NE Highlights and Challenges | Week #9

This is a class assignment that I write about at the end of each week called Highlights and Challenges. If you are new to my blog I am enrolled at The Natural Epicurean Culinary Academy in Austin, Texas and this is my online journal (among other things!).

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Describe: What did you find especially exciting, interesting, inspiring, satisfying and/or fun this week in the kitchen?

For me this week was very busy. I had two science of nutrition tests and a final project presentation. In baking we had our final practicum and a written test. Lots of testing! Since we had a short week because of the holiday on Monday things were compressed into four days so it made it feel extra tight on time. 

With all of the testing there wasn't a lot of time cooking in the lab this week, but that's okay. We will get back to cooking in no time. With that said I only have a few food photos to share. 

I was excited to make a vegan meringue using the liquid of a can of chickpeas! If you are wondering if it tasted anything like chickpeas it did not. We made cinnamon salted caramel brownies using almond flour topped with meringue fluff, and some chocolate shaped bowls (working with chocolate is tricky!) filled with avocado chocolate mousse that melted, but still tasted great, a chocolate mint cheesecake, and gluten free pizza that was made from Teff and Oat flours. Everything was delicious.

The best thing that happened this week was the opportunity to attend the VidaVeganCon on Friday after class! It was very inspiring to hear the stories of people in the Austin community tell us how they started their vegan businesses. Here are a couple of pics of the speakers:

From left to right: Chris who owns one of my favorite food trucks called The Vegan Nom, Kristen from Capital City Bakery (her baked goods rock!), Jessica from Rabbit Food Grocery, Molly who organizes one of my favorite festivals called Texas VegFest, and Stephanie a blogger (The Lazy Smurf's Guide) who was the panel moderator. 

There was also Terry Hope Romero. She is awesome and has been a long time vegan and lives in New York. She has written several cookbooks and I have a couple in my library. After she spoke I went and introduced myself and thanked her for coming out to Austin and told her she was inspiring to me :) She's a pretty cool Latina.

2. Reflect: In what ways have you begun to apply, develop or incorporate this and/or how does this influence your professional goals?

Just by going to the convention on Friday makes me realize that I might be a good fit to be a vegan community activist. I get really excited thinking about it! 

I heard that the VidaVeganCon that I attended was the last one and I was really sadden by that. I'm going to find out why.

I'm also going to contact Molly, the organizer of Texas VegFest, to see if she would be willing to teach me the ropes about organizing a festival. Maybe I can apply for an externship! That would be great!

CHALLENGES

3. Describe: What did you find especially challenging or difficult in the kitchen this week?

Time management was the challenge for me this week, but it worked out. 

Learning how to use SuperTracker took some time.

4. Reflect: What might you do to meet and overcome these challenges or difficulties?

I did take full advantage of the three day weekend to work on my science project. 

There was a lot of data entry into SuperTracker, creating recipes within SuperTracker, calculating a lot of formulas, creating the actual report in a word document, and printing the various food logs (so many!). It took me a total of two days to complete (which included revisions from the instructor).

After it was all done I was happy with the due dilligence I put into the final project and turned it in on Friday. I hope I get an A!!! 

That's all for this week! See you next week :)

NE Highlights and Challenges | Week #8

This is a class assignment that I write about at the end of each week called Highlights and Challenges. If you are new to my blog I am enrolled at The Natural Epicurean Culinary Academy in Austin, Texas and this is my online journal (among other things!).

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Describe: What did you find especially exciting, interesting, inspiring, satisfying and/or fun this week in the kitchen?

Baking, baking, baking! So much fun! 

I cannot tell you how great it was to work with yeast, mix dough with your bare hands, and proof dough outside in the warm humid Texas weather! Also, the other great thing was eating the final product! I have to make those cinnamon rolls again and share them. Here is a pic of the cinnamon rolls, slong with the other breads that were proofing outside:

I did share some of our baked goods with some colleagues/friends of mine that just moved into the same location as our school. I caught them a bit off guard because they thought the baked goods were made the traditional way (with animal products), but I informed them that everything I gave them was vegan. They were surprised and I was happy to let them know that you can have baked goods that still have big flavor and no animals were harmed. Yay!

I also had a splendid time with my team mates this week. This was my first time working with Rae and the other person was Amy. I worked with Amy during our very first week in lab. We had a positive synergy that I really appreciate. 

I feel inspired to bake this weekend and also to practice for my test next week. For the test I have to make a pancake (banana or pumpkin) and a scone (apricot, ginger, and pistachio). 

