Recent Food

If you don’t know, I’m going to Johnson & Wales University, Denver, starting in March. They follow a trimester system and my last school was semester system, so I have an annoyingly long winter break, it’s awful. Anyways, in my abundance amount of free time I have done the following: sleep, play xbox, cook, and read recipes. I have spent a lot of time reading recipes.

In unrelated food news: I was given then honor of an Eagle Scout Mentor last night. One of my buddies just got his Eagle Award and last night was his ceremony, so when it was time for him to name his mentor, he called me up and I was extremely happy. If you are unaware, the mentor pin goes to the person that has really helped with them stay focused and motivated, and I guess was just an overall influence. And I was really honored that he picked me, he has probably taught me more than I taught him, so for that I am really honored.

Here is what I’ve cooked:

Last week:

Monday: Tortellini with peas & prosciutto, followed by peanut butter pie. I cooked this for my brother and his wife. I went to to help get the future babies room together, so I figured cooking for them was a must.

Tuesday: Pork chops with a soy glaze, green beans, and garlic mashed potatoes. This was made for my sister and her boyfriend, it was pretty dang good. The pork was a little on the dry side but it still tasted pretty good.

Thursday: I made a new minestrone recipe. It is one of Tyler Florence’s (a grad of JWU, I believe). This recipe was really awesome, I’d say it was pretty traditional is style.

As for this Sunday (today) I decided that a multi-course meal was a must. My sister and her boyfriend came over to do some stuff, so she helped out and made some kick ass dessert.

So here’s the menu (pictures will follow):

• Star Puffs: these are stars cut out of puff pastry, brushed with olive oil, and topped with parmesan cheese and pepper; then baked for about 15 minutes. Super easy, but a great starter.
• Potato chowder: Just your basic potato & leek soup. Again, fairly simple but oh so good.
• Chicken breasts with a Dijon & Tarragon sauce, garlic mashed potatoes, and green beans. Apparently I really like green beans and mashed potatoes recently. They are pretty flexible sides.
• Eclairs: Made by my sister. They were really tasty, although she forgot to shift/slowly at the cocoa power to the glaze (oops), so it was a little lumpy, but they were still fantastic. And besides, it gave me a reason to laugh at her!

This entire meal turned out great. The chicken was just a little dry, but not too bad. It was a solid main course and it was something with tarragon. I really really love tarragon, it smells fantastic and tastes better than that.

There will be a post in the near future, I am cooking and my brothers and then again at my sisters this week, so I’m sure I’ll have something to say about that.

Song of the day: Blue Skies – Jamiroquai