I like to cook the same things

Sunday Dinner

Trust Me, It's Not a Glamorous Life.

I'm a terrible, inconsistent, unfaithful blogger, but here is my story.  I promised Vicki I'd write a blog entry on this because she wanted all the gory details.  So sorry if you've heard this before, but this is going to be unmercifully long.

"Now, this is the story all about how
My life got flipped-turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute
Just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became....(the fresh prince of a town called Bel-Air)"

Making the switch from working in an office setting to immersing myself in the intense world of a professional kitchen was one of the most difficult and rewarding experiences of my life.  It was 9 months of intensity and 3 months of hell.  My advice to people who are interested in going into the culinary world is this: before you quit your day job, contact a chef whose restaurant and work you admire and set up a stage, which is when you work at a restaurant for free for the experience (unless ofc they actually hire you, which is even better!)  Do yourself a favor and do this before applying to culinary school.  A lot of people who enroll in culinary school end up dropping out or not pursuing anything culinary after they've graduated.  Why?  Because working in a professional kitchen is intense, difficult, and requires long hours of standing on your feet and often doing very repetitive and physically strenuous work.   Guess what? You might not like it.  That's information you want before dropping 45-60K on a culinary education.

For nine months I continued to work as a paralegal while dishwashing 3-4 nights a week at the restaurant.  I was out the door everyday by 7:30 am, left work at 5 pm and immediately went to the restaurant to dishwash from 6 pm til close...anywhere between 1 am to after 2 am (sometimes 3 am) depending on how busy it was.  I remember one time, trudging through the snow on the way to my car at three in the morning at the end of a long night, the wind biting my cheeks, smelling smelly, and wondering, "What the hell am I doing with my life?"

However, dishwashing was a good experience for me because I’d never seen the inside of a professional kitchen before, and I got to learn how the system worked in the back of the house and just get used to the rhythm and physicality of the job.  Furthermore, dishwashers at the restaurant I was at were required to do a lot more than just wash dishes, pots, and pans all night.  When we came in, we had to start clearing out the dishpit for the night, clean the kitchen before service, and stock up all the cooks’ stations with salt, pepper, and oils.  In addition to nightly prep lists, we were also responsible for properly cooling, storing and putting away all stocks and cooked vegetables and proteins that had been sous vide-cooked during the day…and generally assisting all the line cooks in anyway possible throughout the night.  I also had the opportunity to jump on gardemanger on slow nights and learn how to plate cold apps and desserts.

After nine months of dishwashing, I was “promoted” to the position of daytime prepcook, a position I held for all of three months.  In those three months, however, I became proficient at prepping, seasoning, vacuum sealing (cryo-vaccing), and sous vide cooking a high volume and variety vegetables and protein.  I learned more about how to make and take care of stocks (keep it at a simmer and skim skim skim!)…the foundation of all the sauces made in the restaurant.  I learned how to make brines for chicken, duck, pork belly, pig head, beef tongue, sweetbreads, fish, and scallops.  I helped confit chicken thighs, duck legs, beef tongue, duck chachas (testicles), and duck tongue.  I put helped wash and put away the produce and maintain the walk-in along with checking in and putting away all the protein in the meat fridge.  I learned a lot, and I gained invaluable experience.

Unfortunately, at the end of every day, I left feeling a little worse than I had the day before.  At the time I couldn’t really put my finger on it, other than I seemed to get yelled at by everyone somehow no matter how well I completed my tasks that day.  There was also a lot of miscommunication in the prep kitchen as we were still adjusting to the switch from a small restaurant that could only seat about 40 people to one that seated over 100.  My direct manager often told me to prep incorrect amounts of things (12 bags of spinach, for example, when only 3-5 bags might be used) or prep the wrong things…which I would later get yelled at or reprimanded for from the more senior cooks or sous chefs.

I’m a tough girl.  The most difficult part of dishwashing was simply the fact that I was working 70-80 hours a week.  It was simply physically draining.  But other than that, the experience was enjoyable.  I got my hands on a lot of produce, learned how to work and move faster and the importance of making it happen.  I also learned something about camaraderie and teamwork.  I'm also proud to report that my arms and forearms in particular became ripped.  (They have since gotten less muscular.)

