Yep. I know. Not only did i find out too late...but i have 6 more days of my stage left and i'm sad about that also. but the sad news is....I will not get to see Chef Michalak the rest of the time i am there. I know. He is going to be in the states the entire time. How horrible!!! I mean...good for him...but sad for me! However, I will send him an email asking if I can come back and take a picture with him! :) There is someone i like though. He is working on the competition! I will get a picture as soon as I can! His work is great...but I can't take pictures of that till the competition which I am going to at the end of the month to support him :)
Also on a sad note, I had a bad day yesterday at work. BUT I believe everyone is entitled to one bad day...right? First I over boiled the milk (i was doing 3 things at once because I was told to) and then 10 min later I broke a container of a cremeaux all over the floor and had to clean it up! Later in the day I sliced my hand practically open. It felt great when i poured bleach on it too :/ but...at the end of the day i had enjoyment hearing the Prince called and wanted a cake, in any flavor, in 30 min. Then they realized it couldn't be done he called back and said he wanted 2 desserts of each kind we serve but NOT the kind from room service. It was rather interesting to see the people running around. I loved it!
Other funny things at work. The dining staff that serves me, finds it weird that an American orders meat and veggies, no sauce and no carbs. They always go to serve me carbs and sauce. PLUS i always get a salad. They laugh at me or question me. They think Americans are fatties! In the same notion...the lady at the dry cleaning...when I told her I was a size 2 (chefs uniforms are different) in both the top and the pants...she smirked. I'm not sure what that meant...but it could only mean a few things! (perfect body?! haha right!)
Also, my landlady is home this week and this morning she gabbed to me at how different I look and she couldn't figure it out till I told her I was going jogging. Then she said to me "beaucoup changer" meaning a lot of change. She said I lost so much weight and I look good. I guess I see it...but others see it more. I see it in my pants. I'm not trying...honestly. But alls the better!
Here is another recipe I made last week with cod fish! Enjoy
Cod fish (or any kind you chose-the original recipe called for tuna)
Peanut Oil
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves, chopped
8 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, caps sliced
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
Lime wedges (optional)
Cook cod in oil in pan til done. Remove, set aside and cover to keep warm.
In a skillet add butter, sliced green onions, cilantro, ginger and chopped garlic and sauté until fragrant (very quickly). Mix in mushrooms and soy sauce and simmer under a minute. Add whipping cream and simmer until sauce lightly coats back of spoon (also very quick). Stir in lime juice. Voila :)
Friday, March 14, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Lunch date!
Well it wasn't a real date. My french friend, Guillaume, came over because he INSISTED i cook him lunch! So i did ;) I went the asian route and this is what I came up with! Try it out for yourself...maybe you will enjoy it as much as he and i did!!!
Tuna with Marinade:
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons oriental sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 5-ounce ahi tuna steaks (about 1 inch to 1 1/4 inches thick)
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
Mix first four ingredients together and pour over tuna to marinade, in the fridge, for at least 3 hrs. Turn occasionally.
When ready to cook, remove tuna from marinade. Spray large nonstick skillet with vegetable oil spray. Heat skillet over high heat. Add tuna steaks to skillet and cook about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare. Place on top of mashed potatoes. Spoon sauce on top.
Ginger, Miso, and Cilantro Sauce:
1 1/2 teaspoons oriental sesame oil
1/2 cup minced shallots
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 cup canned low-salt chicken broth (i used bouillon cubes)
1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed (I used fresh orange juice)
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons yellow miso (fermented soybean paste)* or soy sauce (i used soy sauce)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Heat oil in heavy small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and ginger and sauté 2 minutes. Add broth, orange juice and vinegar. Boil until mixture is reduced to 3/4 cup. Stir in miso (or soy) and cilantro. Simmer 1 minute. Season with salt (probably won't need much) and pepper.
Wasabi Mashed Potatoes:
3 pounds Yukon Gold or Yellow Finn potatoes, peeled, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 tablespoons wasabi paste (horseradish paste)*
2 tablespoons Asian sesame oil
1 cup chopped green onions
Bring potatoes to boil in large pot of water. Reduce heat to medium; cook until tender. Chinois. Mash.
