It’s been a long 7 days since our last class. It was also our last class of Level 2. Everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and cooked their birds perfectly, supposedly. I could write a post on my thanksgiving and all the wonderful food we prepared, but I’ll spare you the glory.
There was a different air in the place. Every time we advance a level, and for that matter, all of the Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday classes, a new class comes in. The last class that came in was only a level below us. The new class is a whopping TWO levels below us. There were people asking ME how to tie their neckerchiefs, and about their side towels. But to be honest, this was not much of a concern. I was thinking about Level 3.
The new class is now on the second floor. The Kitchen is a lot older than the one we were using, but it feels like it has more of what we need. First off, there are about 5 or 6 scales for measuring ingredients. Our last class had, at best, 2. The pots and pans looked a little more beat up and weathered… but that just means they’ve been around and have tasted more food.
Oh, an interesting point to consider. Level 3 is all about consistency and TIME MANAGEMENT. We have 4 sets of recipes that we do every 4 classes. The recipes consist of a soup/appetizer, fish, entrée and dessert. The first 4 classes we work in teams of 2, then we go solo. As a team, we only need to do 2 of the recipes, and when we go solo, we still do 2.
Most importantly, there is a time frame. Chef Rob wants them done at a certain time, and that is a pretty set time. He did state, I’d rather your dishes be 10 minutes late and perfect, than on time and incomplete.
Chef Rob
The first time we met him was in one of our last classes in Level 2. He came up to our class and was pretty strict. Asking why some people had their aprons off while we were still in class. He was very succinct. “I don’t want to see the book in class, you better bring notes, and be prepared.” That was our initial impression. Downstairs in Level 3, Chef Rob seemed really different. He was very nice, and was helping us out, not trying to break our balls or anything. He helped us with our food, and brought us necessary pots. The assistant chef showed us a technique of cooling down our marmite that we were using for our consommé. He didn’t just tell us, he brought us the bain marie with ice. I did not expect such assistance, but it was very much appreciated.
Chef Rob walked around the class assisting everyone, seeing what he had to work with. But as a team’s time approached, he focused more of his attention on them, giving pointers on serving, and finishing the dish. Speaking of which, service is more heavily graded in level 3. Presentation, temperature of the food (as I have learned the hard way with my mashed potatoes), cleanliness of the plate, temperature of the plate, etc., is all scrutinized more carefully. Finger prints on a plate is unacceptable. A bowl of soup is served with a plate and a doily beneath it.
We’re working on the details now. But Chef Rob seems really great so far. He’s enthusiastic and loves to teach, so he said. He is definitely on par with Chef Tom. Most importantly, he was very nice in the critique of our food. We did a pretty good job to begin with, but where we were slightly off, he was very nice in explaining what went wrong and how to fix it the next time.
Moving right along, I was paired up with the new girl. I won’t mention her name yet because I don’t know her well enough to trust that it’s ok. But she was the one who did really well on the test, and I was ready to learn a thing or two. What I do know is that she is quick with the knife. She is confident in her cuts, and makes them quickly. She worked on the julienne and cuts for actually making the consommé, including mixing in the meat and egg whites, etc. I worked on the macedoine garnish for the consommé. The consommé was the first thing to be prepared, with a service time of 8:00. As a refresher, the consommé is a disgusting mush of lean meat, julienned veggies, chopped tomatoes and egg whites, gently simmered in beef marmite. After a little while the mush starts to congeal and form a raft at the top. You have to let the raft collect all the fat and particles and then ladle out the consommé into a chinois, degrease, and serve over the macedoine of vegetables.
Ours was looking great from the beginning, so chef said. Everything was going really well until my partner accidentally cracked some pepper into the consommé. It’s supposed to be peppered before it’s ladled, and only salted afterwards. He said the first thing he tasted was pepper. We also had a little fat on top, which may have been a result of using a fat laden ladle. I also put too many vegetables in the bowl.
It was a little stressful getting the dish served but we did it. Imagine those Iron chefs plating 5 or 6 master dishes in about an hour (including prep work)?! That’s damn impressive.
The next dish we got cracking on was a poached chicken. I don’t feel a chicken, or any meat really lends itself to being poached. But it was actually not bad. I’ll make this description very brief. First we wash, remove the wishbone and wingtips and poach the chicken in cold water. Bring to a boil, and simmer for 2 minutes. Take it out, and put it in an ice bath to stop the cooking. Next we’re supposed to cover with stock and bring to BELOW a simmer for about 20-30 minutes. I mentioned this previously, but I believe most, if not all of the cooking times we are told is more than enough. The chicken cooked in less than 20 minutes, and it was almost 160 degrees, which is ok, but can be considered over cooked. That’s barely enough time to make enough cocotte and prepare the rest of the vegetables that go in the dish.
Either way, the dish came out about 5 minutes late, but everything was cooked perfectly minus that fact that we cooked the potatoes in the broth we served it in, which lent itself to being a little on the cloudy side. Not the end of the world. The food and our plates were hot, and the taste was good, especially considering it was a poached chicken.
After this dish, we were done. Some other people needed to present their apple tart, but we completed our dishes. I feel, for our first class, we did a great job. Chef was pleased with everyone in the class, and we all (including the chef), set a good impression.
I’m not exactly sure what’s on the menu for the next class, but I am working alone. I will be doing the garde manger and saucier positions alone, and I will be on top of my game. This is my first chance to shine, and I’m sure I will. I’m not user when I became so competitive, maybe it was day 1, but I guess I am only out for me. When you work as a team, you obviously succeed and fail as a team, but when you go solo everything that’s great was created from your own to hands, and everything that sucks came from your own ass.
Some words to live by in Level 3: discipline and consistency.
Showing posts with label culinary school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label culinary school. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
The Quintessential
So this was our first class sans that one guy. It was a little different. The air felt a little more mature, if that’s possible. I know the guy’s partner was happy to not work with him, so maybe that helped the atmosphere. Ultimately, Chef Tom seemed really pleased about it. Not for “failing” or leaving a kid behind, but because he did the right thing and the class was filled with able and intelligent chefs-to-be.
Anyhow, we took our HACCP test. I am writing this post 3 days after it happened, and therefore my mind isn’t preoccupied with the HACCP. In fact it’s preoccupied with the Level 2 final that we’re taking in 2 hours. But you’ll hear more about that later. I'm pretty confident that I passed the HACCP test, but who knows for sure. I did some last minute studying, and I think I secured a few of the answers that could have otherwise had me retake the test. But I'm not worried about it.
