

2011 © copyright Savory Simple, all rights reserved

Tonight I wanted to use up the rest of my apple cider and also incorporate the yummy apple butter I made yesterday in my slow cooker.   After a bit of digging around I came upon a recipe for Spiced Apple Cider Muffins.  I’ve made a few minor changes to the original recipe, including substituting cake flour for whole wheat flour.   The results are very worthy!

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Oct 3

6 Comments

Chocolate Pudding

2011 © copyright Savory Simple, all rights reserved

2011 © copyright Savory Simple, all rights reserved

Growing up, chocolate pudding was a staple in my home and one of my favorite comfort foods. Making pudding from a box, stirring it slowly over the stove is one of my earliest memories of food.

Now a bit older and wiser, I know that the real thing is so much better!  You can’t beat the smooth, velvety texture and rich creamy flavor.  You’ll likely have many of these ingredients on hand.  Why settle for preservatives when you can easily make the real thing?  I like it served warm in a bowl with a nice dollop of freshly whipped cream on top. It’s a simple, year-round dessert.

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