Re: Chef MTM's Original Recipe

So...in my last post, I explained how there are a few items that I've never made, only because of the fear of totally bombing the taste factor.  Well...after searching for a good meatball recipe, I decided to develop my own.  I also doctored up a recipe for some sauce to accompany the meatballs.

Here's both recipes as well as some pics to walk you through..

Chef MTM’s Meatball Recipe

Ingredients

1lb 4oz ground beef

5-6oz Mirepoix (minced)
½ and ¼ teaspoons Salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
½ teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1 teaspoon minced garlic
3 ½ oz Plain Bread Crumbs (fine)
1 egg
2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons water

Instructions

Combine all ingredients into a large bowl and mix by hand until all ingredients have been fully incorporated.  Make sure to not have any breadcrumb lumps.  Roll into 1 inch diameter balls.  Spray broiler pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Place meatballs onto broiler pan, making sure that they are not touching.  Place in oven and cook for 40-50 minutes.

Chef MTM’s Sauce Recipe

Ingredients

1 15.5 oz can Manwich Original Sloppy Joe Sauce

1 15 oz can Hunts Tomato Sauce
4 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon mustard
5 oz Onion (Julienne)
1 tbsp butter
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 pinch salt
1 tablespoon Lea and Perrins The Original Worcestershire Sauce

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in sauce pan, stir and simmer for 30 minutes.

Combining Meatballs with Sauce 

Place meatballs (single layer) in an oven-safe dish. 

Pour sauce over meatballs.  Place dish in oven and cook for 35-40 minutes. 

Remove and serve.

 

These meatballs can be served alone (as you see in the pics below, or ,with your favorite pasta.

Overall, I'm extremely satisfied with my first set of meatballs.  They were moist and didn't fall apart and I could taste the hint of flavors from the mirepoix (onions, carrots, and celery) as well.  As for the sauce, well, it wasn't completely from scratch due to the fact that I used to canned products, but, the end product was far from a sloppy joe taste and it was too tangy to even be considered your typical tomato sauce.  I'll leave it up for you to decide.  Cook it, and let me know how it turns out.


Happy Eating.

Re: Carrot Cake with a Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Carrot cake has to be the ultimate cake.  Reason being, it has vegetables, fat, protein, grain, milk, nuts...need I say more ;-)  Usually there are things that I really enjoy eating, but I haven't even tried to make due to the fact that I just never wanted to mess up.  Being the cook, and one day chef, I know that I have to get over my slight fear of messing up on things I love to eat.  Carrot Cake is one such item.

So it all started with me wanting to bake something.  Even though I've never made one, I searched the web as well as a few of the apps on my phone and decided on this one recipe which came from All Recipes (link is below).  After I found the perfect recipe (great reviews and ingredients located in my cupboard and refrigerator), I got to work.  I shredded the 2-3 cups of carrots, of course, after I peeled them, got all of my other ingredients together and followed the directions.  As simple as it was, I would've likely kept purchasing carrot cakes by the slice, but now that I know a recipe that works...I'm sure I'll begin making miniature cakes, cupcakes, etc.

Here's a few pics that I took of the finished product.

Carrot Cake

Carrot Cake with 1/8 slice cut out.

Carrot Cake Slice (1/8)

You're probably wondering what type of icing/frosting I made.  Well, the truth is, I don't really know.  I didn't use the recipe from All Recipes due to a flub on my part...I didn't have enough confectionery sugar.  Indeed, I'm still shaking my head.  At any rate, as I've been told, a chef needs to be able to adapt to whatever situation.  I adapted and it turns out, that I made a sort of buttercream cheese frosting.  The taste is good.  It has the taste of a buttercream and cream cheese frosting, without too much of either.  It's also extremely soft, and just sweet enough.

I've been enjoying this cake since I made it while making sure to not overindulge, but hey...as long as I work off the extra calories, I should be good :-)  Until next time...keep chewing. 

Although I modified both recipes quite a bit, here are the links to the two recipes (cake and frosting) that I used as a base for my creation:  Carrot Cake III and Buttercream Frosting (American Buttercream)

By the way...if you have any recipes that you think are great, send them to me.  I'll try them out and maybe you'll find it as a post on my blog.



