Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Today - Sushi and Beef, 2 Busy Classes








Classroom 1: Sushi
It's all about the rice - sweet, sticky, glutenous, zushi rice, sushi rice
Nigiri Sushi: little fingers of rice topped with wasabi and a filet of raw or cooked fish or shellfish; Generally the most common form of sushi
Maki Sushi: rice and seaweed rolls with fish and/or vegetables. Most maki place the nori on the outside; some (California) place the rice on the outside
Other Terms:
Anago: salt water or conger eel [Unagi: fresh water eel]
Bonito: also known as Skipjack tuna
Daikon: giant white radish, grated as garnish to sashimi
Dashi: basic soup and cooking stock made with kombu and bonito flakes
Fugu: puffer fish, considered a delicacy; contains large amounts of poisonous tetrodotoxin; in Japan only licensed fugu chefs are allowed to prepare
Gari: vinegared or pickled ginger; sushi garnish
Hamachi: yellowtail tuna [amberjack]
Hijiki: black seaweed; tiny threads
Mirin: sweet rice wine used for cooking
Miso: soy bean paste
Nori: sheets of dried seaweed used in maki
Tobiko: flying-fish roe
Uni: sea urchin
Sashimi: raw fillets without rice
Shoyu: Japanese style soy sauce
Tofu: bean curd
Toro: fatty tuna, O-Toro considered finest grade
Wakame: dried lobe-leaf seaweed in long, dark green strands
Wasabi: Japanese horseradish [not true horseradish but functions as such]
Classroom 2: Meat Fabrication
Today's class was focused on fabricating an entire short plate as well as a full leg (round)
Lots of knife skills practice.
Utilized cuts; skirt steaks, brisket and short ribs as well as inside and outside rounds, eye of round, and knuckle.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Table Settings





Culinary instruction includes consideration of front of the house considerations. No matter how well the food is prepared, if the service function comes up short the customers expectations will not be met.


Todays exercise involved the creative use of themes, props, colors and arrangement to set tables with a flourish.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Sandwiches Plus







Sandwiches are special when you work it from scratch: grind your own burger, prepare the garnishes and dressings.
Made Reubens, Clubs, Assorted Wraps, with Chipotle Mayonnaise, 1000 Island Spread and others

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Pasta Perfect









Todays lesson included a variety of pastas and Italian-style hors d'oeuvres, including Prosciutto and melon and grilled lollipop lamb chops.
A VARIETY OF PASTA NAMES: just a small sampling
Acini de pepe ("peppercorns")
Agnolotti (half moon ravioli)
Anelli ("little rings")
Arancini ("little oranges" - for soups)
Bocconcini ("small mouthfuls" - 1/2 inch tube, rigatoni style)
Bows (may be Farfalle - "butterflies")
Bucati ("with a hole")
Bucatini (pierced hollow pasta, thinner than spaghetti)
Cannoni ("cannons" - large tubes)
Capelli d'angelo ("angels hair")
Capellini ("fine hairs")
Cappelli di pagliaccio ("clown's hats")
Cavatelli (short curled noodle)
Chitarra (cut using a "guitar" cutter)
Ditali ("thimbles")
Ditalini ("little thimbals")
Elbow (what, you don't know your pasta from your elbow?)
Fettuccine ("small ribbons")
Funghini ("little mushrooms")
Fusilli ("twists")
Gemelli ("twins" - look like two thin pieces of spaghetti twisted together like a rope)
Linguine ("small tongues")
Macaroni (generic term for hollow or pierced pasta)
Mafalda (broad noodle with ruffled edges)
Mezzani ("medium" - middle sixed macaroni)
Mostaccioli ("small Moustaches")
Nastrini ("ribbon" or "tape")
Pappardelle (broad noodles)
Pasta Fresca (fresh pasta)
Pasta Verde (green pasta)
Pastina ("tiny dough")
Penne ("pens" or "feathers")
Perciatelli ("small pierced" pasta)
Rigati ("grooved")
Rigatoni (large grooved tubes)
Rotelle ("small wheels")
Rotini ("tiny wheels")
Vermicelli ("little worms")
Vongole ("clam shells")
Ziti ("bridegrooms")



Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Brunch Project












New Curriculum Addition:

With the new program students get a chance to produce a full brunch;

Todays included:

  • Poached Eggs Bearnaise
  • Smoked Salmon Platter
  • Corned Beef Hash
  • Blueberry Blintzes
  • Chayote and Orange Salad
  • Frozen Cappuccino
  • Cinnamon French Toast

Friday, July 11, 2008

Another Garde Manger Presentation Day







Presentation mirrors from todays Garde Manger Class.
Very nice aspic technique.
In classical cuisine aspic preparation called for an extremely gelatinous stock, commonly based on calves shank and feet added to the stock. More common today is the use of powdered or leaf gelatine to re-enforce a clarified stock. This gives us color, strength and shine.
Origin of aspic use was as means of preservation. Today we use it for presentation.