the journey to cook(ing)

the start was when i was around 8 and whenever someone asked me what i wanted to do when i grew up it was always"go to culinary school and become a chef" then, life set in, and i went along for the ride, not really looking towards culinary school much, but always being passionate about food and loving to cook. so five years of collegiate stupor later i finally have found myself here learning the ways of the professional cook. as far as inspiration, i cant really think back to any young influences no one in my family had any real skill in the kitchen. onward to now. the chef that best fits my approach to cooking and food, and really life in general would have to be Martin Picard the chef and owner of au pied de cochon. reactionary fine dining with a focus on pork, duck and pois gras, be still my heart.

procrastination

plated
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hot out of the oven
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ready for the oven. ewww so much tasty potential.
so, i made this chicken on tuesday, so it is horrible that i am just now posting it. roasted on a bed of yukon gold potatoes and red onion. it was fantastic. because everything i do is fantastic. anyways photos

makin' waffles!

tried the waffle recipe from the betty crocker cookbook, for a change from my standard light and amazing buttermilk recipe, and it was... no good. way to dense and did not crisp up the way i like it, it was dense and heavy instead of light a crispy on the outside with some fluffy deliciousness on the inside. but it's important to try new recipes even for your everyday standards, you never know when you'll find something amazing.

gastronomic adventuring

saturday afternoon I went with some of my culinary classmates to gold mountain for dim sum, and it was AMAZING! we had... Shredded pork congee with century egg, five spice beef, roast duck, salt and pepper shrimp, steamed pork dumplings, deep fried bean curd wrapped pork and shrimp, pork ears, and... CHICKEN FEET!!!!!!!! it was all really really good, but my classmates had a bit of an issue with the texture of the ears and feet, but the sauce and flavor of both of them was very good. I took pictures, but i've been having trouble getting pictures off my phone.
after that we headed next door to tanners for a couple of drinks, and then it was off to Mt. fuji for some japanese and mai-tai's the food was not overly impressive, acceptable, but not something that i would necessarily come back for. but the cocktails were wonderful. and really powerful. so all in all an acceptable afternoon.

Ive still got this stupid cold. grrrr. BUT, Chef liked my tart crust. he said so with real live words that the whole class heard.

being sick is yucky

i've been dealing with a rather miserable cold for the past couple days, and while this has been hard on my social life, and i had to cancel on cooking for a couple of my friends this weekend, i have on the other hand had plenty of time to sit around and julienne sweet potatoes and work on my knife skills. i did make a big batch of pasta but after finishing it, i went to take a nap, and when i got up the family had gobbled it all up. none for me.

"easter" dinner

cooking for the fam today. mac and cheese casserole, deviled eggs, and brats. nom nom nom. the trick is to not let the grill get too hot so that the brats dont explode due to the high fat content. sorry no pictures or anything. i cant seem to find my camera.