Eat's A Treat!

I didn’t know it was pretty hard cumbersome to write recipes that meet the HACCP* standards.

I have a Hygiene and Sanitary Systems (Food Safety) class this sem and were discussing HACCP now (after discussing the flow of food, etc). And we were given homework last Thursday which needed to be submitted today.

I procrastinated and waited until my free time this morning to do the homework prior to class. It took me my whole vacant period (approximately 1.5 hours) to finish writing the recipe. That is, coz our teacher didn’t give us a format to use so I had to go around looking for one that I feel would suit her preferences.

I decided to write a HACCP recipe for my stuffed bell peppers (this is a copy of the homework I submitted too).

STUFFED BELL PEPPERS

PURCHASING, RECEIVING, STORAGE

1.       Ensure purchases were made from approved, reputable suppliers.

2.       Inspection of meat and produce was made during deliveries and they passed your standards.

CCP: Meat received at 41F or lower (Firm flesh, no odor, good color); Produce are all fresh (no discoloring, worm holes etc)

3.       Meat and storage were properly stored.

CCP: Meat frozen at 0C, or below. Fresh produce stored cool and dry, temperature between 50 to 70F at least 6inches above the ground.

PREPARATION

Beginning of the Recipe

1.       Clean and sanitize all equipment and prep areas to be used.

2.       Wear a clean uniform and hat (hairnet, if necessary). Ensure you are not wearing any jewelry or watch and have clean, cut fingernails.

3.       Wash hands with warm, soapy water according to health regulations.

4.       Wash vegetables under cold, running potable water.

CCP: Don’t mix the vegetables to prevent cross contamination.

5.       Ensure ground beef was properly thawed (in the refrigerator prior to use) at 41F or lower.

CCP: Ensure temperature while thawing is outside Temperature Danger Zone (at 41F or lower).

6.       Wear single use disposable hand gloves to ensure no bare hand contact during food preparation (change as soon as they are soiled or torn, every four hours during continual use or before moving on to the preparation of a different food group).

Food Preparation

7.       Bring a large pot of water to boil.

CCP: Hold at 135F or higher

8.       Meanwhile, cut top off peppers 1 inch from the stem end, and remove seeds.

CCP: Avoid bare hand contact with peppers.

9.       Add several generous pinches of salt to boiling water, then add peppers and boil, using a spoon to keep peppers completely submerged, until brilliant green (or red if red peppers) and their flesh slightly softened, about 3 minutes.

CCP: Avoid bare hand contact with peppers and salt.

10.   Drain, set aside.

CCP: Set aside and hold at 135F for 4 hours, at most. If not used within 4 hours, discard.

11.   Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

12.   Heat 4 tbsp of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

13.   Add onions and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more.

CCP: Cook at 135F or higher

14.   Remove skillet from heat, add meat.

CCP: Wash hands with warm, soapy water according to health regulations prior to handling the meat. Change to a new pair of single use disposable gloves.

15.   Add tomatoes, and oregano, and season generously with salt and pepper.

CCP: Wash hands with warm, soapy water according to health regulations prior to handling the produce. Change to a new pair of single use disposable gloves.

16.    Mix well. (You may find it easier to put the ingredients at this point into a large bowl and mix together with your hands using a new pair of single use disposable gloves).

CCP: Ensure that gloves are not torn or soiled.

17.   Drizzle remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil inside the peppers.

CCP: Wash hands with warm, soapy water according to health regulations. Change to a new pair of single use disposable gloves.

18.   Arrange the cut side of the peppers up in a baking dish, then stuff peppers with filling.

CCP: Ensure that gloves are not torn or soiled.

19.   Combine ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, and 1/4 cup of water in a small bowl, then spoon over filling.

CCP: Wash hands with warm, soapy water according to health regulations. Change to a new pair of single use disposable gloves.

20.   Add 1/4 cup of potable water to the baking dish.

21.   Place in oven and bake for 40-50 minutes (or longer, depending on how big the peppers are that you are stuffing).

CCP: Minimum internal cooking temperature at 165F. Check temperature using a calibrated, sanitized, metal stemmed thermometer.

Holding Food

22.   Transfer to the serving table for hot holding at 135F or higher.

CCP: Label the food with the time you must throw out the food. Check temperature often. If holding time > than 4 hours, discard.

Cooling Food

23.   If not served immediately, cool the stuffed bell peppers using an ice bath, steam jacketed kettle, blast chiller or blast freezer. Cool to 70F within 2 hours.

CCP: Refrigerate immediately at 70F within 2 hours. Ensure the stuffed bell peppers are kept away from the Temperature Danger Zone (41 to 135F).

