Latkes a.ka. the Potato Pancake

This past weekend was our first culinary lab of the quarter.  My group was assigned to do a Greek Salad and some Latkes (or fried potato pancakes).  And for this quarter, our lab is not only responsible for feeding ourselves, but also a few other labs (so about 60-80 people).

Our group of three was already one short, so there was just the two us.  We decided to each tackle one recipe and help eachother out in between.  I ended up with the latkes.  Now, any time you make something fried, ideally, it's best to serve right away.  Well, remember that whole 60-80 people that we were serving?  Practically impossible to fry up about 60 people's worth of latkes and keep them all perfect.  I know there are probably people that CAN do this, but for a second quarter culinary student?  I'm good, but not THAT good... yet.

What I'm getting at is, I got some voiced criticism from someone in one of the other labs that we were feeding.  "Those just don't look appetizing" was the comment, I believe.  You're going to get criticized no matter what setting you're in, so I take things like that with a grain of salt and learn from them.  I was really surprised when a couple of my classmates stepped up and said that the girl was really rude in the way she said it and stood up for me.  It was good to know that they had my back, and most of them even told me the latkes were great and that girl didn't know what she was talking about.  Either way, it felt good to be supported.

But after getting home, it really struck a nerve with me.  Maybe she was right, maybe they didn't look appetizing.  I was determined to come up with a latke that looked and tasted amazing.  And so, this trio of tuna dinner was born. 

I must warn you, there are A LOT of pictures in this post.  But I figure, if I'm not posting as often, I might as well give you guys ample eye candy, right? 


Ingredients:

Latkes

1-2 New Potatoes
1/2 small onion
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon flour
salt and pepper, to taste
vegetable oil, for frying

Tuna-Wrapped Asparagus

2 stalks of asparagus, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 one inch piece of sushi-grade Ahi Tuna
1 tablespoon lime juice

Sesame-Encrusted Ahi Tuna

2 6 oz. pieces of sushi-grade Ahi Tuna
1 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup black sesame seeds
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil 
3 asparagus stalks, shaved thinly with a mandolin
1/2 large zucchini (or 1 small zucchini), shaved thinly
1 tablespoon lime juice


Strawberry Soy Sauce

1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1 cup strawberries, sliced
1 teaspoon sugar

Spicy Tuna Tartare

4 oz. sushi-grade Ahi Tuna, cut into 1/4 inch cubes
2 tablespoons Sriracha, or to taste
Sesame oil, to taste

There seems to be a lot of ingredients up there, but I promise as long as you have everything in place and ready (a.k.a. mis en place), then it will come together in no time.  And it's an elegant meal, that is just too simple that it's fool proof!

So let's start with the latkes.  Make sure you have a bowl of salted cold water for your potatoes so that they don't oxidize and turn brown on you.

Then you'll take your star ingredients, the potato and the onion.

Peel your potato (or potatoes if you're using more than 1) and have a grater ready.

Shred that potato and immediately put into the bowl/container with cold salted water.  Set aside.

Then quickly small dice your onion and set that aside, as well.

Moving on to the tuna... make sure to whip out a separate cutting board - we don't want any cross-contamination here!  And I can't stress this enough, make sure you get SUSHI-GRADE Tuna!  It's been processed in a way that it is "safe" from parasites and bacteria - however, you eat raw fish at your own risk.  If it's not labelled as "Sushi-Grade", then double check with your fish monger for sure! 

Ain't she a beauty?!

 Get a large bowl and fill it with ice.  Then you'll want to cut the skin off of the Ahi.  With a boning knife, carefully cut away the outer skin.  Then from the wider side (the left in the picture), but out two 1 to 1 & 1/2 inch wide portions for your Sesame Encrusted Ahi.  Wrap in plastic wrap and place over ice.

Then cut two 1-inch cubes from the remaining Ahi.  Place the cubes between plastic wrap and using the flat side of a mallet (or bottom of a small saute pan, hehe) and gently pound the cubes flat.  Wrap in plastic wrap and put over ice.

