What I've Been Doing

So.  I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to say here.  I realize that I have pretty much neglected the blog for an entire semester.  Even worse is that my last post was a birthday celebration for the damn blog itself. Months ago. Awk-ward.

I admit that there is no excuse for this neglect. I have been formulating this very "I'm Sorry" post in my mind for ages now.  Repeatedly, I have been shocked upon being asked, "So, whatever happened with the blog?" or, "Are you okay? I haven't noticed any posts in a while." It's gotta be a feeling akin to leaving a box of puppies on the side of the road somewhere. Except that I would never do that.

I've been somehow justifying my silence in repeating to myself what an ancient piece of crap the computer I've been working on is, and how I Just Don't Have Time to wait around for photos to upload and whatnot. Which is certainly true. Ultimately, though, I'm kidding myself. I've simply allowed myself to get caught up. I finally made the switch to back-of-house at work, have kept super-busy with school, and most importantly (and least tangibly), I've been enjoying the company of my amazing circle (family) of friends that I've become so amazingly close with along the way.

~

So, as a peace offering, here are some photos that recap my life the past few months:

Of course, there are my boys <3

 Nick, Cam, Kristen and Andrew

 I thought it was badass when they broke down the turkeys for Thanksgiving:

Ben, Brendan, Abbott, and Pat

 

More badass still was when they broke down the 800 pound local steer we got in:

Um, yeah, he took up the whole walk-in.

Andrew and Kristen got married on November 13th, 2010.  They were cute enough to bring the whole wedding party to Moe's.

Before Face ditched the bottle for a pitcher. Wish I had a photo of Kristen, too. She was gorgeous.

  Cam turned 21. We ate at SNOB before, of course, heading to Moe's:

 Cam and Ben

Korey and me

Let's not forget the beautiful ladies in my life:

Amanda and Cindy (Sunday Funday?)

 

me, Blake, and Kristine (same day)

 Caroline and I the night of the eclipse

Don't let me fool you, I actually did do a little cooking the past few months:

Final Presentation for my A la Carte I class:

Crab Cakes with Sauteed Squash & Zucchini, Creole Remoulade, and Fried Preserved Meyer Lemons

 Christmas was a blast. Blake and I hosted a feast for the boys:

big, fat, 15 pound standing rib roast.

Tim, Seth, Cam, Ben, Brian, John, John

final plate: rib roast with shaved Sriracha Brussels sprouts, roasted winter veggies, and horseradish cream

I finally got to HUSK with Brady:

amazing.

 Managed to see my best friend's kids the few moments I spent in Morganton:

Gracie, me, Henry

A couple times.

 Love you, Brenna.

Lastly, I finally bought a new computer. My first Mac.

No more excuses.

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!

U Cook with Chef Bob

As soon as I finished my long summer semester in school, I took a week off work to help out with Chef Bob Waggoner's cooking show, U Cook with Chef Bob.  We filmed all 12 episodes of the second season during that week.  The days were really long and tedious, but it was enjoyable work, and I especially enjoyed learning about the filming and media side of the project.

The set.

Each episode is divided into two parts.  First, Chef Bob cooks a first course and serves it to his panel of 3 "foodies", who are sitting to his right in the above photo. The foodies could be anyone from food writers to wine importers to fellow chefs to personal friends. 

 Can I please mention these bad ass, personalized butcherblock cutting boards Chef Bob had made? Eventually, they'll be available for sale through Charleston Chops. I am drooling over the dark cherry octagon one in the top right.

Okay then, for the second part of the show, Chef would invite someone out of the audience to cook a main course (hence the "U Cook").  While Chef was on screen with his guest chef, his former sous chef and good friend, Jason Houser, would be behind the scenes preparing the dish for the audience. The audience was generally around 25 people or so.

The "kitchen".

So keep in mind, we were in a production studio, not a professional kitchen.  This is the set up the cooks worked off of for the week.  Yes, that is a four-burner electric stove Houser is working off of. It was certainly an interesting and challenging feat.

Jason seasoning Waygu ribeyes. Yum.

I feel like now is an appropriate time to share some of the dinners I got to enjoy, with special thanks to Jason for making sure I was properly fed the whole time. :)

 Beef tenderloin with salsify, morels, shallots, white wine reduction, and shaved black truffle.

A freakin' slab of foie gras with blueberry gastrique, hazelnuts, and roasted figs.

So, you wonder, what the hell did you do besides eat, Dani?  I actually did do some work, guys.  I was pretty much in charge of the front-of-house stuff.  Aka setting the tables, taking care of wine and water, etc.  Which was no small feat considering there was only one faucet in the place, halfway across the warehouse, to fill up my only water pitcher.  Also considering that some of these shows took some time, what with technical difficulties and all, so these people were drinking.  

 Tons of wine.

 My little station.

Let's not forget the production crew. Here is Jose, the sound tech, in front, with Tim, the director, behind him, and Chad in the background.

