Sushi at Home!

To make sushi the way they do in the restaurants is not as hard as it seems. To get rice on the outside of the seaweed all you need to do is place down a piece of saran-wrap on top of your sushi roller, and pat the rice onto the seaweed, then flip over onto your roller. Place filling all together near center and roll up.

Making your own sushi is a great way to feed a party of friends or family with out spending over a hundred dollars at a sushi restaurant. You can make a dozen different rolls and you have the choice of what goes into them!

Some rolls I made have ahi tuna, cucumber and jalapenos for a home version of spicy tuna, and other rolls have cucumber, carrots, ahi, salmon, crab, cream cheese with shrimp on top. You can put as much or as little in a roll as you wish!

Sushi Related Japanese Words and Phrases

• Sushi - Literally, "sticky rice," but in general, refers to anything made from the sticky rice.
• Nori - Dried and pressed sheets of seaweed.
• Maki OR "norimaki"- Regular old seaweed on the outside sushi roll.
• Futomaki - Super big maki roll using a whole piece of Nori, rather than half.
• Ura Maki - Inside out roll.
• Temaki - Cone shaped hand roll.
• Nigiri - A topping laid over a small bed of rice. Usually, this is fish, but you can use any veggie you like. 
• Onigiri - A plain old rice ball filled with fun stuffin's.
• Kappa - Cucumber (Kappa maki = cucumber roll).
• Kombu - Kelp

Power of Ginger!

Ginger has long been used in Asiato treat everything from the common cold to the plague. although there's no scientific proof that ginger helps fight colds, recent studies show its effectiveness in treating other ailments. Research conducted by University of Adelaide in Australia and published in Obstetrics & Gynecology in 2004 confirms that ginger can help reduce nausea in pregnant women. According to a 2004 article in Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition, ginger contains high levels of antioxidants which can help protect against heart disease, cancer and stroke.  

Christine Gerbstadt, a physician and dietitian with the American Dietetic Association, recommends sipping tea made by steeping slices of ginger in boiling water!

Lemon Marion Berry Tye Dye Cake

This master piece of a cake was one of my school projects for culinary school in my cake station. I have always wanted to do something different, and I like to stand out when to comes to baking, I always want to make something someone else in my group hasn't already made. By doing something crazy also has the possibility of someone not trying to replicate it and take credit for my idea.

Making this was a lot of fun, I started out with a simple white cake batter, and poured the batter into several Dixie cups then added small amounts of food coloring to get the color I desired, some colors such as pink and turquoise and green involved mixing of dyes to get the color right.

Pouring the batter in to the cake pans, first spray the sides, and line the bottom with parchment paper, to prevent sticking. Once the pans are ready pour the patter into sections until entire bottom is covered. Feel free to make designs with the batter, and pour colors on top of each other, the more fun you have with it the cooler it will look when you cut into the cake.

Once the cake is baked and cooled, trim the top of the cake so it is smooth. When you trim you might fine a sweet surprise inside. Place on of the flat sides facing down on a cake stand on first layer fill with Marion berry filling. To make all you need is 2 cups of berries, 1/2 cup of water, 1/2 cup sugar, 1 tsp. lemon juice and 3 tablespoons of cornstarch. you first have to cook the berries down with the sugar and half the water, once berries are smashed down and seeds are separated, strain and pour back into pot, add in the rest of ingredients and cook until thickens.

Place the other cake on top of filling with the flattest side up to make it easier to top. I frosted this cake with a simple butter cream that I flavored lemon and added food coloring to to make yellow, pink, and blue frosting. I first covered the entire cake with lemon frosting and smoothed the surface of the cake and combed the sides, then I added the border by placing 2 colors of frosting in the same piping bag.

To garnish the cake once cut since it is already so bright and unique it doesn't need much to jazz up the appearance  so I added I slice on lemon to each slice, since it ties in with the flavor of the cake. I choose to plate the cake lying on its side to show off the inside of the cake, and still make the frosting admirable as well.

Veggie Patties

Ingredients:

Rice

 Red Bell Pepper

Green Bell Pepper

Red Onion

Garlic

Flour

Egg Whites

To make this I just used left over rice from the night before. Combine the peppers, onion and garlic in a food processor to finely chop, add in rice to mix evenly. Pour mixture in a mixing bowl, add flour and egg white until mixture in firm enough to make patties out of.

