Wednesday was the first of several days of practicals. Each of us arrived with no knowledge of which menu we'd be asked to perform.
First was setup. We were assigned tasks such as pulling equipment, proteins, preparing stations with labels and various necessities such as cutting boards and trash bins.
Then we were assigned our menus. I was assigned chicken fricasse; I'd just practiced it on Monday night to my disappointment and my husband's. (No more chicken!) I also had to make handmade egg noodles, which I'd also practiced on Monday night. They were yummy!
I started my broth (to present the noodles) so that it could simmer and absorb all the meaty goodness as possible during our three hours. I then started my pasta. I beat the eggs with water and oil, salted my flour and created a big well. I poured in the egg mixture and started stirring, intending to slowly incorporate the flour. Instead the dam broke on my flour levees and egg was pouring out onto the table. I tried to move flour to plug the hole but that created problems elsewhere. Soon I had egg running everywhere. "Don't panic!! Too early for a breakdown!" This eggy issue did not happen at home. I finally got it under control and incorporated most of the flour. My dough was particularly wet. Why?
Oops! I'd used twice as many eggs as I should have. The recipe was supposed to be halved, but I'd overlooked this in my egg calculation. Duh!! "Don't panic!! Too early for a breakdown!" I quickly measured more flour and incorporated it. Disaster averted. Phew! I kneaded and put the dough to rest. I could hear the chef chastising another student for not making the proper amount. How long until he noted my humongous pasta dough ball.
On to the chicken fricasse.
I started the mise en place. This progressed well, my chicken was a little darker than it should have been but by no means golden. (If it was to be golden, or doré as the French say, it would have been judged much too pale.) I pulled the chicken and rested it while I made the sauce. I used the required amounts (yes! I was correct this time!) and it tasted too much like the white wine. I believe I didn't cook it down long enough. I tried to let it cook longer after adding the broth. Still winey, but not whiney; the chicken thankfully was dead. I needed to move on so I replaced my chicken pieces in the pot and put the pan in the oven.
Just then, "Dallas, is that your pasta dough?" Dang! Busted on the full recipe!
"You should put it in the refrigerator." Phew! That's it?!? Interesting, the recipe said let it rest for an hour at room temperature. I'm not going to argue however.
Check my chicken. Not done, 120F. I needed 155F. Back in the oven it went.
Now I needed to blanche my julienne strips for the chicken soup and my diced carrots and leeks to finish the fricasse. The water WOULD NOT BOIL! I felt I was losing valuable time waiting for it to boil. It was a small pot too; I can't imagine how long a big pot would have taken. I actually didn't have anything to do waiting on that stupid pot to boil. Of course this only heightened my anxiety. I kept thinking "a watched pot never boils." I wasn't looking so boil!! Still no boil. Ugh!
Finally a boil! I placed my chinoise with the diced and julienne carrot pieces in it. There wasn't enough water to cover the pieces. I had to add more water and wait for that to boil again! "Don't panic!! You've almost made it through without a breakdown!" I went through the whole cycle again thinking "a watched pot never boils." I wasn't looking so boil!! Still no boil. Ugh!
I checked my chicken again, 140F.
Finally a boil. My carrots were on! While they were blanching I decided I wouldn't have time to blanche the carrots, then the leeks, and then the celery. I'd have to do the leeks and celery together, but having them mix together wouldn't work either. It'd take me 20 minutes to separate them. I made a cheesecloth pouch and put the celery julienne inside, except one I would use for tasting, I added to the leeks.
Carrots done, leeks and celery on!
I checked my chicken again, 180F. Whoa! DONE! I wondered how apparent the overcooking would be in this dish since it's slowly braised in liquid versus dry roasted in an oven left to dry out. Not much I could do now.
Celery done! Make the fricasse sauce. I removed the DONE chicken and placed it aside. I tasted the sauce, needs salt. Plus it was still winey (not whiney). I decided to add more chicken stock but this would thin my sauce which was at that point a good consistency. The stock helped to rid of that winey taste. It was actually pretty tasty but still too thin. I added the cream hoping it would assist in thickening my sauce. It did, but not enough. I didn't have time to reduce it and thought it actually was supposed to be thinner than the other sauces so I decided to move forward.
"Plating in five minutes, Chef." I proceeded to strain my sauce and give it's final seasoning, of course more salt. I mixed in some of the blanched carrot and leek dice and saved some to sprinkle on top with some chopped parsley. I retrieved my bowls from the hot box, labeled "Dallas" so no one would steal them. I poured the sauce over my chicken, set up in the proper form-- thigh on the bottom, leg partially stacked on top with the bone in mid air. Last I sprinkled on my garnish and brought the two servings to the judges, our chef instructor and another chef instructor.
