Green Eggs and....Lamb?

Written Two Days Ago

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I'm laughing right now ^.^ I amuse myself everyday! This is why I need a real camera; something I've been saying since I started this blog nearly a year ago. Yes, I'm supposed to get Franiel's Nikon, EVENTUALLY, but I kinda don't want it anymore. It's kind of a big hassle because I'm going to have to find all the necessary parts for it, and I'd honestly much rather buy myself a new camera in a month when I have my job and everything. Anyway, I'm sure your all tired of hearing me rant endlessly, so let's get into what I've accomplished today :P

The picture above is of the pieces of meat derived from a leg of lamb that I cut apart today. I had never actually fabricated meat before, well not this large a piece, so it was interesting to learn about where the joint can be cut, and the pieces of meat that come from a leg. The green comes from the pesto rub I made for them: basil, Parmesan cheese, garlic, a little olive oil, and some salt. After the picture was taken, I tied them up with butchers twine and left them in a hotel pan in the fridge for tomorrow. I wonder what method I'll use to cook them; probably braising because the lamb shank is in there with the other pieces.

Another thing I'd like to talk about is whether or not I'm a competent TA. (The second day I didn't know how to use the can opener, but that's not what I'm talking about :P) I'm talking about today when after lab chef pulled me aside before I left and basically told me I'm not aggressive enough in the kitchen. I agree....sort of. While I may be a little soft spoken, and I don't yell across the kitchen everyday, I don't think I'm so quiet that it's become something I need to work on. The part that I do understand is what he said about confidence in the kitchen; he told me that it seems as though I'm not confident enough in the kitchen, and apparently that's something that is obvious. I even see it, but it's not lack of confidence, it's two things in particular.

Number one, I don't want to be one of those people who acts like their food is so amazing, and then people see and eat it, and it's crap. Number two, sometimes I have absolutely no clue what I'm supposed to be doing. Like today for example; all I was told when I got the lamb was remove the fat, remove the shank, and then follow the lines of fat through the meat with my knife until only the bone was left. On several occasions I had no idea what to do next, so I just cut where I thought the fat continued. Oh well, maybe I'll have a better day tomorrow. Speaking of which, I'm so looking forward to thanksgiving break, not just because of the holiday and all the food and what not, but because I don't have to get up before dawn to go to school.

END

Two days ago, I was a much happier person. Two days ago, I wasn't ready to bash someones head in. Two days ago I wasn't looking forward to going back to school so I could be distracted from all this. But I have risen above. I refuse to talk about my personal problems over the Internet. This is a food blog, and I think sometimes I blur that line a bit too often. Anyway, on to better things :)

This is the only noteworthy thing I've done (eaten) today besides cleaning my room. It is a banana chocolate chip loaf from Starbucks. I think I've eaten this about four or five other times, and planned to blog about it on each occasion, but never got around to it. Actually, if you all could see the pictures folder on my computer, everyone would realize that on the days I don't post, I fully intend to. I take pictures of literally everything I eat, but sometimes I just don't have the time (or energy) to post them. Anyway, tomorrow is Thanksgiving and while I personally don't have anything special planned, I'm sure there will be plenty of food to talk about. That is if there is a Thanksgiving at my house (80/20 rule people). More tomorrow; this could get interesting... ALSO! I've started a new blog just for my surveys, sooo..here it is!

I Really Don't Like Sunsets

I can imagine how those text only articles were starting to piss people off, so that's over with. These past couple days I've been building up on photos so I actually have something to blog about. Everyone has bothered me in some way or another, Alex won't leave me alone long enough to think, the woman behind the pizza counter looks like a skinnier "Ugly Betty" apparently, my legs are made of plastic, and I've only been home for a week. A few things have happened this week and after this entry, everyone will know all about my new amazing chicken skill :D (Side note: I honestly don't like sunsets. I find them beautiful, but only slightly, and not the kind of beautiful that you'd want to look at. I suppose I like the idea of a sunset much more than the sunset itself, mostly because they orange lighting is really irritating. I wish the sky could just jump from light to dark. Surprisingly, I enjoy watching sunrises; that is if I'm up.) Anyway; It's time for pictures.

Just a random photo. I always walk past this place and I really want to go in to see what's inside, but the only reason I'm ever near it is because I'm going to some other place I need to be. Eventually Miss Shirley's Place, eventually.

