Recipes from the trial run

My group from culinary class did a trial run on Wednesday of the food we'll be serving at our final presentation dinner in 2 weeks. Our event has a jazz theme. I will post the pictures of the food and our table set up soon. The food was absolutely
out of this world : D Here is what we made:

Salad

A little bit of heavy whipping cream and white pepper made the dressing even better.

Cajun spiced chicken

Creole Meuniere Sauce

The sweetness of the creole sauce is a perfect match for the spice of the chicken.

Bourbon Street New York Strip Steak

American–style red beans and rice

Our next batch will have andouille sausage in it.

Bananas Foster

The dessert was heavenly. I normally think bananas are too gross to eat, but in this dessert they tasted amazing : D Ask my team members how many times I said this morning, "*sigh* I want another Bananas Foster."

Sources:

Warm Nut Encrusted Goat Cheese Salad with Bacon Lardons, Emeril Lagasse, 2003 Show: Emeril LiveEpisode: Bistro Cooking, Food Network

Cajun Spiced Chicken, Submitted by: Jennifer Owen, AllRecipes

Pecan-crusted Trout with Creole Meuniere Sauce and Brabant Potatoes, Emeril Lagasse, 2003, Emeril LiveEpisode: In a Nutshell, Food Network

Bourbon Street New York Strip Steak, Submitted by: Mark Daniel, AllRecipes

American-Style Red Beans and Rice, Submitted by: LAURENB222, AllRecipes

Bananas Foster II, Submitted by: BUTTERMEBREAD, AllRecipes

Food In The News

Nano-foods

The best restaurant in Sweden

Aubergine

The Cinnamon Club

Sources:

"Future foods: friend or foe?", By Paul Moss, BBC News, February 6, 2007

"The best restaurant in Sweden", September 1, 2006, The Local: Sweden's News in English

"Goa: Aubergine", GourmetIndia.com: India's Portal on Food and Drink, Reviews > Indian Restaurants> All Indian resturant reviews, Submitted by: ChetanHooli, January 4, 2008

"Cinnamon Club - London", GourmetIndia.com: India's Portal on Food and Drink, Reviews > International Restaurants> All International resturants, Submitted by: ChetanHooli, January 24, 2008

Altoids Mango Sours

A bit of background: I've never liked mangoes. They taste sweet and delicious when I bite into one, but they always leave a metallic aftertaste in my mouth.

That said, Altoids Mango Sours are worth buying. They really taste like fresh mangoes. Yes, the metallic taste was there for me this time, too, but that's a problem with my taste buds and not the product itself.

Green Apple Mentos

Normally I find Mentos to be repulsive and overly minty. But the green apple flavor is delicious! There is no discernible mint flavor in this candy. The outer shell and the filling have a light, sweet green apple taste. A big thumbs up for this candy!

Tic Tac Citrus Twist

The Citrus Twist pack of Tic Tacs features
lemon and lime mints.

Lime
The outside shell tastes like an orange Runt candy. Biting into them brings out an odd taste of orange Runts, lemon floor polish and lemons *Gag*

Lemon
The outside shell has a semi-pleasant lemonish flavor. The inside of the lemon ones taste like Runts and floor polish with tingly mint sensation thrown in. Again, ewwww !

The official Tic Tac website has this posted: "...Tropical tastes mingle with a subtle chill blending the best of both worlds. It's a sensation combination you'll never forget." They got part of that right. I'll never forget how nasty this candy tasted : P

Food In The News

Grazing In The Cuban Sunshine

Like a child's painting at the Louvre

Sources:

"Grazing in the Cuban sunshine", Review of the The Sol Rio de Luna y Mares hotel, by Susan Sampson, The Toronto Star, January 17, 2007

"Cuisine crumbles amid Gardiner ceramics", review of Jamie Kennedy at the Gardiner, by Amy Pataki, The Toronto Star, August 12, 2006

Food In The News

Wagyu cows

American foodies and how they grew

Sources:
"Take a Wagyu cow, give it a drop of wine... delicious",Belfast Telegraph, By Kathy Marks in Sydney, January 5, 2007

"American foodies and how they grew", by Mary Blume, International Herald Tribune, The Global Edition of the New York Times, December 27, 2006

Not pleased with Disney

I noticed something odd going on with Disney. I was watching Hannah Montana the other day [shush, I was waiting for Law and Order to come on : P] and one of the male characters hid the fact that he liked to bake. ["Oh no, my cake dropped -- I mean not my cake, 'cuz, you know, guys don't bake."] That same idea was present in the Disney movie Eddie's Million Dollar Cook-Off. [I haven't watched that one, so I'm going by commercials I saw and online spoilers I read.] And yet Disney is promoting a That's So Raven spin-off called Cory In the House, where Cory's dad is a chef at the White House.

The idea that cooking and baking makes a man effeminate, gay, weak or whatever else is a poor message for Disney to emphasize. Anyone who's spent time in a professional kitchen knows that chefs -- straight, gay, whatever else-- are a mighty tough lot. And it takes great business skills, creativity, accounting knowledge, resourcefulness and so much more to be a successful chef. It's a shame Disney is showing that 1950s mindset of "cooking is for girls." Kids don't think the culinary arts are strictly a feminine domain until someone tells that to them : P

Food In The News

The Domino's Myth

Source: Snopes.com, Home > Business > Consumer Relations Myths, "Mush Vroom Pizza", January 2007