Finding Inspiration

by Chef Roy Perez, Culinary Arts Instructor

A former student in Texas recently called me. He’s at a restaurant and is feeling pretty stagnant right now. He is looking for inspiration and called to ask for my advice.

I told the former student who called me that you have to think about what got you into this in the first place because that was your initial inspiration. It helps to read books and magazines and check websites that show you food and trends that inspires you, and it’s important to network with other like-minded people, but at the end of the day you have to look in the mirror and ask what inspires you and seek it out every day and build on that. He’s still young and growing and he said he forgot what inspired him in the first place. One of the biggest inspirations for many cooks is just cooking a great meal and putting it in front of people to watch them to enjoy it.

Around the same time, I was asked by my former employer Vitaly Paley (owner of Paley’s Place) if I would work for him at the IPNC (International Pinot Noir Conference) kick-off dinner at Scott Paul Winery with him. His food inspires me and working in his kitchen made me who I am in the kitchen today, and I was happy to say yes.

Vitaly Paley (left) and crew (Chef Perez, far right).  photo credit Robin Burnside.

Menu (5-course plated dinner for 80 guests)
Appetizers
Grilled flat bread w/house-smoked prosciutto
Grilled oysters with fennel, bacon and spicy mignonette

Salad
Workhorse Salad – roasted rabbit with saffron aioli, arugula, frisee, and ficoide glacial greens w/roasted vegetables, cherries and cherry tomatoes

Photo credit Robin Burnside.

Entrée
Haricot verts, roasted baby fingerling potatoes, braised oxtail and king oyster mushrooms with marrow bone. Kobe rib eye, seared then placed on bed of hay, barley, fennel sticks and wood chips then roasted in the oven, sliced and placed on top of the vegetables

“The flavor and aromatics of the bed jumped right up into the beef and smelled like the beef walked off the field and onto the plate.”

Fourth Course
Cheese plate and Paley Bar

Dessert
House -made Ice Cream Sandwiches

Having the chance to work with Vitaly at these events to see what he’s doing now with food and the product he’s able to pull in from the local cutting edge farms is very inspiring and rejuvenates me and gets me ready to play with food and teach others.

Baking Pies on the Fly

by Chef Salvatore Hall, Baking and Pastry Instructor

A couple weeks ago I walked into our baking kitchen here at the school and saw some of the first term baking and pastry students waiting around for their breads to cool. It was the first day of bread production, and the students had not planned the cooling time into their production schedule. This reminded me of a time when I was working at bakery in SE Portland. Our bakery provided fresh baked desserts for a company that delivered meals. One day, we didn’t get the pies started early enough and we fell behind in production and came up against the delivery deadline with the pies still not cooled enough. We made the decision to send them out anyways. During the deliveries, the pies shifted a lot in the car. Because the proteins and starches in the crust hadn’t finished setting, and the filling was not set, most of the pies lost their tops and some also lost their filling. Needless to say, we learned from this mistake. The next week we made the dough a day ahead of delivery and the filling the day of delivery, but finished them in time so they could set up before they had to go out. The Lesson: it is good to plan for mise en place and set time aside for production, but in baking and patisserie you also need to think about the cooling of the product afterwards. A good baker, regardless of whether he or she is a professional or a recreational enthusiast, will plan backwards from the desired finish point to the beginning of the mise en place process to ensure that the end product is 100 percent ready when it should be.


APPLE PIE RECIPE

Flaky Pie Dough
(1 covered 9-inch pie)

10 ounces Pastry flour
1/4 tsp. salt
8 ounces cold butter grated or cut in pieces
2 1/2 ounces ice water
1. By hand, gently mix the cold butter into the flour and salt.
2. Gently moisten the flour butter mixture with the ice water. (The dough will be somewhat crumbly and may need to be pressed together but don’t over work).
3. Wrap dough in plastic and rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour before use.

