Man Am I STUFFED!!!

Whew!  Tonite… was a good nite in the kitchen!  :)  We're wrapping up our worldwide excursion into cereal grains.  Tonite was Cereal Grains of the Americas, which included Central and South America (read: Mexico, the Caribbean).

We each made our own tortillas (man, just HOW could I screw up such a simple task!).  I managed to get only about four corn tortillas made, and I struggled with the dough for my flour tortillas until I just finally ran out of patience.  Garrrr!!!

Anyway, it didn't matter 'cause by the time we were all served, I ended up eating MUCH more than I should have!  Below is a delicious quinoa salad made by Group 3:

A colorful, flavorful quinoa salad

My team made this freakin' delicious item called Dunkanoo (sounds like something you'd get at the Dunkin Donuts!).  This is basically grated fresh corn mixed with happy good things like brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, coconut milk, golden raisins and cornmeal.  We made a mash of that and stuffed banana leaves with it, then popped these li'l packages in the steamer…

Unwrap the banana leaf to find the delicious goodness inside...

They needed to cool first so the mixture would congeal together all nice-like.  And when they did…  whoa.  Tender, sweet/savory goodness.  Sigh… I love this class!

We've made some more straightforward things, too, while exploring cereal grains, such as your basic risotto and a pretty dang tasty stuffed bell pepper called, believe it or not, Etli Biber Dolmasi…

Your basic, average, everyday risotto...

Fancy name for stuffed peppers!

Tomorrow we start a three-day run of Noodles and Dough, starting with Southeast Asia (pad thai, potstickers), then continuing on to Europe and North Africa (pierogies!), and ending up back in the Americas (TAMALES!).

Did I mention that I love this class?

Peace out.  Namaste.

What a Week at CHIC...

(or two weeks, as it were)

Has it really been two weeks since I’ve posted? My how time flies when we’re… well, you know.

The one thing I’ve had to become accustomed to with going back to school are the ups and downs. Some nights go really well, and others… suck. Case in point: last Monday I went to class with plenty of energy, got through most of the production just fine, and generally felt pretty good. Then I went home and was up again until one in the morning working (day job, from home). I had trouble getting to sleep, then was awoken by neighbors in the hall having a fight at five am!

Needless to say, I was barely able to get through Tuesday night’s demo with my eyes open, and I knew I’d be no good in production. I (gasp!) excused myself from class and went home to crash. I got the basics of veg cookery from the demo, but not the practical experience. By the end of the week I managed to get back in the game a bit. Here’s my Potage Crécy (purée of carrot soup):


But what’s really, truly getting me is balancing work and school. We’re now at a point where we need to come up with our own recipes. Mind you, we’re not making them up out of thin air. We have the book, but the recipes there are designed for larger-scale food service. Our job is to reduce them down to single-serving sizes and still meet the needs of the recipe itself in terms of the flavor and consistency of what we’re supposed to be making.

But add that to the fact that the production seems to be increasing, and the time spent outside of class is getting to be more and more. Work has been hellaciously busy these days, so between OT and school, I’ve barely had time to breathe! ☺

At least I grabbed me a four-day weekend (I took Friday off, and we have Monday off for Labor Day). Sigh… maybe I’ll make me some more of that delicious Tabbouleh:


One nummy treat from last week: we played with potatoes, and deep fried ‘em! I’m very much a proponent of the philosophy that everything tastes better deep fried, and potatoes are no exception! We made delicious little Pomme Dauphine, which is a potato mixture made with Pate a Choux and cut into little segments which are thrown in the fryer… freakin’ delicious:


So, with my day off tomorrow, I not only need to get caught up on some housekeeping (!), but I need to work from home to be as caught up as I can before I go back into the office on Tuesday, AND I need to review this upcoming week’s material, AND write out all my recipes. Ugh. I know it will get better… I know it will get better… I know it will get better…

Peace out, wish me luck, and Namaste.

The Difference is Night and Day

I started Foundations Two class tonight with Chef Wook Kang.

Whoa. Talk about a night and day difference.

Chef Kang is much more organized, calm, cool, collected, and easier to get along with than my former instructor. And he’s a bear for discipline (which our group certainly needs!). The more straightforward and disciplined approach is a welcome change. I was frustrated in my last class by things feeling too chaotic for me to concentrate and learn. Tonight we did a knife cut quiz, made veal stock, then ended with a written quiz. Everything seemed to flow smoothly from one part of the class to the next, and while we certainly got a lot done, it never felt rushed or chaotic.