I’ve titled this post as I did because these are two of the most popular, and exemplary vegetable preparations in French cuisine. Chef Tom was glad that we had almost an entire class to just these two fairly simple dishes. And after tasting them, I understood it.
The ratatouille calls for a tomate fondue as its base, and, according to the recipe, we add the other ingredients to this base. However, Chef Tom said it’s important that we cook the vegetables separately, and combined them afterwards. I’m not exactly sure why this makes a difference, but I think its concentrates the individual flavors which are then incorporated in the tomate fondue to meld with the other flavors. The eggplant is a little bit of a disappointment. It turns to a mush, but that’s what eggplant does.
I must say, Chef demoed some of the cuts, particularly the pepper tiles, which were about a half inch to ¾ inch squared, and my partner made them about a cm squared. They looked fine, but I was cutting vegetables at ½ inch squared and hers were smaller, and therefore incongruous. Did this make a difference? Not at all. But to me, I was a little disturbed by it. I’m getting a little picky on some things. It can be bad, but when we’re showed something, as Chef repeatedly tells us, it’s to reproduce, practice and learn. Not to do it a bit differently, unless we’re given permission to do so (en votre facon).
Anyhow, we combined it all, let the flavors mesh, and we served it in a round mold shape, with some chiffonade of basil on top. It was gorgeous, and very flavorful, particularly for a mostly brown vegetable mush. The next dish, however, was better, in my opinion.
The Confit Bayaldi was a beautiful pinwheel of colored vegetables baked in the oven on a bed of sautéed onions and peppers. We filled a round ring mold with the onions and peppers and carefully laid out the sliced eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and tomatoes around like a pinwheel, within the ring. It took a little finesse and time (something you probably don’t have in excess in a restaurant), but it really looked beautiful. The flavors were delicate but together they made a delicious dish.
Considering we only had to make these two dishes, we had plenty of time, and as tradition has been playing itself out, Chef talked to us about his life experiences for the remaining hour that we had.
This was our last class until the final, and our last class with Chef Tom, not including the final and the lecture we were going to have on kitchen equipment. Chef Tom has been our first impression of the French Culinary Institute and to the professional kitchen. And what a good first impression it was. He is indeed a great chef, and despite his military background, is pretty easy going and very lenient. He talked a big talk, but hey, he walked the walk.
We learned a lot from him, and now its time to see what the other master chefs of the FCI can bestow on us. (after the Level 2 test that is)
Anyhow, we took our HACCP test. I am writing this post 3 days after it happened, and therefore my mind isn’t preoccupied with the HACCP. In fact it’s preoccupied with the Level 2 final that we’re taking in 2 hours. But you’ll hear more about that later. I'm pretty confident that I passed the HACCP test, but who knows for sure. I did some last minute studying, and I think I secured a few of the answers that could have otherwise had me retake the test. But I'm not worried about it.
I’ve titled this post as I did because these are two of the most popular, and exemplary vegetable preparations in French cuisine. Chef Tom was glad that we had almost an entire class to just these two fairly simple dishes. And after tasting them, I understood it.
The ratatouille calls for a tomate fondue as its base, and, according to the recipe, we add the other ingredients to this base. However, Chef Tom said it’s important that we cook the vegetables separately, and combined them afterwards. I’m not exactly sure why this makes a difference, but I think its concentrates the individual flavors which are then incorporated in the tomate fondue to meld with the other flavors. The eggplant is a little bit of a disappointment. It turns to a mush, but that’s what eggplant does.
I must say, Chef demoed some of the cuts, particularly the pepper tiles, which were about a half inch to ¾ inch squared, and my partner made them about a cm squared. They looked fine, but I was cutting vegetables at ½ inch squared and hers were smaller, and therefore incongruous. Did this make a difference? Not at all. But to me, I was a little disturbed by it. I’m getting a little picky on some things. It can be bad, but when we’re showed something, as Chef repeatedly tells us, it’s to reproduce, practice and learn. Not to do it a bit differently, unless we’re given permission to do so (en votre facon).
Anyhow, we combined it all, let the flavors mesh, and we served it in a round mold shape, with some chiffonade of basil on top. It was gorgeous, and very flavorful, particularly for a mostly brown vegetable mush. The next dish, however, was better, in my opinion.
The Confit Bayaldi was a beautiful pinwheel of colored vegetables baked in the oven on a bed of sautéed onions and peppers. We filled a round ring mold with the onions and peppers and carefully laid out the sliced eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash and tomatoes around like a pinwheel, within the ring. It took a little finesse and time (something you probably don’t have in excess in a restaurant), but it really looked beautiful. The flavors were delicate but together they made a delicious dish.
Considering we only had to make these two dishes, we had plenty of time, and as tradition has been playing itself out, Chef talked to us about his life experiences for the remaining hour that we had.
This was our last class until the final, and our last class with Chef Tom, not including the final and the lecture we were going to have on kitchen equipment. Chef Tom has been our first impression of the French Culinary Institute and to the professional kitchen. And what a good first impression it was. He is indeed a great chef, and despite his military background, is pretty easy going and very lenient. He talked a big talk, but hey, he walked the walk.
We learned a lot from him, and now its time to see what the other master chefs of the FCI can bestow on us. (after the Level 2 test that is)
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Con queso? Con queso?
So, we were guinea pigs for this class. That is, the first, THE FIRST, class to have a cheese tasting class. Traditionally, they made ricotta cheese, and maybe some others. We not only made ricotta and mozzarella, but we had a pretty well thought out cheese tasting.
Oh, we also had a HACCP review. Did you know that we have our HACCP test on SATURDAY!!! I’m not really worried about it, but still. Everyone should do alright. We had a nice refresher today.
After our refresher, we went right into our cheese course. It was pretty well thought out. We were going to try a linear tasting of 3 main dairy/cheese sources: Cow, Goat and Sheep. So we progressed from the basic ingredient, milk, then to a yogurt, then to a fresh cheese, and then to slightly more aged and complex cheeses.
There are a hell of a lot of characteristics that are pretty bogus. Not righteous or gnarly, but just bogus. Maybe if you have the most disciplined sense of taste and smell you could label some of the cheeses with some of these names. But for the most part, there were about 10 different classifications that repeatedly came up. The one that was the most distinct was “gamy.” That taste of lamb that you can only describe as the taste of “game” was so distinct in the lamb and sheep dairy. The milk, for starters was straight up game flavored. It wasn’t really pleasant. It made cow’s milk seem extremely delicious. This was a constant theme in all of the sheep cheeses. They weren’t my favorites. The cow’s line had some good cheddar and creamy brie like cheese (was it camembert?). The goat has some nice flavors as well, though there was one stank cheese. The flavor was a lot better than the smell. And we had a couple of moldy cheeses which were a lot better than one would think.