Then with remaining Ahi, dice into small 1/4 inch cubes.  Place in a small bowl and drizzle with Sriracha and a dash of sesame oil.  You can make it as spicy as you like, so be liberal with the Sriracha.  Mix well and chill until ready to use. 

Let's move on to our vegetables.

Fill a medium pot half way with water and bring to a rolling simmer.  Have a medium bowl of ice water ready as well. 

Blanch the asparagus in the water for about a minute and quickly shock in the ice water (to stop the cooking process).  This will give the asparagus a vibrant green color, as well as keeping it's tender crunch.  Don't worry about blanching your zucchini (unless you really want to)... I rather like the taste of raw zucchini, just make sure you wash it well before you slice it.  Your vegetables should look like this.

Then go ahead and get your breading for your ahi portions ready.  In a small container, combine the breadcrumbs and black sesame seeds.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Set aside.

Now let's make our sauce for the Ahi.  Place the soy sauce, sliced strawberries, water, and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce the mixture by half, or until thickened to desired consistency.  Puree mixture then strain through a fine mesh strainer or chinoise.  Set aside.

Unwrap Ahi portions and roll in the breading until fully coated.

In a medium heavy-bottomed pan, add enough vegetable oil to cover the pan by 1/2 an inch and heat under medium high heat. 

Drain potatoes from water and squeeze out and excess water retained by the potatoes.  Pat dry with paper towels.

In a small bowl, combine the shredded potatoes, onions, egg, baking powder, and flour.  Season with salt and pepper.  Mix well.  Honestly, I probably could have used a little more potato or a little less egg - it was very egg-y.  But tasty, nonetheless.

Fry the latkes in the oil until crispy and golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side.  Let drain on a paper towel-lined plate.  Then, using the open end of a drinking class (or the reasonable option would be to use a cookie cutter), cut a nice even circle out of the latke.  Then eat the edges, because they're delicious.  But don't spoil your dinner.

Let's saute our Ahi portions now.  Heat a medium skillet under medium high heat and add about a tablespoon of olive oil.

Add Ahi and cook each side for about 30-45 seconds, just to sear slightly and get a nice golden brown crust.  Place on cutting board and slice into 1/4 inch pieces.

Remember those pounded out tuna cubes?  Unwrap them and get one of your blanched pieces of asparagus.  Wrap the asaragus with the tuna and place them seam side down on the plate.  Drizzle with a little bit of lime juice and lightly sprinkle some salt over top.

Then we'll plate the sliced Ahi.  Place a few pieces of the thinly shaves asparagus and zucchini the plate.  You can be playful with it, they're flexible, but just make a little "nest" if you can.  Drizzle the vegetables with some lime juice and sprinkle with a tiny pinch of salt.  Place the slices Ahi over top and drizzle with Strawberry Soy Sauce.

Then get your tartare from the fridge.  Place the crisp latke on the plate as your final component.  Top with a heaping mound of spicy tuna tartare.  Garnish with a couple pieces of sliced scallion.

And voila!  An elegant dish, but after broken down into steps, really isn't that complicated!  And although the latke wasn't the star, it was definitely a unique component to the dish.  And if I didn't make it look appealing in this, then I might as well give up!  But I think I did a pretty good job, don't you think?  =)

Well, I know this was a long post, but I'm glad you stuck around to read it (or skim it - I don't care, as long as you're still with me!).  Have a great weekend guys, and I'll be back sometime next week =)

Bacon-Wrapped Brown Sugar Pork Loin

Yes, I'm still alive.  I may look like a zombie, but I'm still here!

The two week break between quarters was seriously just what this girl needed.  I thought I would have a post up before the new year, but I took time to relax instead.  Priorities, I tell ya.

And I'm proud to report that after the first quarter of culinary school, this girl has a solid 4.0.  Woop woop!  Right?!

Anyway, next quarter starts tomorrow and I'm ready for it.  Purchasing, Sanitation, and Culinary Theory Lab Part 2 here I come!

I thought I'd start 2012 off with a bang and give ya something juicy, mouth-watering, and simple as can be.  Pork-wrapped pork.  Mmmm hmmm.

