Aberdeen's Blog

Where's the Beef?

Found it! Grilled New York Steak with shallots and red wine butter, tomatoes provencal and french fries! This was my first attempt at grilling a steak if you can believe that.  Grilled it, finished it in the oven and succesfully cooked it to medium rare!  The fries needed a "scosche" more time, as Chef likes to say, to get really crisp, but he loved my compound butter, tomatoes and steak.  Victory!

Supreme de Saumon au Beurre Blanc with Mousseline de Fenouil

Salmon Supreme with a Beurre Blanc sauce and Fennel Mousseline.  First attempt at grilling a fish fillet, not too bad!  The fennel mousseline was kind of a pain to make and mine turned out too dry.  Although, it did taste good alongside the fillet.  I'm usually not a big fan of salmon but the butter sauce really added to the flavor! Then again, how could you not love anything that has butter sauce? 

 

 

Roasted Grapes!

Who knew?? Dying to try this recipe with honey stuffed sweet potatoes topped with goat cheese and roasted grapes.  Now that most of the snow and ice has melted thanks to some balmy 40 degree weather (after about 4 days of somewhere in mid the 20's it does feel like the sun has finally turned back on), I can finally test it out! Never thought of roasting grapes before but they just look so gorgeous and delectable. Especially with the goat cheese.  Always a classic combination.  Found this on a lovely food blog called How Sweet It Is. 

 

 

Looks so delicious! Such a unique idea. 

Here's another roasted grape recipe I would love to taste from one of my favorite food blogs, Alexandra's Kitchen: Thyme-roasted Grapes with Fresh Ricotta and Grilled Bread. 

 

Lady's Brunch Burger...with a side of high blood sugar.

In case the news hasn't spread, Chef Paula Deen is to make an official statement stating that she has type 2 diabetes. I find her food to be inedible (I don't see why you need to deep fry absolutely everything and then add 10 pieces of bacon, the rendered bacon fat and 12 sticks of butter to every dish).  Her signature dish is actually a burger sandwiched between 2 doughnuts. A little uncessary. So given her culinary tastes, I have to say I'm not surprised that she has been diagnosed with diabetes. However, like Chef Anthony Bourdain, I am less than pleased with her new campaign "Diabetes in a New Light." She has created a partnership with Novo Nordisk, a diabetes drug maker! Bourdain said it best, tweeting "Thinking of getting into the leg-breaking business, so I can profitably sell crutches later." Read the rest of story at abc news: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/anthony-bourdain-slams-paula-deen/story?id=15386289#.TxcHx5iyPzJ

Also, for those who don't follow Paula Deen's Show, here is the infamous Lady's Brunch Burger: 

 

 

It's alive!!! (And real. For those who don't believe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paulas-home-cooking/the-ladys-brunch-burger-recipe/index.html)

Canard Poêler aux Navets

Pan Roasted Duck with Turnips!  My duck could have used a smidgen more time before coming out of the oven but was still pretty delicious. The turnips and sauce were graded as wonderfully seasoned , overall well done! 

 

A Dusting of Snow

First snow of the season! Also, this was my first real snow that lasted more than 5 minutes and stuck to the ground! Having grown up in LA and Florida, I havn't seen too much winter wonderland in my day.  Now that I've moved to a state with actual seasons, I managed to sit outside on my stoop this morning in my fantastically thin cotton pajamas and zip up sweatshirt, freezing my butt off, so that I could fulfill that childhood wish of catching snowflakes on my tongue right outside my own home. I'm sure the drivers by braving the roads thought I was quite a sight but it was absolutely worth it. I even dragged my cat Calypso out for a whole 30 seconds for her first snowfall. She was not impressed and thoroughly reinforced her status as an indoor cat with an adequate amount of screeching and scratching. However, she does enjoy gazing at it from the comfort of her warm perch by the living room window.   

 

 

 

Unsolved Mysteries: The Chicken Heist

First day of production in culinary foundations III at LCB! We've started proteins and made a roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and a herbs hacher garnish. We even trussed the chickens! It seemed so easy but definitely takes a minute to get. Unfortunately, today I've discovered first hand just how far some people will go for a good grade. My perfectly golden brown roasted chicken temped to 165 degrees was stolen off my station 5 minutes before pass time closed to present our food to the chef. I had to use a still raw chicken on the inside, left up on the mantle between the oven rows. Someone had exchanged that terrible chicken for mine. I assume they had that "oh shit!" moment  with a raw chicken 5 minutes before it was due and took mine for the few seconds I was away from my station. I did manage to receive a pretty good grade since the chef knew what happened and appreciated my potatoes and sauce. Excellent seasoning and delicious flavor! So overall not too bad, will be more vigilant in the future! However a glass of wine may take the place of vigilance in the more immediate future.

 

 

Since I did not have a chance to photograph my own dish, here is a roasted chicken and vegetables I made over Christmas break!