Farm Living

I've been up at my folk's place in Upstate New York. It's smack in the middle of a working farm. I've been eating fresh eggs, waiting for a new calf, watching the hay bales fly into the wagon and petting the kittens. Here's me picking some of those fresh Sammy Armer eggs out of the chicken coop!

Daddy is excited because his hops are flowering. They won't be ready for a while however. We've been experimenting trying to flavor a bland Redbridge beer with some Cascade hop pellets. By steeping them, the flavor is added to the beer. Unfortunately while the flavor is definitively there, the effervescence leaves. I'm stumped on how to replace it in a bottle. There is rumor that stirring in raw hops will cause green hop quick step, but I'm not sure I believe this. That may be my next experimentation is to stir in some of the raw hops and drink it right away before the effervescence has an opportunity to escape.

Practicals Again

Practical Day One, American Regional: I went into yesterday feeling that this exam would be much easier than past ones. We had two hours to do two plates of a simple meal, an airline breast, steamed broccoli and potatoes Anna. How hard can that be?

I'd practiced for the fabrication part. I threw a dinner party for 35 guests. During the preparation I broke down 15 chickens and 10 flounder. I felt ready. During the exam I managed to get my chicken finished, although of course something would be wrong-- too much meat left on the carcass. (I needed my future broth to have some flavor!!)

I also had a dinner party for six guests the Saturday before, practicing the exact meal. Timing the broccoli to be perfectly cooked and not cold while timing the other items to be hot on the plate was much to juggle in the last seconds of plating. Most difficult were the potatoes Anna. The potato slices wouldn't stick to one another; thus when I flipped them over to brown the second side, half the potato slices went flying across the stove onto the countertop. My husband and I didn't want potatoes that evening anyway. Luckily, two of my guests are culinary graduates and showed me some tips for making the dish more easily. Melt the butter and season and coat each piece before layering the slices in the pan.

I tried this the next morning. My husband and I had fried eggs over potatoes Anna. It tasted pretty good. The potatoes stuck together and I was able to flip them only losing one slice of potato. I felt much better for the next day!

I walked in Monday afternoon confident and ready to go! The most difficult part of these practicals seems to be managing the space, a mere two level 4' x 4' counter. Within this space I have to prep, hold food items and equipment, and plate at the end. I also have to keep my space sanitary and organized through the full two hours. This becomes challenging, particularly at the end when there are multiple hot pans, plates, tongs, strainers, ice baths and other items I'm trying to juggle and not get burned or doused.

As predicted I progressed easily during the first hour, but nearing the end my space became increasingly more difficult to manage. All the equipment that was stored on my bottom level was now on the top level. Where I was to place plates seemed a mystery to me. Since, I've decided that my utensil tray needs to be removed minus essentials in use at the moment.

In the end, I got dinged for not wearing gloves while plating, even though I used tongs for everything. Can't win! I managed to get a decent grade which is what matters to me. I know I can cook the food to a level that will satisfy a guest. I need to learn to cook it consistently and quickly in order to satisfy a paying guest.