MADCookie

Several co-workers and I went to Great News Cooking School for a class regarding a So Cal menu. This is a hands-on class where we get some instructions regarding the meal, but we do the work to bring it together. It is a lot of fun especially because we were working in a very modern kitchen with every gadget you can imagine.

Menu

• Ancho chili dip with grilled shrimp and crudites
• Hearts of palm salad with cilantro vinaigrette
• Chipotle glazed salmon with roasted corn and black bean pico de gallo
• Rancho potatoes
• Garlic roasted asparagus
• Orange almond layer cake with chocolate ganache frosting

I'm in the middle with the green apron. My team was responsible for the salmon dish. Each menu item is divided up to the tables of people. We then work on the item as a table. Our table made the salad and the salmon, so we divided up the tasks a little.

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Leslie's family has a little tradition to make an Easter bunny out of cake. You start with two rounds of baked cake. One round is the face, while the other round is cut to produce two ears and a bow tie.

Kind of a rare picture here... Mike & Leslie working on the same thing in the kitchen.

Chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

Let the decorating begin



Final product

Resist temptation! RESIST it!

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Mike the butcher.

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I recommend Cafe 222. Go there. Do it. You won't regret it.

Check out their web site http://www.cafe222.com. Pretty cool. Don't forget to click on the hot mit in the bottom to see the recipe videos. Watch the Peanut Butter and Banana Stuffed French Toast.

Cafe 222 (Google Map)
222 Island Avenue
San Diego CA 92101

I ordered the Peanut Butter and Banana Stuffed French Toast. I loved it! I'm going to make it. I'm going to order it again! I loved it. It is full of great tasting peanut butter and banana.


Les ordered scrambled eggs with spinach & Swiss cheese. She said it was pretty good. She also said I made it better -- ah, what a great wife I have!

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Also known as puffed pancakes. I wanted something different for breakfast, so I looked in my Joy of Cooking book. This entry jumped out at me. I guess I liked the idea of it puffing up. I also followed the recipe to sautéed fruit.





Add some sautéed fruit ... apples in this case.

Dutch Baby Recipe

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Whisk together
2        Eggs
1/2 C  Milk
1/4 t   Salt

Whisk in 1/2 C all-purpose flour.

Melt 4 oz butters in a cast iron 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Pour in batter and cook 1 minute without stirring. Move skillet to the oven. Cook 15 minutes. Don't open the oven. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and cook 10-15 minutes. The pancake will puff up at some point.

Remove and dust with powdered sugar. Serve plain or with syrup or fruit. I cut mine line pizza and used my fingers to eat it.

Sautéed Fruit Recipe

Melt 3 T butter in a non-stick pan. Add a sprinkling layer of white or brown sugar. Put slices of fruit on the sugar. Core and peal the fruit. Cook for a minute and flip them. Cook for another minute. Cooking will soften the fruit, so make the judgment call as you are cooking on how long to cook and when to flip.

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As part of my birthday treat, I seasoned and grilled some tri-tip steak. Extremely good. Highly recommend it. I also recommend the Spiderman DVD trilogy.

I used a thermometer when grilling and removed the meat when it read 138 degrees. I was counting on carry over to take the meat to 145 degrees. After letting it rest of nearly 15 minutes in double lined aluminum, the temperature was 150 degrees. I cut it thin and served it to myself with toasted sesame seeds. Elijah loved the samples I gave him. Left overs the next day was very good too.

I have more tri-tip. They have been rubbed down with a rub inspired by the recipe listed below. My is 1 teaspoon each granulated garlic, Mrs. Dash, and ground black pepper. I added a pinch of salt. The meat was vacuum sealed and is now frozen for another night to be grilled.

Recipes from about.com

• Oriental Tri-Tip Steak
• Grilled Tri-Tip Roast

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