Freeding frenzy

It was a wonderful weekend which was filled with fun, and a time to experiment with new recipes. The saturday we (our family) headed to brooklyn, the time was perfect for me to try my recipe of gobi manchurian. My brother decided that i need to try my knowledge on the family gathered that afternoon. It was a unanimous decision to make gobi manchurian to go with the lunch. It was a simple recipe that i followed:

1 Head Cauliflower
1/2 Cup Corn starch
1/2 Cup Rice flour (instead of all-purpose flour)
1 TB soy sauce
2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 cup Ginger garilic paste
3TB Tomato ketchup
1 red onion medium dice
2 Bell pepper medium dice
1Tb Tamarind & date paste
1Tb Salt

This was a usual kind of recipe which is best for home prepearation, which had a few changes done to it. The main changes were the rice flour and the tamarind and date paste with no addition of green chilli these were the only definitive changes that i had made to the recipe and it turned out to be a super hit with the bowl licked clean (it was not licked but clean).

On Sunday morning before leaving for a recreation park in New jersey, my sister-in-law, told me that it was decided to have beef for lunch. I marinated the beef with fresh basil, worecestershire sauce, soy sauce, fresh crushed black pepper, Tamarind and date paste and english mustard. I cut the beef into chunks and marninated it until the afternoon. After we were back from the park i immediately cut 1 red onion, 2 bell pepper into large dice and marinated that with crushed pepper and lime juice and put the rest of the marniation of the beef to the vegetable and made some tasty shaslik. With some corn on the cob which was my brothers marination which just had some salt, curshed black pepper and lime juice. My brother just grilled it to perfection. It was a wonderful treat to the gourmet gods. They were so impressed by the taste that it rained mad.

Restaurant Drums

A fancy restaurant with some fancy rules, this is what i felt when i trailed at one of the restaurants in new york city. It was a restaurant (which i would not like to mention here) that has got a name with spanish speaking immigrants working long hours. It is hard to believe in this time and age when slavery has been a word of the past is clearly being carried on by having cheap labour.
As i walked into the restaurant i was asked to wear the uniform and was assigned a station (remember this was a trail to know the flow of the kitchen), I was being called at by every cooks in this restauarant to help them with their preparation. I was willing to work, but never expected it would turn out to be a bad experience after all. I walked into the kitchen at 10.30am and started to work. I was not informed of a lunch break that they had so that i could have lunch. The chef calls me for a interview into his office at 6.00pm, questions asked were what was my visa status, this was a question to judge if this person he was interviewing was for cheap labor or if he had to pay normal wages. As i am a international student (which he presumed i would be), i told him the fact as the government allows me to work on a OPT (optional practical training) status for a period of 1 year he just got his break. He tells me that i will be informed of the position that will be available via e-mail or will have the chef de cuisine inform me in the night. Once i was done with the interview i saw him walk upto the chef de cuisine and tells him something and walks away. At 8.00pm i told the chef-de-cuisine i need to leave, as i had no means of transporation and had been working straight without food for 9.5 hours, but guess what he tells me, if i needed a job i needed to wait until 10.00pm. At about 9.00pm i get the results of this gruelling day, he tells me that i will be offered a position of butcher and my wages would be 10.50 per hour. This caught me by surprise as this was direct exploitation of labour. As i had applied for a position of mid managerial level which would be a demi chef. Getting to know that i was being taken for a ride made me understand that there is no value for educated and experienced people. It just matters if you are a american you get the previledges that every american gets, and if you are a international candidate you are considered to be a payed slave.
PURE EXPLOITATION OF LABOUR IN A RESTAURANT THAT IS ZAGAT RATED.

Weekend Photo

I am a CIA alumni with a Culinary arts degree

On the 3rd of July, it was a nice sunny morning when i was awarded the Assoicates degree from the prestegious Culinary Institute of America. I was overwhelmed by different emotions. It was the day of my graduation, that i had been waiting for a long time.

It was a hard for me to imagine that i would be studying in this prestegious college that has produced some eminent personalities in the culinary world. The dream came true as my whole family supported me throughout the process. It was a hard decision that i had to make when my daughter was born, and was just 1month when i had to tell my wife and daughter that i will have leave for my education. My wife understood the reason behind the decision, which would be just nothing without her support. The money i had saved through the years that i had worked in the cruise line industry, was not even enough for the 1st semisters fee. My brother, sister-in-law, Sister, brother-in-law were the people who financed my education, without whom this would not be a reality. My parents gave me all the moral support. My wife took good care of my daughter during my absence. It was all these emotions that had filled my heart and mind as i walked to receive the medal of honor from the president.

