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My lab this quarter is Retail Baking and it's early. I'm up at 4:45, and I crack open my locker at 6:30, every day. #culinaryschool #bakershours https://www.instagram.com/p/B75xiMFptWJ/?igshid=mextusq1e0q4

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I find soups one of the most challenging dishes to plate beautifully. Often, the best soups rely on unity of ingredients, so it's difficult to put a component on top without affecting the flavors. For this bowl, I opted to finish the presentation with components that were either directly in the soup, or connected to other flavors in it. This resulted in no net loss of flavor, but a major gain in presentation. Yellow squash soup with shrimp is one of my favorites to make. I've done this in a lot of ways, but I always use shrimp shells to fortify my vegetable stock, and I usually thicken it with a toasted nut cream. Fortifying the stock assures a gentle shrimp flavor throughout even if every bite doesn't contain shrimp, and the nut cream lightens the soup and amplifies the roasted summer squash flavor. The pureed soup itself contains the aforementioned shrimpy stock, caramelized onions, lots of roasted squash, thyme, garlic, and toasted cashew cream. By itself, the soup is delicious, but the accoutrements really make it amazing. First, and most obvious, the grilled shrimp add bold flavor and the skewer adds drama. They're seasoned with salt, pepper, and a pinch of fenugreek, which pairs beautifully with the cashew cream and squash. I saved the necks of the squash to make small rounds. They're gently caramelized in brown butter, and their flavor really shows off the depth summer squash can accomplish. Finally, to add some heat, brightness, punchiness, and a note to play off the sweet nuttiness, a walnut-dill gremolata. The finely chopped garnish features walnuts, lemon zest and juice, parsley, dill, olive oil, and Calabrian chilis. Its bold bite is a perfect accoutrement to the savory-sweet soup. Overall, this presentation really lived up to my hopes for the dish. All combined, the soup was interesting, deep, and unique. #soup #shrimp #squash #cashews #homemade #dinner #foodporn #culinaryschool https://www.instagram.com/p/B7MRMzpJQrW/?igshid=1mxdrp7s55m78

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Went very Mediterranean with tonight's dinner: lamb, eggplant, cous cous, yogurt, sumac, dill. This plate features a half eggplant roasted to creamy, nutty consistency. It's perched atop chickpea, fennel, and bell pepper cous cous, and split to be a vessel for the sauce and lamb. The sauce is a lovely dill, chive, Calabrian chili, and yogurt emulsion. The lamb leg steaks are dry rubbed with ground mustard, paprika, and cinnamon, then seared medium-rare in my cast iron skillet and spoon basted with butter. Accompanying the main elements are roasted tomatoes, Kalamata olives, capers, fresh dill, and dried apricots. This plate was beautifully savory, bright, sharp, rich, briny, and bold. #eggplant #lamb #couscous #mediterranean #dinner #culinaryschool #foodporn https://www.instagram.com/p/B6zD3tWJkb6/?igshid=11m90q0zm4cmo

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I don't start every plate with a complete vision. Sometimes, I stare at my spice rack, or fridge, or dry goods cabinet for inspiration. Usually, they tell me I've done enough, but sometimes they offer invaluable inspiration. Be open minded. #spices #culinaryschool #foodporn https://www.instagram.com/p/B6rbVS4JDkr/?igshid=pkyy5t87ur4u

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It's finally time for my Christmas gift box reveal. In terms of technique and flavor, this is my most advanced box yet. I took advantage of so much of my new pastry and food science knowledge to develop these recipes over the past few weeks. Starting on the left, marshmallows taken to a whole new level. These layered petit fours are made of thin pate sucre crust, dark chocolate marshmallow, and topped with crushed hazelnut espresso praline. So decadent and texturally interesting. Next, matcha tea, ginger, and lime candied pistachios with dried tart cherries. These savory-sweet treats are super interesting and pair wonderfully with the cherries. Front and center, the item I'm most proud of. I worked through seven different versions of these blondies to get the right flavor, texture, and chew. They're brown butter pecan blondies and they're rich, chewy, bold, and amazing. On top, a white chocolate caramel ganache, toasted pecans, and dried cranberries. In the back, beautiful and crunchy dark chocolate, goat cheese, and black walnut biscotti. The depth of the chocolate marries wonderfully with the tangy goat cheese and the earthy black walnuts. Finally, on the right, bright and punchy blueberry, grapefruit, and white chocolate cookies. The dried blueberries bring an intense pop of flavor, and the grapefruit crisply cleanses your palate. I'm so happy with how all these elements turned out. They're all bold, elevated, and unique. #christmas #gift #baking #culinaryschool #foodporn https://www.instagram.com/p/B6ZCVF-p7M2/?igshid=hylb0qq9oc2i

