Happy 2nd Birthday, Dani Dishes!

It's hard to believe it's been a year since Dani Dishes's first birthday.  Last year, I was drinking bubbles in the little Cooper Street kitchen in Charleston, surrounded by my girlfriends.  This year, I found myself at my parents' house in NC for a much quieter, but nonetheless enjoyable celebration.

I know I've gotten off track with the blog this past year. I've been trying to get through culinary school, working all the time, and honestly just haven't felt like writing. 

But, I've spent a lot of time trying to get my head straight, and I've decided that it's time for a change. As much as Charleston has meant to me, I'm looking forward to seeing some new places and making some new memories. So, next week, I'll be packing my car and moving to Denver, CO! It's a little daunting, and I know it's gonna be a cold winter for this Carolina girl, but I'm ready to do this thing.

 

I've got a couple posts up my sleeve, so stay tuned. Cheers to another year, Dani Dishes!

Happy Birthday, Dani Dishes!

Happy first birthday, Dani Dishes.

Cheers to a great year...

Bethany, Amanda, Caroline

...and to all my good friends who've supported me along the way.

me , Cindy, Carlie

Here's to another year of inspiration, creativity, and happiness!

Culinary School Update: End of semester wrap up

So, I have to start this post by telling everyone how incredibly sorry I am for waiting so long to post again!  It has been a long, rough, past few weeks, so again, I have to apologize for how I've fallen off with the blog.

That being said, I owe you guys a culinary school update. Its the end of the semester, and I have exams all week long. I can't believe my first semester is already almost over!  But I do want to pick up where I left off with the school updates.

A couple weeks ago, we played with fresh pasta dough in cooking class.  First, we made ravioli with mushroom duxelles.

Then, we made fettuccine alfredo.

We also made orzo with creamed leeks.

~

We didn't have baking class that week, so I'm moving on to the following week. The next cooking class we had, we worked on grains.  We were really busy that week. 

We made grits,

risotto,

fried polenta, 

and red beans and rice.

 ~

The past couple weeks in baking class, we've been decorating the sponge cakes we baked a while back.  They were frozen immediately after we baked them.  Here is the chiffon sponge with oreo whipped cream frosting that we decorated 2 weeks ago:

Last week, we decorated the walnut genoise cake. We made a Swiss buttercream icing to go with it.  This was really hard to decorate!  The meticulous, nit-picky side of me struggled with trying to perfect the cake, but I really enjoyed the process.

Cross section: the bottom layer was spread with raspberry jam.  I loved this cake- the ground walnuts added a nice texture to the cake.

~

Finally, we had breakfast week in cooking class.  I didn't really think anything was photo-worthy except the eggs benedict I made.  Obviously, we didn't have any Canadian bacon, so I just used regular bacon. I wanted to practice making hollandaise sauce because its on the final next Monday.

Whew! That was a lot of catching up to do! So, I'm off to my baking final to make pate a choux. Wish me luck!

Blood Orange Polenta Upside-Down Cake

This recipe caught my eye as soon as I saw the photo in the March '10 issue of Bon Appetit magazine.  It was one of those recipes that I immediately knew I would have to make. The oranges were just so striking, and polenta is one of my favorite things to eat.  What's not to like?

Make sure you slice the oranges as thin as possible.  I talked to my Bakeshop Production chef after I made it, and he suggested using a mandolin.  The flavor of the cake was amazing, but the peels were still a bit overwhelming on the palate.  I think if you cooked the slices with the simple syrup for even just a minute or two, rather than just laying them in the already cooked syrup, it might help candy the peels and take a bit more of the bitterness out.  That being said, here is the recipe:

Blood Orange Polenta Upside-Down Cake

From Bon Appetit, March 2010

7 tablespoons sugar, divided, plus 3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons water

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp, divided

3 unpeeled small to medium blood oranges

3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons polenta or coarse yellow cornmeal (preferably stone-ground)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 large eggs, separated

6 tablespoons whole milk

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Combine 6 tablespoons sugar and 3 tablespoons water in a 10-inch diameter ovenproof skillet with an 8 inch diameter bottom and 2 1/2 inch sides *my trusty cast-iron skillet worked beautifully for this cake*.  Stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves.  Increase heat and boil wihout stirring until syrup is golden amber (not dark amber), occasionally brushing down sides of skillet with wet pastry brush and swirling skillet, about 4 minutes.  Remove skillet from heat and whisk 2 tablespoons butter into caramel. Set aside.

I

I think I could have cooked my syrup a bit longer.  This is also where I probably would have added my orange slices. 

I'm thinking all this could have been done in a separate pan, and then laid in the cast iron skillet afterwards.

Cut off both rounded ends of each orange so that ends are even and flat.  Using sharp knife *or mandolin,* cut oranges into 1/16 to 1/8 inch rounds.  Remove and discard any seeds.  