Chef asked “so do you think you guys can taste a cheese and know what you’re talking about?” It was one of those rhetorical questions, I knew that. But I said “NO!” I mean, we just took a ½ hour course on tasting a few random cheeses from 3 different animals. Yes I know a little more than I knew, but am I really prepared to contribute meaningful input about a cheese by just tasting it? I really don’t think so. I could probably point out the gamy flavor found in sheep or goat cheese and know its one of those two, but not much more than that.
Either way, it was extremely interesting, and I learned a lot. I’m telling you, there were probably 50-60 flavor classifications. That’ll take some intensive tasting.
Next we made cheese! I’m not sure how much of “making” the cheese we did for the mozzarella, but the ricotta was pretty amazing. We took 2L of milk, added ¾ of a teaspoon of citric acid and some cheese salt, and just heated to 180F, then let it sit. The milk solids coagulated and separated from the liquid, primarily water. After a little while, we scooped out the solids, tied it in some cheese cloth and it’s currently sitting in the fridge.
The mozzarella was a bit different. We started with cheese curds. It was a semi-solid block of curds that were stacked on top of each other and compressed. We took a bowl full of these, chopped them into cubes and added 170F water and some salt. After some stirring they softened and we clumped them together and started stretching them to smooth them out.
So the reason I am skeptical about it is because all we did was stretch the curds in warm water. We didn’t make or prepare the curds or anything. It was a little sad. However, the resulting cheese was very delicious. It was definitely mozzarella cheese. It was stringy with a little chew to it. We left them in balls, but we will be using them for our pasta class on Thursday. We could have made knots, added herbs, rolled them with sliced hams and basil; it’s a pretty versatile cheese.
Well, we have our HACCP test on Saturday, our final on Tuesday and then we come back in a week two level 3! We met our new chef. He seemed a little on the hard side, but Chef Tom said he’s a nice guy. I feel like that one guy who is struggling, may have a hard time in level 3. But we’ll see. We’re also a lot more focused on timing. That is one of my weaknesses. I like to absorb what I’m doing. But I think by this point I have absorbed the basics and the techniques and its time to just “do.”
Oh, we also had a HACCP review. Did you know that we have our HACCP test on SATURDAY!!! I’m not really worried about it, but still. Everyone should do alright. We had a nice refresher today.
After our refresher, we went right into our cheese course. It was pretty well thought out. We were going to try a linear tasting of 3 main dairy/cheese sources: Cow, Goat and Sheep. So we progressed from the basic ingredient, milk, then to a yogurt, then to a fresh cheese, and then to slightly more aged and complex cheeses.
There are a hell of a lot of characteristics that are pretty bogus. Not righteous or gnarly, but just bogus. Maybe if you have the most disciplined sense of taste and smell you could label some of the cheeses with some of these names. But for the most part, there were about 10 different classifications that repeatedly came up. The one that was the most distinct was “gamy.” That taste of lamb that you can only describe as the taste of “game” was so distinct in the lamb and sheep dairy. The milk, for starters was straight up game flavored. It wasn’t really pleasant. It made cow’s milk seem extremely delicious. This was a constant theme in all of the sheep cheeses. They weren’t my favorites. The cow’s line had some good cheddar and creamy brie like cheese (was it camembert?). The goat has some nice flavors as well, though there was one stank cheese. The flavor was a lot better than the smell. And we had a couple of moldy cheeses which were a lot better than one would think.
Chef asked “so do you think you guys can taste a cheese and know what you’re talking about?” It was one of those rhetorical questions, I knew that. But I said “NO!” I mean, we just took a ½ hour course on tasting a few random cheeses from 3 different animals. Yes I know a little more than I knew, but am I really prepared to contribute meaningful input about a cheese by just tasting it? I really don’t think so. I could probably point out the gamy flavor found in sheep or goat cheese and know its one of those two, but not much more than that.
Either way, it was extremely interesting, and I learned a lot. I’m telling you, there were probably 50-60 flavor classifications. That’ll take some intensive tasting.
Next we made cheese! I’m not sure how much of “making” the cheese we did for the mozzarella, but the ricotta was pretty amazing. We took 2L of milk, added ¾ of a teaspoon of citric acid and some cheese salt, and just heated to 180F, then let it sit. The milk solids coagulated and separated from the liquid, primarily water. After a little while, we scooped out the solids, tied it in some cheese cloth and it’s currently sitting in the fridge.
The mozzarella was a bit different. We started with cheese curds. It was a semi-solid block of curds that were stacked on top of each other and compressed. We took a bowl full of these, chopped them into cubes and added 170F water and some salt. After some stirring they softened and we clumped them together and started stretching them to smooth them out.
So the reason I am skeptical about it is because all we did was stretch the curds in warm water. We didn’t make or prepare the curds or anything. It was a little sad. However, the resulting cheese was very delicious. It was definitely mozzarella cheese. It was stringy with a little chew to it. We left them in balls, but we will be using them for our pasta class on Thursday. We could have made knots, added herbs, rolled them with sliced hams and basil; it’s a pretty versatile cheese.
Well, we have our HACCP test on Saturday, our final on Tuesday and then we come back in a week two level 3! We met our new chef. He seemed a little on the hard side, but Chef Tom said he’s a nice guy. I feel like that one guy who is struggling, may have a hard time in level 3. But we’ll see. We’re also a lot more focused on timing. That is one of my weaknesses. I like to absorb what I’m doing. But I think by this point I have absorbed the basics and the techniques and its time to just “do.”
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
All Up in my Grille
I've realized today that the point of this blog is to do a little more than discuss how I make food. I feel like I give a pretty good look into what's going on class, but quite frankly, I think I'm too broke to have drinks after class with classmates, and its late by the time we get out of class, and most of the people live outside NY, except the two I already had drinks with. Somehow we decided to get drinks again after Thursday's class (the next class after this post, which is actually tonight), so maybe I'll have something else to say about that kind of stuff. If you're reading this and are interested in anything, please drop me a comment. Like what types of pans we use?, what color nail polish I used to differentiate my utensils?, etc...
Anyhow, we fired up the grill for this class. It was a pretty easy class, to be honest. And I took a very hands on approach, which is what I want/have to do. I did all the grilling for our team, and prepared the chicken. I'll get into it in a second.
