America's Funniest Home Videos?

People are such idiots, especially on camera.

School was interesting today. Since I was serving on the line yesterday, I didn't get any of my mise en place (prep) done, and was assured by the other members in my group that I had fish ready. They didn't pull out the right kind of fish, which I didn't find out until 9am. SUPER fun. Had to quick thaw them, and rush around at the last minute which I hate. But I made Pan-Fried Cod, which was breaded with a spicy panko mixture. Then I made a citrus vanilla sauce to go with it. Had problems with the sauce as well, which was very frustrating, but a 4th quarter (Izzy) helped me save it! Turned out pretty good, but I had to add some sugar to the sauce because it was real sour!



Fried Cod with Citrus Vanilla Sauce
Serves 4

4 (5oz) Cod Fillets
Panko Bread Crumbs
Red Pepper Flakes (to taste)
Southwest Seasoning (to taste)
Seasoned flour (with salt and pepper)
Egg wash (4 eggs whisked with 4 tbsp. milk)
Citrus Vanilla Sauce (as needed)

Portion out the cod so that you have four 5 oz. portions. Mix the panko bread crumbs with red pepper flakes and southwest seasoning to taste. Put the seasoned flour, panko, and egg wash in separate dishes. Using the standard breading procedure, pat the portions dry with a paper towel, coat with flour, dip in egg wash, then into bread crumbs (make sure they're completely coated). Place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and put into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Pan fry in a saute pan, with just enough oil to cover the bottom of the pan. Cook at med-high heat until it reaches 145 degrees. Serve with Citrus Vanilla Sauce.

Citrus Vanilla Sauce
Serves 4

2 oranges
1 lemon
1 lime
1 vanilla bean, split
Sugar (to taste)
2 fl. oz. heavy cream
8 oz. unsalted butter
Salt (to taste)

Juice the fruit, and strain to get out any seeds. Put the juice in a small saucepan with the vanilla bean seeds and sugar (to taste), and bring to a simmer - reduce by 2/3. Add the cream and reduce by 2/3. Slowly whisk in the butter. It helps to soften the butter a little bit. Sauce will break if you don't keep it warm!


All in all it turned out pretty good. Good flavor. We had the newbies in the kitchen today doing their knife competencies. Pretty interesting. Our class didn't have anybody cut themselves until like 2 weeks in, today we had 3 people cut themselves. Niiiice start right? One of them was a girl in my group.... haha. Oh well I guess everyone has to learn. It was kind of hard getting them started. Everyone in our class had to cook on their own from the start, the newbies kind of expect us to do all the work. That's not how you learn! =] They'll find out soon enough I guess. Tomorrow I'm making Stuffed Wontons with Apricot Sauce. It sounds pretty good, don't you think?

Got some Quizno's for Jon, Katie and I for dinner. Wow I know, I'm lame, I should be cooking amazing dinners every night. Watching some America's Funniest Home Videos with Jonboy - I love that he thinks little kids falling is so darn funny. =]

Class with Plemmons tomorrow, I'm excited for International Cuisine!

Goodnight!