Teaching kids to make healthier lifestyle choices for themselves and, by extension, their families; while focusing on the common denominator of food to bridge cultural, social and economic divides among young people.
Pineapple, Kiwi, and Oranges in Mint Syrup: When I saw this recipe, a little voice in my head said, " Uh-Oh"; mainly because I'm not a huge fan of mint or kiwi. So, I compromised. Instead of using mint for the syrup, I used thyme. But after I made it, it was still lacking something. So I added some lemon and orange juice leftover from the salad. I added a little more sugar to balance out the citrus, boiled it down and was left with a fabulous sauce that was perfect with the salad!! It even made the kiwi taste good
Braised Fish Steaks with Olives and Lemons: This fish was cooked perfectly! We purchased thick, fresh, halibut steaks which were to die for with the leftover pan sauce! I thought that the lemons were kind of weird in this dish because most people don't eat lemon rind, but the flavor it left in the sauce was fantastic!
Braised Chicken w/Shallots, Garlic and Balsamic Vinegar: I was very happy with the way the balsamic/garlic/shallot sauce turned out. It went perfectly with the chicken! When I cooked the chicken in the bacon grease, oh the aroma was incredible! Sadly, I snacked on the bacon that was supposed to go on top of the chicken when it was finished, and then realized that I had almost eaten half of it!!! In spite of that, the chicken turned out great!
“The thing I like best about cooking is being creative with recipes.”
“I expect from Jr. Chef to learn new techniques and have fun!”
Baked Rigatoni with Bechamel Sauce
Lucky for me, I had made this previously from one of my favorite cookbooks and I learned from my previous mistakes. This batch turned out wonderful! It was sooo good even my sister asked for the leftovers; she hates leftovers!
Crepes Stuffed with Fresh Fruit, Maple Syrup, and Creme Anglaise
Although the crepes were challenging, the end result was amazing! The batter took a little patience when adding the flour because I didn't want it to form lumps. But once I got the hang of it, it was pretty easy. It took a while to master cooking the crepes because they never turn out right the first time, just like my Creme Anglaise which turned into egg soup the first time but on the second attempt turned out wonderfully.
Salmon with Horseradish Green Goddess Sauce
After having my mayonnaise break several times in class, I decided to use an electric mixer and the mayonnaise (for the green goddess sauce) turned out great each time I have made it since! The salmon was cooked to perfection and the sauce was just to die for, with all of the fresh herbs and the hint of spice from the horseradish.
Bacon and Avocado Sandwiches
Since these sandwiches had no protein in them whatsoever, I decided to put some deli turkey in them and they turned out great! I also added a little fresh lemon to the herb mayo to freshen the flavors up a bit and all of it was gone. So, I couldn't have any the next day!
Brownies with White Chocolate Chunks and Creme Anglaise
The batter I made for the brownies was sooooo good!! I literally licked the bowl clean! I added a bit of vanilla extract to the Creme Anglaise because it didn't call for any and I found that strange. I only added white chocolate to 1/2 of the brownie batter because my dad dislikes white chocolate, but I think it added a nice contrast to the dark chocolate.
Carrot Sandwich Cookies: I was surprised at how good these cookies were! Although I didn't make them into sandwiches, I put plenty of the yummy cream cheese frosting on top! Unfortunately, I forgot to put the raisins in the batter which made them still very good, but not as good as they could have been.
Braised Chicken w/ Peppers and Tomatoes: This chicken was really good. It had amazing flavors and best of all my whole family enjoyed it! I was surprised, though, at how much salt it needed. I used the bone-in chicken which made it fall off the bone; it was so tender!
January '10 Technique: Sauces
February '10 Technique: Grains
Bruschetta with Sauteed Greens
This was an interesting recipe. I used spinach, although I wanted to used swiss chard. But if I had, I would have had pink crostini! The garlic really stood out in these, adding a new depth of flavor. I also added some parmesean (not included in the recipie) which gave it a slightly salty taste.... yum! If you want to make these, you have to make them in small batches and eat them right away because the wilted greens cool very quickly and after cooled, they are not the most appetizing!
Tabbouleh
Tabbouleh has always been one of my favorite Greek foods. It is so good! The chewy bulgar, fresh, red tomatoes ripened in the summer sun, cucumbers marinated with the lemon juice and olive oil, turn into fresh pickles and don't even get me started on basil! This has been one of the best side dishes I have made in this class becasue of its simplicity of flavors. The only alteration I made was to add a bit more lemon and a little less mint. Because of its robust flavor, I didn't want the mint to overpower the rest of the dish.
Coconut Brown Rice Pudding
Unfortunately, some of the ingredients for this dish were difficult to find. The sweet brown rice is uncommon, but eventually we found it. The hardest ingredient to find was the light coconut milk! I couldn't find it anywhere, so I decided to go with the regular coconut milk. The day I was going to make the pudding I realized why the recipe called for light coconut milk. The recipe called for 3 cans of milk (40 oz) and in just 1/3 of a cup, there was 14g of fat and 10g of saturated fat!!! I was shocked! In an attempt to cut out some of the fat, I substituted some plain milk for coconut milk. The end result was delicious, especially with the dried apricots which brought out the flavor of the coconut milk. Sadly though, I couldnt bring myself to eat much of it knowing how much fat and calories it contained.
Millet Patties
These patties were yummy! I started looking for millet in the "higher end" grocery stores, but what do you know, I found it at WinCo! I enjoyed making these, except when I burned my hand while forming the patties. They were so good, I just had to over look it.
