Week Two- Internship Experiences Galore at Black Star Farms

Revold Road Sunrise on my way into work 

Internship- Black Star Farms

Steph Sheffer

Week 2

I spent an entire evening researching what I could do for my very first breakfast at the Inn.  Once I came up with a plan and a recipe to work off from, I ok’d it with the chef the day before and then I experimented it on the family at home. 

My test run plate at home the night before

I decided to make a crustless quiche since I would be cooking for a smaller group that morning.  The Inn can accommodate up to 20 guests at a time, this particular morning we would be serving 6 guests.  I used ramekins to cook my quiches that had to be done in the oven inside a water bath.  At home when I practiced I found a few things that didn’t work quite right or needed to be changed.  This was good for when I recreated them for my first breakfast because they came out really nice.  

There are a lot of things I would do differently now- but for a first try this was alright :)

Most breakfasts at the Inn are expected to have a starch, meat of some kind, vegetable, sauce and a garnish.  There is a little bit of room for changing this up, in the case of a sweet breakfast like waffles you may omit the veggies or you could be creative and put your veggies in the waffles!  So for my first breakfast I made “A crustless roasted vegetable quiche with a Red House White and Crimson tomato sauce, finished with Raclette cheese.  I garnished it with a fresh chive and rested the quiche on top of some wilted spinach too!  I had two guests hug me after the finished breakfast that morning and one couple even clapped in applause.  It felt good to have accomplished my first breakfast at the Inn so successfully.

Another aspect that is required when you work at the Inn is to create appetizer plates for “Hospitality.”  This is the reception that the guests can attend when they first arrive that offers wine tasting and a few appetizers to celebrate their arrival.  For the second week I am put in charge of creating some of the appetizers.  Chef Jon helps me with a few ideas that have worked in the past, but gives me some room to come up with my own too.  One of my first appetizers I created was asparagus wrapped in prociutto and then baked in the oven with a Parmesan garnish.  They turned out really nice!

I also had an opportunity to shadow Chef Paul this week at the Hearth and Vine.  This was a really great experience as well.  Chef Paul cooks an entire meal for their patrons out of a  wood-fired brick oven!  They can only accommodate up to 20- 25 reservations at the Café, which does a lunch menu of pizzas, salads and sandwiches in the daytime and then transitions to the more formal dining restaurant in the evening.  I helped prep a lot of the elements of dinner that afternoon while also having the chance to create a few pizzas and learn how to use the brick oven.  I had a great time and was completely enthralled with the talent of Chef Paul, as he would create up to four entrees at a time in the brick oven that evening.  He was like a one-man band, completing five different tasks at a time to complete each entrée.  Every single patron that night was gushing with compliments. 

Chef Paul in action- cooking with the brick oven- very cool!

-The brick oven with dinner being created inside

One of the plated dinners that evening

I am starting to see why I love culinary so much.  There is a specific artistry that each chef applies to his or her craft.  I love how we are creating not only great food, but touching all the emotions and senses that are required to make our food memorable.  At Blackstar the culinary staff is contributing to a very satisfying experience for all their guests and patrons.  Every person that I have seen experience a meal here, leaves with such satisfied smiles and gushing with compliments.  I love it here!  

Get Ready Because Here They Come!

A day or three off from work......  Just in time and Thank Goodness!

Just in time for me to make sure and show my family how much I adore them.  The summer buzz is just on the horizon for our Northwestern Michigan communities and businesses.  This is the time of year for us to be our most excellent and practice extreme hospitality.  To shine and share all the beauty that makes our piece of terrain here so special.  We have trimmed our hedges, raked the beaches, and started to harvest the first fruits of our labor in the gardens and berry patches.  The expectant masses are on their way, to taste and experience and create postcard memories that will be their reminder to return again and again.

Are you ready?

 I have been practicing for these moments my whole life.  My rehearsals have consisted of many different mediums, yet each experience is vital to my ability to be successful in meeting the expectations awaiting my attention.

