Yearly Archives: 2011

A Day In The Life Of A Restaurant Intern

Written on August 12, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Miscellaneous

Back in January when I started looking for a restaurant internship, I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t even know if those sorts of things existed or if anybody would want someone who didn’t attend culinary school. By amazing luck I got an internship at the best restaurant in town almost right away, “auditioned” in April to make sure it was a good fit, and started officially in June. Today’s my 4th-to-last day on the job and I thought I’d share what a “typical” day is like by chance anyone else looking for a restaurant internship is wondering what to expect.

I work during the lunch shift Wednesdays and Fridays. Since I don’t have to be in until 10 I usually sleep in until around 8 and make breakfast around 8:30-9. This is usually the last chance I’ll get to eat a full meal until mid-afternoon so I try to make it filling with protein, fiber, and fat. A normal breakfast for me is 3 eggs, gluten-free pancakes, fruit “jam” made with microwaved berries and chia seeds that have gelled for a few minutes, and almond butter. This day I also was still hungry after breakfast so I grabbed a peach on the way out the door around 9:30.

The restaurant is 5 miles away and I don’t have a car so I bike. Transportation is something to think about for any job you get. I didn’t know how to ride a bike when I first got the internship but quickly taught myself in time for my first day. Besides lowering your carbon footprint, you get pretty fit biking 5 miles 2 times a day 2 days a week.

Please don’t come and steal my bike now that you know which one it is.

The first thing I do at the restaurant is change into a uniform. Add a spiffy coat and sleek black hat and—voila! You’re a chef. Pants are also part of the uniform; who doesn’t like to start their day by putting on someone else’s pants?

There are countless jobs I do at the restaurant and it’s hard to stay consistent since the menu changes weekly. Typically I do things that are long and repetitive, which no one else seems to like but I love. It makes the day go by faster to only do a few things for a while than a lot of things quickly.

One thing I usually do is make pasta. It’s an Italian restaurant so we go through pasta like it’s bread(which we also go through a lot of). It’s a little ironic to have a celiac making pasta in the kitchen but from what I hear I’m pretty good at it.

With the pasta machine I can make spaghettini(little spaghetti), pennette(little penne), and bucatini. It spits out the shape and I cut + bundle them to throw in the freezer. It usually gets used that day or the next, so it’s definitely fresh when we serve it.

My favorite pasta to make, garganelli, is a little more complicated. I don’t make the dough for this; it’s usually made and sheeted the day before. What I do is take the sheets of pasta, which are roughly the size of a piece of paper, and cut them into 3-inch squares. Then I wet one corner and roll the other end over to it with the handle of a big wooden spoon(we used to have an actual dowel for this but I think it broke).

There’s a flat piece of wood with ridges in it that texturizes the pasta when it’s rolled on to it. It slips easily off the end and gets put on a floured tray to go in the freezer.

I told you I liked mindless, repetitive tasks, which is why I love doing this. I usually make 200+ at a time, which takes around an hour.

There’s also a lot of prep work that is involved with the vegetables we serve. Beets are commonly on the menu and need to be cleaned, roasted, and peeled along with the beet greens. Peas are also very time consuming. I’ve literally spent hours taking the fibers off of snow peas, on days when my coworkers got to go home early no less. That job really sucked.

Technically we are allowed to make ourselves a snack or meal at the restaurant, but I choose not to. Part of this is because I’ve seen how easy it is for gluten contamination to occur in a restaurant that has open flour all over the counters; the other part is that I could eat the restaurant out of vegetables like it’s nobody’s business.

Some days I work straight through until 3 without eating; others I’ll have a snack around 12 or 1. It’s either a Ziploc full of nuts that I pack or a Larabar/Pranabar. Anything with nuts that’s portable and semi-filling is a go, especially since it’s not a meal that will spike your energy and then make you crash. Working in a kitchen really is like a marathon and not a sprint: It takes a lot out of you; you need to remind yourself to hydrate or you’ll forget and start getting dizzy; you’re always on your feet. If that isn’t a marathon, I don’t know what is.

