Fighting for a Food Revolution

Week 3, Day 4: Stocks, Sauces and Soups

~ l — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 23:57:26 +0000

Yesterday was my final in basic kitchen skills and knife skills. Easy peasy stuff, even if the fresh tarragon really threw most of my class for a loop. I scored well, and I believe I’m in the top three of the class on that work so far. I’m hoping I can keep it up through [...]

Week 2 Day 4 – Enter the Kitchen

~ l — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:20:59 +0000

After a morning subjected to the wonders that is Culinary Math (I’m horrible in all things mathmatical and always have been), we were finally allowed to enter the “Temple”, also known as Skills Kitchen 1 and try out those shiny new Mercer knives. I’m firmly convinced someone is going to get hurt in there with [...]

Week Two, Day Two: Finally a Final!

~ l — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:59:06 +0000

I’ve been cozing up with Michael Ruhlman’s The Making of a Chef: Mastering Heat at the Culinary Institute of America, and while I’m endlessly engrossed in it, I find work and school such a grueling combo that I often don’t get much read before starting to drift off. I also have a biography of Chef [...]

Culinary School – Day 5 / First Trip to the Restaurant

~ l — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 05:08:59 +0000

I learned today that it seems my highest level upperclassmen cannot cook. This is rather dismaying to me as they’ve been in school since January and still can’t tell crunchy pasta is under cooked. Today was buffet day in our brand spanking new student-run restaurant, and most of my scraggly class of newbie white scarves [...]

Culinary School: Week One

~ l — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:47:15 +0000

I’ve been in such a rush the past few days it’s been hard to find a few moments to write. Culinary school is in session, and in full swing now. We’ve gotten our whites and checks, been through our first neck kerchief ceremony, been issued the first two of many textbooks, and been through a [...]

Firing Up for Changes

~ l — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:15:16 +0000

Things are about to change, o’ Internet. Monday I start school at last. Monday I’ll be handed a stack of books, knives, and a set of chef whites and be thrown into the chaos. Honestly? I’m terrified. My first day of class will occur on the tail end of a twelve-hour shift at work, immediately [...]

Reclaiming Culinary Heritage

~ l — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 18:28:08 +0000

I’ve been bad. Life simply got in the way (and rather quickly at that) of me posting regularly on here. I had to push back my entrance into culinary school until the end of July, which while it was a dissapointment, it was done to preserve my sanity while training at work. I’ve spent the [...]

Vegetarian “Sloppy Joes”

~ l — Sun, 02 May 2010 02:34:36 +0000

I promise I’ve been cooking, I’ve just been a little lax on photographs and posting lately! I was turned onto this recipe from a friend in Arkansas as we both mused over what to do with a sack of Morningstar Farms crumbles. Unfortunately, Morningstar Farms products are my one cave to highly processed foods, and even [...]

Tempeh “Sausage” and Ricotta/Feta Pizza

~ l — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 13:46:23 +0000

Some nights you just get a little lazy. This was my night to be lazy. I love pizza, I really don’t know many who don’t. The thing about pizza is that it can take on so many crazy forms with very little effort! It’s also a great vehicle to get picky eaters to partake of [...]

Asiago Chicken Breasts with Crispy Bacon

~ l — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 18:40:24 +0000

So I had great plans when I started this recipe. I took a trip to the local grocer with a list in hand for the original Jamie Oliver creation of “Parmesan chicken breasts with crispy posh ham” only to find my budget precluded the purchasing of prosciutto and fresh parmesan while still allowing for the [...]