Roasted Red Pepper, Mozzarella & Basil Stuffed Steaks with Steamed Asparagus

This was a recipe I made once before but wanted to try it again to see if the kids would enjoy it and I wanted to try on the grill.  It's an easy recipe requiring only 4 ingredients: thin flat steaks, roasted red pepers (in a jar), mozarella cheese and fresh basil.  You put the ingredients on the steak, roll it up and thread on skewers.  You can grill them or pan fry them or I guess even bake them (without the skewers).  Grilling tastes best but is most challenging to keep the ingredients sealed in the steaks. 
The only fresh mozarella I could find were little balls and they made this even more challenging. I recommend slices if you can find it fresh or even grated in a package would've been better and easier.  But I managed and they turned out very nice.  When cooking stuffed meats remember it takes longer to cook and you can easily overcook the outside with the interior still being raw so sear them and then keep them on low heat on the grill to finish cooking the inside.  The asparagus was from a steamer bag which I think was a perfect compliment to the steaks.  Of course being frozen they'll be mushier then fresh and a nice balsamic glaze would've been perfect with them. I'll try that next time. 

I'm back - New Class, New Direction

Hello everyone! 
It's been a while since my last post which is largely due to my "day job".  It's hard when what you have to do takes precedence over what you want to do.  With that said, I took last semester off but have just enrolled in a class for the summer: "Introduction to Hospitality".  Now I won't be cooking in this class but it will be a class full of information on the hotel & restaurant industry.  And anything that has to do with food or the restaurant industry just gets me excited.  So, I will do my best to keep you updated on what I learn in this class.
     I know by taking culinary classes a lot of people have been assuming I would like to be a chef.  That is not necessarily the case.  I am just enjoying learning everything about what i love - FOOD.  I love to eat it of course, learn about it, improve it, and mostly talk about it. That's what I hope to do with this blog - share with you all things food.
     Something I am also trying to do is to make more meals from scratch at home.  Being a full-time working mother of 2 and wife to 1 :) I have resorted to more than my fair share of "processed" foods for a quick fix of dinner after a long day.  The toaster oven has become my best friend and when I recently identified with a mom who said she fed her kids frozen appetizers for most of their youth, I knew it was time to make some improvements.
     It's not an every day thing and the meals are not gourmet by any means but they are not prepared by microwave and for me that's a huge improvement. 
     I recently discovered a Pampered Chef cookbook: 29 minute meals. I have made a few meals from it already: turkey gyros, lasagna casserole, Asian steak stir fry, and last nights hit - chicken sun chip bites.  My kids ate them up and have enjoyed all my meals so far - a sign that I may be on the right path. Now I just need to take pictures of these meals and share with you what I've learned.  I hope to do that soon.

Oh by the way...I got an A

Our final assignment was a written project that had to consist of a complete menu with prices of a cuisine we chose, 15 facts on the cuisine, one recipe with serving conversions and a full ingredient list.  I chose Italian as my cuisine and created a very nice menu from my own restaurant called "Vengalli's" (my maiden name). I recieved my full 50 points on this project and ended this class with a 98%.  Indeed an A.

It was a great class and a great experience.  The only area I seemed to lack in was keeping up with this blog.  This Spring I have decided to take the semester off as this is my busiest time of the year at my current job.  I hope to take more classes this summer and hopefully find an opportunity to share those experiences with you on this blog.

Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing this experience with me. Many more food adventures to come.

Bon Appétit!

The Final Class

In our last class we would have our cooking final.  The format for this final was to receive a basket of ingredients and to use them all in our dish.  We could make anything we wanted but had to use all the ingredients. We also were given a specific time that our plate had to be done and presented to the Chef.  We were all given the same protein and starch - pork and risotto rice.  I was happy to see both - they're so versatile.  What scared me in my basket was fresh whole cranberrries. I have never cooked a cranberry from it's raw state.  Luckily the CI gave me some suggestions and when he said sauce I knew that would compliment the pork so well and I was on my way.  I had one of the last times to present to the CI and that was probably the hardest part - the timing.  I had to wait to start most steps in fear I would end early and have dry or cold food to present.  I worked and worked my sauce starting with apple juice and watched as my cranberry burst open and then added vinegar and sugar and more vinegar and more sugar until I had a very sweet tart rich sauce.  I pan fried my pork, sauteed my veggies and made my risotto with mushrooms and onions.  It all turned out just as I wanted although I wish I was more creative with my sauce presentation.  I received a 95% (5 points were taken off for leaving my pork sitting out so long).  I should've put it in the fridge until I was ready to cook it.  Dang that sanitation stuff!  We all have our finished dishes out for display - I just had to take some pictures of everyone's final dish.  What a great way to end this class. 