"Togetherness" -seems to be a very important thing lately- though I don't know when it ever wasn't really important.  I am always looking forward to the people of my life.  Of course the original crew like my family and forever friends, my time with them is priceless.   The new releases have been amazing too- like those people who I have just met, my newest friends- You are all great!

Additionally I am gathering some lovely acquaintances on a daily morning basis when I work at the Inn at Blackstar.  The guests that attend breakfast are some of the most lovely people I have ever met.  They are always so gracious and kind- truly thankful for the work that the entire staff performs to meet their highest expectations.  I have received hugs and enormous compliments for some of my breakfast creations recently.  Sometimes I don't know what to say, especially when someone tells me it was "the best breakfast of their entire life" and then takes my picture to complete the memory.  Another guest told me recently that up until this particular breakfast he "hated quiche."  That was until he ate the one I prepared, he totally subscribed to the clean plate club!  Yay!

Of course it isn't always a home run with everyone, but that is OK.  I've had a few guests who just don't want what we are serving, but that is really a rare occasion.  I know I still have a lot to learn and thankfully I have some wonderful teachers to guide me through it all.  Everyone I work with is so supportive and perceptive.  I am also spending some time practicing at home.  It kind of feels nerdy sometimes, but I think that if I am going to be the best that I need the practice.  Even though the guest list changes just about on a daily basis, I can't make the same entree every day.  I have a few plates I am comfortable with now, but I want to do more.  I want to push the standards and really wow people!

This coming weekend involves some different events for us too.  These are always fun because it involves a totally different set-up and skills inventory.  I am super impressed with the menus that the Chef puts together.  They are really superior in all the important components- and I think that anyone who books an event at The Inn will not be disappointed.  I learn so much with these events, its an overall  amazing experience!

I have three social events outside of work in the next three days-  Every night we'll be out on the town- wining and dining and spending time with our favorite family and friends.  Hopefully meeting new friends too!

                                       

Sweeter Song CSA deliveries start this week, actually tomorrow!  

The gardens at our own Stellar View Farm are in full bloom, and the chicks and ducklings are growing fast!  Farm Markets are open and strawberries beckon us to their fields to be picked.

This is how it is for those of us who embrace the social effects of the summer sunshine.  I have been looking forward to this time all year long- Its finally here!

Tasty Thai Thursday- Recipe Book Fun :)

This Foodlover's  Ultimate Valentine is not a box of Chocolates.  I'm not very responsible with twenty different secret flavors hidden in shiny chocolate capsules.  I've actually been known to take a bite out of every single mystery morsel and then throw out the other halves.  This is to keep myself from feeling extreme guilt of clearing the heart shaped tray solely on my own.  This enormously beautiful Recipe Book was my valentines day gift from my handsome hubby and two lovely babes.  They were so excited to surprise me with it.  This book is like an epic- its chock full of amazingly simple and completely delicious cooking methods for all of the earth's green and growing harvests.  In the short time that I have been its new master I have made some pretty great food out of this book.  The most recent creation happened this evening when I got home late from school and picking up the kids.  I wanted to get something on the table quickly and I wanted it to be something special at the same time. The truth is that I had really tried hard to abstain from taste testing during Intro to Baking class during the afternoon and for once I was truly hungry for a real dinner.  

It was 37 degrees outside today and our February"heat wave" reminded me of the summer's bounty that I had squirreled away into my deep freezer.  Fresh Frozen sweet corn I had purchased from a farm down the road last August was calling my name as I pulled into my garage.  I had a confident feeling that my new recipe treasury would have some instruction for my sacred summer"golden nuggets."

Thai Corn Cakes with a Fresh Tomato Cilantro Salsa

Here is what I found, here is what we enjoyed together as a family- at the dinner table, at a reasonable time- not too late- and the amount of food- it was just right!  Tonight I chose to make Thai CornCakes from "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" by Mark Bittman.  This book is a phenomenal resource of formulas for making healthy and delicious meals.  I am excited to explore more of what this book has to offer and I will be happy to share the great ones with you to all along the way.

