Dalliscious!

Social Accoutrements

2011-08-17T11:14:00.010-04:00

This week seemed to be the week for what I am terming social accoutrements, physical and tangible items related to one's social activities. In this case one kitchen worker (of course no names mentioned!) received some serious scratch marks on his neck. In the other case, another worker seemingly proudly displayed a hickey.

What I found interesting is that no one noticed. I noticed right away! How could one not? I thought maybe my co-workers were trying to be polite and unobtrusive. However I had no problem steering the opposite direction and inquired directly with each recipient. Upon confirmation, I attempted to gossip about it, but the reaction was "What? I hadn't noticed!"

As mentioned, I inquired directly with each social accoutrement recipient to better understand the origin of his marking, and of course to confirm this was indeed what I believed it to be.

On Saturday, the first inquiry and premier chronological incident, related to the neck scratches. These were fairly wide, too wide to be cat claw marks (I have cats! I know!) and rather deep. I thought for a few moments about what other causes could result in this placement and depth of scratches. I thought of none.

Then at the end of the night I approached when no one was around, "Who you been hookin' up with that gave you those scratches on your neck?" To my surprise there was no attempt to claim an origin other than social accoutrement. Rather it was, "I'm staying away from those ______ ladies! They're mean!" **

Additionally, his reply and description of the donor was the complete opposite of who I pictured with this soft-spoken, hard-working, Southern small-town, youthful boy. Obviously, my thoughts on Youth Boy's potential mate was way off base! I'm sure it won't be the last time for that scenario.

The second social accoutrement incident occurred I believe on Sunday, our day off, and was spotted Monday at work. This particular worker has a new girlfriend, so I wasn't surprised when I saw the hickey on his neck. I am more familiar with this person and relished that I could bust him for his off-duty behavior. I didn't wait this time. I pounced right away. "Nice hickey!" Again, no attempt to claim an alternate origin, although in this case it would have been futile. Actually, there was no verbal reply at all, only a huge ear-to-ear grin. Admittedly, it was cute. Ick! (I actually felt kind of jealous! I don't really miss my single days at all, but that new relationship feeling is kind of exciting. I need to tell my hubbie to step it up and treat me to an date!)

Teasing Hickey Man didn't last however. I immediately used this as an opportunity to gossip about Youth Boy's social accoutrement incident. Did Hickey Man see it? Did he ask about it and get the same reply? All answers were no, but a look of amazement appeared. I described the brief conversation I'd had with Youth Boy and Hickey Man giggled a little. Later that day Youth Boy came in and sure enough, several days later the scratches were still visible and Hickey Boy looked and smiled with amusement.

Ah... what will next week hold?

** The blank spot was the name of an ethnicity. I don't actually recall what he specially named, so in the fear of misquoting or otherwise promoting a stereotype, I feel okay leaving it blank. I know, the statement loses some of its shock value- sorry.

Visiting Ann

2011-08-08T14:24:00.011-04:00

Today I dined at Ann's Snack Bar. I'm unclear why she named it a "snack" bar. If those burgers are just a snack, it's no wonder there's a huge obesity problem in America... and there are no booze.

Ann's Snack Bar is home of the Ghetto Burger, and the lesser known Hood Burger. The Ghetto Burger was named America's Number One burger, but the shop doesn't readily advertise who/what rated it this. After some minimal googling (yep, that's truly an official word now) I found this Wall Street Journal article, "The Best Burger" from March 2007. I also found this video telling firsthand of the devotion to the Ghetto Burger. (If you're interested in the other interview with this fan, note it has undesirable language, amusingly when he quotes his 14-year old son.)

Ann Price, the owner and cook, only allows as many people as there are stools, eight, to come inside the restaurant. Others must wait patiently on the patio until there is an opening. This means it is likely at almost any time of day there will be a minimum 60 minute wait... even for takeout orders. These are treated the same as other orders. To place one, the customer must be seated at an available stool and wait as any other patron. I couldn't figure out why someone would wait that long and not go ahead and eat it at the counter.

What I didn't anticipate was the wait once we were seated, just to take our order. Miss Ann takes the orders on one side of the cash register and then takes the orders on the other side. Then she cooks them all together. Thus rather than turning stools in a traditional manner, the entire restaurant is treated as one table. If one patron takes a long time to eat and get out, he/she can hold up the cooking start of all eight of the next orders. At Miss Ann's age and celebrity status, I suppose this is acceptable. Maybe she even likes the to-go orders, since they won't hold up the turnover.

However, I couldn't help but think of how much money she was giving up. Additionally, with canned sodas at only $.80 (that's less than I paid out of the machine at school!) that come with a cup and ice, I'm guessing the profit there is quite small. She has the Ghetto and Hood burgers priced much higher than other burgers on the board, nearly twice the price, with upgrades including bacon, lettuce and tomato. That's a large profit margin. I also noted she sells t-shirts at $20 a pop- OUCH; thus, she must be making some money, although no one bought one while I was there. My dining partner and I both wondered if you have to wait for a stool to order only a t-shirt.

Anyhoo... money isn't everything. Or is it? The New York Times wrote an article, "Burgers Selling Fast, But the Restaurant is Not." Miss Ann's original asking price for her restaurant was set at $1.5 million. The price approximately a year ago was down to just under $.5 million. (I noted as of January of this year it was back up to $1.25 million. Thus I'm unsure what a potential buyer should actually expect.) WOW!

That's a lot for a recipe and 17,000 square feet of land. Sure you will get a hood system and sink- no small expense, and some small pieces of equipment, but that's it. The place needs a serious scrubbing and updates. The residential stove and refrigerators work, but to take Ann's shack to a more profitable level and expand the seating area, I'm guessing a large input of cash is required. Add to this the mortgage payment for the land and building, an owner will likely have to raise prices. That won't sit well with some of Miss Ann's devoted customers. Even without a price increase, will regulars come for a burger without seeing Miss Ann?

I'm glad I got to experience the legend before it's sold. I also hope to one day develop a recipe worth half million big ones!

Culinary Fashion

2011-07-17T17:03:00.008-04:00

I've gotten some new kitchen fashion items. Luckily I work in a kitchen where the uniform code is not strict.

One is this cute pair of nonskid comfy sneakers. Here they are a little dirty from work. I try and clean them regularly to keep the toes bright and white. The plaid helps hide stains. They are a nice addition to my culinary closet.

I have several hats that I wear often. I wish someone would invent a hat that prevented hat head. There should also be one that holds a removable (and replaceable) gel pack underneath that can be chilled in the cooler. I bet that would assist greatly in staying cool in the kitchen.

It's hard being comfortable, utilitarian, unique and fashionable in the kitchen, but I try. It gets harder as I get older too. Sometimes I'm sure I look like a wannabe youthful cutie pasted atop an old hag, but this is the price for being devoted to the cause.

Unusual Food Items

2011-07-17T16:01:00.009-04:00

This past week seemed to be about weird food items. Since these foods are organic, no one can claim the mutant results are chemically derived.

First, was a pair of conjoined (is it PC to say Siamese?) cherry tomatoes. Unfortunately I didn't take a picture of them. I don't think the picture would have really done it justice however.

Next was a three-legged carrot that looked like a squid. It's hard to tell here, but it's actually pretty tiny- about 3 inches long total.

On the other end of the spectrum was a super long zucchini. I don't recall the variety. I'll ask at work and post an update. This photo again doesn't seem to do it justice. I look like a mountain climber or the yodeler from The Price is Right's Cliffhanger game. You tell me. (Yeah- really do. No one ever comments on these write ups. I need some feedback here readers!! No comments on the crappy photo quality however. You might hurt someone's feelings at work.)

By the way, for those curious... this is my workspace at Cakes & Ale. (Look closely Luna; my sippy cup/pacifier is back there! I dropped my backup however and it shattered. I'll have to replace it.) Soon we're moving to a fancy new spot, on Decatur Square. I'll have to post a new pic once we move.

Work is progressing well. My timing I believe has improved, but I apparently sometimes get 'sassy'. I'll definitively have to work on that!

I also seem to occasionally run out of items mid-service, which is NOT good. It's difficult for me to assess the popularity of items which don't sell one night and are highly popular the next night, all without over prepping and wasting food. It's a delicate balance, this job!

I did get kudos on my gaspacho. Two influential guests both commented to Chef about their delicious soup which filtered back to me, the soup maker. Yeah!! Positive praise is nice!

Graduated and on to the Work Force

2011-07-03T16:17:00.007-04:00

As reported on my newsletter, I graduated mid-June from culinary school and with an award. Hee hee! Towards the last few classes in school I realized I'd never missed a day while other students regularly missed at least one per class. (Over two absences is an automatic failure, but I believe one student got around this.) I inquired with the chef if there was any type of award for this. She laughed and said no.

Once graduation approached and I realized no one in my entire class had attended every single day of class, I decided to make my own award. Sure enough, I was presented with a nice certificate signed by the chef. How thoughtful.

Some students in lower classes were amazed this was actually possible. Wow! If getting to class two or four days a week is that difficult, I can't imagine what some of the job requirements will be like for you.

After graduation, I very quickly found employment. Almost too quickly, I had July 4th plans on which I had to bail. I suppose it was worth it. I feel like I hit the culinary-job-search jackpot.

I now work 5 days a week at Cakes & Ale as the Pantry/Garde Manger chef. I'm not sure what my official title is. I make all the soups, salads and flatbreads and some of the desserts for the restaurant. (I don't actually bake the flatbreads and desserts; we have a pastry staff that does this.) I'm 'part of the team' as the owner/executive chef told me- third person on the main line.

The first week was fairly busy- at least according to the staff there. After the first day or two I felt like I'd gotten my items down to where I didn't really need a cheat sheet. Then the menu changed. Back to square one. I'd leave out things like cilantro on a salad, etc. and it'd come back. It's not a good sign when the food comes back.

The second week I tried to work on timing my items to better align with the main kitchen staff. They make some hot appetizers that I need to send at the same time as a salad or flatbread. This is easier than it sounds. Trying to make 10 orders, pretty much from scratch, and time them to come out at a certain moment is tricky. I'm still working on this facet of my job, but making improvements.

The second week was more exciting in terms of weird kitchen happenings. I pulled a flatbread out of the oven right in front of the owner and it went flying off the peel and landed toppings down on my kitchen mat. Ick! That was a nice mess to clean in the middle of service- pureed eggplant and tomato slices.

Two days following that, I came in and the kitchen peel was burnt to a crisp. Meaning, the wooden handle was charred like a used piece of firewood. Since this was the only peel available I had to make it work. The charred wood was a little loose from the metal attachment that holds the handle. I thought for sure there'd be another flying flatbread. Instead I went to get a flatbread out of the oven and the handle snapped off. Now I had a peel with a searing hot metal nub for a handle and I couldn't reach the flatbread in the back of the top oven. My line buddy had to get it for me. With my normal luck, I'd get five or six more orders for flatbread after that, but that thankfully was the last one. My line buddy must have good luck and willed away the hassle of assisting me.

Unfortunately, I think I'm partially to blame for the peel's replacement. I can barely reach to the top of the oven where it's normally stored, so at service I rest it in an unused lower oven. My 5'2" stature doesn't afford me such luxuries as grabbing highly elevated items. I believe I left the peel in the oven at close. The pastry people came in the next morning and turned on all the ovens (note I said partially to blame) without checking first to make sure they were empty. Ooops! (them and me). Add that to the nuts I forgot about in the oven a few days earlier and I've likely cost the restaurant some dough (intentional play on words). The nuts looked like roasted coffee beans when they came out. Yikes! Luckily, the staff has been patient with me. I also have a replacement peel at home I will bring to work.

All the staff there seems very cordial. I found out one waitress is taking a knife skills class at Cooks Warehouse and her instructor mentioned this blog. I didn't think anyone read this stuff other than a few family members and friends. And that is likely only because I quiz them on the contents so they have to read it.