Ingredients:
Adapted from The Comfort of Cooking's Recipe

3 lb. bone-in pork loin
5-6 pieces of bacon
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon hot Spanish paprika
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Glaze:

1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder

Why bone-in?  Honestly, I think more flavor develops with a bone-in anything.  Yeah, it may have to cook a tad bit longer, but flavor outweighs times in my book (this coming from a girl who swears she has no time to spare!).

So let's line a roasting pan with aluminum foil and place your big hunk of pork on that sucker.  Preheat your oven to 375F.

In a small bowl, make your spice rub.  Combine the salt, black pepper, paprika, cumin, cinnamon, and chili powder.

And give that pork a good rub down.

Then we'll wrap the whole thing in some bacon.  P.S. - the technical term for wrapping something in fat (in this case, bacon) is "barding."

Place the roast in the oven and roast for about 50-60 minutes.  

Meanwhile,  in a small saucepan under medium heat, combine the ingredients for the glaze - the brown sugar, flour, cider vinegar, and mustard powder.

Simmer until the sugar is dissolved.

Drizzle glaze over top of pork roast and continue to roast for about 25-35 minutes longer, or until internal temperature has reached 160F.

The bacon will be nice and crispy!

Let rest for about 10 minutes and then slice into 1 inch thick portions.  Serve with your starch of choice and enjoy!


I want to thank you guys for sticking with me, even though I've been M.I.A.  I do my best to balance everything, but certain things take precedence before the blog.  I appreciate you all, and again, thank you so much!

Until next time...

Rice Pilaf

Hey guys!  Hope everyone is doing well.  I know I've still been a busy bee, but after Friday, I'll have a little bit more time on my hands because it's my last final of the quarter.  So I'll have a two week break before having to go at it all over again.

And I tell ya, it's going to be a much needed break.  I might even find myself sleeping more (right now I'm averaging about 5 hours a night, if I'm lucky!).

Anyway, I thought I'd post an easy side dish that any one can make.  It's a versatile dish where you can really add practically anything to, and keeps really well if you have leftovers.

Ingredients:

1 oz. clarified butter
2 oz. onion, small diced
1 oz. celery, small diced
1 oz. carrot, small diced
1 cup white rice
2 cups stock (chicken, beef, fish, vegetable - I happened to only have beef in the fridge so I used that)
1/2 bay leaf
salt and pepper, to taste

our mise en place

Heat a medium saucepan under medium high heat and add your butter.  When your butter is heated up, add your vegetables and sweat (cook without browning) them, about 3-5 minutes.

Once the vegetables are slightly softened, add the rice.  Stir until lightly toasted, about 1-2 minutes.

Then slowly incorporate your stock of choice.

Then add your half of a bay leaf.

Bring mixture to a boil.

Then lower to a simmer and cover. 

Let cook for about 20-25 minutes, or until about 95% of stock is absorbed into rice.

Serve as is or use as a side dish for a main course.  We ended up sauteing a few shrimp, putting them on top of the pilaf, and calling it dinner!

Hope everyone is doing well and surviving the holiday season (once again, I've completed all of my Christmas shopping online, avoiding the malls like the plague!). 

Until next time...

The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap: Corn Cookies

Sorry for the horrible picture, didn't dawn on me to take pictures with my actual camera, and not my phone!

This year, I was part of something amazing.  The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap!  Hundreds of other bloggers joined in all of the fun and cookies were sent all over the country.  It was so amazing to find a couple boxes on my doorstep when I came home from work of a variety of different cookies!  And it was even better to discover new blogs in the process! 

I received Dark & Stormy Cookies from Kathy Can Cook, Toffee Cookies from Anna from Girls Can Tell, and Lime Cookies from Creative Crops.  I'd never been do any of those blogs before, but I'm now a regular because they're all so sweet and have great blogs!