SIFE Lunch

When word got around that I was taking culinary classes, those who also liked to cook came up with the idea of cooking up a meal for the SIFE Staff (where I work).  We decided on Mexican and planned the menu to feed about 40 people.  We made everything from chicken tortilla soup, a taco bar with chicken and beef, baked chimichangas, cheese enchiladas and all the fixins including guacamole, mango salsa, sour cream and lots of cheese.  Oh and there was dessert too - flourless chocolate lime cake with Margarita whipped cream and Liz made her famous carrot cake.There were 3 of us who primarily did the cooking - me, Bruce & Kirk.  Then we had help from a few sous chefs and lots of people to help clean up afterward.  Between all the planning, many trips to the food store, the prep and cleaning it was a lot of work but well worth it as it turned out to be a great experience for all - those who cooked and of course those who ate.  We were asked to do this again with another cuisine and I'm sure in due time we probably will. 

Here's some pics of our buffet line with all our homemade food.

Class #12: Fish

In this class we would be preparing fish.  We received a whole talapia filet and learned how to filet it into servable portions. As I wanted to try all different cuisines, this time I went with an Asian/Thai flair and prepared my fish by pan frying it and serving it with orzo pasta cooked in coconut milk with ginger.  I sauteed carrots and threw those in and added basil for extra thai flavor.  The flavor turned out very well.  The only thing I wish I had done better was presentation. I started with the orzo on the side but wish I had stacked the dish a little more putting the orzo in the center, fish criss-crossed on top, the veggies on top and the sauces drizzled over all of it. Luckily my Chef Instructor was pleased with the flavor as well and gave me an A and I ended up with a great dinner that night. 

Class # 11: Veal

Well, I really let time slip away and did not blog as consistently as I had planned.  This is in no way a reflection of my passion for food and cooking. I have just had a lot going on in the last few months in addition to the normal day-to-day stuff.


We are down to me summarizing the final 3 classes.

In class #10 it was all about Veal.  In lab we were told we could prepared our veal any way but needed to make a complete plate with a starch and vegetables. I wanted to do a different cuisine than what I've done so far so went Italian and made Veal Parmesan with linguine and sauteed green beans.  It turned out very well - meat cooked perfectly and my sauce turned out very tasty.  It turned out to be an eye-pleasing plate as well.  I got my full 25 points and walked away from the Chef Instructor very proud.

Class #10: BEEF - it's what's for dinner

Today's class was all about Beef.  The new thing about class would be that we each give a 2 minute presentation about what we read from our book on the current subject.  This was the Chef's way of getting us to read our book each week.  It worked and I read and took some notes to read in class about Beef.  I talked about Kobe beef and why it is so expensive.  It is beef mainly raised in Japan and they feed them a specialized diet which includes beer and give the cows massages to relax them producing better beef.  Bizarre, huh? Now you know next time you see Kobe beef on a menu why it is expensive.

Anyway, we were then given our assignment for today.  We would be preparing a sirloin steak medium (140 degrees).  We would also have to make risotto to go with the steak, which would be my 2nd time to make this in class so I wasn't worried at all. And then I learned we would be having partners.  Ugh.  I didn't want a partner.  I like cooking alone.  And my partner would be a guy in the class who I didn't know and didn't talk much.  Double ugh. 

So off we went and started our plan.  We actually worked well together and decided to go with a vegetable medly of Zucchini and Squash and my partner had an idea of baking them with oil and cheese.  He said his Grandma makes them this way. I wanted something a little more and suggested balsamic vinegar.  Unfortunately I couldn't find any.  My partner suggested red wine vinegar.  I didn't like this idea - I really wanted balsamic as I knew it has sugar in it which when cooked carmelizes a little bit and would be great on these veggies. I passed on the vinegar but then minutes later he showed up with the red vinegar. I decided to let him go for it since he had complete control over this side dish. I took control over the risotto as I knew you have to constantly stir it and constantly add liquid to it.  We both took control over the meat and really babyied it to get the perfect temperature.  We were so worried that our thermometers were not working right and our temps were off but I kept saying "take it off when your gut tells you". I don't know where that cooking intuition came from but I just knew we'd know when we'd know. I also knew meat keeps cooking a little more after you take it off the heat so a few less degrees would be just fine.

So, we took the meat off, put the risotto in a ramekin and then got our vegetables out of the oven. Our veggies looked dull.  Very limp and dull. I was not impressed and knew the Chef wouldn't be either but we had no choice but to serve it up.  To the Chef's table we went.  He cut into our meat and was pleased - cooked to the right temp.  He then tasted our veggies and....uh oh...oh no, he is making an awful face and..oh no, into the trash he spits them out.  "That tastes funky he says.  Did you taste them?". You ever watch those cooking shows and the judges ask "Did you taste this" and you think how could you forget to taste your own food?  NOW I KNOW.  You just do - when up against the clock you usually don't have time to taste and if you do you certainly don't have time to adjust - so I guess it's better if you don't know.

Needless to say even with perfect risotto and steak we bombed on our veggie side dish and got a 22 out of 25.  Triple Ugh. It was a team effort so I don't feel anyone is to blame and we did all learn something from this and that is - red wine vinegar does not taste good drizzled on veggies and baked - it is NOT the same as balsamic, not even close. Trust me, don't try this at home.

