Culinary School – Week Ten – Shellfish

oh my goodness. This has been a big big week for me. Not only was it my birthday on Monday (I am still celebrating) but I tried so many different kinds of shellfish that I never even thought I would ever try! And so many fabulous people at culinary school made me cakes, cupcakes and creme brulee… but more on that tomorrow… it deserves its own post 🙂

The thought of trying an oyster never even crossed my mind until I read this weeks recipes from school. And then I was scared because omg… I have never tried an oyster… and its so slimy… and gross. But I did… and it wasn’t half bad! And then I proceed to shuck oysters for a few of our upcoming dishes!

One of my favorite dishes of the night was Paella… filled with tons of saffron rice and shrimp, mussels, sausage and other fabulous goodness! Like all other dishes that involve shrimp… I ate a ton of this!

Let’s take a closer looks at all that goodness inside the paella! The shrimp, mussels, and everything else was so delicious.
And then we made a Fried Calamari Salad…. ummmm amazing! But before we fried the calamari we had to be-head the squid. They were slimy and not so pretty… but man did they taste good.
The salad was topped with an amazing garlic dressing as well as anchovies (yikes). It was packed full of fresh romaine lettuce, tomato wedges, green bell pepper and tons of cucumbers 🙂

These Scallops in a Leek Confit and a reduce Balsamic Glaze were simply to die for. The balsamic dressing has been significantly reduced and topped with a leek confit. The confit is a slow cooking process of super super finely chopped leeks as well as shallots and cream and salt and pepper. The top of the scallop is coated in panko bread crumbs and then seared on both sides. It was delicious!
Later we made oysters in lettuce bundles topped with black caviar!
Doesn’t that look delicious?
Lastly we made mussels with a cream sauce and garlic bread toasts! This was so delicious… even just the toast dipped in the sauce was amazing!All in all it was a big night for me… trying so many different foods and eating so many fabulous birthday desserts! Check back tomorrow to see all the decadent birthday desserts!