Apple Pie Filling
(9inch pie)

2 pounds green or yellow apples
½ lemon (juice from)
1 ounce butter
4 ounces sugar
1 ½ ounces cornstarch
3 ounces water
½ tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

1. Peel and core apples, cut into ½-inch pieces and sprinkle with lemon juice.
2. In a large pan sauté the apples in butter until warm, add sugar.
3. Mix together cornstarch and water and add to the apples, stir gently until cornstarch thickens and apples are tender, but still firm. Don't over cook.
4. Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients. Cool before use.
5. Roll top and bottom crusts.
6. Assemble pie, cut decorative vents in top crust.
7. Brush with eggwash, sprinkle with sugar.
8. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes.
9. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F to finish. Top crust should be golden brown with filling bubbling slightly.

(How To) Taste the World's Cuisine

by Chef Instructor Josh Hobson

OCI Chef Instructors Vaidya and Hobson working with chefs at a 

restaurant called Bukhara in Kathmandu, Nepal, which specializes 

in Northern Indian cuisine, especially tandoor cooking.

For the truly serious culinarian, there is nothing better than to leave the comforts of home and travel abroad. The eye-opening experience of immersing oneself in different cultures is the only way to truly experience authentic international cuisine. The different food items, the different cooking styles, the different presentations, and even the completely different philosophies about food cannot be understood by simply reading a book or eating at an ethnic restaurant. I believe that every serious culinarian should leave their home country in order to experience the culture and food of others.

One of the chefs doing his thing at Bukhara.

Eating at different ethnic restaurants can be exciting and informative, but what we often experience here in the US tends to be geared towards the American palate. “Chinese” dishes like sweet and sour pork, in which the main ingredient of the sauce is ketchup, and Crab Rangoon, with cream cheese stuffed inside a fried wonton, is what I would call Chinese-inspired American food. Cream cheese stuffed into anything and deep fried, it must be said, is classic American food. Serve it with ketchup, and now it is unquestionably American. Traditional Filipino food is difficult to serve to the general public because of the use of sour and bitter ingredients. Try to open a Mexican restaurant without quesadillas, burritos, or nachos on the menu and see how long you can stay in business. Sadly, there have been many that have tried in Portland, but failed.

A vegetarian meal fit for a monk on top of a
mountain monastery in Koyo, Japan.

When considering the cuisines of other international countries, many people also overlook the regional differences. Just as the US can be separated into completely different areas with unique foods to that region, the same can be found in every other country. Think of the food found in the Southern US compared to that of the Northwest. What about the New England area compared to the Southwest. Add Hawaiian and Cajun to that and you have completely different foods, cooking methods, and even food philosophies. Just as we find very different regional foods in the US, we find completely different regional cuisines in Italy, France, or China. Often times though, we do not see different regional foods represented much in ethnic restaurants. Try to find Northern Thai food, or Southern Indian, sometime. Sadly, even when we do, we often lean towards familiar products instead of venturing out.


To truly learn about other cuisines, you have to pack a bag and go.

Chef Hobson enjoying a thumb-sized water beetle as part
of Christmas dinner in Chiang Mi, Thailand.

Wines at the Southern Mediterranean Festival

by Maxine Borcherding, Lead Chef Instructor, Culinary Management Program

Wines produced by Oregon winemakers from varietals from southern Spain and the south of France were the focus of the Southern Mediterranean Festival at Cana’s Feast Winery on June 27.  OCI Culinary Management students attending the festival with me were Ken Benton, Hannah Coates, and Travis Bird, who helped with registration, lunch preparation and service, and assisting winemakers in the tasting tent.  The $15 dollar ticket included a choice of two lunches (a roasted vegetable sandwich on focaccia with manchego and romesco; or a plate of braised beef cheek croquetta, and a salt cod croquetta with romesco dipping sauce. Both entrees were accompanied by an orange, red onion, and black olive salad.)

Sixteen wineries sampled wines from Mediterranean varietals, and the Oregon Olive Mill sampled extra virgin olive oil from their olive grove in Dayton, Oregon, where they farm 11,000+ Arbequina, Arbosana and Koroneiki olive trees, spread over 15 acres. These particular varieties of olives are cold hearty to 10 degrees F, and are well suited to soils in the Willamette Valley. They grow as bushes rather than large trees, and are easier to harvest and maintain than their larger counterparts. I for one had no idea that olives could be grown commercially here in the valley. Olive trees are gorgeous, and I am looking forward to researching the possibility of growing olives in my garden!


