In a Nut Shell

Hello, peanut gallery!

You can scrutinize me all you want, but I've been dutifully working. I'll admit, it was in sunny Napa Valley. Nonetheless, it's still work.

This week, I attended a conference hosted by The Peanut Institute. It was a comprehensive course covering the legume's history, health benefits, culinary applications and more.

The highlight—for me, anyway—was attending The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. It was my first time there, and I quickly understood why my friend from culinary school still thinks about what her life would be like if she would have chosen the California program instead.

After a morning of lectures and a demo on deep-frying turkey, the conference attendees were asked to prepare lunch. I slipped on my toque and quickly got to work. I felt a rush of adrenaline stepping back into a school kitchen.

Peanuts, of course, were used in virtually every recipe. I selected the Pan-Roasted Alaskan Salmon in Aromatic Peanut Pipian. I immediately realized that I had chosen perhaps the most extensive recipe in the bunch and, given the time constraints, I would be hard-pressed to finish.

Roasted Alaskan Salmon with Aromatic Peanut Pipian (Courtesy of The Culinary Institute of America)

Yield: 6 portions

14 ounces of tomatillos, husked and rinsed

2 serrano chiles, stemmed

2 tablespoons peanut oil

1 small white onion, roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1/2 cup peanuts (plus more for garnish), chopped

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock

8 cilantro sprigs (plus more for garnish), chopped

6 Alaskan salmon fillets, each 3/4-inch thick and 5-6 ounces

1. For the sauce: Roast tomatillos and serranos on a baking sheet about 4 inches below a very hot broiler (or place them directly on a gas burner, like I did). When they blacken and soften on one side, turn and broil on other side. Peel skins and roughly chop. Transfer to blender along with their juice.

2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until golden, about 10 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook another 1 minute. Scrape into blender with the tomatillos and serranos, leaving as much oil as possible in the pan. Blend to a smooth puree.

3. Return saucepan to medium-high heat and when hot enough to make a drop of the puree sharply sizzle, pour it in all at once. Stir to sear and concentrate the sauce, about 7 minutes. Set aside.

4. In an ungreased, small skillet, toast the peanuts for about 4-5 minutes until golden, stirring regularly. Scoop into sauce, along with chicken stock and chopped cilantro. Partially cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. (I found it to be a bit water, so I turned the heat up fairly high and let it reduce.)

5. In batches, pour the mixture into the blender and blend for about 1 minute, until the sauce is smooth. If smoother is preferred, strain it through a chinois. Return sauce to pan and adjust seasoning with salt. If too thick, think with a little stock for the consistency of a light cream soup; if too thin simmer to reduce.

6. For the salmon: Heat oven to 425 degrees. Coat a large cast iron or oven-proof skillet with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and set into the oven. Lightly salt both sides of the fish. When pan is very hot, after about 10 minutes, remove it, lay in the fish and return to oven. When fish is crusty and brown underneath, after about 4-5 minutes, use a thin-bladed metal spatula and carefully flip. Return them to oven for 2-4 minutes.

7. Serve salmon with the sauce. Garnish with toasted peanuts and cilantro, if desired.

It was like school all over again: Even thought I wasn't being graded, I felt an obligation to prepare the dish to the best of my ability. I wanted Chef Lars (who reminded me so much of several of my instructors from culinary school) to know that I could cook.

Sweaty and fatigued, I presented the dish to chef. "You've done this before, haven't you?" he questioned.

I blushed. "Yes, chef."

Home for the Holiday

Days 85-90 and Everything in Between

In case you're wondering—I'm still alive.

I've been a busy bee the last week. I just wrapped up my biggest undertaking in culinary school: the menu project. For the last few months, I've been planning a multi-course menu, complete with food photos, recipes, a costing breakdown, an essay on my theme and so on. I turned the project in today and am happy with my work.

I'm also happy that it's over, which is why I celebrated tonight with some culinary school friends at Wondee Siam. A Thai classmate and friend took us to the amazing restaurant in Midtown. She says it's the closest food to home in New York.

Because of the menu project—as well as Thanksgiving—I took a mini-sabbatical from my blog. The holiday was amazing; I was so grateful to see my parents and brother in Ohio. We cooked our butts off and ate so much that my pants are definitely not buttoning like they were before. But it was worth it.

Besides the turkey my dad deep-fried, my mom and I cooked most of Thanksgiving dinner. Appetizers comprised butternut squash soup, a foie gras torchon and rabbit sausage; the turkey and gravy, leek bread pudding, sweet potato casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes, a ribbon salad, cranberry sauce and Brussels sprouts with homemade maple bacon were the main entrees and sides; and two pumpkin pies and a caramel apple pie were for dessert.

As if that wasn't enough, my mom and I made my uncle's Polish sausage the next day. I've eaten the dish a thousand times during the holidays, but I've never seen how it's made. I now know the family secret (and am willing to share it with anyone who favors garlic and pork).

After the sausage making, our family headed to chef Michael Symon's flagship, Lola, located in downtown Cleveland. I've been there several times, but it was a first for my husband. He loved it. We (not surprisingly) gorged ourselves on beef cheek pierogies, pork belly, crispy bone marrow, ribeye steak with bone marrow garlic butter, pork chops with cheesy polenta and several desserts. Not to mention the wine and drinks—but how can you pass those when the menu is on an iPad?

I headed back to New York missing my family and feeling as stuffed as a turkey.

Having a Boeuf

Day 51

Red meat has entered the building. Thank the Lord.

I'm tired of chicken. I'm sick of fish. I could live without pork chops for awhile. My body is craving a big chunk of beef.

So I was beyond thrilled to learn boeuf bourguignon was in the lineup this week. I was even happier that I started as saucier Monday, so I'd be one of the first to cook the dish. If I might say so myself, my partner and I made a kick-ass version. Seriously, it was awesome. We cooked it for two hours in the oven until the meat was super-tender and the red wine sauce thickened to the perfect consistency. I will be making boeuf bourguignon at home in the near future.

In addition, we also made chicken grandmother-style for what seems like the 40th time. I'm beginning to wonder if the school has stock in a poultry farm somewhere.

Cooking so much chicken has definitely made me feel a lot more confident about getting it right, though. I never used to brown the chicken in a saute pan before I threw it in the oven. It makes such a huge difference in the color, and the sauce that can be made from the sucs (the little brown bits in the saute pan) is delicious.

I might have chicken fatigue, but there is one form of poultry I'm craving: turkey. It's not any turkey, though—it's my mom's deep-fried Thanksgiving bird with all the accoutrements.

Turkey Day couldn't come any faster.