Re: Simple Soup (Mirepoix and Sliced Turkey)

Here's a quick soup I made within a few minutes. My wife was the taster and she said that the soup was full of flavor..:-)
So here's what I did.  I thawed my chicken stock in a saucepan.  While the stock was thawing, I put my mirepoix in a sauté pan and sautéed until tender but not too soft.  I poured my boiling stock into the sauté pan with my mirepoix.  Added some salt, white pepper, garlic powder, sliced turkey, and a tad bit of oregano.

Re: Bread Making Day

So we were getting low on bread and I decided to make one loaf, and a few clover rolls instead of two loaves.  Again, I've found that it's a tad healthier to make wheat sandwhich bread as opposed to white, so I used half the dough for the loaf and half portioned out to make about five clover rolls.  Here's a few pics for your viewing pleasure. 

Whole Wheat Sandwich Loaf proofed in pan and and ready for the oven.

Whole Wheat Sandwich Loaf after baking.

Whole Wheat Sandwich Loaf cooling on rack.

Whole Wheat Clover Rolls in cupcake pan, proofed and ready for oven.

Whole Wheat Clover Roll cooling on rack after baking.

Whole Wheat Products (loaf of bread and clover rolls) cooling on rack after being baked.

One day I'm sure they'll come up with a way for you to smell via the web ;-)  Until next time...which may be sooner than later.  Keep on chewing.

Re: Overdose on Chocolate (Chocolate Mousse and Chocolate Molten Cake

Yes indeed, I'm back again.  So, I have to get ready for work, but I just had to make this entry about the two extremely tasty chocolate treats I made.


First up is the Chocolate Lava Cake.  It was quick and painless actually.  Just had to get all your mise en place together and start to making.

Chocolate Molten Cake inside a ramekin just after baking...only baked for about 13 minutes.

Here it is on a saucer (I have to get better plates) topped with fresh whipped cream.

This Chocolate Molten Cake tasted really good.  I did tweak this recipe a little by adding just a bit more sugar (for sweetness) and butter (for a moister cake).

Next up is the velvety Chocolate Mousse.  Now this one, I've actually made before.  The second to last week of my Baking and Pastry I course, we were able to make this and I have to admit, it was good in class, but it was much better here at home.  This recipe was from one of my culinary textbooks (On Baking...or you can also find it in On Cooking) that we use in some of my courses.

Just melting the chocolate bars (Bakers Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bars) with some unsalted butter.

Whipping the Egg Whites to firm peaks.

 

Finished product. 

 

Most people probably chill their mousse prior to serving, but I didn't bother because I had to taste it prior to leaving for work.  I did infact put some in the refridgerator for chilling. :-)  This chocolate mousse came out extremely light and velvety...just like I wanted.  Being able to use your own judgement to increase, or decrease the amount of an ingredient is crucial to understanding how your taste and texture will turn out. I aimed for a tad sweeter and lighter mousse by adding more whipped cream, more egg whites and just a tad bit more butter and sugar.

Our chocolate loving house will have to do a few more exercises to work of these two treats.  Who cares...it's all well worth it in the end ;-)  Keep chewing...

Re: HAPPY BIRTHDAY (Strawberry scratch cake for my daughter's 1st birthday)

I know, I know, it's been a while.  See, I've mainly been using this site for coursework, uploading pictures of food items that I prepare in class.  I remember making a few posts about things I've done outside of class (which tends to be much more food items) yet, I didn't continue that.  Well, I've decided to start back on that path as well as anything I produce in class.  Hopefully I can keep up.

So for this post, we have a nice strawberry cake, with a strawberry filling, and strawberry icing.  Yeah, so you've heard of Death by Chocolate...I'd have to call this one Death by Strawberry.  I enjoyed making it.  I searched for a few days for the perfect recipe to use as my daughters first birthday cake.  I came upon a few and I eventually saw one that stuck out, tried it (made 6 cupcakes with the batter) and my wife and I both agreed that it was a keeper.  I did tweak the recipe a little.  I used a little more strawberry puree in the cake batter as well as the icing.  Little butter here and there, little more egg yolk, etc.  Overall, I think the cake came out wonderful.  I was even able to practice my piping skills on this one...which made it even more fun.  I'd have to admit, it's not the most beautiful work in the world, but for my first cake, I believe it turned out pretty darn good.

Here are a few pictures of the process (after baking to finished).

Cake Cooling

Cake top cut for for flat surface.

Strawberry filling applied to bottom cake.

 

Top  cake put in place and circle on top to press cake down.  I then put the cake into the refrigerator so that the filling could set.

