Post meal and delicious Porto!

It's over!.....the meal is, not the rest of the project. My Restaurant Operations meal was on Tuesday and there were many bumps along the way, especially Monday night and then throughout the day Tuesday, some that even threatened the cancellation of our meal, but when it was established that the meal was a "go" it was fairly successful! Everyone loved the food and the flambe I did was awesome! My family loved it and I am so glad they made it. --- Anyway, as I said the project isn't quite over because my partner and I have to finish our manager's packet, but after that it'll be great :)

--- A sample of our place setting for the evening:

On another note, tonight I had my wines and spirits class. We learned about Spain and Portugal and then got to sample some fine wines from the two countries. Our wines were paired with fantastic food items including Paella, Beef with Tomato Sauce, Pork Tenderloin, and fresh made Chocolate Truffles...just to name a few!

The Truffles were by far the best part of the meal and they were paired with a Vintage Porto from 1997. My goodness was it the most wonderful thing I could have ever imagined! If you ever get the chance to try it, don't pass it up!!! We had Cockburn's Vintage Porto, but there are many other great Quitas available, and if you can have a vintage, definitely do it!

The bottle I got to bring home:

This may jump around a bit but I've got so many different things to mention :)

Yesterday I decided to make tacos for lunch....used ground turkey instead of beef and topped it with tomatoes, lettuce, cheese, black bean and corn salsa and fresh chopped onion. It was DELICIOUS! Standard taco stuff, ortega seasoning, just the usual, but they were still good, and a bit more nutritious due to the turkey.  I took a picture, it looks huge, and it kind of was (but the edge of the tortilla was also propped up which makes it look bigger), but all I needed was one to fill me up! :)

While I was making the tacos, I opened my patio blind things (not sure the actual name of them...they go down to the floor and block the whole patio door) and all the sudden my roommate says "it's a cat"....I looked at him a little sideways like, what??? then I looked at the door and sure enough there was a cat! Meowing away, it was so cute! I'm not sure if it was a boy or girl, but it sure was a fat cat. It sat there for at least 30 minutes.... I opened the door twice, once to pet it, the second time to try to see if it was hungry....it denied the food. It was definitely an indoor cat because he or she did not like being outside. After I sat down to start eating, it decided to leave. But I was lucky enough to take a picture before it left... :)

If I would have known if he or she belonged somewhere or not, if my other roommate and I weren't allergic, and if I wasn't such a clean freak (also if it didn't cost more to have a pet in my apt) I think I would have brought him or her inside and adopted it. If he or she comes back, that's cool, but I really hope she (I'm gonna go with a she...she was so big there's a chance she may have been pregnant) found her home. :) 

Until next time, I hope I filled your day with enough randomness to make you smile! 

And seriously.....eat truffles and drink Porto....cheers!

Meal and Menu planning

Now, I can't take credit for the ENTIRE menu, but the formatting and the font choices are mine and I am very proud of them. I think it looks fabulous and the food sounds delicious just reading the names of them on the menu! It's a small step for everyone around me, but it's a HUGE deal to me and I feel like it's a huge step in my culinary life. :) I have included it for everyone's viewing pleasure. If you'd like any of the recipes, just let me know!

The formatting isn't exactly how it is on the actual menu, but that's just a formality. :D Enjoy!!!!!

Welcome to the

Rendezvous Restaurant

First Course

 Assorted Bread with Butter

Choice of:
French Onion Soup
Classic French Onion Soup topped with Homemade Croutons and melted Gruyere Cheese

  Caesar Salad

Fresh Romaine Lettuce topped with Croutons, Grated Parmesan Cheese, and Caesar Dressing

Second Course

Charbroiled Fillet of Beef Tenderloin with Cabernet, Rosemary and Portabella Mushroom Ragôut $19.50

 Sautéed Chicken Breast with Fresh Basil and Kalamata Olive Marinara Sauce $18.25

Sautéed Shrimp with Vodka Cream in Puff Pastry Shell $17.95

Roast Breast of Duck with Danish Blue Cheese and Fines Herbes Sauce $19.25

Grilled Mahi Mahi Provencale $19.50

Garden Vegetable Spaghetti $15.75

 
Accompaniments:

 Roasted Baby Red Potatoes

Baby Red Potatoes Roasted in Olive Oil and Rosemary

Grilled Asparagus

Fresh Asparagus grilled with Olive Oil

                                                                                                                                                            

Honey Glazed Carrots

Cooked Carrots in a Honey and Cinnamon glaze

Third Course

Strawberries Flambé with French Vanilla Ice Cream
Grasshopper Pie

  

Bon Appétit!!!

