Christmas Function

Had pastry class last friday and as usual, chef Karam was there, so he asked for my help again for some christmas function. More into the decorating this time and not the baking process since when i got to the pastry kitchen, basically he baked everything already. It's only time to decorate the christmas cake. Well to be honest, i had no idea what cake he was making, when i got there, the cake was already covered by this white fondant(sugar). Like such:





Then he said " i want YOU to decorate this cake. Keep it simple and yet, it must have that christmas-sy feeling." so i was like ookayyy... So i started doin it and browsing for pictures, he came in once in a while to check up on me, and everytime he enters, he always got something to say. "Do you want to listen to music? I do. You know, you could sing if you want to. I want a holly on my cake. I misplaced my cookie cutters shoot." Yeah, you get the point. Hahaha...

This is the first christmas cake


So yeah back to the story, he wants me to make a holly without any cutter, so i had to do it manually, which was not exactly easy to do. But in the end it turned out quite okay. So i'm basically satisfied. LOLS. Oh and he also made meat pies which actually doesn't have any meat inside it, so yeah, awkward... Hahaha... I helped him for two days for this christmas function thingy. Friday and monday(yesterday). So i made more holly, and this time with some gingerbread cookies on top. I could see he's really stressed out yesterday. He had lots of classes and still has to make desserts for this function. Pitty him. But he managed to make everything on time though! So yeah! Hahaha...




Meat Pies~

Log Cake

Christmas is coming!!!! YAY YAY YAY YAY!!! I am super excited for this christmas.. I'm gonna get a new oven back home so i can bake all i like. Teehee. Well, i was suppose to study today but i got so excited about home and what i'm gonna bake. So i started researching on the internet. Recipes come across me. From macaroons, tarts and etc. Then i was thinking, since Christmas is coming, why don't i try making something special? I mean it only comes once a year, so this would be the perfect time to make something. Then, i found this easy and good looking recipe. This is a very traditional recipe and i believe it is known world-wide. Okay, maybe not, but many know about this cake. It's called the "Yule Log". As it's name suggest, it's basically a cake, that looks like a log, i know it sounds kinda lame. But it's kinda cute to me. Teehee. So this is somewhat it looks like. Just wait and see guys! I'm gonna make it! Muahahahhaa.....

Chef at home

Yeah2. I know. That's a title of a show in asian food channel for those who knows. Hahaha.. Anyway, those of you who knows me, i am studying at Taylor's and am currently staying at the hostel. Well, the hostel sucks coz it doesn't provide you any stove nor does it allow u to cook inside. So many rules here n there. But wait, many of these so called TAYLOR'S LAKESIDE RESIDENCES don't care and bought an induction stove, my house mate is one of them.

So back to the main story line, Vonny (house mate who owns the induction stove) has no mood to cook today, she asked me to cook and in return i'll get to eat along. Haha. Well she got not much ingredients, she only had green beans and eggs and some seasonings. Oh well. It's obvious what i'm gonna make out of it rite? Well i simply cook the green beans with eggs. Add salt, pepper and flavourings. And also made fried eggs. Looks can be deceiving. But it taste quite okay though (surprisingly) :D LOL. Well, it's edible and i haven't had any tummy upset till now, so it's good. :P Hahahha... Thnks for reading. Chiao~

I know the things with the beans looks like meat,

but it's actually eggs, i have no idea why it turned

like that. Oh well!!! :D

Commis-ing~

So yeah, like i said, i was commis-ing for Eddie~ a senior. Haha. The menu for yesterday was consommé soup and for main course, it's lamb rack. At first he came in the kitchen a bit later than his friends, so when he went to take the ingredients, most of it were not there anymore. Such as onion, garlic and shallots, which is actually a very important ingredient in every cooking. But somehow i managed to get him some onions. Yay me!!! :p

So back to the story, eddie himself was doing his lamb, cleaning the bones etc. He learned a new and quick technique on how to clean the bones, but too bad it can't be used in the final exams. Hahaha... Meanwhile he was doing that, he made me turn carrots. Which is not exactly an easy task. By the time i am done with my carrots, Eddie is almost done with his lamb and my hand was numb. His other commis was doing the consommé. I don't really know what she did though, since i am so concentrating on those stupid carrots. LOL.