On to finishing my broth... "Plating in five minutes, Chef."
I needed to cook my noodles but I didn't have time to wait for water to boil. I'd have to reuse my blanching broth, something I was sure would come back to haunt me. I strained my broth and noted there was still lots of debris. I remembered later I was planning to use cheesecloth when I strained the broth, but I forgot. I cooked my noodles. They took much longer than I thought they would to cook. I wanted to be sure not to overcook them though, something that was highlighted in lecture. My broth was ready, all except for noodles. I'd chopped my chicken pieces to include and added my julienne strips of carrot and celery.
I was tasting my noodles for doneness but the things were so slippery I couldn't get them to stay on my spoon. There were no forks for tasting so I used fingers- A BIG NO NO!!! I knew this but felt pinched for time. Sometimes logical thought goes out the window.
Finally, I was ready to plate my soup. I took my labeled bowls to the judging table and felt relieved to be finished, but anxious I'd get hit with sanitation dings.
I noted all the second plates were held together for class review. Mine were the only dishes labeled. Oh well. I should be proud of my dishes!
In my one on one with the chefs I learned my fricasse chicken was over browned, the chicken over done and the sauce too salty. Jeez! It looked good, perfect color and nice veggie pieces and garnishing. The sauce was too thin. It didn't stick to the chicken pieces but rather ran off leaving the chicken dry looking.
My broth was more successful. It was full flavored and well seasoned and the noodles well cooked. During the class lecture someone tasted both broths and said "Dallas' is better." The commenter didn't realize the competing student was who she was telling, not that she was offended.
All in all, not too bad.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Skills- Starches!
Today we made all kinds of pastas, grains and combinations of both. The results were expected and unexpected.
Our first dish was to make egg pasta from scratch. This takes much arm strength. First there is a pile of flour with a well in the middle. In the well one places eggs, water and oil. Slowly the two are incorporated by pulling in and mixing flour into the middle section with a fork. Finally when all is incorporated, the dough is kneaded. This can take some time to fully incorporate the flour into the dough. Next the dough sits to allow the gluton to bond to the other ingredients. After sitting the dough is rolled out, or put through a pasta roller as we did, and then cut into its desired shape. This was later cooked up with butter and parmesan. Dalliscious! BWOOP!
After pasta, we made polenta. This was made with stock and parmesan. It was not terribly thick, but tasty. Chef says he often includes milk. I think that would have enhanced the dish. He also mentioned marscapone. I need to try that! It sounds dalliscious!
Following polenta were traditional potato gnocchi and semolina gnocchi. The potato gnocchi was tasty, fairly pillowy, nothing out of the ordinary. In contrast, the semolina gnocchi was quite Dalliscious. It was baked in long 'tubes' and then cut after baking. It tasted like ultra creamy whipped polenta. It was GOOD! Dalliscious!! (I snuck some seconds.)
Next was spatzle. I expected it to taste like gummy bits of flour. Rather it was sauteed in brown butter and tasted much like mac 'n cheese without all the cheese. It was the highlight of the day. All I needed was a pounded pork cutlet to go with it. (I snuck some seconds again and wanted thirds but didn't want to appear piggy.) Dalliscious Again! BWOOP!
We also made wild rice. This is a staple at holidays in our household so it wasn't as revolutionary tasting, but still Dalliscious. I love the texture. Chef should have added some nuts. That would have made the nutter flavor more apparent.
We made couscous and tried it plain and in a salad with fruits and toasted almonds. While the salad was good, there was a wee bit too much orange zest and it took away from some of the other flavors.
Last we made pasta carbonara. This is a personal favorite. We made it slightly differently than I would have in that Chef didn't include any oil in his sauce. I like to include a little. The sauce was cooked up too quickly by the student and thus it didn't create that creamy yumminess that it should have. Still it was devoured by my classmates. Guess bad carbonara isn't so bad.
Our first dish was to make egg pasta from scratch. This takes much arm strength. First there is a pile of flour with a well in the middle. In the well one places eggs, water and oil. Slowly the two are incorporated by pulling in and mixing flour into the middle section with a fork. Finally when all is incorporated, the dough is kneaded. This can take some time to fully incorporate the flour into the dough. Next the dough sits to allow the gluton to bond to the other ingredients. After sitting the dough is rolled out, or put through a pasta roller as we did, and then cut into its desired shape. This was later cooked up with butter and parmesan. Dalliscious! BWOOP!
After pasta, we made polenta. This was made with stock and parmesan. It was not terribly thick, but tasty. Chef says he often includes milk. I think that would have enhanced the dish. He also mentioned marscapone. I need to try that! It sounds dalliscious!
