Ever So Sweet

Ina Garten's Chocolate Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

2009-05-21T08:13:00.000-07:00

Ina's recipe link on the Food Network website

Ingredients

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, shaken, at room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 tablespoons brewed coffee
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup good cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing, recipe follows
Chopped salted peanuts, to decorate, optional

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter and 2 sugars on high speed until light and fluffy, approximately 5 minutes. Lower the speed to medium, add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and coffee. In another bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt. On low speed, add the buttermilk mixture and the flour mixture alternately in thirds to the mixer bowl, beginning with the buttermilk mixture and ending with the flour mixture. Mix only until blended. Fold the batter with a rubber spatula to be sure it's completely blended.

Divide the batter among the cupcake pans (1 rounded standard ice cream scoop per cup is the right amount). Bake in the middle of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes, remove from the pans, and allow to cool completely before frosting.

Frost each cupcake with Peanut Butter Icing and sprinkle with chopped peanuts, if desired.

Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing:

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

Chocolate Amaretti Torte

2009-04-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a while!
I have baked a lot in the last month or so. My skills have gotten rusty from not baking throughout the moving process. Although, nothing can get me out of the kitchen! I even had two ladies order cupcakes from me while I was still in the TLF!
This chocolate-y goodness is one of the only things we have photographed in a while. Dan the man requested a chocolate torte for his birthday. While in a mad Google search for a yummy new recipe to try, I found this delicious Chocolate Amaretti Torte from Dorie Greenspan.
The many reasons this torte hit the spot:
1. It's chocolate and torte, so therefore fits the requirements of what the birthday boy requested.
2. We live in Italy, and have amaretti cookies readily available.
3. We also have amazing European chocolate.
4. This recipe is prepared in only 15 minutes, and bakes for only 30 minutes.
5. Amaretto is definitely one of my top 3 favorite flavors! (It's the best gelato flavor!)
Amaretto flavored anything, especially torte equals wonderful. You should Google the recipe as well; it's fantastic!

Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie

2009-01-21T13:19:00.000-08:00

A Mouthful

I haven't been in the kitchen for a bit because we have been traveling. Now we are moved out of our desert home.
The family we are staying with, really enjoy Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie. Thank you for your hospitality, here's some pie!

Pie recipe will be unavailable until posting is approved by the publishers. If you want to make it yourself, go buy the book! This recipe and many other tasty treats are from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito.

New Blog for Bella Italia

2009-01-08T08:19:00.000-08:00

I am in the process of creating a new blog which will have more updates on what we are doing as a family.
This blog will have much more private information and some photos of our travels; which means the blog will be on a private viewers setting. It will definitely have more pictures of food (ITALIAN food), but it will be mostly about Daniel and I and our adventures!
If you are my friend, and for some reason can't view my new blog, email me and I will fix it ASAP!
We are ditching the cell phones before arriving to Italy, so this blog will be one of the only ways to see what the dealio!

Sassy Canes

2008-12-17T17:02:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas & Happy Holiday's!

This past weekend, my hubby and I took a little road trip (with a BIG agenda) to California.
We had to drop off our car at the L.A. port, in order to be shipped off to Bella Italia.
Sadly, we also had to drop off my little stowaway buddy, Brodie at my in-laws place.
The cute fur-ball can't join us on our European adventure just quite yet.
Our most important reason for this pre-holiday trip was to spend some quality time with family before we leave the states. My in-laws had a cute Christmas dinner planned for us. We had the best spiced wine/cider ever while we made fun and festive candy canes.

Super Easy Canes:
Mini Candy Canes
Chocolate disks for melting
Sprinkles

Some of the candy canes are longer than others, but you shouldn't need to break any of them.
Place them in a heart shape on a parchment/wax paper lined baking sheet. Melt your chocolate (white or dark) with peppermint extract...the grocery store close to their home was sold out of peppermint extract, so I used peppermint mocha coffeemate creamer. The chocolate should be thinned with a small bit of milk or creamer so that it's easier to pour, but not so thinned that it wont harden. Sprinkle candy or sprinkles/jimmies over the chocolate before it hardens too!

