One Potato, Two Potatoes

Starting to feel the heat on my legs.  
Standing all day long in our uniforms.  
Chopping, cutting, cooking, lifting, frying, wrapping... 
Scary part: I LOVE it.

Today was the day of potatoes.
We cut, prepped and cooked potatoes lots of ways.

Pommes de terres chateau
A delicate carving of a potatoes into equal football like shapes with 7 equal facets going around.  We diced potatoes, balled potatoes, made matchstick fries,made pont neuf fries, sautéed potatoes, grated potatoes, boiled potatoes and formed them into fancy patties.
The best part was eating the sautéed potatoes that we each made. 
Note: there is no lack of butter in the preps and the chef LOVES to douse the potatoes with both butter and oil.

Finally in the Kitchen!

After 3 weeks of classroom theory, we finally entered the kitchen!
Dicing, julienning, slicing and mincing.
Practiced on onions, shallots, carrots, basil and parsely.

Approximately 6 people cut themselves today.  Lots of band-aids distributed from Chef.  But everyone kept going and there were no complaints.  
I ended up doing on dishes duty and quickly realized that I will likely need some sort of daily manicure (something I have never needed before) as my hands were multi-colored and multi-favored by the end of the day.

And yes, for those of you who want to see me in action, here I am in uniform.

No comments please.  I felt like a fat uncle who works as a lunch lady.  

Note the the hairnet popping out from over my ears.

This is my chef doing a demo on onions.  We call him chef.  Just Chef.  It is what he prefers and what he requests.  This is my work station.  I am right in the middle near the front, so I have my eye on the entire kitchen.  





















One funny note: I was thinking of making a public service announcement asking for people to wear deodorant!!  The smell in the kitchen was tart, especially in our poly-blend outfits!!  Decided would not be a good idea, so someone told Chef to do so on our behalf.  
Will keep you posted on how that goes...Peeeeeeewwwwwwww.

To the Market

Went to Jean Talon Market with my culinary class...
Felt like one of my kids going on a field trip!
The market was beautiful, rich in colours and flavours. 
Made me wonder why one would ever shop at a grocery store...
Toured the Premiere Moisson Bakery as well as the Hamel Cheese shop.

Mostly made me hungry.
The part that cemented me feeling like a child was the scavenger hunt at the end.
BUT I actually learnt things though...

• Jerusalem artichoke and artichokes have nothing to do with each other.
• A salsifie is root vegetable between a carrot and a celery.
• We have fruits and vegetables from Mexico, Peru, Europe, Israel and India.
• You can find GMO-free corn in the market
• Mushrooms can be several hundred dollars per pound.

• Hottest pepper in the world is the Ghost Chile from Africa, which we harvest here too.

• It's cranberry season now.                           These are field cherries.

• Peeled garlic can be stored in the fridge for long periods.

My classmates, Vanessa, Marion and I shared a delicious, fresh but fattening lunch.  We have 20+ years between us but it feels just right to hang with them.  Not sure, they would say the same for me, as I can be their mother ;)

Salmon Dinner

Dinner for the family.
Random Wednesday night dinner @the Shtern house.
Recipes to follow below.  Sort of.

Tomato soup & grilled cheese croutons.                               Asian Salmon.

                            Rice Pilaf (inspired by my culinary school chef)

                     
                                                   Fried Zucchini & Steamed Broccoli.

Asian Salmon
Adapted from Bite Me Too.

Salmon filets seasoned with kosher salt & pepper
Place salmon in foil lined pan, sprayed with Pam.

Whisk this together:
2 tbsp each of: OJ, honey & soy sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 minced garlic clove
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp lime or lemon zest

Now pour half of the marinade over the prepped salmon.
Sprinkle with B&W sesame seeds

Boil other half of sauce & set aside.

Bake fish in sauce @425 for approx. 10-15 mins.
Remove and set oven to broil.
Broil until golden.
Drizzle boiled marinade over fish.

Tomato Soup w Grilled Cheese Croutons
Adapted from Bite Me.

Set oven to 425.

2 cans of diced tomatoes
2 tbsp. olive oil, kosher salt & pepper

Strain tomatoes, reserving juices in a bowl.
Spread on foil-lined, Pam sprayed trays.
Roast for 15 minutes.

In a large soup pot, heat 2 tbsp olive oil and add the following:
1 yellow onion, diced
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, peeled and diced
1 garlic clove, minced

Cook around 8 minutes.
To the pot, add:
2 tbsp of flour and mix.
Then add:
3 cups of chicken broth
2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp kosher salt & pepper
the roasted tomatoes from the oven

Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer
Cover and simmer for 30 minutes
Puree the entire soup

Then stir in:
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp fresh chopped basil

Make a Grilled cheese and chop into little squares.
Sprinkle on top of each bowl when serving.

Rice Pilaf
Oral recipe from my culinary school chef.

Dice one small onion.
Sweat the onions in a pan with olive oil, coconut oil or avocado oil, but do not brown them.
Add one portion of rice to 2.5 portions of chicken broth (what I used) or water or vegetable broth.  Ex. 1 cup of rice for 2.5 cups of water.

Stir together and bring to a boil.
Season with salt and pepper (I added Saffron salt, parsley and a bay leaf or 2)
Bake @325 in covered pot for 15-17 minutes.

NOTES
My fried zucchinis are a always a little soggy so I will refrain from posting until I get them right.
I will not tell you how to steam broccoli.  Google it :)