Good morning, sunshine.

Fact: Oregon is not sunny.
Neither were my "sunny side up" eggs this morning.
They were cloudy and grey with a hint of disappointment just like the sky.

Look, I love the rain, but I also love it when the yolks of my eggs don't break.

I am once again going to blame my mother for her ill-equipped vacation home kitchen that is really cramping my style.

Christmas shopping list:
Better kitchen gear for mom
To be continued.....

before....

after.....

Scrambled eggs and veggie hash.

It's a good thing that I deal with failure SO well. 

Blue box blues.

When your boyfriend's ex girlfriend decides that your vacation is the perfect time to cause a little drama and stir things up.... a bottle of wine (yes, another one. duh) and a little blue box blues are the perfect fix.

follow the directions on the back of the box.

enjoy in front of fire place.

second dinner for two.

Ingredients:

Contents of Kraft Macarroni and Cheese box

Milk

Butter

Method:

Cook pasta (about 7 minutes.)

Drain pasta. 

Add milk, butter, and powdered cheese packet to pasta. 

Stir

This recipe is not adapted from the back of the box. 

A little advice? 

A second dinner of macaroni and cheese is really not recommended unless you are already in a relationship. 

Pasta at midnight? 

Not the best idea unless someone already likes you and can see past you unbuttoning your jeans for a little extra room. 

Heart and Sole.

We have now been on the coast for almost a week and until last night had not made seafood.
Almost offensive.
After spending the day exploring the woods and wine tasting, I needed to pull dinner together quickly while still obviously charming the pants off of my boyfriend.

There is really no easier way to charm a boys pants off than with food.... let me tell you.

So-- quick dinner.


Please notice that I did not say "simple dinner" because I know of no such thing. 


Before I get into food and cooking.... quick side note.

Best wine ever. Absolutely delicious. 

Thank you Oregon for making outstanding Pinot Noir. 

On the menu last night: Fillet of sole with a beurre blanc sauce and asparagus. 

Richard had never had a beurre blanc sauce before. I now have bragging rights in the kitchen (as if I didn't already....)

this did not photograph well. deal with it. 

Ingredients:

Fillets of sole (fresh from the Oregon coast, of course.)

Shallots

Lemon

Oil

Butter

White wine

Salt and pepper

Method:

Season fish with salt and pepper. I pan fried the fish in a tiny bit of oil. 

Sole is so thin that it cooks annoyingly fast. It also breaks apart very easily causing me to come rather close to having my first breakdown in front of you know who. 

I am a perfectionist. 

For the beurre blanc sauce begin by sautéing the shallots in a dry pan over low heat. Do not let them get brown as this will affect the color and taste of your sauce. When they have just started to cook add a few squirts of fresh lemon juice. 

In school I learned to prepare this sauce with white wine vinegar, but since I was serving it with fish I decided to replace the vinegar and use lemon as my acid. 

Add a cup or so of white wine and reduce to 'au sec.'

When the wine has reduced remove the pan from the heat and begin to add butter very slowly. The butter should be cold. This sauce is a huge pain in the ass as it is very easy to break. Swirl the butter into the pan very slowly until you have added enough to bring the sauce to a nice consistency. 

Season. Strain out shallots. Serve over fish. 

To die for. 

I served the sole with asparagus which I blanched first and then threw in the oven for a couple of minutes with a little olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Super easy. 

Submerge asparagus in boiling water for about 3-5 minutes or until just tender. 

This method brings out the color of the vegetable and keeps it from overcooking. 

Remove asparagus from heat and place in an ice water bath to stop cooking process.

The asparagus can be held at this stage for as long as you need until you are ready to finish cooking it. 

I just placed the asparagus on a baking sheet and baked it for 5 minutes at 400 degrees until it was warm. 

Really good food. Really good wine. Really charming evening........

Winner, winner chicken dinner.

When I was a swinging single lady my go to "impress him dinner" was a roasted chicken.
Silly, right? Roasting a chicken is probably the easiest thing ever, but it looks like you spent all day cooking in a tiny little apron with high heels on. (This is a myth kind of along the same lines as "all girls have pillow fights in their panties....." Just go with it. Don't break his heart.... yet.)

