Boss Battle: Chopped!!!

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OK, it's been a fun ride so far!  Thanks to my buddy "Peacemaker" John, I filled out my online application for an amateur casting call for Chopped on the Food Network.  Well, they contacted me to send it an audition tape!  While trying out for MasterChef was fun, the whole point of this blog was a chance to compete in a culinary competition!  Yup, a true warrior seeks out the very best... it is only when we are pushed to our limits that we know that we can truly surpass them!





Hey, when you ask out Lauren Cohan and Felicia Day to dinner made by yours truly... you better back it up!  Yup, I cook to impress women!

So, in Chopped, you have to survive the Rounds of Appetizer, Entree and Dessert... here are my sample dishes...  3 Rounds of "Date Night!"


Appetizer: Kama Sutra Shrimp (Cumin/Cilantro) on Watermelon
Spicy shrimp with a watermelon cooldown!

Entree: Sunset Tuna... Panko-Encrusted, Pan-Seared with Buttered Squash (acting like sand) and Mushrooms cooked in White Wine (like seaweed).  It's the beach at sunset!  Romantic, right?

Dessert: Caliente Chocolate Mousse
Smooth and silkiness of Chocolate (cool and refreshing) with Cayenne Pepper to give a kick and fire as the evening brings coolness!

Wish me luck!!!

Battle: Girl Scouts Cookies vs. Petits Fours

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Last night I took an art class with my gal pal, The Ash Ninja, and we painted Apple Blossoms.  Well, as I was waiting for train on the DC Metro, I met a lovely young lady named Rebecca, her older sister, and her parents who were visiting from Colorado for the National Girl Scouts Convention.  She was a big fan of my painting so I gave it to her as a souvenir of her trip!  Shout out to Girl Scouts of America!

Since the QuinJa does not fear anything (even super cute things)....

BATTLE:  QuinJa (Petits Fours) vs. Girl Scouts of America (Cookes)!

Petit Fours mean "small oven" not Easy-Bake Oven!

From top left (going clockwise):  Palais Raisin (Glazed with Apricots and Rum), Coconut Macaroons, Boules aux Cerises (Almond Encrusted Cherry Spheres), and Chocolate Piped Sable.

Entourages:
Palais Raisin (8 oz Butter, 8 oz Sugar, 5 Eggs, 11 oz AP Flour, 5 oz Raisin (soaked in hot water, fine chopped and dusted with flour so they uniformly distribute in the batter)
Coconut Macaroon (4 Egg Whites, 10 oz Sugar, 15 oz Unsweetened Coconut (so it will absorb the other ingredients)
Boules aux Cerises (8.75 oz Almond Flour, 8.75 oz of 10X Sugar, 2 oz Egg Whites, Vanilla, Sliced Almonds and Kirsch Soaked Cherries)
Chocolate Piped Sable (8 oz Butter, 4 oz Sugar, 2 Eggs, Vanilla, 10.5 oz Cake Flour, 0.5 Cocoa Powder, Pinch of Salt)

Whose "Cookie" wins???

Defeat for the QuinJa!
(The QuinJa fights dirty but this time he gets a "taste" of his own medicine!  I mean, fighting against the Girl Scouts is not a fair fight... it's like going against Apple Pie, Freedom, Flowers, etc...)

Alright, Rebecca, if you are reading (or your parentals)... hope you had a great visit to DC.  Remember to listen to your parents, do your homework, say your prayers, eat your veggies, and keep doing good stuff for the world!  Take care and it was a pleasure meeting your family!

Ninja Training School (Weeks 13 and 14)

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To "Finish Him" the Bavarian in Week 13, we use a technique that adds a "mirror" glaze that protects the cake and adds a cool glossy finish...


Not this mirror...
 



This mirror... not pronounced the English way...

The mirror is made up raspberry puree, gelatin sheets and simple syrup.  I topped it off with "Q"-shaped Spongebuttons/Rothchilds.  Wouldn't Zorro be proud?

In Week 14, first we made...

Creme Brulee (I will show the technique in a video soon.)

Fl

Floating Island (French meringue shaped and grown like a peep (those Easter treats) in a microwave!))  in a sea of Creme Anglaise (remember the ice cream battle).

Souffle: (Grand Marnier and Chocolate)

Entourage:  2.5 Cups of Milk, 4 Egg Yolks, 5 oz. Sugar, 2 oz. AP Flour, 7 Egg Whites, Pinch of Cream of Tartar

1. "Blanche" the egg yolks by mixing with the sugar.

