Little Tuna- 3/17

Even though I've learned a handful of recipes and techniques, nothing prepares you like a little pressure. Yesterday I was basically thrown into the kitchen with my basic knowledge and was told to prepare an Asian inspired meal, and a regular meal that I was told about prepare the previous week. To add pressure, Darrian was going to judge it. The regular meal was a simple pistachio crusted chicken with a pesto basil sauce. The first meal was a walk in the park, simply because I had a week to think about it, but the second one was a spur of the moment meal. I had to make a chicken dish Asian inspired. I don't have much experience cooking an oriental food, but I had to referrer to past knowledge of either t.v or past meals, but I had to pull something out of my magic hat to prepare. So after a good 10 minutes of hard core thinking, I just decided to make a chicken lo mien. Chicken lo mien is a simple dish seen in a lot of Chinese restaurants. But since I wasn't in a Chinese restaurant, I didn't have all the ingredients needed to make the dish accordingly so I add to improvise! The greatest weapon in a chefs artillery is the ability to past knowledge and reshape it to make something new or even modify it. When I was done, it was time for judgement! As I presented Darrien looked at me and took his first bite. Nerve raking when as he chewed it. Turns out it wasn't bad, on the contrary it was pretty good, but with a few minor flaws. For instance, I clashed Asian with Kasian. Something as small as adding jerk season, a kasian season, can clash with a meal.

Lions vs Glassboro!

Friday was our scrimmage against Glassboro, to be honest I didn't think that we would be that good. With only haven a week, our team looked darn good! Kevin, our ace pitcher, on the mound, we put away a lot of potential runs. Even we looked upon as the weak team from last, we came out and proved ourselves a worthy competitors. We came out like a bat out of hell! Scoring in just the first inning, and taking the lead. We kept shutting their offense down, with skillful pitchers, not to mention our incredible defense. Coach Shannon kept telling us "9 vs 1" meaning 9 of us on the field versus the 1 batter. With that in our head, we proved that 9 can definitely kick the 1 batter's....

Lent!

With Lent in full course, our family doesn't eat meat on Fridays. So that means, that I had to put together a quick seafood meal to satisfy my picky siblings! With only a short period of time to work, I decided to go with a quick Asian inspired sauteed shrimp with dirty rice, pretty simple to make. You can basically make anything your making Asian inspired, by adding spices like ginger, teriyaki sauce, lemon grass, and over dozen more spices. For the shrimp I simply sauteed the shrimp with a little bit of ginger and white wine. When the shrimp began to turn pink I added a little more white wine, and pineapple teryaki. I let the shrimp simmer in the pan for maybe another 5min, so it can absorb all the flavors! As a side dish I took white rice and put it in a wok. In case you don't know what a wok is, it is a deep pan mainly used for stir-frying. Well I stir-fried the rice with some some finely chopped onions, bell peppers, garlic powder, lemon grass, and some soy sauce. I just stirred it for a little bit till the rice adsorbed all the flavors and dinner was ready to be served! Please feel free to try at home, just don't get burned!

Pi Day!

Today was an important day in the math world, well technically its not till tomorrow 3/14. But hey its fine with me, as long as I get to eat pie! With today being Pi day and all, our school showed off our dedication to the math department by either making pi t-shirt, quilts, and some even step up to the plate to either recite a song about pi or recite as many pi digits as they can. In my opinion, I think it was a huge success. I actually had fun! From eating pie, to watching teachers get pied. Which by the way, some pies were not so good, well it could also be that I am not much of a pie eater, but the cake! YUM!! Mr. Davidson, with his cat like relax, dodged like three pies throwing at him from Symone Robinson. But finally he was ambushed by our very own Sam Messner! Overall, very exciting event, wish I could do it again!

Le Cordon Bleu!