I get home around 3:30 after biking back. By this point I’m starving for lunch and something raw/vegan always taste good. This day I had a bowl with zucchini noodles, carrot noodles, bean sprouts, chickpeas, a homemade peanut sauce, and mushrooms sautéed in sesame oil. I was definitely craving mushrooms because I had just finished roasting a pan at the restaurant. The difference is their mushrooms are $20 a pound and mine are $4. I couldn’t imagine paying $20 a pound for mushrooms, or at least not the legal kind{kidding}.

The rest of my day isn’t that exciting; it involves more eating and a lot of Netflix + True Blood, aka how I’d be spending my entire Summer if it weren’t for my internship. I’ve really enjoyed my time at the restaurant, but I’m ready to move on. For the school year I’ll be focusing on balancing classes and food blogging. Maybe next Summer I’ll look for an actual job at a restaurant, but it would have to be one whose food philosophy 100% fits with mine or I would never truly feel comfortable cooking in that kitchen.

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Black Bean Mole

Written on August 11, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Sauce

I spent this past weekend in Providence, one of my favorite cities around, and ran the inaugural Providence Rock N’ Roll half-marathon. The night before my friend and I went to Garden Grille Café, a vegetarian restaurant I can’t get enough of right on the edge of town. The special that night was cornmeal-crusted tempeh with a black bean mole sauce and roasted fingerling potatoes. There was nothing in that name I didn’t like so I got it and ate every last drop of sauce on that plate.

The mole was the best I ever had; it was also the first I ever had, but it was still incredibly good. Spicy, sweet, tangy—almost like a barbeque sauce but with a tantalizing bitterness. Of course I had to recreate it. Two days later I was making this in my own kitchen. I wasn’t sure if I had hit the nail on the head until I realized I was literally licking my food processor clean. At that point I figured it was pretty good.

This mole is about as untraditional as it comes. For one, you don’t cook it at all. It’s entirely made in the food processor. I also used spices instead of actual chilies because that’s what I had on hand. That makes this a super friendly recipe if it’s your first mole.

Black Bean Mole

Ingredients:

1/2 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 1/2 Tablespoons white vinegar
5 Tablespoons honey
1/4 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon mustard seed
~1/4 cup water

Method:

Combine all of the ingredients except for the water into a food processor and blend until smooth.
Slowly add the water while blending until the sauce reaches a fluid yet thick consistency.
Heat up before serving. Scoop a generous amount over protein like tofu, tempeh, or chicken.

After dinner we went over to Wildflour and I ate one of these. It’s OK; I was carb-loading.

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Chocolate Cheesecake Bars {Raw/Vegan}

Written on August 10, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

Reading food blogs constantly sets of food cravings. I could be eating a perfectly healthy lunch or breakfast when all of a sudden a giant slice of German chocolate cake pops up on the screen and I get one of those I-need-chocolate-right-this-moment feelings. They’re awful. I’m sorry even to add to that.

When Caroline posted these cheesecake bars, it set off a craving just like that. Before I knew it I had already begun laying out the ingredients to make a version of them that day. These might be marginally better for you, but they’re still definitely a rich treat. The crust is an almond cookie base, the filling a cashew cream “cheese”, and chocolate a soft coconut oil ganache. All together it makes the perfect blend on richness and sweetness.

Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

Ingredients:

For the crust:

1 1/2 cups almonds
2 Tablespoons almond butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
2 Tablespoons agave nectar

For the filling:

2 1/2 cups cashews, soaked for 3-4 hours
2 Tablespoons coconut oil
5 Tablespoons agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean
1 teaspoon nutritional yeast*
1 teaspoon lemon juice*

*These ingredients aren’t entirely necessary but they will add a more authentic tang to the filling to simulate real cream cheese.

