Herb and Spice ID, Nicoise Salad, and Mushrooms Berkeley

Bravo! We've made it to Salads, Day 2! We began the class with a surprise Herb & Spice ID quiz. Can you identify all of the spices/herbs below?

A few important things to note about herbs and spices: The words "herb" and "spice" are not interchangeable! Each word classifies its own collection of flavorful additions to your dish.
Herbs are leafy plants and spices come from bark, stems, or seeds. There are also aromatics (added for smell) and seasonings, added for color, flavor, or to change the chemical composition of food.
Herbs: rosemary, thyme, parsely, sage, tarragon, mint, basil, cilantro (yuck)
Spices: cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, peppercorns, mustard seed
Aromatics: saffron, bay leaf, parsley stems, juniper berries
Seasonings: sugar, sour salt, salt

Each has different uses in recipes. Next time you make a recipe, think about how each ingredient adds to the dish: Is its smell? Flavor? Chemistry? Be sure to always feel, taste, and smell new ingredients so you get acquainted. You may find that a hint of chocolate mint in your hot cocoa or lemon thyme in your pasta sauce may put your recipe a notch above mundane.

Below, pink peppercorns. *WARNING - these are not actually peppercorns. They are, in fact, berries, and are related to the poison ivy plant. They may cause a reaction in someone who has a severe allergy to poison ivy. They are also in the family of tree nuts, so keep these pretty berries out of schools, camps, etc. Read more about the allergy here.

 Then we moved on to learning how to make Mushrooms Berkeley. Here is my ingredient setup:

We sweated the mushrooms twice in a pan, and each time, we heard them squeak. See the video below.

Here they are! All finished.

We finally made it to a composed salad recipe; more specifically, a Salad Niçoise. To build this salad, there had to be the following components:
~tuna
~green beans, usually blanched
~potatoes, usually boiled and chunked or sliced
~tomatoes, sliced or chunked
~egg 
Here, you can see chef demonstrating how to properly sear tuna, after coating it with cracked peppercorns and salt, and rubbing with canola oil. Placed in a dry, searing (get it?) hot pan, the tuna will cook quickly, so it's important to make sure each surface of the tuna cooks for the same amount of time. This usually requires tongs, unless you're brave and try to flip by hand (not recommended).

My piece of tuna

My Niçoise salad!

Each component of the salad was prepared in my herb vinaigrette that I made the previous day, so they had time to sit and marinate before being plated.

This was tied by classmate Eugenia as a garnish for her Niçoise salad.

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Mushrooms Berkeley
These can be served as a side dish, standalone salad, or garnish.
4 lbs of mushrooms
medium sized with the stems, washed and drained
1 TB chopped shallots or mild onion
1/2 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped
5 TB brown sugar
2 TB Worchestershire sauce
juice of half a lemon
2 TB red wine vinegar
3 oz red peppers, small dice
3 oz green peppers, small dice
1 TB chopped parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a dry saucepan or pot to medium-high heat. Add 1/4 c. olive oil.
Add the mushrooms and cook until there are mushroom juices filling the pan. 
Drain the mushrooms and reserve the juice.
In the same pan, add the rest of the oil, shallots, and garlic, and saute on medium-high heat until golden brown.
Return the mushrooms to the pan, add the brown sugar and mix to coat.
Pour the reserved mushroom juices back into the pan/pot and bring to a boil.
Add the Worchestershire sauce, lemon juice, vinegar, and peppers and return to a boil.
As soon as it's back at a boil, remove from heat, and turn the stove off.
Add salt and pepper to taste, and mix in the chopped parsley.
Serve immediately or chill for later use.

Enjoy!