Well after the interview, the rep granted me acceptance, I was a so excited! But it wasn't 100% sure yet. After a week of faxing paper work to her, I finally got the last word. She sent me a letter, I was a little nervous to open it. I told myself whatever the outcome was, I gave it my all. As I slowly opened it, my heart fiercely pounded, and my hand grewn unsteady. My mom at my back tell me to hurry! As I read the lettter I found out that....I GOT IN! Woo-hoo! I can now officially call myself a college student. In the peacket she sent, it included jacket sizing, and all this other information. But I kid you not, when I read that I got in, I was speachless for a moment. As I kept reading, I also found that, I will be starting school August 17th, the day before my birthday.

Little Tuna 3/10

With an over filled plate, its been hard to take the first bite. Even though i found myself extremely tired, I managed to find the enthusiasm to keep going and have fun. Yesterday Fidel, Darrien's Sous chef, fell ill once again, and Enrique had to come to the rescue! Even though it was too busy, we still our fair share of cooking. We didn't really go into anything new, we just revisited and put into use what already has been thought. A lesson that I learned today was, always communicate. With an order that was not in the menu, Darrien decided to accommodate the custumer and make her, a shrimp wrap. In the menu any wrap includes a side of fries. As I put the fries in the deep frier, Darrien put the shrimp on the skillet, and I was put in charge of watching over them, pretty easy task. When the shrimp is almost done, we put it in the oven to finish it off. Darrien was cooking something else, and he went to put what he was cooking in the oven, and I guess he didn't notice me going for the oven with the tongs, and he open the 500 degree oven door and from reflex I put my hands on the door! Ouch! Even though it hurt I had to finish off the wrap. After we the dishes at hand we just practice on some other dishes, such as summer salads and how to use past experiences to help you prepare unexpected dishes!

Time!

Over the weekend I didn't do much but rest my aching body! Since the official kick off of spring happened last Friday, baseball season started. Our first practice wasn't hard, but it was still painful. We started out with plyos and cardio workouts. Practice never seemed so painful, not to mention all the bat swinging! Man my hands are blistered, dried, and hurting! This is the time of the year that I have to sit down and manage my time, so I have time to attend baseball, but at the same time make time for cooking and school. Since I have to keep my culinary skills sharpened, I'm afraid that with most of my time dedicated to baseball, I will rust off during the season. Hopefully, the restaurant will keep my skills sharpened and quenched my appetite for new recipes. But only time will tell!

Article!

Sorry to keep my loyal audience in the shadows about my latest culinary adventures! This week has been chaotic, between sending a crap load of paperwork to "Le Cordon Bleu," work, and baseball my schedule has not been the easiest to keep up with. But I did the opportunity to read a rather interesting article. Did you know that cubed cut steaks are back in style?? Well neither did I, and to be frank, I don't even remember them being in style; I guess it was before my time! Anyway, while reading this I couldn't help but to notice how the different cuts of beef attract different audiences.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/dining/04steak.html?_r=3&ref=dining

3/03- Little Tuna!

Today, in my opinion, made up for last week! With a cook absent from the kitchen Darrien was a little under staffed, so I tried to help out as much as I could. I was put in charge of the fryer and the skillet. Another task that I had to do was the tickets. I've never knew how to arrange them in the order that it's suppose to go, so Darrien during the slow time showed me how to properly arrange them. Today was the day that I had to put my knowledge of "timing" to the challenge. One of the orders was Blackened Salmon and chicken parm,well the chicken takes longer to cook than the Salmon, so in that case I had to put the chicken in the oven first then then toward the end stick the Salmon in there; it's easier said than done. Everybody makes mistakes, even the pros. When an order for stuffed Salmon came, Darrien accidentally made stuffed flounder. Oops!
Well nonetheless Darrien fixed things, I would have helped but he was working a little faster than I am use to. "What doesn't kill you make you stronger" I have been burned a lot but doesn't matter how many time you get burned it always hurt about the same! While taking the chicken parm out of the oven I accidentally lifted my hand a little too high and the unforgivable oven left his mark on me!

best snow day evER!!