For the ganache:

1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup coconut oil

Method:

Combine all of the ingredients for the crust together in a food processor and blend until it forms a clumpy dough.
Press the dough flat into an 8×8 pan.
Make the filling by blending all of the ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
Spread the filling out across the top of the crust into an even layer.
Make the ganache by melting the coconut oil and mixing it with the cocoa powder and agave nectar.
Pour the ganache on top of the cheesecake filling and spread until smooth.
Refrigerate for 2 hours until the ganache and filling have set. Cut into 16 squares and keep refrigerated until ready to serve.

The one thing I would do differently next time is add cacao nibs or raw almonds into the filling. The ganache on top is quite soft and doesn’t add the crunch factor I expected it to. Besides that, this is a knock-out dessert.

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Healthy Chinese Broccoli

Written on August 9, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

My favorite Chinese take-out to order has always been broccoli: Beef and broccoli, mushroom and broccoli, bean curd and broccoli. They just know how to do something to broccoli that makes it taste good. No doubt it’s full of sodium and sugar, which is part of why I wanted to make this myself. The other reason is, well, who doesn’t want to have delicious take-out food at half the cost whenever they feel like it?

Whether or not this is “healthy” you can debate. It has added sugar and a modest amount of sodium. Corn starch isn’t too “clean” an ingredient either. But I think making it for yourself, using ingredients you can see and touch, and being aware of what’s in your food is a pretty darn healthy way to live.

Healthy Chinese Broccoli

Ingredients(Makes 4 servings):

4 cups raw broccoli
2 Tablespoons sesame oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 yellow onion, julienned
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoon water
1 Tablespoon corn starch or tapioca starch

Method:

In a large pan, heat the sesame oil over a burner set to medium heat.
Sauté the garlic in the sesame oil until lightly browned.
In a small cup, mix the sugar, rice vinegar, and soy sauce until the sugar has mostly dissolved.
Add the broccoli, onion, and sugar mixture into the pan and cover with a lid until the broccoli has steam cooked and turned bright green.
While continuing to cook, remove the lid and mix together the contents of the pan until everything is covered in sauce.
Dissolve the starch into 2 tablespoons of water and pour it into the pan to mix with the sauce.
Cook until all the excess water has evaporated and the broccoli is covered in sauce. Plate and serve hot.

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Chocolate Raspberry “Ice Cream”

Written on August 8, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

I’ve been going through bananas like crazy lately. Not because I actually like bananas, but because I love the creamy raw “ice cream” they become. I eat this once or twice a day to cut a sweet tooth craving, and this flavor is undoubtedly my new favorite. Cocoa powder and raspberries add the perfect sweet and bitter flavors that make this a true dessert, while the banana keeps it all smooth and creamy so you’d swear you’re eating actually ice cream.

A lot of people ask if these chocolate banana soft serves taste at all like banana. I’ll admit I’m not the most finicky when it comes to banana flavor, but I seriously cannot taste an ounce of banana in this behind the raspberry and chocolate. I’d love for a true banana hater to try it and leave a comment letting others know how it was for them.

Chocolate Raspberry “Ice Cream”

Ingredients:

1 banana, cut into quarters and frozen
1/2 cup raspberries, frozen
2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1-2 Tablespoons almond milk(optional)

Method:

In a food processor, blend the bananas and raspberries until creamy. Add the almond milk as necessary if after a while the fruit still clumps together.
Once smooth, add in the cocoa powder and continue blending until entirely mixed.
Scoop and serve immediately.

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Improving Food Photography From Criticism

Written on August 6, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Photography

Have we all seen the show Toddlers and Tiaras?

*pauses*

If not, you’re missing out on one of the finer parts of life, like fireworks on the 4th of July and jumping into a pile of leaves in Fall. More importantly, you’re missing out on this simile:

Food photography is like Toddlers and Tiaras. You spend so much time building up something you love, dressing it with all the bells and whistles, giving it a touch of digitalized make-up and send it off to the judges. When you’re photo wins grand supreme(or just gets posted along with all the other grand supremes on food sites like Foodgawker and Tastespotting), you’re elated for it. But when it doesn’t, it’s crushing. Like a pageant mother wearing way too much sparkly make-up, you feel like you were rejected right along with the photo.