Arrange orange slices, overlapping slightly, in concentric circles atop caramel in bottom of skillet.

I

I also would eliminate that center circle of oranges you see on top here.  

You really only want one total layer of oranges, with maybe a very slight overlap. 

Whisk flour, polenta, baking powder, and coarse kosher salt in medium bowl to blend.  Using electric mixer, beat 3/4 cup sugar, remaining 6 tablespoons room-temperature butter, and vanilla in another medium bowl until light and fluffy.  Add egg  yolks 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add flour mixture in 3 addtions alternately with milk in 2 additions, beating batter until just incorporated.

F

Clockwise from top: flour/polenta mixture, butter/sugar mixture, whites, yolks

Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites in a large bowl until soft peaks form.  Add remaining 1 tablespoons ugar and beat until stiff but not dry.  Fold 1/3 of egg whites into batter to lighten, then fold in remaining egg whites in 2 additions.

  whipped whites and polenta cake batter

Drop batter by large spoonfuls atop orange slices in skillet, then spread evenly.

You don't want to pour the batter because you might disturb the arrangement of the orange slices.

Bake cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.  *I underbaked this by 5 minutes, and I think I could have taken it out even a few minutes earlier than that.  It would have been pretty dry had I left it in the full amount of time.  This could also just be my oven...*

Run small knife around cake to loosen.  Place platter atop skillet.  Using oven mitts, hold platter and skillet firmly together and invert, allowing cake to settle onto platter.  Rearrange any orange slices that may have become dislodged.  Cool completely at room temperature and serve with whipped creme fraiche (or whipped cream).

So ultimately, this recipe turned out pretty well, with some room for improvement.  I think if I made it again with these slight changes, it would turn out perfectly. 

This cake is a good one to have up your sleeve because it's stunningly beautiful, but not that hard to make.

 

Culinary School Update: Vegetables, Jelly Rolls, and Potatoes

Okay kids, its that time again. I've been trying to do longer culinary school updates, spaced farther apart so as not to bore you to death.  Do you readers out there think its better that way?  I know you're out there! Based on the comments I've been getting however, I'm beginning to believe that only my mom and my sister read this blog ;)

~

Soooo, onwards.  We're still kinda hooked on veggies in Food Production class.  Two weeks ago, we made a pan-fried eggplant Parmesan.  We used the tomato sauce that we made and immediately froze few weeks ago, which we thawed out and spruced up a bit with some fresh herbs.  This dish was an exercise in the standard breading procedure (flour, eggwash, breadcrumbs).

We also made a vegetable strudel: puff pastry layered with mushroom duxelles, blanched asparagus, toasted pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese.  For the sauce, we made a simple red pepper coulis.

 

The duxelles were really rich so I didn't really want more than a couple bites.  Plus, I like mushrooms, but I don't absolutely love them.  Regardless, I thought the flavor was right on.  This was very filling for a vegetarian dish.

~

Two weeks ago in Bakeshop Production, we made jelly rolls. Although these tasted great, they seemed like such a strange, rather outdated desert to me.  To make them, we baked spongecakes in a sheet pan.  Then, we spread whipped cream on the cake, and lined the whipped cream with cherries, blueberries, and mandarin oranges. The cakes were carefully rolled up, then decorated with buttercream frosting or chocolate ganache. 

chocolate buttercream on the left, chocolate ganache on the right

My ganache covered jelly roll looked kind of like doo-doo because I didnt heat the ganache enough and it got kind of separated.  So don't look at it any more because its ugly :(

Here's a picture of my friend Allie's ganache jelly roll instead:

Allie's ganache turned out smooth and pretty, like it was supposed to.

Here's a cross-section of my buttercream jelly roll:

  See all the fruit? I ate so much whipped cream and frosting during this class. Ech.

That's about it for jelly rolls.

~

This week in Food Production, it was potato day. First, we made Potatoes Duchesse, which is kind of like mashed potatoes that are piped into little mounds and baked.  Again, this seemed like kind of a weird recipe, but they tasted delicious.

 My partner, Mo, and I added some chopped parsley and cream in ours for a little extra flavor.

We also made Rosemary Roasted new potatoes:

I pretty much nibbled on these the whole class.

We made candied sweet potatoes that were roasted and basted with a syrup made from brown sugar and a hint of vanilla.

 

We also made scalloped potatoes, which were delicous, but I kind of forgot to take a picture of them.

~

In baking class this week, we each made a chiffon sponge cake and a walnut genoise cake.  I didn't take pictures, because next class we're going to frost them, so I thought I'd save it for next time.

Culinary School Update: New England Clam Chowder, Hollandaise, Pound Cake & more!

So I'm gonna have to catch you guys up a bit on how school is going.  We're a little behind!

