and i’m back with part 2 of international cuisine, best class ever.  as i mentioned in part 1, we were cooking for an actual restaurant at our school, and we’ll start this post off with photos from my week of being head chef!  i’m so thankful that it went so well and that i had awesome classmates to help everything go smoothly.  i couldn’t have done it without them!  once i had my week behind me, i could really relax and just enjoy the rest of the semester.  it was such a joy to cook with my classmates and see what everyone planned for their meals.  so to pick up where we left off…

week 8:  SWEDEN [my week!!  i was so busy that i didn’t have time to take a single photo, but luckily my friend cristina had me covered!]

{salmon prep}

{on the left, the finishing touches.  on the right, swedish breads – svenska limpa brod [sweet rye bread with a hint of orange], svenska lusskeatter [figure-eight-shaped saffron buns with raisins], and tunnbrod [flatbread].}

{and now for the meal!  all of these were the first dishes plated and the plating definitely got better as everyone got the hang of it, but the food was a big hit.  on the left, swedish meatballs with lingonberry sauce [pretty much the star of the show].  and on the right, roasted root vegetable salad with parsnips, carrots and beets served on a bed of mind greens, tossed in a dijon mustard vinaigrette and topped with slivered almonds.}

{on the left, poached salmon fillets with dill creme fraiche.  on the right, pork tenderloin with apples and thyme.  both were served with garlic mashed potatoes, swedish pickled cucumbers [which can barely be seen in these photos] and pickled red onion.}

{on the left, coffee cake with bourbon vanilla ice cream, garnished with peaches.  on the right, apple pie with caramel sauce.}

 week 9:  GERMANY

[i wasn’t here for this week because i was traveling, but i could count on cristina to take photos for me!] :)

{on the left, a german-style hamburger: dough filled with cabbage, ground beef and onion, served with a whole grain mustard sauce.  on the right, german potato cheese soup:  a three-cheese potato soup with bell peppers, carrots, onions and celery.}

{on the left, bierwurst: beef and pork sausage paired with potato salad and sauerkraut.  on the right, chicken schnitzel: breaded and fried chicken breast topped with a fried egg, served with potato salad and green beans with bacon.}

{on the left, pumpkin chocolate strudel: layered pastry with a sweet chocolate and pumpkin filling.  on the right, frankfurt crown cake: german sponge cake with buttercream filling.}

{random treats before class… i don’t know who brought these sprinkles cupcakes but it made my evening!} ;)

week 10:  BRITISH COLUMBIA

{on this week, we served a buffet-style meal.  above were some of the wonderful breads made by the baking & pastry class:  pork ring bacon bread, baguettes and montreal-style bagels.}

{on the left, pepper pasta salad with creamy caesar.  on the right, fruit salad with mint.}

{on the left, ginger pork, served with jasmine rice.  it doesn’t look very good in the photo but it was really tasty!  on the right, vancouver brisket.}

{on the left, split pea soup.  right, maple grilled asparagus.}

{on the left, baked cod served with crown sauce.  on the right, beautiful braided bread!}

{more braided bread masterpieces.}

{on the left, ketchup mini cakes with cream cheese icing.  they were soooo good, oddly – they tasted like a spice cake.  on the right, brown sugar maple tartlets.}

{left, peanut butter crunch balls with coconut.  right, mascarpone berry shots.}

week 11:  ARGENTINA

 

{on the left, empanadas with picadillo filling, served with chimichurri sauce.  on the right, stuffed avocado salad, served with salsa golf, jumbo shrimp, heart of palm and fresh dill.}

{on the left, argentine stew with pork shoulder, cured chorizo, hominy and lima beans.  on the right, braised chicken legs and vegetables served with saffron rice and sauteed kale.}

{on the left, rogel: crispy pastry layers sandwiched between dulce de leche, topped with meringue and served with a side of sabayon sauce.  on the right, argentine campfire: a deconstructed s’more with chocolate alfajors dipped in white chocolate, a torched homemade marshmallow and black currant sauce.}

 

{as the class went on, a few of my classmates started bringing in more and more interesting food for the class to try.  one of my classmates, fernando, brought in the most delicious lebanese sausage that he split, grilled, and served with tomato and cucumber on a tortilla.}

{on the left is the lebanese sausage.  it was bright red on the inside and nice and spicy, seriously sooooo good.  on the right, fernando also made us a little handheld treat made with scraps of dough and leftover bell pepper filling from another meal + a little leftover sauce.}

week 12:  MOROCCO

{for the tables:  preserved lemon and harissa, and i can’t remember what the other two things were…}

{on the left, salad with tomato, red onion and preserved lemon, tossed in a light olive oil dressing and topped with parsley.  on the right, harira soup with lentils, chickpeas, cilantro, parsley, cinnamon, ginger and turmeric.}

{on the left, mrouzia honey braised lamb shank with almonds, and on the right, grilled marinated chicken chermoula with a coriander olive oil sauce.  both were served with smen buttered couscous and zucchini squash rolls.}

{on the left, m’hanncha “snake cake” sweet almond roll with coconut sorbet and fruit sauce.  on the right, fig-filled gazelle horn cookies with almond cream pudding and chocolate-drizzled almond wafers.}

 

{more treats from my friend cristina:  on the left, an amarranto cake and arrayan [a type of fruit grown in central and south america] coated in sugar.  on the right, an amazing ponche that she made with guava, apples, plums, tamarind, sugar cane, cinnamon, and other christmas-y spices.  so yummy!}

week 13:  CROATIA [the “last supper!”] :(

{on the left, green bean soup with paprika sour craem and beet juice gastrique.  on the right, watermelon radish salad with arugula and lemon gel.  isn’t it beautiful?!}

{on the left, mixing squid ink into the garlic parmesan risotto to make black risotto… so cool!  and on the right, we only had one entree this time:  lamb-stuffed bell peppers with black and white risotto and mint-parsley puree.}

{on the left, blood orange baked alaska, and on the right, stone fruits with toffee crumble and mascarpone.}

 

thanks to this wonderful class and for our awesome chef chris [he’s back there in the back somewhere!] for making my experience so fun and memorable!