Feeding the FCI Family

Level four at the International Culinary Center is very different from the first three. To start, the class is divided in half (my particular class has 6 people on each team, 12 total). The class is also divided between family meal and buffet. When you are in charge of making family meal, you cook lunch for the entire student and faculty population. Then half way through level four you switch to buffet, and you learn about charcuterie, buffet preparation, and you actually produce two buffets for the school. No matter which team you're on and what food you're in charge of, level four can be very daunting!

The last day of level four I learned that I would be doing family meal first, and I honestly was very nervous. That much food for the entire school, plus only five people to help...that's a lot of work! But we dove right in and started working, getting our first family meal out for 300 people by 11:30 am. When you put your head down and whole heart into something, it's amazing what you can produce! In the end, I really enjoyed family meal because it was the first time in culinary school that I felt like I was working in a professional kitchen. My goal at the end of all this is to work in a restaurant kitchen as a professional chef, so any time I gain experience doing this I'm one happy girl.

Interested in learning about my second half of level four in buffet? Stay tuned for my next blog post coming soon!

For more information on my program at ICC, click here

Sunday Brunch, New York Style

Sunday brunch has always been a favorite meal of mine, especially after a late night the evening prior. I always look forward to a flavorful, unctuous meal to round out the weekend, but everywhere else I've ever lived, brunch was not as favored by all. Since moving to New York, I've learned that brunch in the city is a part of every New Yorker's weekly routine; hell it is a fact of life! Learning this early on, I've ventured to a few restaurants around the city to see what everyone is raving about. From elegant lobster omelets to longonissa sausage, here are some of my Sunday brunch favorites (thus far):

Elephant and Castle (68 Greenwich Ave, Greenwich Village, NYC)

I love brunch at Elephant and Castle, who wouldn't?

Elephant and Castle is a restaurant in Greenwich Village that has been around for over 40 years, and they have perfected the NYC Sunday brunch. They unfortunately do not take reservations, so you may have to wait a little while. However, turnover is incredibly fast at this establishment, and I can assure you that you won't have to wait long. The brunch menu at Elephant and Castle has endless options; Steel-Cut Oatmeal Brûlé, Eggs'n Apple Benedict on French Toast, and Goat Cheese Omelets with tomato and basil. The menu is mouth-watering, and the food is delicious. If in the neighborhood (or even if not), definitely check out Elephant and Castle for your next brunch excursion.

Pig and Khao (68 Clinton St, Lower East Side, NYC)

Sizzling Sisig at Pig and Khao

A few Sunday's ago I stumbled upon Pig and Khao, a small Filipino restaurant on the lower east side. The atmosphere is casual, low key and warm. Once you walk in, you are met with luscious aromas of sizzling proteins and various herbs and spices. Then you sit down and look over the menu, and even though you may not recognize everything on the menu, you want to eat it all! The dishes are family style, so I would recommend getting a few different dishes to share. The Grilled Pork Jowl, Sizzling Sisig, and Longonissa Sausage are amazing plates. All in all, I definitely plan to return for brunch at Pig and Khao sooner than later.

Vamos Tacos and Tequila (348 First Ave, New York, NY 10009)

Bottomless Margarita...enough said

Crispy Fish Tacos with Pickled Onions

About a month ago I visited Vamos Tacos and Tequila for Sunday brunch with my friends Sophia and Joe. The original appeal was tasty, authentic Mexican food, but then we arrived and quickly discovered their bottomless margaritas. We were sold! With any entree purchase, for $9 more you can have bottomless margaritas. These margaritas aren't weak, sugary messes either. No, they are deliciously strong and made with real fruit juice. How could anyone pass up this deal? While the drinks were amazing, the food was good but not special. For the margaritas and fun atmosphere, I would love to return to Vamos for Sunday brunch.

Union Square Cafe (21 E 16th St, Union Square, NYC)

Lobster Omelet with Sautéed Spinach and Roasted Potatoes

In a previous Nom Nom New York blog post I wrote about Union Square Cafe, a restaurant located in the heart of Union Square. If you're looking for an elegant Sunday brunch with amazing food and equally as great front-of-the-house experience, surely make Union Square Cafe your next brunch destination.

Half way through...wait, what?!

I'm officially finished with Level 3 of culinary school, and I'm half way through culinary school! When did this happen??? I feel like I just moved to the city and started school yesterday. Time sure flies when you're having fun!

For our Level 3 final we had our usual comprehensive written test, but we also had to cook two dishes and present them to a panel of judges. Half of the class was assigned a fish dish and a pastry dish, and the other half of the class (including myself) had to make an appetizer and meat dish. I had to make a consommé with vegetable garniture for our hot appetizer. This dish is actually not very hard to make at all, but when you're worried about getting it finished in a certain time frame along with a whole other dish, it can be stressful! Oh, and guess who was the lucky individual to draw A1 and have to present first...ME! So by 12:30pm my consommé had to be perfect and ready to serve to three judges who were actually former students of ICC.

