Chef Junior Rocks the Recipes

Now that Chef is a Master Chef, things are a little different at cooking school. Good different. For instance, Miss Amy hired an additional instructor to work with her Master Chefs. The original thought was that the Master Chefs would be a separate class, instead there is a second instructor layered into the classes to give the Master Chefs more advanced instructions.

Yesterday, we got to see this in action. The class was called upon to make their own recipes using the baking base mix they made (similar to bisquick). They could either make a muffin recipe or a pancake recipe. Chef came up with a pancake recipe. He wanted to make pancakes topped with caramelized onions, pears and a cheese sauce.

When he told them this last week, they allowed him to choose which type of pear (Bosc) and which type of cheese (Asiago-though I'd have thought he would have gone with Parmegiano-Reggiano, his favorite).

We walked in yesterday and the kitchen smelled heavenly before the class had started, mainly because they were caramelizing those onions. Ed and I didn't know of his recipe idea last week. Miss Amy mentioned to Chef in passing that as a Master, he was now eligible for recipe competitions. He turned to me and told me he was going to modify my Nana's coffee cake recipe, which was modified from my mom's recipe. Little did I know...

When his instructor came out to tell the secretary what Chef's recipe included, she, Ed and I all were amazed. She was told "You need to make a full batch of that!".

The pears were roasted using salt and olive oil, the cheese sauce was made using the white sauce recipe chef learned this month and the onions were at the ready. Chef did a lot more hands on than he'd done before. (and as a parent, it is amazing to look through the window and see your child so comfident in their cooking preparations!)

The first plate came out to the secretary with Chef and his teacher. She told Chef she wanted to lick her plate. Plates came out to me and Ed and we looked at each other-this was amazing. He's totally nailed the sweet and savory.

Funny thing is-he came up with this one 100% on his own. Ed and I don't like pears, but Chef and Gameboy do. They ask for canned pears all the time(which isn't the same as those Bosc and Anjous, I know). He's recently come around to his parent's love of onions raw and cooked.

He's grown up avidly watching Food Network and it's a toss up which show is his favorite, "Good Eats" or "Iron Chef America". I think those two shows have really made him think about unusual combinations in food. Not to mention that many a night, part of our dinner table conversation is "if you made this meal, what would you do differently?"

It makes you wonder what is down the road. I'm looking forward to culinary adventures with Chef, that's for sure!

Comments

Joyce-Anne said…
Way to go Chef Jr.!! I can't wait till he's got his own restaurant and I can go in and say I know the chef/owner. :-)

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