Day 23 (written mostly on Day 21): The Introduction

Why Julie? Why Julia?

Now, why Coley?  Why Chef O'Connell?  Why didn't he post something about all these whys to start off the project?

First, the Coley:
Recently trained lieutenant of Marines...without Marines, waiting to start flight training in Pensacola, FL.  Currently residing in a one-man apartment right down the road from NAS Patuxent River, MD.  One man with a crappy electric stove, a small refrigerator, a couple good knives, and one set of basic, Target-bought pans.

The Book:
The Inn at Little Washington Cookbook (A Consuming Passion) by Chef Patrick O'Connell--founder, proprietor, and chef of (go figure) The Inn at Little Washington in Washington, VA.
"The Inn at Little Washington is rated number one year after year in all categories of Zagat's Washington, D.C., restaurant survey...Reviewers call it the Promised Land, and its patrons are known as 'pilgrims.'"
"This book is a distillation of [Patrick's] thirty years in the kitchen...Each recipe has a story to tell and relates to the others.  Collectively, they define a style and taste that are uniquely American, though full of influences from other countries."


The Challenge:
At the beginning of this project, there were 130 days until Aviation Preflight Indoctrination starts.  There are 110 recipes in this cookbook according to the table of contents.
Learn to grocery shop, learn to cook, learn to present, create them all.

The Why:
I don't know how to cook.  I've tried a few times these past few years to learn, but I couldn't commit.  Now, I'm living in the boonies, have some time I need to fill, and have my own place where no one's going to care if I make a disaster of the kitchen.  I also went to The Inn at Little Washington earlier this summer to celebrate Clare's leaving the East Coast.  It was an unforgettable experience--the best meal of my life-- and I walked away with the newer cookbook.  Clare got me the first one, and I decided to dive in.  Why not?

Now, I'm not Julie.  I'm not risking my marriage (completely single), my job (well, maybe my job a little), or my cat's well-being (if only I could have a pet).  I just signed on for the task to see how much I can learn and how far I'll go.

So far, it's been good.  Wish me luck.

Day 23: All is Right

I'm sitting at my desk right now with my legs in pain, talking to my mother, drinking a soda, and eating some homemade caramel ice cream because I just got my MCMAP brown belt!  Life is good.  I fought a fair amount today, and I'm probably going to eat something bad for me for dinner..but never fear!  I will still prepare something tonight.

Last night, when I was preparing this delicious caramel cream concoction, I was worried about its success.  The only time I have ever made ice cream was in my Aunt Mary's basement in Kansas.  That was more than ten years ago, so I don't remember most of it, and even then I was in the cranking ranks, so I didn't know too much about what went on before I went to work.

In this ice cream operation, it was just me and my $5 bargain ice cream maker from the thrift store up the road...and the directions that came with it, so when Patrick said "freeze according to manufacturers instructions", I actually could and didn't just have to make it up myself.

My big worry about caramel ice cream is the caramel part.  I tried to caramelize some onions last week for the miniature caramelized onion tartlets, but it didn't work too well (though the onions were still good), and I had to caramelize some sugar earlier this week for something that I'm not remembering too well, so I didn't have much faith in myself or my pans.  But, I kept the sugar-water on the stove beyond where I thought it would caramelize, putting my faith in Patrick once again.  Lo and behold, it worked!  The liquid did "begin to turn a golden amber color" and when I added the cream and whisked in the butter, I ended up with caramel.

Next was making the ice cream.  Not normally a problem for someone with a stainless steel bowl or a double boiler.  I have neither.  However, one time in the past, I needed a double boiler to melt chocolate for a German chocolate cake, didn't have one, so just held a pan over bubbling water.  It worked, it just took a careful balance.  It worked again last night.

Then, after combining the ice cream (which used the rest of my eggs) and caramel (and cooling everything off thoroughly), I put in Silkwood, set a towel down, hammered out some ice and water filter salt (it was the only thing I could find in the store) and got to cranking.  Sure enough, that tin can in a wood barrel made ice cream!  I poured it into a couple tupperwares (way more than I can eat on my own), and set it in the freezer.  Now it is creamy, caramely deliciousness.

I just have to figure out what to do with it and what to do when I make the rest of these ice cream recipes.

Day 21: The Sleepies

I brought my apple-walnut roses in to work today, and I think everyone liked them. There was one slight scare when I gave one to a pilot about to go out on a flight and he commented, "these are pretty good, is there alcohol in it?" My mouth dropped open a bit before I realized the dark rum that I baked the apples in was okay (unlike, I'm convinced, the Virginia Riesling wine that was in the Peach Puree I had a couple weeks ago).

