SFUAD Burger

So just to talk a little about myself I’m a student at Santa Fe University of Arts and Design, I’m a filmmaker and as you already know I have a passion for food; I’m telling this story because when I first came here; I think it was 2010 the cafeteria was non existent in this college, sooner the college grew and we finally had a cafeteria. The problem now was the food, I could see it within myself and others no one liked the food, some people started to become fat and I started to throw up that nasty food. It’s true. A year passed and they promised to change the cafeteria catering service but in the end it turned up to be the same disgusting fattening crap and terrible vegetarian food which I hate.

I was then to transfer to SFUAD (being that I was an exchange student and not a full time student at SFUAD) due to many stupid paperwork reasons I was unfortunately unable to come back last semester (fall 2012) That’s when a change happened in the cafeteria but since I was not at SFUAD to see the change, I was unaware and skeptical about the food this semester (spring 2013). Since I live in the apartments I actually get a kitchen where I can cook for myself (and as you can see I can cook, Cooking has made me more aware of health concerns due to bad food (like the food we got at the cafe a year ago) and so I started my quest to find the freshest products with the best quality.

Living in the apartments and cooking for myself made it a very easy choice for me to opt out of my “Meals” in the housing contract (the contract still requires me to pay for the minimal of meals which are Flex Dollars; it’s a point system that gets put in our student ID’s that allows us to buy food and snacks at the cafe, but only during off hours; meaning I can’t go and order something while it’s regular lunch/breakfast/dinner time; I can however pay for a lunch but at the cost of about 10 bucks, which I can pay with Flex; the problem with Flex is that those points do not last all semester meaning I would still need to get my own food at some point) Given that Flex was to be my last resort in getting food, and my distrust for cafeteria food, I did not recur to the cafe until now.

As soon as I walked in the cafe for the very first time in a year, I could tell already the rumored changes were in fact impressive; but I was stil yet to try the food. In my mind the food was going to be mediocre but I had cooked this afternoon and didn’t feel like cooking something else for dinner, hence me taking a chance at the cafeteria food.

The system to place your order was smarter, quicker, easier than before, you fill out a little paper with the menu printed on it and you give a copy of it to the cashier, then you give the order at the kitchen and they immediately start working on your order.

Based by the title you already know what I ordered; Hamburgers ARE MY FAVORITE dish in all the world, Nothing can top a good hamburger in my opinion. Last year the cafe made these terrible hamburgers that I would go as far as to call them crappier than a Burger King burger… Yeah I’m serious and it was real. By the time I received my order you should have seen my expression; my eyes widened; my mouth opened and I think at some point a little tear wanted to come out; it was a burger that exceeded my expectations by far, this burger was beautiful like the kind you see pictures in Mc D’s except this one was for real. I then proceded to add Dijon Mustard (it’s the only kind of mustard I like; and was impressed that the cafe NOW carried Dijon Mustard, WOW!) then some mayo and my favorite brand of ketchup Heinz 😀 This burger was surely to become an awesome dinner. That being said I told the workers in the kitchen about my past experience in the cafe and how it was my first time eating with the new catering service and they were glad to hear that I loved it; soon they explained that they only cook with locally grown food and organic meats, vegetables and fruits. It was no wonder why this burger looked top notch; the chef sure seems to have great knowledge about food and  the importance of knowing where it comes from.

I am sad to say that this semester I opted out of my meal plan due to fear of paying extra money to the school for some crappy food, now I sort of regret that I missed out on this great food, that is truly made with passion, love, and above all a smart brain!

I congratulated the workers there for it must be an honor to be working in a beautiful kitchen like that.

I will be back for more, for sure.

Now the next step would be to copy the Santa Fe Community College so we can have our own gardens that way we teach some students the value of food.

Meanwhile here’s a picture because you know you want to see what I’m talking about. (I hate pickles and I ate that too, that’s how good that is)

 

Isn’t it wonderful… 😀

It’s a FISH! Tilapia with sweet chili sour cream sauce…. It’s a FISH.

So I had a little bit of sour cream (organic without conservatives and local) this past monday that had an expiration date that same day… (click here for expiration article) so i decided to make some sweet chili sour cream sauce, of course it was too much for what I was cooking which is the exact same recipe I’m going to tell you; Today I used the left over sauce and made the fish 😀 I also made up a salad which turned out to be quite good and refreshing. And as you might already know I love spicy stuff so here we are cooking again with some serranos 😀

Ingredients

1 tilapia fish (try to buy fresh one I asure you it’s much tastier than the frozen one I used you can also used catfish I guess… It’s a very similar flavor to tilapia)

1/2 white onion (diced try to make it as small as you can, not perfectly small though)

1 green serrano pepper (diced as small as possible, make it really really small!)

Sweet chili sauce (you can buy it at your grocery store in the asian food section)

Sour Cream (I used local organic Sour Cream, I want you to try to buy this kind as other creams might contain MPC’s)

1 leaf of lettuce (any kind will do, I had the leafy kind)

1/2 lemon (OK let’s get this clear I’m from Mexico and lemon for me is your limes so here’s a picture so you know what’s up)

cooking oil (you can use canola/olive/vegetable; I used vegetable oil)

Salt & Pepper

Directions

Sweet chili sour cream sauce

1. add a couple of dollops of sour cream into a blender (depends on how much you want to make)

2. add half the amount (of sour cream you used) of sweet chili sauce to blender

3. blend until it’s light orange or salmon pink

The Fish (if it’s frozen unfreeze as directed in the package)

1. preheat your pan between medium and high temperature. wait until it’s quite hot to add your oil.

2. add your oil once the pan is hot. (you’re going to fry the onions and the serrano and finally the fish)

3. mix the onions and serrano in your cutting board; use half of it and put it in the pan. You want to caramelize them (I like them burnt, almost black or black).

4. put the fish in the pan (we’re going to fry it) try to mix it with the onions and serrano that way you can add some of the flavor to it.

5. flip over the fish when you think it’s ready on one side continue doing so for about 10 minutes (I really just wing the time just make sure it’s well done otherwise you’re going to eat raw fish… which isn’t bad for you either; but we don’t want that) Season the whole thing with a pinch of salt and pepper (I use the salt and pepper grinders so I just twist it a few times)

Once your fish is ready place on plate (make sure to top it with your onions and serranos).

Salad

For the salad I used a big leaf of my leafy lettuce and tore it into smaller pieces; I added the rest of my onion and serrano on top and added a little bit our LIME (for me it’s lemon) and some olive oil (I used vegetable oil which can be used for dressings too; I prefer olive oil but didn’t have any at hand)

Fish Preparation

1. Drizzle your Sweet Chili Sour Cream Sauce on top of the fish.

2. I added a few drops of LIME on it. (just use the same one you used for the salad)

3. enjoy; you’re done.

Surprise Mini Recipe!!!

Ingredients

1 grapefruit

1 orange

(some sparkling water/tonic water/mineral water; whichever tickles your fancy :D; I used tonic water)

Preparation

I’m not the kitchen police; if you don’t like the little fibers from the Oranges and Grapefruit use a strainer; simple as that. (they’re good for you though and I personally added as much fibers into the drink as posible)

1. use a juicer (I used a manual one like this one; as always use whatever juicer you want) and juiced into a cup both the orange and the grapefruit.

2. I added a little bit of tonic water just to fill up the cup a bit more. (it makes the juice taste like some freaky natural soda that you never had because you’re probably sipping on that Fanta aren’t you? 😀 Hehe )

3. Enjoy