Then he asked me to confit the cherry tomatoes which means slowly cooking it in oil. Yeah, like i said, i was very blur yesterday, instead of slowly cooking the tomatoes, i actually deep-fried it. OH NOOO!!! (so sorry eddie).

Nothing went right yesterday, even his consommé didn't turned out right, he said there's too much water in it and the egg white was destroy

ed already and now it can't be saved. :( such a sad case. So he have to ask from Eigen for some of his consommé. Luckily the chef said it was good and the presentation was nice, so it doesn't affect his mark that much. :] But i do feel kinda sorry for him though. I mean i feel like it's somehow my fault that things weren't going rite yesterday. Yeah~ so.. just wanna say sorry to eddie (if u r reading this) :D

Oh but there was a funny thing that happened. So the chef said eddie's consommé was nice and clear, but he said eigen's was a little bit cloudy. It's funny because they were using the same soup but different comment. LOL.

Main Course~~~ of the day was lamb rack!!! Allrighty. First he marinated his lamb then sear it to give that nice brown colour and in the oven to cook it to the inside. When that's done, he smoked it to give that nice smoked taste to it, and it was good. He also glazed the carrots that i turned with butter, water and sugar.

Made the sauce with any remaining ingredients. And plating it. Although we were all messed up yesterday, his plating yesterday was super nice, i love it, the chef said the same thing, he said there's harmony, colour, etc2. The chef said the pilaf rice was to sticky and wet, i can't agree with that because i personally like the rice best, out of everything else. It was so nice, you could even eat it on it's own.

Stupid things that i did:

- Burned my hand by touching the frying pan.

- Burned my hand by touching the stainless steel working table which conducts heat.

- Deep-fried the cherry tomatoes instead of confit.

Okay, that's the end of this post~ Be back for more...

Life @ Taylor's

Today i became a commis for a senior. A commis here at Taylor's simply means us (juniors), helps out the seniors. Usually those who are almost graduating in their course. A commis task is simple but it will be worth it because your seniors will teach you a few stuffs here and there. They would guide you to the right way in the kitchen. In short, you'll learn new things in the kitchen by becoming a commis. And you'll make new friends too~

Well i burned my hand today, TWICE, to be exact. Yeah it was my fault thought, quite blur today, maybe it's because i lack sleep, and i would blame that to exams. ZZzzz... =="

I'll tell the whole story tomorrow, so be back tomorrow to get more info of what i did. Chiao for now. Peace out~ ^^V

DESSERT FREAK!!!

It's been a while since i last blogged here and it's all because of exams~ I hate exams, especially food science, so there i was in my room, studying, then it suddenly started raining.

On rainy days, i like to drink hot choco, but in yesterday's case, i had no hot choco. Then i started dreaming of desserts. All these desserts that i ever heard of started popping in my head, one at a time. Creme brulee, mousse, cheesecakes, macaroons, mille feuille. Oh my, thinking about it makes me in

sane! I never tasted most of them though, like creme brulee and mille feuille. I wonder what their taste and texture would be like.

(Below is a picture of Creme Brulee)

I heard from some of my friends that Chef Francois (a chef from france, as the name suggests) ever made these huge batch of mille feuille. Sounds good? Wait for the best part. It just happens that when i'm not around, all the best things have extras. Chef Francois told them to finish it all. They told me that it was not good, it was heaven. When they took the first bite, they felt like they saw heaven. Well, at least, thats what they told me. I wouldn't know because i wasn't around and didn't get any. So yeah, till today, i'm still wondering what a mille feuille taste like. But i will get a chance to taste it someday, then make one for myself. Hahaha....

~Mille Feuille~

Fall in love with Macaroon!