Everyone loved them so much! I even made more with my mom and dad for a Colorado Christmas.

Tiramisu (I hope this puts me in good standing with the Italians)

2008-11-15T10:05:00.000-08:00

Friday evening, we were invited to a friends home for dinner. As my gift to the host, I made for dessert.

We got a new camera! Can you tell?

I voted. What a good little citizen I am!

2008-11-04T13:04:00.000-08:00

Now we are having an election party. I spent a lot of time, and had so much fun in the kitchen this morning.
PAUSE! Warning: I use my blog to post pictures and sometimes recipes; not my political opinions.

Red, White and Blue Cupcakes with Amaretto Oreo Marshmallows and Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made more!

2008-10-30T08:32:00.001-07:00

This time, I made mini loaves. We also switched it up and tried banana pudding instead of coconut. It is yummy, but the banana is sort of strong. Next time, I will use vanilla. I am going crazy baking this season, nothing new...I know! I am making some dessert for an election party; see you Tuesday or shortly after.

2008-10-22T13:24:00.000-07:00

It's FALL! Even though it is also, steamy Arizona, I am feeling the autumn bug! I have not gotten this cheery about the changing weather and changing leaves since I left home. The first bit of slightly chilly weather, I grabbed a cozy (light, not very warm) sweater from the back of the closet, and took my hubby to Tully's for their pumpkin spice latte.
Smells like fall in the home of Team: D&A! Last night, I bought the caramel pumpkin warmer oil from Bath and Body. YUM! D expressed how it made him hungry. So, I made an extra special trip to the market for a can of pumpkin. I made a few things:

I made D's grandma's recipe for Pumpkin Bread

Mix 2 cups sugar with 5 eggs.

In separate bowl, mix together:
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
3 cups flour
2 packs coconut jello mix
tsp. fresh ground nutmeg.

Slowly add dry ingredients to egg and sugar mixture.

Add 2 cups pumpkin and 2 cups oil.
Scrape into 2 greased loaf pans.
Bake at 325 degrees for 1hour and 30minutes

I made the Brode's his very own pumpkin swirl dog treats. The poor pup couldn't keep from drooling while they were baking! I don't really think it was the pumpkin he was after; the light swirl has peanut butter in it, and the cutie can't get enough p.b.

The recipe is a combo of
Pooch Peanut Butter Swirls and
Pumpkin Cookies .

I even skipped out on my favorite Yoga class this morning because I was so anxious to paint my three mini pumpkins.

Not that I am super great with baking...but I think I am better with a pastry bag than a paint brush. It was fun anyhow.
Now I am in the mood for another seasonal drink. Silly, I know, but I think I am going to have to make a Starbucks run for their Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate!

Going green

2008-10-14T20:10:00.000-07:00

I have been seeing so many recipes for cake, cupcakes, blondies, cookies, biscotti, ice cream, and just about every other baked good, all including green tea. At first, the sight of green in many photographs looks much like it could be mint or green apple flavor...maybe....but green tea? It's been somewhat of a trend for a while, I suppose. Have you tried a green tea dessert before? D-dub and I had a green tea ice cream following a super fantastic sushi dinner, but the ice cream was a bit less than fantastic. I don't mind drinking green tea, but I don't love it either. It seems to be popular because it is healthy. Maybe it's just me, but I definitely don't eat desserts because they are good for me....
Is green tea really a suficient ingredient for baked goods?

Six favorite recipes, you ask?

2008-10-10T13:43:00.000-07:00

OK! Here we go...Lisa hinted that six recipes would be much cooler than six quirks. I agree, she had a fantastical idea!
Although, I am not going to give my six favorite, because...let's face it, I have spent much time and much dough to find the recipes that I have.
I am a baker (not much of a cook)...so I am only giving six sweets recipes!

(click the links to view the recipes)

1) First, a good cookie recipe is a MUST! These chocolate chip cookies are really tasty, super EASY, and they never fail to be traditionally scrumptious and super soft!