Then, I got back after MCMAP, showered up, read my book a bit, and fell fast asleep for a bit. After that, I went to get some more cream from the store, came back and decided you know what? I'm just going to make some Campbell's soup (chicken and dumplings...delicious), clean up the apartment a little, and go back to sleep early tonight.

So, I'm hitting the rack/futon and saving the granola, caramel ice cream, and if we're lucky, the spicy pecans for tomorrow evening. Hopefully a brown-belt celebration!

Day 19 (Part 2): Filet O' Fish

I have never filleted a fish before. I have never filleted anything before. And I certainly don't have a fillet knife. So, I'm glad that I had four fillets to work on tonight. That meant I could almost completely destroy the first one, merely maim the second one, do okay on the third, and make a beauty (if I do say so myself) out of the fourth. I sliced the potatoes thinly with the

wonderful Santoku knife that my mom got me for my birthday (that thing is great!) and laid them carefully in a fish scale pattern on the fillets.

Then, I fried them in the same order I cut them. This also ended up being a good decision with the last set of potatoes having just the right amount of crispiness and the fish cooked just perfectly. The other fillets weren't bad (as evidenced by their rapid disappearance from my kitchen), but I definitely improved even within this one meal. I wish I had bought a few more fillets so I could have kept a couple for breakfast. Hopefully, this week I'll get some granola made to make my breakfasts more interesting.

Rainbow Trout in a Potato Crust is the easiest meal I've made so far, and probably one of the most striking when made right. I think I may end up making this again even within the project because of how quick and easy it is (especially if you don't have to take apart the trout yourself).

Oh, and another note before I forget. I almost titled this post 'He's on fire!' If I had a gas stove in this apartment like I did in Springfield, I would probably not be typing this right now. Hot oil over a stove is a dangerous thing to be splashing fish and potatoes around in. Fortunately, God protects me from my own stupidity and clumsiness when even Patrick's warnings don't do the trick.

"Gently lift each fillet by sliding one hand underneath the waxed paper and carefully flipping the fillet over into the pan (potato side down), being careful not to splash the hot oil."

Day 19: A Delicate Rose

I'm writing this as I break into my first Apple-Walnut Rose. It is delicious. And probably the most fragile thing I've ever made.

It's supposed to be shaped like a rose, but I don't think I quite hit the mark. Partially because of my general lack of floral knowledge, and partially (mostly) because I have never worked with phyllo pastry dough before. I can't imagine working with that stuff regularly. It was easy to cut...with a knife or with my hands pulling it out of the package. And then, after I used my clever little paint-brush to cover the sheets with butter, they were slightly harder to tear while I was wrapping the walnut cream into them in a rose shape. Patrick claims that "The presentation is so striking that your guests will think you studied pastry making in Austria". I don't think I'll have to deal with that problem, though.

As I was talking to my dad while assembling the roses, he came upon a point that Julie saw during her week two. He mentioned that a good side effect of the Coley/O'Connell Project is that I'm learning not just how to make recipes, but also some general ways to use certain ingredients. Patrick's book isn't set up to be a series of cooking lessons quite like Mastering the Art of French Cooking is, but I am definitely learning how Patrick uses certain ingredients to achieve certain effects. In this one, I improvised a little with exactly how I was brushing the butter since it was taking me so long to assemble the roses. I'm also acquiring a good amount of kitchen-wares. Perhaps I won't need all of it in the future, but I think most of it will be fairly useful.

Day 18: I'm so scared

I just ate my most terrifying meal yet:

Fresh Tuna Tartare on Tuna Carpaccio with Wasabi Mayonnaise

Now, I enjoy my sushi. And I like me some tuna. When I order sashimi from a restaurant, I trust that the sushi chef knows what he's doing. However, when I try to prepare some raw seafood at home, I have very little trust in myself. I've never done it before. But, I do trust Patrick and I'm committed to the project, so I went ahead with the recipe.

I just went very slowly and followed Patrick's directions very carefully.

It turned out tasty and Patrick was right once again that "The wasabi mayonnaise brings all the flavors together." This is the second mayonnaise I've made for the project (along with the mustard mayonnaise from the tuna cakes) and I have to say that this concept of flavored mayonnaises is really neat. I've never really been a huge mayonnaise person, but flavoring it can make it pop.

"Either the tartare or the carpaccio can be served by itself, but they're more interesting in combination."

Patrick also made another good combination choice. The tuna carpaccio (tuna hammered out into a thin slice) didn't taste very good by itself, nor was the texture very appealing. And the tuna tartare (like beef tartare, a sort of raw, molded, marinated tuna cake mixed with chives, cilantro and sesame seeds) was delicious but probably not great on its own. In combination, though (and especially with the mayo) it made a very good meal. Also my first "cold first course."

Now hopefully my stomach agrees with it overnight.

