Tender loin tender looooiiin

Oh tender loin, how tender thou art. I just want your tender loin wrapped around me tightly… huh? That’s a little gross because you actually can wrap the tenderloin around you, and I guess that would make it a meat scarf.

(As a warning this post is a bit lengthy. May want to grab a sandwich or something first)

Chef Tom must have just gotten laid or something because he was really jolly and friendly in the beginning of class. Oh how easily moods can change. As always, we’ll get into that when we get there.

We were making filet mignons and chicken Viennese style, which is basically a schnitzel, or a flattened breaded chicken.

OH! Before I go on, someone anonymously posted to the blog requesting further info on that book I mentioned, the butcher’s guide to beef, or something like that. I am currently looking for the exact title and author, and I’ve emailed our school librarian and Chef Wanda. So I’ll get that posted as soon as I find it. --- Kim, the librarian just got back to me! It’s called “The Meat Buyer’s Guide: Beef, Lamb, Veal, Pork and Poultry” by NAMP (North American Meat Processors Association) You can find it, and read more about it on Amazon.com. Sweet. I wonder who posted that? (FYI: I’m looking on Amazon.com and where I wrote “Beef” in the title, it has the word “Meat” listed. Silly.) Also, Chef Wanda just got back to me. That’s pretty cool. I asked and they answered, the only two sources I tried. That’s good.

Anywho, this class was relatively short. One recipe called for pommes darphin, which is a big fresh hash brown, crispy on the outside, mushier in the middle, and drenched in butter. Nasty but DELICIOUS. The other recipe called for pommes pailles, straw cut fries. We abstained from making those in order not to have to use the deep fryers and besides, we made it in the last class.

The chicken wasn’t separated breasts, but instead whole chickens, so we had to practice butchering and machonnering it (exposing the bones – not that the recipe called for this, but it was good practice). We’re getting into the habit of removing the breast bone. This is a pretty essential step for cutting the breast. After we removed the breast meat (called the supremes, just like the peeled citrus wedges) we sliced it down the middle and pounded it a little. Later we floured, egged and breaded, then fried. I’m not a huge fan of this method of breaded chicken. I feel the flattened chicken leaves the breast drier than if left whole.

The filets were really easy, we just tied them with some string to make a nice round hockey puck, and then grilled them to medium rare. Mmmmmmm. We also made a compound butter consisting of butter, S&P, chopped parsley and lemon juice, whipped to incorporate air, and then rolled into a log. This melted beautifully on the steak and was just delicious. When you whip the butter, it keeps it from separating. This is good for a nice creamy melt, without the butter separating to fat and fat solids. (Ever get a greasy Shrimp Scampi? That’s because they’re suppose to use whipped butter compounds but instead used unwhipped butter)

The pommes darphin is usually cut on a mandoline since it is less wasteful and it shreds the potatoes very uniformly. Due to a LACK of time constraints, Chef Tom insisted that we cut the potatoes by hand. That is, peel, cut into flat sided blocks, slice 1 mm tranches, and then slice 1 mm juliennes. It was not fun, but it was good to practice. And you know, it wasn’t even that bad. But the mandoline would have been nicer. Anyhow, the pommes darphin is actually quite easy. As long as you don’t burn it (make sure the flame is not too high and if it starts to smoke, add more butter or oil… gross, but it works. Also, for most foods you are trying to brown, before you put the food in the pan you should make sure its wicked hot. But not just for the sake of the food, but the pan needs to have the fat go into its pores and provide a slick layer to keep the food from sticking. We learned that the heard way a few weeks back.

So the food came out great, appearance wise especially. That’s what counts most (for Chef’s eyes, fried breaded chicken will almost always be delicious, as will filet mignon, and I guess fried potatoes as well, so the taste was covered)

Chef was really laid back, not to harsh on anyone, everything was going well. Then after dinner, he came back and he got angry. Since class was relatively easier than normal, we cleaned our stations after eating a late dinner, and we had an hour to kill before going home. Normally he would review a few things, review for the upcoming test, and then tell stories. But this time he was saying, oh you think this is easy, and today was so easy, and level one was a breeze, well it just got a lot tougher. He started to quiz us on past recipes and techniques. He went on and on about how he will be stricter and it gets harder, and it was apparent that his mood had changed from the beginning of class to the end. He also walked us through the next lesson and the recipes, but not in a friendly way.

So why? I’ll tell you. He told one of our classmates who in turn told one or two of us. While we were on lunch some knuckleheads, probably just one, talking to another student in the bathroom was saying something like, oh this class was a breeze, and I can’t believe Level one is almost over, it was so easy and maybe he said something else inappropriate with some curses, who knows? But another chef was in the bathroom and overheard and reported to Chef Tom that someone said some of these things. I don’t know if he was able to identify the guy or not but it was apparent that Chef had his own ideas and was about to get strict with us.

I think I’m on his good student list, so I don’t have to worry about him giving me a tongue lashing.

After class I had a beer with Two classmates. We’re going to hit up some dim sum in a few weeks. Exciting stuff. Getting to know my classmates and starting to plan some extracurricular stuff.

Last but not least right before I went to bed I turned on the TV. Good Eats was on, so I decided to watch it. Sure enough He was making BEEF TENDERLOINS!! Tournedos (Filet mignons in French)!!! I watched most of it until I fell asleep. It really is reassuring to hear Alton Brown repeat what chef just showed us (the same names, cuts, techniques, etc. It was really amazing). But on the flip side, we just got the same 5 hour lesson in 20 minutes. A little discouraging. But as a student you take better note of the knives they use, the cutting boards, where they cut first, how they go about it, etc.