Prepcooking was difficult in an entirely different way.  I was only working 40+ hours a week.  It was also less consistently strenuous…the only times I was physically worn out was on meat days when I had to haul 3-4 10 Liter buckets of 100 brined chicken breasts..or when I was putting away big meat orders.  What made is so much more difficult was how emotionally and psychologically draining it was to feel like nothing I did was ever good enough.  It got so bad for me that the week before I was laid off, I was convinced I was going to be fired.  I knew a job posting had been put up for my exact position, although I wasn’t sure if they were just adding to the team or replacing me.   When my coworker and fellow prepcook finally said something to me at the end our day about how it seemed like everyone had a problem with me, I began to lose it.  Because clearly this wasn’t just in my head…it was noticeable to other people.  I left the work feeling like shit and was in tears on the T ride home.  I’ve never done that before.  I’ve never needed to cry at work before either.  I’m a tough girl, but I had reached my limit.

Luckily, things weren’t quite as dire as I had thought.  I wasn’t fired.  I was laid off.  And assured that I would receive a good reference from the chef.

After I was laid off, I was in shambles.  I had quit my paralegal job at the law firm I had been working in for three years so I could pursue cooking full time and also so I could transition from dishwasher to daytime prepcook.  I had been planning on leaving the law firm after two years to pursue my culinary dreams, but the chef told me not to do that just yet, so I ended up working an extra year as a paralegal while dishwashing. 

What was I going to do now?  I didn’t know if I wanted to continue working in a professional kitchen.  I didn’t know if I even had what it took to hack it in this industry even if I wanted to.  For the next year, I remained unemployed and confused about what direction to go in.  I had a word document open with my resume with rough bullet points of what my responsibilities at the restaurant had been and an extremely rough draft of a cover letter where I began to tell my story of how I got from A to…B?  I wasn’t sure.  I wasn’t really sure about what I had gained from this experience or where it had taken me or would take me.  For the next year, I avoided opening that word document as much as I could.

It took some time for me to rediscover my joy in cooking again…and to actually begin cooking again.  I was so tired and drained that while I was working at the restaurant, I barely cooked.  It took even more time for me to stop being afraid and paralyzed so I could take the plunge again and try my luck at another restaurant.
 
Ironically, the job posting that got me off my ass was a grill cook position at a busy café that only served breakfast and lunch.  I thought to myself, “Hey, you actually have a chance of getting this job!” versus all the job postings for line cooks with 5 years of experience or culinary school degrees.  I also applied to 5 other jobs in more high end restaurants.  What the hell right! I was on a roll.   I was getting ready to send out applications everyday for as long as it took to get another job.

What actually happened was that a chef of a French restaurant replied to my coverletter and resume within one hour of my emailing it to him.  I set up a stage to go in and trail a cook and work there through one dinner service 3 days later.  At the end of service, the chef spoke with me and offered me the position. 

I’m an entry level line cook on gardemanger station at a restaurant that I’m proud to work in.  I’m still learning and have a lot of work to do before I master my station, but I’m getting better every day.  The work environment is dramatically different than what I was used to from before.  In the best possible way. 

I now know that my experience at the first restaurant at my first job was not wasted.  It was a critical step I had to make in order to experience further growth.  It also gave me a strong work ethic and extremely high standards.  I got my ass kicked working there but I also learned the importance of working cleanly, neatly, being physically and mentally organized, and the importance of keeping my knife sharp every day.  I learned the importance of tasting everything.  I learned how the importance of seasoning and using salt.  I got to see the head chef execute his vision and how he ran his kitchen in order to achieve that vision.  I got to eat some really fucking good food and watch amazingly talented cooks and chefs in action.

But, I’m glad that I can put that experience behind me and move forward. I still have a long way to go and a lot to learn.

I can’t wait to see what the next few months and year brings.

(Also, taxpayers will be glad to know that I will no longer be receiving unemployment benefits. -.-) 

Peace.

Thanksgiving Purist

Because of my gluttonous tendencies, I actually can't say no to the Chinese side of the buffet. However, when it comes to my favorite holiday of the year, I really prefer to delve into the butter laden, creamy, richness of all the beloved side dishes that are indispensable alongside pieces of turkey drowned in gravy.  This is the only time of the year that I eat this type of food and I want to eat as much of it as I can while it lasts.

