I'm back!

Hello!

Wow it's been a long time since I've posted. So much has changed since I have last wrote on here, although most of you already know what's been going on in my life.

I'm still in culinary school, but my love for cooking on a large scale has diminished. I still do love it, but for myself and a small group of loving friends and family. I've directed my interests more so towards the business end of the career. Me being good at bossing people around? Who would have known! Tomorrow is the last day of my finals, then off for Winter break! Thank goodness.

I have a new (to you) job at Whole Foods that I love. I've been there for six or so months now and still am constantly learning. Their love of natural, healthy, organic and so on products is truly inspiring.

Another thing that has diminished is my love for fattening food (sort of.) Meaning I have so far lost 103 pounds! Right now I still have about 10-12 pounds of extra skin that I try to get rid of through a heat therapy machine weekly (when I can get in.) Hopefully, hiding under that skin is a six-pack and ripped muscles. We shall see! I only have another 15-20 pounds maybe to go of fat then I should be good to go! This has remained one of my biggest priorities since January and through a group of supporters who love and care about you, determination, motivation and a dash of stubbornness and education, anything is possible! I love trying to help others get to their dream body too, so please let me know if I can help! Maybe post some healthy recipes and workout ideas on here? Any interest?

Through reading my past postings, I noticed they might be a bit lengthy for most readers, but writing is therapeutic! But just for you, I'll try to keep it as short and sweet as I know how.

What would you like to see on my blog? Let me know and I'll try to deliver!

Xo,

Danielle

One Ingredient, Ridiculous Amounts of Uses...

Any clue what I'm talking about? If you follow my blog (which I so hope you do!(: ) You might have gotten my hint as to what this post will be about....you guessed it, eggs! This one very inexpensive ingredient has so many uses. Fun fact: The 100 folds in a toque (tall, classical chef's hat) represents the number of ways an egg can be prepared and its uses! Crazy, right?

This week in class we worked diligently with eggs. We started off with making poached eggs, then soft and hard -boiled eggs, omelets and finally a Hollandaise and homemade Mayonnaise.

Poached eggs, the eggs on top of Eggs Benedict, was one of the most intimidating techniques I have encountered. After learning a bit about it, I realized the only thing intimidating about it is technique and the freshness of your eggs. Crack a fresh egg into a ramekin or saucer, get your water to a low simmer, add about 1/2-1 T of vinegar and some salt to the water. In the middle of the water, swirl the water around the create a cyclone and very gently, pour your egg into the cyclone. Swirl around the water in the same direction for the cooking process, being very careful not to touch the white of the egg. This will help the white stay together and in a circular shape, you can also use a circle mold, but there is really no need. After it's cooked thoroughly (the white of the egg is no longer opaque and the yolk is set, but not runny ) use a slotted spoon to carefully cradle the egg and slide onto your plate or on top of your English Muffin and Canadian Bacon, then top off with some Hollandaise for a perfect Eggs Benedict! Sounds yummy, right?

To make an omelet, mix a few eggs into a bowl, add about a tablespoon of milk for creaminess and whisk away, whisking in air to create fluffiness. Melt a tiny bit of butter in a saute pan, preferably clarified butter, but regular butter will do and have the temperature at a medium low heat, or else they'll burn quickly. Add the eggs in, let the eggs form a skin at the bottom, then use a spatula to lift up a little bit of egg on the sides of the pan and swirl down some of the wet egg from the top, continue until there is still wet egg on the top of your omelet. You can also add it any type of meat or vegetable to your omelet, but make sure it is cooked before you put it in or else it may not cook in time. Any type of cheese can be added as well, towards the end of your cooking process. When it's done, fold over a third of it in the pan and flip onto your plate with another third being folded, seam side down. Super simple!

Another amazing power an egg is is emulsification! Emulsification i simply put, two ingredients, such as oil and water, that can not form a permanent mixture using eggs and fat, clarified butter, to combine them! If you look online for a Hollandaise sauce, some beforehand knowledge is expected to know, which is not too common! Of course you can buy the Knorr Hollandaise packets and add some butter and milk, but that will never give you a true Hollandaise. "Common knowledge" that will help you master this easy, but very impressive skill, is when you have your double broiler ( a metal bowl on top of a pan of simmering water) do not let the water from the pan touch the bottom of your metal bowl. The way it cooks is through the steam of the air pocket between the pan and bowl. If it touches, your eggs will quickly curdle and your sauce will break. A broken sauce is no good, unless you know how to fix it, which is quite complicated. When you add your clarified butter to your mixture of thickened eggs, reduced vinegar, ground pepper and water, drip the butter in one drip at a time, whisking vigorously throughout. After you've formed your emulsion, you can start adding in the butter a little bit faster, whisking the whole time.

