CULA-confidential

Salt cod

I'm working on new items for the Tapas bar. One of the ingredients I'm messing with is bacalau or salt cod. It's got a wonderful firm texture and plays well with other ingredients. I have a cold salad in the works that has soaked salt cod (soaked for days and rinsed twice per shift), tomatoes, Italian parsley, garlic, and onion. It's delish and very refreshing. Especially now when the weather is in the 100's.

Forcemeat formula

I'm thinking about making sausage this summer. The formula is simple, five parts meat, four parts fat, three parts water. The rest of it is style and ingredients.

Degreed at last

Yippee skippy, I got my diploma today. It's official, I have an associate in applied science degree in culinary arts. Fan-freaking-tastic.

Five stars

Stephan Pyles got a five star review from the local paper, the Dallas Morning News. It's the highest rating a restaurant can get. Now a restaurant that was very hot is now incendiary. I heard that there is a multi month waiting list for a table on a Saturday night.

Rachel Ray of Food Network fame taped a segment of Tasty Travels at the ceviche bar. It was a zoo that night and having a camera crew underfoot didn't help.

New Job

A few months ago, I submitted an application to Stephan Pyles' new restaurant, called Stephan Pyles. He's one of the few nationally (perhaps even internationally) recognized chefs in Dallas. He had a cooking show on PBS long before the Food Network, and is known by foodie and non-foodie alike.

To make a long story short, I took a job with Stephan at the beginning of February and couldn't be happier. I work at the Tapas and Ceviche bar. My cooking surface is a cranky wood burning oven, and I cook in front of people, interact with them even.

Last week, I even got a tip. Not a "wear galoshes in the rain" tip but a guy palmed me a bill. Very nice.

The graduate

In December I graduated from El Centro College in Dallas, TX with an AAS (associate in applied science), Culinary Arts degree. As soon as I send my diploma to the ACF  American Culinary Federation I'll be a Certified Culinarian. What a hoot!

I've spent the past months ajusting to life without school. I'm pleased to announce that It's a piece of cake!

Chicken corn soup

I made this soup for my Amish meal in American Regional cuisine. It really rocked and was very, very easy.

Serving Size: 8

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
1          each  chicken -- cut up
1             gallon  water
1          each  onion -- chopped
1           cup  celery -- chopped
2        Tablespoons  salt
1           teaspoon  nutmeg -- ground
1           teaspoon  black pepper
1              pound  frozen corn

Dumplings:
1          each  egg
1           cup  flour -- sifted
1 1/8           cups  milk
3/8    tablespoon  salt

combine chicken, water, onion, celery, nutmeg, salt, pepper in large pot

bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer until chicken is tender (about two hours)

remove chicken. Bring stock to boil, add corn and cook until done, about ten minutes.

Dumplings: beat egg and milk, add flour and salt

Mix to form a thick batter (thinner than paste, thicker than pancake batter)

drop batter by teaspoons full into boiling soup.

Stirring constantly, cook until dumplings are done -- about 3 - 5 minutes.

Place cooked chicken in bowls, ladle corn chowder and dumplings

Culinary math formulas

It's my last semester of school, only 7 weeks to go in the semester and I'm finished. Hooray! This semester I have American Regional cuisine, it's the quantity class in which we cook for the school restaurant, and principals of food and bev cost control. AKA culinary math/accounting. We're allowed to use an index card of formulas for tests. This is mine:

Food cost percentage cost/sales$=food cost %; cost/fc%=sales price; sales$*fc%=cost Mark up Raw food cost*1+%markup=menu price Rev-Exp=profit; P+E=R; R-P=E. Sales this year-sales last year/sales last year =%varianc Varianc$/sales last year=%variance. Sales last yr*1.0(%)=rev 4cast. Rev 4cast-sales last year=projected increase. Profit/Sales=profit % of sales. Exp/Rev=% of total Weighted avg Day1$+Day 2$/Day1guests+day2guests=2day avg. Pop Index=total#of item sold/total sold. Guests*PI=#of items to prep for. Purhase today/sales today=rough food cost % New yield/old yield=CF Wt of each ingred/total wt=%of each ingred; %*wt=new amt BI+P-TO+TI-EI=COFC COFC-emp meals=COFS Rooms sold/rooms available=occupancy %. Sales/#of guests=check average Waste%=prod loss/AP wt. Actual cost/attainable cost=operational efficiency ratio Labor/revenue=labor cost %. $amt in X category/total of all categories=Xcost proportion

El Centro Web site

Here is the school web site: El Centro College, Culinary Arts

Each week we serve the best $9, four-course lunch in the city. Use the "weekly menu" option to make reservations.

Last semester at El Centro

On Monday, I begin my last semester of school. In December, I'll be a Certified Culinarian (just as soon as I send some $$ to the chef governing body).

I'm taking the last quantity class, American Regional Cuisine as well as Principals of food and bev controls. I have no idea what controls will involve. I guess I could crack the book ... nah.