I know that there are all sorts of fancy recipes for stuffing and mashed potatoes and exotically spiced turkey brines.  At the end of the day, I like my mashed potatoes simple.  Potatoes boiled and mashed to a perfect consistency with butter, hot milk, and salt.  Hold the garlic, the cheese, the bacon, the spices, the herbs.  As predictable as it is, I think I also prefer the boring, traditional savory, sage, onions, and celery stuffing over anything fancier.  Candied sweet potatoes need nothing else but brown sugar, maple syrup (or molasses as my aunt uses with resounding success), and butter.  They don't need to be whipped baked twiced, just sliced into wedges or discs and baked to a baked til soft all the way through to a burnished glossyness and cararmelized-edged perfection.  The turkey can be more elaborately prepared or brined in a more interesting fashion...whatever it takes for the breast meat to be juicy and not overdone.  Leave the turducken at home.

This year, I made jap chae noodles (at the request of my mother) and Alton Brown's recipe for green bean casserole from scratch. 

 It was actually super easy to make.  I was surprised that I had some issues with his recipe.  2 medium onions wasn't enough to cover the beans satisfactorily while adding 1/4 of them to the mushroom bechamel sauce.  Tossing the sliced onions in flour and panko crumbs was an ineffective method of coating the onions with breading.  In fact, the flour barely stuck on.  Roasting them at an insanely high 475 degrees for 30 minutes also achieved nothing but shrinking the onions next to nothing and burning the edges 10 minutes into the allotted roasting time.  Next time I'll use my head and revise accordingly.  I ended up salvaging 2/3 of the onions which I sprinkled in a sparse layer on top.  I then sliced 2 more onions, coated them with flour, and deep fried them in small batches.  The casserole was good but a little on the bland side.  Next time I would add more salt to the mushroom sauce.  The sauce needs to be highly seasoned so they can thinly coat the bland green beans.  I might also salt the blanching water more heavily for the beans next time as well.

Adapted from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/best-ever-green-bean-casserole-recipe/index.html

Pictures to come.

I have been cooking..

..just forgetting to take accompanying pictures.

This is my 5th time making jap chae this month and I feel like
I finally have the flavor profile correct (at least I think. I'm going
to make it again for a friend of mine who is Korean so she can
give me some input on adjusting flavor.

Note: I took the picture using an old camera that has horrible
picture quality.  Colors do not show through and everything
is dark and almost sepia toned. We can pretend it's a picture
from the 70's or something -.-

Upcoming..

Tarte Tatin: http://orangette.blogspot.com/2006/10/tokaji-for-your-tarte-tatin.html

Farmer Market Mondays!

I've been seriously craving white rice with tasty chinese/asian stir-fry recently.  At the end of the day, I'm still a noodle-slurping, rice-shovelling, soy sauce lovin' girl at heart.  Western dishes and pastas and big hunks of protein to carve on your plate are tasty but still not my favorite things to eat on a daily basis.  So, even while loading up on late season heirlooms (50 cents/lb pricier this week than last!), I was inevitably seduced by the asian veg stand.  Beautifully young, light green and glossy, not-too-bitter baby bitter melons and tender dark green leafy bunches of chinese broccoli were calling to me.  In my bag they went.  Along with a splotchy enormous bouquet of intensely aromatic basil.

Check it out:

(left) Sirloin Steak Stir-fry w. Bitter Melon, Orange Peppers, and a smattering of Habanero Pepper

(right) Chinese Eggplant w. Basil, Garlic, Soy Sauce/Sugar/Lime

I am a pro at making Chinese eggplant with basil.  I perfected this when I was stirfrying enormous quantities of it for my friend, Monisha's wedding rehearsal dinner.  The trick is, to saute on very high heat with just enough oil and tons of garlic..and then adding small amounts of water to aid the softening process.  Cover with lid for a while, before taking it off so that it doesn't continue to steam.  You want the eggplant so get cooked through and soft without adding tons and tons of oil for it to absorb into a greasy mess.  Then 2 minutes b4 it's done cooking, add soy sauce, a spoonful of sugar, a tsp or so of lime juice and continue to adjust the flavor until it's balanced to your taste.  The eggplant at this point should be pretty dry in the pan and caramelized in some places.  Add a fistful of freshly picked basil for about a minute and turn off heat. Stir until fully wilted.  The aroma of the dish should be knocking you dead.