Once patties are formed place in a skillet with vegetable oil, fry patties until golden brown on both sides, about 3-4 minutes per side.

Variations: 

Other add ins: jalapenos, olives, black beans, etc.

Gluten Free: instead of using AP flour you can use rice flour, chick pea flour, or any other gluten free flour works as well.

Add Cheese: During food processor stage add in shredded cheese of choice.

- mozzarella, cheddar, goat cheese, feta etc.

Make it a burger: make slightly larger patties and place on hamburger bun with toppings of choice.

Chocolate Espresso Mousse

Yield: 14 - 6 oz. portions

Ingredients:

1. semi-sweet chocolate  1 lb. 12 oz.
2. Egg yolk - 9 each
3. Espresso - 6 oz.
4. Sugar - 4 oz.
5. Egg whites pasteurized - 9 each
6. Whipping cream - 3 cups

This recipe calls to use a double boiler, but boiling a pot of water and using a metal mixing bowl and setting it on top will act as a double boiler.

• First melt chocolate in double boiler.
• In Kitchen aid bowl, combine yolks, espresso, and sugar. Place over hot water and beat with a whip until thickened and tripled in bulk.
• Place in mixer a whip in chocolate. Continue to beat on low speed  until cooled slightly.
• In a clean bowl, whip egg whites until stiff. Fold into chocolate.
• Whip cream until stiff, fold into chocolate.
• Pipe into glasses. Refrigerate.

Topped with whip cream, chocolate covered coffee beans, and drizzled chocolate.

Tie Dye Cup Cakes!

White Cake

To make these tie dye cupcakes, I used white cake batter and to color the batter I separated the batter into Dixie cups and mixed in food coloring until I got the colors I wanted.

Once I had mixed all the colors of dough I had wanted I poured in color by color in spots of the cup cake liner until it was 2/3 full. You can pour colors on top of each other to get a tie dye effect when you cut into the cupcake or cake.

The color of the batter does not fade much, so if you want a very vibrant color cupcakes don't worry if you start out with that color you will end up with that color! 

For the frosting I used a simple butter cream and to show off the top color of the dough I just made fun faces on top, but you could also do a traditional cupcake look to and the fun will begin once you bite into the cupcake!

The Grown Up "Egg McMuffin" Sandwich

It is so simple to make a delicious healthy breakfast, and believe it or not cooking eggs is almost as fast as cooking the toast your putting it on! 

The picture above has eggs scrambled with fresh spinach, mushrooms, goat cheese and mozzarella cheese, then placed on top of a toasted English muffin with fresh sliced tomato.

The picture above is an English Muffin topped with scrambled eggs, spinach and mushrooms.

Other topping ideas to add in, sausage, bacon, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, jalapenos, sun dried tomato, tofu.

Another delicious variation, instead of using eggs, try using tofu for a tofu scramble! Believe it or not the taste and texture resembles eggs and it is so good for you!

To make this even better, farm fresh eggs or raising your own chickens for eggs makes this meal very affordable and easy to make and you know exactly what is in your eggs and food. 

Fall Culinary Banquet Prep

 So much to do in such little time. In Class Molly and I made 16 sheets of puff pastry completed with either a tri fold or completed all the way to a 3 book fold. After the 3 book fold was completed Nick a second year student had to sheet it out to about 4 feet long so we could cut out circles to make a puff pastry.

Tri Fold in a puff Pastry dough, So much butter!

 

Once puff pastry was baked off we added a persimmon sauce and topped with whip cream and black berries.

Crunchy Brussel Sprout Salad

Brussel sprouts, red cabbage, Frisee, candied walnuts, goat cheese

Dressing: orange juice, sesame oil, red wine vinegar, honey, shallots

Brisket

16 huge chunks of Brisket Chef Scott Cut and I seasoned and Seared in the oven then took out for him to Braise. Then the next day when it was done we portioned it out into 3 ounce plate portions.

De-boning Chicken

Everyone who was there for the first prep day  got to learn and de-bone a chicken there was about 16 or so of them, it was interesting we cut them open from the back and left the skin and all the cuts of meat in tack so we could stuff and roll the chickens.

Chicken Galantine
We used the chickens we just de-boned, and stuffed them with a medium dice day old bread crumbs, rosemary and sage and egg mixture with sliced prosciutto, and Swiss cheese, then rolled it up and wrapped it in tin foil and bake and slice.