Many of the folks from my prior class are in this one, so I already know everyone. Some went to a different class, and some I found were held back! They just didn’t get the grades they needed and so they have to repeat Foundations One (with a different instructor). Campus IT seems to have finally fixed the problem with my grades, though the instructor from my last class filled in a couple as estimates. I barely got by with a B- in Sanitation and a flat C in Culinary.

Oof.

I dunno, though. I had a nice long weekend to think about it, and things certainly feel different this time. My whole attitude and approach is different. I’ve made a lot of progress towards changing my patterns (the ones that got in the way, at least!), and I’m feeling better about what I’m doing overall. My focus is sharper, and I feel more confident in what I’m doing. I think the six-week blocks are a perfect way to segment the classes, as they give you enough time to get immersed in what you’re doing, but not enough time to feel too comfortable or get into a rut. They keep you on your toes at CHIC, that’s for sure!

So here’s to the new class. We’ll see what lies ahead.

FINAL WEEK!!!

Well, of the first set of classes. ☺

But it does feel like the end of something significant. I look back over the last six weeks of notes and syllabi and realize I’ve taken in an awful lot in a very short amount of time. It’s been very whirlwind, and my only real frustration is that I haven’t had the time to adequately absorb all of this. My brain’s fried already and I’ve now got Foundations 2 to think about!

I will admit that I’ve changed considerably since I started. In all brutal honesty, I’d let my brain go to mush. I’ve spent so many years working dead-end jobs that I hated, and being surrounded (mostly) by people from whom I got nothing but negative energy (or no energy at all), that I’ve let my brain fall apart – like a muscle you rarely use. It’s kinda obvious, I know, but it’s not something you really think about until you’re in such an entirely different situation in life like I am now.

I get so much more energy from the people I’m in class with, and so much more (mostly) positive energy, that it’s taken me a lot to ‘re-wire’ myself and begin building up those muscles again. The final week of classes is coming up, and I’ve spent a decent part of the weekend studying and making flashcards of all the material (thanks, Val!). I’m gonna take these things with me everywhere: well, on the bus to work, and at work, and, um, at home again. ☺

As I head into Foundations 2, which will be an even more intense class, my main goal will be to finish this re-wiring and really get myself to a point where I can absorb all of this much better than I have been. I’ve been trying to let go of some bad habits and establish a better routine for myself, which is pretty hard after all these years. But this is most certainly well worth it.

One final note: I bought myself a camera and took a picture of my test the other night… a potato leek soup.


We were supposed to make two different soups, and my other one was a shrimp bisque. I was almost done with it when time ran out and I had to ditch it. We also were told to tourné five potatoes, and as I placed them down on the table and walked away I swear I head Chef say “These are the worst tournés I’ve ever seen in my life!”

Pphhbbbtttt!!!!!

So anyway, it’s back to flashcard-making. I’ll take a break for a little Iron Chef America action, of course. Then we’ll see how this final week goes…

Namaste.

A Moment of Zen

Wow, this past week has been – hellacious.

This whole 'working-full-time/school-full-time' thing has really taken some getting used to. I try to use the weekends to get caught up and read ahead so I’m prepared, but then I end up working tons of overtime! This is the super-busy season at my job now, so there’s not much choice in that.

But I think I’ve finally reached a ‘balance point’ with things. At one point I had hit bottom, thinking that I’d definitely bitten off more than I could chew and made a big mistake. Then I realized that I’m putting too much energy into all of this, which only raises my frustration level to the point where I want to give up. Especially when things don’t go well.

And things certainly didn’t go well this week.

I missed Monday’s classes for a stupid reason, which I later realized was my ‘burn-out’ point. The rest of the week saw ever-increasing pressures in class and at work. Not only was I working overtime every day (by getting in extra-early), but we had exams and heavy-duty cooking practicals at school. I’d come home burnt out, hit the sack and get up the next day to start it all over again.

And a funny thing happened – I learned to relax. ☺ It seemed as if the more over-worked I was, the less energy I had left to worry and stress about things. That doesn’t mean I slacked off, ‘cause I certainly couldn’t. But it means that when things didn’t go well, I didn’t stress, I just rolled with it and moved ahead, doing what I could and letting go of the mistakes.

‘Twas a good thing, too, ‘cause man, Chef can get ornery when things don’t go well!