Following polenta were traditional potato gnocchi and semolina gnocchi. The potato gnocchi was tasty, fairly pillowy, nothing out of the ordinary. In contrast, the semolina gnocchi was quite Dalliscious. It was baked in long 'tubes' and then cut after baking. It tasted like ultra creamy whipped polenta. It was GOOD! Dalliscious!! (I snuck some seconds.)
Next was spatzle. I expected it to taste like gummy bits of flour. Rather it was sauteed in brown butter and tasted much like mac 'n cheese without all the cheese. It was the highlight of the day. All I needed was a pounded pork cutlet to go with it. (I snuck some seconds again and wanted thirds but didn't want to appear piggy.) Dalliscious Again! BWOOP!
We also made wild rice. This is a staple at holidays in our household so it wasn't as revolutionary tasting, but still Dalliscious. I love the texture. Chef should have added some nuts. That would have made the nutter flavor more apparent.
We made couscous and tried it plain and in a salad with fruits and toasted almonds. While the salad was good, there was a wee bit too much orange zest and it took away from some of the other flavors.
Last we made pasta carbonara. This is a personal favorite. We made it slightly differently than I would have in that Chef didn't include any oil in his sauce. I like to include a little. The sauce was cooked up too quickly by the student and thus it didn't create that creamy yumminess that it should have. Still it was devoured by my classmates. Guess bad carbonara isn't so bad.
Monday, February 15, 2010
No more chicken! Hollandaise again?!?!
This past weekend I spent going through dry runs of my practical menus. I wasn't too stressed about the exam until doing this. There is a lot of work!! I have one weekend left to practice some more and then it's show time. Yikes!!
Saturday was my roasting menu. I cooked for four, including myself, and made cream of broccoli soup, roasted chicken with pan gravy and white bean ragout. I also had some remaining chicken consomme that I served as a palate opener. The dinner provided me opportunity to practice my serving skills as well. As a left hander, some of the 'all right' practices confuse me. Luckily, I was well trained from my mother in table setting so that part is easy.
Sunday's dinner was fairly successful. I made a poached grouper with shrimp in a vin blanc sauce. The sauce was really tasty, but too thin. I added a slurry at the end but it ruined the taste. I either added too much or didn't allow it to cook out. Either way, it was a bad move.
The side of duchesse potatoes were a mild success. I had difficulty getting them to brown on top. Finally I got tired of waiting and turned on the broiler. Good thing I did because I don't think the potatoes needed to cook any longer.
My practice continued the next weekend. It was supposed to keep going on Sunday night too, but by then I was over it and exhausted. Plus my husband and I were and are so tired of chicken. I served filets with bearnaise sauce on this day and a puree of lentil soup.
I used red lentils instead of green for variety and color. I didn't know they cook much quicker however. All the sudden all the lentils were floating and I hadn't even added my sachet d'epices! My guests didn't seem to notice however.
Without cleaning, shopping and cooking all day I felt like I actually had a weekend, a tiny one. It was over too soon though.
Saturday was my roasting menu. I cooked for four, including myself, and made cream of broccoli soup, roasted chicken with pan gravy and white bean ragout. I also had some remaining chicken consomme that I served as a palate opener. The dinner provided me opportunity to practice my serving skills as well. As a left hander, some of the 'all right' practices confuse me. Luckily, I was well trained from my mother in table setting so that part is easy.
Sunday's dinner was fairly successful. I made a poached grouper with shrimp in a vin blanc sauce. The sauce was really tasty, but too thin. I added a slurry at the end but it ruined the taste. I either added too much or didn't allow it to cook out. Either way, it was a bad move.
The side of duchesse potatoes were a mild success. I had difficulty getting them to brown on top. Finally I got tired of waiting and turned on the broiler. Good thing I did because I don't think the potatoes needed to cook any longer.
My practice continued the next weekend. It was supposed to keep going on Sunday night too, but by then I was over it and exhausted. Plus my husband and I were and are so tired of chicken. I served filets with bearnaise sauce on this day and a puree of lentil soup.
I used red lentils instead of green for variety and color. I didn't know they cook much quicker however. All the sudden all the lentils were floating and I hadn't even added my sachet d'epices! My guests didn't seem to notice however.
Without cleaning, shopping and cooking all day I felt like I actually had a weekend, a tiny one. It was over too soon though.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
The First Week of Live Serving
Last week, Tuesday, was our premier day of serving to genuine live customers. I was lucky enough (not really) to be the Beauty, or opening manager, that day. It was stressful. The instructor was introducing a new food running system that we had not practiced and explaining it and remembering all the details of how and why it worked were difficult. Additionally, a key staff member decided to be absent from class that day. I had to pull someone from dishwashing duty and assign them to bartender.