This is the beginning of a new week. So far it's a little slow. There was a leak in the dining room ceiling today so service was canceled. I'm fired up and ready to go for tomorrow- and thoroughly prepped I can add. It sure is refreshing to like going to work!

The Internship Contines

2011-04-27T17:43:00.005-04:00

As part of my internship requirement with school, I have to send weekly updates to school. Since I seem unable to keep up with multiple communications, I'm posting my summaries to date here.

My guess is this is not that exciting as a reader. My classmate sometimes writes about all the drama that goes on in the restaurant's kitchen where she's working, particularly between the day and night shifts. One chef there disappeared for five days and reappeared with crutches after a staff member finally went to his house to see if he was alive. (Interestingly enough he still has a job there). The gossip in that kitchen is that a day shift person hooked up with a night shift person, but it didn't work out so they are snippy to each other now.

I guess where I work drama is more closely overseen because there doesn't seem to be much drama. The closest drama I've seen is a waitress who is repeatedly late to work. (Another waitress did call in sick today- ohhh!) One day the chronically late waitress' ex-boyfriend came in as a patron so he could talk to her. She ran in the back and cried but I didn't even notice and heard about it the next day. And I was there! Since the day and night shift staff is pretty much the same and that includes the two owners, there doesn't seem to be much tension. I have a feeling I like it better this way.

Anyway, here are my updates...

Week 1--
This week I worked with Chef Luna to prepare several items for his pasta night and worked the salad station during service.

For the pasta night, we par-cooked the pastas and risotto and prepared tomato sauce.

For the salad station, I made the dressings and reduced balsamic vinegar. I chiffonaded several cabbages and was provided a lesson on which part of the chef's knife to use for which cutting tasks. I also prepped and marinated antipasta items including vegetables, cheese and meat to be used.

Week 2--
I continued my work on the salad station this week making several different types of salads as ordered.

Additionally, I helped prep some regular menu items, such as the risotto cakes.

I made two types of pasta sauces for this week's pasta night, Bolognese and a mushroom sauce. Chef Luna discussed with me other uses for the sauces outside of pasta, such as the mushroom sauce under a steak or piece of fish. We also discussed how to make something vegetarian initially and easily add in later for a meaty version.

I made all the pastas this week solo in prep of pasta night. Chef Luna made me do this in several batches so I'd gain added experience. He also did this with the mushroom sauce.

New this week, I gained experience on the fryer with vegetables and fries. I did this as I ran the salad station.

Week 3--
I continued my weekly duties, making pastas and sauces and setting up all lines.

I developed several dishes for my Dallas Dinner on Apr 25. I will run the restaurant this night. I will have 2-3 dishes from Chef Luna's regular menu and 2-3 of my own dishes using the existing ingredients. From these I developed, I selected two and practiced those. One is a lemon ricotta pasta dish and the other a Cuban tapas dish.

I also had nightly wine tastings with Chef Luna's partner, Cynthia Tomet. Full details of which wines and their qualities are described in my notebook.

I also had to pitch in during a super busy service washing dishes, refilling line product, etc.

Week 4--
This week I worked Friday night which was a slightly faster pace. We also did a private party for 50 on Sunday for which I prepared several dishes, including caprese salads, antipasta plates, and vegetable dishes.

I developed some more items for my dinner and will use one as a vegetarian and gluten-free option for my existing menu, a quinoa salad, and worked on my planned seating arrangements.

New this week, I prepped the risotto cakes (as in made them not just molded them).

Week 5--
This week I continued prepping all dishes and working some on all stations including the main line.

On Sunday I also prepped items for my Monday night tapas dinner in which I ran the entire restaurant. (A school classmate was my server.) Chef Luna required I use three items from his menu and develop two items of my own using some of the ingredients already available in the restaurant. The menu was as follows:

Cabbage Salad: Gorgonzola Cheese Toasted Walnut Lemon Dressing
Lemon Ricotta Pesto Pasta
Cuban Sandwich Plate: Pork Ham Pickles Cheese Mustard
Curried Garbanzo Beans
Ropa Vieja: Pulled Beef, Roasted Peppers, Ricotta
Mushroom Quinoa Soup

I also prepped desserts, coffee flan, sweet potato whoopie pies and chocolate fudge meringue cookies. (Details of Monday will be on next week's summary.)

I found it challenging to determine how many guests to prep for, particularly since I wouldn't be re-using some of the ingredients. In places where re-use wasn't an issue it was less worrisome knowing any leftovers wouldn't be waste.

I also wanted to be conscious of vegetarian diners and those with allergies. As a result, the quinoa soup was not a posted menu item but made to substitute as a vegetarian, gluten-free and dairy-free item. I hadn't really planned on covering so many bases with one dish, but it worked out nicely that way.

Lunacy Black Market Intership

2011-03-31T17:51:00.005-04:00

My first week, I worked to make pastas, risotto, tomato sauces and mainly salads. I worked this station all week to cross off my Garde Manger requirement. One of my favorite dishes at the restaurant is the cabbage salad, which includes cabbage chiffonade, toasted walnuts, blue cheese, and mint. It's Dalliscious! I think I've somewhat mastered it's production.

During my prep Chef Luna gave me a quick lesson on which part of the knife to use for which cuts: front tip, chiffonade and other thin slice needs; mid-blade, rough chops and less precise cuts, and near the blade, when weight is needed such as with fish bones. This change in approach actually made a difference. I was able to thinly slice the cabbage as needed for this salad.

Another simple yet tasty salad is the tomato and mozzarella, served with extra virgin olive oil and reduced balsamic. YUM! The mozzarella is made in house so it's fresh and melt-in-your-mouth. I think Chef Luna's circle of oil is a finer line than mine however. I may need to practice this one some more. It's like that game Operation, "It takes a very steady hand."

Stay tuned for pasta pics.

Cookin' with Coolio

2011-01-11T15:40:00.013-05:00

Like many foodies and culinary professionals, I received a cookbook for Christmas from my cousin Ben. This one however has provided me hours of entertainment and that's not including the practice of creating dishes from the recipes. Cookin' with Coolio, is a collection of surprisingly nutritious and easy dishes with a twist from The Ghetto Gourmet, Coolio's nickname for himself.

For those not in the know, Coolio is a Grammy Award-winning and multiplatinum selling rap artist. He's also been the host of an Oxygen reality show, Coolio Rules, centered around his catering business and continued with an Internet cooking show, Cookin' with Coolio. There are several episodes of the show that align with recipes in the book.

I've outlined below the table of contents from Cookin' with Coolio and some key recipes in each chapter. The language may be offensive to some, for that I apologize. I wanted to accurately represent the language in the book.

I'll have to provide an update once I've hosted my own P Dallie Dalliscious party.

1. How to Become a Kitchen Pimp: Coolio calls himself the ghetto Martha Stewart and the black Rachael Ray. Coolio grew up a poor motherfucker, but as such he doesn't believe that fast food is the solution. As a result he wants to teach you and me how to properly molest a chicken. Additionally, "a Kitchen Pimp don't wanna wake up one day to find out that while he's been eatin' microwave oatmeal, his girl is eatin' somebody else's huevos rancheros." Rather, become a Casanova of the kitchen, a pimp of the pantry and a stunner on the stove. Women will swoon as you saute and fricassee. They'll melt as you baste and bake, and they way you flip omelets will make the bitches' knees shake.

2. Appetizers for that Ass: The purpose of appetizers is to "let your stomach know that a bunch of funkalicious food is about to get up in there." From this chapter, I made the Chicken Lettuce Blunts. They were a hit at the party and with my husband on the Atkins Diet at the time he was able to indulge. Other recipes include Bacon Rap'd Scallops (served with melted cheese), and Cool-a-cado.

3. Salad Eatin' Bitches: Coolio aims to make your vegetables sing sweeter than a songbird. Coolius Ceasar, made with Worchestershire sauce and hard boiled eggs left "to bathe for 15 minutes in hot water like a sexy Swedish chick," is a dish Coolio states he craves after chillin' with the Pope in Rome. Other recipes include Backyard Grass Salad. Invite some friends over and serve some grass.

4. Pimpin' the Poultry: Learn how to make chicken that doesn't just fall off the bone, it jumps off the bone. My Chicken is Having a Baby, Baby is a ground turkey stuffed chicken. The turkey meat is browned before stuffing with these instructions, "Flip it, stir it and spin it like a stripper on a pole." Also included, Kompton Fried Chicken, Coolio's version of KFC. It's made with crushed corn flakes, a variation my own mother used to make.

5. Sinful Steaks: Coolio assists in producing steak that tastes like Aberdeen Angus with only Ghetto Gourmet flavor and a couple dime bags of seasoning. Fork Steak was developed when Coolio only had a plastic fork and needed something so tender it wouldn't break. It's a braised pepper steak with onions, mushrooms, and garlic cooked in beer, "no watery lite beer." (All you wussey Miller Lite drinkers take note.) Take away the peppers and mushrooms, and replace with tomato sauce and you've got Steak Thru My Heart, Coolio's remedy for a lady who went with another man or a dog that went to heaven. Be sure to also try Unwrinkled Beef, made with flat iron steak, similar to the flat iron stomach on a good woman. Popcorn Steak is chopped and marinated. You gotta let the flavors coagulate motherfucker! Then it's floured and browned. I suggest eating the pieces out of a brown paper bag with your favorite movie.

6. It's Hard Out Here for a Shrimp: Ali Baba had forty thieves, but Ali Bubba ate forty shrimp. His recipe, Shrimp Ali Bubba, is shrimp sauteed with onion and garlic then poached in beer and chili powder, served over rice. Pimp My Shrimp is similar to cornmeal encrusted fried shrimp, but made with crushed corn flakes instead-- an interesting take... like a Southerner's panko. Cold Shrimpin' is a take on shrimp cocktail, boiled and chilled like Miles Davis. That's cold pimpin' and cold shrimpin'! Also included are Crabs in a Patty, "no, not the kind you're thinking." Oil My Mussels, U Can't See My Bass, Clam Me Down, and Yabba-Dabba Snappa are other tasty recipes I need to try.

7. Chillin' and Grillin': Grilled Ghettalian Breastesses are as I'm guessing you figured out chicken breasts, here served with Ghettalian Bread. The Ghetto Burger is served on cheap-ass white bread, something I reserve for my pulled pork sandwiches, and seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic and onion. Initally the meat is squeezed like creating a snowball to chuck at your boss' car. There's also a recipe for Alakazam'n Salmon and Coolio's Meatless Grilla. There are several vegetarian recipes and even an entire chapter devoted to it, meaning you can entertain for all the Coolio way.

8. Pasta Like a Rasta: Bro-ghetti uses a made-from-scratch beef sausage bolognese,although not exactly slow-cooked. Again, it's suggested to be served with Ghettalian Bread. Los Angel-es Hair Pasta is a shrimp lemon pepper pasta with a garlic white wine sauce, similar to shrimp scampi. This may be my next Ghettofabulous Adventure, if my husband kills his Adkins Diet soon.

9. Vegetarians? Okay, Whatever!: This includes I'm-Gonna-Slap-You-with-My-Whisk Tomato Bisque, Magical Fruit Soup (beans in case you didn't catch on) and some vegan dishes.

10. Sweet Treats for that Sweet Ass: For date night where the lady's dined on your Cooliotastic apps and entrees, what better way to ensure she stays the night and you can feed her a breakfast burrito? How about Sweet Chocolate Potato Pie or a Hot Fruit Sandwich?

Garde Manger- Day 1

2010-10-01T10:47:00.006-04:00

I arrived to class wondering who our teacher would be. The chef that is listed as the teacher of record I knew to be in Italy with the tour guide I just left. He is taking restaurant clients on a tour there. I'd inquired before I left who would be teaching but was given a "I am. Who else would?" reply. How stupid of me to ask.

