The Week of the Unforgiving

This week was the toughest in my career so far. I mean, I know it's only the beginning but this week was just so brutal that I was like the walking dead at the end of the week. It's just been unrelenting, I'm not sure how to describe it.

   This how the week went. It was just like any day on Monday but then on Tuesday, after break, about half of the class suddenly left for some reason and it was only me and four other students at the sinks for about an hour cleaning all the pans, cleaning the bakery, and making sure the pastry goods in the dinning room is not burned to a crisp. Luckily, we got everything done and we get a free staff meal to refuel. Then I was about to go to my food preparation class, with my chef whites and everything and I was waiting for about 30 minutes in the hot sweaty kitchen and this teacher told me that the class has been canceled. Then the next day was normal enough but in Intro to Hospitality, there was this presentation about the work place and professional image. To me, it was de javu because I took this class in high school about job skills called Recreation Vocation and Mr. Robert was talking about job skills in the hospitality industry. Later that night, I pulled my first all-nighter. For people who don't know, a "all-nighter" is when a collage student stays up till the next day to get work done for that day. So I did that until 1:00 A.M and I just crashed after that. The next day was the most brutal part. This time, I got up at 8:00 A.M., thinking I have to make the practical exam today when it was supposed to be 2 weeks later and I spent so much time and money on that presentation and I screwed it up. Suddenly, I was stayed after class to fixed something on some stuff and I missed my guitar lesson. Then i was nearly dead tired and i only got 20 minutes of rest before menu writingg and when i headed over there only to be part of this over competitive game of Menu Jeopardy and I was looking at the clock waiting to get out and crash. After that i when home and just sleep until morning.

  So what i learned from that is to understand that time can take over a chefs success and that I need to control that time to be successful in what I do and take time management seriously. Which brings me today's Culinary Industry Inside Look. (C.I.I.L)

      C.I.I.L: Time is everything to the chef. That is why every cook fallows the mise en place for not only food but life. Everything has to be prepared at that time. That is why chefs need to train themself's to fallow time effectively to make sure nothing is late and everything has avoided disaster.

    So today is my day to rest and replenish for what else is coming up. Here's is today's question. "What would be a good time management strategy you could use to avoid disaster?" It could be anything from keeping a time table to making sure everything is done. I wanted to ask that question to see if I could get some ideas from you, the readers. So for now, I'm going to enjoy this crisp fall day.   

Makeing My First Vegan Creation: "Why does it have to be Vegan?"

 Yesterday was a day where I had a very tough challenge. One of the projects I have to do is to make a diabetic, healthy, vegan meal (trying say that three times fast) for my Nutrition class. Now, here is the challenge. Since this is a vegan meal, I absolutely cant use any animal products. That means no meat, no milk, no eggs and any other animal products. (That also includes honey.) So what I had to do is to think like the french and I made something I like to call "The Animal Hugger's Bistro sandwich." I will post the recipe when I get the chance. So what I do is to grill the eggplant "patties" on the griddle with olive oil and I grill some bella mushrooms and place it between some whole wheat flat bread in between the eggplant and mushrooms. I also made some "house-made" ketchup from grounded up tomato, some jalapeno, and some other natural goodies. With that in mind, it is time for the postal tip.

     Tip: If you want to make a sauce, any type of produce can be turned into a sauce. All you have to do is put it into a processor and pulse the produce into a paste. That is called a "Puree." In order to make it a sauce, you have to either cook the sauce with some other ingredients or puree the some of the other ingredients into the mixture and put it into the refrigerator until chilled.

   Now its time for our next clue of our "Mystery Restaurant Challenge." This postal clue might clear it up or make it more confusing. "This place serves street food with elegance but you never see it in a bistro or on the street."

  So keeping up with the topic with vegans, I want to ask you readers the postal question. "If you can make a vegan meal, what would it be?" or "If you were to become a vegan, how would get your protein?" So with that in mind, i bid you a-do and send me some ideas or other cool stuff through the comment box or through e-mail.

Culinary Bliss

   So far, I finally got the chance to show my skills in the class. In my baking class, we get to finally go into the bakery and get cooking or baking to say the least. We were divided into groups of three and we learned how to scale the ingredients and learn how to use the equipment. We also learned about the creaming method, straight dough method and the muffin method. Apparently, when you over mix, you can get tunneling and your baked goods could be hard as a hockey puck.

