Thanksgiving Down South

School's out for Thanksgiving! Anticipating an extremely crowded travel day, I left extra early for the airport and was off for my first official holiday home. Starting the day with a in a cab and ending the day wedged between my mom and Betsy in the back of our family car, I felt a bit like I was in a movie - the city girl comes home to Mississippi, back to her roots, for the holiday. I love living in a movie...

It was great to be at home, waking up to the smell of my mother's cooking and sharing a bed with my best friend. Since moving to NY, I've begun to notice alot of things about myself and family that make us so uniquely Southern. Walking into our dining room, the beauty of our set table once again reminded me of what makes us so special. Nowhere in NY would you find a table like this...

Being in culinary school also comes with alot of expectations for the Thanksgiving meal. Even though I got in late Wednesday night, I was excited to show my family some of the things I had learned. My mom and other family members made their usual dishes, and so I decided to make a brunchy snack - olive oil cups filled with caramelized onions, tomatoes, and rosemary whipped cream cheese. They were delicious!

For fun, I also made a cranberry and blueberry pie. My mom had frozen blueberries this summer after a morning of picking. These combined very well with fresh cranberries, a squeeze of lime juice, and a bit of sugar.

Topped with a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon, dessert was complete. Although, I have to say, I was too distracted eating chewy molasses cookies that Betsy had made to even NOTICE the pie...

The rest of our holiday was filled with left-overs, card games, and grand parents. Because I was only home for 2 days, the pace of NY was still in my system, and so I don't think I had time to finally settle into being at home.

Celebrating the season, though, I'm so thankful for my life in NYC. Remembering my life and where I was mentally, emotionally, and physically just 1 year ago, I am humbled by the way that God has blessed me this year. I am so thankful for friends I have made in NYC, for Lindsay and all of the memories we've made as roommates and as great friends, and for the opportunity to go to culinary school. I am also forever thankful for my family, without whose support and encouragement I would NEVER be anywhere in life.

As I got off the plane in NYC, I was thankful to be back. Standing in the line for the bus, I looked around at the characters around me, the outfits, the funny guy beside me dancing to music in his head, and I was truly thankful to feel like I was coming home...

A Moveable Feast

I have decided to start reading more. Not just any books, but reading substantial books, and so I started a new book this weekend. Ernest Hemingway "A Moveable Feast". Naturally, I was drawn to this book because of the title... a book about a feast? I'm SURE I will like it... I scanned the back of the book and saw something about Paris... I love Paris. This book seemed PERFECT. Ernest Hemingway is a respected, "intellectual" writer, I've read a couple of his books before and love them.
Don't judge a book by its cover... or title. As I started this book, I quickly realized it was not what I expected, but I really was enjoying it.

A Moveable Feast is Hemingway's first post-humous book to be published, written about his life in Paris as part of the American expatriates in the 1920's. I've only read about 60 pages, but after reading the first few pages, I knew it was worth reading.

In the forward, Sean Hemingway describes the process of choosing the title "A Moveable Feast", which was not the initial title selected by Hemingway. He had not decided on a title by the time he died, and so when the book was published, those that were collaborating on the project had to choose a title. In a passing conversation, Hemingway had mentioned Shakespeare's poem referring to a moveable feast and related this concept to his time in Paris. The friend remembered this conversation, retold the story to Hemingway's family, and the phrase stuck, eventually becoming the title of this book.

I like to think of my time in New York as a moveable feast. A moveable feast is a memory or even a state of being that has become a part of you, thing that you can always have with you no matter where you go or how you live life after, and you can never lose - an experience fixed in time and space like happiness or love that can be taken with you wherever you go.

Living in New York, I feel alive and happy and thankful. I feel so many good things that most of the time I can't believe I am really living here. Most every day, as I am walking home from school (a day full of cooking), I am almost breathless, like I've been jolted and the breath has been knocked out of me, thinking about my life right now - truly humbled. So, therefore, I like to think of my life as a moveable feast... the way that I feel will be with me wherever I go, every time I think about living here on the Upper East Side in NYC.

gluten free

Friday, November 19 finished a week of intense sugar. Our last class of the week was gluten-free baking. I was interested to learn about this because I have several family friends who are gluten-intolerant.

It seems gluten allergies have become extremely prevalent in the recent past. Are there more allergies now than 20 years ago? If so, why? There are several theories about the amount of gluten allergies that seem to plague so many people today. Many people relate it to the Standard American Diet (SAD). The amount of refined and highly processed foods the most Americans ingest is significantly greater than those of previous generations. Also, if the ingredients are traced back to their origins, more than 50% of most American's diets are made of corn or soy. On the other hand, could the prevalence of gluten intolerance simply be related to the fact that modern medicine is so much more sensitive and that there has been a huge increase in knowledge and awareness? I would argue that all of these reasons are valid and are all contributing factors to the gluten-state of our country.

I think that it is very important to be proactive towards this problem by reducing our consumption of processed foods, increased the variety in our diet, and relying on whole foods for most of our nutrition. The habits of today and the health of our bodies will greatly affect our children and so on. Gluten allergies are developing in early childhood now, which I think is very closely related to their diets but also what their parents ate before they were even born.

