High School Culinary Art's Final- 3 Course Lunch

[JoshBenske]

Hi all,

Today I completed my Final semister test in my Culinary Art's class. Our task was to design and produce a three course meal. The menu I made included the following Items-

Fresh Baby Arugala salad with Balsamic-Raspberry Vinaigrette and Bosc pears with shaved parmesan ( But we ran out of parmesan)

Chicken Involtini with Pan-fried Polenta cakes, topped with Wild Mushroom Ragout, ontop of Balsamic reduction with Basil Oil.

Pumpkin Creme Brulee with whipped cream and sugar art.

Everything worked out very well and I think my grade will reflect that.

Here are some pictures.

Thanks
Josh

[Erik]

Very nice presentation!!! Congrats!!!

[TexasTamale]

I'd say excellent job Josh!

Everything looks delish! Good Luck on the finals.
Lets Eat!

[mish]

Way to go Josh! Looks lovely. Can I taste the creme brulee

[LEFSElover]

the meal you prepared looks exquisite. way to go. looks like you're well on your way to inviting all of us to your congratulatory dinner celebration. I for one, am ready to eat your feast!

[kadesma]

Outstanding Josh..You've done a wonderful job. I'm sure your grades will reflect all your hard work. Thnks for showing us your pictures.

kadesma

[licia]

It looks scrumptious - if it tastes as good as it looks, I'd say you should really high marks!

[pdswife]

Beautiful!

I'd love to learn to do that sugar art. It's so pretty!

[JoshBenske]

The Sugar art is really easy to do actually. Im having a lot of fun teaching myself how to work with it. Buy a few Silpats ( They cost about 15-20 bucks depending on where you buy them, Ive got SiliconZone ( Generic Silpats) but they work just as good. You can start by just melting down the sugar in batchs like-

2 1/2 cups of Granulated Sugar
2/3 Cup Light corn syrup
1/2 cup water

And keep cooking spray handy for whatever your going to mold or etc. I like to use a nonstick pan for cooking the sugar. You just mix all of the ingredients together cold so they are well incorporated, and then put it on medium heat with a candy thermometer. Do not stir or shake, or jiggle the pan while the sugar heats up, let it sit completely still. The sugar in the picture above was cooked to 285 Degrees. Then, pour it into a large GLASS bowl , Or I used my Big Pyrex Glass measuring cup. You can add Food colorings for cool stained glass looks. From this point theres a few easy techniques you can do to make it fun.

If you have any cool cookie cutters, spray them with cooking spray, and set them on the silpat. Pour sugar into them, to make about a 1/8th thick layer, and then weigh the cutter down with a can, so sugar cannot seep under the edges.

If you put the tines of a fork into the sugar once it has cooled just slightly, it will create sugar threads. You can wrap this up, and garnish a dessert with. Or you can drizzle them over an upside down greased bowl to make Cages to plate over desserts.

And if you pour some sugar onto your silpat and let it cool until plyable, you can work it into different shapes (But be careful, it is hot, Not too hot to handle but pretty warm.)

Good Luck.!

Josh

[pdswife]

Wow! Thank you Josh!
I'll print this up and when I get brave give it a try!

[JoshBenske]

Just be super careful. I like to wear a pear of thick latex gloves, but these arent really going to help you from the MOLTON hot sugar. If you get it on your hands your pretty much assured a good burn. If you are very organize and clean, however, this will not be an issue. Wearing the gloves helps keep things more sanitary and keeps fingerprints and such off of the sugar.