Egg Pictures

Here are some photos of my egg stuff I made last week... First is my partner in eggs, Evan. Next is a batch of lemon souffles, then chocolate souffle and finally a Souffle Suisse, which involves first baking some souffles with cheese and carmelized onions, THEN inverting them into a gratin dish, pouring in about a quart of cream and adding more cheese then baking. We got to see this great piece of science in action with something called the Maillard reaction, which is the name for the browning that happens when sugars (in the case of the Suisse - cream) react with proteins (the eggs, of course). It is a totally different reaction than carmelization. Last photo is of the chocolate panna cotta. Enjoy!

Practicing in Class

Here are a few other pictures of practice from class...

Pictures from Field Trip

Here are a few photos from my field trip last Friday. The first is Payard Patisserie, the second is from Financier, a bakery near Wall Street, the third is a photo of some of Jacques Torres chocolates and lastly, a photo at Bruno Bakery.

Garden of Eden

My first official project for pastry class involves visiting a fruit market, picking 10 different fruits, identifying the different varieties of the fruit and writing a paragraph on each one. I chose a gourmet grocery store down the street from school called the Garden of Eden. It really is a a grocery paradise! They must have had 100s of different fruit varieties, certainly 10 that I can pick to write about. Here are some photos from the inside.

NY Times Travel Show

Today I volunteered at the NY Times Travel Show. This year's theme was Taste of the World, and the visiting chefs needed some assistants, so a bunch of students from ICE showed up today to help out. We worked NON-STOP from 10-5 today, chopping things (onions, herbs, spices, cheese), plating food, serving food and just generally running around trying to feed 150+ people out of a makeshift kitchen the size of a broom closet. The show was held in the convention center and there really wasn't an official kitchen, so one was set up in the corner, closed off by a few curtains. We really had to improvise, but it was great fun and really good experience. The most well-known visiting chef that we worked with was Paul Prudhomme. You probably know him as THE authority on New Orleans cooking and we got a bunch of great spices to take home. We also worked with a number of other chefs, food stylists and food historians. It was tiring and I've spent the evening watching the snow come down out of one eye and the Oscars out of the other.

Exam, Eggs, Field Trip

Sorry I am only posting lately on the weekends. It is my plan to try to write more during the week, instead of putting out a ton of posts on the weekend. That's just how it's been lately! As the title says, I had my first big test on Tuesday. The test was a national certification for ServSafe, the food safety and sanitation program. I'm sure I passed, and think I did really well. Most of my class was done with the test by 2:30 on Tuesday, so we all went out to party. I called Todd at 5:00 and he joined us in the city to help celebrate being done with ServSafe! We weren't out too late, but it still felt like a long day on Wednesday... :) This week in pastry class, we've been focused on eggs. We've made souffles - chocolate, any kind of fruit you could possibly think of, flourless, with flour - marshmallows (the made-from-scratch kind are SO much better), and panna cotta (my favorite new recipe that I've learned so far).
Thursday evening, our Culinary Management class went out to dinner to a Korean BBQ restaurant called Kang Suh. It was lots of fun, we tried a bunch of new foods and drink. We had a good time. Here is a picture of the group!

On Friday, we had a field trip and went around Manhattan as a group to try out some of the best pastry shops and chocolatiers in town. We hit Payard Patisserie, Financier, Jaques Torres Chocolates and Bruno Bakery. Google them and check out their websites. These truly are some of the most special places in the world for baking, pastries and chocolate. Friday night Todd and I went to dinner at Gramercy Tavern, New York's #1 rated restaurant for who knows how many years straight now. We definitely know what all the hype is about. For starters, the place is beautiful!! The food was truly spectacular and service was top-notch. We ate in the Tavern portion (not the main restaurant), which is less expensive and you can get in without a reservation, but didn't find that the experience was sacrificed at all. I can say that it is one of my new favorites and we'll definitely go back. Today I spent a good six hours in the school practicing my pulled sugar ribbons and my fingertips are swollen and sore. I hope there won't be any blisters! I do feel like I'm getting more comfortable with the process and on my way to getting ready for my first commissioned job here in New York! Tomorrow is the NY Times Travel Show. (Actually it's all weekend long, but I am volunteering there tomorrow.) The theme of the show this year is Taste of the World, so they've asked the culinary students to help with prepping and plating food for the show. More to come on that once I get back...

