Skip to main content

Plans, plans and more plans...

I realize that I am only in my 2nd quarter of culinary school and I have plenty of things to plan for right now, but I can't stop thinking about my 5th quarter Chef of the Day (COD) project! It doesn't really affect me for at least 2 more quarters, so I need to work on staying in the moment.

For instance, next week is my "Student Entree" week. I am required to cook two dishes of my choosing, one protein one vegetarian, 15 portions of each. On Tuesday I'll be serving up some whole grains to the other students, Acorn Squash filled with millet "stuffing". It will have onions, herbs and bell pepper mixed in and topped off with honey. Then, Thursday I will be roasting 5 lbs of pork butt to make delicious tacos with two sauces...tomato salsa and avocado butter (yes, butter!). I think this one is going to be really delicious! I'm hoping to go off of this recipe from Tyler Florence on Food Network that looks amazing! Hopefully I'll take a picture of what I make.

For my COD I'm doing a dairy and gluten free menu and putting together recipe ideas. I want it to be as local and seasonal as possible...for February anyway! Leeks are apparently 1 thing I should focus on. Maybe these steamed greens with carmelized leeks? Hmm....
-l.v.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The End is Near

On January 4 th I will begin my 5 th & final quarter of culinary school. It's been 15 months of 5 am alarms, full-time student/part time worker budget & a whole lot of stress. But it has also been rewarding and a great deal of fun. I have made some life-long friends and countless connections I hope to carry me through to where I want to be. The problem now is to figure out where that is. How do you decide where to direct your focus in life? When does the sign show up, telling you where to go, what to do, who to be? I've done this once, graduated from college, took a job, worked a 9-5...and was quite successful at it. So, what's the hold up now?? The uncertainty I feel regarding my next career move is enough to cause shortness of breath, nervous actions and mental blocking to keep myself from over thinking about the decisions I have to make. Today I'm going to spiff up my resume and apply for some jobs. Or, at least make some connections, since there aren'...
Post a Comment
Read more

New Cookbooks=Inspiration

I am the proud new owner of 4, yes 4, shiny new cookbooks. Each is signed by the author, which I love. I have a small obsession with signed cookbooks, can hardly resist a purchase when the author is near to place their personal message to me on the title page. It's enough instant excitement to cause nervous chatter or lack thereof on my part. As I sit at the kitchen table tonight, trying to nail down a great dessert recipe for my C.O.D. (final culinary school project) I'm reading snippets from " The Gluten-Free Girl and The Chef ", loving the personal stories she shares. Love "grocery shopping as foreplay"...as I have to agreee...picking out the evening's dinner is fabulously fun and romantic for food minded people. While I love going alone because I can peruse the aisles for hours (as I often do), shopping with another person you're going to cook for brings the excitement to a different level. It's fun to see what people notice and be influenced...
Post a Comment
Read more

Happiness in Cooking for 1

I've heard it numerous times, I don't like to cook for just me. Or, if I had roommates, or when I'm married, I'll cook more. It's hard to cook for only myself. I don't want to eat the same things over and over again for 5 days straight. Occasionally I get in that boring routine, where I only make myself pb &j because it's simple, cheap and easy. But today as I'm alone on my day off, I really treated myself to full, healthy meals. For breakfast I made a big omelet with prosciutto, green garlic and slightly browned sautéed onions. I took my plate and a big mug of black tea out to the porch and enjoyed it all in the sun. Then for lunch, I heated thinly sliced pieces of sausage in a small plan, letting the fat in the sausage release the oil for cooking. I took some of the extra onions from this morning (there's something you'll never get sick of... caramelized onions) and threw them in near the end along with some more of that green garlic ...
Post a Comment
Read more