I also arrived to class under the impression that there was no beginning practical. BBZZZ! (insert loud buzzer noise) Wrong! It was an easy practical, but somehow they never are as easy as you think they will be. This was an emulsified vinagrette, a handmade mayonnaise, and four hard boiled eggs. I did manage to get a 97 which I didn't think was even possible. What a great way to start the quarter! Too bad our stand in chef won't be there the full quarter.

The first items we created were roasted chickens for display. We each roasted a chicken and then pulled the breast meat off. This was saved for later to slice and put on a buffet platter with the decorated chicken.

We also prepared numerous colored aspics (AKA jell-o) to use as decor. These were set in sheet pans and then cut out into shapes.

While waiting for the aspic to set we reshaped our chickens with mashed potatoes so it looked like the breast had never been removed. It was very difficult to get the surface super smooth, needed for glazing because that will reveal every imperfection.

Next we glazed these with chaud froid. Literally translated this means "hot cold" in French. The glaze is named this because it is used hot but then served cold. I've included a picture of what I'm describing. This however is not my chicken (I have no idea who's chicken this is.) but it shows well a display similar to what we created. Of course, my flowers were much better and more retro than this. (Again, because we can't take photos in class, I've found something similar that an unknown person produced.) And my chaud froid went all the way down covering the neck. Who wants to see that sticking out? We also cut our wings from the bird. Otherwise, this is very similar to how our chickens looked.

I really enjoyed this class. It's crafty, but with food. Too bad the other instructor is returning shortly.

Visiting Chianti

2010-09-27T02:48:00.007-04:00

We took a day trip to San Gimignano, a well preserved mostly brick medieval town. It was declared a UN World Heritage Site, but I have no idea what that denotes. The town is predominately a tourist destination although the prices for goods there were much cheaper than what I saw in Siena, for nearly all goods I compared, for as much as 10 euro less.

I purchased a set of olive wood handled cocktail spears and a holder and a t-shirt for my hubbie there. At another store in San Gimignano, I purchased a leather bag less than Siena. I got my obligatory cinghiale sausage, which I have yet to try. I need a knife.

From there we went to a Chianti Classico winery. The host had won numerous awards around the world for his wines. He also spoke good English and was quite charming. His wines were delicious too! as was his olive oil. First we tried a white. I don't recall the name. The rest were Chianti Classico reds. Initially a 2008 and then a 2007, followed by a reserve 2007. Each taste improved with succession.

I tried some grappa there and because of the fact that I could actually stomach it I decided to purchase a bottle for Chef Luna at home. I know he likes grappa (and Calvados). If I hadn't already purchased olive oil I would have purchased some there. It was quite delicious too.

Next we visited another Chianti Classico winery in a small town with a population of only 52. We toured the facilities there while a woman spoke English with added emphasis at the end, like "reservo" instead of reserve and "the wine-a" instead of the wine, etc. This was a more commercial approach than the previous tour. We ended our tour again with some tastings. First with a white, which was tasty and then the reds. First of the reds was a 75% Sangiovese grape. This could not be labeled Chianti Classico because the Chianti wines must be a minimum of 80% Sangiovese. The last red was a 100% Sangiovese. I could tell the difference. These wines however were not as good as our fist stop and they didn't appear to have earned the accolades the first winery had. Possibly our inclusion with over thirty 70+ aged tourists tainted my opinion. It was not as inviting and intimate as our first stop and more like cattle-herding.

Siena- Day 1

2010-09-23T13:29:00.006-04:00

We arrived in the late afternoon and walked around town some. There is lots of shopping here, but only for those with large wallets. Mine isn't.

We had one day of cooking class and made the following: tomato and bread soup, bigi (hand rolled spaghetti, typical of this region), a spicy garlic tomato sauce, a stewed beef with a potato souffle and a rice pudding cake. I found all dishes to be delicious, although the rice cake wasn't really my thing. Some in the class said the pasta was the best they'd had on the trip, but we had a clam and mussel spaghetti the first night that was really spectacular. I'd rank that one and today's two.

Next class we'll be making an egg pasta, a pork roast and I'm not sure what else. I'm sure it will be dalliscious though!

Gotta sign off- there's a wine tasting in the lobby. Ciao!

Sorrento- Last Day

2010-09-21T08:13:00.004-04:00

Today we went to the market with Chef Biagio. First stop was a wholesale produce market. They had the largest squash I have ever seen. Imagine the largest zucchini you've ever seen, the kind from which you can make jack-o-lanterns, and triple that. I saw one cut in half and it appeared to have no seeds in the middle, pure orange flesh. We purchased zucchini blossoms which we stuffed in class for dinner.

Next stop was the fish market. This smelled like the ocean, not the stinky smell of fish markets in the States, even with the half sawed swordfish with a hacksaw laying next to it. Chef bought some sardines there.

Last stop was an Italian market. While most of the items there were familiar, I was interested in a particular pasta. Each box came with four pieces, shaped like large flowers. One was a gift pack in which each flower was presented in a clay bowl for baking. The pasta is cooked, similar to precooking lasagne noodles, and then stuffed to make up the flower pedals. This is then baked in the oven in individual clay dishes. If the boxes hadn't been so large and fragile I would have purchased one.

Unable to tour the limoncello factory, I decided to walk the shops in town. I was able to pick up a ravioli cutter, but no gnocchi board.

Upon return, we had our last class. We made stuffed zucchini blossoms- way better than any I've had in the States. The blossoms are larger than I've seen. We were told to remove the stamen, something very bitter that I've tasted in other versions of this dish. We also made braciole (pronounced brigole in old Sicilian), a rolled meat dish stuffed with cheese, parsley, pine nuts, garlic and raisins. This is then browned and braised in tomato sauce. DALLISCIOUS! (Finally something on this trip worthy of the exclamation, although the octopus was worthy. I haven't had my dalliscious hat ready. No one here knows of it, or gets it.) To go with the braciole, we made bucotini (buco means hole in Italian) pasta. This is not the known version that is like long spaghetti with a hole through the center like a drinking straw. Instead the dough is rolled into a long rope and chopped like traditional gnocchi. Each piece is then wrapped around what looked like a piece of coat hanger or some type of thin skewer and rolled until smooth. When removed from the coat hanger the pasta has a hole through the center. It looked more like castellane. Some people in class had problems making these. I think they, two sisters from Manitoba, just had too much wine at lunch as they were also particularly giggly.

We didn't make dessert this class. Apparently there was an afternoon class that made gelato and that was dessert. I'm pleased that my last class here in Sorrento was a particularly tasty one!

More Sorrento

2010-09-20T16:14:00.004-04:00

On our next day of classes there were just the three of us. I noted there is much fried food here, but according to the locals "it's not fried in animal fat and no proteins are fried." I guess that makes it okay. We made eggplant parmesan, first frying the eggplant in sunflower oil. This is stacked in a layer, with parmesan and mozzarella, a few speckles of tomato sauce and the layers repeated three times. This is then baked in the oven. It was the highlight of the meal.

We also made two types of gnocchi, each with two parts riced potato and one part flour. First was a traditional means in small dough balls cut from a line of dough and served in a tomato sauce. The second was more interesting and I thought more tasty. The same dough was rolled out like a pie crust and cut into small circles with a biscuit/cookie cutter. These were filled with mozzarella, folded over and served in a pesto sauce.

We also made lamb chops. These were seasoned, coated in dijon mustard and then in bread crumbs, parmesan and parsley. Last they were "sprinkled" in olive oil and then baked. These were delicious, but had they been thicker the lamb flavor would have been more prominent. As an avid lamb lover, this would have been better. (However, who am I to criticize the Italian way??)

For dessert we made chocolate lava cakes. While these provide a spectacular presentation, every time I've eaten them the flavor is lacking. The same rang true here.

Tomorrow we go to market with the chef. I think this will be a fun trip!

My main problem here is I cannot eat this much food. Every meal I am not hungry, but have to taste and eat something. Skipping breakfast doesn't quite cut out enough food either. I'm tired of feeling stuffed.

Sorrento- Stop 1

2010-09-19T04:51:00.004-04:00

Here's the first of several updates on my culinary trip to Italy. This is a school function, but I'd hardly call it that now. What was advertised as ten to fifteen students was booked with four students, a teacher and a tour guide. It's now three students and a tour guide. This is actually quite nice in that there are less people providing input (and complaints) and I don't find myself waiting around on people. It's also nice that everyone on the trip is above the age of 40 and no one is itching to get to the closest bar and check out the local dating scene. (I know, if you're single and/or young you are reading this thinking... BORING!)

After an average flight over, we arrived in Italy. In route to Sorrento, the group stopped at Pompeii. I'm not one typically into ruins and ancient artifacts. I find they all look the same. This was mildly interesting however. The entire city is from so long ago yet despite volcanoes and earthquakes remains largely intact and extremely modern for its time. I've seen current day disasters with modern engineering that didn't fare as well and modern communities not nearly as advanced as this one apparently was. (There was even an engraved sketch of a penis in the sidewalk pointing the direction to the town's bordello, which upon arrival still has drawings of the positions available for request. Customers could point and order.)

In Sorrento, where I've been for a few days, I'm taking some cooking classes. These are taught in English and cater more technically to the home cook. We had a woman from Vancover in our class yesterday, plus my group's three students. Of course we were required to bring and dress in our uniforms even though this is not a requirement of the kitchen here. I'm sure pictures taken during class will reveal certain gaps in my uniform that would forbid my entry in class back in Atlanta. I suppose, that's the result of an absent teacher. From my perspective, Italy in general is much more laid back than the States and I'm only blending into the culture by relaxing other aspects of my daily routine.

I find wearing the uniform in general labels me as overly enthusiastic and as having a superior attitude, particularly when we are wearing chef hats and no one else in the kitchen has anything on their hair. Wouldn't a self-selected cap work in this situation just as well? (I should note that there was a hair pulled from the ravioli we made that day. The chef stated it wasn't his because he has no hair. I blame it on the Vancover woman since she had no hat and the rest of us did.)

There are several culinary students here longer term and I've seen no uniforms to date, other than an extremely worn jacket the actual chef wears. A girl from Kentucky was the sous chef in our class. She literally had on four pieces of clothes as follows: a tank top, no undergarment-- leggings, no undergarment-- shoes and an apron. To the men in my life back at home, you would have really liked this girl! When she bent over to pick up things my classmate and I wondered if that's why she was selected by the chef for longer term placement. I certainly won't be selected for such a position in my chef's jacket! What a disadvantage! (I'm not sure that outfit on me would help me out however. That might be a greater disadvantage than the chef's jacket.)

In class we chopped veggies for an antipasta plate. This included julienned red peppers cooked with capers (rinsed), olives and bread crumbs. I think the dish would have been better without the crumbs, but some others seemed to like them. There was also a zucchini dish, disks fried in sunflower oil, salted and dusted with white wine vinegar and chopped mint leaves. I liked this combo, but think less vinegar would have been better. This was one of Miss Kentucky's favorites dishes. There were carrots cooked the same as the zucchini. There was blanched cauliflower which was then sauteed in garlic butter. This surprisingly was one of my favorites.

We also made ravioli. This was interesting because it was made from only flour and water, no egg. The filling was ricotta, parmesan, smoked and nonsmoked mozzarella, plus oregano. It was tasty, but not as tasty as my lunch ravioli with ricotta and lemon.

Last there was a grilled swordfish. We made the topping, a tomato salsa, but class was over for grilling. Good thing because I couldn't be blamed for the overcooked dry fish.

Flipping Eggs in Pantry

2010-07-28T16:14:00.002-04:00

My Pantry class started the quarter with demonstrations on fried eggs, omelets, crepes, waffles, pancakes and all kinds of breakfast foods. We all enjoyed it and the tastings that went along with it.

I hit a snag on fried egg day. We all were shown how to flip fried eggs into the air to land on the opposite side for over easy, over medium, etc. We were then given our own opportunity to practice the "over" part.