One Experiment and One New Skill

Today was a great day! By the sound of that, you'll probably guess I didn't do much studying today. Ha ha! Two friends from my pastry class joined me here at the apartment for a little experiment with gelling agents. We were talking about gelatin in class the other day and how it is made from animal products so sometimes people won't eat desserts with gelatin if they are, say vegetarian or vegan. Our chef mentioned 2 alternate gelling agents that are not made from animals, agar-agar (a seaweed product) and this stuff called Mycryo (a patented, very finely powdered cocoa butter made by Callebaut). The three of us GALS decided to make a recipe from our text that calls for gelatin, and also make the same recipe using agar-agar and Mycryo. I won't say that I LOVED all three of the final products, but we definitely did what we set out to do. The agar gels a little differently than gelatin (it melts at a slightly higher temperature than gelatin, so it doesn't "melt in your mouth" like mousses, etc made with gelatin), but it's completely tasteless, so the actual taste is very similar. The Mycryo really does give the final product a very cocoa butter flavor, and it didn't seem to gel up for us. We never could find a decent conversion ratio for using it, so it's possible we just didn't use enough or we used too much. I love science! I love dessert! I'll bring a batch of each in to class on Tuesday so that everyone can taste for themselves and also so that Chef Kathryn can tell us what we might have done differently. Speaking of Chef Kathryn, my other activity for the day today was to be one of her assistants in a recreational class she was teaching on How to Pull a Sugar Ribbon (you know like how they do with those amazing sugar masterpieces on Food Network?)...The class was from 5-10 and was FULL! Not only did I learn a ton, have lots of fun and get to work with the sugar (usually as an assistant, you are not promised anything as far as practicing the skill, but you can at least listen to the lecture), but I think I may have earned myself a commissioned job from a local artist who asked me if I'd make a sugar sculpture for him to use in one of his paintings!! WOW!! Here is a picture of the bow I made from pulled sugar ribbons today. I can see myself REALLY getting in to this....

Study Break

We spent Friday night and most of Saturday "in..." My first big exam is coming up on Tuesday. It's the national certification exam for ServSafe, on food sanitation and safety. Some of it's common sense (wash your hands, etc), some of it's old news for me from pharmacy (salmonella, shigella, CDC, etc), but a lot of it is new, very detailed information (chicken must be cooked to 165°F for at least 15 seconds, while pork roasts cook to 145°F for at least 4 minutes, while stuffed pork chops have to cook to 165°, etc, etc.) There are endless temperatures and time requirements for food! The test is standardized and multiple-choice, though, so I should pass with no problems. We did take a few hours out for study break to meet my dear friend and college roommate, Cheryl, and her husband Dan out for drinks before their "anniversary" dinner. We met at a restaurant that I pass when I have to transfer trains on the Upper East Side, called the Fig & Olive. We split a couple bottles of wine and had some light bites (olive oil tasting, cheese plate and mixed olives - I can easily make a meal out of those things). We will definitely go back for dinner. It was great, as always, to see Cheryl and Dan. They are so genuine, have so much life and are absolutely hilarious! It's really, really wonderful to be hanging out with Cheryl again.

Highlights of the Week

Todd made plans for us for Valentine's Day to have dinner at this Portuguese restaurant that I had circled in my Zagat's guide (food bible for NYC) called Alfama. He didn't tell me where we were going until we got there, but the whole night was just perfect! I've been telling him about this one area of the West Village that I LOVE and could get off the subway there and just roam around aimlessly. There isn't anything in particular that I see or go to when I am there, but it is a charming place to walk around. Well, guess what? That's exactly the stop we got off at! The restaurant was a 2-3 block walk and was just fabulous! You name it - we had it - caviar, lobster risotto, lamb chops, chocolate souffle cake. Service was good and the place was adorable. Like I said, perfect. (The dinner itself was not very Portuguese, but I bet that's because it was Valentine's Day.) We'll definitely go back on a more routine evening to taste what they do with more typical Portuguese dishes. The first thing we do in class each day is practice working with chocolate. Writing and piping designs with melted chocolate is something that takes A LOT of practice to master, so we start working on it on Day 1 of pastry class. Each morning, the first person in the room turns on the double-boiler and melts up a batch of chocolate so we can all practice. We've learned to make our own "bags" out of parchment paper so that we can do this anywhere! Including at home, which I also do every evening. Our homework assignment for Thursday night was to take a round cake cardboard home, cover it in parchment paper and pipe some of our chocolate designs onto the board. Previously in class, we'd only worked in straight lines, so going in a circle around the board was a challenge. We were supposed to practice 4-5 times and bring in our best attempt. Here is a picture of the "homework" I turned in today. It's not perfect, but I definitely feel like I'm getting better every day! I've also posted a few pictures from class, both practice as well as our chef's (Chef Kathryn) demo. Last night, Todd and I met my cousin Rene and her daughter (Isabella) out for dinner. Rene and her husband Chuck are in town for a business trip (Chuck) and a long weekend in NYC. Unfortunately, Chuck had business commitments, but we did enjoy getting together with Rene and Bella. We plan to "lay low" this weekend, eat in and I have to study for a BIG test coming up on Tuesday (on Sanitation and Food Safety). Also have several homework assignments and research to do for Pastry class, so I'll be sure to post with those results! Have a great weekend!