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My final entremet for pastry class was a big success, largely thanks to practicing my components for my Thanksgiving dessert. Inspired by a savory-sweet cheese board, I've been working on this flavor profile for weeks. It's got three layers of pungent black walnut jaconde cake and a layer or brie cheese cremeux suspended in tart green apple and thyme mousse. The entremet is finished with a shiny pastel glaze flavored with lavender. Eating this not-too-sweet dessert is akin to tasting a wine. First, the tart apple mousse, complete with mouthwatering tartaric acid. Then, the savory-sweet brie cremeux, followed by the earthy black walnut cake. Finally, the lavender glaze clears the palate after each bite. I couldn't be happier with these flavors -- they wonderful and complex! #culinaryschool #pastry #dessert #entremet #foodporn #cheeseboard https://www.instagram.com/p/B5mGOhFp-C-/?igshid=zkg9kp4o99w

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Practicing my candy making with pate de fruit. These are gelled with apple pectin instead of gelatin, so they're vegan. These deep purple beauties are made with acai puree, which offers a unique flavor. Tartaric acid crystals are dispersed in the sugar coating, which gives the candies a mouth-watering tartness. I have several more exciting flavor ideas for the holidays -- can't wait! #culinaryschool #candymaking #acai #patedefruit #holiday #foodporn https://www.instagram.com/p/B5TJ__bJ-Kv/?igshid=fqvqy10xjj81

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Finally getting my creative energy back again. Tonight, I made my own version of an Ethiopian vegetable stew called alicha wat, which is a flavorful mixture of spices, cabbage, potatoes, and carrots all reduced together. To really build the flavor in this dish, I began with my own niter kibbeh, a spice-infused clarified butter. I used butter, onions, garlic, bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, turmeric, nutmeg, and black peppercorns. To bring out the buttery, nutty notes of the cabbage, I roasted it before added it to the stew. Deglazing with white wine, adding sweet roasted garlic, and finishing with fresh lemon juice all brought an immense amount of deoth of flavor. I found traditional injera bread at a local Mediterranean market, which is both the serving substrate and the eating utensil. To plate the dish, I went down my own nontraditional path: tart cherry hot sauce and cardamom-coriander toasted sunflower seeds. The hot sauce is made of tart cherry jam, tamarind, cider vinegar, roasted garlic, and sambal chili paste. The fruity heat of the sauce worked perfectly with the savory-sweet stew, and the sunflowers offered a unique nuttiness and crunch. #dinner #ethiopian #cabbage #stew #hotsauce #culinaryschool #foodporn https://www.instagram.com/p/B3-njZmJ_gx/?igshid=wjqb3aedjsnp

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Nation's Cup is over and we walked away better cooks and better people. With five gold medals, two silvers, and Best of Show in pasta, I can promise that Sidney and I put every bit of our hearts on to those plates. After almost three months of practices, long days, and late nights, it'll take us a while to come down to a new normal. I'm so grateful to have had this opportunity and to work alongside Sidney. She is one of the most talented, creative, open-minded, and kind people I've ever known. I'm so thankful for everyone's support and encouragement during this process: Matty, Anthony, my family in Indiana and Kansas, so many of my fellow students, Chef Sasha, the GRCC teachers, and everyone who follows me on this journey. I love you all. During the competition, I made six new amazing friends in the other competitors. To have three days to immerse ourselves in each other's talents and fellowship was a worthwhile experience all by itself. I know they're all going on to do great things. Last night for the final dinner, the teams, teachers, students, and volunteers worked together to get each national dish plated for the guests. That was one of the most inspiring and humbling experiences of my life. To come together and cook alongside my friends and teachers is something I'll never forget. I'm so proud to be a part of this community. #culinaryschool #culinarycompetition https://www.instagram.com/p/B31uUFzp4Bf/?igshid=iw0irpqrymqv

