I must say that I am sometimes very impressed at the variety of items which appear in the cookbooks of our culinary students. On the Friday in question, the roast beef, gravy, and Yorkshire pudding were being served with breaded rice balls and roasted red peppers stuffed with quinoa; a colorful and flavorful (although slightly carb-heavy) meal.
Personally, I am always impressed by any kitchen that can produce fresh Yorkshire pudding for several hundred people. Making Yorkshire pudding is more skill than art, and timing is everything. First the pans must be heated with oil in the bottom of the cups, then the cold batter is added quickly. Lastly, the pans are immediately returned to the oven where it is shut tight. If a chef moves too slowly with these crucial steps, then the Yorkshires won’t expand to their trademark fluffy height in the oven. The Yorkshire’s then must be served within an hour or they lose their tenderness and develop a texture that is similar to the sole of a Phys Ed student’s shoe. My hat is off to the students who made these Yorkshire puddings, as they were perfect.
Roast beef, or "roast beast" as the literary great Dr. Seuss once called it, isn’t nearly as tricky as the Yorkshire pudding. It’s one of those “set it and forget it” foods. All the students had to do was put it in the oven early enough to let it cook low and slow. The cheaper the cut; the longer and lower the temperature. Unfortunately, the particular cut that was served that day was not of the best quality, probably due to the high-cost of beef and the school budget. Even though my slice had the perfect amount of pink in the middle, it was still quite tough. I would recommend that if the students are serving this particular cut again, that they lower the oven temperature and put it in slightly earlier. There is no need for the students to adjust the recipe to the gravy however. It was perfect.
Pronouncing the names of the side dishes for the rest of the meal seemed to be a challenge to the culinary students and cafeteria staff, which is very entertaining to those of us who ordered it. The rice balls contained a type of mozzarella, which the student chefs seemed to pronounce exactly the same as the name of a certain member of the Toronto Blue Jays, and the roasted red peppers were stuffed with “kwin-oh-ah.” I had to stifle some giggles at these pronunciations while carrying my tray. I am pleased to say that the English department would likely be very forgiving of these pronunciations once seeing these side-dishes, however. The roasted red peppers stuffed with quinoa were shiny and colorful, and the rice balls were perfectly “round and browned.” I found the stuffed red peppers to be wonderfully flavorful, as were the rice balls. I prefer rice balls to be slightly more sticky and chewy on the inside, but that is a personal preference; I don’t think that this recipe needs to be changed.
I definitely recommend this not-so-beastly meal to my fellow students. I also recommend that they like the VIU Food Services page on Facebook so they can read the menu daily when it is posted in the newsfeed. It is well-worth planning a trip to the cafeteria for lunch on the days when the culinary students are showing off their skills to a smaller audience.
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| Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, rice balls, and roasted red peppers stuffed with quinoa |