Strawberry butter cream frosting applied after filling finished setting.

I made a white/vanilla butter cream frosting to use on the base and top edge piping using a # 224 drop flower tip.

The HAPPY BIRTHDAY NINA applied with a #5 plain tip.

Strawberry filling close-up.



I really can't wait until the next time I make a cake and practice my piping skills.  As I said before, it's not the best, but it's pretty darn good and I'm feeling on top of the world. :-)  Did I mention...the taste was absolutely WONDERFUL!



FYI

Recipe's that I tweaked came from:  Cake, Strawberry Feeling, Frosting:  I can make butter cream on my own :-)

July 7, 2011 - PAELLA

Finally!!!  So this is the first seafood dish that we've been able to make.  Yes, it may not be totally seafood, but it's not chicken, or beef.  Seeing as I love seafood, and really enjoyed making this dish because of it, I'm happy to say that the first time I saw Paella was on the Food Network and it was AWESOME...well, I hope it at least tasted as good as it looked.  The one we made (pictured below) not only looks good, but it also tasted good.

Paella - Long Grain Rice, Onions, Bell Peppers, Tomatoes, Green Peas, Sausage, Scallops, Mussels, Calamari, and Saffron



Moving on, here's the nice little salad that I'm sure would cost around $12-$15 at some high end restaurants...smh.  It's spinach, with a few wedges of tomato, green beans and a bit of bleu cheese and topped with a simple vinaigrette.  Really good salad...and my eyes are opening up to the differences and easiness of salad making and salad dressing making.

Spinach, Green Beans, Tomatoes, Bleu Cheese Salad with Vinaigrete

Overall nice meal.  I would like to add, that scallops (when prepared the correct way...as those in this dish were) are extremely tasty.  As a future chef, I won't put out there the two seafood restaurants that I've tried scallops and they both seemed to cook them to an unfinished state...which in my opinion was gross in texture and taste.  The scallops in this dish was fully cooked, texture was the same throughout.  Until Baking...keep chewing.

June 30 , 2011 - Quantity Food Production 1

Okay, so as you saw, in our previous class, we didn't really have an entree.  In this class, we only had an entree.  Believe me when I say, this was one of the tastiest dishes that we've produced.  I'm still weighing in on that myself, but hey, it may not look too good (it is a peasants dish), but the taste and textures from the vegetables and protein (chicken) were nicely matched.

Coq Au Vin with Duchess Potatoes and Cauliflower with Mornay Sauce.

This dish comprised of different vegetables like garlic, pearl onions, carrots, and a few herbs as well as mushrooms(fresh) and BACON.  If you haven't noticed...I really love bacon.  The chicken braised with all of the yummy goodness that you see in the picture.  The cauliflower was simply boiled (no, not steamed this week) and the potatoes were first cooked (boiled) and added a few ingredients and actually used a pastry bag and star tip to get that nice look.

I reproduced this dish from memory the other day, and as picky of an eater my wife is, she actually enjoyed it...or maybe it's just because I made it (she did go back for seconds).  I suppose I'll never know. ;-)

Until next time, keep smelling, tasting and chewing.  

June 23, 2011 - Quantity Food Production I

Going into this class, I just knew that it would be a drag.  Little did I know that Salads and Soups would almost be one of the best classes to date.  During this class, we got to showcase some of our cutting skills from dicing, chopping and mencing various vegetables and even bacon ;-).

Panzanella (Tuscan Bread Salad)

This salad was AWESOME.  The fresh vegetables (Red Onions, Bell Peppers, Tomatoes, etc. with the toasted Bread (cubed) and and tossed in a vinaigrette dressing.


If any of you know me, Clam chowder is without a doubt MY favorite soup (yeah it's a chowder).  I really enjoyed making this one.  I had no idea how easy it is to make and am certain to make this one often when the weather get's lower than 65 degrees ;-)

New England Clam Chowder



Overall I really didn't think a salad and soup would be pleasing to eat without an entree, but, sence we made enough for everyone to sample, all of the different salads and soups were placed where each of us got to taste it.  I'll admit now that the chowder (for obvious reasons) stood out to me as well as the Panzanella.

Back Left: German Potato Salad (Taste was AWESOME)

Front Left: Panzanella

Right Side:  Grilled Vegetable Salad with Aioli

Middle:  Clam Chowder and I believe the Cheddar Lentil Soup

That's all I have for this post.  Stay tuned for more...