It was definitely hard to choose a cookie to send to my lucky recipients as well.  I didn't want to send a "normal" cookie, but something different.  So I turned to one of my favorite cookbooks of the moment - Momofuku Milk Bar by Christina Tosi.  I made the Corn Cookies, which are my absolute favorite out of everything I've made out of the book so far.  They're different, like a cross between a butter and a sugar cookie, with that slight hint of corn in the background.  Definitely amazing.


Ingredients:
From Momofuku Milk Bar by Christina Tosi

2 sticks of butter, at room temperature
1 & 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
1 & 1/3 cups flour
1/4 cup corn flour
2/3 cup freeze-dried corn powder 
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 & 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

Combine the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat for 2 to 3 minutes.  Add the egg and beat for an additional 7 to 8 minutes.

Add flour, corn flour, corn powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Mix until dough just comes together, no more than 1 minute.

Portion the dough into 1 inch diameter balls and place onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Heat oven to 350F.

Arrange the chilled dough 4 inches apart on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.  Bake for 18 minutes, or until faintly browned on the edges and bright yellow in the center.

Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans and store in an airtight container for 5 days at room temperature, or in the freezer for up to 1 month.

I hope my lucky recipients enjoyed their cookies as much as we did!

And I can't wait for this fun event to happen next year too!

Secret Recipe Club: Fall-Inspired Chicken Salad

It's that time of the month.  Secret Recipe Club reveal day!  (It's basically the only day I can consistently keep up with this blog, too!)

I was real excited this month because I got Isabelle from Crumb: A Food Blog.  I've been reading her blog for quite a while, even when it was still called Good Food, Good Wine, and a Bad Girl.  She always has interesting blog posts - and there's always a point where I leave with my mouth watering.  You know that's a good sign!

As always, it's hard to pick what recipe to choose, but since Andy and I are on a bit of a healthy-eating food kick right now, I picked one of Isabelle's delicious looking salads - The Fall-Inspired Grilled Chicken Salad.  Isabelle had a fancy Cuisinart Griddler to do her grilling for her, but since I don't have one of those, and refuse to bust out the George Foreman - I simply sauteed my chicken breasts over the stove.  Besides that minor detail, I pretty much stuck to the recipe as is because it was just that good!

Ingredients:
Adapted Recipe from Crumb

1 large chicken breast, butterflied
2 tablespoons cajun seasoning (I made my own mix from this recipe)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons spicy brown mustard
1 small shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
salt and pepper, to taste
mixed salad greens
1 Granny Smith apple, cored and sliced
1/4 cup mixed fruit and nut trail mix

Season each side of the chicken breast with the cajun seasoning mix.

Heat a large saute pan under medium high heat and add about a tablespoon of olive oil.  Add chicken breast and cook for about 4-5 minutes, or until browned.  Flip over and cook an additional 4-5 minutes, or until cooked thoroughly.  Set chicken aside on cutting board to rest.

Make vinaigrette by combining olive oil, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, spicy brown mustard, shallot, and garlic in a small bowl.  Whisk until mixture is emulsified (no separation of acid and oil).  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

In a large bowl, toss the greens with about 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette and divide among two plates.  Top greens with trail mix and sliced apples.  Then top with sliced chicken breasts.  Serve with additional dressing, if desired.

Like I said, this was an amazing meal - and I would expect nothing less from something on Isabelle's blog!  Feel like being adventurous?  Join the SRC today!

Beef Tenderloin w/ Espagnole Sauce

Wow... I've been M.I.A. for quite some time!  It's been even busier around here, and it's hard to even wrap my head around what I've gotten myself into!

The restaurant is going quite well.  I was on the pantry line (salads & desserts, a few cold and hot appetizers) for a bit of time, and last week I started training at the grill station.  I'm having tons of fun, and learning a hell of a lot!  Which is the whole point of all of this!

Did everyone (who celebrated) have a good Thanksgiving?!  I know we did.  My whole family went down to Andy's family's Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday and it went quite well.  I'm glad that our families could get together on a day like that and get along so well.

Anyway, I know everyone still might have turkey on the brain, but in honor of me training on the grill station, I thought a nice, juicy steak felt like just the thing to post.  Hopefully I'll be back sooner next time, instead of going on a three week hiatus, but who knows what the next week of life has in store for me!