The good days just keep on rolling! Today we got our first official snow day, and you better believe that I made the best of it. A couple of my friends and I hit the hills and went crazy! We got a couple of sleds and made chains to go down the steep hills, not to mentions the barrel rolls we did without sleds. Yes, we did end up getting hurt, but thankfully nobody got seriously hurt. My friend Luis and Mike slid into a tree and almost broke their leg, but they didn't, which is good, but they still were in pain! Bhagesh, another one of my friends, showed off his fearless skills when he and I rode together down the steepest hill and hit a bump and actually got airborne for a split second and then ran into a very skinny tree, but it still knocked the wind out of me! ArGh! After a day like this I am glad I get another day to sleep in late.

Snow Day!

A long awaited day, slowly but surely came at last! Our first snow day this year YAY! Tomorrow I will enjoy the extra hours of sleep and try not to get hurt performing my dare devilish skill in sliding!! Not to mention that tomorrow I also do not have work, so after a glorious day of enjoying the great outdoors, I get to come home to the glory of my kitchen! I still don't know what to defrost to cook for tomorrow but I am sure that something will creep into my mind sooner or later, preferably sooner, so it'll have time to defrost thoroughly! Anyway enough of that, no school equal happy campers! though I can't help but to feel bad for the juniors who have to take the HSPA's on Tuesday because they don't have the extra day to have one on one time with their teachers. They will have to their test with their questions unanswered!

Le Cordon Bleu- interview!

After rigorous months of filling out college applications, I finally got some positive feed backs from one of my primary choices! Le Cordon Bleu in Miami called me last Thursday and request an over the phone interview with me to see if I was a good match for them, she set the interview for Saturday at 11:30 am. During the interview she asked me some pretty intense question and some not so much, but overall I think I did fairly well. When the interview was almost over she asked a question that I didn't see coming, "Why should I allow you into acceptance in our school?" wow that one really caught me off guard! I answered it as thorough as I could, and she liked it! After everything was set and done, she had to go speak with her superior but before she did she asked for a simple task, which was to construct a quick three course meal. It took her about five minutes to review her notes and speak with her superior. When she came back she asked me what I had come up with? I told her as an appetizer I choice stuffed shrimp dusted with old bay, as on entree Chard Asian Salmon and finally as a dessert blue berry tart, by the sound of it she liked the meal. After that she told me that she liked everything and I was basically a shoe in, and granted me acceptance! I was jumping out of my seat when she told me this, but its not that simple because over the next couple month she will be giving me various tasks to complete.

Baseball!

With baseball season within days, I haven't felt this excited in a while. I feel with all the work that most of our team mates have put in on the off-season will benefit our season. I know every time I attend the throwing nights I see my team mates giving 110% during our exercises. I know that when the season starts we will be ready and this year is going to be our year! This year we will go the distance and making it to the playoffs! A far fetched dream for some, but not for me! I know what I have seen and I feel it, a winning season for the Lions! T-minus 8 days!

Little Tuna 2/24

This is, what, my fourth time going to the Little Tuna? Today I learned the down time in the restaurant industry. Like always Darrien and I talked vocab, and to be honest I can't even repeat the words, simply because they were in french. I do recall one word that was fairly simple, Mise en Plas, which means to gather your ingredients. After that we got our hands dirty. We prepared a delicious pasta dish with a creamy cheese sauce. We also did a scrumptious fish entree, did not really catch the name, but I will surely get the name for it next time. The fish entree was very simple to make. Basically we took the fish seasoned it with blacken seasoning and seared it, and finished it in the oven, fairly simple, and the best thing is that the fish can be matched up with almost any side dish. After the cooking I got to experience the business side of the restaurant industry. Darrien had to do the weekly inventory. In this process, he checks for any shortage in supplies. For example, they count how much meat they have, clams, spices, herbs, vegetables, and any other supplies they will need, not a fun task, but necessary .

Fun weekend!