When it was my time to practice, I walked over with my fried eggs in the pan and wanted to practice flipping over the trash can. I'd rather have a mess there than over an open flame with broken egg yolk running and sizzling on the cast iron-- a mess to clean. Only I didn't make it to the trash can. Chef started chastizing me "Dallas! Act like a Professional! You come over here to the burner and do that!" She obviously had more faith in me than I had in myself.

Sure enough she was right. I gave it my best effort and egg flipped right on over. The trick I learned after my successful attempt is to get them to land flat and not folded under. Eventually for the practical my yolks broke. My luck was poorly timed.

New Quarter

2010-07-16T12:05:00.004-04:00

This quarter I'm taking three classes, compared with my usual two. It will be a challenging time. We always start the quarter with practicals and this one was no exception except there were more of them.

Pantry was my first class. We were told to make a beurre blanc sauce and hollandaise sauce. For those of you following this blog, you know I practiced and practiced my hollandaise and I felt very confident that this would not be difficult. Thankfully, I was correct.

However the beurre blanc sauce was not as familiar to me. My fellow classmates had the same mystified look on their faces. We all had some idea from analyzing it's literal translation, white butter, but were lost on the details. We also knew that beurre blanc is often a general term suggesting that a sauce has been finished with butter. Luckily we were provided ingredient lists and could see exactly what was in the sauce, but no method.

As the name suggests, I noted there was tons of butter included, similar to the hollandaise, but it was not marked as melted. Thus I continued to make the sauce but was puzzled at the end. I thought these sauces were likely following a theme and were both emulsified sauces. I tried whipping the butter at the end with the sauce in a mixing bowl, but the sauce wasn't very hot and the butter just turned into mush and stuck to my whisk. I returned the sauce to a pan and tried stirring it in as it melted over the stove. The sauce didn't break thankfully, but it certainly didn't whip either. I tasted the sauce and it had flavor. So I plated up both sauces and brought them up for review.

I was prepared for ill remarks since I really wasn't sure what the sauce was to be, but I knew I put forth my best guess and with that felt I've given all I could. Sure enough as soon as I walked up the chef asked "what's that?" Of course she couldn't use the process of elimination and see that the other was my hollandaise sauce so of course this had to be my beurre blanc. (Sometimes I wonder if I replied with the same caddy sarcasism with which I am constantly provided, what would happen. I've seen others try and it usually doesn't end well.)

Others handed in their sauces, which looked very similar to mine in color and consistency. They however were not asked to identify their submissions. I guess I started the trend and there was no need. In the chef's eyes, all of these were a run of bad beurre blancs.

She communicated just that to the class once everyone was finished with the practical. "Beurre blanc sauce is not supposed to be soupy, rather it should be whipped up over a water bath like the hollandaise." I still have difficulties imagining this. With hollandaise, the butter is melted and thus it easily blends and the sauce stays a consistent temperature. Whipping in cold blocks of butter seems much harder. The warm sauce would be made cold by the cold butter. I'll have to test this at home where I'm not critiqued like an elementary child.

At the end of class we received grading sheets and feedback was provided for both of our sauces. Of course, nothing is ever perfect; my hollandaise was too thick.

Banquet was my second class and the practicals took a new twist, no recipes or methods provided. We were told to braise a chicken, make a sauce and serve a carrot custard with it. We could only use salt, pepper and garlic as seasoning. Similar to the reaction to the beurre blanc, many of us were blank-faced when the custard was mentioned. We made a leek timbale during a class, but not everyone made it and it was not anything on which we were ever tested.

I felt somewhat lucky because I recently twice made lobster quiches for two family events. I remembered the cream to egg ratio I'd used in those so I decided to follow a similar method. I knew the vegetables had to be cooked before use in the custard and pureed, but I missed a few other key points (to be detailed shortly). I was also excited because I cut several nice lozenges, otherwise known as diamonds, out of carrot to use as a garnish on the top of the custard. These went on the bottom of the custard tin so that when the custard was flipped over for serving the lozenge would be displayed nicely on top, signaling to the diner that carrot was an ingredient in the custard. I mixed all this together and got the custards into a water bath in the oven.

Meanwhile, I'd browned my chicken and started it braising. Once done, I had a nice tasting sauce, but very little of it. It was also very greasy because I'd left the skin on my chicken during braising. I'd floured the chicken hoping to create somewhat of an in-pan roux, but there wasn't enough flour to soak up that amount of oil. I ladled some off and had to use paper towels to soak off more. I'd planned to add some cream to thicken the sauce, but Chef told me not too. (I'd earlier seeked advice on how to handle my over abundance of oil.) So I added more stock hoping to stretch the sauce; that made it too runny. Since time was running out I added a starch slurry at the end to thicken the sauce.

The last requirement for my plate was a jasmine rice pilaf. Pilafs are easy and I'd done well serving these before so I wasn't too worried about this dish. However, people were taking forever to plate and chef wasn't quick on critiquing them. Any student plating near the end had to hold their food a long time. This mean my rice was cooking and cooking.

When it was finally my turn for critique, I pulled all my items out and started plating. The students before me made their plates but then sat waiting and their food was served to the chef cold, a BIG no-no. At least I knew to keep my dishes warm.

I started plating. The carrot custard was first. I turned over the first one onto a plate. Where was my lozenge? It had disappeared somewhere in the middle of the custard. I turned over another one, hoping that one was just a fluke. Wrong! They had all lost their garnish. My elegant display was foiled. Oh well, nothing I could do about it now. The custards were also multi-layered. All the pureed carrot had filtered to the bottom of the tin while cooking. Thus on the plate, the custard's top was a nice orange color and the bottom a pale yellow custard color. I hoped this would be seen as creative.

I added the chicken, a breast and a leg, and sauced it. I knew the sauce was icky, but again there wasn't much I could do. I'd tried to increase the volume and basically ruined the sauce.

Last, I spooned out some rice on the plate and carried it up for critique. Chef went straight for the custard. She told me it was nicely cooked, had no seasoning. About when she got there, the lozenge popped out of the middle. "What's that?" Her well liked phrase for the day reappeared. I explained that this was supposed to be a garnish but unfortunately it disappeared into the middle of the custard. Another chef happened to pass by during our exchange and he made a face that looked like a worm had popped out of the custard. I prepared myself for some custard brow beating. "I like the idea, but yeah it doesn't work like that," Chef said. Phew! That wasn't too bad.

Just when I was feeling relieved, it was on to the chicken and sauce critique. The sauce was as expected, bad. The chicken was overcooked and everything including my rice was under-seasoned. I'm going to have to revisit my earlier approach of seasoning to taste and then adding more salt. This seemed to work well, but I thought my own salt pallet had caught up with the chefs. Obviously not.

At least I was half way through my practicals. I could look forward to a baking practical and another banquet practical in the next few days.

Farm Living

2010-06-20T10:32:00.006-04:00

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

2010-06-08T15:26:00.006-04:00

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.

Contest Participation

2010-04-20T14:21:00.012-04:00

The contest has arrived! I had my fish ready at school, their bellies packed with herbs. Chef called us into his office for a little pep talk and we provided him with our menus to distribute to the judges. I wasn't that nervous but he was rambling on and on about not being nervous so I started to get nervous.

I'd be first to finish my dishes and plate. That was a relief. I hate waiting around watching all the entries. I got straight to work and started making my dessert topping, the zabaione, to have it ready to go at the end. Chef had suggested I make it early and hold it through service. It came out well, nice and thick, pale yellow and marshmellowy flavored. I would have to whip it occasionally to ensure it didn't separate.

I checked grocery stores all over the city to get peaches, but I finally got some. Of course they were hard as rocks. Thus I cut them into large pieces and slow roasted them in the oven the prior evening, a suggestion from Chef Paul Luna. I thought they turned out well also.

Next I blanched my peas. I had to use frozen this time because the farmer's market was out of the fresh ones. I thought this was better than being out of the red mullet though and tried to look at the bright side.

I blanched my broccoli rapini (or broccoli rabe). I'd tried this the night before and the blanche step nicely removed some of the overly bitter notes. Draining this however was somewhat of a pain. Any water left remaining would pop and snap in my sauté pan. This can lead to hot oil on an arm, a less than pleasant experience.

My risotto was on the stove. As it cooked, I puréed some of the peas creating a nice green color. The plating time neared for the first course; I had plenty of extra time. I knew I shouldn't cook the risotto any more, but I also didn't want to run out of time so I started putting together the rise i bisi adding the pureed peas and some fresh also. The risotto I knew was overcooking but I couldn't resist the urge to get ahead. Out it finally went.

Next was my fish with the sautéed rapini. I had several pans going to ensure all finished at the correct time. They came out well and I was pleased with that dish.

Last was the dessert. My few decent peaches were stretched to make four small dessert glasses with zabaione. Chef had recommended I splash some prosecco at the end which I did. The zabaione at this point was nearly destroyed. I'd whipped it occasionally, but each time more stuck to the whip. What was left in volume was nearly nothing. The dessert looked awful. I knew at this point I had no chance in winning. I presented the poor quality dishes in primi and dolce, but I was pleased to be finished and glad to have the experience.

None of the contestants from my class believed they had a chance of winning anyway. We were all aware that two of the contestants were employees at the Chef's restaurant and receiving detailed hands-on training and menu consultation. The rest of us were flying solo. The Chef at one point was even mixing some of the dough for one contestant's dolce. Our only question was which of the two would win. We decided that it must be the more senior student since he'd have much more experience with which to compete and cook in a competitive environment.

I guess the judges were closely analyzing the dishes because the next competitors were pushed back progressively, ultimately delaying the last contestant over an hour. Thank goodness that wasn't me.

Chef asked me at some point about my peaches and I explained that finding some ripe ones did not materialize so I slow roasted them upon suggestion. Chef told me that was a stupid approach. He didn't use the word stupid, but he may as well have with the attitude in which he communicated.

When all competitors finished, we were all summoned before the judges. They gave some commentary that they termed as general and not directed towards anyone specific, but it was obvious where some thoughts were aimed. "Italian food uses herbs lightly, just a hint to provide a touch of flavor, not gobs of branches." Hmm... sounds familiar. I guess they didn't like the fresh herb flavor of the fish's flesh. I supposed I'm not Italian however. I don't recall hearing any comments that shouted "Hey this was some good food!"

After the general commentary, we all moved to a room with our dishes displayed on a table with labeling cards beside them. Mine read as follows:

primi

risi e bisi

------------------

secondi

interi gamberi con verdi

------------------

dolci

pesche al prosecco

I didn't serve interi gamberi con verdi. I served triglia rosso con rapini, but Chef had failed to communicate my change in menu. I couldn't believe this. Chef had told us to send in a menu and we would review it. If needed we could make changes and submit those changes. Long story short... there was no review until practice and there was no communication to the judges of my new menu. Thank you Chef.

One judge critiqued each menu, mine being the first. My risotto was overcooked, not surprising. One judge particularly liked this dish however and stated it was excellent-- interestingly opposite opinions. My rapini was nicely prepared. Why did I serve the mullet? The shrimp would have been a much better selection. Thank you Chef. My dessert was drenched in prosecco and the zabaione needed work. This was not enjoyable. I felt like saying Thank you Chef again there, but in reality I should have known better as I had the overdrenching issue during practice of my menus. I did partially blame him for my poor zabaione. Maybe that's just being bitter however.

The judge went through and critiqued all the menus. At the end the winners were announced. There wouldn't be just one winner; there would be two. While I was sure one of Chef's restaurant pupils would be selected, I wondered about the second winner.

Of course! I should have known! The second winner was the Chef's other apprentice. We all felt slighted, asked to participate in an event and then left to hang dry. We subjected ourselves to demeaning and less than professionally presented criticism for nothing. I felt like I should have the word "SUCKER" tatooed to my forehead.

