Last night, I made beef buorguinon, a recipe I got from world renowned american chef, Julia Child. I got it through internet (who would’ve thought?, not everyone is doing it). But I have full trust with online recipe, they made it much simpler and easier for me. But I still prefer the iconic book, Mastering the Art of French cooking. Not that I want to become Julie Powell, religiously cooking all the recipe, all I want is just authenticity. That book is one of my material things wish list. A must have item, at least for me.

Beef buorguinon is like American version of beef stew. It is a traditional French recipe and it is prepared with beef braised and red wine. It also comes with garlic, onions, pearl onions, and mushrooms added towards the end of cooking. Bacon cut into small cubes are also added to provide fat.

I admit I didn’t follow the recipe. I have all the ingredients but following the instructions is not my thing. I still follow some but not everything. It serves only as a guide, you can add and you can make it in your own style. No pressure.

As for the result? Not being bias or anything. It was good. And when I say good, it is really good. I don’t like praising my own cooking, let alone the stranger or my husband or my friends. So if you like to experience France or anything Julia Child related, try to make beef buorguinon. I wasn’t as open minded as before, just like hating French cuisine or anything french at all (hate much?) but this dish  kind of changed me in some way. It changed my perception about food, of how food can be so liberating and how French or Julia Child changed the way we eat, we cook and think about food.

Since I worked on New year’s eve, we have our New year celebration the day before (how awesome is that? NOT!!). We have of course the beef buorguinon, whipped mashed potato, and avocado smoothie with chocolate crisp and cinnamon for dessert. Okay, it wasn’t that bad after all. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Cheers!

For the Stew

• 6 ounces bacon, solid chunk
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 lbs lean stewing beef, cut into 2-inch cubes
• 1 carrot, peeled and sliced
• 1 onion, peeled and sliced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 3 cups red wine (a full bodied wine like Bordeaux or Burgundy or Chianti)
• 2 -3 cups beef stock (Simple Beef stock is posted on the site, unsalted and defatted)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 garlic cloves, mashed (you may choose to add more)
• 1 sprig thyme (or 1/2 teaspoon dred thyme)
• 1 bay leaf, preferably fresh

For the braised onions

• 18 -24 white pearl onions, peeled
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup beef stock
• salt & fresh ground pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 sprig thyme
• 2 sprigs parsley

For the Sauteed Mushrooms

• 1 lb mushroom, quartered
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Change Measurements: US | Metric

Directions:

1. 1 First prepare the bacon: cut off the rind and reserve.
2. 2 Cut the bacon into lardons about 1/4″ thick and 1 1/2″ long.
3. 3 Simmer the rind and the lardons for ten minutes in 1 1/2 quarts of water.
4. 4 Drain and dry the lardons and rind and reserve.
5. 5 Pre-heat the oven to 450°F.
6. 6 Put the tablespoon of olive oil in a large (9″ – 10″ wide, 3″ deep) fireproof casserole and warm over moderate heat.
7. 7 Saute the lardons for 2 to 3 minutes to brown lightly.
8. 8 Remove to a side dish with a slotted spoon.
9. 9 Dry off the pieces of beef and saute them, a few at a time in the hot oil/bacon fat until nicely browned on all sides.
10. 10 Once browned, remove to the side plate with the bacon.
11. 11 In the same oil/fat, saute the onion and the carrot until softened.
12. 12 Pour off the fat and return the lardons and the beef to the casserole with the carrots and onion.
13. 13 Toss the contents of the casserole with the salt and pepper and sprinkle with the flour.
14. 14 Set the uncovered casserole in the oven for four minutes.
15. 15 Toss the contents of the casserole again and return to the hot oven for 4 more minutes.
16. 16 Now, lower the heat to 325°F and remove the casserole from the oven.
17. 17 Add the wine and enough stock so that the meat is barely covered.
18. 18 Add the tomato paste, garlic and herbs and the bacon rind.
19. 19 Bring to a simmer on the top of the stove.
20. 20 Cover and place in the oven, adjusting the heat so that the liquid simmers very slowly for three to four hours.
21. 21 The meat is done when a fork pierces it easily.
22. 22 While the meat is cooking, prepare the onions and mushrooms and set them aside till needed.
23. 23 For the onion, if using frozen, make sure they are defrosted and drained.
24. 24 Heat the butter and oil in a large skillet and add the onions to the skillet.
25. 25 Saute over medium heat for about ten minutes, rolling the onions about so they brown as evenly as possible, without breaking apart.
26. 26 Pour in the stock, season to taste, add the herbs, and cover.
27. 27 Simmer over low heat for about 40 to 50 minutes until the onions are perfectly tender but retain their shape and the liquid has mostly evaporated.
28. 28 Remove the herbs and set the onions aside.
29. 29 For the mushrooms, heat the butter and oil over high heat in a large skillet.
30. 30 As soon as the foam begins to subside add the mushrooms and toss and shake the pan for about five minutes.
31. 31 As soon as they have browned lightly, remove from heat.
32. 32 To Finish the Stew:.
33. 33 When the meat is tender, remover the casserole from the oven and empty its contents into a sieve set over a saucepan.
34. 34 Wash out the casserole and return the beef and bacon to it (discarding the bits of carrot and onion and herbs which remain in the sieve).
35. 35 Distribute the mushrooms and onions over the meat.
36. 36 Skim the fat off the sauce and simmer it for a minute or two, skimming off any additional fat which rises to the surface.
37. 37 You should be left with about 2 1/2 cups of sauce thick enough to coat a spoon lightly.
38. 38 If the sauce is too thick, add a few tablespoons of stock.
39. 39 If the sauce is too thin, boil it down to reduce to the right consistency.
40. 40 Taste for seasoning.
41. 41 Pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables.
42. 42 If you are serving immediately, place the covered casserole over medium low heat and simmer 2 to 3 minutes.
43. 43 Serve in the casserole or on a warm platter surrounded by noodles, potatoes or rice and garnished with fresh parsley.
44. 44 If serving later or the next day, allow the casserole to cool and place cold, covered casserole in the refrigerator.
45. 45 20 minutes prior to serving, place over medium low heat and simmer very slowly for ten minutes, occasionally basting the meat and vegetables with the sauce.

Our class assignment is to visit a local restaurant and take photos with yourself and the food. I think its a brilliant idea  because I like taking pictures of the food every time I visit a restaurant. I like to know and remember what I ate in that restaurant and how my experience was.

Gold mountain restaurant is a chinese/cantonese type of restaurant. It has a variety of menus covering from chinese-american dishes to dimsum. I had a hard time picking what I’m going to eat because there’s just so many of them. But finally I decided to pick steamed egg custard bun, steamed shrimp and pork dumpling and chicken feet with black bean soup. My favorite is of course the chicken feet.  It has a gelatinous, sweet and spicy flavor. It’s very soft that the cartilage fall from the bone and I think that’s the best part of it (my husband don’t understand why). If the feet is awesome delicious, the black bean soup or the sauce has a perfect savory flavor. I like dipping my custard bun in that soup. The custard bun is sweet and tasty while the shrimp and pork dumpling is not something I would really eat. The meat is too compact that it’s hard to chew, and it’s also makes me think that it’s a fake meat or something. My husband loves it though for some reason. Over all, my experience in that restaurant is almost great if not with the canned sprite that they gave me. I just think its weird and I can’t have a refill (seriously?) but other than that everything is fine. I still recommend this place to everyone who like to eat “authentic” chinese food, and definitely, I would love to go back there to try again their chicken feet and noodles.

I don’t have any idea what an olive oil poached shrimp is until I got the chance to make it. It was not what I expected, I mean it was not bad at all. Understanding the recipe and preparing my mise en place, I managed to cook this very interesting and unique dish I’ve ever cook so far. I learned that this recipe was a winning dish of Chef Lia in Top Chef and that’s where I got the recipe from. I agree its a bit intense and requires a heavy preparation in making this dish but it’s all worth it. The taste is amazing, it has a zesty flavor. It has a combination of sweet, sour and salty savor. You will end up wanting to eat this more after you tried it. This dish is ideal for appetizer. You need to try this!

• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds, crushed
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• One 750-ml bottle of olive oil
• 1 lime
• ½ cup sugar
• 1½ teaspoons cornstarch
• Salt
• 1/3 English cucumber
• 1 large poblano chile
• 2 tablespoons fresh minced cilantro
• Zest and juice of 1 Meyer lemon
• Juice of ½ of a navel orange
• 1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
• 1 firm tomato (vine-ripened is suggested)
• 8 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 2 Hass avocados

1. Using a medium saucepan over medium-high heat toast the coriander seeds and red pepper flakes for about 1 minute. Pour in the oil and heat until it just hot enough, but you can still touch it. Take off of the heat and set aside to steep for about 10 minutes. Strain through a fine mesh sieve and cheesecloth and move to a medium saucepan.
2. Remove the zest from the lime using a peeler, scrape off any white-pith that remains on the back of the zest. Retain the lime. Dice the zest very finely and add to a small saucepan, covering with cool water. Bring water up to a boil, and immediately drain. Place the zest back into the saucepan, repeat the boiling and draining process once more. In the same saucepan, add the sugar, ½ cup of water and the zest mix together gently. Bring the ingredients to a boil over high heat. Take it off heat and allow the syrup to cool.
3. Over a clean saucepan, strain the syrup through a filter; place the candied zest into a small bowl and set aside. In the pan combine the cornstarch and ½ cup water. Pour the mixture into the syrup adding 1 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil and cook while gently stirring until thickened, or about 3 minutes . Set aside to cool.
4. Turning your attention to the cucumber, cut it in half and remove the seeds. Leaving the peel on, cut the cucumber into a very fine dice and add to the bowl with the candied zest.
5. Placing the poblano chile over an open gas flame, cook it on all sides until the skin is slightly charred. Use tongs to turn the chili as each side begins to color. Once charred, place the chile in a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap for about 20 minutes. Remove the charred skin, seeds and the stem from the cooled chile. Cut the brightly greened parts into a very fine dice, until 2 tablespoons are measured. Add the chile to the cucumber mix along with the juice from ½ of the already zested lime, the cilantro, ½ teaspoon of the infused oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Set this salad mixture aside.
6. Using a small bowl, bring together the lemon zest and orange, vinegar and salt to your taste. Slice the tomato thinly making 8 wedges and then add it to the marinade. Set aside.
7. Over low heat warm the infused oil. Season the shrimp with salt and add to the warm oil. If the oil spatters it is too hot, lower heat and wait until no spattering occurs. The shrimp will cook between 4 and 6 minutes, turning only once, until they become pink and firm. Remove the shrimp to paper towels to drain.
8. Thinly slice the avocados after peeling them. Brush a light amount of the lime syrup onto the surface of each of eight small serving plates. At one end of the brushstroke, place a single shrimp. Put several thin slices of the avocado next to the shrimp. Artfully place one wedge of the marinated tomato between the shrimp and the avocado slices. Using a fork (to remove as much of the liquid as possible) place the cucumber salad in a small uniform line at the end of the avocado slices so it touches them. Proudly serve your Olive Oil Poached Shrimp to your sure to be impressed family and friends.

I chose to make stir-fried rice not because it’s very easy to make but because I want to make something in my own style. I put a Filipino touch in it by adding sausages and plated it with banana leaf. Our fried rice in the Philippines usually have meat, sausages or even  sliced hot dog in it (any type of meat works). Our fried rice is not spicy at all unlike Thai-fried rice. We usually eat this with beef tapa (cured beef) and egg (itlog), we call it tapsilog (tapa, sinigang, itlog). The picture really justifies the real taste to it. It’s flavorful to the extent of umami. My husband loves it!