2) I LOVE banana bread. So does the hubby...in fact, he purposefully lets at least 3 bananas rot out each week so I will make him a loaf of banana bread. Sadly, it does not last us through the week. This is horribly rude of me, but I am not giving you my favorite recipe for banana bread, because I have made DOZENS of recipes in search of the perfect one. Hey, this one, might turn out to be your favorite. It is also a Williams Sonoma recipe. They really know their food!

3) Miniature desserts have become ultra trendy, and they are also my specialty! Last night, I made pound cake for petit fours. Today, I finished them by cutting them into individual cakes and making the poured fondant as well as the decorative tops. When making petit fours it is traditional that they all look the same, and according to my chef instructor, they must be EXACTLY the same. That's hard when you are not a machine, but with practice they are absolutely beautiful. You can charge big bucks for a petit four tray too...

4) Since it is fall, pies are everywhere! Here's a less traditional pumpkin pie brulee. There is recipe for pie crust listed on the epicurious website as well. The crust is just as important as the pie!

5) I am definitely a fan of gelato. In Bon Appetit magazine, I found a yummy recipe using gelato for profiteroles. (Profiteroles are generally cream puffs filled with ice cream) For this recipe there are a few parts making it a rather involved process, but well worth it! You can easily create the gelato ahead of time and just have it waiting in the freezer. Cream puffs are SO EASY and can be done without a hassle as well. Don't be intimidated by the three part recipe for hazelnut gelato profiteroles with warm kahlua sauce. Hazelnuts and chocolate are a very dreamy combination!

6) I have mentioned before that Caramel is my favorite; I saved a yummy one for you! Actually, a two-for-one! I have two yummy caramels! Maple Creme Caramel , which is so yummy and also autumnal. Also, crispy waffles with salted caramel coulis. The combination of sweet and salty is so delicately yummy here. It is sort of rich for breakfast, but I love carbs and caramel!

I know most of the recipes listed are from epicurious, that is because it's a great, easily accessible library! Most of my recipes found online come from there.
I love the Bon Apetit magazine, and they conveniently list their recipes on epicurious.
Martha Stewart is a talented baker, and really only puts the best of the best recipes on her website as well.
I have a large collection of recipes that is constantly growing. If you have a specific recipe in mind, just ask, and I may be willing to share! I hope this list is appealing to you, and you have fun baking through recipes to find a few favorites yourself!

I've been tagged...

2008-10-05T09:52:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by my dear friend, and fellow Rocky Mountain lady, Rachel.
Here are the rules:
Link the Person who Tagged you.
Mention rules on your blog.
Tell about 6 quirks of yours.
Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same.
Leave a comment to let them know.

1. I am not a fan of envelopes! I appreciate the usefulness when sending a very private check or a gift card via snail mail; but when I receive a card, I immediately copy down the address in my address book and discard the envelopes. They create so much garbage. Mostly, I hate to see envelopes on the counter...take the card out and display the beautiful, thoughtful, and often handmade card containing the sweetest of messages from someone who thought if you!

2. I love everything about airplanes...
I know very little about all their parts and pieces. I just love to look to the sky every time I hear the afterburner roar, or the helicopter propellers swooshing. The loud noises often offend people below, although, JET NOISE IS THE SOUND OF FREEDOM! I may be bias, because of my love for a very special pilot. I am so lucky to have the opportunity to get so close to these machines and see what our men in uniform do everyday.

3. I eat cereal dry...no milk for me. I like milk, especially in my chai tea late. I just love having a big bowl of DRY, crunchy cereal. My favorite is Honey Bunches of Oats, with almonds. I could go for a little snap, crackle, and pop if the time is right.

4. My name is April, and I am addicted to recipes.
I love all the bloggers who take amazing photos of their yummy food, and post them. I spend much time looking for new recipes. Our library has many great cookbooks! I love to rent them first, cook through a few recipes, and then decide whether or not the book is worthy of purchase to add to the shelf. It's almost fall; have any autumnal recipes to post?