So, since I have been bundled up in 17 layers of sweatpants, scarves, and ski jackets for the past week, I figured a romantic dinner for two (plus a cute pound puppy) probably wouldn't hurt.

looks like date night.

 really looks like date night. 

(this bottle of wine is dedicated to Ollie.)

Roasted Chicken:

Chicken (4-5 pounds)

Celery

Onion

Carrots

Garlic

Fresh sage

Fresh thyme

Salt and pepper

Sweet potatoes

White wine

Water

Oil/ butter

Cute boy

Method:

Prepare a mirapoix of diced carrots, onions, and celery. I used one onion, about 5 stalks of celery and 5 carrots. Set aside. 

Prepare chicken. Pull out all of the gross parts (ugh) and stuff with a little mirapoix, a few cloves of garlic, and the fresh sage and thyme. 

Usually I would truss the chicken here, but I am blessed with a mother who doesn't necessarily know what trussing means and has no use for bakers twine in her coastal kitchen. (Love you mom, don't be mad at me for making fun of you.)

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large pan over medium- high heat. Sear chicken on all sides until skin is brown and crispy. 

Remove chicken from heat and set aside. Add remaining mirapoix to the same pan and saute for a couple of minutes until vegetables are just beginning to cook. Transfer veggies to an oven safe dish and place the chicken on top. Pour a good amount of white wine over the chicken until the veggies are just covered underneath. I also add a little water. Place sweet potatoes around chicken and place in a 400 degree oven. 

The chicken should take about an hour to cook...... leaving you with plenty of time to go and fool around with the handsome boy sitting in front of the fire place. 

Note: A rainy evening, a cozy fire place by the beach, and a cute boy (with minimal clothing) can heat things up pretty quickly. So, if you get "distracted" and  forget that you are roasting a chicken (which I almost did) you will end up with a charred bird and a starving, but very satisfied boyfriend.... in that case I can promise some heat, but assume no liability for fires. K, thanks. 

After an hour or so, pull chicken out of the oven when it reaches about 155- 160 degrees. The safe temperature for poultry is 165 degrees, but I pull mine out early to account for carry over cooking. I also took my chicken out of the oven about half way through the cooking process and basted it with the pan juices. Let the chicken rest for about 10 minutes before serving.... giving you ample time to pull yourself back together----comb your hair, make sure all articles of clothing are accounted for, and a little lip gloss never hurts. Set the table like a lady (please reference "like a lady" post) and top off wine glasses.

This dinner is also so healthy that a sundae for two is completely forgivable. 

 

hot fudge, duh. 

 

after a couple (several) glasses of wine.....

totally acceptable to spoil the puppy with table scraps. 

mmmmm. goodnight.

Breakfast x 2

Whoa.... I am really playing up the romance thing in this blog lately... I hope it makes you uncomfortable.

So, with it being 46 degrees and pouring rain outside today (I love the OR coast) what better to do than cook two breakfasts?

I have been wanting to make cornmeal pancakes for ever, so they were a given on the menu this morning.
I also made a smoked gouda omelet for this boy that I like who is not a fan of pancakes.... jerk.

I am also going to take this time to mention that some of the recipes to follow are going to be a bit vague and unfinished.... or just not included. Why?

drum roll, please

I (in collaboration with my cute bf) have started working on a cookbook and apparently it is not ideal to take a cookbook to a publisher when all of your recipes are already online for free. Also, as last nights pork chop goes to show, sometimes the first try with a new recipe does not go according to plan. I was ready to order pizza, but whatever.

I can now write off grocery bills and act like I have a good reason to cook 5 meals a day. Things are looking up.

cornmeal pancakes with glazed bananas.

I could eat a bowl of glazed bananas.... freaking delicious. I also kept the pancakes on the less sweet side to play up the fruit and  maple syrup.

note: I am Canadian and absolutely offended by fake maple syrup. There is no easier way to break my heart than to give me pancakes topped with sugary chemicals. 


