Chef Ronny: Week Five Update: Vegetables!!

Time definitely flies! my trimester as from today is almost over! I must admit I've learned a lot! pretty much more than I had expected before beginning this course!

Week 5 was all about Vegetables, yes, yummy vegetables that we either hate or adore! in my case I love vegetables! except for 1 or 2 that I've been terrorize to eat since I was a kid.

The noun "Vegetable" means an edible plant or part of a plant, excluding most of the time seeds and most sweet fruits. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant.

According to some culinary experts "In a non-biological sense, the meaning of this word is largely based on culinary and cultural tradition. Therefore, the application of the word is somewhat arbitrary and subjective. For example, some people consider mushrooms to be vegetables even though they are not biologically plants"

Some vegetables can be consumed raw, some may be eaten cooked, and some must be cooked in order to be edible. Vegetables are most often cooked in savory or salty dishes. However, a few vegetables are often used in desserts and other sweet dishes, such as rhubarb pie and carrot cake.

During week 5 of Fundamental's class we cooked Bake Acorn Squash, Braised Collard greens, Steamed Vegetables such as broccoli, Artichoke Bottoms gratin, Grilled Vegetable Skewers, Tempura Vegetables with dipping sauce (I must add I had the initiative of preparing a delicious dip, that could be eaten with literally anything), Savory glazed carrots, Glazed beets with lime (This is one of the vegetables that unfortunately I don't like) and Pan-fried Eggplant with tomato sauce (My favorite).

So, lets talk about the process of cooking of two of my favorite dishes from week 5 at school; Artichoke Bottoms gratin and Pan-fried Eggplant with tomato sauce.

I must begin with telling the process of peeling an artichoke:

Cut off the stem of each artichoke, leaving up to an inch. The stems tend to be more bitter than the rest of the artichoke. With kitchen scissors remove the pointed ends of the bottom row of leaves and trim the top of the artichoke by one-third. Pull off any smaller leaves toward the base and on the stem.

In class we did it a bit different, we used our Chef knife instead of kitchen scissors, and we went all the way to get to the bottom and get the artichoke heart, which is the most tender part of it, this video sums it up.

This is a recipe you will enjoy cooking and eating, I found one specially for you online, in the Martha Stewart webpage, http://www.marthastewart.com/313465/artichoke-bottoms-au-gratin

I hope you enjoy, but before here's a tip:

The artichoke bottoms and the bechamel sauce can be prepared the day before you need them, then assembled and baked just before serving.

Pan-fried Eggplant with tomato sauce, one of my favorite meals of all time, it's actually a very simple recipe and a fun one too.

Trim the ends from the eggplant. Remove strips of peel, lengthwise, with a chef’s knife, leaving narrow strips of peel between the cuts. Cut into round slices 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle both sides of the slices of eggplant with kosher salt. Place in a colander or on a rack to purge excess moisture and bitterness for 30 to 35 minutes. Rinse off the slices and blot dry with a paper towel.

Warm the Fresh Tomato Sauce to 165°F (74°C). Bread the eggplant using a standard breading procedure

Preheat a 10-inch sauté pan. Add 1/4 inch of vegetable oil to the pan. When the oil is hot, pan-fry the eggplant slices until golden-brown, then turn and cook until the other side is golden-brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove and drain on clean paper towels or a rack.