(repeat) Israeli Couscous w. Roasted Grape and Orange Sweet Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives, Basil, Scallion.  This was such a tasty dish I had to make it again.  Esp while the tomatoes are still good.

In the very background, note the yellow and pink streaked sunset-y slices of heirloom resting on a small plate. this heirloom is called a "Pineapple." this tomato seriously tasted as sweet as candy. def more fruit than veggie tasting.  My cousin, Jess, did not love it bc it wasn't tomato-y enough for her...which I took to mean not acidic enough. There is no tangy acidity to balance out the sugars.  I enjoyed eating these sweet slices with a smattering of coarse sea salt sprinkled on top to sort of pique the flavor a bit.

Roasted Grape/Orange Sweets w. Garlic for our snacking pleasure.

Jess's Farmer's Market Birthday Dinner

Nectarine Crisp
Equipment: 9x13 casserole dish (or baking pan)
Fruit: 3lbs+ nectarines and yellow peaches (1.5 lbs is ~4 large nectarines...we used 5 each, 10 total)
(1/2 pint raspberries)
(1 large crisp/sweet apple : Honey Crisp) <= we added extra fruit for color, variety of flavor and texture. optional.

Filling:
-1/4 cup sugar (I used half white/half brown sugar. you could use all white or all brown. I only used 1/4 cup bc the fruit itself was very sweet, and I prefer fruit desserts to be on the tangy side anyway. If you're using a more tart fruit, like say, grannysmith apples, you can up the amount to 1/3 or 1/2 depending on how sweet you'd like to go)
-3 Tbsp flour (I added 1.5 extra Tbsp on top of this + a bit more sugar bc I added the apples later and they needed to get tossed in some of the flour/sugar mixture too)
-1/8-1/4 tsp ground ginger (to taste..I used a few sparing sprinkles, probably could have used more..up to you how strong you want the spice to be..i mainly wanted to showcase the flavor of the fruit)
-pinch salt

Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 cup oats
1.5 sticks unsalted butter (if cold from fridge, microwave for 10-12 seconds to soften the stick slightly)

Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Cut/prep fruit to desired size. I kept them in big chunks. The apple I cut a little smaller bc the fruit is harder...that way the cooking time won't vary so much.
-In a med bowl, thoroughly mix the flour/sugar/spices
-Place all fruit in casserole dish and sprinkle/toss the flour/sugar/spice mixture, evenly coating all of the fruit. Just tumble in the raspberries after first tossing the sturdier fruit and toss them very gently so they don't get too crushed.
-Make the topping: in a bowl, thoroughly combine 1 cup each of the brown sugar, flour, and oats. Then add the slightly softened 1.5 sticks of butter and smash together, rubbing with fingers until you get crumbles. If the you've overworked it and the crumbles are too soft bc the butter is sort of melting, put the topping mixture back into the fridge for 10-15 min to chill a bit.
-Distribute crisp topping evenly over the fruit.
-Bake on middle rack of oven @ 350 for 45-50 min.
-To keep warm before serving, put crisp in oven on lowest oven setting 100-170 degrees.
















Heirloom Tomato Salad
Jess and I were looking for a variety of flavors, colors, and sizes. The best way to cut the tomatoes is to showcase their size and distinguishing characteristics. For the smaller, striped tomatoes, little wedges showcase the seeds/flesh and also the skin. For huge tomatoes, you want to show off the size gorgeous red and patterns inside when you cut them into big round steak-like slices.

-Green and Red Zebra: for their beautiful colors and striped skin. these tomatoes are known for their lemony acidity
-yellow tomatoes (name unknown): they were really ripe and pretty. not the best flavor as it turns out, but still okay
-Aussie: the gargantuan deeply red tomato, with good old fashioned ripe tomato flavor. the sign said it has "good balance of sugars and acids"
-Orange Sweets: the orange cherry tomatoes that tasted like candy
-red grape tomatoes: these were from Russo's not the Central Sq. farmer market, still tasty

We bought enough for 2 slices of each of the smaller tomatoes + 1 large slice of the big red Aussie. All were bt $2-3/lb. We bought 1 pint of the orange sweets for the couscous salad and save a few for the red leaf lettuce salad.