Stuffed Green Peppers

Well, here I am!!! I said I was going to try to write more often and YAY I did it! Anyway, for the past 3+ years my boyfriend has told me about stuffed green peppers, and always saying I needed to try them. WELL, now I have! Last night, we got a recipe online since his dad couldn't find the recipe they had at their house, and after gathering all the ingredients, we not only made a delicious supper but we did it together...which is always fun! I really need to give credit to allrecipes.com and the "Stuffed Green Peppers I" recipe we got. It's delicious and I absolutely recommend it to anyone! I wish I would have taken a picture of the finished product but at the time I wasn't thinking about it.


Courtesy of www.allrecipes.com, I will share the recipe with you so you can save a step:

Ingredients

• 6 green bell peppers
• salt to taste
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/3 cup chopped onion
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup uncooked rice
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed tomato soup
• water as needed

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cut the tops off the peppers, and remove the seeds. Cook peppers in boiling water for 5 minutes; drain. Sprinkle salt inside each pepper, and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, saute beef and onions for 5 minutes, or until beef is browned. Drain off excess fat, and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the tomatoes, rice, 1/2 cup water and Worcestershire sauce. Cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until rice is tender. Remove from heat, and stir in the cheese.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (175 degrees C). Stuff each pepper with the beef and rice mixture, and place peppers open side up in a baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine tomato soup with just enough water to make the soup a gravy consistency. Pour over the peppers.
4. Bake covered for 25 to 35 minutes, until heated through and cheese is melted and bubbly.
   
   The recipe makes 6 servings. 

I hope you all enjoy and if you find another recipe with a variation of ingredients, let me know!!! :D

Some sort of realization

Despite the fact that I am relatively horrible at actually having a successful blog, the point of it from the very beginning was to highlight my journey as I teach myself how to make cute cakes and work with fabulous tools and materials. Well, as I carry on with my schooling and such, this blog is going to take on a new persona. I have two classes this semester that are practical applications of what I'd like to do post-graduation.

One is a Restaurant Operations class in which I have two co-managers for our meal which we have been planning. The menu is fantastic and although a lot of the items are standard and have been had each week so far, our meal is next week (11/16) and our specialty items are French Onion Soup, Grilled Mahi Mahi Provencale, Garden Vegetable Spaghetti, and Grasshopper Pie.

The other class I have is an Introduction to Wines and Spirits and after an approx. hour to hour and a half lecture, we have the opportunity to taste 6 wines from that country and then have them with different food items. I have always thought of myself as more of a white wine person, but there have been a few reds that I have liked.....much to my surprise.

Anyway, both of these classes have increased how much I look at foods and recipes and whatnot. I've always been one to read about food and read recipes and all that good stuff but it would be safe to say it has increased tenfold. I got a copy of McCall's Cookbook, first printing (1963) and last weekend I spent some time reading it. Although I'm only about halfway through, it has inspired me to someday do a "Julie & Julia" type thing and cook my way through it. If you're familiar with the cookbook you'll already know that it has EVERYTHING. (I don't have "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" yet, but it is on my Christmas list.) I would take more than one year to complete the book, but it's a project I would like to take on once I have a little more time and a little more income.

Another growing passion (borderline obsession) is reading food blogs. It's so fascinating what people come up with and I love the passion that others have being expressed!!! I am hoping I can successfully turn this blog into more of a "this is what I read today, then tried to make, then succeeded/failed" blog and I will post pictures of the product. Now, I'm not sure how this will work. Again, hopefully by changing the idea behind this blog, it'll bring more readers and maybe my skills will advance sooner than later. And hopefully I will post more frequently.

Anywho, it is 1:05am and I really should get to bed. Thank you to anyone that does read this, and if you have any suggestions let me know! Until then, sleep well, eat well, and be merry!!!