I had two tables. Table One was a table of four women, all wearing red hats. Yes, they were members of the Red Hat Society.
I greeted my table and took their beverage orders. Upon returning to the table, I forgot who had the iced tea. My notes were of little assistance; I wrote the orders incorrectly related to their table placement. I need more practice.
I then took the orders of my guests and made a special effort to appropriately assign them to the correct seat. I remembered to ask about sides also. I loaded the orders into the computer and moved to my next table to greet, again making special effort to get all correct. Upon taking Table Two's menus, I realized the Table One still had their menus. Duh!
Meanwhile at the bar, my substitute worker was thanking me sarcastically for assigning her last minute to this post. The head chef from the school decided to sit there and order everything on the menu while simultaneously pointing out every error made in the food's delivery and presentation.
Soups were ready to be delivered to Table One so I brought these out on a service tray. Luckily everyone gets the same so one couldn't erroneously give the wrong soup to a guest. I did however forget to put my soup bowl ears/handles at 9:00 and 3:00. Jeez! There is much to remember!
With soups done, salads were next. I was excited that I remembered the pepper mill. Score one for Dallas! Table Two seemed a breeze after either correctly serving or learning from my mistakes at Table One.
Oops! I forgot to tell the Chef that I was clearing Table One of their salads. This is the signal to fire the next course. This could mean a longer than usual delay between courses. Luckily, that didn't happen.
The next courses progressed well. I tried to be sure all the beverages were appropriately full, straw and sugar wrappers removed, etc. Last, desserts were delivered. I forgot that someone might like coffee so when I checked the table soon thereafter I got a request for hot tea, "What types of tea do you serve?" and a latte. Table Two asked me to explain the difference between a latte and a capaccino. Luckily we'd been briefed on this during class lecture a week or two earlier.
I found when I went to order the tea for Table One that we don't have Oolong, Green and Earl Grey teas. We have Darjeeling, Green and Earl Grey. I didn't bother telling my customer that her Oolong would be Darjeeling instead and she didn't seem to notice. This same customer asked me what came in the Greek Salad. I promptly replied Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, feta, olives and an oregano vinagrette. (Duh! Isn't that why it's a Greek Salad??) I theorized that the instructor had planted this woman to quiz me on such specifics so I was pleased to at least appear knowledged.
Finally service was over and we all breathed a sign of relief. I believe some servers actually didn't have as smooth a service as I did. I almost sabotaged one of the servers by being proactive and clearing his table of dishes, but forgetting to tell him to call the next course from the Chef. Luckily, he was attentive and noted this on his own. Phew!
The next serving day I was the steward, aka dishwasher. This started relatively uneventfully since at the beginning of service there are not very many dishes to wash. To entertain myself I reminded runners as they left the kitchen with soups, "Ears!!" or with salads, "Pepper!"
Then the instructor noted spots on the glasses. "The glasses are all dirty." Luckily, that is something the last steward should have noted. I washed some again and verified, yes the dishwasher was not working properly. The instructor then in the middle of service decided to disassemble the dishwasher looking for lodged lemon seeds or other debris that might be clogging the rinse and/or wash cycles. This set me back several loads. (The sprayer is already broken on the machine which meant I had a disgusting tub of dirty water in which to rinse dishes before loading them.)
I caught up and all ended fine. I'm looking forward to getting back to serving. This week I'm a lowly runner.
I had two tables. Table One was a table of four women, all wearing red hats. Yes, they were members of the Red Hat Society.
I greeted my table and took their beverage orders. Upon returning to the table, I forgot who had the iced tea. My notes were of little assistance; I wrote the orders incorrectly related to their table placement. I need more practice.
I then took the orders of my guests and made a special effort to appropriately assign them to the correct seat. I remembered to ask about sides also. I loaded the orders into the computer and moved to my next table to greet, again making special effort to get all correct. Upon taking Table Two's menus, I realized the Table One still had their menus. Duh!
Meanwhile at the bar, my substitute worker was thanking me sarcastically for assigning her last minute to this post. The head chef from the school decided to sit there and order everything on the menu while simultaneously pointing out every error made in the food's delivery and presentation.
Soups were ready to be delivered to Table One so I brought these out on a service tray. Luckily everyone gets the same so one couldn't erroneously give the wrong soup to a guest. I did however forget to put my soup bowl ears/handles at 9:00 and 3:00. Jeez! There is much to remember!
With soups done, salads were next. I was excited that I remembered the pepper mill. Score one for Dallas! Table Two seemed a breeze after either correctly serving or learning from my mistakes at Table One.
Oops! I forgot to tell the Chef that I was clearing Table One of their salads. This is the signal to fire the next course. This could mean a longer than usual delay between courses. Luckily, that didn't happen.