Purple Gnocchi with Chanterelles Mushrooms
Surprisingly this is not hard to make and is very tasty and has a bright vibrant color. You need to steam the potatoes, then rice them, add in flour, nutmeg, and salt and mix with dough hook in a mixer slowly add in oil until dough like consistency. Then roll out ropes and cup 1 in pieces and roll with a fork.  and boil. Saute mushrooms tell partially done and gnocchi and saute until browned add rosemary and port wine.

Barley Risotto with Delicata squash
This risotto takes for ever and ever to make, first you have to saute the onions and garlic add barley and saute until toasted, de-glaze with white wine and vegetable stock one cup at a time stirring continuously. You Keep adding one cup at a time until barley softens, then add Parmesan cheese, squash, and cream, salt to taste.

Letter of recommendation from Jim Wiltens

Mikaela:

Mikaela took on a co-cook position at Deer Crossing Camp, www.deercrossingcamp.com, for the summer of 2012. Mikaela was responsible for cooking meals for 50+ people, three times a day. Cooking in our wilderness location is considerably more challenging than cooking in an urban setting. There is no road access so she had to order food and then assist with food pick ups by boat, once a week. The food then had to be physically lifted and transported to the lodge after arriving by boat. Storage is also challenging due to the critter population which includes bears, marmots, squirrels, and mice. This requires constant monitoring, cleaning, and pest vector control. In addition she had to learn how to start generators, water pumps, and run other parts of the infrastructure associated with the kitchen which again is more challenging than a modern kitchen. As the director I was pleased that she was a quick study and picked up the protocols and procedures necessary to run the kitchen in a short period of time. She got along well with the other staff and campers and kept a can-do attitude for the summer. A number of times she offered cooking classes to the campers, who were enthusiastic about working in the kitchen with her. I think she will find that working in any food service organization is considerably easier after working at our wilderness camp and I wouldn't hesitate in hiring her again. If you have any questions feel free to contact me.

Jim Wiltens
(650) 369-3902
www.jimwiltens.com

The Kitchen at Deer Crossing

Pecan Pie for the Holidays

Pecan Pie is my all time favorite pie around this time of year. It is so rich and delicious and is great eaten all by its self. I was surprised when I made it for the first time at school how easy and how few ingredients it takes to make this pie, the pie crust takes the most work but using a 3 2 1 recipe even that is simple.

Yield 6-9 pies

Sugar 4 lb

Butter 4 oz 

Salt 1 TB

Egg beaten 24

Corn Syrup 1 qt

Vanilla 2 1/2  TB

Pecans 1 LB 8 oz

1. Cream sugar and butter

2. Add eggs and salt mix well

3. Pour pie filling into pie shell and top with pecans

4. Bake tell done at 350 degrees Approx. 40 minutes 

Chocolate Sprite Cookies

Chef Dale at school had the other student on short dough station and myself  use his recipe for these cookies to sell at the student commons

These were such a hit with the students, sold out day one!

You only have to bake these or a short period of time so they stay soft and chewy.

Yield 2 - 3 dozen

1 lb Sugar

1 lb Butter

1 cup Milk

8 oz Cocoa

2 lb 2 oz Pastry flour

1/2 oz Salt

Trace Vanilla

Place cookies in chocolate chips after slicing

1. Cream butter and sugar

2. Add milk and vanilla Mix well

3. Sift Cocoa, Pastry flour, and salt mix well

4. Form into tube slice disk

Dutch Chocolate Mint Cheesecake

Dutch Chocolate Mint Cheesecake

So many ingredients for a little cheesecake

so easy to mess up.

"There is no such thing as failure as long as it is a learning experience"

The cheesecake wasn't pretty when it came out of the oven, but there is almost always a way to make your product pretty again. Garnishes are always your friend! My eggs were over whipped into my batter so the cheesecake rose then fell, leaving my ending product a sunken cheesecake. With the work of a knife to flatten out the top and my garnish of sour cream mint frosting topped with shaved chocolate transformed this cheesecake.

Crust: 

12 oz. Chocolate Cookie Crumbs

6 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate

6 Tbsp. Sugar

7 oz. Soft Butter

Process and press into spring form

 Cake:

16 oz.  Chocolate

2 2/3  lbs.  Cream Cheese Frosting

2 1/3 cup  Sugar

3 oz. Cream

2/3 cup Cocoa

6 Eggs

2 tsp. Vanilla

2 1/3 tsp. Peppermint Extract

On low speed cream the cream cheese and sugar, add chocolate, cocoa, scrapping and creaming after each addition. Add cream and flavorings. Add eggs. Bake at 300 degrees until done.

