So much to do!

How can people work 60-70 weeks and still have time to go have fun? I only work 45 hours a week and still can;t find enough time to enjoy myself. Maybe it's because I work nights. Who knows? At least some of my friends have parties and can go late. School, yardwork and work. Geesh! This is gonna be a busy spring/summer.

Tough

I thought having two days off a week was going to be great. But, then I got the wild idea to fill those days with school. One of my classes is a food and media class. I am going to be developing and producing a cooking show that will be submitted at the end of the quarter. I am really excited to get started filming on it next Tuesday. My other class is the soup and sauce class. I look forward to learning new sauces in the weeks to come. Until I learn something new, I have to slow myself down and be patient. The consomme was a challenge, but it turned out really good. The thing about consommes that I don't get is why would someone go through all that time and trouble to have a clear soup? I guess working in high volume restaurants has tainted me a bit. I'm sure there is a place in the culinary world for a clear soup. Just don't ask me to make it for 1000 people. You can find another consomme maker!

Duck Ragu with Risotto

For my final in my cooking class I want to make a duck ragu with risotto. I am thinking of making the ragu with duck thighs and topping it off with a seared duck breast. The risotto will probably be cooked with chicken stock and fennel fronds. I know I've done similar, but making the ragu is really going to be my selling point. I plan on using an oil drizzle, or making a glaze to put over the duck. As long as there is carrots, tomatoes, celery, fennel, onions, garlic, red wine, herbs and spices, duck breast and duck thighs, I should be all right. I might try and find the duck thighs myself. I know most of the other ingredients will be available. For the dessert, I am going to make Apple Fritters with an apricot dipping sauce. The fritters will be easy to do and will go along with my Italian theme. I wonder if a mango chutney would work? Or maybe a mango glaze for the duck breast? Apricot glaze? Hmmmm. Research time!

Veggie Burger

I finally figured a way to post the recipe for the Veggie Burger. I really put a lot of elements into it! It would cost over $20 just to get all the ingredients for the home cook. The burger itself wasn't too bad though. Just add some real mayo, lettuce and tomato and away you go! Maybe some cheese? The recipe is at the bottom of the blog if anyone is interested in trying it out.

Instant Feedback

There's one of the many reasons why I love to cook for people. So what if you have to work long hours, burn yourself or cut a finger. Who cares if your back hurts from standing all day. What really pays off for me is the instant feedback. Today we had the chance to compete in a cookoff. I chose to make the veggie burger. It got such high praise. I was shocked how many people liked it. But, this is why I cook. You can find out right away what worked and what didn't. James Cameron had to wait 12 years to control the world with Avatar. I can't wait that long.

Everyone has to eat at least twice a day. Hopefully three times a day. That's where I come in. I put together great tasting food in a very busy Omaha restaurant. So many times I have guests come to the window and tell us that we made great food. Whenever there is an issue, I find out right away. I am going to try and put together the recipe for the veggie burger. I hope anyone who gets a chance to make it. . .does. It's wonderful and Chef O'Donnell said he'd put it on a menu right away and doesn't say that very often. It's a moneymaker.

Procrastinating

It's so easy to procrastinate an online class. I really wish I took this class in a classroom. If it's out of sight, it's out of mind. I really plan on cracking down this week and getting all of my past assignments and test done. There is no need for an easy class like INFO 1001 to end up as an F.


Last week my wife and I spend most of it looking for a new place to live. We have our sights on a house in Ponca Hills. It is just far enough away from Omaha to be peacful, but not far away enough to be annnoying. Such a big yard to mow though!! Hopefully, we will hear from the owners soon. Maybe moving in 2 weeks. Who cares about the weather!

Monday's Cooking class

I did pretty well on my midterm practical. We were supposed to make fennel three ways. I think I succeeded in making it four ways. I used the stalks of the fennel in my chicken stock to make a hybrid fennel/chick stock. Pretty good all by itself. Then I used it to make my risotto. I wasn't exactly sure how well it would taste. Granted, I'm not a fan of fennel. But it was wonderful! I took some fresh fennel and roasted it with carrots, celery and parsnips. Yummy! That was mixed in with the risotto. I also took fennel seeds and made italian sausage with sauteed apples. That was great! Chef O'Donnell said it was real good. Must have done something right. So there's my day last monday. Cooking the recipes after that was pretty easy. Overall, fennel gets a bad rap. It doesn't always have to taste like liquorice. Just patience and some experience will work out great.