Summer Program for Culinary Arts

I am so proud of Vanity, Nirvana, and Edgar. They attended the Art Institute Culinary Arts Program this past week from 8AM until 5PM every day and made a wonderful feast on Saturday for family and friends. I talked with a chef who said this was one of the best group of students she has had the pleasure of teaching. They were all attentive and focused (something that pleases teachers immensely!). 

The food was beautifully presented and delicious. They served salmon in a pastry dough with a mustard sauce, grilled chicken, caprese salad, a lovely mixed vegetable dish, creamy macaroni and cheese, perfectly mashed potatoes, focaccia and braided pretzel rolls.  For dessert - strawberry shortcake with homemade biscuits and whipped cream, cookies and a variety of truffles. Absolutely incredible in taste and presentation!

 

Granola Cookie Assembly Line

Trying to raise money for the new baking class (fingers crossed) for next year by making 400 granola cookies to sell at this week's Venice High Centenniel Celebration. Awesome work by our assembly line today! Such dedicated students to come in on the second to last day of school and bake for three periods! We all had to sample and the vote was unanimous - delicious! I'm very relieved - this was a recipe using granola ingredients along with an oatmeal cookie recipe from my mother. Turns out this is quite a good combination.

Finals! Event Planning and Menu Samples

I was extremely impressed by most of the students' work on their finals. The goal was to create a presentation and display board that would outline a party theme based on a culture or country, design a menu that fit with the theme and research recipes, place settings, and appropriate entertainment. Each group presented in front of the class and brought in a sample item from their menu. The themes ranged from Hawaiian Luaus to Chinese New Year to a Night in Paris. The food samples brought in were very creative - three colored pastas and sauces to represent the Italian flag, spicy fried chicken with a hint of lime, and so much more! For everyone who participated - well done!

Tabouleh, Hummus and Pita Crisps

I think I gave the students too much bulgur wheat for the Tabouleh since most groups had a lot more than two cups after the wheat had absorbed all the water. We'll work on correcting that for next year. (Yes, I'm being optimistic that there will be a next year.) Otherwise, everything looked incredibly delicious! We had some leftovers for the teachers' lunch today. Hope everyone enjoyed! The recipes follow below.

                                                                        TABOULEH

Ingredients:

2 ripe tomatoes

2 green onions

2 C parsley

1 freshly squeezed lemon

2 C bulgur wheat or couscous

¼ C olive oil

Directions:                                                                                    Place bulgur wheat in a small bowl and just cover with boiling water. Allow to soak.

Wash tomatoes, green onions and parsley. Chop finely. Squeeze lemon juice over the mixture. Add bulgur wheat and mix thoroughly. Drizzle all with olive oil and serve.

Hummus and Pita Bread

Ingredients:

1 - 16 oz can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans

1/4 C liquid from can of chickpeas

3 T lemon juice

1-1/2 T tahini or sesame oil

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1/2 t salt

2 T olive oil

Directions:

Drain chickpeas and set aside liquid from can. Combine remaining ingredients in food processor. Add 1/4 cup of liquid from chickpeas. Blend for 3-5 minutes on low until smooth. 
Serve immediately with fresh or toasted pita bread, or cover and refrigerate up to three days.

Toasted Pita Bread

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Brush both sides of pita bread with olive oil. Sprinkle lightly on top with salt and pepper.

Cut pita bread into eight wedges. Place pieces in single layer on baking pan. Bake for five minutes or until lightly browned.

Student Food Demos

Chocolate Mousse, Haiva, Fruit Salad, and Key Lime Pie (made by a true Key West "Conch"); the demos just keep getting better and better! I am so fortunate to have talented students who put forth such great effort on their assignments.

Pate a Choux with Rosemary Chicken Salad

The pate a choux, or puff pastry, can be filled with something savory or sweet. The students made rosemary chicken salad and added their own twists on the recipe by including cumin, garlic, and even lime. Really delicious! The recipe follows below:

Pate a Choux (Literally: Cabbage Pastry)

1 C Water

1 C Flour

½ C Butter

4 Eggs

Preheat oven to 425.  Heat water until boiling. Add butter until melted. Remove from stove and add flour all at once. Stir 2-3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, incorporating completely before adding the next.

Drop by ¼ cups onto greased baking sheet, 3” apart. Bake for 10 minutes. Decrease temperature to 375 and bake for 10 more minutes until golden brown.

