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    "There is no sincerer love than the love of food." -George Bernard Shaw

    MY JOURNEY THROUGH FOOD
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    Etoile
    Yara Suki
    • Oct 17, 2015

    Etoile

    To celebrate the completion of my month in France, I decided to treat myself to the experience of a Michelin-starred restaurant. I researched restaurants in every city that I visited in my month here, hoping that I’d manage a glamorous evening at a wonderful restaurant. One thing that I did know was that I wanted a tasting menu, so that I could try a large variety of their talents in one sitting. My research finally led me to Le Jardin des Sens. It was a restaurant attached t
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    Adventure Club
    Yara Suki
    • Oct 10, 2015

    Adventure Club

    Friday Per tradition, we had trouble on our weekend. On Friday evening, we were supposed to leave the residence at 6:26pm to make the 7pm bus to the train station. It seemed that all was going well, but our train was delayed 20 minutes - making our connections impossible to reach. The ticket seller said we have 2 minutes to take another train to get to the station in time for the connection. While Jennifer and I were trying to buy the tickets, Tory, Zsofie, and Erica went to
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    Yara Suki
    • Oct 7, 2015

    No Whining about the Wine

    I have a lot of notes from my French Cheese and Wine class today. Bare with me as I write them out for safekeeping! Cheese is made of only 4 ingredients: Milk (cow, sheep or goat), Rennet (the enzyme that coagulates milk), Lactic Ferments, and Salt. According to the Gastronomicom expert, any cheese with other ingredients is simply a cheese specialty. On average, cheese are 50% water, 25% fat and 20% protein. There are many characteristics of cheese that help you identify chee
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    Cho-co-la-te
    Yara Suki
    • Oct 6, 2015

    Cho-co-la-te

    This week is chocolate week! While most would approach this week with excitement and anticipation, I felt queasy. I've seen the movie Chocolat. It's complicated and from my past experiences with chocolate desserts, it is not simple. You can burn it quickly. You can cool it too quickly. There are plenty of places to go wrong. Today, we melted dark chocolate and blond chocolate, which tastes a lot like toffee. We melted it over the double boiler and poured 3/4 onto the table. U
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    How to Filet a Fish
    Yara Suki
    • Oct 5, 2015

    How to Filet a Fish

    Here are the steps to fileting a fish. Start by cutting off all the fins. Fins are very painful if they poke you. Continue by running the back of your knife on the fish all over to get the scales off. Do not forget the underside. If you plan to remove the sking, then it isn't to pertinent to scale the fish. Otherwise, remove all thoroughly. It may help to do it under water to avoid flying scales. The next step is to slice on the bottom of the fish from the head to the middle
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    Montpellier
    Yara Suki
    • Oct 4, 2015

    Montpellier

    Saturday was both cold and rainy. I was definitely underprepared for the weather. It would have been useful to check the forecast, but... no use dwelling on the past. Tory, Jennifer, and I took the first bus and the early train to Montpellier for the day. Our original plan for the day was to take a walking food tour around the area, shop, and visit the historic sites. Lucky for us, the tour was cancelled and we got stuck shopping most of the day, due to the heavy rain. We ha
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    Escar-gross
    Yara Suki
    • Sep 30, 2015

    Escar-gross

    In Cuisine class today, I had a very tough time. As far as skills go, it wasn't hard too hard. It really tested my ability to hold my breath and close my eyes. We made Escargot. Chef Samuel said it was delicious with garlic, butter and parsley. I started by running to grab latex gloves. I was not going to touch them - not a chance. We started by rinsing the live snails and removing the seal they create during the hibernation. We then salt them liberally to purge them. Once th
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    Tomato Risotto
    Yara Suki
    • Sep 29, 2015

