Bragging Rights?

Okay... so once again, I'm humbled by The James Beard Foundation... First, I get the scholarship... then the Scholarship Spotlight in Beard Bites... Check it out... I think it is pretty cool they asked me to do this!

The Modern

I'm just gonna throw this out there... it's good to dine out in NYC as a single woman... if you go to the right place...

I went for Free Fridays at MoMA... stayed for dinner at The Modern.... and stayed for 3 more drinks... and got rose petals in my chocolate champagne... mmmm...

I ate at the bar... the bartender was intoxicatingly attentive, and I'm talking about more than just the way he poured drinks... I just hope the tip I left him conveyed my appreciation...

Here is what I had... started with a Pinot Blanc from Alsace... had a tarte flambee - a crispy thin pizza like round covered with a thin layer of sweet onions, ham and cheese (not sure what exactly the cheese was... maybe parmesan)... moved onto a Chardonnay from South Africa (that I see now isn't even for sale by the glass) to accompany my wild mushroom soup... the soup came with 3 little fried ravioli - which looked like mini empanadas - stuffed with chorizo... deliciously spicy!... then the duck confit - a crispy duck leg sprinkled with shallots with frisee salad with vinagrette and I suspect slightly sauteed and potatoes "lyonnaise" and a red wine reduction swirled around the plate... then a chocolate tarte with vanilla ice cream - actually the least impressive item of the whole night... accompanied by a sweetly, thick red dessert wine (Banyuls "Helyos")... then the a signature cocktail - Coming up Roses... then a specially made chocolate champagne cocktail... caught the 10:45 train back to NJ...

a delicious evening... and now sweet dreams...

International Chef's Congress

On Tuesday & Wednesday I spent my afternoons volunteering at the 1st annual International Chef's Congress put on by StarChefs. I was hoping to assist some chefs with their demo preparations. As it turned out, all the chefs came with members of their own staff and the majority of their prep completed. The volunteer coordinator over scheduled volunteers just to make sure they were covered because they didn't know what to expect. I was able to assist a vendor from Spain who was sampling about 8 different cheeses. So on Tuesday, for about 35 minutes I cut the cheese. I mean, I cut cheese. Ha ha ha...

The majority of the remaining time, I had the good fortune of being invited by the coordinator to watch panel discussions and chef demos. I was able to watch chefs like Jose Andres, Morimoto, Wylie Dufresne, Patricia Yeo, Pierre Herme, Frederic Bau and Ken Oringer. I listened to a panel discussion between Anthony Bourdain, Chris Consentino and Fergus Henderson about "Guts & Glory" - a discussion about offal. During the demos I helped when needed, mostly passing things out to the audience - these included bottles of Belgian beers (like Duval & Corsendonk), squares of cedar paper and a very few samples from what chefs were preparing. I guess I had thought that samples were likely, and thus that I would be busy chopping, dicing, plating and getting yelled at. I guess part of the problem was that the facility lacked a true kitchen. There were moveable electric ovens, flat tops and metal tables on stage for the chefs to use, but only a few items in the "kitchen" area which was directly beside the stage. The other issue was that many chefs chose expensive ingredients. I saw at least 4 demos with foie gras - and not just a few cubes - I'm talking pound plus lobes of the stuff!

Ken Oringer (of Boston's Clio & Toro) had an interesting demo. Definitely flavor interesting... he created a thick, gelatinous broth of chicken feet and smoked pigs feet and foie gras (along with other spices and seasonings - sorry I was wrapping my mind around the feets) which he cooked for many hours and then added a re-hydrated shark fin. He buys the shark fin dried, but after 2 weeks of soaking and changing the water daily, it is soft enough to be steeped in the gelatinous broth for a few more hours. He said that he's had a good response with the dish on his tasting menu, which he charges some where around $135 dollars for. He said if a dish like this was served ala carte, he'd expect the price to be around $85. So I guess it isn't too far of a stretch to see why he didn't plate up about 100+ little tastings for the audience!

Another demo I was fascinated by was Wylie Dufresnes'. He is the chef/owner of wd~50 on the Lower East Side. I really want to visit his restaurant now. He actually didn't actively demo anything on stage. He came well prepared to discuss a few techniques that were documented on a dvd he showed. He's using all kinds of scientific elements - like hyrdocolliods - to basically give forms to ingredients that you'd never expect. He showed a "bacon, egg and cheese" dish that he made by squirting droplets of egg whites into hot fat in a pan. They bead up onto little bubbles and then basically form a sheet, which after the oil is drained off, remains in a single piece with a very interesting bubbled texture and look. The cheese is to the best of my description, a parmesan cream, but he creates it with the same type of solution that is used to make fat free mayo - so he's basically giving the taste of parmesan with the texture and viscosity of a mayo, but essentially fat free. The bacon is represented by lardoons of pig back fat, crisped up and plated with ribbons of the egg and a quenelle of the cheese. Totally amazing!