Meanwhile, bring cream, butter, and wasabi paste to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until butter melts. Season with salt and pepper. Keep hot. Heat oil in small skillet over medium heat; add green onions and sauté until wilted. Stir in hot cream mixture into potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in green onions.
I also made some red pepper, shitake mushrooms, and peapods that I just sauted in some sesame oil with salt and pepper for the side dish.
DESSERT:
Chocolate Ginger Mousse:
1 3/4 oz dark chocolate, 64 % cocoa, Valrhona Manjari
1/4 cup (minus 2 tsp) milk
1 gelatin sheet
1 tsp finely grated ginger root
2 Tbsp confectioner’s sugar
1/2 cup (minus 1 Tbsp) cold heavy cream
Whip Cream. Put in fridge and set aside. Melt chocolate over double boiler. Soak gelatin in cold water. Boil milk and ginger. Add sugar. Add gelatin. Pour over chocolate. Softly fold into whipped cream. Pour ontop of raspberries in a ramekin or a mold. Let sit for an hr or til set. VOILA :)
HAVE A GREAT MEAL! Ours was!!! and great company!! Thanx Guillaume
Tuna with Marinade:
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons oriental sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 5-ounce ahi tuna steaks (about 1 inch to 1 1/4 inches thick)
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
Mix first four ingredients together and pour over tuna to marinade, in the fridge, for at least 3 hrs. Turn occasionally.
When ready to cook, remove tuna from marinade. Spray large nonstick skillet with vegetable oil spray. Heat skillet over high heat. Add tuna steaks to skillet and cook about 3 minutes per side for medium-rare. Place on top of mashed potatoes. Spoon sauce on top.
Ginger, Miso, and Cilantro Sauce:
1 1/2 teaspoons oriental sesame oil
1/2 cup minced shallots
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 cup canned low-salt chicken broth (i used bouillon cubes)
1/4 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed (I used fresh orange juice)
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons yellow miso (fermented soybean paste)* or soy sauce (i used soy sauce)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
Heat oil in heavy small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add shallots and ginger and sauté 2 minutes. Add broth, orange juice and vinegar. Boil until mixture is reduced to 3/4 cup. Stir in miso (or soy) and cilantro. Simmer 1 minute. Season with salt (probably won't need much) and pepper.
Wasabi Mashed Potatoes:
3 pounds Yukon Gold or Yellow Finn potatoes, peeled, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 tablespoons wasabi paste (horseradish paste)*
2 tablespoons Asian sesame oil
1 cup chopped green onions
Bring potatoes to boil in large pot of water. Reduce heat to medium; cook until tender. Chinois. Mash.
Meanwhile, bring cream, butter, and wasabi paste to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until butter melts. Season with salt and pepper. Keep hot. Heat oil in small skillet over medium heat; add green onions and sauté until wilted. Stir in hot cream mixture into potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in green onions.
I also made some red pepper, shitake mushrooms, and peapods that I just sauted in some sesame oil with salt and pepper for the side dish.
DESSERT:
Chocolate Ginger Mousse:
1 3/4 oz dark chocolate, 64 % cocoa, Valrhona Manjari
1/4 cup (minus 2 tsp) milk
1 gelatin sheet
1 tsp finely grated ginger root
2 Tbsp confectioner’s sugar
1/2 cup (minus 1 Tbsp) cold heavy cream
Whip Cream. Put in fridge and set aside. Melt chocolate over double boiler. Soak gelatin in cold water. Boil milk and ginger. Add sugar. Add gelatin. Pour over chocolate. Softly fold into whipped cream. Pour ontop of raspberries in a ramekin or a mold. Let sit for an hr or til set. VOILA :)
HAVE A GREAT MEAL! Ours was!!! and great company!! Thanx Guillaume
Monday, March 10, 2008
work update
Well I can finally upload my pictures...but it's only letting me do them one at a time! it's kind of annoying...but I wanted to put them up! They are also all over the place also- blogger must be having an issue but oh well! So here you go :)
I haven't actually made any of these, but worked on some parts of them. I more just took this picture to show you the beautiful stuff they make there!!