In Food Production class a couple weeks ago, we made espagnole sauce.  It is one of the 5 main "mother sauces," or sauces from which many other sauces are derived.  It is basically a brown stock to which a brown roux, tomato puree, and mirepoix are added.  We also made a New England clam chowder to practice bechamel, another mother sauce, and knife skills.  A bechamel is a roux-thickened milk or cream sauce.

New England clam chowder.

I missed baking class that week, so we're moving on.  In Food Production last week, we made tomato sauce, yet another one of the 5 main mother sauces.  Sadly, I don't have a photo of the tomato sauce.  We also made hollandaise, a 4th mother sauce, and arguably the trickiest to make. 

Made me crave eggs benedict.

We also made maple glazed carrots, to practice blanching and knife skills.

 These are batonnet, or french-fry cut.

In baking class last week, we made pound cake. 

 Chocolate swirl pound cakes, strawberry coulis, lemon glazed pound cakes.

The chocolate pound cakes were made European style, where the butter and sugar are whipped, the eggs are then added in stages, and the flavorings and dry ingredients are finally added. 

Chocolate swirl pound cakes.

We made the swirl by adding a paste of cocoa powder, sugar, and milk to half the batter, coloring it brown. We then gently folded the brown batter into the light batter, stopping after a couple of folds so the chocolate wouldn't become completely incorporated.

 A cross-section, with strawberry coulis.

The lemon pound cakes were made American style, where butter and shortening are first creamed, and dry ingredients are then added alternately with lemon juice and eggs.

Lemon-glazed pound cakes.

I preferred the slightly lighter texture of the chocolate swirl (whipped) cakes, but I think I would have like a simple glaze on them, like the lemon glaze we added to the American pound cakes. 


That should do it for the time being. Be looking forward to my new custom blog design, which should be installed in the next week or so.  I know I am!

Fuji Apple Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

I found this recipe in the October '09 issue of Bon Appetit magazine.  The picture really appealed to me, which is mostly why I decided to make it.  The magazine chefs didn't frost the sides of the cakes, just the layers, and I thought it achieved a very intriguing visual effect.  Overall, the recipe wasn't too difficult; my frosting, however, just would not become the proper consistency.  It tasted great, but was pretty gooey (overworked, perhaps?), so alas, I gave up and frosted the sides.  The applesauce kept the cake nice and moist, and the apples and walnuts (which I substitued- cheaper than pecans) added a fun texture. 

So, without further ado, the recipe:

Fuji Apple Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Cake

3 cups all purpose flour

1 3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice 

1/4 teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon baking soda 

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 tablespoons bourbon, apple brandy, or rum (optional)(I used American Honey bourbon)

1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce

2 medium Fuji or Gala apples, peeled, halved, cored, cut into 1/3-inch cubes

1 1/2 cups finely chopped pecans (or walnuts!)(about 6 oz.)

Frosting

1 8-ounce package cream chees, room temperature

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

pinch of salt

3 cups powdered sugar (measured, then sifted)

coarsely chopped toasted pecans (or walnuts)(for garnish)

Cake

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour two 9-inch-diameter cake pans with 2-inch-high sides.  Line bottom of each pan with parchment paper round.  Whisk first seven ingredients in medium bowl.  Using electric mixer, beat 1 cup butter in large bowl until fluffy.  Add both sugars and beat until smooth.  Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Beat in vanilla, then bourbon, if desired (mixture may look curdled).  Add flour mixture to egg mixture in 3 additions alternately with applesauce in 2 additions, beating until blended after each addition.  Stir in apples and pecans.  Divide batter between cake pans; smooth tops. 

Bake cakes until tester inserted into center of each comes out clean, about 40 mintues.  Transfer cakes to racks and cool in pans 15 minutes.  Cut around pan sides to loosen cakes.  Invert cakes onto racks; peel off parchment paper.  Place another rack atop 1 cake and invert again so that cake is rounded side up.  Repeat with second cake.  Cool completely. Can be made 1 day ahead.  Wrap each cake in plastic and store at room temperature. 

Frosting

Using electric mixter, beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl until smooth.  Beat in vanilla extract and pinch of salt.  Gradually add powdered sugar, beating until frosting is smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes.  

Using long serrated knife, trim off rounded tops of cakes to make level; brush off any loose crumbs.  Transfer 1 cake to platter, trimmed side up.  Drop half of frosting (about 1 1/2 cups) by spoonfuls atop cake.  Spread frosting evenly to edges of cake.  Top with second cake, trimmed side down.  Drop remaining frosting by spoonfuls onto top of cake, leaving  sides of cake plain.  Spread frosting to top edges of cake, swirling and creating peaks, if desired.  Sprinkle with nuts.  Let cake stand at room temperature 1 hour to allow frosting to set slightly.

 

A cross-section

 

The cake was still delicious and attractive.  I would like to make it again sometime with hopes of really conquering the frosting.