He called Thursday night’s class a big ‘cluster you-know-what!’ and shouted at the whole class. We were running around trying to make a Béarnaise sauce with a vinegar reduction for our grilled and marinated chicken. Sure, some people got it done, and done well. But some of us… well, we take a little more time to learn than others.

I first screwed up the reduction by not straining it, then screwed it up by not using enough vinegar. I couldn’t crack an egg without screwing that up, too! I know I was getting more and more frustrated, and that was sapping my concentration. But by then we had to pack it up and start cleaning, so I essentially didn’t get anything done at all.

Fact is, I’m a slow learner. It’s always taken me longer to get things, and I have to make lots of mistakes to eventually get what I’m doing. Problem is, the classes just aren’t structured that way. You either get it right away or you don’t, and there’s not enough time for slowly-but-surely figuring it out.

But I’ve learned to let go and stop stressing about that fact. That doesn’t mean I’ve given up, it just means that I accept I won’t get as far as some people in my class. Some of these folks have been cooking in restaurants since their teens! This is all brand new to me. ☺

So I’ll focus that energy on what I’m doing instead of stressing about what I’m not, and if it doesn’t turn out as well as it should have, oh well. I’ll keep moving forward. I found out I have Chef Wook Kang for my next Foundations class, which is awesome. The CHIC Podcast is part of why I got into this in the first place, so it’ll be great to learn from him. Here’s hoping I have Chef Beckman for one of my baking/pastry classes!

Now it’s back to work (!), and hopefully I’ll get some studying in, too. Peace out, and Namaste.

Change Is Good (or so I’m told)

I don’t know what it is. I get home from class at about 10:30 pm, and I should be fried, right? Instead I’m kinda charged up. Ready to go. I want more!

Which ain’t so good, ‘cause I gotta get up early in the morning. ☺

Even on the long days (this one started at 5:30 am), I still seem to have more energy when I get home than when I leave for class. This can only be a good sign. I was really worrying that I’d be too pooped at the end of the day and I’d lose focus. I guess my biggest fear was that I’d end up ‘wasting’ my time and money on something I couldn’t maintain.

But in hindsight that was more my ‘inner wimp’ trying to convince me to give up. I’ve been, well, trepidatious (I know, big word!) about this huge commitment I’ve made. I’m realizing now it’s not just some after-work activity or something I might want to ‘try out’ some day. I’m really making a significant change in my life.

I’ve been stuck in this rut for, how long? Fifteen years or so?? I guess I’d just resigned myself to the idea that there was nothing else for me unless I, I don’t know, won the lottery or something. I’d given up, and so the idea of taking this ‘newfound interest’ and even turning it into a serious hobby was quite a change.

It’s slowly dawned on me that what I’ve actually done is completely change the course of my life. This is no longer some ‘side hobby’ that I’m just trying out to see if I like. The more I do this, the more… natural it feels. Like something I can find real happiness in doing with others who share that same happiness with me. The more I learn about it, the more I want to learn, and the more I want this to BE my life. I want this thing to envelop me. I don’t wanna get all sappy here (!), but I haven’t felt this way about something in, oh, twenty years? :O

Here’s a great quote I found online about Change:

“Faced with the choice between changing one's mind and proving that there is no need to do so, almost everyone gets busy on the proof.” – sendwisecards.com

So finally, after all this time, I’m instead spending my energy on the change.

Good night. Namaste.

The journey begins...

“The C-Dawg Chronicles.” Cheesy title? To be sure. But I wanted to get this thing goin’ and the only way I could think to start it is with a cheesy nickname given to me when I lived back in Cali.

Yeah, I’m a transplanted Chicagoan back from SoCal in the Windy City, trying to make a new start of things. Man, I shore did mess up the first fifteen-or-so years of my life (at least, the life after high school, which is when I start counting). I’ve made lotsa mistakes and paid for them, so here I am, ready to start all over again and head in a new direction.

Which is Food. I’ve always had the culinary bug ever since I was a kid, but of course never took it seriously. I had much grander dreams (more of that later). But when those didn’t work out I was forced to reboot, to wipe the slate clean (as it were), and to find something that genuinely made me happy that I felt I could make a life out of.

So I enrolled in culinary school at The Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago (a.k.a., CHIC). I have little idea of what awaits, or where I want to go with this thing. But that’s sort of the point. It’s nice for once to take each step one at a time, to savor each moment, with no firm set expectations of what’s to come. As Shunryu Suzuki said, “In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's mind there are few.” That’s why I’m doing this.

So this is the story of my journey. I hope you dig it as much as I do.

Peace out, and namaste.