24.   Once the stuffed bell peppers have reached 70F it can now be stored in the top shelf of the refrigerator.

CCP: Cool at 70 to 41F or lower in the next four hours.  Ensure the stuffed bell peppers are kept away from the Temperature Danger Zone (41 to 135F).

Reheating Food

25.   Stuffed bell peppers must be reheated to 165F for 15 seconds, serve immediately.

Service

26.   Use clean and sanitized utensils for serving.

27.   Avoid bare hand contact during service.

Potential allergens: Tomatoes, oregano, Worcestershire sauce.

—-

And strictly speaking, that’s not even in super correct form yet coz I didn’t use the correct weight measurements in stating the quantity nor did I compute nutritional value. Yikes! Haha!

*HACCP: Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point

The perfect ending for Valentine’s week. :)

Last Friday, I stayed at a groupmate’s house coz we had to make a video on the topic “Preparation and Cooking” for our F&B 101 subject. That is, Hygiene and Sanitary Systems.

We did a cooking demo video and the star of the show: Chicken Cordon Bleu. It was sooo good that I made some at home for my brother to taste this week.

INGREDIENTS:

Chicken fillets, thigh or breast (If you buy your fillets from the grocery then two fillets are needed for one cordon blue)

Canadian bacon or Ham

Cheese (when we did it last week we used Gruyere, for this one I used some left over Queso de Bola)

Flour

3 eggs

Breadcrumbs

OTHER EQUIPMENT:

Saran Wrap/Cling wrap

HOW TO:

1. Sandwich the canadian ham and cheese in between two fillets. You can trim off the fat of the canadian bacon. I didn’t. ;)

2. Wrap tightly making a tubular shape using cling wrap. You should be able to make this air tight.

3. Chill for 15 to 25 minutes (for the one pictured above, I cut a bit on this step that’s why I wasn’t able to perfect the tubular shape and it came out layered instead).

4. For the batter, prepare flour and breadcrums in separate bowls. Beat eggs in another bowl.

5. After the fillets have chilled, coat them in flour, dip them in the egg mixture then the breadcrumbs. Be carefult that the fillets don’t lose their shape or fall apart on this step.

6. Chill for another 15 to 20 minutes to hold its shape.

7. Pre-heat oven to about 180 degrees F.

8. In a pan, heat some oil. When the chicken cordon bleu has been chilled fry them. This is only to pan-sear it and give it a golden brown color. Once golden brown, transfer to an oven-friendly dish.

9. Put a thin slice of butter on each chicken cordon bleu.

10. Cook in oven for about 20 to 40 minutes, depending on the thickness of your chicken cordon bleu.

11. Plate, serve hot and enjoy!

p.s. - When I posted this on my Facebook album, a friend commented this is better than the KFC Double Down. I have to totally agree. ;)

Remember this cartoon CG animation?

About two weeks ago, we made the dish in kitchen lab. And tonight I decided to recreate it at home.

INGREDIENTS:

About 6 to 10 Tomatoes

Green Bell Pepper, Yellow Bell Pepper, Red Pepper (1 each)

1 White Onion, minced but not too fine

1 Zucchini 

1 Eggplant

About 4-6 Garlic cloves, crushed

Thyme

Basil

Parsley

Olive Oil (as needed)

Salt (as needed)

Pepper (as needed)  

HOW TO:

Preparation of the Vegetables

1. Blanch, peel, deseed the tomatoes and cut into quarters.

2. Burn the peppers, peel, deseed and cut them in 2 x 5 cm strips or squares.

3. Peel and chop the onions into 3 mm thick pieces.

4. Wash and cut in half the zucchini, remove the center and slice into squares/dices.

5. Wash the eggplants and cut them in half slices of the same thickness.

6. Crush the garlic cloves.

7. Pluck the thyme. Wash and pluck the basil and parsley.

Cooking of the Ratatouille

8. Heat up a pot with olive oil and sweat onions, garlic and tomatoes.

9. Cook gently for almost 30 minutes. Add the thyme, mix and keep warm.

10. Heat up a large pan with olive oil and sauté the eggplants. Season with salt. Strain and set them aside.

11. Do the same for the zucchini and bellpeppers. 

12. Once done, mix in all of the vegetables to the cooked tomatoes and further simmer then until everything is tender.

Finish and Presentation

13. Adjust the seasoning. Add a dash of olive oil, parsley, and ground basil.

14. Arrange the ratatouille on a plate. Garnish.

Enjoy the dish as much as we did! :)

Now, making this dish wants me to watch the film again. ;)