New Skills...

Pastry classes have really taken off this week! On Tuesday, we learned how to use our knives to cut fruit. They are really sharp, so we have to be careful. I do have a tendency to cut myself in the kitchen, but I'm happy to say that I've been at it for a full week and no cuts! Anyway, we spent Tuesday cutting fruit and Wednesday preparing fruit. My partner and I made dried pears, candied kumquats, poached pineapples, balsamic basil strawberries, and baked apples stuffed with raisins and spices! Whew - that was a mouthful (literally). Other teams in class did the same cooking methods (dried, candied, poached, baked) with slightly different fruits. The first two pictures are of my Tuesday night's homework: sliced apples and supremed oranges (when you cut all of the peel, rind, pith and seeds away and leave just the teeniest and most yummy portion of the orange). The next two pictures are of some poached oranges in red wine and the balsamic strawberries. Finally, the last picture is of the three juices (orange, pineapple-grapefruit and lemon-vanilla) my partner and I made using the pulp that everyone removed in order to candy their citrus rinds.

Central Park

Here are some pictures from our walk yesterday afternoon. I think we're going to try to go ice skating at the rink there some night this week. (Got to brush up on my skills if I'm going to make it to Vancouver.)

Weekend with Trudi

Our neighbor from Durham was here visiting this weekend. She flew in on Friday night and we met her at the airport. There were a couple of trains being rerouted for the weekend (there has been a lot of maintenance on our train - the "F" - over the past few weeks) so it took us a while to get where we were going, but we made it! We had dinner at one of our favorite little pizzerias and, since it was almost midnight when we were done, we went home shortly after that. We took Trudi home by way of the tram so she could enjoy the view across the river. We didn't set a clock and slept in on Saturday morning. Ahhhh...that was so nice. In keeping with all of our good habits, we went to the gym, fixed a quick snack at home and then headed into the city to watch the UNC game. We went to a place called Brother Jimmy's BBQ on the Upper East Side, a recommendation made by a friend of mine who said that there is a big ACC crowd there. Well, there certainly was! It was like being home again!! We enjoyed watching Wake Forest get spanked by the Tarheels and then back home to warm up/relax/change before heading out for the evening. We had dinner at this restaurant called East of Eighth, a great little find just a couple of doors down from the comedy club where we were headed. We saw the 10:00 show of the Jameson Comedy Tour - all 4 comedians were great! We were just across the street from the Trailer Park Lounge, so we took Trudi there. She was very excited to stay out past midnight! Unfortunately, she hurt her ankle just as we were getting home, so Sunday's sight-seeing adventures were a wash and will have to be postponed. We just heard from her and she made it home to Durham safely. Todd and I spent the late afternoon and evening strolling through Central Park and the Upper West Side. Tonight is laundry night too.......

Vancouver Olympics 2010?

So............do you think I am a contender?

