Skillz

I realize that what I consider to be major accomplishments in school right now are things that normal people do on a daily basis in their homes because it is what normal people do. Normal people can cut things up without incident. Normal people can saute vegetables without breaking into cold sweats. Normal people will also know when these vegetables are done cooking. Normal people can grill a piece of fish. I don't know how I missed obtaining the basic skill of cooking, even cooking simply. If you watch How I Met Your Mother, this is one of my (many) gaps in knowledge.

I really shouldn't be so excited and feel so proud that I grilled a piece of fish today but I do. I have never grilled anything except a cheese sandwich before. But, I also can now fillet and skin that fish. Not everyone can do that (right?).

The culinary course I am in now has stepped it up a notch. There is a whole lot less cutting going on and now more cooking. I know how to make stocks and sauces (with fancy french names). I know what it means to sweat vegetables. I can tie, cut and de-bone a chicken. But what I am most proud of is that I made dinner on Sunday.

In class last week our instructor showed us how to  make braised lamb and I wrote down every step so that I could try it at home.

For braised lamb you want something like a shoulder, something a little more on the tough side and with lots of connective tissue. You also need a large pan or dutch oven that you can bake. Lightly season the meat with some kosher salt. The first step is to sear the meat to a nice brown color on all sides, getting a good carmelization in the pan. Set the meat aside.

Cut up a couple onions and shallots in a medium dice. Heat them up in a little oil and then cover the pan to sweat the vegetables until they are translucent. Add minced garlic (about 10 cloves). Cook for another minute. Then add a small can of tomato paste and mix in with the veggies. Once that has been well incorporated add some flour (about 3/4 cup). Gently mix in the flour and cook for a minute or two. Then add 4 roma tomatoes, halved and slice thin. Cover and cook for another minute to release the juices. Make a bouquet garni with some thyme, black peppercorns and a bay leaf. Throw the meat and the veggie mixture into the pan with the bouquet garni and bake for about 2 1/2 hours with a cover on. I started out at 350 and reduced to 325 after about an hour.

Mean while blanch some green beans and cut up some turnips, carrots and potatoes. I used 4 of each and a bunch of green beans. You could add more if you want to go heavy on the vegetables. Steam the potatoes in one pan and the carrots and turnips in another (add salt to the potatoes and sugar to the other). We steamed ours by making a parchment paper cover. Set the veggies aside.

Right before the lamb is done, saute the potatoes in a little oil. Saute the carrots and turnips in a little oil with some sugar to make kind of a little glaze. Throw the green beans in for a minute towards the end just to heat them back up.

When the lamb and all the vegetables are done, put them all in a large bowl and gently mix to combine them. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Eat and enjoy!

When the chef made this in class and we all got to eat it, our class was ridiculously happy. It made my day. It is perfect for these damp, cold fall days and I can't wait to do it again.

Blah

I actually did some baking this week and I managed to take zero pictures. Fail.

I am in two bookclubs, because I like people and I like books. One of the bookclubs (and I promise I love you both equally) does a potluck of sorts when we meet. Everyone brings a dish to share, the hostess makes a main dish. Usually the hostess will tell everyone what she is making and occasionally the rest of us will tell what we are bringing. More often it is a complete surprise. We never know if there will be repeats or if anything will really go together. Somehow it all works out, it is always a fantastic meal.

I hosted this month and we read The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley. I made a savory pumpkin pie and a chicken pot pie. There was also a variety of cheese and crackers, pickled green beans, beets and okra, tiny cupcakes, pumpkin cookies, tuna and veggie dip, and custard pie. All delicious. Wish bookclub happened more than once a month.

I got more skills in school today that I can't wait to bust out. I made mayonaise for the first time and learn how to tie up a chicken. I also learned how to cut that chicken all apart, with or without bones. I actually really want to buy a whole chicken now and cut it up. I really, really do.

Tomorrow I will again me battling my nemesis, the tourne. I have to tourne a turnip, carrot and potato for homework. And then maybe I'll make cupcakes.

Knives out!

I like to blame all my inefficiencies on not being allowed to be a boy scout. I consistently lose pine wood derby because of it (it has nothing to do with the aerodynamics of my dinosaur or fail whale car I'm sure). I'm not so good at camping. I'm going to go ahead blame them for my lack of knife skills too. I know, I know, I could have been a brownie. Let's face it, other than the cookies, girl scouts got nothing on boy scouts.

I did get to attend some boy scouts meetings since my brother got to participate and my dad often helped out. I even got to go when they learned about whittling. I asked my dad with puppy dog eyes if I could try too, I think I was 6 at the time, so he gave me his knife and soap. I cut myself immediately. No tears, just the revelation that knives are something I'm not good at. Soap and knife were taken away but my dad did make me a nice little soap whale.

Yesterday was the day I had to face my nemesis. After a brief demonstration we were asked to perform nine different knife cuts ranging from 1/2x1/2x3 inches to 1/16x1/16x1/16 inches. Heart palpitations. I took as long as possible to set up my station but at a certain point I had to get started. The chef instructor was walking around checking our work and I guessed at some point he would be wondering what I was doing. I started off by turning my potato into a nice little rectangle. Man, potatoes look like butter after you square them off! I started with the big cuts and gradually got smaller. I had to blanch a tomato and cut it up but luckily I am a pro at that after all that canning (I did learn a way to cut up the tomato real tiny without coring it and without getting seeds mixed in). Garlic was no problem because who hasn't minced garlic before. I also learned that if you cut the root end of an onion first, no tears!!