The next courses progressed well. I tried to be sure all the beverages were appropriately full, straw and sugar wrappers removed, etc. Last, desserts were delivered. I forgot that someone might like coffee so when I checked the table soon thereafter I got a request for hot tea, "What types of tea do you serve?" and a latte. Table Two asked me to explain the difference between a latte and a capaccino. Luckily we'd been briefed on this during class lecture a week or two earlier.
I found when I went to order the tea for Table One that we don't have Oolong, Green and Earl Grey teas. We have Darjeeling, Green and Earl Grey. I didn't bother telling my customer that her Oolong would be Darjeeling instead and she didn't seem to notice. This same customer asked me what came in the Greek Salad. I promptly replied Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, feta, olives and an oregano vinagrette. (Duh! Isn't that why it's a Greek Salad??) I theorized that the instructor had planted this woman to quiz me on such specifics so I was pleased to at least appear knowledged.
Finally service was over and we all breathed a sign of relief. I believe some servers actually didn't have as smooth a service as I did. I almost sabotaged one of the servers by being proactive and clearing his table of dishes, but forgetting to tell him to call the next course from the Chef. Luckily, he was attentive and noted this on his own. Phew!
The next serving day I was the steward, aka dishwasher. This started relatively uneventfully since at the beginning of service there are not very many dishes to wash. To entertain myself I reminded runners as they left the kitchen with soups, "Ears!!" or with salads, "Pepper!"
Then the instructor noted spots on the glasses. "The glasses are all dirty." Luckily, that is something the last steward should have noted. I washed some again and verified, yes the dishwasher was not working properly. The instructor then in the middle of service decided to disassemble the dishwasher looking for lodged lemon seeds or other debris that might be clogging the rinse and/or wash cycles. This set me back several loads. (The sprayer is already broken on the machine which meant I had a disgusting tub of dirty water in which to rinse dishes before loading them.)
I caught up and all ended fine. I'm looking forward to getting back to serving. This week I'm a lowly runner.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Skills, Fish Fish and More Fish
Wednesday we learned about moist cooking methods, in particular poaching- shallow and deep. Class began with a demo on how to check a for fish freshness and fillet a salmon. We removed the bones and had some small bits left which we used later to make a mousilline. The fillets were then portioned out and held for later.
Next each student created his own Cod en Papillote, cod poached in parchment paper. We prepared our mise en place by julienning red and green bell peppers and red onions, thinly slicing yellow squash, zucchini and mushrooms, chiffinading some herbs, mincing garlic, slicing lemons and slicing pats of herb butter. We each then cut a heart into our folded parchment paper and wrote our names on them. We had another short demonstration on how to prepare and portion the cod. I was tasked with pulling out some large bones with a pair of pliers, a task of which I tired quickly. I successfully Huck Finned the task to a classmate to finish.
Then it was a mad dash to fill our papers. I started mine with a pat of herb butter, piled on some peppers and squash and topped the pile with mushrooms. I seasoned this. Then I placed a portion of seasoned cod on top. To top off my tower I added a lemon slice, some basil and another pat of herb butter. I rolled up the sides of my paper to seal it up, cheated with a staple at each end, and coated the top of paper in olive oil. Amazingly, we added no liquid to our packages.
Into the oven everyone's went. In five minutes Chef checked them. Not done. In another two minutes he checked them. Done. I don't know how he knew it was done. It looked exactly the same as it had the first time he checked, puffed up with lightly browned paper. Chef pulled them out of the oven and they instantly started deflating. I don't know how any server could get such a dish to a table before it looked like a rain soaked piece of newspaper over a fish fillet.
We all ripped open our packages and put them on paper plates. I was ready for tasting, with a fork already in my chef coat pocket. Bwoop! Mine was peppery, but otherwise tasty. I tasted the one beside mine. Too peppery. I tried another that included Old Bay seasoning. It needed salt and was somewhat bland. I went around tasting them all. They were either really good or really bland. There seemed to be little in between. I did note those who tried to get fancy with the spices ended up with bland versions.
Overall I thought this could be a great kid's activity because it was easy, showy and it could be a healthy dish if made with olive oil which some students did. I have to make the dish for my practical so I'll be sure to impress my husband with this showy dish.
Next we made Flounder Mousilline. To prepare the pan we well buttered the bottom, added some chopped shallots, parsley stems, pepper, salt and a bay leaf. One group mixed together our salmon pieces, some egg whites and cream to create the mousilline. This was spread over the flounder fillets and rolled up, swirl facing up in the pan. (For the practical, we'll have julienne strips sticking out the swirl and will poach the roll on its side seam side down.) Fish fumet was added and the pan covered. Into the oven it went for about 10 to 15 minutes. Once cooked through, the fish was removed to a warming plate, covered and held for service while we made the sauce.