__________________________________________________________

Rosemary Chicken Salad Filling

3 cups chopped roasted skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1/3 cup (or less if you prefer) chopped green onions

1/4 cup chopped almonds

1/4 cup plain fat-free yogurt

1/4 cup light mayonnaise

1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Mix ingredients together. Place small scoop of filling inside each pate a choux.  Yield: 10 small sandwiches.

Chilaquile Casserole

This would be better with roasted diced chicken, but as it is the students ate almost everything they made. Always a good sign. I learned something from the students too about roasting poblano peppers. Much more efficient to just put them in the flame and turn with tongs. Recipe follows below. It doesn't have to be done over two days; we just do it this way in class because of timing.

 

Chilaquile Casserole with

New Mexico Green Sauce

Ingredients:

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

4 poblano chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded, finely chopped

1 jalapeno chili, seeded, finely chopped

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

1 C half and half (fewer calories than whipping cream)

¼ tsp. salt

10 corn tortillas cut into ½” strips

2 C shredded light cheese

Day 1: Cook onion, chiles and garlic in oil over medium heat until onion is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in half and half and salt. Store in airtight container.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray baking pan with Pam (over sink). Spread tortilla strips on pan and spray strips lightly with Pam. Bake 5 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool and store in airtight container.

Day 2: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Layer half the strips in bottom of greased casserole dish. Top with half the sauce, one cup of cheese. Repeat with remaining strips, sauce, cheese. Bake 20 minutes.    Yield: 7-9 servings

C-CAP Senior Award Winners

Careers Through Culinary Arts Program - teen chef competition winners

Photos by Dean Musgrove/Daily News Staff Photographer

High school students Sandy Valle, Maria Gomez and Emily Gordon are one step closer to becoming top chefs.
They took home the largest scholarships in the Careers Through Culinary Arts Program competition for local culinary students held over the weekend.
Each of the three earned a two-year Associate of Arts culinary tuition scholarship to the International Culinary School at the Art Institute of California (with locations in Orange County, Santa Monica and North Hollywood). Each is valued at $58,016.
The scholarship competition went beyond an application form, an essay and letter of recommendation. Thirty-seven high school senior culinary students competed on Saturday at the stoves in the kitchens at the International Culinary School's North Hollywood campus. They represented 24 area high schools in the Los Angeles, Glendale, Pasadena and Acton-Agua Dulce school districts.
"We are targeting food classes and underserved children (usually with financial needs) in inner-city school districts," notes Richard Grausman, who started C-CAP in New York City schools in 1990 and brought it to the Los Angeles area in 1995. Grausman was one of the judges, viewing and sampling dishes on Saturday. |

Student Food Demonstrations

I know it was a lot for one day, but we had six student food demos in class two weeks ago. Just look at the variety of dishes everyone brought in; from Empanadas to Tempura to Lasagna! Students bring in the recipe and samples for the entire class. They explain the procedure for making the dish in front of the class, which the other students copy into their notebooks.  At the end of the semester every student will have a notebook full of recipes from around the world, along with measuring equivalents, a mini food guide pyramid, and relevent cooking and nutrition terms.

I'm always amazed by the talent in my classroom. I guess I shouldn't be after almost 10 months with my students, but I don't think I ever cooked like this when I was 17.

A reminder for the students who are reading the blog this week: The last demo date is Friday, June 3rd. If you don't have a demo date scheduled or if you missed your date, please see me. I really don't want to see anyone's grade drop! After that we will begin group projects where you will plan a themed catering event. This will include a written and verbal presentation, as well as a display.

Roasted Tomatoes

Used the recipe from our Earth Day event at school for the Roasted Tomatoes at home. I added a sprinkling of jack cheese and oregano. Really tasty, and I'm not even a big tomato fan.

Using Roma Tomatoes, cut them into quarters, scoop out the seeds and place the tomatoes on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 15- 20 minutes, until soft. Add cheese and just a sprinkling of oregano if desired.

The original recipe we used at school was for Caesar Salad. We added tomatoes to give it some color since most foods we served were green (pesto, salad) or white (homemade pasta, garlic bread). Here's the salad and dressing recipe. The dressing is also good lightly drizzled on garlic bread.

CAESAR SALAD and DRESSING

Salad:

2 pints cherry tomatoes
olive oil
salt and pepper
2 large heads Romaine lettuce
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Dressing:Update

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 lemon, juice of

1 teaspoon hot sauce

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

salt

coarse black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.

2. Place the tomatoes on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 15- 20 minutes, until soft.

3. Wash the lettuce leaves carefully and dry in a salad spinner. Stack the leaves on a cutting board and cut them crosswise into 1½-inch slices. Place them in a large mixing bowl.