In addition to old friends (such as the Abacela Albarino that we feature in the OCI restaurant, and the luscious Troon Vineyards Insomia Port) we tasted some delicious surprises. The outstanding new varietal was Counoise, produced as a single varietal by both Patrick Taylor at Cana’s Feast, and Andrew Rich of Andrew Rich Wines. Counoise is a grape that is used in southern Rhone blends, and is one of the 13 grapes permitted in Chateauneuf du Pape. It isn’t usually seen as a single varietal, but the counoise from both of these vintners were absolutely delicious -- light bodied, light color, great fruit, but not as confected as Gamay, and more peppery than the earthy quality of Pinot Noir. Andrew Rich describes it as “luscious and heady, with a peppery streak running through it, this is a bit like a floozy slurping on a cherry (in a good way). ” This is a great summer sipper!  But stock up now, Andrew Rich says that this is his last vintage of counoise as a single varietal, and Patrick will decide whether to bottle or blend this year’s counoise, depending on how it develops in the barrel.

Another wine I loved was the Coup d’Etat blend from Andrew Rich, a blend of Grenache (60%), Mourvèdre (25%), and Syrah (15%). Absolutely delicious now, and it will continue to improve.

All in all, a beautiful day in a beautiful setting, with good food and wonderful wines. It doesn’t get better than that.

Note:  Chef Borcherding recently completed the International Sommelier Guild's Diploma program and is a Certified Spanish Wine Educator.  She teaches 'Oenology and Viticulture' and 'Wine Regions of the World' at OCI.

What You Need to Know About Cooking with Olive Oil

by Chef Melinda Casady

Most of the time I teach cooking to people seeking to be professionals, but on the weekends, I teach the “average Joe” how to sauté, make Coq au Vin, roll fresh pasta, whip up mac & cheese without a recipe, and how to properly hold a knife. I love the weekend classes. Even though it's a six day work week for me and I might be dragging to get there, I always have a blast. I haven't had a bad class yet.

You would think that culinary students, who are choosing this as a career would want to be here more than the casual cook, but not always. For some reason, the weekend cooking students sometimes seem even more passionate. They are eager to ask questions, absorb every word you are saying, take notes, work hard and have fun.

One of my favorite things about teaching, weekend classes included, is the good questions -- questions that debunk the myths that people have had about food or cooking for sometimes their entire lives. For example, I had a question recently about the practice of putting oil in the pot of water that you are boiling your pasta in. Does it really keep the pasta from sticking together? Well no, it does not. I grew up doing it this way, but does it make sense? The oil is going to float on top of the water and it's not going to coat the pasta so that it doesn't stick together. The thing that keeps pasta from sticking together is the fact that the water must boil (by the way pasta is about the only thing in the kitchen that we boil). After the pasta is drained, you can drizzle oil on it and toss it so that it doesn't stick together. In fact, I recommend it. There is some debate that the sauce won't stick to the noodles if you do that, but I haven't found it to be the case unless you go a little overboard with greasing the noodles.

We have different oils that we use for cooking different things in the kitchen, or for dressing, or for seasoning. The thing that kills people is that olive oil is not meant for high-heat cooking. Using olive oil to sauté in an effort to be heart-healthy only ruins the good qualities of the oil. Olive oil has a low smoke point, so once you crank the flame up, you are, in essence, burning your oil, and in the burning process you've changed it to a trans fat. So now it tastes bad, and it's bad for you.

Currently, if you look at the grocery store shelves you are going to see "cooking olive oil," which means it's probably a blend, or a pressing that has a higher smoke point. I'm not sure that's going to be better for you than other high smoke point cooking oils. It's like diet cookies -- there is no way that anything that's filled with enough chemicals to make something that's not fat taste like fat is healthier. You are never going to convince me otherwise.

So if you are looking for an oil to switch to that will give you a lovely high smoke point and make you warm and fuzzy about purchasing it because you made a good moral choice, you can pick something like grapeseed oil, which has a high smoke point and no flavor so you can season the dish your way. Safflower oil also has a high smoke point, renewable and little flavor.

I'm sure as soon as I post this there will be something in the news about how safflowers are devesatating the global climate and I'll have to start all over again, but until then, when cooking with high heat, put the olive oil down.