There were two pastry demos that I watched and they were each so interesting. One guy - Sam Mason (former pastry chef of wd~50) used some "science-like" techniques to make creme brulee pebbles/droplets. Totally out there, but very interesting. The other chef, Pierre Herme, has one pastry shop in Paris and one in Tokyo. He creates, I guess what I'd describe as flavor profiles. He develops pastry items based on two or three flavor combinations. The flavor combination he presented was called Isphalan - raspberry, rose and litchi. I guess it had originally started off as only raspberry and rose and after tasting litchi he decided that it would complement them well. He takes these flavors and makes many permutations - cakes, galletes, tarts, petit fours, gelees, purees, frozen sorbets, he even made a cake on a stick called Mr. H - and gives them lovely names like "surprise" and "emotion." I just love how he simplifies his flavors down to a few complementary ones and then just runs with them. Most everything he makes is presented in some layered form, so you have a real idea (based on the color) what the flavor is. It was just very beautiful, sleek, simple and pure.

Anyway, overall an amazing experience. I'm truly so psyched that I get to go/volunteer at these "industy only" events. I'm so blessed, humbled and totally in awe. Some day, how cool would it be to be doing demos, mingling with chefs, cooking for (or even going to) VIP dinners and staying up until 4am at after parties - drinking, eating, laughing and sharing stories with these people?

Until then... I'll practice not being so shy... what do I say to these people? Probably start off with my name, and something like "it was a pleasure to see you demonstrate... i really was fascinated by (insert something here)... i was wondering about (insert something else related to their body of knowledge here)..." The only thing I think I pulled off during the conference was a few good dimpled smiles...

Mission Statement

Mission statements aren't easy to write, neither are concept statements - combining all your ideas for a business into about 10 sentences. Ideas that are bouncing and jumping around your mind, and "what ifs", and all of it multiply, make those things hard to grab on to. In class were wasting no time and already working on our business plan.

When I sat down last Wednesday to write a first draft of a mission statement I chose something I've always wanted to do - at least since high school - a bed and breakfast. I fashioned the b&b after all the great summer weekends I've spent over the last few years in RI with Cathy, Paul, Brooke, Kev, Cait and Hannah. It's something I definitely have in my heart to do some day - I'm afraid my life might run out before I get to do all the things I want to...

Anyway, after a weekend of reading assignments, I realized that a b&b is going to be highly concentrated on the "bed" part and since I'm in culinary management and not hotel management, I decided that to get the most out of my work in this class I need to go with another one of my many food service centric ideas... so an artsy ice cream shop it is... and that's all I'm revealing right now.

I'm going to try to do something interest (at least to me) each day so I know I'm living the best I can and I'll post them every now and then... so here it goes...
Highlight of Sunday: visiting the Farmer's Market - there is a pickle vendor!
Highlight of Monday: getting "going back to school" shoes from Ellen!
Highlight of Tuesday: co-purchasing Grey's Anatomy vol.1 & vol.2 dvds with Ellen ... and ... making a successfully juicy, flavorful roasted chicken for Grandma and Ellen, and Phyllis

For all my fellow Cook's Illustrated/Cook's Country/America's Test Kitchen fans: check out the upcoming appearances in your area
For anyone interested in unique and touching food history: check out the Kitchen Sisters on tour and possibly stopping in your area

My 1st day of class...

... was hectic!!!

I started the morning thinking I would get a student pass for NJ Transit and left the house at 5:30am. After figuring it all out, I'm probably better off just paying the regular fare for the days I need to go into the city and getting the pass next month. But I was able to obtain the form and also got to speak with the strangers who hang around a train station at 5:30am. Needless to say I was about 1 hour and 15 minutes early for class. I went to Starbucks and read my new favorite book (Heat by Bill Buford) that I received as a "housewarming gift" from my Grandma and Aunt upon moving to NJ. Sweet huh? And just for your reference it costs $3.10 for a tall skim latte in NYC. Did the prices everywhere go up?

Anyway... on to class. I have a handsome teacher named Richard. He seems to have done everything - from waiter to sommelier, from garde manger chef to caterer and from coffeehouse owner to restaurant partner. He's got lost of experience... and years of teaching for at least 4 different colleges or schools. He has a good teaching style and likes funny things. I like him already.

