Blogging

I had to start this blog for a class last quarter so I know a little about blogging. I have found it's not that hard to do.

Roasted Chicken

This week in class we got to roast a chicken and vegetables, and make a rice pilaf that went great with the chicken. I learned that whole chickens are cheaper than the boneless chicken breasts in the store so I will now use whole chickens for most of my cooking. Our homework was to roast a chicken at home. I had no idea that roasting a chicken was so easy. I always let someone else make the chicken because I thought it was hard to make. But it's so easy. First I got a baking sheet out and put a rack on it. I seasoned the chicken with thyme, rosemary, parsley, salt, pepper, and half a lemon. I trussed the chicken and put it on the rack and put it in a 425 degree oven for an hour. I cooked it until the internal temperature was 180 degress. I let it rest for 10 minutes and then cut it. I cut the legs off and then cut the breast into two pieces. I served my chicken with some stuffing. It was very delicious. It was very moist. My dad was trying to tell me how to do it and I said no you do it this way. He thought the chicken would be dry but it wasn't and he was surprised. That made me happy to surprise him like that.

What I Learned

The past four weeks I have learned so much about cooking. Five weeks ago I would never have known what a julienne cut was or a brunoise. I have learned how to properly cooks eggs. I never knew that when the egg turned brown it was burnt because that's how I always had them. One week we made steaks and now I know how to cook them right and they are very good medium rare. I always used to have my steaks medium well but medium rare is way better. I can make fresh cut french fries which by the way are very yummy. I have learned a lot about rice. I didn't know there were so many different kinds of rice. I had never had rissoto before but I had to make it for a homework assignment and it was delicious. This week I learned all about frying foods and oils. Everything tasted great. We had to fry okra and I had never had that before and it was delicious. I will start eating that more often now. I can't believe how much I have learned in the short time I have been at school and I still have so much more to learn but I'm ready and up for the challenge.

Risotto

This week in class we had to make a bunch of different rice dishes. I didn't know there were so many types of rice and you use certain kinds for certain dishes. It was very interesting. Our homework was to make Risotto. At first I thought this sounds hard and fancy and I come to find out it is an extremely easy dish to make. First you bring your broth to a boil and let it simmer, then saute the onion until translucent. Add minced garlic and the rice and stir in 1/2 cup broth. Continue adding the broth as it is absorbed by the rice and keep stirring so it doesn't stick to the pot. When the rice is done you put butter and grated parmesan cheese in and serve warm. And for a garnish you can sprinkle some chopped parsley. I thought this risotto was very good. I had never had it before but I think I might start making it more often. I got this recipe from cooks.com.

Steak

In class this week I got to make a steak. I love steaks so I thought this would be a fun class because I finally get to learn the correct way to cook them. I always have had my steaks medium well and it tasted good to me but we had to cook and try our steaks medium rare which I must say is 10 times better than medium well. There is so much more flavor and it's more tender. I will now be cooking my steaks medium rare. We also got to make many types of potatoes and creamed spinach. The creamed spinach was my favorite side to the steak. I'm not a very big fan of spinach but that was very good. We made pommes frites that we cut ourselves. We also made pommes anna aux champignons. And finally we made twice-baked potatoes with cabbage and leeks that were also very good. I learned a lot from this class and that is that i need to be more prepared with the recipes and the kitchen. And also that I can cook a steak and make it good.