5. I believe in the Bakers Dozen. You know, 13 instead of 12. There is a definite need for me to taste the final product before gifting the baked goods. I always eat the one that is the most imperfect looking...

6. I love notebooks. I try and find cutie ones on sale, because I keep one in all the places I spend most my time: my tote bag for school, my knife kit, my purse, my car, the kitchen etc...
Sticky notes are also a lovely, fantastical invention!

It's your turn ladies:
Laura, Rachael, Fle, Shannon, Lisa, and Rachel B, I am tagging you again to see if you really do six more quirks (I KNOW YOU DO!)

Because 'old fashioned' means they do not come out of the oven looking like this...

2008-09-30T15:48:00.001-07:00

I lub, lub, LOVE me some peanut butter, and I love to bake EVEN MORE!
This week, is the guys last week of B-course. These cookies are for their hard work...and sadly the last thing I bake them before graduation...

That is all

If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd've Baked A Cake

2008-09-07T18:20:00.000-07:00

...for goodness sake!
On Friday night, my school hosted an "up all night" party, and there was a cake decorating competition at 10 pm. I originally declined to join, and later changed my mind. I thought it would be fun, and I really did have a lot of fun. I brought one of my best friends Laura with me, and she documented the whole thing with photos for your viewing pleasure. The icing on the cake, I WON!
The prize was a $25 gift certificate to the student store.

For a somewhat modest comment, the competition was not really a formal/big deal of an event. The theme to the "up all night" was a carnival, but I did NOT want to make a theme cake; I'm just not a fan. I made this instead:

I heart BREAD

2008-08-24T22:33:00.000-07:00

Mosaic

2008-08-24T22:24:00.000-07:00

1. "April shower" in May, 2. Vanilla-Bean Salted Caramel Sauce over Vanilla Gelato, 3. Miss Liberty, 4. Tiffany Blue Washers, 5. AIDAN SHAW, 6. cafe deville belini, 7. Venice Italy, January 2006, 8. Angel Sweet Gelato, 9. Pastry II (50 chefs), 10. Snowmen family in TX, 11. Day 8/366 • At least I look creative..., 12. I Never Fail Smile!

a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

b. Using only the first page, pick an image.

c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into FDs Mosaic Maker. Choose 3 columns with 4 rows.

The Questions:

1. What is your first name? [April]

2. What is your favorite food? [Caramel]

3. What high school did you go to? [Liberty]

4. What is your favorite color? [Tiffany Blue]

5. Who is your celebrity crush? [John Corbett]

6. Favorite drink? [Peach Belini]

7. Dream vacation? [Venice]

8. Favorite dessert? [Gelato]

9. What you want to be when you grow up? [Pastry Chef]

10. What do you love most in life? [Family]

11. One Word to describe you. [Creative]

12. Your favorite animal. [Puppies]

Desserts made in class

2008-08-21T20:28:00.001-07:00

These photographs are of items we have made in class lately. The cinnamon rolls are actually old news, but I finally uploaded them!
I keep forgetting to bring my digital camera to school with me! These not so great images are taken from my phone. Cell phones, are great for phone calls, but not so great for picture taking.
This week, we made éclairs, and cream puffs. The swan is my cream puff. I thought that was the most fun thing of the week!
I need to be better about taking photos; we have just made so much yummy-ness! I have an itch to bake up a storm this weekend, so I will hopefully have a treat for your eyes early next week.