 During the class, me and my team made biscuits, practically the same kind that you make in your high school home economics class, but they turned out perfectly and we get a chance to take home some of our product. Then during the end of class, I had the job of "Sanitation Manager for a day." I was feel just as powerful as Anthony Bourdain did when he ran Les Halles about 10 years ago. After words, my other class mates were impressed with my determination and I left feeling proud, but something tells me that things would just get harder from here.

    Earlier, I got the chance to make my famous "Betty Davis Eyes," and some grilled shrimp skewers with peanut sauce for this labor day party and everyone loved it.  Speaking of which, its time for today's tip.

      Tip: When making appetizers for a party, keep it simple. A good simple appetizer is home-made chex mix or grapes covered in goat cheese. (Betty Davis Eyes)

    Toady's clue for "The Mystery Restaurant Challenge," is something of a dosey. "This is the kind of thing that you regularly see in Ireland but it has the elegance of French fine dinning." So with that I must bid you a-do. Also if you want to leave a comment and you cant comment on the page look at the contact info link to find out about other ways to contact me.

New marketing Stratagy

  I have some good news and bad news. First,the good news, I got my laptop back and the virus in there is gone. Unfortunately, the bad news, all my data in the laptop has been wiped out and I have to reload everything all over again. But besides that, I have found a new opportunity to get more readers. Here is how it goes.
   When I reloaded my Itunes program, I found out about this new social network called "Ping", were its like facebook but everyone is talking about music and celebrities. Plus you can fallow celebrities and send messages. So my plan is to fallow some artists and suggest them to my blog so then other people would start reading. Its sounds a little down right dirty, using celebrities as other contacts but I ask them nicely and I'm not sure they would read it but I think its a good idea to get the word out. So if your on Ping, look for me and I could also suggest some good music for cooking some cool stuff.

   I have also made lunch for my family and my grandfather, who came to lunch today. I made french dip sandwiches with aujuse (beef dip) on the side and chefs salad with "Home-made" french dressing. when I was looking through that street cooking cook book, I actually found out that french dressing can be made with tomato soup with herbs and spices and you don't even need to cook it. To me that's amazing. To think that a canned soup can be turned into a nice product. Which brings us to today's tip. 

      Tip: Its cheaper to make your own dressing then buying shelf dressing. The most basic dressing to make is the basic vinaigrette. All you need is one part vinegar and two parts oil. You can add herbs and other natural goodies to give it a good flavor. If you want to bond your dressing, Dijon mustard is the best choice for bonding vinaigrette's. For creamy sauces, you can use cold cream soups or look up recipes for the other methods. The best part is that you can make big eco-size batches and save money on how much you add.

   Its also time for the next clue to my "mystery restaurant idea" Challenge. Today's clue would be a little bit more clear then the last. "This restaurant has wheels that move but, it never touches the road." So your 2 clues so far are "it only stays at Chicago for a certain time" and "it has wheels but never touches the road."

   So that's all for now, my next venture would be something that could spell my fate at the culinary collage.

Culinary Collage week 2

   Unfortunately, my laptop computer has a virus, so I couldn't post as much but luckily the collage library has a computer lab so now I'm able to post again. For my second week I'm starting to feel more into my comfort zone in the collage. I kept meeting new people and I'm kept on working. As I work at the local cafes some of the towns people are starting to recognize me for my hard work and the heavy books I have to carry. Some how people are somewhat interested in my work. I guess when your in Chicago and your a chef, people notice a lot and start to praise for your hard work.

   Besides that, things have been pretty quiet for the past couple of days. I didn't get a chance to cook since I started school. Luckily with Labor day around the bend, I was invited to a labor day party and my mom asked me to make a few appetizers for the party so I will get my chance. I still don't know what to serve but it would come to me.

    Now its time for the postal question. Today's question is "If you could perfect one art in cooking, what would it be?" Before I go, I have one more thing thing to tell you. I finally figured out what I'm going to do for my final menu project but I'm not going to tell you.....yet. What I am going to do is send you readers clues of what it is and you can guess and I will answer at the end of the project. Its like a puzzler, when you listen to the public radio. So here is your first clue. "It is a Chicago type restaurant, but it only stays in Chicago at certain times." If you want to take a guess or answers today's question then post a comment and Ill see you soon again.