2. Boil milk.

3. Add milk to egg/sugar mixture.

4. Add flour to the mixture.

4b.  Add flavoring such as grand marnier and chocolate to the mixture.

5. Add cream of tartar to mixer.

6. Whip egg whites.

7. Mix some egg whites into mixture to lighten it.  Fold in the rest of the egg whites.

8.  Bake at 400F, then drop to 375F.  It should still jiggle at 400F when you drop the temperature to finish it.

Ninja Training School: Week 12 (Invading Germany? Part One)

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I invade Germany with the technique for Bavarians!  Gutentag!


Vanilla Bavarian:


Entourage:  2 cups milk, 4 oz sugar, 4 egg yolks, vanilla, 8 oz white chocolate, 5.5 sheets of bloomed gelatin sheets, 2 cups of heavy cream (the milk adds more fat to the mixture)


Chocolate Bavarian:  


Entourage: 2 cups of half-and-half, 1.25 oz of cocoa powder (or 6 oz of bittersweet chocolate), 5 egg yolks, 5.5 oz of sugar, 5.5 gelatin sheets (bloomed), 2 cups of heavy cream


Ninja technique:  Gelatin sheets can be found in some stores.  Blooming is the process of hydrating them in ice cold water!


1.  Mix the sugar with the egg yolks.
2.  Bring the "milk" to a simmer.
Ninja technique:  It's similar to creme anglaise (see the Ice Cream battle).  Add some sugar to the "milk" to help it cook faster.
3. Temper by adding a little bit of the simmered milk to the egg yolks/sugar.  Then add egg yolks/sugar to the milk.
4.  Add the "chocolate" or whatever flavoring.  Use a strainer if so desired.
5.  Squeeze excess water from gelatin and add to the entire mixture.
6.  Whip the heavy cream and then fold into the entire mixture.

You lay down a layer of bisquit then fill with chocolate bavarian and set via refridgeration.  You will then add another layer (coat with simple syrup) and top with vanilla bavarian.  (Not shown but in progress.)

Ninja technique:  Folding whipped cream makes the dessert lighter.  I think CoolWhip will work if you want to be an time-efficient killer!  To fold properly (remember you aren't mixing it; thoroughly mixing will result in a dense mixture defeating the purpose of folding) you keep a rubber spatula steady then "stab" the mixture in the center and rotate the bowl as you bring ingredients "up and over."  Sorry, it would be easier to tape but school keeps me busy!


Chocolate Mousse:


Entourage:  1 kg bittersweet chocolate, 1.5 quarts of heavy cream, 5 egg yolks, 6 oz sugar


1. Same technique as above (add whipped cream last to fluff it up)

It's chocolate mousse cooled in a terrine and placed on some pate sucree.

Ninja Training: Pastry School (Weeks 6 through 11)!

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I apologize for not posting for awhile... (Please note: I will share recipes to those interested!)
1) I was in a serious accident where my right hand is inoperable but it is getting better through lots of physical therapy.  Henceforth my creations are not as beautiful as I'd like but hopefully you'll see improvement as I improve.  Needless to say it takes more than a flesh wound to take me down.

2) I was taking a 4-week course Introduction to Digital Photography - or Ninja Surveillance School - hehe.


In Week 6, we learned how to make a croissant... 3 SINGLE TURNS.  The concept of a Detrempe and a block of butter called a Beurrage (not a Barrage though an Artillery one would be quite devastating)!

 

In Weeks 7 - 8, we learned how to make Danishes... Viking Warriors would be proud as I know how to make Ebelskivers too - they used their beat up shields in days yore to cook these delicious pancakes but I digress... from 3" squares...

 

Danish - Cream Cheese and Cherry Filling - Folded as a square (each corner is folded down like an envelope).

Danish - Almond Paste/Apricot Filling -  Folded as a Diamond (you cut into a 3" square and then fold two corner down as a diamond)

Col au Vent 
 

Danish - Walnuts and Pastry Cream - Shaped like a Pinwheel - (you cut each corner to almost the center then you alternately fold the corners).

Apple Turner (from Danish dough - remember my hand being busted right?)

 

Leftover Bits of Puff Pastry - a Napoleon and an Apple Tart -yes, Chef is awesome!  I have much to learn!

In Week 9 and 10, we made a 1-2-3-4 Yellow Cake and Italian Buttercream (emphasize on 20 oz of butter... where you soft ball boil the sugar... it appears to be a dangerous process so I'll keep to a colder buttercream and 10x recipe).  I don't see that much of a taste difference.  We learned how to make a flower out of marzipan.  Unfortunately I missed it due to hand injury!