So what’s a pageant mother—I mean, food blogger—to do? Take the words of the judges and use them to make your next performance stronger. Most food sites will give constructive criticism which can be broken down to fix minute(or big) mistakes.

Composition:

Chocolate-peanut-butter-bars

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars, rejected by Tastespotting

This is perhaps the most annoyingly subjective criteria on which food sites judge food photos. What it boils down to is whether they like the picture or not: Are there extra things in the background that are distracting? Do the elements make sense? Does the food look presentable? What’s good composition to one person might seem poor to another.

July 17th 040

Raspberry Tofu Mousse, rejected by Tastespotting

There’s absolutely no way to fix composition after the photo’s been taken unless you want to try and submit another day and hope they change their mind. Generally good composition should have the food be the star of the photo without other distracting elements. Tastespotting is even stricter about this insisting no hands or teeth marks. The bottom line is that it’s subjective and rather than catering to critics you should take and submit a photo that you enjoy and hope that the food sites enjoy them, too.

Harsh Lighting/Overexposure:

Gluten-Free Pancakes, rejected by Foodgawker

Just like it sounds, harsh lighting refers to the amount and intensity of brightness in a photograph. Too bright a photo can distract from the colors and contrast. Luckily, this is easy to fix by adjusting the brightness, contrast, shadows and highlights of a picture.

Low Lighting/Underexposure:

July 2nd 065

High-Protein Mock Thai, rejected by Foodgawker and Tastespotting

Low lighting can equally ruin a photo like harsh lighting in not letting all of the content be seen. Again, this one is easy to fix by adjusting brightness, contrast, shadows and highlights. It’s also important to make sure there isn’t too much black or dark brown present in the photo to begin with since this can easily overwhelm the food.

White Balance:

June 26th 033

Gluten-Free Whoopie Pies, rejected by Foodgawker and Tastespotting

The white balance of a photo affects the colors and tones by designating the contrast between colors and “true white”. Most cameras automatically adjust the white balance but it can be specified for different lights. Unfortunately the white balance of a photo cannot be fixed on a computer unless you shoot and edit RAW files.

Dull/Unsharp:

July 12th 098

Tofu Ricotta, rejected by Foodgawker and Tastespotting

Dull/Unsharp images are usually a result from the camera focusing on the wrong part of the picture. It could also happen if a photos quality is drastically reduced. While most photo editing programs have a “sharpen” option, the result is usually poor and grainy. The best practice for sharp photos is making sure the camera is focused.

Does It Really Matter?

Peanut-Butter-Magic-Shell-Bowl

Peanut Butter Magic Shell, rejected by Foodgawker and Tastespotting

I attended a food blogging conference 2 weeks ago called Techmunch where one of the panels talked about improving food photography. Inevitably the conversation moved towards Foodgawker and Tastespotting and general grievances about being rejected. Brian gave a helpful reminder that, no matter what the critic thinks, no rejection defines you or your photos. You can still totally love a photo or photo set that gets rejected; one person’s opinion doesn’t make them good or not, so worry less what the critics have to say and take photos to please yourself.

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Watermelon With Mint And Lime

Written on August 5, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Snack

Watermelon is without question my favorite Summer fruit. I go through 2-3 a week and to be honest I don’t remember what I ate instead before the season started. It’s going to be a real problem when Autumn rolls around but I’m trying not think about that.

I could eat plain watermelon all day, but where’s the fun in that? This no-fuss fancified melon packs a big flavor punch. The lime and the mint balance each other out nicely and make the watermelon even more cool and refreshing.

You can use any time of mint in this recipe–wintergreen, peppermint, spearmint. Just use whichever is on hand or whichever you have a preference for.

Watermelon With Lime And Mint

Ingredients:

1/4 watermelon, cut into wedges
Juice of 1 lime(~3 Tablespoons)
2 Tablespoons sugar
7-8 mint leaves, torn

Method:

Mix together the lime juice and sugar until the sugar has completely dissolved.
Toss together the lime mix with the watermelon wedges so that all the sides get layered with the juice.
Plate and garnish with the torn mint leaves.

