Culinary School - Weeks 4 and 5

This has been a busy couple of weeks for culinary school. Last week we learned all about pies and tarts! I can feel my pants getting tighter and tighter as the weeks progress. :) We made flaky pie dough, mealy pie dough, sweet tart dough, and quiche doughs from scratch. We also made a Dutch apple pie with streusel topping, a blueberry pie with a lattice top, a cherry pie with a double crust, a chocolate cream pie with crème chantilly, a pumpkin pie, a fresh berry tart with apricot glaze, quiche lorraine and French baguettes. Boy was it fun tasting our creations!

This week I had midterms! It's hard to believe that these classes are half way over already. On Wednesday I had my Baking & Pastry Practical. Each person had to make:

Soft Yeast Dinner Rolls
Citrus Spritz Cookies
Flaky pie dough
Pecan pie
Country Biscuits

I don't know my grade yet but I did pretty well. I felt like my things looked and tasted amazing but my teacher seemed to grade rather hard and always found something teeny, tiny wrong with them. Some things I felt were a personal preference. Such as my yeast dinner rolls. I (along with my team members) thought they were phenomenal yet my teacher said they were a bit too salty and could have been baked a tad longer. Oh well. I probably got a B on the practical. I'll find out next week.

Today I had the written part of the midterm for my lab class as well as a written exam for the Baking & Pastry Concepts class. I spent a lot of time studying for these and have already found out that I got an A on one of them.

I'm tired! Midterms have worn me out and I'm ready for a nice, relaxing weekend!

Banana "Ice Cream"

Would you believe me if I told you that you could make ice cream with just one ingredient? What if I also told you it was healthy and completely dairy free? You probably think I've fallen off of my rocker and gone a little crazy, right? Well it's true!!!

I was pretty pessimistic when I first heard about this. It's quite the talk on Pinterest and several food blogs right now. But I was completely amazed and in awe at how creamy the frozen bananas became after just a minute or so in my food processer. It looks exactly like ice cream when it's done!

I found that it's best eaten right out of the food processor (after the blade is removed of course) and with some chocolate chips sprinkled on top. We did eat some leftovers the following day but it wasn't quite as good as the fresh batch.

Give it a try! You won't feel guilty eating this "ice cream"!

Challah

Here's a little something I learned in class last week and a little lesson for you...

Challah (pronounced HAH-la) is the traditional bread for Jewish Sabbath and holiday celebrations, rich with eggs and flavored with honey. Time-honored tradition dictates that challah be braided or formed into a turban-shaped loaf. Topped with poppy or sesame seeds, challah is excellent for toast or sandwiches.

This recipe makes enough for two loaves so I braided one...



...and made a turban braided loaf for the other.

Thai Tea Pudding

A friend of mine posted pictures of some Thai Tea Pudding on her facebook page the other day. I begged her for the recipe since I am a huge fan of Thai Iced Tea. Sorry for the odd measurements. Some are in ounces, while other ingredients are in tablespoons, teaspoons, and even grams! My friend was so kind to translate the recipe from Thai to English so that I could interpret it. Luckily my digital scale will easily go back and forth from ounces to grams so I didn't have any issues in making it.

It wasn't sweet as I had imagined but none-the-less a great way to end dinner.

Cedar Plank Salmon

This is my all-time favorite salmon recipe! We've made it many times before. This is just the first time we've been able to take a picture of it before someone started chowing down on it. Don't be intimidated by the cedar planks. They can be found in most grocery stores. We were lucky enough to buy a large package of them on www.woot.com last year. The planks give the salmon that much more flavor. Just make sure you soak the cedar planks in water for several hours; otherwise they will catch on fire while cooking on the grill.

Raspberry Vinaigrette

Here's the Raspberry Vinaigrette recipe I served with the Asiago Crisped Spinach and Raspberry Salad. I used some raspberries that we picked up from the farmer's market and it was so fresh and sweet tasting. Went great with the spinach and cheese crisps!

Raspberry Vinaigrette
Source: allrecipes.com

1 1/3 c. fresh raspberries or thawed frozen unsweetened raspberries
1/3 c. chicken broth
2 T. sugar
1 T. cider vinegar
2 1/2 t. olive or canola oil
2 t. Dijon mustard
mixed salad greens or spinach

Press raspberries through a sieve, reserving juice; discard seeds. In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the broth, sugar, vinegar, oil, mustard and reserved juice. Refrigerate. Shake before serving over salad greens.

Kathie's Note: I made this dressing by throwing everything into my blender and then straining out the seeds at the end. (It's amazing how many little seeds are in raspberries!)

Asiago Crisped Spinach and Raspberry Salad

Look how fancy these little salads are! I just love these! They are pretty simple to make and they will turn your dinner into pure elegance! Besides...a "bowl" made out of cheese. What could be better?

Try this recipe the next time you want to impress your house guests. I know my in-laws were in awe when they saw and ate them! :)

Tomorrow I will post the raspberry vinaigrette recipe that I served with this salad.