Hello Food Diary and Hungry Bloggers!
I am writing to you earlier than usual today. I am done with school, I have the day off work and I just finished watching Julie and Julia for the first time! I had heard about this movie before but never saw it! When I first started my blog my mom told me I should watch it...she was right. I loved it, and found it very inspiring! Julia went to Le Cordon Bleu (which is where I go) and revolutionized French cooking for American people. I wonder if what she did had any effect on how I am learning in class today? She is by far one of my favorite chefs! If I become anywhere near as good as her I will be a happy chef!
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| Salade de Lentilles |
Julie and Julia made me want to pop on here and write to you all as soon as I could! So here I am! It is day 12 and we have moved on from rice to beans. Today in class we learned how to make Salade de Lentilles, Frijoles Refritos (refried beans - my favorite!!!!), Hummus, and a Cranberry Bean and Asparagus salad. One of my chefs was out sick today, and it seamed like half the class had caught what she had because 12 students were absent as well. This made for a very small intimate class, and I thought it was very nice. We didn't have the chaos of 30 frantic students running around and it made everyone a lot more mellow.
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| Salade de Lentilles |
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| Cranberry Bean and Asparagus salad |
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| Cranberry Bean and Asparagus salad |
We only got to make two of those four dishes, but Chef demoed all of them for us to see and take notes on. We made the lentil salad and cranberry bean and asparagus salad (for some reason the classes shipment of asparagus didnt come with this mornings deliveries so we just made a cranberry bean salad...lol). So, to start off I put my lentils in a pot with water, carrot, onion, a bay leaf, a crushed garlic clove, and fresh thyme. I boiled them for about 30 minutes (until they were soft), then drained them and set them in the fridge. I took my bacon, cut it up and threw it on the stove. Once it was nice and crispy I set it to the side and sauted my minced shallots, onions, garlic and cabbage in the grease. When that stuff was done I added 3 oz of chicken stock and let it reduce. Then I threw in my lentils, bacon, salt, and vinaigrette (I had made this at the start of class - it had red wine vinegar, mustard, garlic, salt and salad oil in it)...voila...you have Salade de Lentilles. Chef tasted it and said "Great job! Your seasoning is perfect. I really enjoyed that." OH YEAH!! I'm starting off with a bang! Now on to my Cranberry bean salad. I sauted my minced onions, shallots, and garlic in a tiny bit of oil. Then I threw in my beans, some basil, parsley, and Parmesan cheese. I seasoned it with salt and vinaigrette, and garnished it with more cheese and parsley...I was done! I turned it in for critique and got another "great seasoning, it was nice and creamy," from the chef. I was floating on cloud nine...and still am! I finished way ahead of schedule, got all my dishes done and my station cleaned up before out time window for critiques was even closed. What a great day!
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| Refried beans!!! |
Now I am off to make those refried beans chef showed us in class! Its taco night and I cant wait for dinner! For those of you who already know me...you know tacos are my absolute favorite food....And for those of you who don't...now ya do! :) Pictures and recipes will come later! Arriba!!!
Have a wonderful day full of yummy treats and delicious meals!! See ya latter!
- Chef Kass In Training
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