Day 13: Ginger Scones

I turned back to the dessert chapter tonight. Not because I have a sweet tooth, but because I don't have the muffin tin Patrick wanted me to have to make the Carmelized Onion Tartlets. Instead, I had a try at Ginger Scones. Now, you might be saying to yourself, 'I've seen a scone before, how hard can they be?' Well, that's a perfectly fair observation. In fact, that's exactly what I thought. Fortunately, Patrick gave some good directions that made them easy...AS LONG AS YOU BELIEVE THE RECIPE!

I quote: "continue mixing just until the ingredients are incorporated. (Overmixing will cause the scones to be tough.)". I don't know that this is true for all scone recipes--I think I only ever had scones when Emily Jenkins brought them to GT class in the seventh grade--but when one mixes "just until the ingredients are incorporated," the dough looks dry and crumbly and like it can't possibly be molded into a little mound of deliciousness. This, it turns out, is not true. Roll the dough together into one mass, have some faith, carefully place the molds on the baking sheet, and believe.

Also, brush with the cream! If the scones are as dry as mine were going into the oven, and if your oven is as hot as mine seems to sometimes (only sometimes) be, and if you FORGET TO PUT THE CREAM ON FOR FOUR MINUTES, your apartment will shortly fill with smoke as mine sometimes seems to be. This can be remedied by simply brushing with cream.

The scones, after my doubting, turned out pretty good. I like this recipe because I think I can replace the candied ginger (which is expensive for the amount in the recipe) with whatever else I want. That's a good feeling because this is a big point of the project. I started just wanting to learn some more about cooking and get some ideas about what to do in the future. I've learned a ton so far, and I'm looking forward to more.

Now to go see if my smoke detector actually works. I have my doubts.

Technical Difficulties

Sorry for the technical difficulties this week. For some reason (probably because I wrote them all late at night), my posts this week didn't make it up correctly. I'm trying to fix it this weekend (by mostly re-writing them), but I'm also spending some time with my former roommate in North Carolina who just discovered he's deploying two months earlier than expected in a week-and-a-half.

The project will continue its regularly scheduled activities on Monday.

Pray for those deployed and deploying.

Day 8: Week One Recap

Day 8: Week One Recap

The Coley/O’Connell Project is one week old, and again I remain trout-less. I did, however, go on yet another shopping trip (so much for one trip at the beginning of the week), to get some Riesling wine and a couple other things I’m going to need. I also had my best buy yet: I walked into a local thrift store and walked out five minutes later with an ice-cream maker for $5. Patrick has seven or eight ice-cream and sorbet recipes in the back of the book and I was a little worried about how I was going to make those happen (stores don’t even sell coffee cans anymore). I’m really excited about this find.

Tonight turned into a prep night for tomorrow, when BigKip and the Senator come over for what will hopefully be a good meal. I made the Peach Puree with Virginia Riesling and set that to chill in the fridge. I’ve never made a chilled soup before, but this seems like there’s enough good stuff in it to make it un-screwupable. I also made some of the fillings for the Portobello mushroom main course tomorrow. This is a complicated recipe, but there are several things in it I can prepare and use in other recipes. This means nothing to eat tonight, except some leftover pizza. It’s still good.

Day 7: Straight to Lunch

Day 7: Straight to Lunch

Last night, I stayed up late to make Silver Queen Corn Saute specifically for lunch today. I wanted to make it yesterday because I had picked some delicious sweet corn at my sponsors’ on Sunday and I wanted to use it while it was still fresh. This may be one of the simplest dishes in the cookbook—it’s just corn, peppers, cilantro and bacon (naturally with a healthy dose of butter)—but it was also one of the best so far. It kept well overnight and I brought it in for lunch for me and BigKip. He said the yellow peppers I used (even though Patrick said red…I didn’t do well with shopping, remember) really brought the dish together. However, I think the key is good, quality corn. Fortunately, my sponsor dad gave me some excellent fruits and vegetables to use in this week’s recipes. The tomatoes last night were from Homestead Gardens and today’s corn was also. I’m anticipating using the peaches later this week when I have BigKip and the Senator over for dinner.

It turned out to be a good thing that I made two recipes last night because once again, I had a poor shopping experience. The commissary had no seafood department, and the store next to me had no trout (I couldn’t remember how much rockfish Patrick wanted or how to cut it); so still I am without the Potato Crusted Rainbow Trout. One of these days I’m sure I’ll have it…I believe!

So tonight, I confess, I ordered a pizza, watched The Usual Suspects and only made a couple of batches of Basic Pie Dough for later in the week. The pizza was delicious, the movie was excellent, and the pie dough was very fun to make (I suppose that's where they came up with the idea for play-dough). I feel a little guilty...but not that bad.