There were no second or third winners selected. We couldn't even compete against each other. Those of us left remaining promptly left the venue and went to the parking lot to toast the leftover processco. We had hoped that being yelled at during practice and asked to register for the contest at the last minute wouldn't result in such an obvious dismissal of our efforts. Oh well. The experience I suppose was worth it for the next time.

American Regional- Sauce Day

2010-04-20T13:56:00.004-04:00

Today was sauce day! We made all kinds of yummy toppings for meats and veggies. I was in charge of mushroom sauce. It wasn't particularly glamorous, but dalliscious! My partner made Newburg sauce with bits of shrimp and roasted shells. That was quite tasty also. It looked much like shrimp bisque and could have easily been increased into a lovely soup.

One of the sauces was Americaine, which includes lobster. Thus part of the day was a demonstration on how to break down a live lobster. I've eaten many a lobster in my life, at least once or twice a year and sometimes multiple creatures in one meal. Freshly steamed lobster meat, warm fresh out of the shell and dipped in butter is DALLISCIOUS! Also, chilled lobster salad with a little mayo and dill is also DALLISCIOUS! It's definitively on my favorite foods list. When our family makes lobster at home, generally the only way we eat it, we usually have lobster races. All soon-to-be-devoured critters are lined up on the starting line, sometimes even with numbers and colored jerseys with diamonds and stripes like at the horse races. Some are super speedy and bolt to the end, but most just either lie there and go nowhere or they go the wrong direction.

With these experiences in my past, I feel I seen a few lively lobsters in my time. However, the lobster for our kitchen demonstration would have kicked any of those lobsters tails right out of their shells! He lied on the table with his claws straight up in the air. If the instructor picked him up he thrashed his tail wildly nonstop. I'm not sure where he got all that energy. You'd think the roadtrip to Atlanta would have worn him out. Maybe the Publix is injecting their lobsters with speed! Doubt it!

The instructor then showed us how to humanely kill the lobster, but stabbing the point of his chef's knife right between the eyes quickly and proceeding to chop down the middle of the lobster so that two halves laid on the table, each with one antenae, one claw, half a body and a few little legs and half a tail. Incredibly, the lobster was still twitching. Was he really dead at that point? The instructor then cut each of the primals apart, (I don't think they are really referenced as primals.) the claws, and the tail halves.

The lobster parts were still twitching! The class couldn't believe it, myself included! The instructor went on to lecture on this and that related to cooking the lobster, but I couldn't tell you one word of it. If I touched one of his legs, (confirmed, it was a male) the tiny claw at the end would react. It was somewhat spooky. How could a completely dismembered animal, in 6+ pieces still have movement?

Being a Contestant

2010-04-08T10:57:00.006-04:00

The chef at school organized an culinary competition with the Italy Atlanta Foundation, a nonprofit organization focused on sharing the culture and traditions of Italy. I believe he tried to recruit upper classmen to participate, but got little response. Thus he notified and recruited participants from lower classmen, including my class. Since he was the initiator of the contest I got the feeling from him it would look poorly if no one registered.

Several of us committed to participate. We had to quickly that weekend write a paper on the region and develop a menu that reflected traditional fare from the region. I selected Veneto. I noted the region celebrates its patron saint, St. Mark, in April with a festival. At this festival it is traditional to serve a dish, risi e bisi (rice and peas) because this is when the peas are harvested from the lagoons and at their peak freshness. Since the contest is held mid-April I found this to be a fitting start to my menu.

Veneto is also home to prosecco (something I've previously found too sweet but since, while working for this competition, I've discovered lovely drier varieties). I decided to use this for a dessert, peaches marinated in prosecco with a whipped marscapone topping. Marscapone originates from the neighboring region of Lombardy.

To complete my menu I selected a regional fish, red mullet. While practicing I noted the red mullet really soaks in the herbs I insert into the body during cooking, much more so that other varieties I tried. Last, I added a green to this course, garlicky broccoli rabe.

Two days ago several of us went to school to practice our menus and obtain feedback from the chef. This went as well as possible considering it was a period of constant jabs and yelling. To quote Pat Benetar, "Love is a battlefield!"

I tried to get a commercial Kitchen Aid to work and was told by the chef, "This is why we like students to work in the industry before coming here." Hey chef, not all commercial kitchens believe in using heavy equipment. Some are purists and minimalist and have hardly any equipment... and hardly any ingredients, yet good food is continually produced from these kitchens. I work in one of these kitchens (and I have a Kitchen Aid at home) but I didn't know the bowl snapped at the back of a commerical version. Guess I should have worked in the industry for several years before attending school. Oh wait! Then I wouldn't need school.

I then tried to garnish my fish with thyme and rosemary sprigs, as I had used to flavor the inside of the fish. From across the room, another chef teaching a class screams "Dallas! Why are you putting that on there?!? Horses eat twigs, not people!" Oops! I'd obviously made a mistake there too. Was this reason to yell across the entire kitchen and through two classes? I think sometimes the chefs have three or four sets of eyes on their heads. Shouldn't she be watching the class she's teaching?

Earlier, I'd asked if we needed to call "five minutes," as we do for our practicals when a course is ready. My risi e bisi zuppa was ready. The chef replied that we'd need to have everything ready at once.

I decided then that my soup would have to sit while I prepped my other courses. I got the dessert ready and then started plating my fish and rabe. My fellow competitor plated her risotto course and was midway through her veal plating when she was accosted with "What are you doing? Stop right now! You don't plate everything at once. Who told you to do this? This is not how a competition is run."

All of us froze in amazement. Isn't that what he meant when he said everything needed to be ready simultaneously? And chef, none of us has been in a competition. That's why we're here today.

All production was halted at that point.

Chef then continued to talk to us about plating and gave some general critiques of the food that was already plated. He had us finish our courses one by one. He finally got to me and then proceeded to tell me that my soup was too thick and the rice overcooked. Duh! It sat there waiting 20 minutes after you had us halt cooking.

Once it was all over and we were cleaning up. There were no "thanks for participating" or "good menu selections," nothing. Chefs are finicky folk! Recall earlier my posts include "Chefs really are nice folk." I'm finally seeing the other side. I left wondering what other schools are even participating in this event.

Several days later, while writing this entry, I went to the Italy Atlanta Foundation website to research more about their mission, goals, etc. I found this press release, http://www.italyatlantafoundation.org/content/culinary-tour-italy-student-competition . I'd been selected as a finalist!

I didn't know I made it to the finals! What a coincidence, so did all my other classmates! And strangely, no other schools have participants. I wonder what school will win!

Stay tuned!

A New Start...

2010-04-08T10:15:00.002-04:00

We began the Spring Quarter in Baking by scrubbing all the sheet pans from black and brown to shiny and reflective. I wore a brand new chef coat that day unaware of the day's looming activities. I feel fairly certain I will not be able to wear it again to class without receiving points off for wearing a dirty jacket. I would have preferred to donate two or three new sheet pans. It would have cost me the same and been much less work.

My other class, American Regional Cuisine, sounds like it will be fun. However, we started the first two sessions with practicals, mother sauces. After the intensive three weeks of practicals I was less than enthusiastic for another one. I suppose this is to ensure your skills don't dissolve over the break.

We also received notification of our projects for the quarter. In baking there are two papers, one an analysis of five videos on baking that we are required to watch outside of class.

For American Regional, we have to research a region and write a paper on it as well as present a 20 minute lecture to the class and a menu developed for the region. I pulled Western. The guy next to me said, "do you want to switch?" He had New England which sounded much more interesting to me and more familiar. "Oh yeah!" Shortly thereafter, feeling smug that I'd managed to trade up, the instructor said "Ok, no switching regions. Who does everyone have?" Phew! I switched just in time. We all read aloud our assigned regions, "South... Floribbean... Western... New England... MidAtlantic..." etc. Then I realized I traded from a later presentation to the very first one the week after I return from a weekend beach trip. I turned to my fellow student, "Isn't New England the first presentation?" He confirmed. Dang! I'd been duped!

My luck (or stupidity) sometimes never ceases to amaze me.

Quarter Down

2010-03-24T15:51:00.004-04:00

Sorry, I've been absent.

The finals absorbed my time. I spent my weekend nights trying to test all the exam recipes and the days shopping for them. Sundays were clean up. Additionally, after dropping my chicken any comments I may have provided on the day's affairs would have seemed mundane.

I thought being on break between the quarters would be a good rest, but now I'm practicing for an Italian cooking competition. I believe I've learned there is no rest. Get used to it. I also need to prepare for a serving competition in a few weeks.

I learned of a summer position at one of the nation's more pretigious country clubs. We'll see how that progresses. I haven't yet interviewed. I arrived and the chef was out sick so I spoke with another chef there. I hope to return soon. The club is headed by one of Georgia's three Certified Master Chefs (just under 70 total in the US) and has a well-known pastry chef who just returned from filming Top Chef Desserts. All is hush-hush on her performance on the show.

I will be curious to see who shows up for classes next week. That's when we all learn who passed.

Look for updates on Baking I (of II) and American Regional Cuisine. This is my new curriculm. It should be a busy summer!

Practical Exam - Day Two Roasting

2010-03-01T17:10:00.004-05:00

Today started well. I was assigned the roasting menu, which includes Roasted Chicken with Pan Gravy, Corona Beans (cooked in bacon and herbs) and Cream of Broccoli Soup.

I'd practiced these several times so felt this shouldn't be a difficult menu. Time would be my main challenger. The beans were not presoaked which added and extra hour to the cooking process.

I started presoaking or quick-soaking my beans to get going on the day. I then mise'd (short for collected my mise en place) my chicken and got it into the oven. All was going smoothly. I got my mirepoix in the oven after 20 minutes so it could roast alongside my chicken. I checked the chicken at that point and it was progressing nicely and it had a nice color. I also basted it to ensure its color remained golden, lovely and skin crispy.

I started my broccoli soup in the hopes of plating it quickly and getting it out of the way. It too progressed nicely. I forgot to incorporate the flour into my pan before adding stock, but recovered nicely by adding roux. With this underway, I decided to check my chicken again. I pulled it out of the oven using my towels. The handle was so hot that I could feel the heat making it's way to my hand. I tried shifting the pan some, but its weight got the better edge and onto the floor the pan went, with a large clank to draw attention of everyone in the kitchen. No one said a word. Chef looked at me; I looked at him and then at the bird on the floor. I knew he wouldn't taste the chicken now.

I picked up the bird and placed it in the pan. Chef told me to finish the practical and make my sauce separately. Had I thought about it I could have recovered the wing tips and still had a decent sauce. Unfortunately I'd tossed the bird into the pan with the mirepoix and wingtips however. I started a new pan of mirepoix and put that into the oven for roasting.

Chef told me to leave and gather myself while the sous chef/dishwashers cleaned the floor. "Where do I go?" I wanted to just keep moving and forget it had happened. I left the kitchen got a few quick boo hoos in and returned. I'm sure I looked worse than when I'd left. I moved on and started my beans and finished my soup. Meanwhile I burned my second attempt at roasted mirepoix. I gave up and decided to do the third round on the stovetop, but I'd have to wait to get my soup plated to get a burner.

My soup came out okay, but I'd over blanched my broccoli garnish so it was lacking some crunch. Otherwise it was good. Thank goodness! I'd need something to help me after dropping the chicken.

With my beans going I started my pan gravy, only without chicken bits from the roasted chicken. The sauce considering was decent. It needed some flavor though so I stole some stock from my bacony beans on the burner behind them. It helped immensely. I strained the sauce and now was just waiting on my beans. I didn't have to worry about reheating my chicken at least.

The beans took forever!!! I'd cleaned my entire station minus what I needed to plate the beans, chicken on a separate plate, and sauce. Still the beans were crunchy. I was nearly twiddling my thumbs waiting on them. Tasting and tasting but still crunching and crunching. Finally I was running out of time. I wanted to wait until the last minute because I knew the beans would need it.