Cake..courtesy of Chef!

In Week 11, we made a bisquit roulade...  I'm very familiar with a savory roulade but in this technique you roll a sponge cake by individually whipping egg yolks and egg whites with sugar then folding it with flour.  Some people make yuletide logs with this technique?

I accidentally stacked another pastry in my transport container.

Bisquit Roulade with simple syrup, lemon curd, and buttercream wrapped in each "layer."  Covered with chocolate ganache.

We also learned how to make a Banana-Passion Fruit Sorbet.

Week 5: Puff Pastry

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Note: One quarter of the way and I think Savory is more fun!

No, I said Quick Puff Pastry (Yes, it does exist...you mix the butter (beurrage) with the flour  (detrempe -it actually calls for Crisco -the classic version) directly...)
Not Stay Puft.



For you math geeks, apparently:
The number of layers in puff pastry is calculated with the equation:
l = (f + 1)^n
where l is the number of finished layers, f the number of folds, and n the number of times the dough has been folded.
For classic puff, we do 6 Turns and for Quick Puff, we do 4 Turns! Yes, the equation is like the time value of money.   Hey, the QuinJa's gotta be savvy to get paid my assassination money!   Oh yeah, a Double Turn is folding a dough in 1/4 then overlapping them; a Single Turn is folding in thirds like an snail mail letter (remember them?).  Everytime you do a turn you mark it with your fingers to remember (kinda like a Dim Mak)! Oh, you roll out when you turn the dough. Much easier to buy Pepperidge Farm!

Anyways, in addition to Classic Puff, I made...

 Chocolate Tart: Patee Sucree with Chocolate Filling... chef made a ring of confectioner sugar).  The chocolate is bittersweet at 58%.

Pear Tart: Patee Sucree with Poached Pear, Frangipane and Glazed with Apricot Jam)
The apricots, or apple jam is a technique used to seal the flavor - it has little flavor.  You can use canned Pear Halves but don't poach as it will degrade and fall apart!

Pastry School: Week 4

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BRIOCHE: It's not shaping a snowball or a smoke bomb... you gotta fold to take out the air first!

 

QUICHE: Carrots, Leeks, Cheese, and Mushrooms...with Pate Brisee.

LEMON TART: Lemon Curd with French Meringue (Shaped with the "Q")... with Pate Sucre.

Ninja Training: Pastry School (Weeks 2 and 3)

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So, the first SEVEN weeks is going to be all doughs... I feel like Uma Thurman from Kill Bill practicing that short range punch...  it does feel like the same thing so far...



But here are the fruits of my labor...

 BRIOCHE dough... you gotta Mix-a-Lot ("Baby Got Back") to build gluten and elasticity...

 PATE SUCREE... a sweet dough to make tarts... filled with a raspberry bottom layer, then filled with frangipane, topped with almonds and apricot glaze.

PATE BRISEE... a flaky dough?  The powdery dough forms a ball... Hmm... I guess it's the opposite when I punch someone!  :-)

Cream Puff (Pate A Choux) Stuffed with Sponge Cake with Simple Syrup (and Rum) with Paris-Brest and Covered with Powdered Sugar and Chocolate Sauce

Show me the Dough (Money)?  Hiya!


BTW, I hate this movie...

Ninja Training: Pastry School (Week 1)

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What has happened to the QuinJa after the "Storied" Battle?  After all, it's been a long hiatus!  Well, much like Rocky, I've continued my training...

My new weapon kit: 3" Paring Knife, Kitchen Shears, 9" Chef Knife, 11" Wavy Edge Slicer, 10" Honing Steel, Microplane Grater, Fluted Cutter Set, 8" Spatula, 8" Offset Spatula, 4" Offset Spatula, 1" and 7/8" Melon Baller, Bench Scraper, 2.5" Pastry Wheel, Plastic Bowl Scraper, Yellow Pastry Box and some Pastry Tips

Pate a Choux: (Dough used for making cream puffs for instance)... or Birds of Prey!

Entourage: 0.5 Cup Milk, 0.5 Cup Water, 3.5 oz Unsalted Butter, 0.5 Tsp Salt, 5.25 oz All Purpose Flour, and 4 Large Eggs

1. Melt butter in milk and water and salt.
2. Remove from heat and mix flour and get a small film.
3. After steam is released, mix in a Kitchen Aid Mixer.
4. Add eggs one at a time.
5. Apply egg wash.
6. Fork (e.g. make indentations) the pastries.