Alas, my cooking adventure at Edom Bakery and Grill with Chef Jackson York has come to an end. (yes, I said alas.)  😉  I am sad that cooking school is over, but happy that I had the experience and got to meet the people I worked and learned with there!

Last night we had our cooking school graduation dinner.  We students went into the bakery kitchen early in the day to prepare the food with Chef Jackson, and I enjoyed every minute of that.  I love their cozy little kitchen! I wish I could just take the bakery side of it and put it right in the middle of my house!  Such a sweet place.

When I got to the kitchen, Tracy and Jackson told me that my job for the day would be to create with a paring knife 50 zucchini flowers and 50 fancy cut mushrooms….jobs I know next to nothing about. I was a bit trepidacious about that task!  I was willing to try; Jackson showed me how to make the curved cuts all the way around the whole mushroom, then cut a star into the top. I tried and it was a pitiful looking thing. He laughed and said they were just teasing me, they didn’t really have that job for me to do!   ~phew!  🙂  He really intended for me to make the petite beef wellingtons! Yay! That, I can do.  And I did. Here is how they looked while I was working on them:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To make the wellingtons, I used chunks of beef tenderloin which I lightly seared on the grilltop, placing the meat on a round of puff pastry which had about a teaspoon of deuxelle placed in the center of the round. Then I folded the pastry over the meat, sealed it, flipped it over and brushed it with an egg wash, and then when I had made 105 of them,  they were baked in the oven until browned. I think they turned out very well. Everyone at my table loved them, it seemed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See the zucchini flower on the plate in the picture? I didn’t make that.  🙂

I was so blessed that I had a table full of friends joining me and my mother-in-law Susan for dinner; it’s always humbling when people take time out of their busy schedules to be with you, isn’t it? I am grateful that they came!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chef Jackson gave us a set of Victorinox paring knives (I guess I really need to learn to make zucchini flowers now!) and an Edom Bakery & Grill apron.  He and Tracy had “MamaStephF” embroidered on my apron! How nice was that?  I was touched that they thought of it.

My friend Crystal brought a bottle of riesling, as did Beje’ and Billy, both purchased at KE Cellars in Tyler. I enjoyed them both! Also, Crystal brought me a lovely bottle of red wine from KE, as well, to take home.  How sweet is that?  🙂 I can’t wait to try it.

I have loved this chapter in my “foodie adventures.” I love working with food and learning how to present it differently.  Most of all, though, I enjoyed the people I met and the friends who followed along with me on Facebook and here on my blog. You are amazing people and I am happy to have you, and your encouragement, in my life!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, the next adventure begins on Friday: I’ll be on the air on KLTV7 in Tyler again this coming Friday, Nov. 12, at about 6:15 a.m. or so.  I’ll be with Grant Dade on his cooking segment, “Cooking Up a Storm” to promote the The Great American Peanut Butter Festival!

I’ll be making some sort of peanutty deliciousness, most likely in cookie or bar form,  and will share the recipe here on Friday so you can make it, too!  Then, on Saturday, the festival takes place! I’ll be there all day, and can’t wait for the Celebrity Bake-Off!  Mark Scirto, Gracie Maldonado (both from KLTV), Jennifer Winborn from KVNE Christian Radio, and Patti Foster, amazing motivational speaker, will be in the bake-off, and our judges include Amy Pearson of IN Magazine in Tyler, Texas,as well as my friend Chef Jackson York, 2010 State of Texas Chef of the Year!  I hope you’ll come have fun at the festival (rain or shine!) and look for me! I want to see you! 🙂  Oh, and buy some Nutty’s Peanut Butter. Trust me when I say you need to try the butterscotch flavor and that one jar of any flavor will not be enough. 🙂  It’s really amazing.  See you there!