Sugar Cookie Cupcakes

2008-08-03T21:08:00.000-07:00

I have been loving all the baking that I am able to do. The kitchen gets so warm, and running a fan sort of ruins the proofing process of delicate dough. When working with sprinkles...the draft of an oscillating fan confetti's your counter top. So, I just deal with the heat. It's not enough to get me away from the oven!
This week in school we made MORE cinnamon rolls. I am actually starting to tire of cinnamon rolls and it's boring icing. I like a certain Williams Sonoma recipe much better; the dough itself is flavored much more nicely than the recipe we use in class.
In one class, we make mostly breads. So this week we continued making the rolls for the Gallery Cafe. Only this time we learned how to knot them and present them in a more stylish, less boring way. Patrons to the schools Gallery Cafe, always tell the chefs that the knotted rolls taste much better...although, it is TOTALLY the same recipe. I guess we really do 'eat with out eyes'.
My pastry class worked on cakes all week. I am confident of my baking skill, and although I have previously thought I was good at icing/frosting cakes...I stink at it! I know how to do it, I am just really slow, and when I try to speed it up, I slop it up! Practice, practice, practice!
Baking constantly could easily become monotonous, although, it is always on my mind. I am incessantly imagining new recipes and whipping something up.
A really good friend of mine asked me for a cupcake recipe. Her little girl is turning three (she is the CUTEST GIRL EVER). I have not seen her in a little over a year, and now she has a little sister who is tied for first place of the cutest girl ever. I wish I could be there to be her personal pastry chef on her birthday. These little sugar cookie cupcakes are for Claire bugs third birthday!
If you would like to recreate them, here's what to do:
I made the tiniest sugar cookies out of less than .5 oz of sugar cookie dough. This recipe was scaled in half because I knew the recipe would stretch much further with the petite cookies. I baked them and reserved them for later. Any soft, chewy sugar cookies are perfectly vanilla-y for your mini cupcakes.
The next day, Saturday, I made a white cake recipe for the cupcakes, and baked many batches of mini cakes. The cakes needed time to cool before frosting them so I gave them just that...a whole day. Of course that is unnecessary, but I was sending them with my dude to take to work and I did not want to frost them too early. The frosting is just a vanilla buttercream. I wanted to add light pink like the frosted cookies you see in grocery stores, but since they were for the guys in the squadron, I let them stay very vanilla, plain Jane.
The credit goes to the one, Martha Stewart, and Billy!

Looks like Rosetta Stone Italian will become my new best friend.

2008-07-28T21:57:00.000-07:00

Most of the time I take credit for all the things in my life. Although, uncle Sam decides a lot for me. This time, the roll was in our favor, which in turn makes all the previous rolls a jackpot as well! The verdict is...We are off to Italy!!!
Italy has always been a dream of mine, and tonight I will be dreaming of Vespas and 32 flavors of gelato!
Goodbyes are always hard; that will never change.....this time, I have to leave school earlier than planned. I have decided that leaving school will actually benefit me. A very talented friend of mine once told me that the formally trained chefs in her bakery were often at a disadvantage because each individual bakery/restaurant forms their own techniques. I feel as though, I have enough talent to develop elsewhere and am ready to work with the big dogs...first I need to learn Italian.
Being in school for a short four months, has been so much fun, and I have learned a lot, doing what I absolutely love! I will not be going back fall quarter. This girl is hanging up her apron, and calling it quits after I have finished through six months of culinary school. The plus side, I don't have to take Algebra anymore! A BIG PLUS, I get to move to Italy with my hubby!!!!
I am reading this cute book by Karen Scalf Linamen, "Sometimes I Wake Up Grumpy...and Sometimes I Let Him Sleep". She is super witty and I would like to share this little opening line with ya:
"I used to think life was going to be a bed of roses...a piece of cake...a walk in the park. Of course, what I didn't figure on, was that roses have thorns, cake has calories, and a walk in the park increases your odds of stepping in doggie doo-doo."
I still love roses, will never say no to cake (unless it has strawberry filling), and will take a walk in the park (if it is safe, and not 110 degrees)

I made some blueberry muffins for a friend in the squadron whose hubby is proudly serving in Iraq. now for a picture of food....
[I know, random muffins do not belong here, but it's time for a food related entry again]

I have been busy not playing Wii....