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When the second day of competition began with a half goat per team, we knew we were in for a wild ride. I didn't have as much a chance to get nice photos but we were really happy with our flavors. For the game category, we made a braised goat madras curry, basmati rice, papaya salsa, guava and mango mustard chutney, butter fried goat liver, and garam masala crispy shallots. These flavors were so great together. The liver with the mustard chutney was pure fire. With the longer round for game preparation, we were rushed into the poultry round straight away. Even though this was probably our least cohesive plate, our flavors and cookery were still all really good. We made guinea hen two ways: southern fried leg covered in grape barbecue sauce, and pan seared skin-on breast with Armagnac-blueberry stock sauce. We also made a savory bread pudding with foie gras in it and an Armagnac apple chip. For the day, I think we're most proud of our dessert: we made an elegant Twinkie. How American is that?! It's a half sphere lemon chiffon cake filled with silky smooth lavender creameux. It's plated with a brie cheese creme Anglaise, and pink pear fluid gel sauce. We finished with burnt honey pecan brittle and spun sugar garnish. It was super delicious, rich, but still nice and bright. #culinaryschool #culinarycompetition #foodporn https://www.instagram.com/p/B3zQ3vyJoZu/?igshid=y0jm7vb6uywu

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If you're hoping to livestream today's competition baskets, we'll be off schedule by about 30 minutes after the game round. We're being given an extra half hour to fabricate the protein. 😯😓😱 #culinaryschool #culinarycompetition https://www.instagram.com/p/B3wR1LEJxUn/?igshid=1ifovhpsexj6r

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Final basket of the day: a deconstructed New England chowder using a variety of seafood, heirloom tomatoes, herbs, and a baguette. We made a chowder-like potato, fish stock, and cream puree, savory-sweet tomato jam, chive oil, and dill-corn salsa for the plate. The scallop was pan seared in butter, the shrimp was grilled, the clams were poached in wine, and the calamari was lightly fried. This plate really came together. We really found our groove as the day went along. Tomorrow, game, poultry, and dessert. #culinaryschool #culinarycompetition #foodporn https://www.instagram.com/p/B3u-pyepzkG/?igshid=1g68sbli5xa4d

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Pasta round: salt cod and ricotta stuffed sailboat pasta, saffron-orange cream sauce, broccoli rabe and walnut pesto, broccoli rabe and mushroom duxelle, and crispy leek threads. #culinaryschool #culinarycompetition #foodporn https://www.instagram.com/p/B3uhjAEp7_n/?igshid=1k5d0vkk71cph

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Appetizer round: pan seared trumpet mushrooms, brown butter delicata squash, pumpkin seed and pound cake crumble, pumpkin goat cheese puree, speck and cranberry red eye gravy, tarragon herb oil. #culinaryschool #culinarycompetition #foodporn https://www.instagram.com/p/B3uODizJWGr/?igshid=1zf6zfaut5x8

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Spending my night with a glass of wine and studying all my photos of the common kitchen before tomorrow's blind baskets. You can livestream the appetizer, pasta, and seafood rounds tomorrow throughout the day at grcc.edu/nationscup #culinaryschool #culinarycompetition https://www.instagram.com/p/B3st9q2pn_h/?igshid=lv04g7q68ucm

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Twenty four hours from now, the clock will start ticking for the first blind basket of Nations Cup. #culinaryschool #culinarycompetition https://www.instagram.com/p/B3rY93LpOU5/?igshid=nik3tsmq916a

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I was grateful for a day off yesterday before the competition later this week, so I made some comfort food: mushroom stroganoff. I took my time on the sauce to really build the flavor. Starting with onions, fennel, bay leaves, sage, and garlic, I deglazed with marsala and added caramelized cremini mushrooms. I reduced further with some cream and vegetable stock, then added the traditional sour cream and thickened it with a roux. I served the sauce over parsley and butter egg noodles, then finished the plate with shards of Parmesan and bright, acidic roasted red peppers. The peppers were marinated with lemon juice, capers, Calabrian chili oil, and a little honey. #dinner #strogonoff #comfortfood #culinaryschool #foodporn https://www.instagram.com/p/B3m9WF7ASgl/?igshid=4df2nxlh23x1