Bikram's Lamb Curry Recipe

by Chef Bikram Vaidya

Ingredients
5 green cardamom pods, seeds only
1 stick cinnamon in pieces
1 teaspoon coriander, ground
2 teaspoon garlic paste
2 teaspoon ginger paste
8 dried chilies
1/4 cup oil
1 small red onion, dice
2 pounds lamb, trimmed and cubed
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
salt to taste
1 cup tomatoes, chopped
1 cup water
1/4 cup cilantro

1.  Put cardamom, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, garlic, ginger and chilies in mortar and pestle and crush into a paste.
2.  Heat oil in large saucepan on medium heat.  Add onion, reduce heat, and fry until golden brown.  Add spice paste and stir for 2-3 minutes.
3.  Add lamb, bay leaf, turmeric, nutmeg and salt, brown on all sides.  Add the tomato and water, cook until lamb is tender, approximately 20 minutes.
4.  Garnish with cilantro.  Serve hot. 

"Lamb Curry has always been one of my favorite dishes.  Easy to make, the spice and preparation combine to make the meat tender and delicious."  - Chef Vaidya

About Chef Vaidya - Bikram has over 15 years experience in the restaurant and hospitality industry, and has trained under renowned chefs in North America, Greece, Thailand, Peru, Hong Kong, and India.

For more on Chef Vaidya...
Article in "Mix" magazine
Chef Bio

Tarts aux Fruits Competition @ OCI

by Kevin Richards

The 3rd Annual Tarts aux Fruit competition was held at OCI last night, put on by the Alliance Francaise as a fundraiser.  17 fruit tarts, expertly crafted by a virtual "who's who" of pastry chefs from the best restaurants and bakeries around town, made it through the doors between 10 AM and 3 PM in time for the judging from 3 PM to 5 PM.  The judges were Lead OCI Chef Instructor in the Baking and Pastry program Robert Parks, Philippe Boulot (Heathman and Multnomah Athletic Club), and Pascal Chureau (Allium Bistro).  The criteria for judging was appearance, flavor, and technical difficulty, with an emphasis on flavor.  

Chef Parks, who developed the curriculum for the baking and pastry program at OCI and teaches the weekend offering of this program, was pleased to be able to host this competition for the third straight year.  

"What I really like about this is that our students get to experience it and see what the professionals in town are doing.  It gives them a chance to set their sites on where they could go with their own career," said Chef Parks.  "It's good exposure because these are the heavy hitters in the pastry world in Portland that the students get to hob-knob with."  

In the 2008 and 2009 competitions, there were entries from OCI students.  None of the OCI students entered this year because most were not very far along in the program curriculum.  The participants, in no particular order, were:

Urban Farmer at The Nines Hotel - Julie Lewis, Sean Sasser

The Heathman Restaruant - John Gaynor

Wildwood Restaurant - Michelle Vernier and Mickala Duprey

Metrovino - Erin Keller

The Original:  A Dinerant - Sally Bowers

Sweet Ambrosia - Mary Ambrose

La Petite Provence Boulangerie and Patisserie - Laureen Murtha, Brigit McGraw

Multnomah Athletic Club - Roy Chan

Beaverton Bakery - Tiffany Christy

Ristorante Fratelli - Tim Cuscaden

Fenouil - Kristen Murray, Shawn McKenzie

Chez Joly - Paula Santos

Pix Patisserie - Leila Ellis

St. Honore - Amie Yen

According to Chef Parks, the key elements to a classic French fruit tart are pate sucre (classic crust), pastry creme, and fresh fruit with an apricot glaze.  "Underbaked crust, undercooked or loose cream, and overdoing the glaze" was Chef Parks response when asked what the common pitfalls in preparing a successful fruit tart are. 

Only five points divided the top three finishers.  Here are pictures of the top three tarts, based on the official judging:

#1, by Tiffany Christy of Beaverton Bakery

#2, by Roy Chan of Multnomah Athletic Club

#3 by Michelle Vernier and Mickala Duprey of Wildwood

For more photos of the event, check out pictures on OCI's Facebook page and OCI's Flickr page.