2008-07-25T09:44:00.000-07:00

I wish that I could tell you that I have not written anything because I have been spending hours playing a brand new Wii. Although, I have just been plain busy!!!
Classes started last week! I am loving every second of it because I am baking ALL DAY! In my Pastry class, I am the only student majoring in Baking and Pastry. It is not intimidating at all; it's actually really helpful to me because Chef lets me have more hands on with things that the culinary students don't want to do. There are times she pulls me aside and asks me to help her out, to whip up a batch of this or a dozen of that. Learning from an experienced Pastry Chef is an absolute dream. I feel like a fan who just met their hero and has the key to all their top secrets, tricks and tips. She has already given me a few of her secret recipes! There are times where I do not know what I am doing, and I think that I should. I just go with it and finally get the hang of it.
We bake a few different things each class. One day we are mostly just making doughs and turning them and proofing them to bake the next day. Doughs for croissants and danish need a few different turns, so we let them sit over night. The croissants were beautifully disastrous! Meaning, they might have turned out beautiful if the air conditioning was properly functioning. This is Arizona....110 plus temperatures. It is not only hot outside, but we are running about 8 industrial size ovens and standing over pots of steaming hot sugar and wearing our heavy duty uniforms. The croissants looked much like us frazzled chefs when removed from the ovens. The butter had gotten too soft ( in the melt-y, steamy, sauna of a kitchen), and they did not steam and puff like they should. Ours may have looked like the ones from Pillsbury, but they tasted way yummier! We now have the knowledge of how to roll them and what not to do when we make them under different conditions.
Our Pastry class makes the dessert for the Gallery Cafe. The Gallery Cafe is the schools restaurant open to the public. Any one wishing to make reservations is served a meal created by the culinary art classes. Basically, we make them really fancy food at a discounted price because it really helps us learn all about the operations of a facility from all corners. Last weeks menu required us to make large quantities of Pots de Creme, which is much like the base of a Creme Brulee. This week we made Giandujia Mouse with Cigarette cookies. Making the mouse was maybe my favorite part of the week, because I love desserts with a fanciful garnish. I should have taken a picture because it is so delicate, but I might just try to create that at home sometime this weekend!
Anywho, that was me being busy....

A Watched Pot Never Boils...

2008-07-10T10:18:00.000-07:00

I seem to write one blog, and the next one follows WEEKS later!

I have been on summer break from school; traveling and such. Now that I am home, I am a week from returning to school! After checking the mail, I received a postcard from my school...bribing students with a Nintendo Wi if they have perfect attendance the first week back in school. An Art School (with a degree program for computer gaming) would of course have to use something like that to get the students to all of their classes and not just the 'fun' ones. I love my school, but there are definitely some different and artistic (to put it nicely) people who attend.
I finally have baking classes this quarter, and I am SUPER STOKED! I know that you are dying to see pictures of chocolate sculptures and beautiful plated desserts!

Roasted Banana Ice Cream

2008-06-10T20:06:00.001-07:00

1. Roast Banana for 25 minutes, at 375 degrees
2. Create a vanilla bean ice cream base
3. Churn in ice cream maker
4.when thickened, fold in roasted banana and brownie bites
5. Freeze for an hour to thicken even more
6. Serve with brownies or banana bread

2 Course Meal... practice for finals!

2008-06-09T10:56:00.000-07:00

I am finishing off another pitcher of lemonade as the temperature reaches 100 degrees. It's time for a necessary break from all things not enjoyable.
Finals for my first quarter are THIS WEEK! My first two went pretty well, and I received my certification as a food service manager. The most anticipated portion is coming up tomorrow, EARLY in the morning. I am to prepare Chef a two course meal including a soup, a main course, two starches, and two vegetables. The menu is very specific...I will not even begin to explain what I have to do, because basically everything is foreign to anyone outside of the food industry. I will say, however, that I practiced this meal on Friday evening for my grandparents.
The prep work began around 4:30; chopping vegetables, heating pans etc. I had been expecting our guests to arrive at 6:00 for this meal. They were perfectly on time, while I was a bit behind. Around 6:30 I finally served them the soup. Everyone at the table, sat and enjoyed the soup while I finished the entree. At least they enjoyed it.
We were all able to have conversation over the plated meal, and even a dessert!

