Thursday, October 11, 2012

First Lunch Done!

Today was our first lunch! It went pretty well! I was the Kitchen Manager and Allison was the Front of the House Manager. A couple of hiccups but that was to be expected being the first one that we were in charge of.

First off I want to say thank you to all who came to help. Jameel, Amanda, Carol, and Emily, we appreciate all your help. To all my classmates, everyone did a great job!

So our theme was German Food. Just in time for Oktoberfest! We served Reisling, Lemonade, Water, Tea, and Coffee.

 Here is a picture of our menu:
My Menu
Allison's Menu

Now for the pictures!

Menu and Place Setting
Chilled Soups: Grape Gazpacho, Creamy Tomato Basil, and Butternut Squash.
 
Allison's Sauerbraten with German Fries and Red Cabbage

My Chicken Schnitzel Stapel with Potato Galette and Sauteed Brussels Sprouts

Special Dessert for my Sweetie!!

My Pistachio Cheesecake with Cherry Sauce and Chocolate Filigree.

Allison's Black Forest S'mores.
Excuse my appearance. Took a break to come out and say Hi to the family.
Overall, I think it turned out well. If you've never been to one of Mercyhurst University's Lunch Series, you must definitely come out and try one. Unfortunately, they are all booked up for this term.

Oh, and I forgot to introduce my partner, Allison.
Allison and Olive Oil

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

First Lunch Series to the Public

This Thursday is our first Lunch Series at school! I will be the Kitchen Manager and my partner, Allison, will be the Front of the House Manager. We made our own menu and will be serving it to the public for the first time! I am both excited and just a tiny bit nervous. I hope everything goes well. We were able to prep a lot of stuff yesterday and today. I will definitely get pictures of everything for you all to see.

A sneak peak of the menu is as follows:

Starter

Chilled Rustic Soup Trio
Grape Gazpacho, Creamy Tomato Basil, and Butternut Squash


Entrees

Chicken Schnitzel Stapel
Chicken Schnitzel, Ham, and Gruyere Stack, like a deconstructed German Cordon Bleu.
Served with Sauteed Brussels Sprouts (Recipe can be found on this blog) and Potato Galette

Sauerbraten
Marinated braised beef with a gravy.
Served with Red Cabbage and German Fries


Desserts

Pistachio Cheesecake with Chocolate Filigree and Cherry Sauce

S'mores
Made from scratch marshmallows, Made from scratch graham crackers, Chocolate Ganache and Cherry Compote.

It's been a lot of hard work but it will pay off in the end. And everything is made from scratch! Allison even made her own graham crackers and marshmallows! I can't wait to share our meal with everyone. If you haven't noticed our theme is German Food. Just in time for Oktoberfest!

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Avocado Mac 'n' Cheese

My wife LOVES avocados and she found a recipe for Avocado Mac 'n' Cheese. So we gave it a try. Here are the results!

The recipe can be found at http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/stovetop-avocado-mac-and-cheese/.
I followed the recipe exactly except I used Dry Radiatore for the pasta and Heavy Cream for the Milk. It's a very rich and tasty meal!

I found that it made more like 8 Servings using the Radiatore. And it was very "saucy".


Grated Pepper Jack Cheese
Avocado

Avocado, Cilantro, Garlic, Lime Juice, and S&P.

All processed.....

Made a roux and added cream....

......then the cheese!

Mix everything together.

Voila!

Plated with Spinach and Giant Eagle's Red Wine and Garlic Chicken Sausage.
This Mac 'n' Cheese was one of the richest I've had in a long time. But it was pretty good! I will probably make it again. If you like this recipe, make sure you head over to www.twopeasandtheirpod.com and see what other recipes they have! Oh, and as always, please comment on any of my blog posts!