I felt like even though the filming only lasted a week, I really got to know everyone and made a lot of good friends.  It was certainly a great experience.  Seasons 1 and 2 are supposed to be airing on PBS in the late fall, make sure to look out for it!

Summer Semester in a Nutshell

Over the summer, I took two classes at CIC: Hospitality 102, which was pretty much like proteins class, and Garde Manger, which is the pantry/cold side of the kitchen.  Each class was twice a week, from 7:30 a.m. to either 12 or 2:30.  It was exhausting, but I really enjoyed both classes and felt like I learned a lot.  I was happy to be cooking so intensely every day.

~

In 102, we focused on cooking a different kind of protein every week.  Here are a few of the dishes I cooked over the course of the semester:

Pan Seared Veal Sweetbreads with Green Apple Gastrique

Bison and Red Bean Chili

Slider Trio: Salsa and Avocado, Mushroom and Fontina, Bacon and Egg

Lamb Stew with Rosemary Polenta

For our final exam in 102, we had to randomly draw the name of a protein out of a bowl and cook it with a starch and a veg.  Somehow, we had to incorporate a classical knife cut into the dish.  I randomly drew a sirloin steak.  I served it with fennel roasted potatoes, grilled asparagus, and caramelized onion gravy.

It turned out really well and I was happy with the results.  The potatoes are one of my mom's recipes, which have been a family favorite since I was a kid.

~

In Garde Manger, we covered everything from preserving techniques to sushi to charcuterie.  The first day of class, we brined and cured beef tongue.

Here is Chef Mitchell, trying not to laugh because we were cracking jokes about the beef tongue.  Love him.

And myself, with previously mentioned tongue.

This class was a production class, so everything we cooked was served buffet-style on Wednesdays.  We cooked with the same group of 3 to 4 people all semester long and set up our buffet tables by group. 

My group: Erik, Venus, and me.  Love them too.

Like I said, we served a lot of really diverse food over the course of the semester.  Our group later ended up shaving that beef tongue and serving it warm, tossed with spicy BBQ sauce on slider buns.   It was a hit!

One group did this Cobb salad, which I thought they did a really nice job with.

One week, we had an Asian-influenced theme.  Here were my sushi rolls.  This was the first time I ever rolled sushi, and I had a lot of fun with it.

Not-so-great photo of me with my rolls.

For our final project in this class, our group had to design our own buffet, making sure to incorporate specific techniques that we learned over the course of the semester.  Erik made some badass sliders with homemade breakfast sausage, tomato sauce, peppers and onions.  Venus made a chilled cantaloupe rum soup.  I made 2 different types of hors d'oeurves:

Pita with Chicken Liver Mousse, Spicy Orange Marmalade, and Candied Orange Peel

and

Deviled Eggs 2 Ways: Curry with Caper Creme Fraiche, and Pimento Cheese with Smoky Bacon

Our group's dishes got a ton of compliments on the comment cards, and I think we were all proud of each other.

~

Hopefully this post helps to justify my break from the blog.  School and work has kept me intensely busy this summer;  I love the blog, but staying sane without any sacrifice has proven impossible, and I've regretfully had to let Dani Dishes go by somewhat by the wayside.  Even though I'm at the start of a new semester, I hope now I'll be able to make more time for this little project in my life.

Daring Cooks' July Challenge: Nut Butters

The July 2010 Daring Cooks’ Challenge was hosted by Margie of More Please and Natashya of Living in the Kitchen with Puppies. They chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make their own nut butter from scratch, and use the nut butter in a recipe. Their sources include Better with Nut Butter by Cooking Light Magazine, Asian Noodles by Nina Simonds, and Food Network online.

 ~

So. I know. I haven't posted in a month.  Moving, school, work, life, blah blah blah, I know, no excuse.  Please don't be mad at me, friends.  I am going to do my best not to let this happen again. 

Speaking of moving, here's a photo of my new kitchen:

 

I moved in with my friends Cindy and Blake about two weeks ago, and I'm absolutely loving the new place.  Even though I haven't been posting that much, I've been having a lot of fun cooking in our little kitchen.We've been doing a lot of late night, post-work dinner parties. Kind of ridiculous, really.

~

Back to the Daring Cooks. We had to make a homemade nut butter and use it in a recipe.  I chose to make almond butter and banana pancakes. 

My chef at work said I should steep the almonds in milk to get them kind of soft, which I did.

When the almonds were a little softer to bite, I strained them.

 After the almonds were strained, I put them in the food processor (Finally! A food processor! Yay for Blake!) and slowly added the reserved milk as needed.

I actually ended up using all the milk, plus a little oil.  Finish to taste with a sprinkling of kosher salt.

 For the pancakes, I used my favorite recipe from Joy of Cooking.  My blueberry pancake post lists the recipe, if you want it. This time around, I chopped up a few bananas and added them to the batter, along with some cinnamon.

 I spread a little of the almond butter on each pancake, and drizzled them with some local honey.

 Served with some sausage and a little fresh banana.  Delicious and easy!