On thursday, i was browsing on the web for pictures of macaroons for me to put in my blog, and i came across this patisserie shop in Paris, France. The thing that i noticed is that, most of the pictures of macaroons came from this shop named "LADUREE." But i didn't really care that much on that day, i was like "oh."

Then yesterday, i was having my pastry and bakery in class and i came across this pastry chef, Chef Karam, who is actually known as the best pastry chef in Taylor's. So i was noticing what he was doing, and i accidentally saw the name on his uniform. It says Laduree, Paris. So i was like remembering, where did i heard this name before?

Then it snap to me, it was the macaroon shop that i saw yesterday. Me and my curiosty, i immediately asked him and he said yes, he worked there before. I was like oh my god!! You worked there before? That is like freaking awesome!! Then he told me that the shop was famous for it's macaroons, but all their other pastries was very good as well, that makes me wanna try even more(drool)! thanks a lot chef karam! LOL.

Then when my class was over, i can't stop thinking how cool it must have been working there. And no wonder why he always make macaroons. Whenever i saw him, he was always making macaroons. Be it green, orange, pink, yellow, or blue. You name it! He made it all. Last time i was helping him a little bit in the kitchen, measuring ingredients for him and as a reward he gave me this croissant which looks and smells heavenly and the taste of it is just so good! Just the perfect croissant! I really admire him now, if only i could have him as my pastry chef and not Chef Souji. There's nothing wrong with Souji,, it's just that he ain't a pastry chef and he can't teach. T__T. Anyway, i hope i could be as great of a pastry chef as he is!

This is what the patisserie shop looks like. :D

Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is a simple chocolate chip cookies recipe. But it taste gooood. Hahahaha... When you bite it, you can feel the crunch of it. Crispy and crunchy.

Ingredients:

-1/2tsp baking soda

-135gr sugar

-1/4tsp salt

-vanilla extract

-185gr bread flour

-walnuts(chopped finely)

-chocolate chips

-1 egg

-125gr butter

-peppermint essence

1. Use a wooden spoon to soften the butter.

2. Add in sugar and mix well. Add in egg and stir. Don't make the mixture too well-mixed. You won't get the crunchiness.

3. Then,add in walnuts,chocolate chip,flour, baking soda and salt. Don't forget to always sieve the flour. Mix well. But DO NOT overmix,or else the dough will harden.

4. Finally,add in the vanilla essence and peppermint. Both according to taste. Mix well and then put the mixture on a parchment paper and roll to form a cylinder(shown below). Chill until it hardens.

5. After it hardens, cut into even sizes. Bake in a tray with parchment on it. Let it cool and serve.

Creme Caramel

A few weeks ago, in my pastry class, I learned a new and sinfully good recipe. It is known as "creme caramel." The texture of this dessert is soft. So soft that it just melts in your mouth. Creme caramel is a custard base dessert. When you hear the word custard, you will only need 3 ingredients. Egg, sugar and milk. That's it! Amazing right? Allright so here is the recipe.

You will need:

-200gr sugar (for caramelizing)

-2tsp vanilla extract

-8 eggs

-1 litre milk

-200gr sugar

1.Put the sugar in a pot. Caramalize. Occassionaly stirring it by it's own. Never ever use a spoon to stir the sugar or else it will harden. After it has caramelizes and has a nice colour, transfer it to a mould. Set aside.

2. Using the pot in step 1 (don't wash the pot) pour in the milk and heat it up until it is warm.

Then add vanilla and sugar in. Transfer the mixture into a bowl and add the eggs in. Use a wooden spoon for this method. And try not to mix too much. You don't want bubbles to appear. Then pour it in into the mould containing the caramelized sugar.

3. Bake it with a hot water bath method until cooked. As shown in the picture below. How do you know when it's cooked? Simple. Insert a knife. And if it comes out clean, it's cooked. Let it cool.

4. Serve it cold. Before serving, sink the mould in hot water for a while to melt the caramel. And it is now ready to be enjoyed.