Hi blog buds,
Wow what a week it was for school! I felt like I was eating, breathing and sleeping school every day and behind in every other part of my life. My house is in dire need of some dusting and scrubbing.
So let’s get to it! Monday was Salads and Dressings.
My teammate and I were assigned two salads: one with a recipe and one as an improv. The recipe was Adzuki and Green Bean Salad with Tamari-Glazed Almonds and Miso-Ginger Vinaigrette:

It was VERY tasty – another keeper to make at home some day. Even just the Tamari Glazed Almonds for a snack would be great!
For our improv salad we are given a list of ingredients and asked to come up with something using some or all of them, but nothing else. We made a savory Olive Egg Salad over Baby Greens – my teammate made the egg salad, so I’m not sure I could create it if I tried, but it was spectacular. I loved the zip from the green olives in it.

And as is becoming customary in class, I sliced my finger a little. My new knife is just CRAZY sharp and you barely have to GRAZE yourself and you’ll bleed with this thing. So on went the GLOVE of SHAME again.
Here are some of the other salads made by our class that day (with my apologies on the blurry photos. My camera does NOT like the lighting in this banquet room at all!):



Wednesday was Appetizer and Garnish day. An interesting tidbit on appetizers that I hadn’t known is that BITTER flavors in appetizers will best stimulate digestion to prepare it for the upcoming meal. Then I got to wondering if this is because the area of the tongue that registers bitter is the farthest at the back, and therefore closest to the digestive tract… things that make you go “hmmmm!”. I’ll have to remember for my next dinner guests to create them something with radicchio and lemon.
After lecture, it was time to hit the kitchen. This was the first day that I’d received my own recipe and not paired up with a teammate. I’d read the recipes the night prior and had a weird feeling I’d get the one that was going to be incredibly cramped for time, and sure enough, I got it. (We have a set time limit for our cooking time, regardless of how long our recipe takes or how late we get to start. At 1:30 sharp, it feels like the end of the SATs where “Pencils down!” is shouted. This is the part of school that I don’t love. I am already a stress-monster without that added craziness. Being new with a lot of these cooking techniques, my stress levels rise to boiling point when I feel crunched for time in the kitchen, you have 7 students trying to use 6 burners on the stove, all of us trying to track down “Who has the olive oil?” or “Anyone seen the salt?”. It feels like pure chaos to me and then all of a sudden time is up and we are supposed to eat. It’s no wonder that I’ve had a stomachache and poor digestion almost every day we’ve been at school.)
But I digress…. my recipe was Polenta and Wild Mushroom Crostini with Balsamic Reduction. It turned out alright – with more time at home someday and a less stressful kitchen, I’ll tweak it up some to make it again. Here’s how it looked:

Some of the dark dots are mushrooms that wouldn’t stay put and some are the overly thick balsamic reduction that didn’t want to come out of the squeeze-bottle in a steady stream. I’ve had two different types of reductions assigned to me so far in school. One wouldn’t reduce, the other over-reduced. I’m hoping that, like Goldilocks, the next one will be JUST RIGHT.
Some of the other appetizers are pictured below – everything turned out amazing and this feast was fun because it was like being at a Tapas Bar!
Endive Spoons with Olive and Walnut Tapenade:
Spring Rolls & Almond Dipping Sauce:
Improvisational Canapé:
Gluten-Free Cheese Crackers with Lemon-Parsley Hummus:
The whole table:

My tasty plate – check out the Spicy BBQ Tempeh Meatballs wrapped in basil! mmmmm….

On to Friday, Greens and Vegetables day. This day was like a breath of fresh air for me. This class was being taught by Brigitte Mars, author of 14 books, master herbalist and RAW FOODIST! I had met her before and couldn’t WAIT for her to be teaching our class. (You may be familiar with her daughter Rainbeau Mars, a well-know yoga instructor in LA who has quite a few DVDs. I have her Ra’Yoka one.) I adore Brigitte’s teaching style – she has had an amazing life upon which to draw great stories that relate to our teachings (she used to live in a TEEPEE!)
Something about her demeanor made me comfortable and I felt 100% better this time when we moved class into the kitchen. It was my first really ENJOYABLE cooking experience there where I didn’t feel like my head was going to explode from stress.
My teammate and I were assigned a recipe to prepare (Braised Cabbage and Carrots with Mint and Cider Vinegar) and another improv dish (we made a Savory Sage Delicata Squash Soup). Both turned out delicious! I was skeptical of the braised cabbage – we thought it would be boring, but it actually had a LOT of flavor! My teammate had the great idea to save the seeds from the squash, flavor & roast them, and serve them as the garnish. SMART! 

And some of the other dishes from the day (again with the blurry photos, sorry!) included Steamed Baby Artichoke Salad with Spiralized Beets and Herb Dressing, Stir-Fried Szechwan Broccoli with Zesty Spiced Pecans, Blanched Greens in Cashew Curry Sauce and Roasted Eggplant, Zucchini, and Tomato Gratin with Basil Cream:


All-in-all it was another great week where I learned an amazing amount of information that ended on wonderful note: with margaritas at Centro in Boulder! Six of us from class went out for a happy hour drink after school – it was great to get to know each other even better and feel a stronger sense of “TEAM”. I really love all of my classmates. Afterward, a few of them went on to dinner at an Ethiopian restaurant – since I have a long drive and a short budget, I headed home. I was a sleepy girl after that long week!
Any of these dishes look great to you? Have you made something similar at home? What’s your favorite appetizer?
Have a FABULOUS day, friends! See you next time!
– Shari B. =)
PS: so next week, maybe I’ll have to break this down into sections to keep the post from being so long! Thanks for hanging to the end if you made it this far!
Tags: Bauman College, culinary school, natural chef