Infused oils

Sorry I haven't been doing any updates, I have had well let's just say some technical issues with my PC.
After our last class with the sexy sauces and oils I found myself wondering what kind of unique different oil can I come up with? This is my small offering to the culinary world of infused oils.
The oil on the left is a citrus oil made with tangerine and thyme, I first heated up the oil and then added A few springs of fresh thyme just to start the flavor enhancement. I removed it from the heat let it come to almost room temperature and added the tangerine peels. From there I added a few more sprigs and let sit for a few hours, strained the mixture into A sterilized bottle then into the chill chest.
To the right is my cilantro,garlic chili oil. I roasted some dried chilies and chili powder just until I smelled their wonderful aroma saturating the air. I added a sliced garlic clove "sliced" and saute them for just minute or so. I added the oil and slowly warmed the mixture to incorporate all the delicious flavors. Then to the blender which had the cilantro waiting happily for the yummy oil to join in the party. It was then blended strained allowed to cool before I packed it up for later use.
These were fun to create, and I can't wait to try them out on some unsuspecting chicken breast, with a tastee creamy risotto and salad.

Cakes

Today's class was cakes, did you know that the process for making Italian Butter-cream is ridiculously long? Adding butter one lonely piece at a time is a major undertaking. The results are well worth the effort providing that you don't break the cream and need to start from point one, today I was the one of the lucky one's. With the addition of a little almond extract and some orange zest I managed to pull of a great tasting frosting.
This was a good day My cakes turned out fairly well, as did the rest of the class. I do have to say that when all was done at the end of the class: you could all but tell who the talented decorators are. Some did an awesome job and others not so well. However everyone has great potential, and with a little practice will do very good things in the world of cake.
Just remember that if it looks good taste it!!

Todays soups and sauces class

Let's begin with our mayonnaise experiment, Today we learned that it is indeed possible to make a mayo from scratch in as little as one min. Unfortunately not so well for me. I just couldn't get it to thicken. Even after adding a little heat, still no luck =( We learned a valuable secret which has to do with the egg.It seems if you !7%fg#4 the egg it works quite well.
Hollandaise sauce, This on was more my speed I had a little problem when it thickened up a bit too much, but patients pays off, oh with the help of a little h2o thinned it right out and gave me a smooth velvety texture.
I would not call the day a great day, it seemed I had an enemy in the room today and that enemy one. The for mentioned foe just so happened to be my own hands, well the one doing the cutting anyway, not only did this well prepared opponent win; but he beat me up both mentally and physically. Not with a single cut but when the smoke cleared and the battle over he unleashed a total of 4 wounds,one of which proved to be the finishing blow.
If we keep going and learn from our mistakes, we can only grow wiser and more knowledgeable in all we do.

keep cooking, and taste everything.
p.s. be nice to your knives