Attempts at a pastry cream (culinary school)

It's so surprising how much you can learn in only 2 days with very letle guidance.

Fall term of school I will be in bakery station and the first 3 days I''ve started in costars, alone. This had me nervous when I heard this having never made a custard before. So the weekend before actual class in the kitchen started I made 3 custard pies. Number one was an avocado coconut, which turned out very well. Number two was white chocolate mixed berry also super yummy and turned out great. Third my personal favorite caramelized onion blue cheese and pear.

I thought I had prepared my self for what was to come Monday in class, but not quite, chef Hurley had me doing a completely different method then I practiced at home.

I made pastry cream, half for a coconut cream pie and the other for danish custards. My first batch I screwed up in the step after tempering the milk into the eggs then pouring the mixture back over the heat to thicken, turns out I more or less had scrambled eggs in the bottom of my pot.

I was mortified, it had taken me so long to get to that step and I had to start over. The second time I attempted it, it wasn't as bad, I didn't make scrambled eggs, I did get worried when the starch started to clump up in the same step my eggs had scrambled before, but it turned out I just needed to whisk like crazy so my custard thickened.

My end results turned out great, every last slice of coconut cream pie sold, which means I did something right.

Avocado Coconut Milk Custard Garnished with Fresh Sliced Avocado

Individual custard garnished with fresh avocado and a dot
of sriracha sauce

Custard with crust, garnished with shrimp
and a dot of sriracha sauce

Ingredients
2 large avocados
1 T lemon juice
1 can (13.5oz) coconut milk
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt
 1 tsp sriracha sauce
2 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks


1. Cut avocado in half remove seed and slice Fill 1 cup of sliced avocado press down. Left overs can be used to garnish
2. In food processor blend avocado, lemon juice, coconut milk, garlic powder, salt, sriracha sauce, blend until smooth
3. Whisk eggs and yolks in a mixing bowl
4. Whisk avocado mixture into eggs until very smooth
5. Pour mixture into prepared pie crust or individual custard dishes

         - if in custard dishes fill and place in a pan with water surrounding dish and bake in middle of oven

Bake for 60 minutes in middle of oven at 325 degrees
turn off oven and let set with door cracked until room temperature.

Complements to apronstringsblog.com
Altered custard recipe from site

Simple fiesta

Avocado, broccoli, ground beef and garlic with Humboldt goat cheese crumbled on top. This takes no more than about 6 minutes to make and it's all fresh and so so good!

Place amount of desired raw ground beef in pan season with garlic salt and pepper. Once there is no more pink add in broccoli, avocado and fresh garlic cook until broccoli is soft and serve with goat cheese if desired.

When I'm hungry I usually want something quick, but not frozen and I like it to be tasty and somewhat healthy for me. Sauteing up some fresh vegetables  is always quick and delishes and if you like meat you can always add it in and still have a quick and easy meal.

You can always add fresh French bread to complete this dish.

Enjoy :-)

Deluxe Nachos

Everyone loves a good snack food for game day, study sessions, parties, and more

These nachos here include;

• Corn tortilla chips
• Re-fried beans
• Halved cherry tomatoes
• Grilled chicken
• Cheddar cheese
• More cheddar cheese!!
• and topped with jalapenos

This entree cooks in the oven with in 5 to 10 mins or until cheese melts

Dish and serve with salsa, sour cream and guacamole (optional)

Chicken and Vegetables

Just because you don't have a lot of money, doesn't mean you can't eat good or healthy. This dish has only a few very simple ingredients,

• diced chicken breast
• halved cherry tomatoes
• bite size pieces of broccoli 
• fresh green beans
• diced red potatoes 

 You can use almost any vegetable you have and saute it with chicken, season with black pepper, garlic, salt, and oregano and come out with a master piece

This dish is not only very flavorful, but healthy and also filling. 

Optional : serve with toasted bread, or a roll

Pizza's in the new apartment

Living in my first apartment slowly I have came to realize while cooking meals, I do not have all the normal equipment I normally would to make home made pizzas. Now buying all the ingredients is no problem! It wasn't until after making the dough and letting it rise, I realized oops, I don't have any pizza sheets, and only one cookie sheet, but... I have pie pans!