The meal we are to prepare has a STRICT time line of 2.5 hours. Again, that sounds like a piece of pie to anyone outside of the food industry. Although, we have many guidelines to follow, and we will be required to clean as we go. The kitchen and any equipment we will need to utilize, will be shared between our classmates, as usual...only this time we are to do everything from start to finish, SOLO.
The practice was definitely helpful. Hopefully I will remember to add a squeeze of lemon juice to the Hollandaise tomorrow. This time, I will only need to prepare enough product for one plate. Although it must be perfect, as my audience is the Chef!

Fruit Sushi

2008-05-17T19:50:00.000-07:00

Fruit Sushi by Green Chefs

Yesterday evening, I made Strawberry Sushi for a light dessert. The picture above is from Green Chefs; mine were eaten before I could snap a picture of them.
The 'rice' is made from macadamia nuts that have been ground in the food processor. I also added shredded coconut because my macadamia mixture did not look much like rice. The recipe calls for all sorts of fruit, but I had a bunch of strawberries. Even after garnishing the sushi I still had enough product to make a strawberry coulis as a dipping sauce.
Sushi almost always has sesame seeds sprinkled in there somewhere, and I thought it would be a nice touch that actually paired well with the macadamia; not too much flavor in a light dusting of those guys.
The Green Chefs also have a recipe for Nori Rolls on their website, (they have such yummy ideas) http://www.gliving.tv/greenchefs/recipes/.
I meant to serve these with the faux strawberry sushi, but we ended up meeting friends for coffee and entertainment.

Deviled Eggs

2008-05-16T13:28:00.000-07:00

The man of the house is the egg eater around here; he has been hard boiling dozens of these stinkers to eat throughout the week. These deviled eggs are for my protein eating fighter pilot!

Shop at Whole Foods in open-toed shoes

2008-05-15T15:27:00.000-07:00

Our Jeep smells of garlic and onions. A culinary uniform is draped over the back seat, with flour dusted shoes laying on the weather mat. The tomato guts and onion skins add such a wonderful appeal to one's attire. Try stopping at *$tarbucks after a five hour kitchen class; even the strongest aroma of coffee brewing can't conceal such culinary ventures.
The fluffy white "little chef" hat, and the baggy checker pants have gotten a lot of wear. I wondered why I received three of everything when the Art Institute handed me bags full of provisions. Four days a week, for five to six hours of instruction, I am a little chef to the maximum. Armed with a solidly packed knife kit containing, KNIVES of course, as well as whisks and pastry bags, etc...I can sound intimidating for a shrimp. Becoming a chef, totally and completely, makes me think of food constantly. Grocery shopping is a thrilling experience with markets such as Sprouts, and Fresh&Easy. The stacks of colorful produce are so visually appealing. I spend so much time walking the aisles, peaking at ingredients I have never used before, but now have some knowledge of what they would be good for.
The culinary program at Ai is much different than I had originally depicted. Enrolling in the Baking and Pastry Arts program, I merely just major in Baking and Pastry, and start out in general education with introductory classes in the kitchen as well as credits from English and Math courses. For the first quarter, I have 16 credit hours; only two days of kitchen work.This is the end of Week 7 (out of 11). Approaching the end of my very first quarter as a culinary arts student, I have learned so much that I can only absorb portions of this and bits of that; sometimes I wish I were a sponge.
This weeks lesson included fabrication of chickens...slicing them into the different cuts of meat. Chef, being such a joker, gave us chickens with heads and feet still attached. A good way to gross out a baker is to cut the head from a raw chicken, and stuff it into the front pocket of your chefs jacket...We used the different portions that we generated, to create plated dishes of Coq au Vin, Grilled Paillard of Chicken Breast, and Pan-Fried Chicken. Sauteing and deep frying all day makes me want to bake so much more! While the savory portion has been fun, I am awaiting the days I come home smelling of vanilla, carrying a chocolate stained apron...