Dinner is on me!

When we first received this project, I must be completely honest that I was dreading the idea of writing two posts every week in the blog, but I was wrong. How I started by first blog was really all good timing. That week, I received my project assignment, and I was getting ready to leaving Thibodaux for the weekend. I spent the weekend at my home in Prairieville, Louisiana. At the time, the main topic of discussion in the area was about Tropical Storm Isaac. My parents and I pondered one whether or not I should stay back home Monday and just go back Tuesday, but I insisted on going back. As soon as I unpack everything and leave to my girlfriend’s dorm, I received news that the storm was projected to turn into a hurricane, and class had been cancelled for the next two days. This was just my luck right? I immediately ran back to room to gather up enough clothes for 2 nights, and hit the road once again. I first started posting blogs about my everyday food adventures as soon as I got home. So, I guess there is one good thing that came out of this debacle. Once I started posting in the blog, I came up with the idea to post the link on my Facebook so that my friends can read it. To my surprise, one of my classmates, Stefan, asked if I knew his sister. I said yes, but then I asked why. Apparently, I was her friend on Facebook, and she was following my blog. This made me very happy, so I started to post almost every day. It came to a point where my family and friends no longer question why I take a picture of everything I eat. However as soon as I got back to school, the school work and fraternity started to take its toll on me and I became lazy and stopped posting. Once I realized what terrible mistake I was making, I immediately started posting again.

When I wrote the menu for this project, I had the idea to stay within the produce that was in season. Being that it was the fall, my menu featured items such as butternut squash, sweet potatoes, apples, and pears. For the appetizer portion, I wanted to keep it simple, but delicious. Then, I remembered Chef Randy talking about how people these days rarely ever eat soup anymore. When done correctly, soup can me one of the most delicious meals ever. Inspired by my mentor, I decided to replicate his Cajun sweet potato soup. Being that it was a soup, I needed to find a way to add some sort of contrasting texture to the dish. I thought about croutons, but I felt as if it would not do this dish justice. I started thinking about the Cajun element of this dish, and decided to use an andouille sausage cut into thin strips and rendered until they became crispy.

Like Chef Randy said, the salad portion of this dinner should be kept really simple. Because it would be acting as a palate cleanser, I needed something acidic to clean the creamy richness of the sweet potato soup off of my diners’ palates. When I went to Whole Foods, there were so many types of greens to choose from. From butter to romaine, the possibilities were endless on what this salad would be. Then, I saw some pears and knew that it would pair great with a bitter green like arugula so I decided to follow that route. Now the citrus component of my vinaigrette also presented itself as a challenge for me. As I walked around the produce section of the market, I saw some blood oranges, and thought they would be perfect to pair with my salad. So, I decided to do a blood orange vinaigrette with champagne vinegar, olive oil, and a little bit of creole mustard. However, I felt as if my salad was still missing an element. I know it may have been a little much, but I decided to also use feta cheese.

As far as protein is concerned, I thought about how turkey seems to be the go to protein during Thanksgiving. I wanted to think outside the box and break the stereotype of using turkey. So, I started thinking about a turducken. The first letters “tur” represent the turkey so that was out of the picture. Then, I see the word duck in the middle. I began to think to myself about how many students in my class would have the kahunas to put duck on their menu. Duck is not a difficult protein to cook, but it takes a person with the right technique to pull it off correctly. Being the person that I am, I decided to challenge myself.

My dessert was something simple I came up with randomly scrolling around epicurious.com one day. That day, there was a dessert of the day featured on the main page. At first, the name didn’t sound like much – French Apple and Fig Almond Tart. However, the picture that accompanied the recipe changed my mind completely about this dish. After making it the first time, I burnt the crust due to the fact that my oven was stronger than the one used in the recipe. In order to make up for the equipment complications, I backed a second tart at a lower temperature, and the results were amazing. The crust came out great as it was still buttery and flaky, but still able to hold the almond filling and fruit on top. I also decided to make a simple vanilla crème anglaise as my sauce for the tart. According to my diners, it was one of the best desserts they’ve ever eaten.

Overall, this dinner project taught me a lot about myself as a cook as well as me individually. The project truly tested my sense of organization and planning. A lesson I learned from this experience was that as soon as you think you’ve gotten everything done you haven’t. There was always one miniscule detail I left out of my prep schedule or recipe. However learning from this experience, I will try to minimize wasting valuable time fixing stupid mistakes. Because of these mistakes, I was constantly pressed on time to deliver what I know would be delicious food. There was never a moment where I doubted myself in my skills as a cook. When challenges presented itself, I believe I rose and stepped up to the occasion and delivered.