The beef we used was a very fresh cut, located right below/behind the ribs. It was a 182, I believe. What the hell does that mean? Apparently, every piece of the cow has a corresponding number. So if you tell a butcher that you'd like a 182, with a 1x1 tail, then you're telling him/her that that you want a certain cut that has been designated as #182, and the tail end of that cut should be approximately an inch thick and an inch long (from the base of the primary cut of meat). At least that's how I understood Chef Tom's narrative. Apparently there's an $80 guide to these cuts. Pretty pricey!
Anyways, the beef was vacuum-packed and looked pretty damn fresh. it had a thick layer of fat on one end, which chef trimmed completely off. He also removed the sinewy silver skin that was between the fat and meat. This is a tough layer that doesn't quite break down without a long duration on the heat.
But because the meat we had was classified as a first category, it lends itself better to a quick cooking style, cooked to medium rare. The categories are First, Second and Third. The second and third are progressively tougher meats, and are usually braised or roasted for longer periods of time so the meat gets tender.
So, what are aged meats? I'll tell you what isn't an aged meat, and that was the piece we had. Ours was fresh out of the package. Aged meats allow the natural enzymes of decaying meat to begin breaking down the meat and therefore making it a bit more tender. Italians can age meat in a cool basement for a while, some put it in high tech "aging rooms." What's better? beats me.
With that said, an aged meat is usually more tender and delicious. Ours was not as tender as butter, but still delicious. We grilled it and put on beautiful quadrillage (diamond shaped grill pattern). Mine was rare/medium rare and very delicious. Before you serve/cut the piece you should always let it rest for a couple of minutes. This allows the blood/juice to recirculate throughout the piece, so it doesn't bleed all over when you cut it, and it makes the more cooked parts juicier.
We served our steak with pommes frites and sauce choron. Sauce choron is a derivative from hollandaise sauce (egg yolks beat over simmering water, then with clarified butter whisked in). into that we put a bernaise reduction (vinegar, crushed pepper, some herbs, then strained) and a little fondue de tomates. It was really perfect on the steak. But that stuff is BAD for you.
We ate this for dinner, and it was fantastic.
Next we did the chicken. I prepared the chicken almost entirely. My partner was more than eager to let me do this. I took the wish bone out this time. Good habits are important. I then cut down both sides of the backbone, through the ribs to remove the back bone and tail. Then I cut out the rib bones and the hip bones. We also cut the drumstick and the thigh at the joint to expose it, and exposed the thigh bone, since that part usually takes the longest to cook. It was pretty easy. I took my time (not my sweet time, but I didn't rush) just to get a grasp on what I was doing. Chef walked by and said "beautiful." Haste makes waste. I brushed the almost boneless chicken with a little olive oil, and we sprinkled a little thyme on it. We let it marinate in the fridge while we prepared the rest of the dish. The rest of the dish was basically a veal stock reduction as the sauce, and pommes pailles (fried haystack of potatoes).
So when it was time to grill the chicken, you put it skin down, and after a few minutes, you give it a 30 degree turn to get the quadrillage going. It looked beautiful! Flip it for a minute or two to get the flesh side going then take it off and bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, you take it out, slightly under cooked, and coat the flesh with a layer of dijon mustard, then bread crumbs (which have been mixed with a touch of oil and chicken jous. Pop them back in the oven for another 10 minutes and hopefully by then, the meat is cooked through (140 degrees or so, and let carry over cooking bring it to 145)
This dish was PHENOMENAL. Better than the steak. I didn't actually taste it until I got home, but it was great.
We had another great class. My partner and I took care of business. The proteins seem easier to cook and prepare than the sauces. I don't enjoy making the sauces since they're easier to mess up and require all types of reducing and ingredients. But you can always add more stock or water if you've reduced it too much.
One guy was upset that his chicken wasn't fully cooked on the grill, and we had to remind him that he was finishing it in the oven. This was after he mangled it. But it was ok, because we cut the pieces apart for service anyways. You just got to pay attention, and read ahead in the recipe.
As I was walking to the train station I ran into Grace, my old partner, and Bret (probably the one who is at the top of the class right now). We decided on drinks for Thursday. I guess I have to take some money out of the bank. I'll let you know how it goes (without disclosing anything too private).
Anyhow, we fired up the grill for this class. It was a pretty easy class, to be honest. And I took a very hands on approach, which is what I want/have to do. I did all the grilling for our team, and prepared the chicken. I'll get into it in a second.
The beef we used was a very fresh cut, located right below/behind the ribs. It was a 182, I believe. What the hell does that mean? Apparently, every piece of the cow has a corresponding number. So if you tell a butcher that you'd like a 182, with a 1x1 tail, then you're telling him/her that that you want a certain cut that has been designated as #182, and the tail end of that cut should be approximately an inch thick and an inch long (from the base of the primary cut of meat). At least that's how I understood Chef Tom's narrative. Apparently there's an $80 guide to these cuts. Pretty pricey!
Anyways, the beef was vacuum-packed and looked pretty damn fresh. it had a thick layer of fat on one end, which chef trimmed completely off. He also removed the sinewy silver skin that was between the fat and meat. This is a tough layer that doesn't quite break down without a long duration on the heat.
But because the meat we had was classified as a first category, it lends itself better to a quick cooking style, cooked to medium rare. The categories are First, Second and Third. The second and third are progressively tougher meats, and are usually braised or roasted for longer periods of time so the meat gets tender.
So, what are aged meats? I'll tell you what isn't an aged meat, and that was the piece we had. Ours was fresh out of the package. Aged meats allow the natural enzymes of decaying meat to begin breaking down the meat and therefore making it a bit more tender. Italians can age meat in a cool basement for a while, some put it in high tech "aging rooms." What's better? beats me.
With that said, an aged meat is usually more tender and delicious. Ours was not as tender as butter, but still delicious. We grilled it and put on beautiful quadrillage (diamond shaped grill pattern). Mine was rare/medium rare and very delicious. Before you serve/cut the piece you should always let it rest for a couple of minutes. This allows the blood/juice to recirculate throughout the piece, so it doesn't bleed all over when you cut it, and it makes the more cooked parts juicier.
We served our steak with pommes frites and sauce choron. Sauce choron is a derivative from hollandaise sauce (egg yolks beat over simmering water, then with clarified butter whisked in). into that we put a bernaise reduction (vinegar, crushed pepper, some herbs, then strained) and a little fondue de tomates. It was really perfect on the steak. But that stuff is BAD for you.
We ate this for dinner, and it was fantastic.
