Beyond the Book: Ideas in Food - Guest Lecture

On April 15th, Alex Talbot flew from Philadelphia to Denver to speak with a group of our students.  He covered several things, and based his lecture on what we had in our labs (so we could continue to use his techniques in class and expand on them). He spoke for 2 and a half hours to over 40 of our students.  Thank you for coming everyone! I hope you got as much out of it as I did, and I hope you continue to look at food the way Alex does.

 

Check out Ideas in Food's book for several of the recipes he covered during our meeting, and several more.



"The Perfect Hot Spring Egg"...essentially the perfect poached egg, BUT it was never submerged in water.  Cooked in a steam tray in the Hobart with the steamer on for 12 minutes sharp.  Served with bacon stock from the pressure cooker (cooked for twenty minutes ONLY!!!)

1 Hour steamed egg whites in the oven, served with 'egg yolk hot sauce' (in the top right corner of the picture).

A special thank you goes out to Danny Van Leen (Food Styling Committee President), Ian Charles (Secretary and Vice President), Chef Cofrades (BTB Advisor), and of course, Alex Talbot.

Photo Credits to Danny Van Leen and Chelsea Weinberg



Dean De la Torre invited BTB to the PolyScience Demo on campus.  They brought equipment like smoking gun, vaccuum sealers, immersion circulators, and an anti-griddle.  There was some delicious food at this demo: sous vide beef tenderloin, sous vide cumin butter carrots, smoked butter, smoked bloody mary mix, vaccuum sealed 'quick pickled' cucumbers, vaccuum sealed watermelon, and ice cream lollipops off the anti-griddle.

It's safe to say we all want an anti-griddle...



Photo Credits to: Fottocini.com

Valentine's Day Chocolates Fundraiser and Meeting

Beyond the Book members joined together during the first couple weeks of February to advertise and man a booth for pre-ordering chocolate sales.  All orders collected were then made by our members the following Friday, and orders were available for pick-up on Monday, February 14th.

Available for sale was:

Milk Chocolate and Caramel Filled

Dark Chocolate Raspberry Truffles

Milk Chocolate and Milk Chocolate Shaved Truffles

Assorted Box including all Truffles

1/4 lb Peppermint Bark

1/4 lb White Chocolate, Fruit and Nut Bark

 Our members and officers teamed together to sell just under 100 boxes of chocolates.  Thanks so much for everyone's support! This is going to be an annual event...we'll see you next Valentine's Day!

Mexican Cuisine, German Pastries

World Cuisines: Mexico

This meeting was led by Brando, Chef DeVault and Chef Cofrades. Recipes covered traditional Mexican cuisine and focused on using classic ingredients to create specific flavor profiles according to that region.  Club members made everything from stuffed chiles, braised barbacoa, and various desserts. 

Recipes for this meeting will be posted into the Beyond the Book public folders shortly.

Photo Credits:

Daniel Leen

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Baking and Pastry: German Pastries

German Pastries covered recipes from donuts, almond cake, and bomkuchen cake (the machine in the two lowest pictures in this post).  The obvious highlight of this meeting was the production of the Baumkuchen machine/cake.

Baking and Pastry Committee Officer, Amanda Shepard, led this meeting with demos and lecture done by Chef Busch.  He demo'd the bomkuchen cake and then let each student have a turn.  The cake is baked around a wooden 'spindle' in layers - The batter is spooned on, baked next to the heating coils in the back of the machine, and then another layer is added until desired thickness (usually 20-25 layers).  It is absolutely delicious.  There are only three of these machines in the United States, and we are lucky enough to have access to it.

End of Fall Trimester '10

10/29 Pumpkin Carving

 Pumpkin Carving photo credits:
Chef Carrie Stebbins and Chelsea Weinberg

11/6 Four Seasons Grand opening

A new branch of the Four Seasons Hotel corporation opened a new location in Downtown Denver.  Recrouted by the employees, around 40 of our members attended and worked this huge event.  Johnson and Wales Students were found all throughout the kitchen, from the first floor gourmet restaurant, second floor banquet and hor d'oeuvres, working the Willy Wanka Chocolate Room, tableside demos next to a stage with One Republic performing, and even up at the roof pool party serving hot chocolate and other desserts.

Four Seasons Photo Credits:
Chelsea Weinberg

11/09 March of Dimes Signature Chef Auction, Sheraton Hotel, Denver

The Signature Chef Auction is an annual event designed to raise money for the March of Dimes through auctions of great, unique items and serving delicious signature dish samples from various Denver chefs representing their restaurants. Beyond the Book members were given the opportunity to volunteer in this event to help the chefs plate and serve food.

March of Dimes Photo Credits:
Chelsea Weinberg

Thanks to everyone who could make it,

you all did a phenomenal job.

Have a great Thanksgiving, everyone. We'll see you after the break, thanks for reading!

Contact: Chelsea (CLW372@jwu.edu) or Peter (PPN228@jwu.edu)

What is Beyond the Book?

    As students at the Denver campus of Johnson and Wales University, a large number of us wanted to learn more than your average culinary or baking pastry lab.  We wanted to learn industry trends, advanced concepts, sustainability, and we more than anything, wanted to expand our knowledge on traditional French cooking.
     Beyond the Book is an advanced cooking club through Johnson and Wales University that does exactly that.  We, as a team, explore anything and everything connected to culinary arts.  Founded by Javier Garcia (Vice-Prez), Peter Ngo (Vice-Prez), and Chelsea Weinberg (Prez), we have expanded from one simple club covering random meetings into a group with enough interest and participation to split off into committees:

Baking and Pastry: Amanda Shepard (Committee Prez), Chef Johannes  Busch
Food Styling: Danny Van Leen (Committee Prez), Chef Carrie Stebbins
World Cuisines: Brando Tijerina (Committee Prez), Chef Kristen Cofrades
Sustainability: Peter Ngo (Committee Prez), Chef Kerstin Kleber, Chef Patti Parkis


So far, World Cuisines have had lab meetings covering

 Greek












Greek Photo Credits to Danny Van Leen











                                                                                                                             And Chinese Cuisines.

Chinese Photo Credits to Amanda Sheperd

And a tasting of imported balsamic vinegars and extra virgin olive oils with EVOO Marketplace

EVOO Marketplace tasting Photo Credits to Peter Ngo























Sustainable farming has taken a trip to a Boulder Farmer's Market with Nutrition Society.
The entire club has also held a Pumpkin Carving Contest. Everyones' pumpkins looked phenomenal; great job Daniel Van Leen for his winning Bob Marley carving. (pictures will be posted soon!)

Things to look forward to:
11/6 Four Seasons Grand Opening
11/9 March of Dimes: Signature Chef Auction
11/12 Beyond the Book: Baking and Pastry, German Pastries. (teaser)
TBD Competitions, Tours, Guest Lectures, Molecular Gastronomy, Tastings, and MUCH more.


Contact: Chelsea (CLW372@jwu.edu) or Peter (PPN228@jwu.edu)