Ingredients:

2 6-8 oz. cuts of beef tenderloin
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut medium dice
spinach, optional
Espagnole sauce, recipe here
salt and pepper, to taste
Olive oil, for rubbing and drizzling

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Rub each steak with about a tablespoon of olive oil.  Season your steaks with salt and pepper, on both sides.

Place the sweet potatoes on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Toss well and spread into one even layer.  Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring occasionally.

Heat a large skillet under medium high heat.  Add about a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and heat until shimmering. 

Add steaks and cook until desired doneness (I think a medium rare is perfect, about 6-8 minutes per side, depending on the thickness of your cut).  Let rest on a cutting board for about 5 minutes.

Warm up Espagnole Sauce, if needed.

To plate, place a good amount of sweet potatoes on the center of the plate.  Top with steak and drizzle Espagnole sauce over top.  Serve with a side salad of spinach and some fresh bread.

This brings "meat & potatoes" to a whole new level.  It was a simple enough dinner to be ready in no time, but also one that is sure to impress dinner guests, as well!

And on a side note, a reader had asked in the comment section of the Espagnole Sauce recipe about a proper way to make a Demi Glace. 

By definition, a demi glace is half brown sauce (Espagnole), half brown stock (beef stock), reduced by half.  Easy enough right?  So for 1 cup of demi glace, use 1/2 cup of Espagnole Sauce, 1/2 cup of beef stock... bring to a boil, then let reduce until the whole mixture is 1/2 cup, or until desires consistency.

Hope to see you guys sooner than later!  And thanks for sticking around with me =)

Secret Recipe Club: Creamy Mac n' Cheese

With all of the craziness of my schedule, it's nice to still be able to do Secret Recipe Club.  To not think about school, or work, or anything.  Anything except exploring another blogger's site and making something delicious!

This was just the case with my assignment this month.  I got to explore Crystal from Mrs. Happy Homemaker's blog and was definitely impressed!  I found meals that were just the epitome of comfort foods and lots of things that made me smile.  It was a hard decision, with things like Deviled Egg Spiders to Apple Cinnamon Rolls with Caramel Cream Cheese Icing!  She even has updates on good deals and coupons, as well as DIY craft ideas (quite kid friendly!).  There's lots to explore over there, and I could definitely get lost for hours on her site.

Ultimately, I chose something that has always been comforting to me - Mac n' cheese.  Crystal's quest for the ultimate mac had me quite intrigued and I decided to give it a try (especially since we just learned about bechamel and this had a bechamel base!).  So I used what I had on hand - I replaced the 3 cups of cheddar with a nice block of gouda and gave it a little kick with some cayenne because I dig a spicy mac!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Mrs. Happy Homemaker's Recipe

1 lb. fusilli pasta
1 oz. flour
1 oz. unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon hot Spanish paprika
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 cups milk (I used 2% so it took a little longer to thicken)
3 cups gouda, shredded
6 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup garlic bread crumbs
1 cup grated sharp cheddar for topping
3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
Boil pasta according to package directions. Drain.

Preheat oven to broil. 

Meanwhile, in a large, nonstick pot over medium high heat, add butter.  Let it warm up and then whisk in flour, paprika, mustard powder, cayenne, and nutmeg.  Cook for 1-2 minutes until it starts to turn a pale white.  You've got the start of a white roux (except it'll be a tad red because of the paprika and the cayenne)!

Slowly add little increments of the milk so the roux doesn't get lumpy, and once you have a smooth mixture, add the rest of the milk.  Bring mixture to a simmer, whisking constantly. Cook until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and whisk in cream cheese and the gouda. It will melt without being on the burner.

Mix cooked pasta with sauce and place into a greased baking dish. Top with the shredded cheddar cheese, breadcrumbs and parmesan. Broil until brown and bubbly, about 2-3 minutes.

This was some great mac!  It was definitely creamy and full of tons of flavor.  I'll be making this again, that's for sure!  Hope everyone has a great start to their week - I know I did!