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Strawberry Almond Salad Dressing

Written on August 4, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Sauce

As much as I like salads, I’ve never really liked most salad dressings I’ve tried. They’re usually oily and watery; I want something thick and hearty. Because of that I pretty much stuck to Caesar salad dressing and buffalo wing sauce to flavor my greens growing up. What could be more appetizing than a plate of iceburg lettuce with hot sauce and butter slathered on it? I’m not sure what I was thinking back then, either.

Enter this dressing, which has completely changed how I think of salad dressings. It’s not oily or watery; in fact, there’s no oil whatsoever. It has a thick body but you won’t find any cream in the ingredients. Instead this dressing gets its body from whole strawberries and almonds. What could be more delicious? It’s sweet with a tang and slight nuttiness—much better and better for you than buffalo wing sauce.

Strawberry Almond Salad Dressing(inspired by this recipe)

Ingredients(Makes 2 cups):

1 1/2 cups strawberries, stems removed
2 Tablespoons almond butter
1 1/2 Tablespoons white vinegar
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
~1/4 cup water to thin

Method:

Combine all of the ingredients except for the water into a food processor and blend until smooth.
Slowly incorporate the water while still blending until the dressing reaches a thin consistency.
Bottle and keep stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Since it’s fresh without any preservatives, use this dressing quickly to make sure it stays fresh. Something tells me that won’t be a problem; you’ll never go back to bottled again.

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How To Make Mint Simple Syrup

Written on August 3, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in How To, Miscellaneous

One thing I’ve had to get used to working in a restaurant this Summer is never having a recipe. Chef’s don’t use recipes, don’t you know; so when I’m doing something for the first time, it’s usually with one or two of the chefs giving me directions one step at a time, not always agreeing with each other on their methods. It’s definitely a “dive in” approach to learning that usually leaves me wanting to sit down, read a recipe through, and then start cooking.

All of that is a roundabout way of saying that I learned how to make simple syrup and now I’m obsessed with the idea. The first one I wanted to make was a mint flavor, because mint makes everything better. With it you can make mint drinks, mint soda,—mint anything. I’m more interested in making frozen desserts with it.

How To Make Mint Simple Syrup

For 1 cup of simple syrup, you’ll need:

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
10 mint leaves

Method:

Combine all of the ingredients together in a small sauce pan
Over a burner, bring the mixture up to a rolling boil keeping an eye that the mixture doesn’t boil over.
Once the consistency of the mixture turns from a free-flowing liquid to a syrup(about 10 minutes), turn off the burner and remove the sauce pan from the heat.
With a mesh strainer, strain the mint leaves from the syrup while pouring it into a container.
Let the syrup cool and store in the refrigerator when not using.

If you’re curious about the color of the syrup, it comes from the sugar granules. For a clear white syrup, use sugar that’s completely white. I used cane sugar that had a slight beige tint from trace B vitamins which created a darker, amber syrup.

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Japanese Sesame Cucumber Salad

Written on August 2, 2011 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

My favorite thing about Japanese food is how little is actually done to it. It might be cut and plated fancily but with hardly any cooking or ingredients they manage to fit in a ton of flavor.

These cucumbers have hardly any ingredients—sesame oil, vinegar, and seasoning—,but they taste better than any cucumbers I’ve ever had. It doesn’t hurt that it’s the Summer and any form of cooking sounds off-putting. All you need to make this refreshing side dish is a sharp knife and a bowl.

Japanese Sesame Cucumber Salad

Ingredients(Makes 4 servings):

2 cucumbers
1 1/2 Tablespoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons sesame seeds

Method:

With a mandolin or sharp knife, slice the cucumbers into circles about 2mm thick.
Combine the cucumbers with the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and toss together until completely incorporated and the sugar has dissolved.
Serve immediately at room temperature.

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