Stay tuned for next week! Any guesses what it will be about? Also, let's have a poll! Would you guys like me to post the recipes I am making or my favorite recipes? Let me know in comments!

As always, food is love!

-Danielle

Faithful Readers,

My sincerest apologies for my slacking on blogging. Homework has been crazy and class has been time consuming. Isn't that what I signed up for though? So glad I took Summer classes though. I would get bored to death of sitting around in my non air conditioned one bedroom apartment, not to mention more than likely die of a heat stroke!

This week we made Minestrone Soup, Potato & Leek Soup, Tomato Soup, Spinach Soup, Split Pea Soup and Corn Chowder. Anyone who know what I think about soups know that typically, I hate them. The texture to me is to say the least, nauseating. Some of these were actually quite eatable! The Potato Leek Soup was my absolute favorite. The velvety silkiness of this pureed soup is delightful. The Corn Chowder Soup was also pretty fabulous, despite the traditional addition of pablano peppers, making it slightly too spicy for my sensitive, sweets loving taste buds. The Tomato Soup was a bit of a culinary testing experience. In our three groups, two groups used fresh, Farmer's Market tomatoes and our group used store bought tomatoes. Exact same recipe, same conditions, different tomatoes. Moral of the story is, use fresh Farmer's Market tomatoes! The soup we made was pretty gross. It was an orange carroty color, despite the fact that no carrots or orange product was used! About 2 cups more chicken stock had to be used to give it a soupy texture, meaning it basically tasted like a watery, chicken soup. Weird right? Recipe was great though, just not with store tomatoes. Split Pea Soup was not as terribly awful as I had expected. Maybe it was because we used yellow peas instead of green so it didn't have earthy, traditional color usually associated with a split pea soup. Want to try these spectacular soups at home? Post which recipe (s) you would like and I'll send them! Ready for your hint for next week's topic? Better be eggscited! (; Please excuse my cheesiness.

What are some things you all have been making this week? Share!

Food is love,

Danielle

Sushi Kids Cooking Class at Farmer's Market

Hello faithful readers!

As I posted earlier in the week, I would be helping teach at the Farmer's Market. Well, I woke up bright and early Saturday morning to go! So glad I was able to help teach, it was amazing. When I was some of these kids' age, I had no clue even what sushi was let alone how to make it! Although we omitted the fish, the kids rolled their own sushi using nori, vegetables (they loved the mangoes and avocados), and sticky rice! We started out by going through the market and picking out our vegetables then went back to the booth so they could cut and peel the vegetables. (For cutting we used lettuce knives.) I must say, I have never seen kids so focused and into a project ever! There was this 4-year old little girl, Ruby, who must have eaten 5 pieces of nori all by itself! She was such a cutie. Some of the kids got very advanced and made rice on the outside sushi! Next time your child wants a happy meal, help them cook their own food. You might be happily surprised at the results you'll get.

After that was all done and cleaned up, sticky rice and all, I went out into the Farmer's Market to share some of the beauty I get to see every Saturday morning with all of you. The colors of the fruits and vegetables are honestly remarkable and the variety of things they carry is unimaginable.

Enjoy!

Food is love,

Danielle

The Start of a New Life

Almost done with my second week of culinary school! I go to the Art Institute of Portland and am pursuing my Bachelor's of Science in Culinary Management with a minor in sustainability. I take five classes a week, 2 lecture classes, 2 lab classes, and one core class. Three of which classes start at 7 and 8 in the morning. A self proclaimed night owl, my biggest worries were being late for classes and not waking up on time. Surprising myself, I found that when reaching for a goal, absolutely anything is possible. Even if that mean's not finishing homework until 1 am then waking up at 5 am to catch the MAX by 6:30.