Thai Corn Cakes

2 eggs separated

salt and fresh ground pepper

1/2 cup chopped scallion

1 teaspoon of minced fresh jalapeno

2 cups of fresh corn or thawed fresh frozen

1 tbsp soy sauce

1/4 cup all purpose flour

3-4 tbsp butter or a neutral oil.

In a large bowl combine egg yolks, pinch salt, 1/2 tsp pepper, scallion, jalapeno, corn, soy sauce, and flour; mix well.

Beat egg whites until stiff. Put butter in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Fold egg whites into the corn mixture.  Once the oil/butter is hot drop the corn batter into the pan in dollops.

Cook until nicely brown on one side and flip- about 3-5 minutes.  Keep warm in oven while the rest are cooking.  Serve immediately with fresh salsa.

(Recipe from "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" by Mark Bittman page 291)

Here is a picture of the Lemon Quinoa Spinach Salad I made this week on Tuesday from the same book- Yum!  I added Cranberries on my own and it really made the flavors pop.

Quinoa Salad with Lemon, Spinach, and Poppy Seeds

Salad:

2 1/2 cups cooked quinoa

10 oz Fresh spinach chopped

1 cup Dried Cranberries ( my own addition)

1/4 cup poppy seeds

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 to 1/2 cup of lemon vinaigrette

Lemon Vinaigrette:

1/2 cup virgin olive oil

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

black pepper

1/4 cup of finely minced red onion

1 tsp sugar or honey

Toss the salad ingredients without the vinaigrette.  Spoon the dressing over the salad and toss.  Enjoy!

(Recipe from "How to Cook Everything Vegetarian" by Mark Bittman page 83, 537)

The Black Box- Pro Cookery Final

Old fashioned Vegetable Beef Barley Soup

Roast Rack of Lamb with Corn and Tomato Risotto, roasted Zucchini and Beurre Blanc Sauce

If you watch Food Network (As far as I am concerned it is the only channel that exists, except for when Heroes or Grey's Anatomy is on) -then you are familiar with the show "Chopped" by chance. For those of you unfamiliar with this show I will give you a quick recap. Four different chefs complete for $10,000 by being presented with a black box- In the #1 round they find 3-5 mystery ingredients inside the box that they have 20 minutes to make an appetizer out of to be judged. Four chefs get Chopped down to three and Round #2 presents a second black box with another set of mystery ingredients and 30 minutes to create an entree to be judged. Once again a chef is chopped if their dish doesn't compare to the other competitors. Finally, the Final two chefs compete in a dessert round- 30 minutes- new Black Box and then they are judged to determine a winner based on all three of their dishes from the competition. Its a really fun show- my whole family loves it!

So in Professional Cookery we have a Lab practical that has a similar idea, except there is only one judge "The Chef Instructor" and you have a total of three hours to present a plated soup and entree from your mystery tray -"Black Box" The menu we have to create from all the tray ingredients must be presented to the Chef in the first 30 minutes after start time, so he can know what to expect. Then the soup must be presented two hours after the start time, and the entree an hour later. You can expect to have two different proteins (I was hopeful for Tofu or tempeh, but no luck) various vegetables, a starch, and things like butter, or a list with vinegar or white wine on it. The Chef has a certain expectation of what you might make with these ingredients but you are not deducted in points if you come up with something totally different. The major criteria is that you have a soup properly plated and garnished, and an entree that includes a protein, starch, vegetable and sauce properly and pleasingly plated.

Make sense???

So In my Black Box I had :
-Flank Steak
- Rack of Lamb
-Carrots
-peppers
-sweet corn fresh
-zucchini
-onion,
-a leek
-tomato
-barley
-garlic
-a pound of butter
-arborio rice
-white vinegar and white wine.