After presenting my first dish, it was back to the kitchen to finish my second dish; roasted chicken, grandmother style. There is an incredible amount of garniture with this dish. You have caramelized pearl onions, crispy bacon lardons, sautéed mushrooms, pommes rissolee (three step crispy potatoes) and hacher parsley. Then you roast the whole chicken and make a jus to go along with it. I had to present this dish by 1:12pm, so you can imagine how rushed I was for time. After speeding through the second dish, I was able to present on time and finish my exam feeling pretty confident.

At the end of the day, I wish I had about five extra minutes to taste components more and really perfect each dish, but all in all it went well. I am happy to have experienced the Level 3 final and to have passed, and now its on to Level 4!

Level 4 is another challenge we will have to learn and overcome. This level is where we cook family meal for the entire school, so basically we are cooking lunch everyday for about 250-300 people. An added pressure is that I have a small class (normal class size is 24 students, we have 13). Even though we have fewer hands, I'm sure we will get it done and ultimately better cooks for it!

PS. Thank you to all my avid "Nom Nom New York" readers and for all the support over the past few months. Your encouraging words and endless support has made this transition in my life that more special. Thank you again, and as always nom on!

Tour of Joe Coffee Roastery in Red Hook

This past Thursday my farm to table classmates and I traveled to Red Hook in Brooklyn to tour Joe Coffee Roastery. This was one of many field trips we take throughout our program at ICC, viewing different individuals and companies passionate about their product and farm to table practices. I personally had never been to a coffee roastery before, so I was excited to see the process in action.

 

Part of the Joe Coffee Roastery, and bags of coffee beans lay in the background

When we first arrived, we walked around the building and toured the facility. There were bags on top of more bags of coffee beans, waiting to be roasted, ground, and turned into delicious Joe’s Coffee. We also saw the massive coffee bean roaster they use for roasting their product. The roasting only takes approximately 9 minutes from start to finish, but it is very tedious to make sure all the beans are roasted evenly and at the correct temperature. The guy in charge of roasting the beans would smell the product almost every 30 seconds, making sure the coffee was roasting accurately. We saw them making a batch, and the smell was nothing short of amazing.  Once we saw this, we got to roast our own personal batch in a smaller roaster. We then took the beans and ground them up and drank our own batch. It was one of the best cups of coffee I’ve ever tasted.

 

The commercial roasting machine used at Joe Coffee

After we learned about roasting coffee beans, we got to do a tasting of the different beans they source to make Joe’s Coffee. The process of tasting coffee is called “cupping”, and it involves smelling the steeping coffee, then slurping the coffee from a spoon about three times. The louder and more aggressive you slurp, the more accurate tasting you achieve. It’s not an attractive process, but it’s what works best when tasting coffee. It was so interesting trying the different beans, comparing them and analyzing their specific taste. We were also feeling pretty great and energized by the time we finished!

 

Coffee beans at different stages of the roasting process

The tour of Joe Coffee Roastery was an incredible experience. Learning how a green coffee bean from Columbia turns into a piping hot cup of joe was beyond interesting. I’m so glad we got to travel to the roastery as a class, and I’m looking forward to the field trips to come.

Some of my classmates "cupping"

Blog About It

There are some amazing people in my class at the International Culinary Center, and I've loved getting to know them all. I cannot wait to see where all of us will be in 5 to 10 years, I'm sure making some delicious food!

A few of my fellow classmates are also blogging about their experience in culinary school. If you're interested in reading some posts from their point of view, definitely check these blogs out:

The Lo Down by Lauren Bosworth

Ich Habe Genug by Lily Joslin

The Hot Plate by The International Culinary Center

Back in Town

Last weekend my family came to visit! I hadn't seen them in a while, so it was great having them in the big apple for a few days. We did a little sight seeing, walked around the city, and of course we ate ALOT! Here are some of the places we visited to get our nom on:

1) The Bar Downstairs (at the Andaz Hotel Midtown): We unfortunately didn't have anything to eat here, but we did stop by to have a few drinks before the UK game on Saturday. The hotel is stunning and elegant, and the bar is equally as suave. I would love to come back in the future and eat something off the menu as well.

2)Village Yokocho and Angel's Share: Village Yokocho is an interesting restaurant to say the least. It's located on Stuyvesant St, and they serve Japanese cuisine. While you're sitting there drinking a Sapporo and eating sushi, there is loud 90's rap music playing over the speakers...which was pretty awesome. After having a few drinks, you walk through a small door in the corner and you are in Angel's Share, a speak easy bar. The vibe is completely different in Angel's Share; dim lighting, soft music and unique cocktails. Both joints were really cool, and I will definitely be back.

3) Momofuku Noodle Bar: One word...delicious!

4) Northern Spy: Northern Spy is a restaurant in the east village with amazing food. The best part is that they are conscious about the environment, and they source food from local purveyors. We split a cheese board and pork buns, and then I had an entree of cod, potato, and leek. I would recommend trying out Northern Spy, especially if farm to table food is of importance to you.

Here are some other pictures from the weekend:

My dad and I at Jack Demsey's watching the UK game

A little sight-seeing at the New York Public Library