More beans, all about fats, and my entry into Friday night dinners

Thursday and Friday, September 28 and 29

Beans, beans, beans...

The more you... cook them the better you get at knowing the properties and cooking techniques of different beans and the endless dishes you can make.

Thursday morning, we had a bean demonstration from the Chef Celine yesterday, who is a wonderful instructor and an experienced chef who has worked at three-star restaurants in Paris and NY, high-end catering establishments, natural food restaurants, bakeries and private clubs. She has food styled for network TV, film and print publications. She continues to be a chef and "food stylist" (love that job title!) for food service businesses in the NY area.

Chef Celine seems centered, passionate and enthusiatic about good food and teaching - she says her daily yoga practice helps her - and encourages us to be grounded and mindful when cooking and eating, curious and open to making mistakes and asking questions, and not wasteful when we are cooking and with the food that's remaining. For example, someone had a bean puree/spread that was too watery and she said she would either take the water out on the stove and still use it as a dip/puree/spread as was done or "smear" it on your plate, which a lot of chefs are doing now. Instead of giving you a big portion of a dip or puree they are placing a food item such as a roasted stuffed squash and smearing the bean sauce in a very artistic manner on the plate beside the squash. She demonstrated this and it was cool!

On Friday morning, Celine put us into teams and we went to work. She said we will be often working with different people in kitchens and it's most important to focus on the food and the meal vs. the personalities and if you like the person or not. Each chef instructor has a different way to prep and work and Celine encouraged each of us to take one dish in the mise-en-place and preparation stages and we could work at the end together in the finishing and tasting stages. This worked out well. I made a canellini bean puree/spread from scratch with fresh herbs served with toasted pita chips. Our group also made a red lentil soup, black soy bean salad, and kidney bean stew. Other groups made similiar recipes but with different beans so we could see and taste the differences. We made some accompanients like brown rice and had a really nice time afterwards tasting the food and enjoying it, which she believes is very important.

Good fats, bad fats...

On Thursday afternoon, we had a session with Jenny Matthau all about basic quality ingredients and this class focused on fats, essential fatty acids, oils, vinegars, etc. We learned about what's the best to use health-wise, their properties and uses, what to look for in buying them and some brands and locations in NY. It was like taking a chemistry case as we taught about electrons, bonds, atoms, molecules, fatty acids, neurochemicals, eicosanoids, Carboxyl Group, Methyl group, etc. Questions we got answers to included how do you choose the best olive oil in terms of health and taste and which oil do you use for what?

Cold-pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil that is made locally is best (US vs. Europe because there are stricter regulations in the US and different standards in Europe; no further processing with US brands)... a screw or expeller-type press is used to crush the seeds and they move to metal press head in a continualy rotating movement and a spiral shaped auger that moves the seeds forward similiar to a meat grinder.. the oil is squeezed out of the seed by force of pressure and this oil may be filtered then bottled as cold-pressed, natural, crude or unrefined oil.

The teacher said that a good place to taste and buy good quality oils, vinegars and tapenades in NYC is Oliviers and Co. http://www.oliviersandco.com/index.asp

On Thursday nigh,t a few of us from school went to a vegan buffet at NYU, which was horrible but we survived. I said that sometimes we eat so well in class that we have to go to the other side and experience bad foods as well. Though we washed the food down with a pint at the Heartland Brewery, which is one of the only microbreweries in town, in Union Square, and I had my favourite pumpkin beer called "Smiling Pumpkin Ale".

Entering into the Friday night dinner scene...

Tonight I went to do my front of house shift at the Friday night dinner that is prepared by students. The shift started after class and ended around 11 pm. There were over 100 people for dinner and a few more than expected. The Friday night dinner takes place in the school teaching and spare kitchens areas, which are tranformed into cosy dining spaces of long tables where you eat with old and new friends. The meal is planned for a long time by students to come up with a meal that takes into account all that we've learned in preparing the freshest and most natural of food, and presenting and balancing a entire meal with tastes, colours, textures, and food combinations that are good for you. It also has to be ordered, costed out, and prepped like a restaurant.

It was interesting to see the different kinds of people that come to the dinner, from friends and family members of the chefs, couples who are vegetarian or have wanted to the restaurant, and visitors from other cities and countries. For example, one table of about 12 I spoke were from a hip vegetarian and vegan restaurant in Provincetown, Mass called the Tofu a Go Go. The owners brought the entire staff to NY for a visit and especially to come to the Natural Gourmet dinner. The dinner is a four course gourmet vegetarian meal for $34 including taxes, it's BYOB, there is no tipping, and therefore this is one the best deals in town many were saying and one of the best restaurants. Many of chef instructors say that you can't beat the quality of ingredients and skillled preparation at the school vs any other gourmet vegetarian restaurants in town.

It was hard work to waitress and take care of clients after not doing it for a long time, say 15 years, but it's surprising how it comes back to you quickly and it was quite satisfying to present the food from the students, hear back positive comments and to talk to people about NY, the school and becoming a chef. So, here's meal menu, wich was written up on placecards. And to add extra presuure, the founder and president were there with some special guests, most who were editors of magazines it appeared. Serving over 100 people almost the same time from a small kitchen and using the freshest of ingredients and preparation metbods was quite the challenge for the chefs and at one point the chef teacher said it was choas and hell in the kitchen. And I told him everyone was loving the food. So one more front of house shift and 2-3 kitchen shifts and I'm done.

Here's the "Southern Comfort" menu for the evening...

Fried Green Tomatoes with Texarkana caviar and spicy remoulade

Autumn Country Salad - Fresh salad greens, fermented purple and golden beets, julienne cucumber, sweet hot peans, creamy herbed dressing

Mom's Meatless Loaf - Made of tempeh, oats and fresh herbs. Topped with a chunky homemade tomatoe sauce and baked, served with oven roasted sweet potatoes with a whiskey reduction and smokey mixed greens

Peachy Cobler -Sweet ripe peaces, flaky vegan crust, vanilla bean ice cream