GH in NYC for JT with HD

Gail came to visit me on Wednesday!! She flew in from Wilmington very early and was already at my apartment by the time I got home from class. We left around 1:30 and took the train into the city for some adventures. Even though it was very, very cold out, Gail was a super-sport and let me show her around town. We had lunch at Burger Heaven (I had a salad, which was not quite heavenly, but good), then did a little shopping and walking. When we were almost at our freezing point, we stopped into Rockafeller Center for a coffee and a thaw, and then decided to go ice skating. We had SO MUCH FUN! Ice skating in Rockafeller Center is definitely something I'll do again. Neither of us had been skating in years, but we did pretty good. Only a few minor busts and even a few tricks! Around 7:00, we walked south towards Madison Square Gardens for the reason for Gail's visit - the Justin Timberlake concert!! We had great seats and such a fantastic time. P!nk was the opening act and she was so good that I'm sure I'll buy her latest CD and probably would consider going to see her in concert as the main act. She sang all of her best hits and had some real choreography, including some Cirque-du-Soleil type acrobatics using ribbons where she sailed across the stage back and forth. WOW! We DID come to see JT, though, so we were screaming right along with all the other women (OK, lots of girls too) when he took the stage. And what a show he put on! In addition to all of the songs we love and his great voice, he's a cool dancer and plays many instruments. He is a very talented guy. We had a blast and both agreed it was probably the best concert we'd ever been to. Because it was New York City, he did a very special encore. If any of you saw him on SNL, he did a repeat performance of his notable, very creative performance!! Ha ha! Since I had to be at school early on Thursday, I didn't get much sleep (Gail and I were not home until almost 2 am) and was dragging all day in class. I started working on my homework as soon as I got home so that I could welcome Todd back when he got in from the airport. I was in bed early; I think this will need to become a habit. Five thirty comes awful quickly!

Busy Now...

My pastry classes finally have started! Yay! I have a lot to write since I've been incommunicado all week. I do have some excuses...First, our power was out for 2 days, I have had company here a lot of the week and, most significantly, I'm now in class every day and have homework to do at night. Whew! I think this is what I've been waiting for! Last Sunday, Todd and I had brunch at a place called the Clinton Street Baking Company. All I can say is "WOW!" I'm sure it will be one of our new favorite places. We also had a little excursion to Costco! We can see it directly across the river from us in Queens, but we've not been there because we couldn't figure out the best way to get there! It's not more than a mile away, so we knew we could just walk, but weren't sure how we'd get the tons of things we knew we'd buy at Costco BACK TO THE HOUSE! For the solution, see my post entitled "Grocery Cart." Yes, we bundled up and wheeled the grocery cart a mile into Queens to go to Costco. What a successful trip it was, as we bought a bunch of meats for the freezer, a big thing of Diet Cokes, yogurts and nice produce. We also stocked up on a few things in preparation for Trudi's visit over the weekend - TP and wine! Ha ha! It took us about 20 minutes to wheel everything home when we were done, so we will definitely do that again. Todd had an early flight back to Durham on Monday. He spend most of the week in the home office and got to spend some quality time with the dogs, as well as his mom and some other friends. I spent Monday running a few errands, enjoying my last free day, but of course, made sure I was home early enough to snuggle into the couch to watch Prison Break and 24. Monday night is my only TV night, and I have gotten pretty serious about it!! I was expected to report for my first pastry class on Tuesday morning at 7:15, so I made sure to go to bed early. I caught a 7:00 express bus outside of the apartment at 7:00 sharp, made it on the 7:06 train and was standing in line for my ID, my tool box, my locker and my remaining uniform items (cap and nametag) right at 7:15. We had a 2 hour orientation, followed by 2 hours in the pastry kitchen, introducing ourselves, meeting our instructor for Module 1 (Chef Kathryn), and then talking about some basic baking weights/measures/conversions. This is one of the areas where my previous education will be tremendously helpful! I can convert weights and measures without even thinking about it!! There are 16 people in my class, and all but 3 of them are women. We didn't spend as much time with intros, so I'll be making an effort to try to get to know them all in the next few weeks. When I got home on Tuesday night, the power was out in my apartment, so I spent about an hour reading and doing my homework by mini-maglite in bed and fell asleep in anticipation of another early morning. Wednesday morning in pastry class, we did some baking exercises - first we were given a list of baking ingredients to weigh using our new digital baking scales. The exercise was meant to teach us how to use the scale and how to start recognizing "how much" each ingredient weighs. We also did a tasting exercise - don't get too excited - to begin learning the differences in different types of milk, creams, butters and cheeses. We had to "taste" 8 different types of butter, for example. I can honestly say that I definitely understand why some cost more, but am happy that I won't have to do that particular exercise again. Chunk of butter on a cracker isn't really a great snack in my book!