It is fact, though, that there are lots and lots of gluten and wheat allergies today. And so it is my job, as a "chef", to figure out how to still provide delicious, nutritious food to everyone! Gluten/wheat free baking is not as hard as it might seem; however, one must understand the science behind the composition of flours in order to create a successful, wheat-free treat. The best, and easiest, solution is to create a mixture of flours that will mimic the make-up of wheat - at The Natural Gourmet we use a combination of almond flour, sorghum flour, brown rice flour, tapioca starch, and potato starch. There are also lots of recipes that don't require flour at all!
Spice Cake "Donuts"

Lemon Dill and Dijon Scones

Chocolate Coconut "Macaroons" **These did not require any flour at all!

Mini Chocolate Lava Cakes


A couple of pieces of advice when gluten/wheat-free baking
1. products turn out MUCH better when made into small pieces - mini-muffins, individual servings
2. because of the difference in moisture content, gluten-free itens have a short-shelf life! They should be eaten as soon as possible, or kept frozen. They are never good if kept in the refrigerator and eaten the next day!
3. Make sure to check for hidden sources of gluten - ex. soy sauce, juices, candies, flavorings, and more.

Four and 20 Blackbirds

There's a pie shop in Brooklyn called Four and 20 Blackbirds that has been written about in all of the most recent magazines. Today (Tuesday before Thanksgiving) they sold out 2 hours after opening... the line began to form well before 7 AM. It's CRAZY!

Thursday, we had our own version of Four and 20 Blackbirds... it was pie day at school. Using our skills garnered in pastry class, each of us created a different pie. The plan for the day... make your pie. We had from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM to make our assigned pie. Needless to say, this was a very relaxing, therapeutic day at school. Unfortunately, I was assigned Shepherd's pie. Traditionally, this pie is made with carrots, beef, gravy, and topped with mashed potatoes. Here at the Natural Gourmet, we make our Shepherd's Pie with seitan - commonly known as "wheat meat". I have a strong feelings against this substance, but nonetheless I geared up to make this savory, hearty pie.
First, I prepped my pie dough - a rolled, olive oil crust - and blind baked the crust partially.

Next, I prepped the filling. Diced carrots, onions, chopped herbs, etc. etc.

After stewing the seitan, I then mixed it into the veggies to finish the filling for the pie.

The mashed potatoes were a breeze - my mom has taught me well. Into the piping bag and onto the pie they went...


As I worked HARD on this pie, the others in my class were working hard as well. By the end of the day, we had a decadent feast of pies... and I was famished!

Pear gelee tart with pressed almond crust - a very elegant, light tart

These were two of my favorite pies... lattice topped cranberry apple pie and cinnamon apple crumble pie

My other favorite was a sweet cranberry tart with orange zest and mint


Final picture - this is the finished Shepherd's Pie. It turned our beautifully, and everyone that tasted it loved it. I just don't think I like such a "meaty" pie...


Four and 20 Blackbirds will have quite the competition in a few months when we all graduate.

Mexican Mediterranean Fusion

Last night I went to Daphne's to cook dinner - Sunday night we were CRAVING a yummy hummus and so we planned to make one on Monday night.

Shopping at the farmers market early Monday morning simply built the excitement for the night. I bought a bunch of rainbow carrots - purple, orange, and white. Fresh, farm-grown cilantro, garlic, and peppers were also available for our menu. As I walked to school, I loved the feeling of having such a burst of color in my bag - like a sort of secret that I was carrying, a treasure of life and energy in my bag.


On the menu:
cilantro-spiced hummus with carrots and peppers
spicy black bean soup

We followed Ina Garten's basic recipe for hummus - chickpeas, tahini, garlic, salt, and lemon, and then we added chopped cilantro and half of a chile pepper

Epicurious has a delicious black bean soup recipe that we used. It turned out very well and was extremely simple. I loved the fusion of mexican/southwestern flavors with the freshness of Mediterranean ingredients.

Black Bean Soup:
16 ounces black beans (undrained if using canned)
1 medium onion, medium diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, medium diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
12 ounces canned, diced tomatoes (with liquid)
1 tablespoon jalepeno pepper, chopped
1-2 cups vegetable or chicken stock
2-3 tablespoons cumin
salt/pepper to taste

Heat pan and olive oil until hot; sweat onions, carrots, and garlic until carrots are slightly soft. Add jalepeno, black beans, stock, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer until vegetables are soft. Remove 3-5 cups of soup, puree in blender, and return to soup. (amount pureed depends on desired consistency) Allow soup to reduce until thicken (to desired consistency). Add cumin, salt, and pepper. Serve with garnish of sour cream and scallions.



For dessert, I had left over dough from my pastry quiz earlier Monday morning. Sticking with the galette from, I substituted a cranberry reduction sauce for apples, and created a sweet and tart cranberry galette! As we pulled the tart out of the oven, Amanda, Daphne, and I all said we just wanted 1 bite... 5 minutes later, the plate was licked clean. A pleasing sight for a chef...



Wish I had more pictures from our creations!