"Final fifteen minutes," Chef stated to the class. I guess my beans would be ready or not. Luckily they were ready. I'd forgotten all the herbs during cooking so I swirled in some finely minced fresh herbs for color and taste. They passed the test. Thank goodness!

The gravy was fine, but waiting on the beans killed it. It had gotten very thick and there was no chicken broth left to thin it. I swirled in some butter and instead my sauce broke. I think the sauce was not meant to be that day.

At the end I was just glad to be done. Now I could look forward to getting a crappy grade. As suspected, I got just that.

Practical Day One

2010-02-24T18:56:00.011-05:00

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.

Skills- Starches!

2010-02-22T14:22:00.004-05:00

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.

No more chicken! Hollandaise again?!?!

2010-02-15T12:17:00.002-05:00

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.

The First Week of Live Serving

2010-02-11T18:52:00.007-05:00

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.

Skills, Fish Fish and More Fish

2010-02-10T16:50:00.005-05:00

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!

Skills- Steaks, Roasts and Birds

2010-02-03T11:43:00.008-05:00

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.

Serving Class, Espresso Training

2010-02-02T19:23:00.001-05:00

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!

Skills, Vegetable Day

2010-02-01T17:55:00.000-05:00

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.

Knife Skills, Cream Soups

2010-01-29T11:06:00.000-05:00

This week we made soups. First were consommés. Then cream soups. Of course they were Dalliscious! Bwoop! Bwoop!

I was assigned cream of broccoli. Additionally, my team mate was assigned sous chef for the day so we had to make mirepoix for some veal stock that was being made for the kitchen. For this task I was assigned chopping five onions. That's enough to make me cry so I put on my onion goggles that were given to me as a gift. As I somewhat expected, I got a "You can leave those at home," comment from the chef. Oh well, thought I'd see. Now I know.

First, we organized all our mise en place for the soup. The recipe calls for a velouté sauce to be incorporated thus we had two sets of mirepoix, two portions of clarified butter and two sachet d'épices. The first for the soup and the second for the velouté. The velouté also included roux and chicken broth. The soup mise en place also included broccoli, florets and stems separately, and of course cream.

Mise en place also includes equipment. We gathered our pots, one for the soup, one for the velouté sauce, one for hot water to blanche our florets, an ice bath to shock our florets, a spider to remove our florets and get them into the ice water, a wooden spoon to stir the soup, plus our usual cutting board, trash bin, knives etc.

The chef then announced we'd be making the velouté sauce directly in the soup pot. Sounds good, that's one less pan to wash. He would demonstrate the soup later. My teammate and I started sweating our mirepoix and waiting patiently. Remember, to extract the flavors patience is needed. I added the stem pieces and sweat those. Now we were ready for the velouté sauce, but there was no demonstration. "Chef we're ready to add our velouté."

Now I had to sweat a second batch of mirepoix. It seems this should have gone in at the beginning with the first batch. Oh well. We moved along and added our roux and stock. The soup didn't look very good to me. I was a little worried. It tasted really bland. Chef had told us to season some as we went along and not wait until the very end so I added some salt and pepper.

Meanwhile my partner was blanching and shocking our florets. They looked good, but we had a hard time judging if they were done enough. We were instructed to cook them through and I thought they still had some crunch (which I like). I told my teammate to cook them a wee longer but she should really ask chef if they were done enough. She did. "Take them off." So much for understanding the directions. I was pleased to know he didn't want them cooked more however.

I selected a few appropriately sized florets for garnish and chopped the remaining florets. These we added to our soup. My partner tasted and added salt.

Then the chef shortened our time frame. My partner and I were planning to add our sachet d'épices in 15 minutes and cook for another half hour, per our recipe directions.

"Add your sachet now and cook for another 15 minutes."

Yikes! Is that long enough to draw the flavors out of our herbs? Oh! We have two sachets, one for our velouté and another for our soup, so we have double the herbs. Okay, I'm on board.

We finished up our soup and awaited the emulsion blender from the lentil soup team. I quickly worked to heat our cream so it'd be ready to add to our pureed broccoli soup. All ran smoothly. Now we needed to season. I added some salt and pepper. We tasted again.

"Needs more salt," we both agreed. More salt added.

"Still needs more," I said. I added more salt.

"We just need some to get it to his level." I added more salt.

Next we reheated and plated (or bowled) our soup with our lovely florets for garnish. All the soups are aligned now, minus the white bean. That team was still working.

First was a shrimp bisque. It looked a little thick to me and needed some garnish, but otherwise fine. The chunks of shrimp were inviting.

Second was a minestrone that looked heavenly. There was a pesto on top made from blanched basil leaves, making the pesto a beautiful bright green. It was really nice against the orange carrots and yellow peppers in the soup.

Third was our broccoli soup. It now looked lovely, not like it did when all I saw was floury roux and stock. It was green.

This was followed by the lentil soup. I thought it would look icky, but it looked good. It had bits of bacon on top and nicely squared croutons. I was ready to eat some.

Last was a Manhattan clam chowder. Being a New England clam chowder fan, I wasn't as enthusiastic about this one, but it wasn't a dark red so it still seemed appealing. It also had several open clam shells with baby clams in them which looked yummy.

The white bean soup didn't make it to the table. The student was still working on it behind the scenes, but from the looks of it, very liquidy with a white tint, it wasn't making it to the table anytime soon.

Now to the tasting! The shrimp bisque tasted like wall paper paste, not quite that bad but pastey. It had no seasoning. It reminded me of our soup in the beginning when I was worried about its advancement.

The minestrone tasted as good as it looked, heavenly. There were nice textures from the beans, pasta and vegetables. There was a sprinkle of Parmesan that tasted yummy and the pesto was a huge boost. I could eat and eat this! Most of the class agreed as signaled by the moaning noises when people ate it.

Now ours..... wow. It actually tasted Dalliscious! Chef commented "Nice seasoning, may be a little thick." I could live with that. Plus the class was oohhing, ahhing and moaning some more. To me this was a good sign.

The lentil soup tasted yummy. The bacon and croutons added a nice crunch and flavor. If this was health food I could eat it. Note I said health food not vegetarian. The soup was made with chicken stock and had bacon. My experience with most vegetarian soups is that the cooks don't bring in mushroom broth or another taste to add depth. They are flat. This soup had depth and was tasty!

The last tasting was the Manhattan clam chowder. I dove in. The broth was nice. It didn't seem like a cream soup however. I need to check the recipe, maybe it wasn't supposed to be. I bit into a clam, chewy. Someone added them too early. What a shame as there were several in there to eat.

The one student was still working on her white bean. It looked awful. I think she packed up soon after our tasting. I didn't notice if she participated in the indulgence that followed. We were allowed to take 15 minutes and eat whatever soups we wanted. I went for the minestrone. It was so good! Then had a cup of our cream of broccoli, also good. My now my salt meter was on high. I decided to see if the shrimp bisque would be good with seasoning. I put some in my bowl, added some salt and pepper and tasted. It needed a wee more salt. (I'm turning into a salt monger now. Pathetic.) Now it was good! This I could enjoy. I don't think it was top of the class, but it could earn a much improved award.

Now I need to make the lentil. This will be on our practical. I need to inquire how the croutons were made, did they have garlic, etc.

Next week, it's on to meats! YUM! Bwoop! Can't wait!

Knife Skills Continues, After Knife Skills Even Better!

2010-01-25T21:06:00.000-05:00

Today we made consommé. It's relatively easy, but looks kind of gross at points. First, I mixed ground meat with egg whites and chopped up mirepoix. This is similar to making a meatloaf, but there are lots more eggs whites than with meatloaf so it was much souper, otherwise similar.

Then we started cooking it up on the stove. It looked like someone had puked into my stock pot (sorry gross I know, but that's what it looked like). There were all kinds bits and pieces of food floating around the top of the pot. ICK! Slowly that turned into a big burger floating on top of the broth, called the raft. If I were Ratatouille, the cartoon rat, I'd probably like to float on a big burger. I guess that's a fitting name.

I tasted the raft. It tasted like bland meatloaf. It was better with salt. Still I think Ratatouille would be okay with it.

I got some good praises for my dicing skills used in the garnish. Unfortunately I didn't blanche the pieces long enough. I also got kudos for seasoning my consommé well. My strategy is working. Season the salt to taste, then add more.

Compared to other classes, this one seemed less eventful. Maybe that means we're settling into the routine of the kitchen.

After class however was really cool! The class after ours fabricated a pig and we were invited to participate. First the class broke each half into its five primal parts. There was a big bone saw involved. I didn't get to run it, but it still seemed exciting. I noted the chef/saw runner didn't wear goggles. Somehow I think that's a no no.

Then we broke apart each of the five primals (ten total because there were five on each half) into the various meats, tenderloin, ham, picnic, shoulder, spare ribs, etc. There was a lot of meat there, but I was told only about 5 to 10% would go to waste. Someone offered me the spinal cord. I declined. I guess the waste just went up to 6%.

Hollandaise Sauce, Oh My What Work!

2010-01-23T17:39:00.000-05:00

This morning I made Eggs Benedict for my mother-in-law's birthday. I thought the sauce was relatively easy to make in class so I figured, no problem. Right? WRONG!

I planned ahead and brought a strainer so I could easily remove any of those eggy pieces that might get from the sides; what else could go wrong?

I shopped for all the ingredients and brought them with me, English muffins, a pound of butter (yes, 12 of the 16 ounces are needed for four egg yolks according to the recipe), multiple eggs for the Hollandaise and for poaching, Canadian bacon and some spinach. The dish doesn't traditionally have spinach, but I thought the dish needed color and vitamins. Plus I planned to serve it to three young nieces/nephews and children always need vitamins.

(I just realized typing this that Eggs Benedict is an international dish... English Muffins, Canadian bacon, Hollandaise sauce. Ha! Ha! Some lame humor on my part.)

I wanted to engage the children in the cooking process. Thus I told them the first step is to get your aprons on; I stated this like a Nascar race, "Aprons On!"

Next we organized and got all our ingredients and equipment together, or in culinary language prepared the "mise en place" literally translated as "settings in place." I pulled out my whisk.

"What's that?"

"A whisk"

"What's a wisssk?" Adorable, aren't they? "I want a wisssk of my own."

"A whisk is used to fluff the yellow part of the egg and make the sauce. I don't have another whisk, but here, put this in your apron pocket." I handed them each a spoon. Thankfully they each seemed satisfied.

Next we proceeded to get out the eggs, muffins, and bacon. Oops. Someone ate half the muffins I brought since they were placed on the counter the previous night. No problem, there were two more packages that happened to already be in the household. I opened them and discovered that each muffin was completely covered in green mold. I guess throwing out deteriorating food goes by the wayside when you have kids because they weren't just spotted with mold, they were coated with fuzz and there wasn't just one half-eaten package of them, but two. No problem, there was some bread that wasn't fuzz colored.

On with breakfast... we needed to separate the eggs. Each child wanted to crack an egg. Easy enough, they cracked and I separated.

Snag two arrived. Uncle Joey went out to purchase hula hoops because my neice wanted to win the hula hoop contest at school the next month. Of course she'd need to practice. Conveniently, she remembered seeing hula hoops for sale at the CVS. Only the errand took nearly an hour because she remembered incorrectly and Uncle Joey had to drive the opposite direction to Walmart instead.

While holding breakfast preparations my neice and nephew proceeded to wear the bowls on their heads, toss the muffin pieces in the air to practice flipping, name and label each one of the eggs. Of those that I can remember, my neice named her eggs Delinda, Anna, Allie, Alex, and Crystal and my nephew named his Nicko, Dicko, William, and Maui. He wanted to name one Sicko, but I told him that was an ugly name. Dicko is a derivative of Richard so I felt that was an acceptable name.

Simultaneously, I started my vinegar reduction. With the flying muffins and equipment I managed to burn the reduction twice. Luckily this isn't difficult to redo.

