Week 10: Garde Manger III: Charcuterie

Charcuterie traditionally referred to the production of pork-based pates, terrines and galantines, but now includes similar products made with game, poultry, fish and shellfish. The study of charcuterie is quite extensive and could take an entire semester easily, so our brief class barely scratched the surface. We also studies the cheeses and condiments during this class. Chef Loy lectured on the history of sausage making and how they are made. Although we didn't make our own sausage due to time constraints we were given the opportunity to create a sausage blend using already freshly ground pork. I learned many new terms such as forcemeat (a...

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Student Supper Club: Asian Appetizers

I hosted this month's student supper club at my house. Lisa and her husband Grady, Ray and his wife Diane, and Tela came bringing some outstanding food and wines to share. Lisa brought Asian salad and Korean beef skewers, Ray made some Asian flavored deviled eggs and a dessert, banana-chocolate fried wontons. Tela brought some spicy Singapore noodles and I made spicy tuna rolls, edamame (stir-fried with garlic, ginger, soy, jalapenos and oyster sauce), tamago yaki, chicken yakitori and grilled salmon. We made sushi rolls with some salmon, avocado, cucumbers and baby carrots as well. We sampled Moonstone Asian Pear Sake, Becker Iconoclast Cabernet...

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Chef Pro II: Week 9: American Regional II, South and West

I was looking forward to this class. After all, I live in Texas and know the foods, love New Mexico and cook many NM dishes, grew up in California, and was born in South Carolina.At least I am familiar with the foods in this region and have a lot of experience cooking them.We had interesting presentations on New Mexico, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, Alabama, Arizona, California, and I presented on Louisiana. I learned the differences between Creole and Cajun foods and the history of the Cajuns and their style of cooking. One place I've never been is New Orleans and I am anxious to visit there in the near future. We drew slips of paper...

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Week 8: Advanced Sauces

After a review of sauce basics with Chef JD Loy and a discussion of classical sauces vs. modern sauces we got down to business. (In case you're wondering, refer back to the entry in CP I on sauces for information on mother sauces. Modern sauces tend to be lighter, use more fruits and vegetables, and are often made a la minute.) We each had a container labeled with our names and inside the container were 8 slips of paper, each with the name of a protein: beef, pork, chicken, tilapia, catfish, cod, shrimp, bone-in pork chop. We selected a protein and then were told to prepare it with a sauce and present it in 20 minutes. My first protein was shrimp....

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