Ingredients:

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 2 eggs
• carrots, brunoise
• spring onions, sliced
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 2 cups rice
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Procedure:

• put the oil on the wok over high heat. put garlic, onion and carrots. stir.
• put sausage, oyster sauce, soy sauce. stir
• put eggs and keep stirring it until it spread
• put spring onions and rice. combine everything real well.
• serve

I chose to cook these 8 recipes at home to have an extra credit for Culinary Foundation. My first recipe is Eggs Benedict. I had fun making this at home. I haven’t tried Eggs Benedict before so I have no idea if what I’m doing is right. I don’t even have any clue what a hollandaise sauce is. It sounds familiar but I never tried it. But now I know it’s easy to make a holladaise sauce and eggs benedict (and its very delicious!). Try this at home!

Ingredients:

• 8 slices canadian bacon
• 4 english muffins, split
• 8 eggs, poached
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste
• hollandaise sauce
• parsley for garnish

Procedure

• Bron the bacon in a medium skillet and toast the english muff, cut-sides up, on a baking sheet under the broiler.
• To assemble: lay a slice of canadaian bacon on top of each muffin half, followed by a poached egg. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon hollandaise sauce over the eggs. garnish with chopped parsley.

Our first assignment is to make a classic french omelet. Watching Jacques Pépin and Julia Child making french omelet seems so easy. But when I tried to make french omelet for the first time, I was discouraged. It takes time and practice to achieve the perfect french omelet. My third attempt wasn’t that bad as you can see from the photos above. My thinking was “It’s okay to make mistakes, I can always buy a dozen of eggs for only $4”. So yeah, when it comes to eggs, I’m not afraid to make mistakes. I can just flip it without using a spatula (unlike hashbrown, I always have a hard time flipping it).

Ingrediesnt:

• 2 large eggs
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tbsp parsely
• 1/4 cup of grated cheese

Procedure:

• mix the eggs, milk, salt and pepper (mix them very well)
• in a nonstick pan, melt the butter over medium-high heat
• when the butter stops foaming, pour the eggs and swirl it around pan to distribute evenly
• continue stirring the omelet using a fork
• tip the pan slightly in a slanting form so that the eggs will run to the edge of the pan
• run the fork around and form a half moon shape
• put it on the plate and sprinkle the parsley and cheese

Yesterday was my first class for Culinary Foundation. It was great and overwhelming. I would say one of the longest days I’ve had. I met my new classmates and of course our Chef Instructors. I can see that my classmates are supportive and there’s a lot of cooperation in the class, especially in the lab. The same with our Chef Instructors. I first met Chef O’donnell in the parking lot. Well, I was too early, like an hour early and I asked him where I could find the FOC/ICA building, and he said it’s in south campus. I think he didn’t understand what I’ve said, but when I told him I’m taking culinary foundation, he said its in this building. It’s funny because I didn’t know he’s going to be my Chef instructor. I was also surprise when I learned that Chef Combs is half-filipino. It’s so rare to find a Filipino chef especially in Omaha! I was happy to know that and relieved that I’m not the only Filipino in the campus.

In our lecture, they handed the syllabus and some papers. We discussed about kitchen safety, knife skills, introduction to cooking and eggs. It was a long lecture. I learned that the fire extinguisher is always near the exit door or front door. It makes sense because if there’s a fire, you can run to the exit and get the fire extinguisher. I also learned on how to properly use the knife, how to prevent from cutting yourself, and the difference between honing and sharpening. Next is our laboratory class. I love it! I like how Chef O’donnell said that you went to Culinary School to cook, not to write or read books all semester. Laboratory class is the most important part of the subject because it’s where you learn more about the “technicality” of cooking and meeting the lab objectives. They will teach you the right way to cook professionally like getting rid of your bad habits in the kitchen. I still believe that through time, practice and dedication, you will achieve that great skills of cooking and we all know that the time we spend in culinary school for two years is not enough to achieve that. That’s why I am applying what I learned in school at home and in my workplace.