To make the sauce we reduced the poaching liquid and then added fish velouté sauce. Velouté is a white sauce made with white stock and/or wine and roux, a butter and flour thickener. Once thickened, the sauce is strained and garnish is added, herbs usually. The sauce was plated and our mousilline swirls plated on top. Yeah time for tasting!!! Dalliscious! BWOOP!
Our last fish dish of the day was deep poached salmon. There were two batches of this. One pot held salted water, the other stock. Several pieces of salmon were added to each pot and simmered for a few minutes. These were removed. They looked like washed out pieces of salmon one might find in the frozen section of Kroger's sale bin. Chef cut them open. Each piece was finished medium to medium rare. Nice. We then tasted them. I thought the stock poached version would be the better selection. Wrong. The salted water version was much better, but overall neither was very exciting. "Now try it with sauce." Out came hollandaise sauce. Surprisingly it enhanced the salmon greatly, not just because the hollandaise tasted yummy, but also it made the salmon taste more like salmon.
Overall is was a Dalliscious day!
Next each student created his own Cod en Papillote, cod poached in parchment paper. We prepared our mise en place by julienning red and green bell peppers and red onions, thinly slicing yellow squash, zucchini and mushrooms, chiffinading some herbs, mincing garlic, slicing lemons and slicing pats of herb butter. We each then cut a heart into our folded parchment paper and wrote our names on them. We had another short demonstration on how to prepare and portion the cod. I was tasked with pulling out some large bones with a pair of pliers, a task of which I tired quickly. I successfully Huck Finned the task to a classmate to finish.
Then it was a mad dash to fill our papers. I started mine with a pat of herb butter, piled on some peppers and squash and topped the pile with mushrooms. I seasoned this. Then I placed a portion of seasoned cod on top. To top off my tower I added a lemon slice, some basil and another pat of herb butter. I rolled up the sides of my paper to seal it up, cheated with a staple at each end, and coated the top of paper in olive oil. Amazingly, we added no liquid to our packages.
Into the oven everyone's went. In five minutes Chef checked them. Not done. In another two minutes he checked them. Done. I don't know how he knew it was done. It looked exactly the same as it had the first time he checked, puffed up with lightly browned paper. Chef pulled them out of the oven and they instantly started deflating. I don't know how any server could get such a dish to a table before it looked like a rain soaked piece of newspaper over a fish fillet.
We all ripped open our packages and put them on paper plates. I was ready for tasting, with a fork already in my chef coat pocket. Bwoop! Mine was peppery, but otherwise tasty. I tasted the one beside mine. Too peppery. I tried another that included Old Bay seasoning. It needed salt and was somewhat bland. I went around tasting them all. They were either really good or really bland. There seemed to be little in between. I did note those who tried to get fancy with the spices ended up with bland versions.
Overall I thought this could be a great kid's activity because it was easy, showy and it could be a healthy dish if made with olive oil which some students did. I have to make the dish for my practical so I'll be sure to impress my husband with this showy dish.
Next we made Flounder Mousilline. To prepare the pan we well buttered the bottom, added some chopped shallots, parsley stems, pepper, salt and a bay leaf. One group mixed together our salmon pieces, some egg whites and cream to create the mousilline. This was spread over the flounder fillets and rolled up, swirl facing up in the pan. (For the practical, we'll have julienne strips sticking out the swirl and will poach the roll on its side seam side down.) Fish fumet was added and the pan covered. Into the oven it went for about 10 to 15 minutes. Once cooked through, the fish was removed to a warming plate, covered and held for service while we made the sauce.
To make the sauce we reduced the poaching liquid and then added fish velouté sauce. Velouté is a white sauce made with white stock and/or wine and roux, a butter and flour thickener. Once thickened, the sauce is strained and garnish is added, herbs usually. The sauce was plated and our mousilline swirls plated on top. Yeah time for tasting!!! Dalliscious! BWOOP!
Our last fish dish of the day was deep poached salmon. There were two batches of this. One pot held salted water, the other stock. Several pieces of salmon were added to each pot and simmered for a few minutes. These were removed. They looked like washed out pieces of salmon one might find in the frozen section of Kroger's sale bin. Chef cut them open. Each piece was finished medium to medium rare. Nice. We then tasted them. I thought the stock poached version would be the better selection. Wrong. The salted water version was much better, but overall neither was very exciting. "Now try it with sauce." Out came hollandaise sauce. Surprisingly it enhanced the salmon greatly, not just because the hollandaise tasted yummy, but also it made the salmon taste more like salmon.