June 20 , 2011 - Baking and Pastry I

Okay...so it's COOKIE DAY!!!  We were able to pick between three types of cookies (Oatmeal, Chocolate Chip, Peanut Butter).  As you may see below, We chose peanut butter to start off.  Making these cookies really took me back to my childhood.  One of my aunts is a baker.  She used to give us (children) of the family coupons for free cakes (personal size) and cookies.  She always forked (made the checkered marks using a fork) her cookies.  At any rate, she made some AWESOME COOKIES...and still does.  These were great but I'd say that her cookies tasted more peanut buttery :).  All in all, I enjoyed making my first batch of scratch peanut butter cookies.  Maybe one day I'll make the actual peanut butter and use that for the cookies. ;-)

Giant (approx. 3-4 inch diameter)Peanut Butter Cookies

The second batch of cookies we made were a little more elegant.  As a kid, we always called them a fancier sugar cookie, but today I found that the actual name is a Spritz Cookie.  Spritz cookies are made from a softer dough.  We actually used a pastry bag and star to put them on the cookie sheet.  I've seen my aunt (the same one mentioned above) use a pastry bag all while growing up, and, I've seen television shows where the Chef  used pastry bags with the greatest of ease.  Little did I know that they obviously practiced a whole lot to get that part down.  Just as with everything else, with practice comes a better product.  So these spritz cookies aren't so round, but they were as tasty, if not tastier than those that I've eaten before.  Maybe eating them just a few minutes from pulling them from the oven made the BIG difference. :)

Spritz Cookie with Raspberry Preserve

All in all, these are just a few more items that I've added to my baking and pastry repertoire.

June 6-16, 2011 - Baking & Pastry I and Quantity Food Production I

I really do apologize for those of you that have been supporting my blog.  I didn't post last weeks class projects and am posting those (Baking and Pastry I and Quantity Food Production I) pictures with descriptions along with this weeks Quantity Food Production I dishes.


First up is an Apple and Blueberry Tart.  Although you may see two different tarts, each are the same, with the top just having a streusel topping.  Both of them tasted extremely well, and I would eat both at any given moment.  I would have to lean toward the one with streusel, mainly due to the added texture that it gives you while enjoying it.

 

 Apple and Blueberry Tarts:  Hand made sweet dough pressed firmly in tart shells and filled with a cooked chopped apple and blueberry with light sugar feeling.  These can be enjoyed fresh out of the oven(of course allowing them to cool enough to eat) as well as cooled completely.  The top two pictures have a simple crumble that was cooked along with the tarts in the oven while the bottom two pictures have no topping.

Second up is the Quantity Food Production Meal from last week which was a stuffed Pork Chop (boneless) with Potato Pancakes and Brocolli Almondine and a small Salad.

Braised Stuffed Pork Chop with Potato Pancakes and Brocolli Almondine

Small Salad with shredded carrot and quartered tomato and a poppy seed vinaigrette.

This meal was full of tasts that would satisfy my ongoing craving for some stuffing.  Although I have to admit, I've eaten my share of Stove Top...but now, I know for certain that I dont think I'll ever need to make that purchase again.  Stuffings in general are extremely easy to make, and can be made within minutes.  The almonds added a different texture to the brocolli that I would've never thought of  putting together.  The braised pork chop was tender and the potato pancakes were crispy on the outside while staying soft on the inside.

The last meal is the one we compelted yesterday (June 16, 2011).  It consisted of a Beef Roulade, Asparagus with Creamy Mustard Sauce and Classic Rice Pilaf topped with Dill.  This was probably the most involved meal thus far. We had to chop each of the vegetables (onions, celery, green beans, zuccchinni, carrots, etc.) into half inch cubes for the soup, pound the beef thin enough to make the roulade and shred a load of parmesan cheese for the roulade and soup. The list of things to do for this creation goes on much further, but, I'll let you get to the pics. :)

Beef Roulade with Asparagus and a Classic Rice Pilaf

 Ministrone Soup topped with shredded Parmesan Cheese

I really enjoy the fact that we get to eat everything we make :)  Although weight gained should be reduced with exercise, the many different dishes and tastes that I've been able to make and discover have increased my palate and overall awareness of things that I wouldn't otherwise use in the kitchen.  I'm still enjoying this process and am continueing to drive forward in learning and creating mouth watering and tasteful foods.  Until next week...keep chewing.