Otherwise, the class is half full of just-out-of-high-school kids, and no 19 year old eye candy for Jenni. There is even one kid who has already completed the culinary arts program, I'm not sure how, he seems incredibly immature. I should have identified the older students when I came in - we were all at least 30 minutes earlier than the time they told us to show up - and sat with them, but I didn't. The people at my table (at least for the next 3 class sessions) seem mature enough though - one guy has a commute of at least 2 hours from NY and has an associates in liberal arts from SUNY, another girl has a degree in biochem (or some science) and has worked as a realtor (or assistant) for a while and the other guy is from Venezuela and graduated from the ICE culinary arts program in 2003 and is back for more so he can work his way up in the kitchen he currently is employed in.

Here's a "I'm a foodie/food snob" story for you. The instructor was talking about McDonald's as an example of "knowing your customer" and at the break, some people in the class talked about how badly they now wanted fries and a burger!?!?! What??? My goodness, some of them are culinary program students and I was thinking, "You want to be taken seriously as an aspiring chef and you're craving McDonald's???" I already felt old enough so I restained myself from saying I haven't eaten at a McD's or Burger King or place like that in about 8 years... then I would have seemed old and bitchy!

I received about 30 lbs of books to carry home - thank god they come with a complimentary canvas tote bag! I like the way the program is set up and I'm most looking forward to the early morning drinking field trips that were discussed!!!

Also, I've already signed up for three extra curricular classes - Toba Garrett's wedding cake discussion, Francois Payard's bite sized recipes (both in October) and Elisa Strauss' sculpted cakes (in January). Each of these classes only cost me $5! I will also sign up for one more in January of 2007 that is specifically about "sweet success" - on how to open a pastry shop. I have $300 worth of credit for recreational classes too. I want to take savory classes, since I should learn what I need to know in the baking and pastry program... but there are soooo many choices, and I found out that I can't take the walking tours, which totally bums me out... so, I'll stick to a fall harvest class, or a spices class, or comfort foods, or soups, or italian ragus and stews, or tapas from cataluna, or caribbean celebration or wines and cheeses... see, I told you, too many choices!

One more day...

I thought I was starting school today... ooops, my Culinary Management class meets on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, so why would they start on a Tuesday? So I'm off to school tomorrow - bright and early, especially because I need to try to get forms for a commuter pass at a student rate from the train station - which is only open from 5am to 12:30pm (I didn't get there today until 1pm) - and I need to check in at the ICE at 7:30am. Now, officially, gone are the days I get to sleep until 11am - well, at least on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Check back tomorrow evening for any updates after my 1st day of classes!

Cake Toppers

My brother, Mike, blew glass cake toppers for all the cakes. It was really great to have them, because that meant I didn't have to go crazy on frosting designs. I could keep it simple and have those pieces highlighted. Plus I was running sooo late on finishing the cakes there was no way I would have found time to make decorations that didn't look like complete crap. I'll have time for that in class because in one of the modules I have to make a wedding cake.

Anyway, I wanted to post some close ups of the glass pieces my brother made for the cakes.

These are small bananas, about 3 inches long. They were made for the banana cake with sour cream gananche and carmelized bananas in the middle.

This is the little scene from the country cake. I built a little hill of frosting so that I could scrape off the little pieces before the cake was cut and served. Mike went all out on this one. He made a little cottage - complete with windows and an ajar door. He made the stream and different sized rocks. Definitely one of my favorite parts of this whole scene were the little shrubs - some with little red flowers. This cake was a buttermilk cake with berry buttercream filling and berries in between the layers, and a vanilla buttercream frosting.

This is a lemon with a sunshine on top, for the lemon sunshine cake. The lemon is even all dimpled like how real lemons are. This cake was a lemon chiffon cake, with lemon curd filling and vanilla buttercream frosting.

This is the topper for the main 2 tiered cake. At first glance it might not make much sense, but I think that is how Mike intended it. It was special for Mike and Ally, and now everyone will know - so sorry Mike & Ally! When I was little girl, me and my friends used to try to freak out the boys by saying to them "elephant shoe" except we would not actually let the words come out of our mouth. The shape of the mouth when saying these words looks like "I love you." Anyway, "island view" creates the same shape with the mouth. The best thing about this though, is that Mike isn't teasing Ally, it's just one more way to tell her how much he loves her. That's awesome. The other glass piece here are two octopus tentacles holding an orb. That piece is reminiscent of what Mike and Ally designed for their rings. The top tier of the cake was chocolate with peanut butter filling and vanilla buttercream frosting. The bottom tier of the cake was butter cake with a berry buttercream filling and vanilla buttercream frosting.