Central Intelligence Agency

No, the other CIA. Alison joined me for a visit to Culinary Institute of America at Greystone for their admissions open house. Awesome facility.
Here's a pastry chef demonstrating how to stretch peanut brittle after it is poured out onto an oiled marble surface:

We tried the duck procuitto with melon and figs at their innovation center, The Greystone Grill:

New Skool

Since I have not been impressed with the level of education I've been receiving at the Art Institute of Washington, I have been exploring other options. Today was round one of culinary school visits in San Francisco. First stop was California Culinary Academy (part of the Le Cordon Bleu family) and the second stop was Ai of San Fran. Tomorrow, I'm going to the CIA at Greystone. It's been a rather exhausting process thus far.

Citizen Cake

We headed towards Citizen Cake for dessert. The chef was a contestant on Top Chef Masters recently. We walked in 30 min before closing and all the cooks in the kitchen were peering out, muttering curses under their breath as we were seated. Alison and I both ordered the chocolate cake which was served with Fleur de Sel (?), caramel, chili pepper flakes and a quenelle (oval shaped scoop) of vanilla ice cream. The cook went a little heavy handed with the salt and chili pepper which in turn overpowered the chocolate flavor of cake. Rick’s mint chocolate ice cream sandwich was equally disappointing. Nakul’s rose and pistachio creme brule was delicious according to him. I won’t be reminiscing about the awesomeness of this place anytime soon.

The End of the Beginning

I finished my first quarter as a culinary student. w00t. I have to say that I have acquired a significant amount of knowledge over the course of a couple months. From YouTube to my awesome classmates and teachers to my co-workers and boss(es). Thanks guys, you have made my brief transition to the culinary arts world so much fun and educational. :) I still have a long ways to go (namely consistency and speed), but I am getting there. I also hope my readers (if I have any) have been able to learn along with me in my journey to becoming a Certified Research Chef.

Belated B-Day Dinner

I went with some people to The Overwood in Alexandria to celebrate my birthday. There are several dishes there that are cooked over wood (hey! get the name?). The spinach dip is to DIE for, the ratio of spinach to cheese were perfect, the dip was a little under seasoned, which was complemented by the over salted chips. The sauce made the fried green tomatoes. I ordered a steak salad and Auds ordered the veggie lasagna both were cooked over wood, both were delicious! Shante loved her ribs. Al and Andrew ordered seafood, which was a bad choice. The scallops were not seared properly and the mussels had no flavor. The ambiance was okay, not a lot of people were out for a rainy Saturday night. The desserts were sub par, skip dessert and hit up Buzz Bakery if you’re in the area instead.
Here’s my steak salad topped with crunchy potato bits.
Here’s the gang with the food.

Kah-bob!

I stopped by Maiwand Kabob for a snack today after I reached my tolerance for shopping (which I clocked in at 1 hour). I ordered the special of the day, lamb curry. I think they forgot about my order because I sat there waiting for a good 15 min before I said something. Then within 3 min, I had my meal in a take away container. It was worth the wait. OMG, the lamb was so tender it just fell apart when I forked it and the flavor was wonderful, the rice granules were perfectly tender, too. I halfway suspect they put MSG in there because it was so savory! In a nutshell, service sucked, but the food was worth it.

Tragic News

It’s official, after a month, Chef Michael is no longer with us. We’re all waiting in eager anticipation of who will be the next Executive Sous Chef. This position is similar to the Defense of the Dark Arts teaching position at Hogwarts. There is a very high turn over rate.

A Spoon Full of Sugar

helps the medicine go down. Koren's friend gave him these awesome measuring spoons!

T-B: A pinch of joy, A dash of tenderness, A spoonful of affection, A heap of love

Now I'm REALLY a Cook

That's right, I have a small callous developing on my index finger from my knife work. :)

My b-day

I traveled to C-ville for dinner with my mom. She baked a pumpkin chiffon cake and some pumpkin brioche. Both were moist and dense.

I <3 Caribou Coffee

Two chains that I love and adore are Cosi and Caribou Coffee. I stopped into Caribou after work today to grab a bottle of water. On my way to the cashier, I noticed they have their fall drinks available! So, I tried a small wild caramel apple cooler. Refreshing and caramelly. I can't wait to try the wild pumpkin cooler.

Prep This!

Today was my first day doing prep cook stuff because Bin left us for bigger and better things. It was another educational experience at work. If I learned anything from working in manufacturing, it is to always ask questions. Boy did I have a slew-o-questions. I learned that if you are blanching two types of greens, you should blanch them separately. Beef should be solidly frozen when you slice it using a slicer. Herb oil mixtures should mix until the herbs steam. Don't be greedy and try to shove everything you have into a mixer otherwise the motor may be burned out...oh geez and the list goes on!

Did that make sense? Only to me!

Bittersweet Experience

I went to Old Town Alexandria today for a stroll. As I was wandering the streets, I found a menu littered on the ground. It was a bakery menu that had...CUPCAKES and it was on my way back to the car. I reached Bittersweet Bakery and almost walked past it because the shop front was so nondescript (or I am blind). I picked up a mini chocolate cupcake and Zico (an aseptically packaged carton of coconut water). The cupcake was ehh...very non memorable, I wouldn't purchase it again. I was hesitant about the coconut water because I had memories of being in Thailand as a child and forced to drink from a straw that was stabbed into a coconut. It was very pleasantly sweet (no sugar added, I might uhh add) and the flavor of the coconut was not overpowering.