To glaze bananas:
Cut bananas any way you would like. I cut mine into medallions as well as lengthwise. I like to mix it up, duh.
Melt a little butter in a sauté pan. Toss bananas lightly in sugar and then place in pan. Flip when golden and just beginning to cook. You need to keep an eye on them. Mushy bananas are for babies.

boy food. 

Smoked gouda omelet:

Eggs

Water

Milk

Green onions

Smoked gouda cheese

We just happened to have gouda and onions in the fridge and omelets are best for cleaning out the refrigerator. I am currently having a bit of a love affair with smoked gouda. Not only is it cheesy and amazing.... but it gives a smokey flavor to anything that you add it to. Also amazing- smoked mozzarella. Mmm. Back to eggs......

I still have trouble keeping my omelets from turning into scrambles, but I am getting better. The only thing I hate about omelets is that they always taste dry. Today I added a little milk as well as water and they were super fluffy and not dry at all. 

I sauteed the veggies first and added them and the cheese at the end. 

I am pretty sure I have said this in another eggy post, but remove eggs from heat about a minute before they are done cooking to make up for the carryover cooking. Over cooked eggs are gross. 

It is pouring. 

I love Oregon. 

Like a lady.

Because you should know....

Champagne. White wine. Red wine. Dessert wine. 

This is my kind of table. 

Flank steak with blue cheese sauce.

My goal in life is to make my boyfriend fat. Everyday I come home from school carrying tupperware filled with veal, pork, chicken...... you get it. Amazing.

I am on spring break this week (hence the coastal vaca...) so I am going to have to really step up the home cooking. 

After tearing up Portland for 24 hours, last night was our first night on the Oregon coast.

On the menu:

Grilled flat iron steak with a balsamic reduction sauce, caramelized onions, and a blue cheese sauce. Yes, two sauces because I am just that cool. 

Now true, a good steak does not need sauce, but this is to die for and worth the need of taking on a severe eating disorder after consuming every sinful (calorie filled) bite.

sorry veggie friends.

Ingredients:

Flank steak

Balsamic vinegar

Shallots

Red wine

Onion

Butter

Blue cheese

Salt and pepper

Method:

This "recipe" was kind of just thrown together with what we had in the fridge after a trip to the grocery store where we were both starving and came home with a lot of things that needed a little creativity to go together. So, there's probably a much fancier  way to make a blue cheese sauce that wouldn't make my teachers at school shudder with disappointment, but this was super easy to make and delicious.

I leave the steak grilling up to the boy.  

Make a balsamic reduction. Sauté shallots in a little butter or olive oil. Add a splash of red wine. Reduce to 'au sec.' Add balsamic vinegar (half a cup or so) and reduce to 1/4 cup or until thick.

Caramelize onions. Slow. Slow. Slow. 

For the blue cheese sauce I just melted about a tablespoon of butter.... added a little minced onion and garlic, and then added about half a cup to a cup of blue cheese. I kept it over pretty low heat and stirred constantly to keep it from browning on the bottom. 

To plate....

Thinly slice the steak and be proud of the cute boy that cooked it to a prefect medium rare. 

Balsamic reduction on the bottom. Caramelized onions and blue cheese sauce on top. 

We served this with mushroom cous cous and brussel sprouts. 

A word on brussel sprouts. 

They look like cute baby cabbages, but everyone talks to much crap about them that I didn't even know I liked them until about two weeks ago. They are delicious, healthy, and easy to make. 

The stem is very tough.... so cut a small triangle to get rid of the hard part while leaving the leaves intact. 

I blanched my brussel sprouts. It keeps them tender and prevents the outer leaves from over cooking or falling off while trying to sauté them. 

To blanch:

Place brussel sprouts in boiling water for about 5 minutes until tender, but crisp. Remove and place in an ice bath to stop the cooking process. I sauteed a little garlic in some olive oil and then added the brussel sprouts right before serving them just to warm them up and give them some flavor.

Drink plenty of red wine.
Food Coma.

Sunday morning.

....Monday morning.

I am on vacation, which totally gives me the power to mix my days around as I feel fit.

So, I come to you with the utmost blogging dedication from a cute little cafe on the Oregon coast....

