Lunch at the ICC in Campbell, CA

A friend of mine recently completed his courses of study at the International Culinary Center in Campbell, California.

If you are in the area - I would definitely encourage you to give it a try.  The students are required to work in the school restaurant and produce a nice 3 course meal...all for the lowly price of a $5 (or more) donation.  Water and iced tea are included, wine and beer are extra.

Here are some pictures from my lovely lunch, where I shared a table with a young couple.

Enjoy!

Starter - gnocchi with broccoli rabe

Entree Option - Seared Salmon with Tomatoes  & Olives

Entree Option - Vegetarian (German Bread Dumpling with Mushroom Ragout)

Entree Option - Beef Roulade with Sausage and Mushroom Sauce

Dessert - Chocolate Cake with Meringue "Mushrooms" - cute!

Cashew Nut "Cheese"

I've recently discovered the deliciousness of Cheesy Kale Chips - you can buy a small bag (that I can eat up in a single sitting) for $5.99 a pop...or you can make your own.

I found this recipe on The Kitchn for Cheesy Yet Vegan Kale Chips and it's the basis for my own cheesy kale chips and cheesy nut dip.

This is what the dip looks like if you have not added enough water.  I initially made the mistake of adding oil. Ooops!  The recipe below gives you a nice smooth product.

Done correctly, your resulting product should like more like a smooth hummus.  =)  Please adjust the recipe to your tastes!  I also add cilantro and serrano pepper when I want something with a little more kick.

Cheesy Kale Dip

Serves 2 to 4 as a snack

1 cup cashews
1/2 red bell pepper, stem and seeds removed, chopped into large pieces
1 tablespoon soy sauce (I use tamari to avoid gluten)
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
1/3 cup nutritional yeast or more to taste (not to be confused with Brewer's yeast or baking yeast - I like RedStar brand)
Juice of 1 lemon - you can use the lemon zest as well if you like lemon
Salt (to taste)
Several tablespoons of water - adjust to your own preference for the thickness of the dip

Cover the cashews with water in a small bowl and let the soak for at least two hours before proceeding.  I typically soak the cashews overnight in salted water - this helps to season the nuts and you won't have to add as much when you process the dip.

When you are ready to make the dip, you can boil the cashews for a few minutes to help make your dip more smooth.  This step is optional as many prefer to keep the nutrients of the raw cashews.

Drain the cashews and throw them into a food processor or blender (I love my Vitamix for this).  Add the remaining ingredients and a couple of tablespoons of water.  Blend until the mixture is a nice smooth puree and taste.  Add more salt or soy to your liking.  Nutritional yeast gives it that "cheesy" flavor, so add a bit more if you'd like.

Enjoy with veggies like carrot/celery sticks or with corn chips!  Yum!

My first Decorated Cake

I'm taking the first in a series of 4 cake decorating classes from Michael's.  This is the first cake that I have ever decorated before!  Contrary to popular belief - culinary students don't learn how to decorate cakes...they save that for the pastry students!

In order to pick up and refine some much needed piping skills - I took advantage of the 50% off sale on Michael's cake decorating courses.

This cake is the result of my second class - we transferred an outline of the image using parchment or wax paper after marking it in clear piping gel.  The piping gel can be rubbed on to the set cake frosting so that you have an outline of the image that you want to end up with.  Apparently children's coloring books are a great reference for images to be piped on to cakes.

Of course - if you like to look at cake decorating mistakes...please check out http://www.cakewrecks.com/

Have fun!