Also to keep them engaged, I had them mix the eggs whites even though these would be tossed into the trash. This lasted quite a while; I was pleasantly surprised. But it didn't last long enough. Soon both of my apprentices were elsewhere never to return, particularly once the hula hoops arrived. My shortlived days as an influential aunt recruiting for Future Chefs of America ended.

On with breakfast, the actual cooking part... I started my first batch of Hollandaise sauce. All seemed to progress well. I thickened and whipped my yolks and incorporated my vinegar reduction. I incorporated the melted butter slowly at first and my sauce was progressing well, a little thick, but it looked good and was a nice color. In class we thinned the sauce with water, so I also did this.

BLAM! My sauce broke! No need to panic; I had eggs and butter I'd start over. This time I started with a little more vinegar reduction. My yolks whipped up better than the first time. Alright! One false start isn't bad, all in the learning experience. Plus as I told my husband, the screaming children and added stress of starting over was good stress practice for the approaching practical.

I started adding my butter, a little at a time, not too fast. Progressing well.... progressing well... more butter... incorporating well... more butter...

BLAM! My sauce broke again! Now I was getting nervous. I was running out of eggs and butter. I also had to make a new batch of vinegar reduction (this is #5 I think). I took it slowly. I told myself not to fear using lots of the reduction in the yolks as this seemed to work well last time.

My yolks were looking really good this time, nice and frothy, no egg scramble on the sides of the bowl. Hot dog! I'm cookin' now!! Finally! I managed to incorporate all the butter!

I tasted my sauce. Holy crap! It was salty!! Normally I'd use unsalted butter, but Target wanted to charge nearly twice as much for it so I purchased salted butter. I think all the salt had settled to the bottom of my melted butter dish and as a result I'd used super concentrated salted butter for my third batch of Hollandaise sauce. I didn't have the ingredients, nor time to make a fourth batch. Maybe it would be okay when eaten with unsalted eggs and spinach.

Finally I served up the Eggs Benedict! All in all, it was okay. No one could cut through the muffins because they were super toasted on the bottom awaiting my second and third batches of sauce, but at least the salty sauce wasn't as bad as it was by itself.

Something tells me I need more practice.

Knife Skills Day Five, Sauces

2010-01-20T11:52:00.001-05:00

Today we made the mother sauces, espagnole, tomato, velouté, béchamel, and hollandaise. (Wow, I didn't think I could remember all those from merely hearing them in lecture, but after making them and knowing which teams made what, I actually can name them all. See... experience does matter.) My team made espagnole and tomato and each student had to make his own hollandaise.

I told my husband I had to make eggs benedict over the weekend and got a big "Alright!" He may get surprised with some asparagus or steak too with hollandaise. Something tells me he won't mind.

The sauces generally weren't difficult. I did learn that when you think you've sweat the onions enough, or carmelized the carrots enough... you didn't. When you think you added enough oil, you'll receive an "add more" from the chef. I'm guessing this is true too with salt, but I have yet to experience it firsthand. From appearances across the classroom, the other sauces were also completed without difficulty.

The hollandaise sauce I thought would be a different story. Rather, everyone was able to make theirs without breaking it, meaning the fats/oil would separate from the egg or the eggs get to hot and scramble instead of making a nice smooth sauce. There was one example of a broken sauce, made on purpose so we'd know what it looked like.

At the end everyone had to label their bowl and the were all compared at the end. I noted one bowl was not the original bowl in which the sauce was made. Thus there were no crusty pieces on the sides or other references to the actual process of making the sauce, just the finished product in a nice and clean bowl. "Who's is that? That's sneaky!" Of course if was our class leader's (same guy who had the nice tournés) and he got a shout out from the chef for cleaning up his presentation. Not fair! I asked before putting mine out if I should strain it and got a "don't worry about it." Obviously, I should have worried about it, especially since mine got used as the example of high sides of dried egg.

Next class sounds busy too. We're making several soups and consommé. I can't wait to see the raft that forms on top of the consommé with all the impurities! After learning this was sometimes used as family meal for peasants I felt bad for all the "Eeww that's for dinner tonight, Mom?" inquiries through the years. I suppose fast food beef could be equated to the contents of the raft however, meat bits, some protein additives, flavoring, sounds like a Whopper to me. Grill up the raft and put it on a bun! (Please don't! That's NOT Dalliscious!)

Serving Class

2010-01-16T10:27:00.000-05:00

In addition to my knife skills class, I also attend twice a week a serving/front-of-the-house class. The uniform for it is a cotton button-down shirt with one breast pocket, black pants with a black belt, black dress shoes, black socks, a black bow tie, black apron, and our name tags. (Recall, I left this at home one day and lost points because of it.) The women in the class think its ridiculous that for this class no make up or jewelry is allowed, similar to the kitchen uniform. Isn't the waitstaff supposed to be pleasing to the eye? Our instructor states we're all beautiful and don't need make-up.

We are assigned a duty daily. So far I've been the bartender and a server. On the day that I was the bartender, I had to walk the class through those duties to prepare them for their day in that position. I had to make three batches of iced tea, using a white coffee pot not a black one for each batch and turning the handle forward on each batch. This is a "silent signal" that tells anyone who picks up the tea making process before it has fully completed which of the three batches is brewing. Other silent signals include a turned down napkin from the host at seating to indicate the place setting will not be used and needs to be removed from the table and a doily under the coffee cup to indicate it is decaf coffee.

After brewing iced tea I then brewed coffee. While reaching for the black coffee pot underneath the brewing machine, the cabinet door fell off. The class found this quite amusing and the instructor asked me what I did to break the door. "Nothing!!! Poor craftsmanship!"

In about two weeks we will have live customers in this class. There is another class that develops and cooks the menu for these customers. I have friends that will come one day while I'm serving. Knowing my friends, I'm sure they will point out any mistakes they can find and generally be difficult patrons. Can't wait! (Actually, I can. Bwoop!)

Knife Skills Day Ouch

2010-01-14T10:13:00.001-05:00

No, I didn't cut myself. I'm still cut free, but a cut would have been better than forgetting my entire knife kit. That's major points off my grade for the day!

The last few days I've been completely absented minded so I'm not surprised I forgot my knives. The day before I forgot my name tag to serving class; that's points off for the day. The evening before I left my laptop power cord at work. I had to quickly put together a strategy document within my battery's one hour time frame. Then I realized I had to type up some recipes for class and had about 15 minutes of time remaining on the battery. I got through four of the five recipes and the screen went black. Luckily, I planned ahead and worked on my flash drive. I inserted it into my husband's computer and finished and printed my assignment. You'd think that would have been a warning then to get my head better into the game of school. Instead, out the door I went the next morning doing my mental checklist of class books, computer, snack, proper uniform and hot tea for the car ride--- no knives. Now I'll have to store them in my car, something not advisable in the neighborhood in which I live.

After approaching the chef with my tail between my legs, "Chef, I don't have my knives," he basically told me to make do, borrow, etc. (I wonder now if I should have even told him or waited to see if he busted me.) The lack of knives actually wasn't a huge inconvenience, more an embarrassment. I continued to work on my tournés, noting that I am improving, although the guy in front of me had tournés that really looked good, not perfect but good. Show off!! Bwoop! (He didn't really show off. I peered over slyly looking, but I have to add some drama here. Also I'm pretty sure he reads these blogs.)

The disappointment came when the chef told me my, I thought decent, tournés were a "C" level. Dang! I was hoping for a B- at least. Agreed they were no A. I will have to continue working on them.

The other in-class task for the day was to make white, blond, brown and dark roux. All came out nicely. I tried to take a picture to post here, but instead pushed the power button and not the shutter button. I noted chef saw me do this so I decided to slink away quietly. He must think I'm a complete ding-dong.

Next week will be better, especially since there is only one class because of the holiday.

Knife Skills Day Three

2010-01-11T13:58:00.001-05:00

Today there was little lecture and demonstration. There is a large banquet tonight so our class was predominately working to prep items for that dinner. Big guests are expected, the American Culinary Federation, here for its monthly meeting. I am excited to see the food for it; I heard there's a lobster mac 'n cheese. Sounds Dalliscious! There's also an oyster raw bar. I sure hope I won't be the one shucking all those oysters.

I did get a shout out from the teacher on my uniform knife cuts. I guess the weekend practice paid off some. The potato-leek soup I made from my scraps sure were Dalliscious. I believe the cream helped. Bwoop!

Today I was assigned the role of Sanitation Director. This means I assign members of the class for various clean-up activities. It was fairly straightforward since I was provided a list of tasks that need to be completed. Thanks go to each classmate for a successfully completed cleaning. Each person accepted responsibility and tackled assigned tasks without moaning or making faces. I think everyone just wanted to get through cleanup as quickly as possible.

Still cut free.... (I do have a minor nick, but hardly anything worth mentioning.)

Knife Skills Practice

2010-01-10T12:39:00.000-05:00

This Saturday I spent at Lunacy Black Market. Chef Luna gave me some interesting challenges and assisted me in honing my knife skills. My biggest challenge through the day was following through on a complete slicing stroke.

I started the day julienning a red pepper into lozenges (diamonds)- TINY ones! Then I sliced a sweet potato into thin slices and proceeded to julienne those. We deep fried the strips and used them as a soup topper. They were a nice addition to the pureed chickpea and tomato soup, both aesthetically on top and a tasty, slightly sweet crunch while eating the soup.

Next I tournéd several carrot pieces. It is a challenge working with something so small, but little did I know I would get to work with something even smaller. After the carrot came a potato- seems manageable, until Chef Luna cut the potato into small pieces. My hand cramped up from trying to hold them. I whittled these away into what ultimately looked like cloves of garlic, hardly the football shape they should have been.

I worked more on my knife strokes and julienned more peppers and then thinly sliced some garlic, used in Black Market's shrimp dish. Chef Luna would make me cut forward and then make me switch and cut backwards. The switch can be equated to patting your head and rubbing your stomach. My brain didn't want to switch quickly.

Upon finishing the garlic, Chef Luna said I needed to get some coffee. I thought he was going to make me tourné a coffee bean. I was very curious to see his demonstration. Rather, he busted out laughing; the coffee grinds get the garlic smell off your fingers. Duh! (and phew!!)

CONCLUSION: I will soon purchase a tourné knife.

It was a good day of practice. I will continue some work at home and am looking forward to potato & leek soup with the scraps. Dalliscious!

Knife Skills Day Two

2010-01-07T10:25:00.000-05:00

We all practiced our knife skills making all 17 of our required cuts. I proceeded at a decent pace, but I'm not sure if I'd yet meet the time requirement of the test. Some classmates were struggling, nearly all of us with the tourne.

Overall, I was told my cuts were pretty good. An "Excellent!" would have been better. I'll have to work on that this weekend. Luckily, I can use my neighbor's commercial kitchen down the street some so I won't be trapped standing inside at my own place all day. No injuries to date.

Here's a full list of the required cuts.

1. Chop
2. Mince
3. Chiffonade
4. Julienne
5. Batonnet
6. Frite
7. Brunoise
8. Small Dice
9. Medium Dice
10. Large Dice
11. Tourne
12. Paysanne & Fermiere
13. Lozenge
14. Rondelle
15. Bias
16. Concasse
17. Oblique

Knife Skills Day One

2010-01-06T06:14:00.000-05:00

My Knife Skills class should be called Skills. Sure knife skills are the basis, but there is way more than just cutting in this class. Still two people managed to cut themselves on their first attempt to use the sharpening steel. I've remained injury free to date.

We're provided the final exam on the first day and there is a five-day practical exam at the end. Only the first day of the practical is knife skills. Check out this line up...