   

I'm surprised they haven't kicked us out yet.

Where the view across the street is this........

puts CA to shame.

And you should feel awful for me because my life is SO hard.


We had breakfast in Portland yesterday. Mmmm. Good food and probably one of my absolute favorite cities.

Biscuit with eggs and cheese from Pine State Biscuits in Portland, OR.

Ingredients:
Biscuit
Scrambled eggs
Tilamook cheddar cheese (I am in Oregon and surrounded by wonderful cheese)

I obviously did not jump behind the kitchen line and whip this up myself, but it's pretty self explanatory and I am sure very possible to make at home.

the McIsley.

Richard had a biscuit with fried chicken, pickles, dijon mustard, and honey.

Richard also made fun of me for ordering chocolate milk instead of coffee, but it was made with gnash.... 'nuff said.

Pine State Biscuits: http://pinestatebiscuits.com/

Day 25

Yes. I skipped day 24.

That nose stuffing, taste bud ruining sickness that I was plagued with last week finally caught up with me post St. Patty's day and I prescribed myself a day in bed to cheat death.

he did not cheat death.

Today was our last cooking day of the term before I move on to Culinary Foundations 3. Ah! I get to make my own sausage in that class. I don't really like sausage, but it looks like a project that is messy and I can totally be on board with. Foundations 3 also brings me one class closer to baking.... and if you know me and know anything about my random efforts in occasionally turning my kitchen into a bakery, you know I feel about this.

We made poached salmon served with a beurre blanc sauce and also prepared fillets de sole bonne femme which is a fancy French way of saying "kind of gross baked sole with fish gravy." Not a fan. Today was actually the first day that I have ever prepared salmon or really even ever touched it. Mine was a little over cooked, but for my first time I was pretty pleased that it didn't spontaneously combust.

poached salmon avec beurre blanc.

Ingredients:

Salmon fillet

Court bouillon (poaching liquid)

For the court bouillon you will need:

Water

Onion

Carrot

Celery

Bay leaf

Thyme

Parsley Stems

Acid- lemon juice, wine vinegar, white wine

Method:

Begin by making the court bouillon. Chop vegetables and combine everything in a large stock pot and fill it with water. Bring to a boil and then let the ingredients steep for about 15 minutes. 

In a smaller saute pan, bring enough water to almost cover the fillet of salmon to poaching temperature. Liquid temperature to poach must be between 160 degrees and 180 degrees. 

Season the salmon and place it presentation side down in the poaching liquid. The presentation side will always either be the side with the skin if there if skin on the fish, or the side that had bones if there is no skin on the fish. 

Cook the salmon to medium. It should be firm to the touch but with an orange center. 

this salmon is properly cooked to medium. my salmon did not look like this.

trade the perfectly orange center with a flakier, pinker version and you should get the idea....ugh.

Beurre blanc sauce:

Shallots

White wine

White wine vinegar

Butter

Salt

Heat the shallots in a pan. Add a little white wine vinegar and some white wine. Reduce to 'au sec.' Remove the pan from heat and 'monte de beurre' or slowly whisk in butter. This sauce is very easy to break. High heat or adding to much fat too quickly will cause the emulsion to break and you will have to start from the beginning. 

Serve salmon with beurre blanc sauce and garnish with lemon and parsley.  

tragedy.

I am not even going to include the next recipe because it really is not very good and I will never make it again... and you should never make it for a first time. However, for the record....I actually completely messed this dish up in class today. I was so focussed on my overcooked salmon (clearly fish is not my forte.... 5/5 was nowhere to be written today) that I forgot to pull my sole out of the oven and actually ended up having all of my gross fish gravy evaporate during cooking. In a pinch.... I added a little clam juice to my left over beurre blanc and turned in my makeshift dish as the original and totally pulled it off. I am pretty sure I got a "wow, this actually tastes marvelous...." That is how culinary school is done

Sunday morning.

Sunday #2 found me in full home (bedroom and bathroom) make-over mode because I am the best girlfriend ever. I even went to the market in my painting clothes in the pouring rain. I guess I am just always thinking of others. 

