marzipan figures

As part of the sculpture I'm working on at my internship, we needed little people figures. Chef ordered a whole box of modeling marzipan expressly for this purpose.

My first task was to make a bunch of different marzipan colors. There were some colors left over from last year that had dried out, but became workable once heated (in the microwave for ten or so seconds) and incorporated with new marzipan.

I portioned out the same amount for each color.



Used food coloring and kneaded the marzipan to get the right color and consistency.



After repeating this process a dozen times (and getting my hands dyed different colors), I had a whole "crayon box" full of colors.



For the figures, I made torsos, legs, hats and shoes. In all the colors.



The faces got eyes, noses and ears.



And then I made marzipan Oprah. (Chef was doing a bunch of celebrities.)



And then we needed monsters, so I shaped whatever my fingers felt like. Didn't know I had that much imagination! (They became Oprah's new friends.)

portion control

Maybe because of Food & Fitness class and in general being ever more conscious of what I eat, I have been changing what/how I eat. Not dieting or avoiding foods, but by 1) eating smaller meals and 2) eating more often. This and lots of dance/exercise means fast metabolism and healthier being.

I think portion control and exercise is a much less stressful way to go than dieting. And portion control doesn't have to involve much of saying no - part of it is switching things around and tricking your eyes.

An example here is how I eat lunch at my internship, where everything is plentiful and self-serve. I take a plate and fill it with salad, then I take a bowl and fill that with starch and meat. It's a reversal from how things usually go, where the plate is starch and meat, and the bowl would be salad. (Which reminds me of the video we watched in Food & Fitness - it talked about Americans planning entrees around meat with starch and vegetables as sides instead of the other way around.)



Also, once I'm full I don't eat any more. Which is hard because I was brought up to eat everything in front of me, to never waste food. So I try to gauge my hunger level and only get enough food that I can finish. (I no longer feel bad about throwing away junk food though. In my mind since it's devoid of nutrients, it's not waste.)

So if you're contemplating healthy changes in diet or lifestyle, I would recommend portion control, and exercise. You don't have to say no to yourself to look good and feel better!

jazzing up ramen

My friend Jenn came over for dinner one evening and I had no idea what to make. She said she liked ramen but I only had the instant kind! She didn't care. But I didn't want to not live up to my culinary student-ness, so I jazzed it up with some sides.

Turkey bacon (because I was curious), caramelized onion, diced tomatoes, Momofuku kimchi (made with the SF Food Adventure Club).



As for the broth, I used regular chicken broth. (Still need to get around to making dashi.) But what was exciting was making my first soft-boiled eggs. Just cracked them right into simmering (small bubbles on the side, not yet boiling) water and watched the whites coagulate in front of my eyes, no sous-viding necessary.



Topped everything with some cut-up nori strips. Not too shabby!

yogurt "cheese"

Imagine eating cheese but not gaining any calories. Sounds impossible but you can get pretty close with yogurt cheese. All you need to do is hang up some non-fat (or low-fat) yogurt in a cheesecloth. The liquid drains away in a day and what's left is something that resembles ricotta.



Of course you have to season it. In Food & Fitness class we added chopped fresh herbs (chives, rosemary, thyme), garlic, salt and pepper. But you can always do sundried tomato, pesto, olives, etc. The possibilities are endless! I might even try yogurt cheese cheesecake and see how that turns out.



In case you're wondering about the crackers, the brand is Mary's and it's from Costco. Rice crackers loaded with different grains and seeds. Super healthy and super crunchy good. A great pairing with the yogurt cheese, or any other kind of cheese!

mole ice cream

Recently there was a special Oaxaca-themed dinner at my school. It was put on by the students who had attended the Oaxaca summer abroad program in order to raise money to help the students going next summer.

Each of us had a station with a dish that we'd learned to cook in Oaxaca. Mine was the octopus salad we made at the restaurant El Origen.

But to challenge myself, I also decided to make the mole ice cream I'd dreamed about when I was in Oaxaca.

I've made a savory (buttered popcorn) ice cream before, so I applied the same process to this one.

Basically, I soaked the mole spices (dried chihuacle+pasilla+mulato chiles, thyme, oregano, cinnamon, clove, peanuts, almonds, walnuts, raisins) in a milk and cream mixture, added corn syrup and sugar, then heated it, pureed it, and added beaten yolks and heated it again, and strained and cooled and churned it.



Sesame seeds were a mole ingredient I left out, to put on a tuile cookie. Like I learned in first semester, I had to cut a mold out of a cake box, spread the tuile batter on, then sprinkled sesame seeds and baked them. The silicon mat is indispensable in this case - without them the tuiles stick and never come off in one piece!



Just having the ice cream and tuile made dessert seem a little forlorn, so I added fried plantains. I didn't want them to get soggy so I pan-fried them, twice. They were hot after frying and I didn't want the ice cream to melt on them so I popped them in the freezer. I think the freezing made the outside crispier, which was a plus.



I was worried about the dessert being too savory, so I added goat's milk caramel that Cris and I made in Oaxaca. The caramel is really thick and un-drizzleable, so I made parchment paper cones for dispensing.



This is everything put together, with some cotija cheese sprinkled on top (since cheese often accompanies plantains but also for garnish).



The ice cream itself was pretty good, maybe too spicy. It tasted like chai ice cream but spicy. And everything went well together, although I did forget chocolate as an ingredient. Everyone liked it, so maybe I could do it again next time with chocolate?