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This week I helped the students at Parkland Secondary make Korean Corn dogs. At the school I have been observing the first block 1 culinary arts class every Wednesday of the semester. I decided to embark on a project to introduce a new food item to be featured on the rotating lunch menu. I noticed during the semester that a big portion of the students were not fully engaged and seemed to be pushing through the class in anticipation of the bell. I wanted to enhance the classroom enjoyment and participation by letting students decide what they would be making. I had students round down a voting list to four final options and then had an. anonymous vote for the final choice. The students decided on Korean corn dogs by a land slide and I was super excited to make them happen!

The recipe followed was simple as I wanted the corn dogs to be able to be made in an hour class block without a long process explanation, luckily when researching I found that Korean corn dogs are actually quite simple!

In the end the project was a massive success and the students all really enjoyed the opportunity to make something they for the most part have never tried and wanted to test out.

In total 23 corn dogs were made and all sold out even when sold for $4.50 a high price for high schoolers.

BORING ALFREDO MADE FROM A PACKAGE

(UNFORTUNATELY MONICA’S FAVOURITE)

This week I chose to feature the Knorr Sidekicks Fettuccine Alfredo I made for Monica because of it’s lack of labour and also ability to be enhanced. The packaged noodles are very easy to make and to be honest are unimaginative and boring when directions are followed perfectly. However they can be a great base to make something more exciting but still insanely simple. To enhance the basic packaged meal I added all milk and cream instead of using water and margarine. I also used real butter and added parmesan to make it even better. Monica wanted to keep hers very simple so I kept parsley and bacon out of the mix but to my plate I added both as a garnish to bring even more from the recipe. All in all the noodles are not bad when it comes to “just add water” recipes, I mean I’m sure everyone can agree that Annie’s mac and cheese CLAPS CHEEKS, but they do when done right. This kraft dinner level pasta can be taken into the big leagues with a few simple adjustments. I recommend anyone making them use milk, cream, butter, parsley and bacon in their ingredient list and trust me you will be pleasantly surprised. I will always back up false cheese flavour that you find in packaged foods such as these and I will always put kraft cheese slices as a #1 addition to any burger. Don’t eat like this 7 days a week but when in a pinch packaged foods can be a saviour!

ALSO SORRY NO PHOTO OF MY PLATE OR COOKING PROCESS I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICK AND ATE IT FIRST BUT HERES THE PACKAGE

This week we made homemade pho, a traditional Vietnamese cuisine that is quite popular in our western world. Me and Monica decided to make pho as her background is Vietnamese and both of us love eating diverse foods, therefore with the access to her home kitchen and a plethora of Vietnamese foods and spices, it only made sense to take advantage of the situation.

Pho is Vietnamese noodle soup pronounced “fuh” it is created with broth, rice noodles, meat, and fresh garnishes. The traditional versions require much more effort and love and we were lucky to have Monica’s mom Rose put that love and effort in for us. Rose will often prepare pho for Monica’s family at home and had actually made a bone broth that we were able to use as a base for ours.

The broth is the most laborious part of the recipe and to be honest where the majority of the flavour will be developed, therefore as me and Monica had a 24 hour boiled broth to work from without having to do it ourselves we were truly cheating on making a homemade pho. Our approach having a pre-made broth is however how most cooks will have to approach pho. For the most part everyday people will not have time or access to boil pork or beef bones for over 24 hours, leaving a pre-made broth as a necessary substitute.

Our process in cooking was quite simple, all that was required was boiling rice noodles and pre cooked beef balls, both we had purchased from a grocery store. After that we added whatever garnishes we wanted which happened to be cilantro and red onions. The only other two additions were shaved beef tenderloin and tripe (stomach lining). These two final additions were cooked through by the addition of the hot broth to the bowl. Finally we both doused our soups in Siracha, her a bit to ambitiously as the end product was too spicy for her to finish.

With a pre made broth and store bought ingredients this recipe falls to a 4/10 and is very easy and fun to prepare. I highly encourage everyone to try it as a food to get over a runny nose, especially if adding a heavy amount of spicy, great way to cleanse the sinuses.

Above is a screen recorded video on an Iphone which shows how simple the process of finding an easy to follow pho recipe can be, in case wanting to recreate this at home!