KimmyKokonut

Good ole’ swirly bread. Apparently my desire to learn the breads of my childhood does NOT impress my classically trained chef-instructor who has a passion for the natural fermentation process. I am excited about cultivating yeast and making artisan bread, but a well-rounded bread intensive would not be complete without some marble rye and cinnamon […]

Quite the variety! Today we learned the ins and outs of sticky buns. Basically they are pretty easy but sticky and full of sugar. Lots of sugar. We used a yeasted dough which definitely put it ahead of Cinnabon refined processed crap. We made a schmear, which is basically melted butter, brown sugar and honey. […]

This is brioche. The photo is someone else’s because I didn’t get a photo of the finished product. People love brioche and rave about it up and down. I don’t know how I had gone through life not having an opinion on it. Brioche is basically 95% butter. We tried to form it one afternoon […]

Today was the last day of the week. We perfected our brioche technique and made chasson with the remaining puff pastry dough. Chasson is basically a sweet turnover. We used round fluted cutters and then rolled them into oblong shapes, filled it with apricots and blueberries, egg-washed the edges of one side and folded over […]

Golden Raisin-walnut bread, whole wheat croissant, 5 grain levain, brioche loaf, puff with goat cheese and heirloom tomatoes. Today was amazingly productive. I think I now have some insight into the world of a baker. And I enjoy it, so it must be a good sign. Lots of multi-tasking. Yesterday, we made our pre-ferments for […]

This week I have started a special bread intensive class at school. I know, I know, I graduated Culinary School last month. But there is still more to learn! I am not interested in taking the desserts and breads program (please, baking with endless eggs and butter? not my style) but I get so excited […]

So far I’ve plated my entree (but it’s too ugly to post), my appetizer and here’s my dessert. My first attempt was quite embarrassing. Somehow I had the brownie in a triangular shape and I quenelled the ice cream and my dessert became a vagina on a plate. I think this plating is much more […]

Appetizer: Bok choy, morel and goat cheese wontons. Soy-ginger dipping sauce Salad: Wood sorrel, arugula, taro croutons, pickled fiddleheads, dried hibiscus, lemongrass vinaigrette Intermezzo: Shiso granita, adzuki gelee Entree: Macadamia nut encrusted tempeh, coconut lime sauce, mango salsa, forbidden rice, pea vines Dessert: Mocha poi decadence, strawberry ice cream, li hing mui

One step closer, still a lot of work to do. I don’t quite understand yet how chefs can come up with menus at the drop of a hat that have a theme and flow between courses. It must get easier with experience, or they all steal someone else’s ideas. This COD (Chef of the Day, […]