Home make-over mode calls for a good hearty breakfast...... preferably covered in cheese and sour cream. It is 9 pm (post painting, now) and the thought of cheese and sour cream covered ANYTHING just made me hungry again. 

huevos rancheros.

Huevos Rancheros:
Oil/butter
Eggs
Corn tortillas
Onion
Garlic
Pepper jack cheese
Bell pepper
Can of diced tomatoes
Chicken stock
Jalapenos
Cilantro
Cumin
Chili powder
Salt
Pepper
Tabasco
Cayenne pepper

Black Beans:
Can of black beans with juices
Jalapeno
Onion
Garlic
Cumin
Chili Powder
Tabasco
Salt

Method:
Begin by making the rancheros sauce. Sweat onions and bell peppers in a sauce pan about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic, spices, and jalapeno. Cook until fragrant. Add Can of tomatoes and the juices and 1 cup of chicken stock. Bring to a simmer and cook about 15 minutes. Season with salt and add a good amount of chopped cilantro just before serving.

Prepare the black beans. Seriously- Emily McCallister, you are a saint for sharing this black bean recipe. It is my absolute favorite.
Saute onions and jalapenos. Add garlic. Add black beans and the liquid from the can. Add spices. Let the beans cook for a bit and then mash everything together with a potato masher. Season with salt.

I fried the corn tortillas because it is delicious to do so (and also SO heart healthy) but you do not have to.

Fry eggs in a little oil and butter. I like my yolks extra runny, so they only need to cook for about a minute per side. Once flipped- sprinkle some cheese on top to melt.

To serve: 
Place fried eggs on top of the corn tortillas. Finish with rancheros sauce and garnish with cilantro. Serve with refried black beans. I also served mine with sliced avocado and sour cream.

Mexican food kind of completes me.

Day 23

Today in culinary school I learned that every time I have ever made a stuffed chicken breast I was actually torturing the people eating my food because I had no idea what I was doing. Yes, I just admitted that I am not perfect. Someone take note, or a photo, or something like that because it does not happen often.

Today in class we made chicken breasts and legs stuffed with duxelles. Duxelles is a mixture of mushrooms, shallots, and breadcrumbs that is used in many different French recipes. 

We used a technique called tunnel boning on the leg. To do this, the whole bone is removed from the leg while keeping the meat intact. Duxelles is then stuffed in place of the bone.

To prepare the chicken breast we were taught a technique using caul. Caul is the web like membrane of fatty material that encases the internal organs in a pig. I think this is disgusting and I do not know why some crazy French person thought this would be an ideal material to use for for cooking. I also think menudo is gross. I know that these things are unrelated, but they remind me of each other and I just really feel the need to put that out there.

caul.

To stuff the chicken breast, we pounded it lightly with a meat mallet, wrapped the chicken around the stuffing, and then wrapped the caul around the chicken breast. When the caul is cooked it melts and shrinks, holding the chicken together and leaving a web-like design on the meat. The one upside of caul.... it made my chicken look kind of pretty. 

Ok, so this is definitely not the simplest chicken recipe, but it is so tasty and very French. 

stuffed chicken breast.

Ingredients:

Chicken breast and leg

Mushrooms

Shallots

Breadcrumbs

Oil

Butter

Caul

Mirapoix- onion, celery, carrots

Salt and pepper

Method:

Prepare the stuffing first. Sweat the shallots in a mixture of butter and oil. Add mushrooms and sauté until most of the moisture has evaporated. Remove the pan from heat. Add breadcrumbs and a little butter to keep the mixture moist. Season with salt and set aside. 

duxelles.

Next, prepare the chicken. To remove the bone from the leg, turn the leg with the skin/ presentation side down. Scrape meat with your knife to expose the bone. Cut around the knuckle and continue to separate the meat from the bone until you reach the end of meat. You will end up with your chicken meat attached only at the end of the bone and turned inside out. Cut the bone and turn the chicken right side in. It should look whole and as if the bone is still inside. Stuff the mushroom mixture inside the leg to replace to bone. 