Class #9: Sandwiches

In this week's class we would be preparing sandwiches as well as a side dish for a complete plate. We would draw out of a hat for our category of how we would prepare our sandwich.  The categories were: grilled, panini pressed, open faced and stacked (layered).  None of these scared me and I was pleased when I drew grilled as I planned to go beyond the basic grilled cheese sandwich.  Once I learned there was sliced turkey in the fridge in our lab kitchen I thought a nice pesto would go great on a grilled sandwich.  I also decided a nice spinach salad on the side would pair with it nicely .  So I began my mise en place.  Do you know what "Mise en place" means?  It translates to "Everything in its place".  It's what Chefs do before they begin to actually cook their meal.  They prep all their ingredients first and stay organized as they go.  They peel, chop, and measure out ingredients before starting a single cooking step.  It helps keep the cooking process stay on track so you can dump the ingredients in as needed instead of say, burning your butter as you're still chopping an onion.  It's a process I'm gradually trying to adapt as I'm not an organized neat cook but I want to be and this process helps and makes me feel more like a chef each time I set out my little bowls of ingredients.


Anyway, back to sandwiches.  I was on the search for pine nuts and couldn't find any and almost ditched the pesto idea when I saw sunflower seeds.  I thought this would work as all I really needed was an oily seed/nut ingredient to process with oil, basil & parmesan cheese - yup, that's all there is to pesto.  So, with my turkey, cheese & pesto grilled sandwich I decided to make a spinach salad with bacon vinegarette.  This is a salad my friend, Joy, had introduced me to a long time ago and I've made it once before and thought it would pair so well with my sandwich.  The salad starts by frying up some bacon, getting it nice & crispy.  Then pour your bacon drippings in a bowl and you'll whisk in syrup (yes, pancake syrup) & balsamic vinegar to taste. I just played with portions until I felt it was just right - sweet with a tang.  It's sooo good - you really must try this flavor combo.  Once my sandwich was grilled to perfection I tossed my spinach with the vinegarette knowing I had to do this at the very last second as the spinach wilts SO quickly.  Chef was pleased as I got a 25 out of 25!  YES!  I was very, very happy and enjoyed eating my work.  Hats off the to the Chef...that would be me in this case. ;)

NOTE: The portion I actually served was much larger but I forgot to take a picture until after the Chef and I had tried it!

Class #8: Eggs - I "crack".....

Even though this class is over, I am still going to post what happened in each class as though it hasn't been weeks since my last post.  I don't think the time is relevant but I do want to be consistent in my posts so you have something new to read and keep coming back.  :)

With that said, let me tell you about Class #8, which was all about eggs.  For this class we learned we would have to cook eggs in 4 ways: over easy, over hard, sunny side up and poached.  With our poached egg we would make eggs benedict making hollandaise sauce by scratch. We would also need to create a side dish to go with it of our own choosing. 

It all sounds so easy, right?  Make 4 eggs, a sauce, a side....BUT let me tell you, eggs is where I cracked (pun intended). It ended up being my least successful class and left me doubting this whole cooking thing.  It started with the Chef giving us a presentation of how the 4 eggs should look and be prepared.  This gave us an idea of what consistency we were looking for in the final presentation.  After that we were on our own.  I thought I'd start with a sunny side up egg and if I screwed it up I could make it my over hard egg.  Well, I did screw it up and that's where I started to lose confidence.  I turned it into my over hard egg but wasn't pleased. I moved on to the over easy egg which basically means you have to flip the egg over (without breaking it) and end up with a very jiggly egg indicating over easy.  I cooked it a little too long and ended up with over medium.  The Chef confirmed this as he was walking by - so my first do-over.  My 2nd attempt worked out fine - phew!  Then I moved on to sunny side up.  I didn't cook it long enough on my first attempt as the Chef checked it out it still had slimy white parts - my second do-over.  My next attempt failed as I broke the yolk when flipping.  Grrrr!  This was not going well.  FINALLY, I completed all my eggs.  I had my sunny side up egg showing it's pretty golden egg on top - perfectly cooked.  Then my over hard which is the yolk broken and all the egg cooked through (not scrambled).  My over easy was flipped and jiggly and my poached egg was pretty too.  A poached egg gets dropped in simmering water that has vinegar in it (this keeps the whites all together) and the yolk is not cooked through.  So I let my eggs sit to the side for the teacher to view them.  
Here's where I really went wrong.  I decided to make fried potatoes for my side. To start this side dish I sauteed some leeks in butter.  I then added my thinly sliced potatoes which actually made my leeks turn into, as the Chef would later call them, "Burnt Bits". I actually like the crispy onions that carmelize on potatoes and thought that's what I had done, but not so.  The Chef let me know what I called "Carmelized" was indeed "Burnt".  So, if that wasn't enough as I served my egg and poured the hollandaise sauce on top it occured to me that my egg was now cold as I left it to the side with the other eggs. I should've put it in the warming oven so the Chef would be served a nice warm egg.  To sum it up, I ended up with a 20 out of 25 on this dish - a B!  I was devastated - so disappointed in myself.  I let myself down more than the Chef, knowing I could've done better.  Luckily my disappointment only lasted a week and by next Monday's Lab I was out of my funk and ready to learn more - no more burnt bits from me!

 So, here you see....cold poached egg with pan fried potatoes & burnt bits.  :)