Chili Caramel Rice Pudding? Hell Yeah...

     So it's official - classes have started up again for the spring quarter in my culinary school, and I think I'll have some good ones.  My two cooking classes are Asian Cuisine and Art Culinaire - very exciting!  In Asian, I get to experiment with flavors and techniques that are definitely out of my wheelhouse, and in particular, I was very pleasantly surprised with how one of my desserts turned out. 

      It was a sticky rice pudding with chestnuts and dates topped with a chili caramel sauce!  Can you say delicious?  I know I could - it was a pretty simple dessert to prepare, and the plating was basic yet stunning - a simple ringmold of the rice with a smear of the chili caramel sauce alongside, and let's not forget the chili roasted pine nuts. 

Mmm mmm good!  More deliciousness to come... hopefully... as long as the culinary neanderthals in my class don't screw things up...  And on the subject of culinary neanderthals, it's time for my self-indulgent blog rant...  sorry... but just read on - it's snarky - you'll like it, I swear...

     Sometimes, I have to wonder about the motivations of some of the people in my school who are there to get a culinary education.  One might think that there are several qualifications, ingredients if you will, to attending said school...

1. The Abilities to Read and Follow Directions: I as a student value the input from my more experienced counterparts, people I like to call teachers - I know, getting all crazy with the terminology here...  If a person doesn't have the foresight to recognize the greater knowledge of these people, then why are they here if they disregard what is being taught.  Also, there are these little instruction groups called recipes that help us along the way - yeah, a little variation is okay, and sometimes even encouraged, but don't just freestyle the damn thing because you think you know better - trust me, ya don't!
2. Passion: if you roll into class 30 minutes or an hour late because you didn't feel like moving your ass and showing up on time, why are you shelling out an exorbitant amount of tuition for something you could give a rat's ass about?  Not to mentiont that I or the chef is going to have to catch your ass up so you can be part of the group and maybe, just maybe *gasp* learn something...  Don't waste my effing time >: (
3. Dedication: ya know what - life's hard sometimes, and yup, you're not going to be a rock star at everything you try.  Having a bad day, are you?  Don't blame it on the chicken that you can't butcher properly or the student next to you that doesn't want to put up with your whiny bulls**t (which is probably me...)  If you think being in a spacious, well lit, CLEAN, and relatively pressure free kitchen is going to be harder and less stressful than working in an industry kitchen, you may want to reevaluate your career path, sweetheart.

Ahhhhhh - vengeful wrath expelled... check.  Blistering sarcasm and blatant hatred recorded... check.  If you have ever experienced anything like this in whatever line of work you're in, or even your personal life, I hope you can empathize, and hey - if you have your own blog, or if you don't start one - and you can rant like a crazy person too.  Although I'd recommend doing it without the chef hat - that's my bag...

Super Yummy Chipotle Cheddar Mac and Grammar Corrections a la Nathan

So it's official - I'm a slacker when it comes to this blog.  I guess my few and far between posts will just have to sustain you, dear reader.  But, the reason for my post this evening is my most recent creation in the kitchen: Chipotle Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese!

I know that it doesn't look like much - since it was just me eating, I didn't go crazy on presentation.  But despite its lackluster visual appearance, the flavor packs a punch! 

I used ground beef (but might use a spicy Italian sausage in the future - or not; not sure if I'd want the heat from the chipotles competing with the spices in the sausage - but I digress...) and a standard brunoise of mirepoix. 

For you non-foodies, that's an eight of an inch dice of onion, carrot and celery.  In addition to this, I sliced a few mushrooms, threw in some fire roasted tomatoes, and minced some of the chipotle peppers and added them along with their sauce into the mix.

For the cheese sauce, I made a basic bechamel (flour + butter = roux, then add milk) and added a little dijon mustard, some of the adobo sauce and a nice sharp cheddar cheese.  Add in some whole wheat pasta and tada!  A savory one pot meal.

And I'd also like to give a shout out to my friend Nathan, who upon reading my blog for the first time, graciously pointed out my many grammatical errors to me.  Kinda felt like a dumbass, honestly - usually, improper grammar is one of my largest pet peeves! 

One of my major hates is when your/you're is used incorrectly, and *gasp* I did it...  Ugh.  I suppose that nobody's perfect - or maybe it was the injured finger that impeded my typing that was to blame.  Yeah - that's it!  Let's blame the finger...