To prepare the breast, begin by removing the skin and trimming the fat. We left the bone in for presentation. Pound the breast with a meat mallet until it is thin enough to wrap around the stuffing. You should use about a tablespoon of stuffing. Wrap the folded breast in the caul fat. You can also use string to hold the breast together. 

Heat oil in pan and brown both pieces of chicken. Brown the presentation side of the leg and the side with the caul seam on the breast. Remove chicken and set aside. Add mirapoix to pan. Add a little more oil and then place both pieces of chicken on top of the mirapoix and roast in the oven at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees. 

Note: For perfectly cooked chicken, you can remove it from the oven when it reaches 150 degrees. It will continue to cook for several minutes and will ensure that the chicken does not dry out. 

Prepare a pan sauce using the mirapoix left from the chicken. 'Sange' the mixture with flour. Add chicken stock. Reduce and season. 

Slice breast for presentation. Serve thigh whole. I served my chicken with a rice pilaf and a medley of glazed carrots, pearl onions, and brussel sprouts. 

Day 22

I felt a little like Julia Child in class today... If Julia Child had red hair and a terrible cold. Cooking with a nonexistent sense of smell and incompetent taste buds was rather inconvenient, but I trussed my chicken like a champ and was back in bed by 10am.

Oh, Julia. 

Today I learned how to fabricate a chicken. This was actually pretty simple. We started with the whole chicken. We removed the breasts, wings, legs and thighs, and were left with all the edible parts of the chicken plus the bones for stock making. Amazing. 

cornish game hen with glazed vegetables

Ingredients:

Oil

Cornish game hen

Mirapoix- celery, carrots, onions

Garlic

Thyme

Flour

Chicken stock

Bouquet garni- parsley, bay leaf, thyme

Bakers twine to truss

Salt and pepper

Glazed vegetables:

Carrots

Pearl onions

Potato

Turnip

Butter 

Sugar

Water

Method:

Begin by prepping the mirapoix. Season the inside and outside of the hen with salt and pepper and then stuff it with mirapoix and a clove of garlic. I also threw in a sprig of thyme. 

Truss the hen. This is a technique using string to tie the chicken in a way that makes it much more appealing for presentation. It can also aid in even cooking. 

Once your hen is trussed, 'poulet' or brown it in a pan with oil over medium- high heat. Once all sides are browned, add mirapiox to pan, put hen on top, and place in the over at 350 degrees to roast until the temperature reached 165 degrees. This will take about 45 minutes to an hour. 

While the hen is in the oven, prepare your vegetables. In class we had to 'tourne' all of the vegetables. I would never in my right mind do this at home. We then glazed them with butter, sugar, and water in a pan covered with a 'cartouch' until tender. 

When the hen is cooked, remove it from the pan and set aside. To prepare the sauce, 'sange' (or sprinkle) the caramelized mirapoix and juices from the pan with flour. Add chicken stock and bouquet garni and reduce to 'nappe' consistency. Strain. Season. Serve as sauce/gravy with hen and vegetables. 

Day 21

I am so glad I am not a vegetarian. However, it has recently come to my attention that I would love to own a baby pig one day because they are insanely cute (baby piglet picture here)....and while this did cross my mind as I was searing my pork chop, I quickly forgot about their cute little noses and remembered how delicious they taste. I might go to hell.  We also made veal today. Seriously... I might go to hell.

Cotes de porc charcutière avec pommes purée.

Pork chop:

Pork chop

Butter 

Salt and pepper

Sauce:

Onions

White wine vinegar

White wine

Bouquet garni- thyme, bay leaf

Peppercorns

Veal Stock

Gherkins- Julienned

Dijon Mustard

Butter

Salt

Pureed potatoes:

Potatoes

Butter

Cream- reduced

Salt and Pepper

Method:

Begin by making potatoes because these take the longest and can be held until needed. 

Cook potatoes in boiling water until soft. Push through food mill or a china cap. Whisk in butter and cream until desired consistency. Cream should be hot and reduced prior to adding it to the potatoes. 

Season with salt. 