Here are some of the items we baked in class this week:

2. Reflect: In what ways have you begun to apply, develop or incorporate this and/or how does this influence your professional goals?

This baking class has made me aware that you can bake with healthier ingredients and again eat these items in moderation. You should not eat cinnamon rolls everyday! These are mental notes to keep so that I can refer to them later when I have paying clients to bake/cook for in the future.

CHALLENGES

3. Describe: What did you find especially challenging or difficult in the kitchen this week?

On the warmer days I noticed that one recipe I was working on was getting a bit challenging to roll into a small balls in my hands. Also, my hands were probably warmer thus creating a bit of stickyness. I put the cookie dough back in the fridge for a few minutes and washed my hands then I pulled the chilled dough from the fridge and worked fast to roll the dough and got them into the oven to bake. It worked out.

As I mentioned last week, the science of nutrition class was a bit challenging and I got my test back with a passing grade. Not my highest grade, but I passed. I've got several other tests this coming week so I'm hoping for the best and I will be relieved when the week will be over! Lot's of studying this weekend for me.

4. Reflect: What might you do to meet and overcome these challenges or difficulties?

I plan on spending my memorial day studying, practicing, and memorizing information. 

Thanks for stopping by!
See you next week :)

NE Highlights and Challenges | Week #7

This is a class assignment that I write about at the end of each week called Highlights and Challenges. If you are new to my blog I am enrolled at The Natural Epicurean Culinary Academy in Austin, Texas and this is my online journal (among other things!).

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Describe: What did you find especially exciting, interesting, inspiring, satisfying and/or fun this week in the kitchen?

I enjoyed the waffles, custards, and making dough in class this week.

I also liked knowing how to make my own natural food coloring by using fruits and/or vegetables. Even though the artificial flavors result in a brighter color I wouldn't want to ingest those chemicals or artificial flavorings. The natural food coloring does result in a lighter shade (like a pastel) but I think those are pretty anyway.

Here are pictures from this week's baking class. My favorite was the coconut creme caramel. It was so delicious and there was no egg used for the custard part. I used agar flakes and it set up nicely! My plating of the custard could have been done more neatly, but I wanted to plate on time! 

Here are the waffles! I made the waffles that had orange supremes on top with the blueberries :) They were whole grain and tasted good!

These are the quick breads, cupcakes, and muffins:

Here we have the delicious vegan custards, chocolate mousse, and strawberry almond ice cream. My lab partner Tiana made the ice cream and it was my favorite! 

And to round out the week, here we have our sweet and savory pastries. I made the vegan dough for the empanadas and I stuffed them with a chorizo seitan, garlic, red onion, and bell pepper. It was tasty. 

We also made peach cinnamon pie and apricot, ginger and pistachio scones. 

2. Reflect: In what ways have you begun to apply, develop or incorporate this and/or how does this influence your professional goals?

Once I gradute this program I would like to incorporate more heatlhy baking. Being more aware of the natural substitutions that are available is helpful, and to consider other people's diet. These desserts should only be eaten once in a while not every week. Moderation is key and having well balanced meals is the best. 

CHALLENGES

3. Describe: What did you find especially challenging or difficult in the kitchen this week?

I'd like to improve upon my dough making skills. My dough for the empanadas turned out well, but my dough for the scones needs some improvements. 

The other challege this week for me is a new class called the science of nutrition. Even though I am super excited about this class it will be a challenge for me, and in speaking with my classmates it will be a challenge for them as well. Hopefully the information presented will sync up better for all of us!

4. Reflect: What might you do to meet and overcome these challenges or difficulties?

For the scones - I'll need to practice that one more since that recipe will be on my practicum in a couple of weeks. I feel pretty confident that I can make this recipe turn out well :)

As for the science of nutrition class, it will be a matter of taking it one day at a time. I'm hoping for the best outcome for all of us.

Thanks for stopping by and see you all next week!

NE Highlights and Challenges | Week #6

This is a class assignment that I write about at the end of each week called Highlights and Challenges. If you are new to my blog I am enrolled at The Natural Epicurean Culinary Academy in Austin, Texas and this is my online journal (among other things!).

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Describe: What did you find especially exciting, interesting, inspiring, satisfying and/or fun this week in the kitchen?

I liked the pasta and dumpling lab, plating principles, vegan omelette, A La Minute, and the CSA challenge.

Even though I said I liked making the vegan omelette doesn't mean that it tasted good! We used a recipe we found online that used chickpea flour, but it still didn't taste good nor did it come out of the pan easily like a traditional omelette would. It's fine and now that I think about it I never really ordered omelette's when I used to eat eggs so I might put the brakes on finding a better recipe. There is a a restaurant here in Austin called Counter Culture that has a really good omelette so if I want one I will go there :)

Here are some pics for the A La Minute and the CSA Challenge. 

