Archive for February, 2010
Moving Forward
Posted by: | CommentsAway from home, I’m an early riser: 4:00am to be exact, Monday through Friday. While everyone else is sleeping, I get a lot of work done at this opportune hour when everything is calm and quiet around me.
Monday and Tuesday, before committing to our on-the-line station duties, we were shown how to make Coconut Water Kefir.
In a sterilized glass jar, add live kefir grains to coconut water, stir well using a non-metallic utensil, put a lid on the jar, then let the mixture ferment at room temperature for up to 36 hours. When ready, strain the kefir grains (you can rinse and recycle them for later use when making another batch). If you desire, you can use the kefir as a culture for making lassi, yogurt, or cheese, or you can flavor your kefir drink with mostly any kind of fresh fruit juice for a refreshing “soda” with just the right amount of fizz. We flavored ours with pineapple. Yummy, yummy! To read more about kefir grains, click here.
Monday was also the start of my run of the Dessert Station with Kelly Dennis, who since 105degrees‘ launch she has managed to create some fabulous treats. For the next three weeks I’ll be working with her in pastry prep and plating. Fortunately, I’ll get to use some of the techniques I acquired while at the French Culinary Institute’s Pastry Program. To name a few, these are the desserts on the 105degrees current Winter Menu:
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Lucky for me, I’ve either sampled, prepped or plated each of these desserts. Needless to say they’re all FABulous, though if I were forced to choose my personal favorite, it would have to be the Apple Cider Beignets. Before I ever tasted these though, my favorite was the Pomegranate Red Velvet Cake. So, now you know when you’re in town and if they’re ever out of one, you can try the other. Needless to say, all of these desserts are FABulous!
As part of another Level II project, we’ve been assigned to help create the Cafe’s Spring Menu. From a list of titles, I chose to work on “Kyoto Noche”. I came up with something that I’ll have to show you later when the dish is finalized. In the meantime, what I can divulge is that the dish is made, in part, with shiso leaves. Shiso, also known as “perilla” and “beefsteak plant”, is a perennial herb in the mint family that is widely used in Japanese cuisine, especially as a natural colorant in umeboshi.
Above photo by Alissa
This week ended on a high note working at the pastry station until closing with Kelly.
Valentine’s Day
Posted by: | CommentsAll Level II students, including myself, chipped in to prepare this week's "Sunday Supper", which falls on Valentine's Day. It was decided that the menu would be served as a pre-fixe dinner running all weekend starting tonight. So with just a title of each dish to work from given to us by Matthew Kenney, we each were assigned a component to create from scratch. I made the "caviar" with hijiki (a sea vegetable) as appetizer. Rich in minerals, when consumed over time, hijiki promotes hair growth and is purported to restore gray hair to one's original color.
Hijiki Caviar
Yield: Approximately 1 cup
Ingredients
1 cup hijiki
2 cups filtered water (for soaking hijiki)
2 teaspoons grapeseed oil
½ teaspoon Celtic sea salt
Preparation Method
- In a medium-sized bowl, soak hijiki to rehydrate.
- Rinse hijiki thoroughly with cold water until water runs clear. Drain.
- Transfer hijiki to a cutting board, and using a sharp knife, cut the hijiki into 1/8" thick pieces to resemble caviar.
- Place cut hijiki into a bowl, add oil, then season with salt. Mix well.
- Transfer into a serving bowl. Enjoy! Read More→
Raw Bento
Posted by: | CommentsAs you’ve probably read in my earlier post, since last week, I’ve been assigned to Station 2 — the “Asian” Station. Today, I ran a “lunch special”, and with ingredients commonly found in Asian cuisine I prepared a raw bento — a Japanese “meal in a box”. Rather than use the traditional and elegant red-lacquered bento box, I created my version of a Makunouchi bento meant to be eaten at table.
The menu:
- Chickpea miso soup with scallions and tofu
- A salad with tomato, marinated broccoli, and cucumber on a bed of Romaine lettuce with a Carrot-Ginger dressing
- Hijiki with carrots
- Spicy Tuber Roll (currently on the 105degrees menu)
- Tomago sushi
- Pickled Ginger, wasabi, and soy sauce
Tomago is a lightly sweetened egg omelette, however, mine is made with raw cashews, Thai coconut meat, Irish moss, agave nectar, and a pinch of sea salt. The yellow color is derived from turmeric powder. The sushi rice is made with jicama, pine nuts, agave nectar, brown rice vinegar, and sea salt.
I served eight of these bento to my fellow classmates and 105degrees staff. Pretty good!
Rawkstar Dinner with the Mayor
Posted by: | Comments105degrees was quite fortunate in having Mayor Mick Cornett, the current Mayor of Oklahoma City, as its featured Rawkstar guest this month. Mayor Cornett has been on a mission to combat obesity in the nation starting with Oklahomans. What better way to support this community with raw foods! By the way, tonight it was announced that Forbes magazine recently chose 105degrees as one the nation's 10 best new restaurants. Congratulations Dara and Matthew!
Guest Mayor Mick Cornett
February 11, 2010
Barbecued Kale Chips and Cowboy Caviar
Cherry "Soda"-Cristalino Cava Brut Cherry Juice, Cherry Bitters, Sparkling Water
Portobello Chili, Cornbread Biscuit
Felton Road Riesling
Fried Mushroom "Steak", Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Braised Greens
Chateau Roland La Garde
Pecan Pie, Caramel Custard, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
King Estate "Vin Glace"
