Well, the last food cycle came to a close today in Contemporary Cuisine with a sugarless bang (aka a diabetic menu). Considering this is America, where we slurp 64oz sodas because "It's only .25 more to supersize," chances are good you know a diabetic (or six).
I have a few friends that are diabetic, so I sort of approached this menu with the idea in my head that I was catering exclusively to those friends. Again, there's a joy in having the ability and knowledge to stuff your diabetic friend's face with a "sugary" treat without...you know...putting them into a coma or a position they might have their foot amputated.
*cough*
So our typical Chef has been out of town this week in Ottawa, Canada, consulting or doing whatever Chefs well established in their careers get to do (i.e. travel, get money/get paid, talk about food, eat food, etc.). Therefore, our Chef from Breads and Pastries is running the course currently, and he has really encouraged us to 'play with the food' some and put our stamp on the menu items.
The Salmon, "BLT" with Chipotle Mayo is how one girl in the class did just that. Leftover crust pieces of the bread not used making croutons became platforms for some of the salmon we made, mixed with the standard BLT fixings. Mix up a chipotle mayo and serve it "slider" style-- delcious.
What I brought to the table was the Boursin Crostini. I mean I like croutons as much as the next guy, but let's go to the next level here. I will admit the dish is a bit Omni-inspired, but I made it completely different in class than how I make it at work.
And just how do I make it you ask?
Well, I used a cutter to make the bread into discs instead of squares or sticks (boring!), which I then brushed with a garlic-infused olive oil and sprinkled salt and pepper on before crisping them up in the oven. Aside I mixed Boursin cheese (the 'ranch dressing of cheeses' if you ask me) and cream cheese in a KitchenAid.
Pipe the cheese mixture onto the crostini, garnish with crushed pink peppercorns and chives-- serve. I promise you it's tasty. You would dip vegetables or bread in the cheese mixture all day if I'd let you...and I would let you (I'm a nice guy like that!).
Anyway, I was inspired by the Tomato Avocado Tian...at least in recreating the disc shape with my crostini. I wanted my crostini to mirror the Tian on the salad plate but provide a different texture profile. I think i accomplished that.
Side note-- mozzarella, guacamole and a seasoned, roasted tomato slice. Serve me those delicious hockey pucks of joy every day of the week, please. Sooo good!
Chef liked my plate...aside from my ever-spreading oil spill on the left side. For about 22 seconds my plate looked bomb...then the oil went all BP on me. Argh! So frustrating. Everyone had the same problem though, the oil just melted all over the plate whereas the Balsamic held shape.
Oh well, lesson learned-- less oil next time.
Pictures don't do the Tomato Consomme much justice. It's supposed to be strained of tomato pulp a bit better too (the final appearance should be clear, actually-- you should be able to see to the bottom and garnishes with ease). It tasted OK though-- a very intense tomato flavor...and I love tomatoes.
Floating in the Consomme is the Celestine Garnish...which is a fancy way of saying sliced up, herbed crepes. I've never seen a crepe used as a garnish, but it worked. Essentially you have all the herby tastes you would want in that soup in the crepe pieces...so the overall effect is a very crisp tomato soup flavor profile. Different...and different is usually good (or at least interesting).
The whole salmon dish was OK, sure, but I didn't t
hink it broke down any wowie-walls in my ever-budding culinary mind. The piece of fish was a piece of fish (I like the use of cumin with fish). The cous cous with roasted vegetables was tasty...but it's essentially "pasta" with vegetables. I could take it or leave it...
Now the main event of the diabetic menu was the Scone Shortcake, which was a typical scone recipe with the sugar replaced with Splenda. You can replace sugar cup for cup when baking with Splenda, and honestly I have no idea why you would use any other sugar substitute. Equal and others all have terrible aftertastes-- Splenda tastes the most like sugar, by far.
And again, easy to use. One cup sugar = one cup Splenda. I like simple.
The whipped cream was nothing more than heavy cream and Splenda, and the Berry Topping just pureed strawberries, strained and sweetened up some with (gasp!) Splenda. Very fresh, very clean...very simple(!) strawberry shortcake that diabetics can enjoy. Win.
OK, I'm out for now to enjoy some of my day off from work. Check back in when you can to hear how my kitchen practical prep/execution goes down, and remember...when it comes to food blogs...
THERE'S NO SUBSTITUTE FOR SHUGAR! (*vomits cliches and cheesiness all over laptop*)
1 comment:
totally agree with you on the splenda - that's what goes in my coffee every morning! i haven't found anything that comes close to an acceptable substitute for shugar, though :-) (continuing the vomit-inducing theme from the end of your post)
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