Next, season the pork chop and sear it in an oiled pan over high heat. A few minutes per side should be fine. Place pork chop on a pan and finish cooking it in the oven at about 375 degrees until it is cooked through. When it is finished it will be firm to the touch and 142 degrees at medium. 

Prepare the sauce in the pan you seared the pork chop in. Add a little oil if needed. Sauté onions.  Add a splash of white wine vinegar and about 1/2 a cup of white wine and reduce to 'au sec.' Add bouquet garni and add about 8 ounces of veal stock and reduce to 'nappe.' Add dijon mustard. Strain. Finish with a little butter and stir in julienned gherkins. 

Remove pork chop from oven. Plate the mashed potatoes and finish with sauce. 

Escalope de veau a la creme petits pois a la francaise. 

Veal Scaloppine in a mushroom cream sauce:

Veal

Flour

Oil

Sauce:

Butter

Button mushrooms- sliced

Cognac

Brown veal stock

Cream

Salt and Pepper

Petit Peas:

Bacon

Oil

Pearl onions

Sugar

Peas

Boston Lettuce- shredded

Method:

Pound the veal using a meat mallet until about 1/8 of an inch thick. Season veal and dredge in flour. Saute in an oiled pan over medium heat until just browned. Remove veal from pan and set aside. 

To prepare sauce,  add mushrooms to pan. When browned, flambe with cognac. Reduce. Add veal stock and reduce. Add cream, bring to a simmer, and add veal back to the pan to finish cooking. Finish sauce with finely chopped parsley. Season with salt and pepper. 

To make the peas, begin by rendering bacon fat over medium heat until bacon is crispy. Add boston lettuce and peas. Sauté until lettuce is wilted. Season with salt and pepper. 

Serve veal with pommes puree (see above recipe) and petit peas. 

Day 20

Fish and Chips

(I am pretty sure these are British, not French...)

fish and chips.

Ingredients:

lean white fish- traditionally COD is used

Eggs

Flour

Panko bread crumbs

Oil

Salt (lots of salt...)

Method:

If you have a deep fryer, awesome. Heat it up- get that sucker going. 

I do not have a deep fryer. If I did, I would deep fry everything and it would not be pretty. My refrigerator is usually full (when it is actually full, which is rarely) of mainly vegetables and cheese. Both of those things are amazing deep fried which is case in point why I do not own a deep frier. 

Moving on....

If you do not have a deep fryer. Heat up a neutral frying oil in a large pot. I use my dutch oven. You do not want it all the way to the top. Oil fires are very messy. Just enough oil to be able to submerge whatever you are frying will do. 

Prepare ingredients. Chop potatoes- we all know what french fries look like. I like mine a little on the crunchy side, so I cut mine pretty thin. If you cut them too thick they will burn, not cook. Place the cut fries in water until you are ready to use them or else they will begin to oxidize. 

note: if you hold your potatoes in water, make sure to dry them before placing them in the fryer. Oil and water do not mix and cause very bad burns when forced to do so. 

Cut fish into long strips. Season well with salt and pepper. 

Bread the fish by first dredging it through flour. This will help the egg and bread crumbs stick and prevent the breading from flaking off. 

Submerge in egg wash and then cover in bread crumbs.

flour. egg wash. panko crumbs. 

Oil should be heated to about 350 degrees.

Carefully drop fish in oil and cook until golden brown. 

Remove fish from oil, place in an oven safe dish (uncovered) and cook in the oven at about 350 degrees while you prepare your French Fries. The fish is done when opaque and flakey. 

To prepare the french fries, submerge them in the oil and cook until desired doneness. Remove from oil, place on paper towels to drain some of the oil and season well with salt while the fries are still hot. 

Serve with Tartar Sauce and garnish with lemon. 

Tartar sauce:

Mayonnaise

Capers

Gherkins

Lemon Juice

Salt

Pepper

Parsley

Method:

Combine prepared mayonnaise with finely chopped capers, gherkins, and parsley. Add a splash of lemon juice and season well with salt and pepper. 

I wish they were wrapped in newspaper, but I also wish I had a British accent and lived in a flat. Served on a plate will have to do. 

Sunday morning.

