Nailed It!!

April 21st was my cooking practical in class so we all walked into class, got recipes for a main course, and had to know how to cook the side dish that the professor placed with it. Each sheet of paper had a time that we had to serve. No later and no earlier. 

I got salmon cooked in paper with a side of brown rice pilaf. Served an hour an a half into class. Score.

I practice the brown rice pilaf recipe twice before and had the dish memorized. I made the steamed fish in paper in class with the halibut. I just had to do it over again with salmon. I was set. 

Everything was perfect. I got 12/12 all the way down the rubric. Perfect score. I was so happy with myself. I can't believe it did it. Felt incredible. 

I made one for the professor and there was one extra for me to take home. So I brought it home home. Tuesdays are the days my dad is home to make dinner so I still go home to eat with the family almost every week. 

Let's just say I'm glad my dad was not the chef in charge of grading me because he didn't think my dish was so perfect. We spend dinner with him lecturing me about the fundamentals of correctly cooking brown rice. Then he took one bite of my salmon, and told me how to make it better, aka how to make it more chinese. 

I know theres this whole running joke/meme about asian Tiger Moms and all that hilarious stuff that's kinda true, but apply that to my dad instead. This is why I'm so needy and weird. Thanks dad... I tried... 

ROC - Owl House - Always

Made another trip to the Owl House because it is THE place to go. Somehow my friends and I tend to end up there. No regrets about that though. 

This time I went for a late lunch with my friend from high school (hey Sofa!!) and got one of their daily specials, a Frittata kinda deal.  

It was a vegetarian frittata made with tofu and asparagus. So. Good. I got it with sourdough toast because yes. And it came with a side of potato hash-y which is just the cherry on top because we all know I"m a sucker for potatoes. I love owl house. It just never ceases to disappoint. 

Queen of Sugar

We're starting the sweet section of cooking classes. From here on out, we're moving to baking and desserts and candies. And I've rightfully earned my name as queen of sweets. Obviously, I'm all over baking and cupcakes and muffins (though breads still elude me...). Turns out candy is no different.

Crystalizations class was awesome. This was my first try at hot sugar and boy did it go well. My stress levels skyrocketed during class but it was honestly 100% worth it in the end. 

I got to make peanut brittle. And it was nerve racking. I cooked 1.5 cups of sugar, 1/2 cup of white corn syrup, and 1 cup of water until it boiled. I got the temp up to 250 degrees to get the sugar to the hard ball stage, then I added a tablespoon of margarine and 1.5 cups of peanuts and stirred until the sugar was brown and caramelized. 

This was when the scary part came. I took it off the heat, quickly stirred in 1 tsp of vanilla and 1.5tsp of baking powder and kept stirring, FAST. I kept going for a little bit until every thing was well mixed, then I poured it out on to a greased cooking sheet and waited. And waited. And waited some more. After quite some time, it was finally cool enough, and my professor took the end of a wooden spoon and just went crazy on this peanut brittle. It was perfect. The peanut brittle was awesome too. 

I'm super proud of myself. It was so good my professor stole about half of it while I was cleaning the classroom. I should've paid better attention to it!  

Wrapped in Bacon

We've established that bacon is incredible. Simple as that. So one day I decided I was going to wrap asparagus in bacon. It was magical. 

I cut the bacon in half, wrapped it around the asparagus, and baked it in the oven on 425 for a really long time... I mean really long... it takes patience...but it's worth it. It's really worth it. 

Breakfast Froyo!!!!

One of my current jobs this school year is a cashier at a frozen yogurt bar next to my apartment. My boss is awesome and lets all of us lucky employees have as much free froyo as we want. I think he realizes that we don't actually eat that much.... Smart move... 

Well, one day I was opening the shop which happens at noon and I decided that I was going to make an awesome brunch froyo cup for myself. I like to think I'm kind of brilliant just for this one. 

I layered the cup with cheerios then banana slices that I brought to work with me. Then I added strawberries and a little vanilla custard. I repeated this of course, and since it's me and froyo I topped my cup with rainbow sprinkles. 

CEREAL BRUNCH CUPPPPP!!!! I'm so smart.