What I made was:
~~ A Old Fashioned Vegetable Beef with Barley Soup with the Flank Steak

~~ A Thyme and Cumin Crusted Roast Rack of Lamb with a Fresh Corn and Tomato Parmesan Risotto, Roasted Zucchini Moons and a Red Pepper Beurre Blanc (Butter) Sauce.

Whew- that was the fasted and most focused three hours in that kitchen all semester. Everything I did came together on time, and with the help of my classmates (who already did their black boxes on Monday) as food runners, I was able to successfully create the dishes that made sense to me with those ingredients for that moment. When I presented to the Chef, there were some good points to my dishes and some constructive criticism too- he acknowledged some of the timing issues with cooking the flank steak long enough to draw out maximum flavor which I struggled with for my soup. The Rack of Lamb dish came out pretty nice, though he said I may have overloaded the plate a little too much and added too much sauce- I knew he would say that- but he also said some restaurants do their plates like that and the clients love it- more bang for the buck for the customer, but as a chef you have to watch food cost and portion control. Good learning lessons.

The best part of the whole experience was that overall the Chef was very pleased with my work and it made me cry! No worries- it was a Happy, Relieved cry. It may have been all the emotion of not feeling well the day before and just being so worked up about doing well for this test, either way I am just happy to have made it through this first semester in Culinary school successfully. It is such a life blessing to know I am exactly where I should be right now. The shoe fits beautifully and I thank God and my family and friends daily for all your love and support. I couldn't do this without it. The daily encouragements, the hugs from my kids, Tod asking me about my day at school- all of it just energizes me and pushes me to do the best that I can. Yesterday worked out because of all these connections and the love and friendship in my life. Thanks again to everyone who sent encouragements yesterday, the phone calls and the hugs and love from my family.

Bring on the next Black Box- I am not afraid- and I am ready for the next challenge!!!

Homemade Goodies!

When all else fails, what can a girl do?  Make Cookies!!!!!! And Ice Cream of course!!!!

Well that's what this girl does anyways, and I can't think of anything else in this world that marries my passions more poetically than taking my creativity into the kitchen and combining my knowledge and love for whole food ingredients, vegetarianism, cooking and nutrition.  I am thankful for the gifts God has given me, and to be able to share them with my family and friends.

I am a creative modifier, definition being that if it is not a 100% original recipe of my own than it means that I may have looked at another recipe for ingredient portion advice- but then I completely change it up by using my own ingredients.   Its all apart of my learning process and usually it works out for me.  The flops come on the days when I am either PMSing or irritable.  I have had some pretty yucky hummus batches and have thrown away a loaf of bread or two on those particularly moody days.

This past week was a little bit tougher than usual.  As a family we four all arrived home after spending ten heavenly days in a far away land known as Florida.  We left short sleeved sunny days and flip flopped sandy beaches to return to prickly snow bunkers and icy arctic blasts of subzero tempered air.  Within one day we went from complete relief of real world responsibilities to full recognition of the weight of ALL our responsibilities and even the possible denial of a thoughtful request.  It was a lot to take in all at once but three days later we are feeling more balanced again and back to reality.  All that being said, when we finished dinner tonight all four of us agreed that a treat was in order for all.  So Riley an I discussed our options and decided on a peanut butter theme for our creations this evening- it was a good choice indeed and thankfully a healthy balanced mood had returned after a tough few days and was within me for the evening!

First we mixed the dough for our Vegan Gluten free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, then while our cookies baked we blended the batter for our Vegan Peanut Butter Maple Syrup Ice Cream and poured it into the ice cream maker.  Sharing my passions with my son Riley made the experience in the kitchen that much more special- I think he likes the taste testing part more than anything else- we make a good little team, him and I.  

If you would like the recipe, please feel free to write me and ask for it- I am beginning to gather my original recipes together for a future book so I may be a little more selective with what I share, but I am always looking for truthful taste testers  and recipe testers too!  Soon I will be inviting friends and family over for taste testing parties and cooking classes so I can get some feedback- if you are intereste din being involved please let me know!  xoxo for now please stay tuned......