I got all my cuts done (first to finish even) and approved by the chef. The knives did claim their victims though. Two girls cut themselves, almost immediately. My time will come. I know this. I am just happy I didn't go first.

Camp Out!

This past weekend we had an awesome camping experience with friends. I am not the best at camping but the experience was seriously improved by the company we were keeping, the air mattress my dad lent me, the great weather and the lack of mosquitoes. And it didn't hurt that this particular group of people happen to be fantastic cooks.

For the first time ever while camping I had ribs, a sampling of the biggest steak I have ever seen, grilled veggies, risotto, oatmeal, bagels and lox, cookies, and bars, all in addition to the regular camp fare of hot dogs, chips, etc. My contribution was pumpkin scones with cinnamon/pumpkin spice icing and cheddar bay biscuits. Yup, like the biscuits from Red Lobster. You can find anything you want on the interwebs. Lucky for me I had leftovers of both that I popped in the freezer and now will enjoy at my leisure. Yesterday I made a breakfast sandwich out of one of the biscuits and today I had a scone with my morning latte.

My only regret of the weekend was not taking pictures. I took none. Fail.

In other news, today I learned to sharpen knives and on Thursday I will have to use them. Did you place your bets yet?

You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have?

I'm having a good news kind of day.

Good news! I finally got an x-ray and it showed a fracture. This is good news because it means I haven't been wearing that clunky boot for the last 4 weeks for nothing.

Good news! It seems to be getting better.

Good news! I can start weaning off of the awful boot that has helped my foot feel an awful lot better.

Good news! Culinary school started today.

Good news! I don't have to wear the boot to school! They have strict footwear rules so I'm not sure how that would have gone over.

Also, today I received the best textbook ever. It is full of delicious recipes and I think I will start making them immediately. Immediately meaning this weekend. Or maybe tomorrow.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Place Your Bets

I can promise you three things. At some point in culinary school I WILL:
1. set something on fire ( they use gas stoves which terrify me). Let us just hope it isn't myself that I set on fire
2. Break something. I am super good at this.
3. I will cut myself. Maybe cut off a finger.

Start placing bets as to when these things will occur. I don't think I'll be doing much cooking the first week so believe in me and set your dates out a bit.

I had my orientation for culinary school today so these worries are fresh on my mind. Very soon someone will be giving me a sharp knife and asking me to cut things in a rapid fashion. Foolishness. Even though I am going to school for pastry and baking I still have to take a basic culinary class. It is one of the first I take so lets hope I don't flunk out immediately. I have been doing all this canning and food prepping lately in hopes of sharpening (hahahahahaha) my knife skills. I cut myself twice. And we have dull knives. I maintained all digit attachment, no worries (due to the dull knives).

In other news fall is here, officially. I am trying to celebrate the farewell to summer by using up the last of my heirloom tomatoes. We had blt's but my favorite use of tomatoes is to put them on crackers with mozzarella cheese, basil and balsamic vinegar. I could eat a mabillion of these. And I have.

So this is happening

To be honest I haven't been a huge fan of blogs in the past. I've had two but I don't think I was ever really committed or figured out why I was blogging. I've followed blogs off and on and I have enjoyed reading them but then I just fell out of the habit when I stopped blogging. Now, recently, I've had some major life changes with more coming down the road. I feel like I might actually have interesting things happen to me! Also my friends have all started blogs and I want to copy them. Just kidding. Not really. Sort of.

So back to the life changes. I have been teaching preschool for the past 7 years and most days I love it. The families are amazing and their children are hilarious and inspiring. And I think I am good at teaching. The problem is that a big part of me feels unchallenged in that profession and a little unfulfilled. It seems weird because teaching is challenging and fulfilling for most people. It was for me in the beginning and in many ways still is to this day. Just not in the right ways. I have no idea how to explain it. I just know that for the past few years I have struggled with the question of "what else"? What else can I do? What am I missing? Why do I feel unsatisfied?

Cupcakes made for a play my brother was in

I decided it was time to answer these questions. I did a little soul searching and discover that what I do for fun and for stress relief is bake. I read cookbooks for fun. I buy fancy extracts just for the challenge of figuring out something delicious to create with them. I make elaborate cupcake murals. It fills a creative need in me that I don't get anywhere else. So why not try to delve in a little deeper? I took a leap (a very careful, well thought out leap) and quit my job. I enrolled in culinary school for baking and patisserie. I start next month. I still love teaching though so I got a part time job teaching preschool that fits in well with my culinary schedule.

Pastry sampling in Hanoi, Vietnam

So I figured that documenting this new journey will help me see areas that I have grown and where I need to grow. And I'm hoping you will come with me. I promise to reward you with questionable recipes of my own creation and pictures of food you can't eat, at least until we figure out how to do this whole emailing food thing. What do you say? Deal?

Deep breath, here we go.