The first week we focused mainly on knife cuts, stocks and the second week on sauces and rouxs. We started on knife cuts, making everything from tournes; a seven-sided football shape, to 1/16 inch cubes of carrots. 1/16 of an inch really doesn't seem all that small until you have to cut a completely even cube with those dimension. The tourne cut is without a doubt the most difficult obstacle I have overcome so far.

Stock has got to be one of the most versatile and effective use of product in the history of cooking. Stock is made by bones of a chicken, beef or fish added with bouquet garni (aromatics tied in celery), cold water, and mire poux (typically consisting of 50% onion, 25% celery and 25% carrots.) Although stock can take anywhere between 45 minutes for a vegetable or fish fumet to 6-8 hours for a beef stock. Stock can be made and used in place of a liquid to add more flavor or a base for mother or small sauces. The only problem with stocks is that you have to check it every 5-10 minutes to skim it or else it will be cloudy.

Bechamel, Espagnole and rouxs, oh my! What do these crazy sounding words have in common you ask? Well, a Béchamel is in my opinion a completely bland white sauce. If perfectly seasoned it is edible, to say the most enthusiastically. I'm all for classical techniques and foods, but I also have a love for seasonings and wish the classical French would love them too! No worries though, add a quarter tub of fresh Parmesan cheese and some Asiago cheese and you have yourself an amazing Alfredo sauce! Espagnole sauce (sounding like espanol) but completely opposite of their like-sounding friend in flavoring. If you can't tell, I'm a fan of some flavoring, butter and cheeses. Although my palate is not so enthusiastic of these classical sauces, I still have a deep appreciation for the base they provide to more flavorful small sauces. A roux, coming in white, blond, brown, and black, is a thickener made of equal parts butter and flour by weight. The color of the roux is dependent upon how long you let it cook for, thus letting the starch break up. Have you ever tasted raw flour? Go home and try it. You will not be pleasantly surprised. The mixing and warming of the flour with the butter is what makes this thickener eatable.

At the last lab class I had, we learned how to debone a chicken. I loved it so much I did two! However, the cracking and popping of bones coming out of their sockets and chopping them up might be so fun for you, so next time you go grocery shopping, take the extra time and thank your butcher! If on a budget and not easily sickened, think about buying a chicken whole instead of in pieces! So much money is saved for 10 extra minutes of your time.

Being a strong advocate for supporting local growers and eating organically, it is seemingly perfect that my school is this year's sponsor for the Farmer's Market less than 10 footsteps outside my door! Anyone who knows me is aware of my love for kids. A semi-secret of mine is that one day I dream of opening a children's cooking school. Having not been raised to learn the importances of eating healthily, I was none the less deprived of eating healthy, forced to turn to frozen fish sticks and Capri Sun, an everyday occurrence for my sister and I growing up. So, after learning of my love for food, I vowed I would do my best to help at least try to give children the option of not eating fast food three meals a day and making their own food themselves! Being given an amazing opportunity to help shape those dreams, I enthusiastically agreed to help teach a children's cooking class at the Farmer's Market. Every Saturday, parents can drop off their children for a few hours of personal down time while we teach them how to make a meal! Needless to say, I might be a little more excited than the kids. (:

I truly believe Portland, OR is the next food capital of the world. Others, including New York Times, are agreeing with me! I am so blessed to live in this beautiful city in a state of the art school with such patient and knowledgeable instructors. I moved here a little under three weeks ago and think I may never fall out of love with this city. Although I do miss my friends and family from back in my hometown, I without a doubt know I made the best decision for me in moving here and starting this new journey. Luckily, I am kept in great company with my 100 something pound Olde English Bulldogge, Arthur. He loves the city as well. Maybe not so much not having a big backyard to play in, but he is loving going on walks and sleeping while I'm in school. He even went to the dog park with his dog trainer! If you're local and am having behavioral issues with your pooch, check out www.portlanddogexperts.com. They have been amazing and Arthur loves him!

Tomorrow is a safety and sanitation class...last week we watched Food Inc. Ever wondered about where the food you buy at the grocery store comes from? Rent this, you'll be appalled and disgusted. Warning: do not watch this unless you are prepared to make some changes in where you buy your food from. You'll never be able to look at a package containing steak the same again.

Off to make some dinner...what are you all having tonight? Share!

More posts to come later...thanks for reading and stay tuned!

Food is love,

Danielle