The Bijou Dragon

The Bijou Dragon

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Polenta is good for you so SHUT THE F UP!

Stop rolling your eyes.
What is wrong with polenta? Or do you not even know what it is.
In a nutshell it is Italian for grits....cornmeal if you please because that is what it is. But the difference is that Polenta is damn GOOD.(grits are too if you slap them with a lot of butter and bits of herbs ...but then it becomes polenta..but i digress)

Polenta is probably one of my favorite things to eat.......... creamy with fresh herbs and goat cheese with plenty of butter of course and cheese. But stiff and fried is pretty yummy with say , rabbit with a sauce chassuer ( yes, i can toss out french words and know what they mean just like Joel Robuchon( great chef btw...but thats for another post all together.)
But this has little to do with what I am about to suggest you not only eat but try to make yourself ( you will be so proud of yourself when you do)


LEMON POLENTA CAKE......



now now....stop your bitchin and listen for a minute. I thought the same thing...ewwwwwww.
BUT this is a wonderful dessert that is lemony without being puckerie and overly sweet.
The coconut gives it a slightly chewy texture that surprised even me.
I gave this recipe to my pastry chefs for one of our more important functions and it shocked even us how good it was and  how well it was received .

So suck it up and try something new !

Lemon Polenta Cake:


For the cake:

130 g ground almonds (or almond flour)= 4.5 oz

130 g shredded coconut= 4.5oz

130 g fine polenta (or yellow cornmeal) 4.5oz

1 teaspoon baking powder

grated rind of 3 lemons

270 g soft butter= 9.5 oz

270 g caster sugar 9.5oz

4 eggs

juice of 2 lemons


For the lemon glaze:

juice of 2 lemons

sugar to taste


For the lemon icing:

250 g icing sugar =9oz

juice of ½ lemon, approximately

-Combine ground almonds, coconut, polenta, baking powder and lemon rind, and set aside. Using electric mixer beat butter and sugar until pale and fluffy.


-Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Fold in dry ingredients and lemon juice until just combined. Pour mix into greased and lined 9-inch/24-centimeter round cake tin***** (not springform) and bake at 325°F/160°C for one hour or until golden and just coming away from the side of the tin.



-Meanwhile, make the lemon glaze by heating the lemon juice and sugar gently, until the sugar is just dissolved.

-Remove from the oven and cool in the tin. Run a knife around the edge of the cake to loosen. Pour on lemon glaze while cake is still warm.

-Allow to cool completely in tin before turning on to a plate, as the cake falls apart easily while warm.

-Spread the lemon icing over the cake when cooled completely. (You can make the icing more like a loose glaze by slightly reducing the amount of icing sugar.)


**** we did these in large muffin tins for individual cakes
This is not my original recipe .....just so ya know.

Menu For High Holidays

For the non Jewish kiddies out there....in a week there is one of many important holidays for the Jewish People.

The first is Rosh Hashanh....the Jewish New Year/Day of Repentance

And I ,being a good little chef, get the pleasure of serving dinner next friday to a small but wonderful group of students and other people who join us for dinner.

Here is our menu:

Cranberry and Peach Glazed Turkey Breast(Kosher)


Sweet Potato Tzimmes

Sliced Apples with Honey and Fruit Platters with Mint (Pre Set)

Toss Salad with Balsamic, French and Italian dressings

Herb Roasted Tri Color Potatoes

Lemon Orange Honey Cake

Round Challah




The Next High Holiday is Yom Kippur ........Day of Atonement
There is two menus . One for the dinner  and the following day for the Break Fast....not breakfast but BREAK FAST...the meal taken after the breaking of the fast...

The Dinner menu :

Chicken Schnitzel with Apricot Confit


Mash Root Vegetables

Steamed Haricot Verts with Balsamic Vinegar

Caramelized Onion Kugel

Green Salad (Sliced Onions and Tomatoes with three dressings)

Gelfilte Fish Warm (carrots and onions) Preset

Kosher Chocolate Cake



Break Fast:

Plain and Sesame Bagels


Whipped Cream Cheese

Lox w/ Capers

Sliced Tomatoes, Onions and Lettuce

Tuna Salad with Celery

Deviled Eggs with Olives

Applesauce

Relish Tray with Carrots and Celery

Kugal Apple Cake

 
 
 
now i know your problem going,"how cool, you have a kosher kitchen." Well, I don't. But i do what i can and respect jewish laws in regards to my menus. All my meats,breads etc are kosher. The vegetables and fruits because that is not an issue, at least not to my knowledge.
It does make for some insteresting menus that is for sure.

Human Soul of Dispair Longs for Substance

Cravings:



Food is what we all need and at times want. But what drives a craving and what drives us to fixate on it and at time obsesses over something of substance.
Pregnant women are allowed to give into what is called hormonal cravings. It is believed that their bodies crave something it is missing. Though i doubt that when the body is in need of more calcium, that triple fudge chocolate ice cream is what it had in mind.The same is to be said about young children. That they lean towards foods their body instinctively needs to grown and function better during the day. And it is only a learned habit of parents in the "be good and get a cookie" that we have evolved into not listening to the normal balance of our bodies.
But does anyone really say (on a normal daily basis) say,"gee i love a big peach"....(actually , i did on Friday and thank god we had just received our local produce order of peaches..mmmm mmmm good)
Most of us presume that the milkshake we think we want is what we need when really it is the body screaming for calcium.



