ALMOND COCO ICE CREAM

Almond is one of the best nuts that are present in all supermarkets. The taste of almond really rocks my world and placing it in a home made ice cream is better as always. Here are the ingredients for this wonderful dessert.

1/4 cup chopped toasted almond
1/3 cup toasted shredded coconut
1/2 tsp almond flavoring
1 quart vanilla ice cream, softened

This dessert is very easy to do. All you have to do is combine the almond and the coconut. reserve 2 teaspoons for topping. Fold remaining nuts, coconut and almond flavoring. Spoon into 8 paper cups. Sprinkle with topping. Place in the freezer until ready to be served.

THE KEY TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL CHEF

I noticed there are many graduates in the culinary school and yet few among this graduates reach the chef level. Many students think by just graduating from the culinary school makes them automatic chefs. But that is not the case for all. To be chef or reach the chef level, you must be able to gain enough cooking experience and further your cooking studies. Having a masters degree in cooking is always a must in order to become a chef.

Here are the things that you should do before you become a chef.

1. You must have a preparatory studies before taking up the culinary studies proper. The course that one should take must be hotel and restaurant management. It is because this course have the the preparatory cooking lessons that are much needed in the culinary school.

2. Select a culinary school where you will be studying. I would suggest that you select a culinary school with an international affiliation with other culinary schools abroad. The director of the culinary school must be well respected in the culinary industry and a master chef already, a level that is earned through years of experience in local and abroad cooking studies and practice.

3. Enroll again in further cooking studies. Baking and other learning studies will do. But make sure that the school that you will be entering again as an international accreditation from all culinary schools.

4. Try to work in a hotel or a high level restaurants. This will train you more in cooking. You get to develop your skills in cooking further. Chefs are highly in demand right now locally and internationally. So that means, you won't have any problem with the hiring and experience. Do not just accept any company that will give you cooking experience. You must always consider the gravity of the cooking experience.

5. Try to study again and enroll yourself to gain more cooking knowledge and experience. Learning to cooking is a never ending learning. Here, you must be able to get your masters degree in cooking. This time you can consider yourself a chef already.

These are key steps to become a successful chef. Always remember that the more you gain learning in cooking, the more you become qualified to be called a chef.

RECIPE HOLDER IS VERY IMPORTANT IN EVERY KITCHEN

Have you experienced cooking and holding a heavy recipe book in your arms? Well, that is what I experience often. We chefs always consult our recipe books whenever we cook dishes. I may say, that is our bible in cooking. It is not enough that we just place the recipe book on a plain surface and glance every time we look at the procedures. To solve this heavy burden of carrying the recipe book, I bought a recipe holder.

A recipe holder is a thing that holds the recipe book while a chef do the cooking. Instead of carrying the heavy recipe book, a recipe holder makes wonder and the pleasure of holding the recipe book. The recipe holder is very useful because it make cooking a lot easier than holding the recipe book. In just a glance, I can check the recipe book immediately without perspiring due to the heavy recipe book.

The recipe holder is very much available in all kitchen ware departments. There are several sizes that you can choose from. There is the small, medium and large sizes, depending on the recipe book that you are using while cooking. Me, I have 3 pieces of this recipe book holder. My kitchen is like a cooking library but is very convenient on my part as the chef to make the cooking.

ALMOND MIX

Ingredients:

2 eggs
1-1/2 cups skim milk
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 tbsps flour
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp almond flavoring
4 almond shaves

Procedure;

Beat eggs thoroughly in top of double boiler. Add milk constantly, stirring continuously. In a bowl, combine sugar, flour and salt. Add egg mixture and mix well. Cook over hot water, stirring constantly until mixture coats spoon and is slightly thickened. Remove from hot water at once and add almond flavoring. Let cool, then chill. Garnish with almond shaves before serving.

NEW TABLES FOR MY RESTAURANT

I just renovated my restaurant to make the place more attractive to all my customers. Everything inside my restaurant I changed, from the dining chairs, dining tables and even the utensils that I place in the table. Many of of my loyal restaurant eaters were asking me about the renovation. Actually the renovation in the restaurant is very timely since I needed to change all the things and the ambiance inside.

I want to pump fresh ideas and inspirations inside the restaurant. The menu book was also changed and the counter. The dishes in the restaurant will be more European and American dishes. These dishes are the most ordered in the restaurant. Beside, majority of my customers are Americans and Europeans. They really like the dishes that I cook and prepare in my kitchen. They even nominated me as the best Asian chef. But I am very flattered about that.

Aside from that, I am expecting foreign chefs this week. They will be inspecting my restaurant and rate it. The ratings are from the world chef association and it will serve as an accreditation of my restaurant that it passed international standards in the restaurant level. The dishes that will be prepared in the kitchen will still have the same taste since the chefs that will be doing the cooking are still the same. I also bought new recipe books for the restaurant use. Few days to go and everything will be completed.