    Tomato Risotto

    This afternoon, we made Tomato Risotto. Although I've made risotto many times in the past, I still learned the correct process. We started by sweating onions, salt, and shallots with a whole garlic au chemise (with the peel on). Once translucent, we add in the arborio rice and fry until the get more translucent. The purpose of this is to fry the outside, allowing the rice to keep it's texture. Once the rice is ready, cover with white wine and allow to boil and reduce. Slowl
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    Gruyère
    Yara Suki
    • Sep 26, 2015

    Gruyère

    This morning we woke up in the Gruyere region of Switzerland. Peering out the window, we see the Alps and the variety of cows, sheep, and goats. Erica, Jennifer, Tory and I got ready to set out on our adventure. We drove from Bulle to a bus stop. The bus took us to the town of Charmey for the Desalpe Festival. Every summer, the cows go to the mountains to graze. Every fall, the farmers celebrate the return to the pastures. The cows were decorated with large bells and dressed
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    Not Bad for a Friday
    Yara Suki
    • Sep 25, 2015

    Not Bad for a Friday

    Erica and I packed our weekend gear for the whole weekend and made our way to school. She walked and I took the bus. I wore my coat and boots, because I had no way to fit them in my tiny Jansport bag. In pastry class, we made the Country bread and the small bread. These were my favorites. I don't typically have a large sweet tooth. These breads were right up my alley. Chef Cyril taught us many shapes that I definitely had never fathomed were possible. The country breads were
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    Thank Me Later...
    Yara Suki
    • Sep 24, 2015

    Thank Me Later...

    I can't even find the words to express the feeling of satisfaction that I've experienced this week in baking. I've never practiced baking this much. It has been a work out, but a rigorous journey. I came home today with 10 croissants, a braided brioche, 6 chocolate croissants, and 10 Tarts au Sucre. I am feeling a slight fear, regarding my inability to eat this and maintain a reasonable level of health. Favorite of the Day: Brioche - Tart au Sucre 250g T45 Flour 250g Traditio
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    Fougasse
    Yara Suki
    • Sep 23, 2015

    Fougasse

    I woke up today with sore forearms. Ready to bake. Little did I know, but we were going to bake in both classes today. Bread and bread galore! We made an assorment of doughs in Pastry class and a few intriguing recipes in Cuisine class. The most exciting thing today was the Fougasses - a Foccacia bread that we made with Tomato Confit and Bacon. It smelled amazing even before it was baked. When Chef Cyril put it in the oven, I definitely heard my stomach grumble. It was a very
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    Recipes of the Day
    Yara Suki
    • Sep 22, 2015

    Recipes of the Day

    Recipes of the Day: Pain Au Chocolat 370g Flour T45 12g Live Yeast 30g Sugar 8g Salt 20g Powdered Milk 50g Whole Eggs 4g Honey 170g Water 75g Butter 10 Chocolate sticks Steps: Mix and create an O on the counter. Pour the eggs, honey, and 3/4 of the water in the middle. mix the liquids, slowly adding small amounts of flour to the center. Using the scraper in your other hand, begin to scrape the dry ingredients into the middle. combine by hand. Add water, if necessary until com
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    Settling In
    Yara Suki
    • Sep 19, 2015

    Settling In

    I woke up today, cold. I had yogurt and grapes for breakfast and dressed for a tour of the school. Lise and Stephanie picked us up. We finished our paperwork and payments. We toured the facility, which only opened a year ago. We sat patiently for a few hours until we all finished our paperwork. Lise dropped us off at the apartment and we slipped on our swimsuits. It was a perfect day- not a single stray cloud and the warm sun. We lunched at Mangos. I ordered the Chevre Chaud
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    Traveler
    Yara Suki
    • Sep 19, 2015

    Traveler

    All by myself, I left to France. My entire journey took about 24 hours, as expected. My flights were quick and easy. The gate I arrived at was immediately next to my gate for France, which was very convenient. Despite my usual aversion, I ate by myself at a restaurant. Wanting something light to fill me, I ordered a salad. As you can tell from the photo, I couldn't resist the fries (which I should have since they were frozen). I've noticed that a salad that isn't tossed in dr
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