Next we did the chicken. I prepared the chicken almost entirely. My partner was more than eager to let me do this. I took the wish bone out this time. Good habits are important. I then cut down both sides of the backbone, through the ribs to remove the back bone and tail. Then I cut out the rib bones and the hip bones. We also cut the drumstick and the thigh at the joint to expose it, and exposed the thigh bone, since that part usually takes the longest to cook. It was pretty easy. I took my time (not my sweet time, but I didn't rush) just to get a grasp on what I was doing. Chef walked by and said "beautiful." Haste makes waste. I brushed the almost boneless chicken with a little olive oil, and we sprinkled a little thyme on it. We let it marinate in the fridge while we prepared the rest of the dish. The rest of the dish was basically a veal stock reduction as the sauce, and pommes pailles (fried haystack of potatoes).
So when it was time to grill the chicken, you put it skin down, and after a few minutes, you give it a 30 degree turn to get the quadrillage going. It looked beautiful! Flip it for a minute or two to get the flesh side going then take it off and bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, you take it out, slightly under cooked, and coat the flesh with a layer of dijon mustard, then bread crumbs (which have been mixed with a touch of oil and chicken jous. Pop them back in the oven for another 10 minutes and hopefully by then, the meat is cooked through (140 degrees or so, and let carry over cooking bring it to 145)
This dish was PHENOMENAL. Better than the steak. I didn't actually taste it until I got home, but it was great.
We had another great class. My partner and I took care of business. The proteins seem easier to cook and prepare than the sauces. I don't enjoy making the sauces since they're easier to mess up and require all types of reducing and ingredients. But you can always add more stock or water if you've reduced it too much.
One guy was upset that his chicken wasn't fully cooked on the grill, and we had to remind him that he was finishing it in the oven. This was after he mangled it. But it was ok, because we cut the pieces apart for service anyways. You just got to pay attention, and read ahead in the recipe.
As I was walking to the train station I ran into Grace, my old partner, and Bret (probably the one who is at the top of the class right now). We decided on drinks for Thursday. I guess I have to take some money out of the bank. I'll let you know how it goes (without disclosing anything too private).
Monday, September 24, 2007
Do you Truss me?
This class was an introduction to poultry. This is where cleanliness needs to be stepped up a bit. Chicken is one of the most popular purveyors of salmonella (dirty, dirty chickens) and therefore, we needed to be careful not to cross contaminate our foods. We needed to sanitize our boards, and our knives, and make sure they didn't get in contact with clean utensils or food before they were sanitized. Easier said than done, but we managed.
One of the more interesting things we did was 1) pull out (rip the bone from the carcass) the wishbones from the raw chicken (and again for the duck), and then 2) trussing the duck with a trussing needle.
The chicken was sauteed skin down, and finished in the oven, and the duck was roasted. Today went well, but my partner was realizing that she had a terrible toothache. This was more of a factor in our next class, but for the time being it was tolerable for me and for her.
To be perfectly honest, I don't remember anything special about this class. Though Chef Tom had us put the roasted duck in the oven a lot later than we should have, and therefore it was undercooked by the time class was over. OH!! we made a terrific l'orange sauce that I wanted to take home, but my partner chucked it due to time constraints. So I brought home the raw duck which I finished cooking on the stove, but I had no l'orange sauce to top it with. It looked delicious, and she tasted it and said it WAS delicious, but I didn't even have a chance to taste it.
Not the end of the world, but it would have been awesome to have with the duck.
All in all, as good a class as it could have been, considering the Chef had us start the duck late. But it went well.
One of the more interesting things we did was 1) pull out (rip the bone from the carcass) the wishbones from the raw chicken (and again for the duck), and then 2) trussing the duck with a trussing needle.
The chicken was sauteed skin down, and finished in the oven, and the duck was roasted. Today went well, but my partner was realizing that she had a terrible toothache. This was more of a factor in our next class, but for the time being it was tolerable for me and for her.
To be perfectly honest, I don't remember anything special about this class. Though Chef Tom had us put the roasted duck in the oven a lot later than we should have, and therefore it was undercooked by the time class was over. OH!! we made a terrific l'orange sauce that I wanted to take home, but my partner chucked it due to time constraints. So I brought home the raw duck which I finished cooking on the stove, but I had no l'orange sauce to top it with. It looked delicious, and she tasted it and said it WAS delicious, but I didn't even have a chance to taste it.
Not the end of the world, but it would have been awesome to have with the duck.
All in all, as good a class as it could have been, considering the Chef had us start the duck late. But it went well.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Poisson (not the skull and crossbones kind)
After royally screwing up the potato class, I found it to be in my best interest to ROCK the fish class. The word of the day was to be "Perfection." We rocked it. (My partner was in agreement, we needed to step up our game today)
We also had a quiz. I studied hard (he gives us the study material, pretty much exactly as it appears on the test), and I was very confident that I was going to let the word of the day prevail over the test. Rocked it. It was basically memorizing a few sizes of tourner (bouquetiere -3cm, cocotte - 5cm, vapeur - 6cm), remembering a couple of derivative sauces of mayonnaise and hollandaise sauces (I listed sauce verte and sauce aioli for mayo, and sauce bernaise and sauce choron for hollandaise), lets see, a few methods of cutting and cooking potatoes, and a few things about salads. Piece of cake, especially when he tells you beforehand.
Most of us will pick up a piece of chicken breast (or a piece of beef) and hack away, cutting it down to the lengths and shapes we want. You'll trim the fat, season and cook, without a thought. However, put a whole fish on your cutting board and you may be a little more hesitant. At first glance, it is indeed intimidating. An entire might-as-well-be-live animal for you to cut up, cook and eat.
Well after the filleting demo it was less intimidating. My stomach was feeling a lot better and I was focused (and determined to uphold the word of the day). Normally, you will have to scale and gut the fish. We were using bass and trout, both of which were gutted, only the bass was scaled. Apparently, we can eat the trout WITH the scales, since they are pretty tender. But thankfully he made us scale them. There were scales EVERYWHERE. I was picking scales off myself and the table for the rest of the night. But I'm glad we did it. We then had to cut off the fins (we cut up the bass entirely before touching the trout) and cut out the gills. It was weird touching the lungs of the fish. But I guess its no weirder than touching its ribs... and eyes, and head in general. We used our kitchen shears (not scissors, "scissors are for arts & crafts"), and some of those bass fins were pretty thick.