Protein

Persillade Crusted Salmon with Horseradish mashed potato and beurre rouge

Myself and salmon we get along very well. It had been the first choice in seafood next to swordfish (if cooked right). I have been a fan of salmon since i started with salmon gravlax which was served on the cruise line that i worked with. Salmon has a unique falvor and taste which differentiates from the rest of the seafood varieites. This recipe could be tried at your lesiure, which is very simple and easy to make.

Ingredients:

Salmon, 5oz slices 5ea
Salt and pepper t.t
Dijon Mustard 1/4tsp
Japanese Crumbs 1/4tsp
Parsley chopped 1/4bunch

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350*F
• Season fish with salt and pepper and organize according to thickness on a sheet pan
• Brush with mustard and sprinkle the mixture of parsley, salt, pepper and japanese crumbs (mis de pain)
• Cook fish in oven half way and set aside. Make sure to wrap with a moist a paper towel to hold it until it is ready to serve.
• Raise the temperature of the oven to 500*F
• When it is ready to be served slide the tray in the oven and cook until done and there is a slight browning on the surface.

For the horseradish mashed potato

Ingredients:

Potatoes 7ea

Fresh horseradish grated 2tsp

Butter 1/4#

Cream 4oz

Chives, minced 1/4bunch

Method:

• Quarter potatoes and place in cold water with salt.
• When potatoes are cooked (when a knife can pass through) puree with a food mill.
• Add cold diced butter, horseradish and hot cream until you get a good texture.
• Add the chives, salt and pepper and hold in a plastic piping bag until service
• Keep warm.

For Sauteed spinach

Ingredients:

Spinach individual leaves 1#

Garlic thinly sliced 1clove

Olive oil 1oz

Salt and pepper t.t

Chicken stock as needed

Method:

Prepare this right before service.

• Heat olive oil in a pan, add sliced garlic and lightly toast to a golden color. Add spinach and cook until tender.
• Add a little stock to moisten
• Season

For the Beurre Rouge

Ingredients:

Shallots minced 1/4cup

Red wine 4oz

Red wine vinegar 1oz

Peppercorns 6ea

Bayleaf 1ea

Heavy cream 2oz

Unsalted butter diced 1/4#

Lemon Juice t.t

Salt and pepper t.t

Method:

• In a pan, add shallots, wine, vinegar and peppercorns and bay leaf and the wine reduce.
• Abour 15 minutes before you are about to serve add cream and reduce slightly on low heat.
• On the same heat add the butter slowly whipping constatly, season with lemon juice, salt and pepper and strain.

During service. Pipe the mashed potato to the side of the plate and beside that place the sauteed spinach. Above the spinach rest the salmon and drizzle the sauce around.

Endive and Scallop tart

When we think of lettuce, there are variations among them with reference to texture, bitterness and palatability. Endives is a bitter lettuce which is a great combination with light seafood. This is such an example of a wonderful recipe that would work great with the endives.
This recipe serves 4 people

Ingredients:

Basil leaves blanched 1 bu
Olive oil 1/4 cup
Salt and pepper to taste

For the orange Oil

Olive oil 1/2 cup
Orange Juice 4 ea
Orange zest 4 ea
Salt and pepper to taste

For the Tart

Puff pastry 1/4#
Belgian endives 4ea
Butter 3oz
Sugar 2oz
Fresh scallops 12 ea
Salt and pepper to taste

For the garnish

Basil leaves fried 8ea
Firm ripe plum tomatoes, peeled seeded and diced 2ea

Method:

For the basil oil:
Place the freshly blanched basil leaves in a juice extractor. Place the juice in a small sauce pan and lightly emulsify with the olive oil over low heat. Season to taste. Repeat the process for the orange oil, adding the zest at the end.

For the tart:
Roll out the puff pastry until it is approximately 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 4 (4 inch) circles. Let rest for at least 4 hours. Seperate the leaves of the endive and blanch quickly in boiling salted water. Shock in ice water and drain. Melt the butter in a large saute pan and add the sugar. Cook to form a light caramel. Add the endive and allow it to color. Remove from the heat, season and drain.
Arrange the endive leaves in a base of a 4 inch pan. Pace the puff pastry circles on top of the endive, ensuring that the outer edge is well tucked in. Set the tart in a hot oven until the pastry is browned and cooked through. While the tart is baking, occassionally press the puff pastry with the back of a palette knife to obtain a neat finish. Turn the tart out onto a tray so the endive is on top.
Season the scallop with salt and pepper and sear in a hot pan until they are browned on the outside but rare on the inside.

To serve:
Arrange the scallops on top of the endive and place 2 fried basil leaes on top of each tart. Add the died tomato to the orange oil and spoon around the plate. Finish with a drizzle of basil oil.

Tapioca Pudding

When you are catering for large group there are many simple dishes that would work wonders at the party. Among them is the tapioca pudding which blends good with any events.

This recipe yields 80 portions.