Day 1: 17 knife cuts and 4 mother sauces

Day 2: Sauteed Supreme of Chicken w/Fine Herb Sauce, Grilled New York Strip w/Bearnaise Sauce, Puree of Lentil Soup, Rice Pilaf

Day 3: Chicken Fricassee, Chicken Broth with Vegetables and House-Made Egg Noodles

Day 4: Roasted Chicken w/Pan Gravy, Cream of Broccoli Soup, White Bean Ragout

Day 5: Poached Fillet of Sole w/Vegetable Julianne and Vin Blanc Sauce, Chicken Consumme, Duchesse Potatoes

Day 6: Written Exam, Kitchen CleanUp- Done for the Quarter! Bwoop!!

Fly on the Wall: Chef Certification

2009-11-06T15:25:00.000-05:00

Today I worked in the kitchen while a chef cooked for judges in the hopes of being awarded a chef's certification. I'm not sure what level he was seeking. I'm also not sure if he passed.

I arrived at 7am and the competing chef was organizing and setting up. I'm not sure when he received his mystery basket and created a menu from it. I tried to glance at the menu once I realized it was there and was lightly scolded for hovering over the judges table. Oops! Busted. BWOOP!

One of the judges and Master Chef didn't arrive until later into the session. I guess he wasn't as concerned with the intial prep.

I did taste the first course, a lobster rice dish. There was great flavor in it, although too salty. The rice however wasn't finished cooking and a bit crunchy. Some kitchen buds complained the lobster meat was chewy. Duh! It's the tail!

Next was a salad, presented in a flax seed crust that was baked over a tin-foiled can, interesting and simple approach. The salad itself looked nice but was seemingly thrown onto the plate versus presenting it in a more structured manner. The salad dressing was also very mustardy.

Last was a chicken dish with some roasted root vegetables. I watched the inspiring chef chop several beets, but he must not have liked his dice cuts because they were quickly tossed into the garbage pile. I didn't taste any of that course.

While my assessment of the activity isn't very exciting, to me attending and seeing the judges writing notes here and there was enlightening. I know when I get to that level I'll better understand what to expect.

Iced tea requires ice!! and timely refills!!

2009-10-03T21:26:00.000-04:00

Originally posted: July 13, 2007

I grew up in the South. Southerners drink iced tea because it’s hot. Iced tea IS the water of the South.

As a result this is a beverage staple in restaurants here. However I am constantly amazed how poorly wait staff treat iced tea glass maintenance. Water glasses seem to fill by themselves, but iced tea is overlooked. One cannot live on bread alone!!

ATTENTION WAIT STAFF: If the glass is half full… FILL IT UP. If there’s no ice in the glass… PUT ICE IN IT. It’s called ICED tea for a reason!! Lemon would be nice too.

Foodie Books

2009-10-03T18:43:00.000-04:00

originally posted September 23, 2009

As with any genre, there are oodles of interesting books to read in the subject. Here’s some I’ve read and enjoyed. Do you have recommendations?

The Soul of a Chef: The Journey Toward Perfection by Michael Ruhlman 4.75 of 5 Bwoops! This has to be one of my favorite foodie books! It also is likely one of the most influential in my life. I proceeded to take a boot camp at CIA, Hyde Park the next month after reading it and then enrolled in culinary school a few months after that. I’m sure my parents had no idea when they gave it to me what a ball of yarn it would unravel and as quickly as it did. (Maybe I don’t give them enough credit however.)

It’s actually three stories in one, each unique and each entertaining. The first is the journey of a wannabe master chef seeking certification. The testing is grueling and only one or two chefs in a group of ten ultimately receive certification, after paying $10,000 to take the ten day exam. I found this section riveting!

The second story is of Michael Symon of Cleveland’s Lola Bistro. (If I were on Iron Chef… this is who I’d pick!) His style is quite different than that of the third and final story, self-taught chef Michael Keller of Napa Valley’s legendary French Laundry. While these stories weren’t quite as page-turning as the first, there were valid points to be made from reading them and overall I could read each page over and over and over. My husband got mad at me for ignoring him because I couldn’t put the book down. In particular, there’s a scene with Thomas Keller and REALLY FRESH meat that continually appears in my memories.

Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl 4 of 5 Bwoops! This book is hilarious! The lengths that Ms. Reichl goes through to disguise herself in order to receive a true restaurant review without recognition are unbelievable. That’s a passion for your job! She’s similar to a kid at Halloween, planning the costume and fully engaging to play the part.

The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World’s Most Famous Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn 3.75 of 5 Bwoops! This book is as much personal conquest as it is foodie. That doesn’t mean it lacks entertainment, but I might qualify it as more of a chick read.

My Life in France by Julia Child 4.25 of 5 Bwoops! I was also greatly influenced by this book once I found out Julia was 40+ when her career really hit its stride. There’s hope for me yet! This is partially the basis for the movie Julie and Julia, but there are some parts editted. Julia has a life many of us envy- I sure do! I’d kill to live in France as she did and travel back to Cambridge, MA to retire. (I used to live in Boston so Cambridge would be fine with me!) If the genre isn’t your fruit de mer however, you likely won’t find this book as entertaining as some others.

Julie & Julia by Julie Powell 4 of 5 Bwoops! The second half of the movie that takes its name, this book triggered laughter, tears, anger and I’m not sure how many other emotions. It too was influential in that Julie Powell was stuck at a job of no interest to her, yet compelled by her mother to stay away from pursuing her passions for more practical path. I can easily say I’ve been there! I tried practical for 20+ years in the workforce and every year it became more and more difficult to put up with it. Thank goodness my husband encouraged me to pursue my dream! (It will be interesting to read this in three to four years after school is over. It’s got to be better than corporate America!! I can’t imagine what could be worse!)

The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food by Judith Jones 3.5 of 5 Bwoops! Judith Jones was Julia Child’s editor and as with any professional her career didn’t rotate around only one person. This book chronicles her career. Lucky dog she was! My husband recently read the book and found it entertaining so my initial thought that you’d have to be a true foodie to get enjoyment from it may be exaggerated.

What's the best Atlanta pizza?

2009-10-03T18:40:00.000-04:00

originally posted September 6, 2009

I saw my old post on which is better Grant Central or Grant Central East. Since making that post, numerous new pizza places have opened. All with really good pizza.

Max’s downtown has coal oven pizza and it’s good! The $1 gelato cones are Dalliscious too!

Stella on Memorial has really yummy whole wheat crust and excellent pepperoni. (Their sister, Osteria, in VA Highlands is good too, but it’s not the same whole wheat crust.)

I found Varasano’s on Peachtree (yeah, I know I’m writing about Buckhead, not really iITP, INTOWN inside the perimeter, but I had to try it after hearing about the owner, an international rubix cube champ, breaking numerous home ovens attempting to perfect his crust recipe) to be a good contender for Fritti. However, I’m giving Fritti the upper crust-- nice pizza pun. The toppings are better. Plus, their pizza guy is really from Italy and serves limoncello to guests without understanding English.

Chef really are nice folk!

2009-10-03T18:36:00.000-04:00

originally posted August 20, 2009

I’ve been lucky to have so many recent opportunities to meet several well-known and not so well-known chefs this year. Many kitchen-outsiders who are only exposed to the cooking worlds of network television see “Top Chef,” “Chopped,” and “Hell’s Kitchen” see only the unpleasant side of many chef personalities (and I’m guessing sensationalized).

Guess what? That’s really not what chefs are like- even the ones on those shows. They are nice people, interested in your aspirations, funny, and easy with which to converse. They’re NORMAL.

My first exposure was at the Culinary Institute of Art in Hyde Park, NY where I participated in a week long boot camp. I walked into the building where my class was to meet. Everyone in the class had on their chef coats. I didn’t own a chef coat so obviously wasn’t wearing one. Youser! An out of place moment.

The participants were grouped and I was directed to a new classroom. In route I heard “Yes, Chef!” as I passed some students already at work in the kitchen. My fear of the unknown grew inside me. I was getting more and more nervous that an entire week of BOOT CAMP meant I would circle the campus 3 times while carrying a 14″ cast iron frying pan above my head, likely a punishment for conducting some type of kitchen faux pas.

My class/chef instructor was friendly and knowledgeable. He taught us much culinary knowledge in the week I attended CIA. At the moment I saw him running across the kitchen I knew instantly I was not to be pre-cooking my ravioli stuffing. Here comes my lap around campus with the frying pan. Luckily, that didn't happen. I was merely corrected and redirected. My ravioli was then the subject of class praise for it produced a dalliscious and beautiful dish. Thanks Chef Ainsworth!

My second exposure included prepping food for an 80-guest chef-hosted event. The recipes were selected by the chef and she provided insight on shopping for and preparating the dishes. I worked with a team of several culinary professionals all day creating sauces, slicing and dicing. At many steps we wondered if we were appropriately following the directions, browning to the correct level, etc. No one knew what to expect once the chef arrived. Once she did, it was nearly all praise. Where there was criticism it was well communicated, not harshly spat in our faces. The event was a great success and I left feeling very appreciative I was able to work with such a lovely person. I thought “they can’t all be so poised.” Thanks Corinne!

I’ve also worked in commercial kitchens where the Executive Chef has bent over backwards to make my work as simple as possible, offering ingredients, equipment and services. Working with such generous people makes the day go by like a dream. Thanks Chef Bowen!

The chefs with which I’ve worked have also been very appreciative of the work I provide. During events they thank me for my service and usually provide me with some type of takeaway. My culinary mates tell me to get ready however- they aren’t all like that at school. I’m ready… bring it on!

Best grits challenge!!!

2009-10-03T18:30:00.000-04:00

originally posted September 4, 2007, updated October 3, 2009

I’ve tried several iITP establishments in search of Best Grits. Contenders include Thumbs Up, Highland Bakery, and Stone Soup. (Worst include West Egg. Stop trying to be fancy; it’s NOT working.) Where have you eaten your favorite grits?

Ria’s Blue Bird has runner-up-worthy grits, but these are white. White is not my color of choice since its not guaranteed that these are made from the natural state of the corn. Yellow grits are made from unhulled corn; white grits can be made from hulled corn. (White hominy grits are the staple at places like the Waffle House. Hominy grits can be made from corn soaked in lye to remove the hull and the outer germ. MMMmmm! That sounds delicious… lye!) This is why I tend to like some yellow in my grits. However, it should be noted there are many reputable restaurants that use premium white grits made from white corn, like South City Kitchen.

What makes good grits? I like course grit pieces, like biting an actual corn kernel. They need to cook up creamy, by themselves, not that cream and/or cheese are insipid additions-- quite to the contrary!! Grits need to be hot and without lumps.

Favorite brands? Anson Mills in South Carolina is marketed as the king of grits. They appear on menus across Atlanta. The Lee Brothers (www.boiledpeanuts.com) promote Guilford stone ground grits. Can’t say I’ve tried them. There’s a Georgia brand, Logan Turnpike, sold at the Dekalb Farmer’s market and Whole Foods (where at opening had an extremely poor grits selection). A strong national premium brand seems to be Bob’s, but these are also labeled polenta. That doesn’t seem Southern and thus ungrit-centric to me. Carolina Plantation grits need to be soaked overnight. I haven't yet tried this to test them against the others.

The interesting observation is that our local restaurants are not promoting Logan Turnpike’s in-state product. Is that because Logan Turnpike’s grits are inferior to our neighboring state’s grits or are we observing the power of marketing? (I need to get some Anson Mills and cook them at home.)

Sorry- that was a long winded way of saying I LUV GRITS and what iITP (that's INTOWN inside the perimeter) establishment in your opinion has the best grits??

Steak and Tofu?

2009-10-03T18:28:00.000-04:00

originally posted August 19, 2007

My sibling refuses to eat eggs. Not because of an allergy or other health reason, but solely due to the taste and texture. He’ll stop eating items after finding out they contain eggs, for example pasta carbonara. He loved this pasta yumminess and then saw the dish in production and since has refused another bite.

As a result Sibling sometimes has difficulty with the brunch items. He craves the steak, but no way will consider an egg cradled next to it. He orders steak and tofu. Tofu isn’t just for vegans any more.