Behind the gills, there is a bony plate, you start your cut right beyond that to get as much meat as you can, and work your way up along the gills and toward the head. It results in a curved cut that outlines the gills. Then you make long, shallow cuts, trying to keep your blade flush against the backbone and the ribs. You can't do it in one cut, it takes a number of strides. Hopefully, when you're done, you'll have a meaty, not mangled ("it looks like your fillet was attacked by a beaver") fillet. You then trim off any fatty parts and pull out any bones.
I had 4 beautiful fillets. I was very proud of my cuts. I felt very confident, and I was upholding the word of the day.
The first method of cooking was very intricate, and required a lot of steps. Primarily, we had to cook a number of ingredients (veggies) in varying methods. We needed to make our fondue de tomates again (which we burned a few classes ago and wanted to perfect this time, and DID), we needed to julienne celery, carrots and leeks, and cook a l'etuvee, and then finely dice mushrooms and cook down until the moisture was gone.
After you had everything laid out, you took a heart shaped piece of parchment paper and spooned on some tomatoes and mushrooms, followed by the fillet, and topped with the celery, carrots and leeks. Splash some white wine, S&P, and a sprig of thyme, and then fold and seal the parchment paper with egg white. You bake that sack for 7-8 minutes and it poofs up nicely, cooking in its own steam, trapping the aromas for you to open in front of the customer.
It was beautiful, and passed the taste test. Perfect.
The trout was fried. We seasoned the fillet, and lightly floured the fish. We cooked it in clarified butter until barely golden, and nice and crispy, and topped it with a deeeelicious sauce.
We cooked a bunch of butter until it reached noisette stage (hazelnut - lightly browned), then threw in lemon supremes, parsley and capers, and at the last second, tossed some homemade croutons in this mixture and topped the fish. It was delicious! And, again, perfect. Could have maybe used a touch more lemon juice for the acidity, but it was, nonetheless, delicious.
So yeah, the fish was delicious, and we picked up our game. Real interesting right? I bet it is.
I went out for a couple of drinks with a couple of classmates after we were done. We discussed our new partners. At the end of class, Chef Tom said ok.. you, come here, you go there, you, here. He reorganized the class so that we mixed up our partners. It was a tricky move. We did, somewhat, settle into a groove with our partners, and I feel like we paired up with equal skill levels, and the better skilled people were together (I put myself in that category). All that was about to change.
As we discussed this over Bud Light's, I tried not to judge my new partner, as I have not worked with her. She comes off as a little lethargic at times (i.e. during chef demos she leans on the chefs station with her head on her hands, and she speaks very very quietly, not putting any oomph into her statements). Sure its a late class, and we probably all work during the day, but you should show some enthusiasm. One of my beermates mentioned that she looks high all the time. Another good description. My ex-partner was paired with one of the guys who I mentioned previously that I found to be immature, and the other beermate was paired with someone who was about to dump in about 30 grams of black peppercorns in his sauce tonight, rather than capers. That would have been interesting had I not helped him out. They were both worried about working with their new partners, which, I guess deep down, I am too, but they were a little more vocal about it. I'm sure their fears are definitely warranted, but I'm hoping that my new partner has a lot more to her than meets the eye.
We'll find out. Should be interesting. Flat fish on Saturday.
We also had a quiz. I studied hard (he gives us the study material, pretty much exactly as it appears on the test), and I was very confident that I was going to let the word of the day prevail over the test. Rocked it. It was basically memorizing a few sizes of tourner (bouquetiere -3cm, cocotte - 5cm, vapeur - 6cm), remembering a couple of derivative sauces of mayonnaise and hollandaise sauces (I listed sauce verte and sauce aioli for mayo, and sauce bernaise and sauce choron for hollandaise), lets see, a few methods of cutting and cooking potatoes, and a few things about salads. Piece of cake, especially when he tells you beforehand.
Most of us will pick up a piece of chicken breast (or a piece of beef) and hack away, cutting it down to the lengths and shapes we want. You'll trim the fat, season and cook, without a thought. However, put a whole fish on your cutting board and you may be a little more hesitant. At first glance, it is indeed intimidating. An entire might-as-well-be-live animal for you to cut up, cook and eat.
Well after the filleting demo it was less intimidating. My stomach was feeling a lot better and I was focused (and determined to uphold the word of the day). Normally, you will have to scale and gut the fish. We were using bass and trout, both of which were gutted, only the bass was scaled. Apparently, we can eat the trout WITH the scales, since they are pretty tender. But thankfully he made us scale them. There were scales EVERYWHERE. I was picking scales off myself and the table for the rest of the night. But I'm glad we did it. We then had to cut off the fins (we cut up the bass entirely before touching the trout) and cut out the gills. It was weird touching the lungs of the fish. But I guess its no weirder than touching its ribs... and eyes, and head in general. We used our kitchen shears (not scissors, "scissors are for arts & crafts"), and some of those bass fins were pretty thick.
Behind the gills, there is a bony plate, you start your cut right beyond that to get as much meat as you can, and work your way up along the gills and toward the head. It results in a curved cut that outlines the gills. Then you make long, shallow cuts, trying to keep your blade flush against the backbone and the ribs. You can't do it in one cut, it takes a number of strides. Hopefully, when you're done, you'll have a meaty, not mangled ("it looks like your fillet was attacked by a beaver") fillet. You then trim off any fatty parts and pull out any bones.
I had 4 beautiful fillets. I was very proud of my cuts. I felt very confident, and I was upholding the word of the day.
The first method of cooking was very intricate, and required a lot of steps. Primarily, we had to cook a number of ingredients (veggies) in varying methods. We needed to make our fondue de tomates again (which we burned a few classes ago and wanted to perfect this time, and DID), we needed to julienne celery, carrots and leeks, and cook a l'etuvee, and then finely dice mushrooms and cook down until the moisture was gone.
After you had everything laid out, you took a heart shaped piece of parchment paper and spooned on some tomatoes and mushrooms, followed by the fillet, and topped with the celery, carrots and leeks. Splash some white wine, S&P, and a sprig of thyme, and then fold and seal the parchment paper with egg white. You bake that sack for 7-8 minutes and it poofs up nicely, cooking in its own steam, trapping the aromas for you to open in front of the customer.
It was beautiful, and passed the taste test. Perfect.
The trout was fried. We seasoned the fillet, and lightly floured the fish. We cooked it in clarified butter until barely golden, and nice and crispy, and topped it with a deeeelicious sauce.
We cooked a bunch of butter until it reached noisette stage (hazelnut - lightly browned), then threw in lemon supremes, parsley and capers, and at the last second, tossed some homemade croutons in this mixture and topped the fish. It was delicious! And, again, perfect. Could have maybe used a touch more lemon juice for the acidity, but it was, nonetheless, delicious.