Red Leaf Lettuce Salad
-washed, torn into bite size pieces, spun dry
-chopped herbs (parsely, mint, basil)
-halved cherry/grape tomatoes
-balsamic dressing: equal parts EVOO + balsamic vinegar, 1.5 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper







Pearl Couscous Salad w. Roasted Tomatoes
Adapted from: http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/07/pearly-whites/

-We doubled the recipe. Instead of using chicken broth to cook the couscous, Jess toasted the couscous in some oil first before adding water to cook them. I forgot to include the kalamata olives, although I am sure that would have been an extremely tasty addition.
-Decided to use cheaper grape tomatoes to make the pureed roasted tomato dressing. The other tomatoes that we mixed in with the couscous at the end were a combo of grape + orange sweets, roasted in the oven for 250 for 1 hour tossed lightly with olive oil, a few whole cloves of garlic, and generously salted.






Roasted Boneless Leg of Lamb w/ herb/spiced/butter crust
boneless leg of lamb (I bought a huge 6 lb-er from McKinnon's in Davis Sq on Elm St)
6-8 cloves garlic
1/2 cup parsley
1/4 cup cilantro
1/4 cup mint
1 cup pitted green olives (Goya makes the cheapest. and there is no red pepper stuffed in)
1 stick butter (softened to room temp)
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
2 tsp ground fennel seed (optional. i love fennel though so i added it)
2 tsp paprika (i only had smoked paprika on hand, it's a more assertive flavor though)
1 tsp cayenne (if you want to add some spice)
1 Tbsp coarse kosher salt

-Put all the rub ingredients into a food processor and blend til it looks like a poopy pesto.
-Rinse and pat dry your leg of lamb. Place on platter. Generously salt and pepper both sides.
-Using your hands/spatula, slather the lamb all over with the spiced herb butter rub. Bc the leg of lamb I got was so huge, I cut slits into the fattiest side so I could stuff the rub in. I also ended up cutting the roast in half bc it was too huge.
-Place lamb into a large ziploc bag. Make as airtight as possible. Put into another bag or container in case of spillage/leakage.
-Marinate in fridge overnight or at least 6-8 hours.
-Remove from fridge 30 min roasting time.
-Roast on high heat @ 425 for 20 min
-Lower temperature to 350 and roast for another hour (maybe less...)

Note: I overcooked mine. I would consult this link (and others online) and/or invest in a meat thermometer if you want to get that perfect rosy red interior for a medium rare roast..which is what I was hoping for..(oops!):

http://elise.com/recipes/archives/001720roast_leg_of_lamb.php

I also was not hardcore enough to put the roast directly onto the oven rack...plus I think I had a much messier marinade to deal with.

Recipe loosely adapted from: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/olive-and-spice-rubbed-leg-of-lamb-recipe/index.html






Earl Grey Panna Cotta (4-6 servings: I doubled this recipe for 10 ppl and I had a lot of leftovers)
3 cups cream (I used half heavy cream/ half whole milk..to make it less rich, increase proportion of whole milk)
1 pkg (aka 2 tsp) of gelatin (the amount of gelatin per pkg varies. i always measure)
1 tsp v. extract (I used only 1/2 tsp bc I didn't want it to overpower the Earl Grey flavor)
1/2 cup white granulated sugar
5 bags of Earl Grey tea

-1 cup cream in medium saucepan, sprinkle 1 pkg (2 tsp) gelatin, stirring constantly on low heat til completely dissolved
-Add remaining cups of cream+sugar+vanilla extract. Medium heat, stirring constantly til sugar dissolved. Put in 5 tea bags.
-Once mixture begins to steam, turn off heat, cover the saucepan with a lid and let steep for 15-30 min. Taste to make sure the tea flavor is strong/to your liking.
-Pour into small ramekins/cups/etc.
-Chill til panna cotta is set. Approx 4 hours...at least.