The A La Minute that we made was called Tucked In Tofu. Our team was great to work with and if I had to choose them again I certainly would! 

Here is a photo of food from our CSA (community supported agriculture) challenge. I made a grilled kale salad with apple cinnamon vinaigrette topped with a nut parmesan.

Here is a close-up of my grilled kale salad:

2. Reflect: In what ways have you begun to apply, develop or incorporate this and/or how does this influence your professional goals?

I will no doubt continue to find news ways of mixing and modifying my favorite recipes. There are so many recipes that exist, but as I learned this week recipes are a guideline to follow and being able to incorporate your own unique twist is the best!

CHALLENGES

3. Describe: What did you find especially challenging or difficult in the kitchen this week?

I found the potato pancake recipe to be a challenge.

4. Reflect: What might you do to meet and overcome these challenges or difficulties?

As I mentioned before, I think I will continue to work on finding and testing recipes before I settle on one that I can truly endorse. The potato pancake is one of those recipes. The recipe I used for my test this past Thursday was a little too wet even though I pressed the mixture a few times through a calendar. Oh well, it's a work in progress :)

This is how I ended this week at school...eating this chocolate cupcake with orange flavored buttercream frosting made by Chef Inge! I wish I had one right now. This cupcake marks a new section of my training. This means that BAKING starts and will continue for the next three weeks! So excited about this! See you next week and Happy Mother's Day!

NE Highlights and Challenges | Week #5

This is a class assignment that I write about at the end of each week called Highlights and Challenges. If you are new to my blog I am enrolled at The Natural Epicurean Culinary Academy in Austin, Texas and this is my online journal (among other things!).

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Describe: What did you find especially exciting, interesting, inspiring, satisfying and/or fun this week in the kitchen?

Hoorah! I passed my written exam, product identification, knife skills test, and my first practicum! Just to clarify, I really do need more knife practice. There is no way to learn knife skills over night unless you are a r-o-b-o-t, and I am not a robot. So practice, practice, practice!

This week's cookery consisted of soups, salad dressings, appetizers, tomatoes and peppers, and my favorite the potato!

I realized that dressings are better when you make them yourself and require little time or effort. Appetizers may be something that I can expand upon because I rarely eat appetizers so I don't ever think to cook them. 

Did you know that Tomatoes and peppers are part of the nightshade family? Nightshade. What a fun name. It's like this group is part of an underground superhero team that doesn't reveal it's true identity, but you see them everyday! Just image a tomato with a mask and his sidekick Pepe the jalapeno :P Anyhoo, there are other members of the nightshade family like, potatoes, eggplant, and goji berries just to name a few. 

It was a good and challenging week mentally and physically, and without further ado here are this week's food pics:

Green salad with sesame ginger dressing, winter greens with fennel and pears, and a spicy no mayo coleslaw.

Here we have potato leek soup, coconut lentil soup, cold corn soup, and a mock clam chowder! The pretty white designs were made by Chef Inge.

On Wednesday we made bruschetta, stuffed chilies, classic gazpacho, tomato jam, and a vegan chili. 

And on Thursday we made an eggplant stacked tower, gnocchi, potato pancake, roasted fingerling potatoes, and a scalloped potato gratin with fresh herbs.

2. Reflect: In what ways have you begun to apply, develop or incorporate this and/or how does this influence your professional goals?

This weekend I am planning on practicing for my upcoming practicum. 

We are being asked to make potato leek soup, potato pancake, and a no mayo coleslaw. This one will be interesting because all of these items need to be served at the same time. Which if you really think about it that's what normally happens when you make a meal for someone. Everything is ready at the same time, right? I think so. I'm going to be fine. 

CHALLENGES

3. Describe: What did you find especially challenging or difficult in the kitchen this week?

This week we had an instructor that I found just a wee-bit challenging to follow. The teaching methods and demonstrations were very unique and interesting, but required extra effort to follow. I liked the passion and experiences about this person and I learned some new things to consider (i.e. growing a garnish garden). Good nuggets of information was given and I am grateful.

4. Reflect: What might you do to meet and overcome these challenges or difficulties?

I'm thinking that I need to loosen up my frame of mind and go with the energy of the class and focus on the learning objective for the day, but still ask for clarification (maybe more that I usually would). I'll go in with a calm frame of mind and be open to where this teaching style takes me :)
All is well.