Anyway, after walking past the other place, I went to Panera for breakfast on Monday. Speaking of that day, it was also my first day of being a TA, and I did absolutely nothing for the 2 hours I was there. But that was expected; the first day of lab is just hand out the syllabus and go.

My breakfast: A chocolate chip bagel with raspberry cream cheese. I did like this, but I didn't ask the man to toast it first off, and then he burned it on the bottom a little, and then he didn't bother to make a new one, and just stuck it in the bag. Also, the raspberry cream cheese has seeds in it, so be careful not to choke O.o

Later that day I was in a convenience store and I saw that Orbit had a new flavor, Pina Colada. While I am very aware that gum is not food-even though I swallow it- I felt as though I had to talk about this for two reasons. Number one, I love gum. I want gum like people in the desert want water. Number two is the scent and taste. If anyone knows what bed head hair products are, then they probably know about "Dumb Blonde" reconstructor. This gum smells just like it! And to be honest, the whole time I was using it (pre-hair melt) I really wanted to see what it tastes like. And now I know!

Speaking of which, I am significantly less bald (yay!)

So, yes this picture looks disgusting, as I mentioned earlier, I'm a TA. So Friday I was allowed to practice different things around the kitchen, the main one that day being chickens. Instead of just breaking down the chickens the normal 8-way method, I was taught how to debone a chicken completely without cutting all the way through; thus creating a chicken that, when cooked, could be sliced anywhere and eaten without worrying about those pesky bones. (<-- I sound like an infomerical.)

This picture looks even worse. Let me explain before all of you vomit; these are the three chickens that I deboned earlier, rubbed with a spice rub, and stuffed with a force meat mousse of chicken breast (eggs, chicken, basil, panko, s&p). Then, I wrapped them in caul fat to help the bird hold its shape in the oven, instead of butchers twine, so that they don't look like the saggy mess seen above.

Here are the chickens after about 60-70 minutes in the oven. I kept checking the internal temperature with my thermometer, and it kept coming out 120F. Chicken is supposed to be 165F, but since there was a mousse inside I thought I'd let it go to about 170F. Apparently my thermometer is broken, because I used a different one and it was at 168F.

You all might think the fact that I used caul fat is disgusting, but it actually worked a lot better than twine would have because it formed sort of a skin, soft enough to glide a fork through, but strong enough to retain so much of the chickens juices. I sliced one open after they had cooled down a bit, and the juice came flowing out. This was a good thing though, as the bird was incredibly moist.

Random odd little side note: I was eating a lunchables pizza the other day (yes I eat those and they are delicious), and I noticed that there were four little pizza discs instead of three. I didn't know whether to be excited or upset; I got an extra pizza, but now I had to put less sauce and cheese on each, thus causing more of a problem than good.

So anyway, to tie off this post, I just wanted to end by saying that I am starting a second blog, just for my surveys, just to have a separate place to put them besides a crumbling website. But really besides that, that's about it. Tomorrow I'm going to do another "RecipeTorial" for the Raspberry Cream Cheese Brownies I made a few days ago. Until then, MORE TOMORROW.

IRELAND : DONE

So I'm typing this from the plane, which lands in New York in about 45 minutes. This isn't the longest flight I've ever been on, as the nine hour flight from California to Baltimore nearly 8 years ago was much longer. However it feels like I've been on this plane forever. Me, being absent minded, completley forgot to take a picture of the meal we were served, of which I only ate potatoes, spinach, red sauce, cookies, and a roll. All of that aside, the reality has finally set in; I just spent the 5 weeks on the other side of the planet. It was the longest amount of time I had been away from home, and I honestly thought it was going to be difficult not being with my family. As cold as this sounds, for the most part it wasn't. Yes, I did shed a tear or two sometime in the third week when I watched a video of Madlex being caned by Franiel on a merry-go-round, but until last night I want really all that pressed to return home. It wasn't the place I missed, it
was the people. And the food! How I miss pizza with actual tomato sauce on it, rather than cheesy bread with taco sauce inside. Im excited to return to my life. I like my life, and while I rarely went out at night, I think I've lived enough for the next couple years.

Side note: I've gotten off track but THIS situation is understandable. I'll be back to regular blogging tomorrow. :)