Overall is was a Dalliscious day!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Skills- Steaks, Roasts and Birds
Today we learned dry cooking methods. We roasted a chicken, made pan gravy for it, roasted a duck, made a citrus sauce for it, roasted a standing rib roast, made au jus for it, and each grilled our own NY strip steak.
Each student had to string and trussed our chicken before putting it in the oven. This was not a difficult task and everyone seemed to be able to complete it without much difficulty. By the end however the poor chicken looked like it'd been tossed on the floor and run through the dish machine. The ends of the legs where the string first wrapped was all red and purple like a black eye. Then when preparing the chicken for the oven, it got a complete oil rub down. Maybe the massage helped ease the throbbing some. The duck made out much better.
Nearly everyone overcooked his steak. Some were well seasoned, others not so much. I believe that the grill should have been hotter. Our steaks were ghetto thin so in an attempt to get the appropriate grill marks the first students to grill ended up with well done steaks. A few had a hint of pink. Later students had steaks that were more acceptable for service.
We were told that a steak cooked to the proper temperature with poor grill marks would get us a better grade than an improperly cooked steak with great grill marks. We also learned how to break down our roasted chicken and plate it. This too would be a portion of our practical grade.
We also grilled chicken halves, breast and leg. These were much harder to hatch with grill marks and many of us forgot to start with the display side down first (start with skin side down). There was also a wider variation of doneness. One unfortuate student dropped his on the floor taking it off the grill.
Good thing it wasn't the practical or that'd be an automatic F. A student can turn something in for a grade on how the dish looks and is presented, but 50% of the grade is on taste and the chef won't taste a bird that's been on the floor. Rumor is historically the highest grade given is an 85. No one gets an A. One student said she'd never gotten a C before in her entire academic history. My advice to her... get ready to get one.
There were few veggies today. We did taste some artichoke hearts we marinated earlier in the week. They were tasty. I need to try the technique that we used with lemon water and herbs. The hearts that come marinated in the can are not as tasty as these were-- not surprising. Plus the food processors are not as diligent as we were in getting out all the pieces of choke.
Each student had to string and trussed our chicken before putting it in the oven. This was not a difficult task and everyone seemed to be able to complete it without much difficulty. By the end however the poor chicken looked like it'd been tossed on the floor and run through the dish machine. The ends of the legs where the string first wrapped was all red and purple like a black eye. Then when preparing the chicken for the oven, it got a complete oil rub down. Maybe the massage helped ease the throbbing some. The duck made out much better.
Nearly everyone overcooked his steak. Some were well seasoned, others not so much. I believe that the grill should have been hotter. Our steaks were ghetto thin so in an attempt to get the appropriate grill marks the first students to grill ended up with well done steaks. A few had a hint of pink. Later students had steaks that were more acceptable for service.
We were told that a steak cooked to the proper temperature with poor grill marks would get us a better grade than an improperly cooked steak with great grill marks. We also learned how to break down our roasted chicken and plate it. This too would be a portion of our practical grade.
We also grilled chicken halves, breast and leg. These were much harder to hatch with grill marks and many of us forgot to start with the display side down first (start with skin side down). There was also a wider variation of doneness. One unfortuate student dropped his on the floor taking it off the grill.
Good thing it wasn't the practical or that'd be an automatic F. A student can turn something in for a grade on how the dish looks and is presented, but 50% of the grade is on taste and the chef won't taste a bird that's been on the floor. Rumor is historically the highest grade given is an 85. No one gets an A. One student said she'd never gotten a C before in her entire academic history. My advice to her... get ready to get one.
There were few veggies today. We did taste some artichoke hearts we marinated earlier in the week. They were tasty. I need to try the technique that we used with lemon water and herbs. The hearts that come marinated in the can are not as tasty as these were-- not surprising. Plus the food processors are not as diligent as we were in getting out all the pieces of choke.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Serving Class, Espresso Training
Today we learned how to make proper espresso (not expresso!!!!), beyond merely producing the proper crema, a thin layer of foam that is produced during the brewing process. There were specific guidelines on how quickly it should brew, how long it takes to brew, what's left in the cup afterwards, etc. Everyone got to practice making at least two cups.
If you do the math that means at a minimum there were two shots of espresso, which our instructor says is the equivalent of four Italian-sized shots, per student. As with the law of averages, some students drank less than the average and some more. This made for an interesting mix of personalities.
Also during the class we set up a new POS (point of sale) system for for the café, called Café Rouge. Our class is the largest in the history of the college, so we had more people than necessary to help unpack, plug in and program the new system. While some were diligently and productively assisting with the POS, the rest were left idle.
I'm not sure if it was the caffeine or the never before provided free time to chat, but this was a class of gossip.