So yeah, the fish was delicious, and we picked up our game. Real interesting right? I bet it is.
I went out for a couple of drinks with a couple of classmates after we were done. We discussed our new partners. At the end of class, Chef Tom said ok.. you, come here, you go there, you, here. He reorganized the class so that we mixed up our partners. It was a tricky move. We did, somewhat, settle into a groove with our partners, and I feel like we paired up with equal skill levels, and the better skilled people were together (I put myself in that category). All that was about to change.
As we discussed this over Bud Light's, I tried not to judge my new partner, as I have not worked with her. She comes off as a little lethargic at times (i.e. during chef demos she leans on the chefs station with her head on her hands, and she speaks very very quietly, not putting any oomph into her statements). Sure its a late class, and we probably all work during the day, but you should show some enthusiasm. One of my beermates mentioned that she looks high all the time. Another good description. My ex-partner was paired with one of the guys who I mentioned previously that I found to be immature, and the other beermate was paired with someone who was about to dump in about 30 grams of black peppercorns in his sauce tonight, rather than capers. That would have been interesting had I not helped him out. They were both worried about working with their new partners, which, I guess deep down, I am too, but they were a little more vocal about it. I'm sure their fears are definitely warranted, but I'm hoping that my new partner has a lot more to her than meets the eye.
We'll find out. Should be interesting. Flat fish on Saturday.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Well let's see...
... there's Fried potatoes, baked potatoes, potato gumbo, barbequed potatoes, roasted potatoes, potato stew, potato soup, potato salad, mashed potatoes... that's.. that's about it.
Ok, so perhaps that was an unsuccessful twist on the Forrest Gump line by Bubba, but you get my point. You can pretty much do anything with a potato (even shoot them out of guns). We certainly did fry them (our first introduction to the deep fryer in class), and slice and dice them. We also used a mandoline for the first time, which proved quite the foe to some in the class (including my partner).
Before I continue, I am having some mixed feeling about Chef Tom. Yes, he is very skillful, and all of his demos come out pretty much perfect, but I think he secretly wants ours to come out not quite as good as his. We all do things at slightly different paces. But he constantly calls us up to the front of the class (mid-preparation/cooking) and makes us watch as he prepares a dish.. from slicing entire potatoes on a mandoline, to laying the slices out, to S&P (salt and pepper, as I write it in my recipes), etc. I agree its helpful to see the process, but certain things can be skipped. More importantly, he calls us up as we're cooking, and inevitably the food is going to burn. It happens to almost all of us. Meanwhile we watch him prepare something from start to finish, and he'll lay it out on a dish and say, "oh wow, did you taste my salad, or my potato, or my_______ (insert name of food he demonstrated). Isn't that good?" Starting to get a little bothersome.
Anyhow, another aside before I get into potatoes. About an hour into class, after we watched him fry a bunch of different cuts of potatoes, I was having some terrible pains in my stomach. I felt like I was welling up with gas, but I wasn't sure why, nor could I do anything about it. With that said, my mind wasn't quite focused on the task at hand. I was more concerned with the clock hitting 10:45 than my potatoes being perfect. Further when my partner sliced her finger on the mandoline, I had no choice but to try and fully focus. It was difficult, and I would love to do it all over.
On to frying potatoes. Its not that difficult, we've all done it, probably without really thinking about it, and most likely without a thermometer (though, if Alton Brown always uses one, maybe I should too). For recipes that call for a one time fry (opposed to frying twice or thrice) the oil should be at approximmately 350F-375F. This provides a crispy outside and helps prevent the potato from adbsorbing too much oil. We made waffle fries (more like chips) using the mandoline (a number of people, including my partner, had a hard time with this cut because they did not realize that you must rotate the potato a little before each pass on the mandoline. Not rocket science). We cooked these in the oil until no more bubbles formed, that is, the moisture has been cooked out of the potato leaving a crisp waffle chip. You can't do this for thicker cuts or else you'll be left with a rock hard piece of fried potato.
We then made a bowl. How cute! ehm... I mean... it was really pretty easy, and its nice to know that we can easily make a bowl out of potatoes. Easily if you have the right tools for shaping the bowl and being able to submerge in oil (we used these two metal "baskets" one for inside the other, so the potatoes were pushed in between. We cut two round parchment paper circles to put between the bowls and the potatoes to prevent sticking. But yeah, it was cute.. and easy). A little tip, when you want to fry potatoes and ou want them to stick together (a hash, these baskets), it may be best that you don't rinse them before you fry them. That is, you can store them in water as you are cutting them, to prevent discoloration, but do not rinse before fying. We don't want to lose the starchy goodness. Also, for frying we use starchy potatoes, such as good ole Idaho's, and Russet potatoes. HOWEVER, it is in yours and your skins, eyes, hands... best interest if you dry the potato before you place in the oil. Again, you probably don't need to be told this, but we were, and I'm passing it along to you. For a regular french fry, it may be best if you rinse off the extra starch, though its not necessary.
Next we made a gratin dauphine. Layers of sliced potatoes, with cheese and cream. It was pretty darn good!! Chef Tom said we used a little too much cheese, but I disagree. It wasn't overcheesy at all. It was, if anything, a little undercheesy. We baked this one in the oven for about 30 minutes, and it got nice and browned on top, a little crispy, as well. Oh yeah, Chef Tom also said the potatoes may have been a little on the undercooked side, which I totally disgree with as well. They were not undercooked, nor al dente. They were fully cooked and delicious. But I suppose he knows best.
What was pretty humorous was for dinner break, they had the audacity to serve us mashed potatoes!! The last thing we needed was more potatoes. But they didn't know, so I forgive them, I suppose.
That new guy, (Lee, whose name is Dongchen, who is a very nice guy) was working alone. He made all the recipes by himself. These recipes weren't difficult, but it took time to gather the ingredients, slice potatoes, fry them, keep an eye on them, prepare supplementary ingredients (like boiling milk), or boiling the potatoes (PLUS having Chef Tom call us up every 5 minutes). He did a good job, considering, however, he lagged behind a bit. But I don't blame him. I helped him clean up his station, but I'd like to work whit him again one day. He was pretty cool, and my partner has been lagging behind a little (though she was super helpful on this dreadful stomach aching potato day).
We made a couple more potato dishes, which I will mention briefly. We made another layered and baked dish (pommes Anna), a hashed potato looking thing (pommes something), pommes puree (mashed), and pommes duchesse (a puree mixed with an egg yolk and usually squeezed through a pastry bag into shapes).
