How about on Audiogoner thats a real chef? I have two culinary degrees from Atlantic Community College Acadamy of Culinary Arts. I am the only student to complete both the Applied Culinary Skills and the Culinary Management programs. I have two gold medals framed on the wall above my desk that I am very proud of. The school was very intense when I attended. Each course was 3 weeks long, 5 - 8 hours a day. You had 5 courses a semester along with you academic courses. Each program was 2 years long. I worked my way up through the industry and eventually held the position of Executive Chef at three different, and well know, restuarants in my area. In addition, I held the position of Pastry Chef at a well known local restuarant, as well as at one of the Atlantic city casinos. I even had the pleasure of turning down and offer from Donald Trump to be his personal Pastry Chef after he tried a piece of my Banana Cheesecake (baked of course)!
However, I was forced to retire about two years ago, by the state and my doctor, when I was diagnosed with Narcolepsy. No wonder I was having trouble staying awake at work. Used to take naps on my break.
So, how much cooking do I do now that I stay at home all the time? Not much. It's just me and my wife, and she works all the time. So, I eat by myself most of the time. I usually cook on her days off. I have a rule that nothing I make for dinner can take more then 20 minutes to prepare. You would be amazed by what you can accomplish in 20 minutes when your professionally trained (time management shills). For example, on Wednesday I prepared homemade Pumpkin Gnocchi with a gorganzola cream sauce and octopus cevichi on a bed of spring greans with fried goat cheese and sun dried cherries. Dessert was Alvocado pudding with creme fresch. Please do not tell my doctor; I'm not suppose to be using knives - I could blink out and cut myself.
P.S - It's Soups and Sauces not Soups and Stocks. The secret to a good soup or suace is to start with a good stock. As a chef, you have to get used to tasting stocks when they are cold (to determine flavor and freshness). It's kind of like eating beef, chicken, fish, etc jello. Sounds yummy, doesn't it?
However, I was forced to retire about two years ago, by the state and my doctor, when I was diagnosed with Narcolepsy. No wonder I was having trouble staying awake at work. Used to take naps on my break.
So, how much cooking do I do now that I stay at home all the time? Not much. It's just me and my wife, and she works all the time. So, I eat by myself most of the time. I usually cook on her days off. I have a rule that nothing I make for dinner can take more then 20 minutes to prepare. You would be amazed by what you can accomplish in 20 minutes when your professionally trained (time management shills). For example, on Wednesday I prepared homemade Pumpkin Gnocchi with a gorganzola cream sauce and octopus cevichi on a bed of spring greans with fried goat cheese and sun dried cherries. Dessert was Alvocado pudding with creme fresch. Please do not tell my doctor; I'm not suppose to be using knives - I could blink out and cut myself.
P.S - It's Soups and Sauces not Soups and Stocks. The secret to a good soup or suace is to start with a good stock. As a chef, you have to get used to tasting stocks when they are cold (to determine flavor and freshness). It's kind of like eating beef, chicken, fish, etc jello. Sounds yummy, doesn't it?