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.