It has come to my attention that I eat eggs for breakfast just about every day. It has also come to my attention that I am a fan of chopping up some veggies, maybe adding a little cheese, and making the exact same "healthy" veggie scramble every Sunday morning to make up for my generally not so healthy shenanigans from the night before. Tasty? Sure. Boring? Absolutely.

So in an effort to jazz things up a bit-- every Sunday will now be dedicated to making a new egg dish until I run out of ideas or the thought of them makes me sick.

scrambled eggs with toast.

Ingredients:

Whole grain ciabatta bread

Goat cheese

Onions

Mushrooms

Eggs

Green Onions

Salt and Pepper

Method:

Caramelize onions (slice them very thin.) Add mushrooms and saute over low heat while you prepare the rest of the dish. 

Slice bread about an inch thick and place under the broiler for a minute or two until toasted. 

Spread a layer of goat cheese on the toast and put it back in the oven for just a minute to melt the cheese a little bit. If you forget about your bread it will turn black very quickly and your kitchen will be filled with smoke. Personal experience...... good morning. 

Top toast with onion and mushroom mixture. 

Scramble eggs. Over done eggs are gross, so make sure you remove them from heat about 60 seconds before they are cooked to desired doneness because they will continue to cook. 

Pile scrambled eggs on top of toast and garnish with green onion. 

Delicious and boyfriend approved. 

Day 19

Lamb Stew and Shrimp Fritters with curried mayonnaise.

Today was the first day that we have cooked meat and let me just say this-  at 6 am it takes a mighty appetite to replace cherrios with lamb stew and thankfully that it a challenge that I am up for.

I really need to go to the gym.

navarin du lamb.

Ingredients:
Lamb (We used lamb shoulder)
Oil/butter
Onion
Shallot
Garlic
Flour
Tomato Paste
Bouquet garni (bay leaf and thyme)
Water
Peas
Green Beans
Carrots
Tomato
Turnip
Pearl onions
Salt and Pepper

Method:
Heat butter and oil in pot over medium heat. Brown lamb. I usually dry off my meat when browning, but today I did not and that was fine. However, when making a brown braise, it is very important to really brown the meat. My sauce was not as dark as I would have liked today because I didn't brown the lamb long enough.
Remove meat from pot and set aside.
Using the fat from the lamb brown onions and shallots. Again, I wanted my sauce darker, so I should have browned my onions longer. There are a lot of things I should have done differently with this dish (even though I still got 5/5) but we will get to that in a moment.
Once onions and shallots are browned add garlic and cook just until fragrant. Garlic burns very quickly and will make your dish very bitter.
'Pince' with tomato paste.
'Sange' with flour. This is the fancy French way of saying sprinkle......

Now, if you are very hungover from the night before and just happen to 'sange' with baking soda and cornstarch which is sitting at your station for your next dish..... do not worry because apparently this will not ruin your stew!
Yep. I thought baking soda was flour. This began todays inner breakdown.

Dear Chef Brown, 
As you are reading and grading this, please do not hate me. I know that you asked me if I added flour and I said yes, but I lied and I am sorry.  
Sincerely, Sarah.

Add meat back to pot. Add bouquet garni and enough water to cover the meat.
Bring to a simmer. Cover and let braise for about 45 minutes until meat is tender.

While the meat is braising, begin preparing the vegetables.
Blanch green beans.
Tourne turnips and carrots (this is incredibly difficult to do with shaky hands.)
Peel pearl onions.
Blanch and chop tomato.

Glaze turnips, carrots, and pearl onions.
Heat butter in saute pan. Add vegetables. Add sugar and water. Cover with a 'cartouche' and let simmer until vegetables are tender and liquid has turned into a glaze. Keep a close eye on the vegetables because they all cook at different speeds.

When braise is done cooking, remove meat and reduce sauce to 'nappe.' Add tomatoes and green peas. Season with salt.
Add meat back to sauce and spoon into shallow bowls.
Garnish with carrots, turnips, green beans, and pearl onions.

beignets de gambas.

I hate shrimp so much that I am not even going to write about it. 

I also hate mayonnaise.