Italian Cuisine

The last two week European Class has been a trip to Italy. North and Central Italy. We have had fine cheeses brought in and talked about the fine wines that come from the north. Makes me want to go spend a few weeks there learning from the chefs there and how they do their food.  Some of the food we made included Panna Cotta, Osso Buco Milanese, Melanzane Involtion (eggplant roll) Tiramisu. Making fresh pasta was great. I really want to add a pasta maker to my collection. I loved using fresh ingredients with these recipes. Our teacher brought in fresh Heirloom tomatoes for us to use. The colors were fabulous and you could taste the garden freshness in the sauces and the Bruschetta. Below are the pictures. Any recipes you want Email me or ask .

Happy Eating

Welcome to European

I have decided to take another savory course to help me further my talents as a chef. I like the European countries and went on to peruse it. Our first week was a lovey journey to the British Isle. If I ever travel across the ocean this is where I want to land.  The food is very tasty and wholesome.  We made , Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, strawberry short cake, Cheese and Herb bread, Chubs. SO much food for a short period of time.
Here is the recipe for Cheese and Herb bread. I love this bread. It has a nice flavor and is great warm with butter.
1 tsp               Sugar
1 1/4 cup        Water, warm about 105*F, 40.5*C
2 1/4 tsp         Active Dry Yeast
As Needed     Butter
3 Cups            All Purpose Flour
1/2 cup           Bread Flour
2tsp                Salt
1tsp                Dry Mustard
1/2 tsp            white pepper
1 tbsp             Chives, chopped
2tbsp              Parsley, chopped
2 cups             Cheddar Cheese, grated ( I used M. Jack cheese)

Pre heat oven to 375*F
Dissolve sugar in water and sprinkle yeast over the top. Let stand for 10-12 min. until frothy,
Butter 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 x 3 3/4 in loaf pan. Your basic bread loaf pan
Sift the flours, salt, mustard and pepper into a bowl. Stir in the chives and parsley and three- quarters of the cheese. Add the yeast liquid to the dry ingredients and mix to a soft, smooth dough, 8-12 min. Using the hook attachment on your mixer. Turn out onto a floured surface and round. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead 2-3 minutes.
Fit into prepared pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 40-50 min.
Sprinkle the top with the remaining cheese. Bake 45 min, until well risen and golden brown. Turn out and cool on rack.

This is a great savory bread for hearty meals.
Below are pictures of dinner.
Happy Eating

Chocolates Class

Wow, chocolate is interesting. There is a lot of history behind it. Not to mention the types of bean trees, the process and why the heck it is so expensive to get. I am looking forward to a yummy quarter. We have already started planning our final project which is a chocolate and sugar center pieces. Yea! We dove right in and made Chocolate Truffles. I have to say after working with the chocolate. I am not fond of white chocolate anymore. It takes so much more work than regular chocolate. Never the less it all came out great.

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Sea scallops and asparagus

A couple of nights ago I was requested by my house hold to make sea scallops and asparagus. This is a very simple dish. You chop up 1 shallot onion and saute it in butter then you add sliced mushrooms then add the asparagus. Make sure you blanch/ Ar boil the asparagus before you sauté them. At the very end add about 2 teaspoons of cooking sherry let it sauté for about a minute then turn off the heat and let it sit,until the scallops are done. In another frying pan, put about 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the pan. Let it get hot. It not smoking. You want to create a nice crust on your scallop. Season your scallops with just salt and pepper. Make sure each side of the scallop has a nice crust. About 2 minutes. Plate the vegetables and then the scallops on top. A nice simple yummy meal. I even got my 2year old to eat them. Happy Eating

Things to come

With starting the catering business, I am hoping to put more pictures up on here of the food I create. I even set up an email address for the business. If you have any questions about the recipes or have a comment you can email it to:zkitchenzink@ymail.com and that will reach me so I can respond to. I cant tell you what the future holds, but I can tell you that tasty food is coming. Stay tuned and thank you for reading me.

Happy Eating.

Grand Caynon Dinner

Our mini vacation took us to Zion National Park in Utah. We stayed at a hotel that had a restaurant on site. It was a cross between fine dining and your local pizza joint. I don't think it had made up its mind in what it wants to be when it grows up. The appetizer we had was sea scallops and pork belly. I liked the flavor and I thought the dish was well put together. I had the Ahi Tuna and asparagus. I wish they had remembered to peel the vegetables before plating them. My husband had a Buffalo Rib eye. It was good and cooked right, he just would rather prefer cow. My son got the short stick. He first got the hamburger which was way passed its dead date. I could have used it for  a Frisbee , then he got a hot dog. It was deep fried to a crispy critter. So he got mac and cheese which he got when I got into our hotel room. Nice place, just needs to pick an idea and stick with it.  The view was great and so were some of the other places in town. Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of the other food from the other places. I was hungry and ate before thinking of my readers. Below are the pictures from the restaurant we went to.

Happy Eating

Sea Scallops and Pork Belly

Tuna and vegetables

Buffalo Ribeye Steak

Top View of Sea Scallops

Quick Dinner

This I came up with on the fly. Its like hamburger helper except its home made. Just something to get a quick carb fix. Its ground beef 73/27(something like that) and turkey. I seasoned it with salt, pepper, Northwood Seasoning( Penzey's seasoning). Then I took pasta (sigh, boxed) and cooked it to al dente. I made a cream sauce using heavy cream, 1 egg yolk, grated cheese( what ever I had in the fridge) white cheddar, asiago, and Parmesan. Seasoned it with sweet dried basil, kosher salt and white pepper. When the noodles were done cooking, I drained the water(do not rinse, it will cool them too much) and then poured in the cream mixture til it was well melted, then added the ground beef/turkey mix.
I thought it had good flavor and was filling. Most of the family did too, with the exception of my picky eater, my son.


Happy Eating