These are pot de creme. I made ALL of them from scratch. The parfumes are vanilla, earl grey tea, chocolate, coffee, and pistachio! YUMMY! They are all made primarily the same way, but i had to do all of the weighing first and then it was a long process after that to make them all!
This is my friend Gabrielle cleaning our area ;) She only staged for 2 weeks...but it was great having her around! she is from vermont and goes to the other famous school out her called Ferrandi. I was lucky because she spoke fluent french and english so it was helpful! But Gabrielle was also a great person! Glad to have met her!
This is my friend Philip. He is one of my FAVORITE people at work! He wants to learn english (he's actually pretty good) so we speak franglish all the time! i teach him new words every day! can you believe I'M the translator at work?!!? hahaha.
This is the GINORMOUS eclair they make and plate for The Relais restaurant.
These last two photos are their version of the vacherrin! I've actually cut the fruit for it a few times. Starting from the bottom and working up the dessert is: a mix of litchee, mango and pineapple brunoise, coconut meringue, a quenelle of litchee sorbet (hidden), exotic fruit foam with lime zest and a raspberry with a sugar decoration! I got to put it together and also put the sugar on the glass. I was fortunate enough on saturday night to help my friend Fabien plate desserts at the Relais! It was a BLAST! I love it so much. We plated mi-cuit, baba rhum, ice cream/sorbet, eclairs, vacherrin and some others! It was great!
Anyway...hope you enjoyed those! more on the way! Stay tuned for some recipes this week from cooking at home :)
I haven't actually made any of these, but worked on some parts of them. I more just took this picture to show you the beautiful stuff they make there!!
These are pot de creme. I made ALL of them from scratch. The parfumes are vanilla, earl grey tea, chocolate, coffee, and pistachio! YUMMY! They are all made primarily the same way, but i had to do all of the weighing first and then it was a long process after that to make them all!
This is my friend Gabrielle cleaning our area ;) She only staged for 2 weeks...but it was great having her around! she is from vermont and goes to the other famous school out her called Ferrandi. I was lucky because she spoke fluent french and english so it was helpful! But Gabrielle was also a great person! Glad to have met her!
This is my friend Philip. He is one of my FAVORITE people at work! He wants to learn english (he's actually pretty good) so we speak franglish all the time! i teach him new words every day! can you believe I'M the translator at work?!!? hahaha.
This is the GINORMOUS eclair they make and plate for The Relais restaurant.
These last two photos are their version of the vacherrin! I've actually cut the fruit for it a few times. Starting from the bottom and working up the dessert is: a mix of litchee, mango and pineapple brunoise, coconut meringue, a quenelle of litchee sorbet (hidden), exotic fruit foam with lime zest and a raspberry with a sugar decoration! I got to put it together and also put the sugar on the glass. I was fortunate enough on saturday night to help my friend Fabien plate desserts at the Relais! It was a BLAST! I love it so much. We plated mi-cuit, baba rhum, ice cream/sorbet, eclairs, vacherrin and some others! It was great!
Anyway...hope you enjoyed those! more on the way! Stay tuned for some recipes this week from cooking at home :)
Sunday, March 9, 2008
jour de la femme
Don't ask me what it is...but it's a day that celebrates woman. Anyway...the blog has nothing to do with this...but i needed a title. I have so much to say, post, and do (yes...in my life) that I don't know where to start! So i will just start with work...obviously! It's taking over my life. BUT...i love it. I spoke to Chef Michalak yesterday in French. I got so nervous that I messed up what I was saying, but he understood. He's so good looking I get so nervous. And I've never seen a man eat so many desserts...but i love it! As far as the fight...all is good! We made up ;) Production wise...I have made SO much stuff! I have some pictures of some of it, so I will post and then explain. One thing, yesterday I was cutting more of the cakes (which I got to glaze the chocolate one) and someone said to me "you just cut those for the prince of Qatar" I was like...um ok! How cool!
I seem to be having a problem uploading pictures. SO i will post this blog so you can see my slide show and then I will post my pictures as soon as I figure out the problem! sorry!!!
I seem to be having a problem uploading pictures. SO i will post this blog so you can see my slide show and then I will post my pictures as soon as I figure out the problem! sorry!!!
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