4. For the dressing, mix everything in blender until thickened.

5. Toss the lettuce with dressing. Add 1 cup grated Parmesan and tomatoes, and toss.

Yield: 8 Servings

Chocolate Tulip Cups with Strawberries

Finally! Uploaded a few photos from the tulip cups the students made last week.  Chocolate drizzle over the strawberries with crushed almonds as garnish made these treats truly decadent!

Some triva on tulips:  

The Dutch ate tulip bulbs in lieu of onions during WWII when food supplies were cut off.

I wouldn't try it now though - modern modified tulip bulbs are NOT edible.

Tulips didn't originate in Holland; they were imported from Hungary.

During the short week for CST testing I thought we'd use up the chocolate in the pantry and make these great tulip cups. I filled them with strawberries, but any berry or even a custard would be good.

Recipe follows:

Chocolate Tulip Bowl

Ingredients:

1 bag (12 oz.) chocolate chips

½ lb. large chunk chocolate

1 C pastel candy wafers

1 lb. strawberries, hulled and sliced

8 small balloons, blown up and knotted

Waxed paper, Baking sheet, Candy thermometer, Rubber Spatula

Directions:

Melt chocolate chips in plastic container for one minute in microwave. Remove and stir until smooth, heating another 30 seconds if necessary until temperature reaches 105.

Add two large chunks of chocolate, stirring and scraping off pieces of the chunks to “seed” the chocolate chips. Continue stirring and scraping until temperature reaches 90 degrees. Remove chunks of chocolate and set aside on waxed paper. Save for next class.

Heat pastel wafers in microwave for 30 seconds. Stir until smooth. Drizzle in to chocolate.

Tilting the balloon side to side, front to back, dip in chocolate until thin “petals” form on balloon. Remove and place on baking sheet covered with waxed paper. Repeat with remaining balloons and refrigerate baking sheet for 5 minutes, or until chocolate has hardened.

Fill with sliced strawberries. Top with mint leaf for garnish and serve.

Summer Rolls

Day One: Students completed the cabbage and carrots in class - some very good julienne methods!

Also sliced the mint using the chiffonade cut. The marinade was delicious! It's being stored overnight and then tomorrow we'll add the bean thread noodles and wrap everything in rice paper rounds.

Found all the ingredients at  99 Ranch Market in Van Nuys.

They have everything! Asian, Mexican, Middle Eastern ingredients - all there.

Day Two: The summer rolls are wrapped in rice paper rounds and garnished with nasturtium flowers, which have a peppery taste. 

Here's the recipe, courtesy of my fabulous master teacher at Taft High School, Kathy West:

Vegetable Summer Rolls

¾ C Purple Cabbage

¾ C Napa Cabbage

1 large Carrot

¼ C Mint Leaves

2 t. Powdered Ginger

2 t. Brown Sugar

2 t. Sesame Oil

2 t. Rice Vinegar

Salt and Pepper to taste

2 oz. Bean Thread Noodles

12 – 8” Rice Paper Rounds

Day 1: Cut the cabbage and carrot into very fine julienne strips. Chiffonade the mint.  Whisk together ginger, sugar, oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Toss together with vegetables and mint. Store overnight in sealed container.

Day 2: In large bowl, cover bean thread noodles with boiling water. Let stand 15 minutes. Drain, pat dry with paper towels. Chop into 4” strands.

Fill shallow pan with warm water. Soak rice paper rounds, one at a time, for one minute, until pliable. Transfer round to dry towel and put ¼ C of vegetable mixture across top quarter of round. Fold top of round over filling, fold sides and roll “burrito” style. Moisten bottom of rice paper to seal. Place on serving plate, seam side down.

Serve with dipping sauce.

Chili Lime Dipping Sauce

1T. Lime Juice

1 T. Rice Vinegar

1 T. Water

1-1/2 t. Sugar

¼ t. Red Chili Flakes

¼ t. Sesame Oil

½ Green Onion, minced

Whisk together in a small bowl and serve with Summer Rolls.

Apple Pie Food Lab - Lots of beautiful pies made this week!

Earth Day Luncheon

  Great luncheon at school today - prepared and served by my three Culinary Arts classes. Pasta with Spinach Pesto and Blanched Broccoli, Caesar Salad with Homemade Caesar Dressing, Homemade Garlic Bread, Rhubarb-Strawberry Sorbetto, Moca Biscotti, Mint Tea and Sparkling Lemonade. After almost three weeks of preparation it was great to finally serve the lunch to our 300 guests! Almost nothing left at the end of the day - always a good sign, along with the many compliments to our amazing student chefs!