I'd love to give you details but they're a little fuzzy to me, and quite honestly, its easy to mess these up, but if you pay some attention to what you're doing, its easier to get right.
We have a quiz at the beginning of next class. We received the low down at the end of this past class. So we should all do well. I intend on getting it perfect (again). It's idiotic not to memorize the 10 things he takes the time to explain to us for the quiz. I'll let you know how it goes, and if I can stomach it, I'll prepare some potatoes for my friends. Also, by the way, you may have noticed that the blog is no longer white text on a black background. I received a few complaints that it was harsh on the eyes. I am still trying to find the right color scheme that captures the aura of this blog. I am open to suggestions. Feel free to leave a comment with ideas, and with anything else you'd like to say or hear more about.
Ok, so perhaps that was an unsuccessful twist on the Forrest Gump line by Bubba, but you get my point. You can pretty much do anything with a potato (even shoot them out of guns). We certainly did fry them (our first introduction to the deep fryer in class), and slice and dice them. We also used a mandoline for the first time, which proved quite the foe to some in the class (including my partner).
Before I continue, I am having some mixed feeling about Chef Tom. Yes, he is very skillful, and all of his demos come out pretty much perfect, but I think he secretly wants ours to come out not quite as good as his. We all do things at slightly different paces. But he constantly calls us up to the front of the class (mid-preparation/cooking) and makes us watch as he prepares a dish.. from slicing entire potatoes on a mandoline, to laying the slices out, to S&P (salt and pepper, as I write it in my recipes), etc. I agree its helpful to see the process, but certain things can be skipped. More importantly, he calls us up as we're cooking, and inevitably the food is going to burn. It happens to almost all of us. Meanwhile we watch him prepare something from start to finish, and he'll lay it out on a dish and say, "oh wow, did you taste my salad, or my potato, or my_______ (insert name of food he demonstrated). Isn't that good?" Starting to get a little bothersome.
Anyhow, another aside before I get into potatoes. About an hour into class, after we watched him fry a bunch of different cuts of potatoes, I was having some terrible pains in my stomach. I felt like I was welling up with gas, but I wasn't sure why, nor could I do anything about it. With that said, my mind wasn't quite focused on the task at hand. I was more concerned with the clock hitting 10:45 than my potatoes being perfect. Further when my partner sliced her finger on the mandoline, I had no choice but to try and fully focus. It was difficult, and I would love to do it all over.
On to frying potatoes. Its not that difficult, we've all done it, probably without really thinking about it, and most likely without a thermometer (though, if Alton Brown always uses one, maybe I should too). For recipes that call for a one time fry (opposed to frying twice or thrice) the oil should be at approximmately 350F-375F. This provides a crispy outside and helps prevent the potato from adbsorbing too much oil. We made waffle fries (more like chips) using the mandoline (a number of people, including my partner, had a hard time with this cut because they did not realize that you must rotate the potato a little before each pass on the mandoline. Not rocket science). We cooked these in the oil until no more bubbles formed, that is, the moisture has been cooked out of the potato leaving a crisp waffle chip. You can't do this for thicker cuts or else you'll be left with a rock hard piece of fried potato.
We then made a bowl. How cute! ehm... I mean... it was really pretty easy, and its nice to know that we can easily make a bowl out of potatoes. Easily if you have the right tools for shaping the bowl and being able to submerge in oil (we used these two metal "baskets" one for inside the other, so the potatoes were pushed in between. We cut two round parchment paper circles to put between the bowls and the potatoes to prevent sticking. But yeah, it was cute.. and easy). A little tip, when you want to fry potatoes and ou want them to stick together (a hash, these baskets), it may be best that you don't rinse them before you fry them. That is, you can store them in water as you are cutting them, to prevent discoloration, but do not rinse before fying. We don't want to lose the starchy goodness. Also, for frying we use starchy potatoes, such as good ole Idaho's, and Russet potatoes. HOWEVER, it is in yours and your skins, eyes, hands... best interest if you dry the potato before you place in the oil. Again, you probably don't need to be told this, but we were, and I'm passing it along to you. For a regular french fry, it may be best if you rinse off the extra starch, though its not necessary.
Next we made a gratin dauphine. Layers of sliced potatoes, with cheese and cream. It was pretty darn good!! Chef Tom said we used a little too much cheese, but I disagree. It wasn't overcheesy at all. It was, if anything, a little undercheesy. We baked this one in the oven for about 30 minutes, and it got nice and browned on top, a little crispy, as well. Oh yeah, Chef Tom also said the potatoes may have been a little on the undercooked side, which I totally disgree with as well. They were not undercooked, nor al dente. They were fully cooked and delicious. But I suppose he knows best.
What was pretty humorous was for dinner break, they had the audacity to serve us mashed potatoes!! The last thing we needed was more potatoes. But they didn't know, so I forgive them, I suppose.
That new guy, (Lee, whose name is Dongchen, who is a very nice guy) was working alone. He made all the recipes by himself. These recipes weren't difficult, but it took time to gather the ingredients, slice potatoes, fry them, keep an eye on them, prepare supplementary ingredients (like boiling milk), or boiling the potatoes (PLUS having Chef Tom call us up every 5 minutes). He did a good job, considering, however, he lagged behind a bit. But I don't blame him. I helped him clean up his station, but I'd like to work whit him again one day. He was pretty cool, and my partner has been lagging behind a little (though she was super helpful on this dreadful stomach aching potato day).
We made a couple more potato dishes, which I will mention briefly. We made another layered and baked dish (pommes Anna), a hashed potato looking thing (pommes something), pommes puree (mashed), and pommes duchesse (a puree mixed with an egg yolk and usually squeezed through a pastry bag into shapes).
I'd love to give you details but they're a little fuzzy to me, and quite honestly, its easy to mess these up, but if you pay some attention to what you're doing, its easier to get right.
We have a quiz at the beginning of next class. We received the low down at the end of this past class. So we should all do well. I intend on getting it perfect (again). It's idiotic not to memorize the 10 things he takes the time to explain to us for the quiz. I'll let you know how it goes, and if I can stomach it, I'll prepare some potatoes for my friends. Also, by the way, you may have noticed that the blog is no longer white text on a black background. I received a few complaints that it was harsh on the eyes. I am still trying to find the right color scheme that captures the aura of this blog. I am open to suggestions. Feel free to leave a comment with ideas, and with anything else you'd like to say or hear more about.
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