Sunday, March 16, 2008
lost camera
Yes. It's true. I lost my camera. In a cab I think. In any case...no pictures for a little. My apologies for all that ONLY look at my pictures and don't read my blog ;) Anyway...overall things are pretty good. Asima's husband is in town. I'm so happy for her. Last nite I got to take some pastries home from work for them! It was a party for them :) This was just a short blog to mention my camera. I'll post more after my weekend! Hope everyone else is just as good as i am! toodles
Friday, March 14, 2008
sad news
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 :)
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 :)
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!!!
Friday, March 7, 2008
oh what a night!
It started out to be a great night! Then things kinda just tumbled down. Nothing horrible. But I did manage to take a few pictures!
These are three cakes that i got to cut. The fruit cake (or cake anglais as they call it) i didn't do anything with it. The marble cake I got to make a few days ago from scratch. The lemon cake (cake citron) I got to make the icing tonite and put it on and then eventually burnt myself which started my bad night :)
These are the financiers that i pipe almost EVERY night. That isn't even half of them. I pipe about 6 trays. Like I said...my piping has gotten better and i don't mind doing this!
This is a dessert for the banquet room which is one of the desserts that won Chef Michalak his Coupe de Monde Championship in 2005. I asked what it was and we lost track of time so they forgot to tell me. But i will find out. But isn't it amazing!?
Anyway...I got to use the spray gun as well...which isn't as much fun as I thought. I guess it's just the sticky stuff that makes it annoying. But it's going to be my job every night...so I have to get used to it. The only bad part about of my night (besides my huge burn) was that I chopped chocolate for almost 2 hrs (and that wasn't bad at all...i didn't mind it!) it was that I got into a fight with someone about it. Yes...an actual FIGHT! Him yelling in french and me in English. Luckily there were no major chefs there. So...I apologized and then went home at 12. I'm over it...but he didn't seem to be when i left. Oh well. It was overall a VERY fun night at work. I really like working the night shift (although chef M isn't around as much! hehe). Anyway...off to start my day! Toodles
These are three cakes that i got to cut. The fruit cake (or cake anglais as they call it) i didn't do anything with it. The marble cake I got to make a few days ago from scratch. The lemon cake (cake citron) I got to make the icing tonite and put it on and then eventually burnt myself which started my bad night :)
These are the financiers that i pipe almost EVERY night. That isn't even half of them. I pipe about 6 trays. Like I said...my piping has gotten better and i don't mind doing this!
This is a dessert for the banquet room which is one of the desserts that won Chef Michalak his Coupe de Monde Championship in 2005. I asked what it was and we lost track of time so they forgot to tell me. But i will find out. But isn't it amazing!?
Anyway...I got to use the spray gun as well...which isn't as much fun as I thought. I guess it's just the sticky stuff that makes it annoying. But it's going to be my job every night...so I have to get used to it. The only bad part about of my night (besides my huge burn) was that I chopped chocolate for almost 2 hrs (and that wasn't bad at all...i didn't mind it!) it was that I got into a fight with someone about it. Yes...an actual FIGHT! Him yelling in french and me in English. Luckily there were no major chefs there. So...I apologized and then went home at 12. I'm over it...but he didn't seem to be when i left. Oh well. It was overall a VERY fun night at work. I really like working the night shift (although chef M isn't around as much! hehe). Anyway...off to start my day! Toodles
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Meeting Michalak :)
Well the big day came! I was a MESS the day before. Even Asima kept asking me what was wrong. We couldn't figure out til the end of the day and we realized i was just nervous for the next day :) I managed to get some sleep though! However during the day I primped forever!
I also had a coffee before work because I got there so early. Ok...so this is how it went. I dressed up and went to work a little early because i had to give my other chef, Jean Marie, some papers. Which is true. I did have to give him stuff, but I could have given it to him during work, but this was a good excuse to look hot and give it to him early. So since i couldn't walk in the kitchen i walked by and asked for him. Well he wasn't there. Then I asked Gabrielle, the American, if my love was there. She said yes. I said I can't wait to meet him. She was like "get your butt into work then" I told her i wanted to meet him like I was (meaning in normal clothes) but I could see he was in his office doing work (ie; putzing on the computer!!!) So I changed and still looking good went into work and said hi to everyone. Last stop, Chef's office. I said Bonjour Chef and he replied. I told him my name and I went to the French Pastry School and I emailed him. He remembered and asked where i was from and then he said he spoke English. The rest of the convo was in English. He told me to eat everything and soak up as much knowledge as I can. I then proceeded to speak his ear off because I was nervous. I quickly stopped myself. Then 3 T.V. channels came during the day, but i managed to see him often. The only other time he spoke to me was 1) when the cameras were near me he told me to quier down a bit (i was pouring choc into a bowl) and 2) when he said goodbye and see you tomorrow. One of the other head chefs knew I was in love with him so every time he saw me looking at him he laughed at me. We started snickering and then Chef M would look at him and ask what was going on. Then once I was joking with another worker who purposely tripped me and Chef M saw and i just gave a little smirk. All day I was smiley and everyone was so confused. I just told them I was in love ;) So one of the chefs said he was going to try and help me. Don't think it's gonna happen though. BUT...it's nice to have high hopes!!! And it's nice that I just get to look at him all day. It makes the day go quicker. As for working the night shift...i like it. It went by quickly. I think it's going to be different stuff every night. Last night I did a LOT of weighing for someone who is prepping for a competition. Other than that....I'm a lot less nervous, but I still wanna look perfect because that's the first thing they see when you get to like someone and as of now it's the only way I can catch his attention! Stay tuned for updates!
I also had a coffee before work because I got there so early. Ok...so this is how it went. I dressed up and went to work a little early because i had to give my other chef, Jean Marie, some papers. Which is true. I did have to give him stuff, but I could have given it to him during work, but this was a good excuse to look hot and give it to him early. So since i couldn't walk in the kitchen i walked by and asked for him. Well he wasn't there. Then I asked Gabrielle, the American, if my love was there. She said yes. I said I can't wait to meet him. She was like "get your butt into work then" I told her i wanted to meet him like I was (meaning in normal clothes) but I could see he was in his office doing work (ie; putzing on the computer!!!) So I changed and still looking good went into work and said hi to everyone. Last stop, Chef's office. I said Bonjour Chef and he replied. I told him my name and I went to the French Pastry School and I emailed him. He remembered and asked where i was from and then he said he spoke English. The rest of the convo was in English. He told me to eat everything and soak up as much knowledge as I can. I then proceeded to speak his ear off because I was nervous. I quickly stopped myself. Then 3 T.V. channels came during the day, but i managed to see him often. The only other time he spoke to me was 1) when the cameras were near me he told me to quier down a bit (i was pouring choc into a bowl) and 2) when he said goodbye and see you tomorrow. One of the other head chefs knew I was in love with him so every time he saw me looking at him he laughed at me. We started snickering and then Chef M would look at him and ask what was going on. Then once I was joking with another worker who purposely tripped me and Chef M saw and i just gave a little smirk. All day I was smiley and everyone was so confused. I just told them I was in love ;) So one of the chefs said he was going to try and help me. Don't think it's gonna happen though. BUT...it's nice to have high hopes!!! And it's nice that I just get to look at him all day. It makes the day go quicker. As for working the night shift...i like it. It went by quickly. I think it's going to be different stuff every night. Last night I did a LOT of weighing for someone who is prepping for a competition. Other than that....I'm a lot less nervous, but I still wanna look perfect because that's the first thing they see when you get to like someone and as of now it's the only way I can catch his attention! Stay tuned for updates!
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