Ingredients:

Milk 9 qt
Small pearl Tapioca 3 lb
Sugar 1.5lb
Salt 2 tsp
Vanilla bean 5 ea
Egg yolks 8 ea
Sugar 1.5 lb
Heavy cream 1 qt

Method:

• Soak tapioca in milk overnight
• Bring tapioca, milk, salt, 1lb of sugar and the vanilla beans to a hot, using a double boiler. Cook tapioca until it's translucent and tender and mixture is very thick.
• Mix egg yolks with remaining sugar. Remove tapioca from heat, add egg mixture into tapioca and cool mixture over ice.
• When cold, fold in one quart of soft peak whipped cream.
• Garnish with your choice of fresh fruit (i.e raspberreis, blackberries and sauteed apples).

A weekend of fun

Being a long weekend, i decided to spend time with my brother and family. It was a weekend that was just filled with fun and learning. My sister-in-law though had a hectic schedule (being a doctor), picked me up from the station and bought me home for some good food. I was treated to a south Indian pancake (dosa). On saturday we visited the american museum of natural history which had a lot of information and worth the money spent. The lunch that was planned for the afternoon was at the Joe's Shanghai restaurant at flushing New York. My sister-in-law made sure that we have the reservations for the lunch. We waited in line though we had reservations and finally was seated with all the six of us cramped in a corner, as the restaruant was packed to the max. The waitress wasted no time, and asked if we would like to have pork or crab which does not need any explanation as this is a restaurant famous for it's dumpling which could be either pork or crab. Just the thought of my first visit here about six years back had my mouth watering. As we waited for the pork dumpling, we treated ourselves to some hot herbal tea which was set on the table. As the dumpling arrived my brother served, those steaming dumplings. It is just outstanding, i made sure i got my share of this wonderful dumpling. The next dish was the kung poa chicken which was mouth watering, then came the shredded pork & diced bean curd with jalapeno pepper and finally the beef with scallions. This treat was worth the energy that we put in waiting outside to get seated. You cant expect extra ordinary service but it is great for the food that keeps your palate craving for more.

A tip on wines

I am aware, that there are some readers to this blog wondering what too me so long to get myself back and running. I was taking a crash course on wines which is part of the Associates programme at the C.I.A Oh! let me get this right it is the culinary institute of america. This programme runs for 3 weeks and includes wines, regions, grapes, laws, varietals anything and everything that come under the term wines. It is a pretty intense course with failure rate on the high. I would like to give you a bit of the various aspects of wines, which could be of good help to all.
In the world of wine making, grapes are divided into red and white.
The major white grapes are:

Chardonnay
Sovignon Blanc
Reisling
Pino gris

The major red grapes are:

Cabernet sovignon
Pinot Noir
Merlot
Syrah

We can seperate these grapes with the body, by matching it with the tower of power:

Very light bodied whites
Muscadet (France)
Light bodied whites
Stainless steel fremened Sovignon Blanc
Medium bodied whites
Stainless steel fremened Chardonnay
Medium to full bodied whites
Barrel fermented Fume Blanc (Sovignon blanc)
Full bodied whites
Barrel fermented and aged Chardonnay

Light bodied reds
Gamay
Light to medium bodied reds
Pinot Noir
Medium to full bodied reds
Merlot, Zinfandel, Grenache, Cabernet Franc
Full bodied reds
Cabernet Sovignon, Mouverde
Very full bodied reds
Syrah/Shiraz, Petite sirah

I had the opportunity to dine with the C.E.O of Iron horse vineyards Joy Sterling. It was a wonderful experience and had the opporutnity to taste some of their wonderful wines. Blanc de Blanc which is a sparkling wine produced from 100% Chardonnay was truly amazing. This lady had a charisma and enthusism which i could feel as i sat there sipping the glasses of different wines. The dedication and care that this vineyard takes to make their wines was reflected on the wines.
California is the larger producer of wines in the U.S, with napa valley contributing a major chunk. When we buy bottles of wines, we do not realise the amount of work involved in producing that single bottle of wine. Each plantation takes a minimum of 3 years for a producer to get any yield. Most of the grapes are picked early morning to make sure that the acidity levels are balanced. The brix scale is used to measure the sugar to alcohol ratio which would determine the end product. The grapes are immediately transported to the processing plant to ensure freshness and are fermented in large stainless steel barrels with temperature regulation. In certain regions like France, Italy, Portugal there are strict government rules that needs to be followed during the wine making process. America has a short history in wine making, but has a great advantage over the rest of the world, with the rootstock fo the vitis vinifera/vitis labrusca (species of plant producing grapes), being phyloxera (an insect that destroy the roots) resistant. With the exception of Chile and parts of Australia that have not been effected by this insect.
It was a course that was worth the time spent, had a lot of information and the major aspect that is emphasised on this course is the food and wine pairing which make the dining experience pleasurable.