I wonder if we paid more attention to the natural flow of "cravings" and body cues that we be a slimmer society rather than obese one.

Tony B . Rocks it in Brooklyn

Do you watch No Reservations?
Watch it on monday the 7th of Spetember. ?

Do like Tony...go explore the city you live it. Fcuk Applebees, Olive Garden(never been there by the way or Red Slobster) and check out the smaller home town places and support them...

In Buffalo:
Amy's Place
Ulrichs
The Town
Torches
Olivers
some say Panos(last time i ate there it was terrible)
Tapas
Just Pizza
SeaBar( I adore Mike Andrzejewski ..in my mind one of Buffalo's best)
Hutch's(have not been there in years but been around for ages and Hutch is another great guy)
Grandma Mora's...
There is an indian place up on Niagara Falls Blvd near UB that i cant remember the name of that is fantastic.
Any place Koni is at...he is the master and makes the best Asian food.
Wegmans in Rochester(Pittsford Store) This place makes the other Wegmans look like the red headed step child. Best what i cal QSR or pick up and go section. Sushi here is KILLER.
The Old Pink...3am steak sandwich
Old Man River
Andersons
John and Marys
Teds
Asa Ramson House
Butterwood(desserts...i actually know the owner)

and you have to go to Fanny's once in your life ..just for the the decor alone


Thats all i can remember off the top of my head.....

food good.
          

Big Pickle Day

Wondering work today , I realized I should probably tell who ever is reading this(as if) who I actually am.




Hi...I am a cook.



I can't remember a time when I wasn't cooking. It seems all I have always done or wanted to do was cook. My mom was a good cook. Gramdmothers....ekkkk. Except if you think that jello molds and pouring Life cereal as cooking then they were GREAT.

My dad's mom did make fab bread and butter pickles....i think my mom has the recipe somewhere. Must ask her for it when i remember.....if i remember.



But anyhoo, I am  divorced mum of two semi teenage boys(loves of my life besides my man )

life partner...... I am not one of those "I need to be married" girls. Buy me a pretty ring or a shit load of music and cookbooks and I am yours for life....I am easy ,so I have been told.



I started in restaurants as a 15 year old dish dog/prep girl. I can peel carrots, onion and shrimp faster than most cooks/chefs. I actually miss it at times because all it involved was peeling and listening to music....(that is my other joy..MUSIC. You will read many references to music through out this blog.)

Went to the C.I.A. IN 1990....Worked in many different types of establishment...including Disney... Great place with some of the most talented and messed up people I have ever had the privilege to work with.

From there, because my ex didn't like that i was getting good money and we had a HOUSE!!, WE moved again to Washington State where I was an Executive Chef/Innkeeper. Another great job that got shot in the ass(don't ask..it involves someone named Stinky..you know who you are;) )

But then I landed backhome sking my ex to go away and striking out on my own. Went back to work at the first place i ever worked...........

Then on to stupid job at Quinoas(don't ask) then a Tex mex place(don't ask) both i ran as chef manger(really it was the title i gave myself so i didn't feel like a cunt) Then (cue angels and choir) I was head hunted for the job i currently hold as an Executive Chef at a local University for a national company.
I am in charge of anything food related on campus(for the most part...retail is on their own except when they need my help knocking heads together) This means all the catering and two dining halls. Lucky for me I am blessed with a great team that i get to work with( well 95% of them i feel blessed...LOL) I work 55-60hrs a week most weeks...spend a lot of time on my feet. Never a dull moment and never a day without something going wrong or something needing fixing.Good times........





But it makes for a very exhausted me...........



Right now we are going into our busy season.(well our busy season is never ending) It's the fall semester and so much to do..Homecoming, High Holidays, Wedding shit load of mini events(crap, i need to do a menu centered around Asian food for 50 ppl under $400 total including drinks...go me) then trustees which are the super bowl for us. My play time. I am grateful that my clients love myself and my catering director...THANK GOD!!!!!!

Then on to more little events.......special events, holidays followed by the end of semester...and winter "break"...LOL break as if!



oh gosh....is it May 2010 yet? I need to go to Europe and lather myself in Rammstein goodness(it's the mini cupcakes talkin)

Support your local farmers DAMN IT!!!!!!!

I am a firm believer that as a chef   cook, you should use whats around you as much as possible to not only get the best and freshiest food but to help the local farms that really need it.(actually all farms need our support). Sustanablity is a huge factor in cooks lives..lest it should be.
Where i am, we not only buy within a 50 to 100 mile radius, we recycle and compost. Almost nothing goes to waste. Not a bad start for now. It will slowly turn into whole foods and grains and soon the elmination of two deep fryers(i hope)...Actually the school my sons go to took out their deep fryers much to the joy of the parents.
My next step is to farm out the leftovers to a food bank like Second Harvest. We used them at Disney and i swear it was a great thing to do. We tried to use our leftovers ourselves but there were many times we just couldnt. Second Harvest was a god send . Nothing was wasted. And people in need were feed. Win win for everyone.

So I was very excited when i saw this pop up in email....take a look at where farmers markets might look like in the future:

http://www.good.is/post/redesign-your-farmers-market-winners/


And if you live in WNY then you better be going to either the North Tonawnada , Bidwell,Broadway or Clinton Street Farmers  Markets. Your Stupid if you don't.