Being a college student, you have to make due with what you have, and use that imagination to create the meals you want with out going out to buy all new materials.

pizza making 101

Ingredients: flour, yeast, water, seasonings for the dough, water, random toppings from the fridge.

Meat lovers pizza; base olive oil and garlic, toppings pepperoni, grilled chicken, bacon, and shredded cheese

 Goat cheese veggie pizza; olive oil, garlic, black olives, spinach, jalapenos, red onion

BBQ Chicken pizza, BBQ sauce, shredded cheese, red onion, green bell pepper, bacon, diced tomato

Making due with what you got is not only simple, but also easy, pizzas in a pie dish not only works, but is a great idea for trying to make small pizzas, or if you want multiple types of pizzas, but you don't want 3 large size pizzas.

Day Off Hike To The Cell Phone Curve

(My Trail marker for the turn off back into camp)

I hiked out the camper trail out past the boat dock and onto the road to the cell phone curve. It took about an hour and a half to hike about a 2 and a half 3 mile hike. I talked on the phone from around 3 until 6:30. I got to talk to my Mom, Dad, Grandma and Chance, I missed talking to all of them so much! I can not believe I have been in the mountains straight for over a month with out really talking to anyone!

 The Road signs leading to Loon Lake

Around 6:30 I decided to hike back to the boat docks to go for a swim, I wanted to jump off the boat dock, but people were fishing on it, so I just went for a swim instead. Around 7:40 I decided to hike the 2 and a half miles back to camp since it was getting late and the sun was starting to set.

On the hike back to camp I met Previous Chef Steven and his wife Debbie, it was funny running into them, because I met them as they were hiking into DCC and I was hiking out, but we didn't know who each other were the first time we saw each other. Steven was the Cook for Deer Crossing 3 years ago, and he was the chef's blog I read before deciding to take the job at Deer Crossing.

When I got back to camp it was around 8:45pm and it was a funny, but strange arrival, I first went to my tent to put on warmer clothes then headed up to the lodge, to walk into the 4 or so staff that were on and the LITs and GITs  getting ready to send out a search party for me. Which was strange to me because I don't know what made them think I would be back for dinner especially since I didn't know what time dinner would be on an off session day. It was very strange since I only told Jenny the other cook I would be back some time that night, but for some reason they worried I had gotten lost since it was the first time I had hiked the going out of camp trail and the sun was starting to go down. But everything was good once I was there, just thank goodness they hadn't actually gone out looking for me!

On Saturday nights in between sessions we get to watch a movie at night, tonight we watched Grown Ups, it was a very funny movie, I would watch it again. I love movie night, it makes me feel like I am back home. There is nothing better then a Saturday 12 to 12 day off in between sessions getting to relax, swim, talk on the phone and watch a movie all while still in the wilderness!

Sunday Instructor Breakfast

I love Sundays, not only is brunch at 11, but I don't have to cook, the instructors on that day do! The instructors have the freedom to make what ever they please, creative things not on the menu. They make things like quesadillas, stir fry, chocolate chip pancakes, crapes, desert pizza, breakfast pizza, watermelon salad, macaroni, sweet potato fries etc.

Brunch is more like a feast, where we offer seconds and thirds until kids are either to full to eat anymore food or the food is gone.

Watermelon salad, with sliced bananas, lemon juice, and basil (made by myself)

 Desert Pizzas: coated with butter, cinnamon and sugar, chocolate chips, brown sugar, crasions, bananas

Breakfast Pizzas: coated with beaten eggs, sausage, and tomato.

Swim Breaks

One of the nice things about working at a wilderness camp right on a lake, is the long morning or afternoon swims. This morning Ania and I went for a swim at 6am before breakfast to Scylla Tribdis, a set of rocks in the water that acts like an island about 250 yards away. We each swam there and back twice and paddle boarded for each other twice, since you need to have a life guard at all times while swimming.

The morning water is so nice and calm, perfect to swim long distance. It feels as flat as a pool, but better because it is fresh water and the scenery is just wonderful.

In the afternoons here on my time off between lunch and dinner I love going down to the lake to our open beach to lay in the sun and go for a quick swim to cool off. It has to be one of my favorite parts of my days up here, it is so relaxing, and I have been teaching Jenny the other cook how to swim. I have never taught anyone to swim before, but she is picking up quick.