"She sure did take to her new authority- nit picky!"
"How is she going to pass the practical? Basic knife skills are lacking."
"Oh yeah! The chef doesn't like him!"
"Did you see her just pat him on the butt?"
"Yeah! They have to be hookin' up! What a dog! He's getting ready
to be a baby mama with someone else's baby!"
Later in the class we got to see the menu we'll be serving on Thursday. It sounds tastier than the menu I ate last quarter as an invited student. It's a lot of food too, particularly for lunch. There's a soup, a salad, a choice of four different sandwiches, a choice of three sides, and a dessert. Plus unlimited (obviously to a point) espresso drinks. All that for $12, unless you are an invited guest of a culinary student. I'd eat there all the time if I worked near campus. That's a deal! I'd get fat though so I guess it's okay being the server.
I also found out I'll be entering a state competition for servers. I will soon start training. Should be interesting!
Gotta go! Time to read about braised meats!
If you do the math that means at a minimum there were two shots of espresso, which our instructor says is the equivalent of four Italian-sized shots, per student. As with the law of averages, some students drank less than the average and some more. This made for an interesting mix of personalities.
Also during the class we set up a new POS (point of sale) system for for the café, called Café Rouge. Our class is the largest in the history of the college, so we had more people than necessary to help unpack, plug in and program the new system. While some were diligently and productively assisting with the POS, the rest were left idle.
I'm not sure if it was the caffeine or the never before provided free time to chat, but this was a class of gossip.
"She sure did take to her new authority- nit picky!"
"How is she going to pass the practical? Basic knife skills are lacking."
"Oh yeah! The chef doesn't like him!"
"Did you see her just pat him on the butt?"
"Yeah! They have to be hookin' up! What a dog! He's getting ready
to be a baby mama with someone else's baby!"
Later in the class we got to see the menu we'll be serving on Thursday. It sounds tastier than the menu I ate last quarter as an invited student. It's a lot of food too, particularly for lunch. There's a soup, a salad, a choice of four different sandwiches, a choice of three sides, and a dessert. Plus unlimited (obviously to a point) espresso drinks. All that for $12, unless you are an invited guest of a culinary student. I'd eat there all the time if I worked near campus. That's a deal! I'd get fat though so I guess it's okay being the server.
I also found out I'll be entering a state competition for servers. I will soon start training. Should be interesting!
Gotta go! Time to read about braised meats!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Skills, Vegetable Day
Today we only cooked vegetables, in various ways. Here's a listing of what was ultimately produced:
- fried eggplant
- grilled eggplant
- grilled zucchini
- sauteed mushrooms, button and baby bellas
- sauteed garlic spinach
- brussels sprouts in brown butter
- roasted parsnips
- roasted turnips
- roasted rutabagas
- roasted butternut squash
- braised cabbage
- leek timbale
- carrot timbale
- julienne yellow squash and zucchini
- sauteed asparagus
- pureed cauliflower
What was the objective of this exercise? Partially to prove that people would like some items they thought they wouldn't if prepared in a more tasty manner (translation: doused in butter). Also to illustrate that a vegetable plate could look appetizing as opposed to a pile of steamed vegetables on a pile of rice. It looked appetizing, but I'm not sure it was particularly organized.
What did I learn from this exercise? Eggplant isn't so bad; I still don't prefer sweet vegetables like butternut squash and cooked carrots. I don't like rutabagas. Turnips aren't so bad. Cooked cabbage is disgusting, even with apples. The rest I already liked and continue to like.
It was an uneventful day. Wednesday we're supposed to grill steaks. That should be more exciting.
- fried eggplant
- grilled eggplant
- grilled zucchini
- sauteed mushrooms, button and baby bellas
- sauteed garlic spinach
- brussels sprouts in brown butter
- roasted parsnips
- roasted turnips
- roasted rutabagas
- roasted butternut squash
- braised cabbage
- leek timbale
- carrot timbale
- julienne yellow squash and zucchini
- sauteed asparagus
- pureed cauliflower
What was the objective of this exercise? Partially to prove that people would like some items they thought they wouldn't if prepared in a more tasty manner (translation: doused in butter). Also to illustrate that a vegetable plate could look appetizing as opposed to a pile of steamed vegetables on a pile of rice. It looked appetizing, but I'm not sure it was particularly organized.
What did I learn from this exercise? Eggplant isn't so bad; I still don't prefer sweet vegetables like butternut squash and cooked carrots. I don't like rutabagas. Turnips aren't so bad. Cooked cabbage is disgusting, even with apples. The rest I already liked and continue to like.
It was an uneventful day. Wednesday we're supposed to grill steaks. That should be more exciting.
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