Well this weekend was a little more exciting than most for me. I got chance to get in the kitchen with a fellow Culinarian and cook side by side. Chef Jose, a friend of the family, came to visit us this weekend from Puerto Rico, and he had heard rumor of my culinary curiosity and asked me to join him in the kitchen. It was a restaurant kitchen or anything, it was my own, but we made seem professional with all of our fast movements and roaring flames coming from the skillets. We didn't make anything too fancy, we ending up making Parmesan crusted chicken with mash potatoes. This meal is very simple but if plated well can look very profession, on top of that it is delicious. To make this meal you will need boneless chicken breast, seasoned flour, egg, and of course parmesan cheese. First you take the chicken and wash it of course, then you take your chicken and roll it in seasoned flour (which all season flour is, is flour and whatever seasoning you want and mixed together) and then dip it in the bated, and finally breaded with grated parmesan. Then as your breading the others, have a skillet on the stove top just lightly drizzled with oil screaming hot, and also preheat the oven at 500 degrees. After you have a couple breaded, start dropping them into the screaming hot skillet just until the cheese has browned. Then pop them into the 500 degree oven for about 10 minutes to finish them off. The potatoes are very simple to make, you can even buy instant potatoes. But if you want to know how to make them just ask!

Shopping!

Many people go the grocery store to buy their simple day to day ingredients, but not all of us have the ease to find everything they're looking for under one roof. Since my sister has been ill all this week I had to go out to the grocery store and find all the stuff myself versus making a list for my mother. After going to Shop Rite to buy my everyday thing, I had to drive all the way to Cherry Hill to go to H-Mart, which is an Asian mart. I go there to find herbs and spices not found at your local markets. This week I came in search of fresh ginger, chili paste, sweet chili sauce, and of course their fresh seafood. Every time I go there I always stock up on salmon and tuna, which incredibly cheap and fresh!

Little Tuna- A lunch to remember!

Even though there was no school today, I decided to take advantage of my day off and go to my mentor a little a earlier and stay a little later. As soon as I walked through the back doors into the kitchen, I was thrown into the line of fire.Darrian didn't have time to pull me to the side and give his ritual vocab lesson, in fact he did his teaching as we prepped, and cooked. When I arrived the staff was in misted of serving a table of 11, I have never seen such picky eater. We served at least ten Caesar salads with D.O.S (dressing on the side) not to mention the fried calamari that also had D.O.S. One lady was even asking about the hamburger meat, and whether we grounded ourselves or it came like that. After that lunch rush slowed,Darrian and I had more time to talk food. In fact, we even had time to prepare Penne pasta with a blue cheese sauce, yum! Its actually quite easy to make. You simple take your pot, fill it with water like you would normally cook your pasta. Season the water with salt and some oil. Then, and this is very important , let the water come to a boil because you don't want to let the water sit in a pot filled with cold water. When the water in bubbling you put the pasta in and let cook for about 10 minutes or as box suggests. Cook the pasta "Al Dente " (to the bite, that basically when you can bit the pasta and its not too hard nor too soggy), simple because it will keep cooking itself with the heat and if you put any hot sauce on top it was turn soggy. If you do cook it a little to much you can "shock" it, this a process in which you put the pasta in cold water to stop itself from cooking. while the pasta is cooking you can saute the diced tomatoes and the spinach. When you finish sauteing the vegetables add a little bit of half and half to thicken it, and add the drained penne pasta to the concoction. Finally, you can add the cheeses. Jack, crumbled blue cheese, and Parmesan right into the pan with all the rest of the stuff. Feel free to try and enjoy!

Weekend!

Well this weekend was not like I excepted, but if any good came from it; it would have to be a new recipe! Saturday afternoon I went to T.G.I Fridays and I ordered the some nachos like appetizers, as a eat I could easily distinguish all the flavors that were incorporated into them. My younger brother told me that the nachos were "alright" and lacked a little more "zing" to them, at that moment I began to think of ways of taking it to the next level. At first I thought of using a richer, spicier cheese like a jack cheddar, but then I thought it might take away from the nacho. So I thought of adding the spicy cheese and some spicy salsa in between two tortilla chip, that way you can get the richness from both the cheese and the salsa while still tasting tortilla chip.