Archives for April 2016

Pork, Breaking Down an Entire Pig

April 11, 2016 by Joe Morales Leave a Comment

It’s all about the pork

Today we begin our 3-week course in pork. I didn’t think it was possible, but I may have been just a bit
more excited about the pork than I was with the beef. Seriously. This was super fun and I can’t wait to begin my own R & D at home.
Here are the items we prepared today:

Dry Rub for Boston Butt and Ribs
Ground the Picnic Ham for Sausage
Italian Sausage for the Porchetta
Brine for the Hams
Cure for Bacon
Skin for Poaching (Pork Rinds)
Assemble Porchetta for Tuesday

I have a few recipes that will be going along with the above items but I figured it would be good to give you a run down of what we did today and when we actually cook off the meats and create the sides for them, I will provide the recipes. Just remember that I have not tested out the recipes yet either so they may need some adjustments, which I fully anticipate will be happening over the course of the summer!

Most everyone took turns sawing off various parts of the pig. I opted to observe but I did get to prepare the seasonings for the Italian Sausage and I also cut away the skin from one of the hams because we will be making Pork Rinds, or Chicharrones if you’re of the latin persuasion.

I watched as they put the bacon cure on the pork belly (bacon), tied off the hams, ground the picnic ham fat and all, and I watched them place the hams in the brine for further curing. To finish off the day, Chef stuffed the Italian Sausage inside of the pork loin (not to be confused with the tenderloin) and the bacon/belly, with skin intact to make a cracklin’ crust. It’s going to be roasted and then sliced like deli meat.

Here’s what you can expect for Tuesday’s menu and update:

Cook the Porchetta in the Combi Oven
Smoke the ribs and Boston Butt for 1 hour
Make fresh pasta
Make a puttanesca Sauce
Poach skin for Pork Rinds

Hope you like pork and I hope you enjoy the next few weeks because I know I will!

Herb Society Scholarship

April 9, 2016 by Joe Morales Leave a Comment

2016 Herb of the Year: Capsicum…aka Peppers

On Saturday I had the pleasure of driving to Noblesville, Indiana to meet with the Herb Society of Central Indiana to accept a scholarship they awarded me. It was a little bit of a crazy process; a few months back I was referred to them by one of my chef instructors at school. They visited The Chef’s Academy and let them know of the scholarship. All I had to do was fill out the application, get a letter of recommendation and write-up an essay. The problem was that the deadline was in 1 day so at the last minutes (not mine this time) I put together the essay, edited it as best I could and gave it to DJ to edit for flow and off it went.

I didn’t hear anything for about a month or so and quite honestly forgot about it; then out of the blue I received my award letter. According to the letter, they wanted me to attend their annual symposium so everyone could meet me and I could tell them about myself. I walked into the Noblesville Fairgrounds location, went through the double doors, rounded the corner and could hear someone speaking. I looked in the window of another set of doors and saw the room filled with people. Oh gees. I have to speak in front of all these people…Nerves started setting in.

I walked to the open set of doors where Mary Ann, the person I have been corresponding with, met me. We chatted a while as someone was finishing up their presentation. Mary Ann was so kind and inviting and I felt at ease very quickly. I met the President of the Herb Society and a few others. Not long after that, the group broke for lunch which meant I was to speak right after. We walked to the back where the buffet-style lunch was located and the catering company asked if Mary Ann could help pass out food so Mary Ann said she would. She told me I could go sit down and she would get me after she was finished. I offered to assist her serve the society members; so for about 20 minutes give or take, Mary Ann and I served soup to the society members with most of them seeing my badge and congratulating me on winning the scholarship.

I was introduced and I gave a quick introduction into who I was, what I was doing in school and I thanked them for their generosity. One of the surprising things was the letter from my Chef which Mary Ann read from. It said all sorts of bubbly and wonderful things about me and I thought it was so sweet. I never really saw it the way Chef described them to be. I was just doing what was expected of me so it was a pleasant surprise to hear them from someone else. After my introduction and speech, I attended their next presentation which was a chili expert. She was making chili as well as some spicy chocolate sauce. Luckily I was given a grab bag and inside were some spices and recipes so I guess I’ll be testing out those! You should be able to see the recipes on this website once I get them up!

I had to duck out early because I had to be at work by 4 and it was already 2. I was a little disappointed that I didn’t arrive earlier so I had an opportunity to walk through the booths. I would have loved to pick up some herb plants. I told Mary Ann I was interested in the Herb Society and she offered me to attend their events as a guest…I may just do that. It turned out to be a wonderful time.

Rebirth of a Culinary Student

April 8, 2016 by Joe Morales Leave a Comment

Like my About page says, this website is about my journey into culinary arts. It was originally designed to discuss my thoughts and feelings, and my trials and tribulations. As you can tell from the date of this post (April 8, 2016), I haven’t really posted much. A few odds and ends of some previous exploits and that was it.

Why you ask? Well, a few reasons really. The main one being procrastination. The other reasons are timing and (a little) fear. All pretty lame excuses if you ask me and something I intend to rectify immediately. A wise woman once said that I need to just create it and put it out there, the rest will follow. She was right of course and it’s this advice I am now taking…

I have found myself 6 months into culinary school and not a single post has been made about it. I am in the middle of my third term which is Fundamentals of Meat and Charcuterie and I’ve decided to work a little backwards until I can get caught up. What you can expect from this point forward is a post showing my progress as well as posts documenting things I have experienced in my previous terms. Hopefully it won’t be too confusing and you’ll be able to follow along (and believe me, there has been a lot going on).

In addition to being in my third term, I started working at a local Indianapolis restaurant where I have learned a lot of how things should and shouldn’t happen. I have a few things to discuss about my introduction into the “professional” culinary scene and how they’ve impacted me. I won’t mention the name of the restaurant because it’s not relative to your dining experience. What is important is the time I have spent there and how it has changed me and shown me my first real glimpse of the restaurant business.

I have to thank everyone that has listened to me vent, complain, given me advice. THANK YOU, but also note, I’m probably, mostly, surely, not finished. HA! I hope you enjoy the recipes, stories and my journey into the culinary arts.