Here we are again! After a very fun and busy fall semester, we are ready to start a new class of students in Bistro Verde. We will begin service again on Tuesday, Jan. 28. This menu will be available until Thursday, Feb. 27. After that, we will enjoy a quick spring break and come back to start another new menu to finish out the spring semester.
The first menu is composed of quick service items all packaged “to go.” They can be enjoyed in the restaurant, but the idea is to teach the students fast-paced foods and how to package them well to ensure a better chance of travelling back to the office while maintaining a delicious lunch.
The first menu category is “Handhelds.” As the name suggests, they are items meant to be eaten with your hands. The first item is a vegetarian and gluten free option — crispy potato and cheese filled tacos. The students will practice making homemade tortillas and stuffing them, as well as making homemade salsas. The next lesson will be about braising. We will make pulled pork with a Vietnamese flavor influence using a technique of caramelizing sugar and then gently cooking the pork in the caramel with lemongrass and garlic. We will make homemade pickles to accompany this sandwich. For the grilled cheese, we are offering a classic pairing of strawberries and balsamic vinegar, adding mozzarella and parmesan on brioche. This will be a fun vegetarian option and a selection for anyone wanting to try something a little playful. A chicken parmesan sandwich is the next offering, which teaches students how to bread and fry meats appropriately. The last sandwich is our version of a gyro, which gives them the opportunity to learn this unique method for preparing meats as well as a delicious yogurt sauce.
We always offer three soups in this class. Loaded parlor chili is a classic and a great opportunity for the students to learn this traditional method. We are making wonton soup for which we will make hundreds of mini chicken wontons and a delicate broth, and it will have noodles and baby bok choy. The third soup comes from Honduras, called sopa marinera. It is coconut broth soup with seafood and vegetables.
I also really like having some version of sushi in this class. This time we are doing chirashi sushi, which translates to scattered sushi. All the fillings are arranged on a bed of sushi rice with seaweed on the side. We are offering a crispy orange chicken salad with snow peas, tomato, pineapple, carrot, scallions, red cabbage, mixed greens, a lightly spicy vinaigrette and crispy wontons. Both dishes provide great practice in knife cuts for several ingredients, in different methods for breading and frying, and in making dressings and sauces.
We have two hot dishes on the regular menu, and one is always pasta. This time I wanted to show the students how to use Persian flavors. We will be taking the idea of a kofta kebab and shaping it into meatballs. It will be served with a saffron cream sauce over fettuccini with a drizzle of pomegranate molasses, a sprinkling of ground sumac and grilled cherry tomatoes. For the final dish of the regular menu, we are offering teppanyaki foods — quickly seared chicken and beef, noodles, fried rice, cabbage pancake, vegetables, yum-yum sauce and okonomiyaki sauce. The last is a sweet and rich, soy-based sauce traditionally paired with the cabbage pancakes, which are known as okonomiyaki. This dish will be challenging to execute as there are so many components, but I always put one hot dish like this to really show them how to multitask successfully.
Additionally, each student will create and execute a chef’s special that will run each week. This is a good-sized class, so this semester we may offer a couple each week. For more information on Bistro Verde, visit www.llcc.edu/bistro-verde.
Kofta kebab
Ingredients
5 lbs. ground beef
3 onions, grated
4 tablespoons paprika
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 ½ cups parsley, chopped
1 ½ cups cilantro, chopped
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons mint, chopped
Instructions
Combine all the ingredients. Let sit covered in the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight.
Shape into meatballs or onto skewers.
Bake the meatballs at 400 degrees until done, 20-25 minutes. For skewers, grill until done.
Enjoy these as an appetizer or with bread.
A quick sauce I have used is a little mayo with a bit of tahini, lemon juice and black pepper. Cucumbers, fresh tomatoes, onions, lettuce and fresh herbs would be delicious too.
Enjoy!
About
Lincoln Land Community College offers credit programs in Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management and Baking/Pastry, and non-credit cooking and food classes through LLCC Community Education.
Cooking or food questions? Email epicuriosity101@llcc.edu.