JOB CORP FINE DINING

The Job Corp. has a Fine Dining department to train young future culinary professionals. They offer a three course lunch to the public to showcase their evolving talents. This lunch has a price tag of 13 dollars. It is a bargain and culinary treat. The students deliver high caliper magazine cover shot looking dishes. We would like to share a few of these dishes we experienced.

The public is invited and the only requirement is one must have a reservation. This reservation is beginning to become a little harder to get because the word is spreading about this culinary treat. One calls with a date and they will usually counter with an alternative. Once your reservation is obtained you must travel to Treasure Island which is located in the middle of the San Francisco Bay. Million dollar views are possible from this former sight of the Worlds Fair 1939.

 Beef Wellington with Green Peppercorn sauce in a puff pastry with prosciutto di parma with mushrooms duxelle and Dijon mustard, served with potato puree.

Baked herb polenta cake with wild mushroom truffle salad, white wine, shallots and porcini jus.

House made linguine with Maine lobster creme sauce sauteed with butter prawns lobster meat, shallots tarragon,and peas served in a cognac cream sauce.

I like to call this plate the pre-dessert to get you ready for the real dessert of; fancy Berry crisp that the waiter poured real 'cream anglaise' on top and had a side of real whipped cream. Oh my! It was still warm and so decadent.

The best 13 dollars we have spent. This is a lot of fun. They ask you to fill out a comment card to critique your meal to help the students. My card had nothing but praise. To nitpick my only editorial was the beef was a tad over done. I still loved the dish and sopped up the sauce with the house made bread. What a treat.

RICHMOND SAN RAFAEL CHEESECAKE

It was a beautiful day to ride the newly opened Richmond San Rafael bridge bike lane. This controversial bike lane has been in the planing stage for many years. At great cost and to the ire of angry car commuters this lane has finally opened. The bridge begins in Richmond at the Chevron refinery and ends at the famous San Quentin prison. It is a windy, exposed, 10 ft wide path, that climbs and descends, five miles long,  right next to the traffic lane, path.With all that said, I wanted to experience this ride.

The ride was spectacular. At times I went faster than the commute traffic. It was breezy but being high above the bay made for some spectacular views. You definitely worked up an appetite pedaling this mighty span.

Ms. Goofy may be the best wife ever. When I arrived home she had a Peanut butter, Oreo cookie, chocolate, and brownie bottomed cheesecake ready for enjoyment. It was a good day.

SPARTA Q VI

A fundraiser for the San Jose State University Women's Softball brought us out to judge our last bbq competition of the year.The weather could not of been nicer. The temperature was in the low 70's which made for a great atmosphere for bbq fun. We would like to share a few images with you.

Today's competition was three categories of pork ribs, tri-tip and the mystery meat. The mystery meat was an unusual meat of canned Vienna Sausage. This challenged the cooks to take a fancy titled hot dog and wow the judges. I do admit they did a pretty impressive job. One cook made a pastry crusted pot pie. We had tacos , jalapeno poppers, fried and numerous creative renditions of this pedestrian meat selection.

The latest trend is the cornhole competition. It seems this sport (?) has been showing up at numerous events. When we entered the event we had to maneuver around bean bag tossing players. When we left five hours later the contest was still in full swing. It actually looks like fun but I would have to set my rib down to toss, or would I?

The public had an opportunity to purchase bbq foods to support the Women's Softball. Women in their uniforms helped serve the public. There also was a silent auction benefiting the team. This was a fun cause that we were happy to help out with. Of course we do love to judge bbq.

Today was a bitter sweet bbq contest. It is always a little sad knowing it it the last bbq contest of the year but the turn around will be short. We have a contest scheduled in January. We had a blast today and had fun helping the Women's Softball team.

Happy Veterans Day

This is a photo of my father who severed in the Army during the Second World War. Today, Veterans Day (formerly known as Armistice Day) we honor vets and thank them for their service. Thankyou

  

What does Ms.Goofy's key lime pie have to do with Veterans Day? Not much but it sure tastes good.

STEAK-UMM

I collect Buck 110 pocket knives. Vintage, custom and unique are in my congregation of bright shiny knives. This particular engraved knife caught my eye as being fun and who does not like steak? It was made several years back. (1981-19860.I never knew there was an actual product called 'Steak-umm' till today. In the name of research for my few Mad Meat Genius readers we are going to try a box of Steak-umm.

Steak-umm is an inexpensive frozen steak product. It is 100%beef, "All Natural' and promises, on the box, to be 100% delicious. The box also tells me it has been chopped, shaped and thinly sliced. The box is open to reveal 6 paper thin frozen beef slices separated by parchment paper. The cooking instructions are to fry a minute on each side. I cooked each slice with some peppers and onions. I have to admit these beef slices did not look very appetizing frozen or in its cooked form. I chopped the beef into bite size pieces and mixed it with the peppers, onions and made a sandwich.

One eats with their eyes first and my first impression was reinforced with an actual bite of this product. While this beef was not terrible it is not very good. To me it had a slight metallic taste (?). It was easy to prepare and cheap. Enough said. To look on the bright side. I have a fun, bright shiny and new/old Buck knife.