Of Cabbages and Kings...

To wrap up Skills Development I: The whole class ended quite nice for me. I got a B for my final grade. Of course, I was very much hoping to do better, but didn’t really expect it. I am content with the grade, but it pushed me to do better in Skills Development II.

Tuesday 2/16: Well, I didn’t exactly get off to the best start. On the first day, I would say that I failed miserably. We made braised red cabbage, glazed beets, duchesse potatoes, cocotte potatoes, and demi glace. The only thing that turned out right was my demi glace. My braised cabbage was over-cooked and walking the line of burnt. My glazed beets were undercooked. My duchesse potatoes were too wet and not brown enough, and my potato cocottes were unevenly brown and different sizes. Boo. Not a good day at all.

Wednesday 2/17: I started my tour guide training this day. There was not much to it; I just followed around another tour guide to learn the talking points and stops on the tour. In class: Rice day. Generally, I don’t like rice. It is not at all on my top list of choices for a starchy side. Unfortunately, the rest of the world does not feel the same way. Chef Velie is one of those people who just loves rice cookery. Again, this was not a good day for me. We made rice pilaf, boiled rice, risotto, and vegetables jardinere (blanched vegetable batonnets that are then finished with melted butter, of course). My risotto was good. My boiled rice was ok, but needed more salt. My vegetables were fine, I think. However, my rice pilaf was overcooked. Because we had enough time, Chef told me that I could make it again to get some points back. So I did, but this time I undercooked it. I doubt that I got any points back…

Thursday 2/18: I was not in a good place this day. I was really not looking forward to class at all. I didn’t want to be there and I was seriously becoming jealous of Chrissy for leaving the CIA. I couldn’t handle another bad day in the kitchen. Well, I was in luck because it was Pasta Day. We made cheese filling, duxelle filling, and homemade pasta dough. Half of the dough we rolled out into fettuccine and the half we made into ravioli. It was perhaps the best day that I have ever had in class. Chef had nothing but good things to say about my dishes. I felt awesome. On top of that, we also put together a GIANT pasta buffet where we got to sample everybody’s pastas and sauces. My team made Bolognese, but there was also tomato, putanesca, pesto, etc. I felt a lot better at the end of the day.

Friday 2/19: I think I followed another tour on Friday, but at this point I don’t remember. In Skills, it was egg day. I was kind of excited. I love egg cookery. We started the day making mayonnaise (again), hollandaise (for like the 34567th time), and poached eggs with Canadian bacon and English muffins which we turned into eggs benedict. I think all of you know by now that eggs benedict is my favorite dish of all time. Love it. Then we worked on hard boiled eggs and two different custards. Then we had to practice our à la minute egg cookery. We had 20 minutes and one Teflon pan to make two scrambled eggs, two sunny-side-up eggs, two eggs over-easy, two eggs over-medium, and two eggs over-hard. It was at this time that I became thankful for two things: one, that I worked the omelet bar at the country club on Sunday mornings. Two, that I made myself one egg over-medium every morning for breakfast for the past two years. I didn’t get the over-hard done by the time that time was up, but I still executed all the others perfectly and didn’t break a single yolk. J By the end of the day, all 17 students and Chef Velie went through a flat (30 ea) of eggs. For those of you keeping track, that’s 540 eggs. Wow.

Weekend: I had big plans for getting all kinds of things done and catching up on work and my Externship search. Very little of that happened. On Friday night, Steph, Jen, and I just hung out in my room. We were too exhausted to even change out of our chef whites. On Saturday, I spent most of the day reading Twilight (don’t judge me!) and catching up on Grey’s Anatomy and Brothers & Sisters. That night, Jen and I went out to Steph’s apartment again to make dinner. This time it was antipasti and pizza. We had all kinds of toppings like mozzarella, olives, several sausages, parmesan, peppers, etc. So delicious. Stephanie also made some Guinness ice cream. I had the foresight to bring some Kaluah to drip on top. It was also a tasty combination. After dinner, we had a great conversation about how religion develops and affects society. As much as I love food, I don’t get to think about much else, and it was such a relief to talk about something stimulating like religion again. Sunday, I really have no recollection of what I did, but I am sure that it was not productive. I would assume lots of Facebook and napping.

Monday 2/22: Poached Salmon. Ahem…I hate salmon. I hate poached meat. Not looking forward to this day. We made a court bouillon (a short broth made with water, acid, and mirepoix) to poach the salmon in. we then made a béarnaise to serve with the salmon. It went with julienne vegetables and haricots verts. This was the first day that we had to give the chef a composed plate. Usually, we just turn in dishes as we finish them, but starting Monday, everything was a whole meal that has to be served beautifully, cooked perfectly, and be warm all at the same time. While it is indeed more difficult than before, it feels good to make a whole meal and have more “real world” practice. I really love the rush of dinner service. I love how fast everything moves, how I have to ignore the world and live in my zone while I finish the food, and turn out perfect plates. I can only imagine it’s like the rush that keeps sky divers going back for more. I love it and it’s nice to be back in that world, even if it’s only on a small scale…just one plate. Chef liked my plate this day. Everything was cooked fine and had good flavor. Needless to say, I did not eat the leftovers. After class, I hung around to talk to Chef Velie about how I had done in Skills I, a few assignments that I had questions about, and to ask his advice on a few externship opportunities. It was incredibly productive. I got a lot of good information and feedback from him, and it seems like he got to see that I really am a dedicated student who wants to do well in this school and industry.

Tuesday 2/23: Shallow Poached Flounder with a sauce reduction served with saffron rice pilaf, sautéed spinach, and glazed carrots. Again, it was a good day. I was worried that my spinach and flounder were both overcooked. Chef disagreed. I was pleased to find this out. I have trouble judging when fish is done because I don’t really know what it needs to look since I avoid eating it like the plague. We were supposed to get whole winter flounder in and then we were going to fabricate them ourselves. I was oddly looking forward to this. While I hate eating fish, I really enjoy fabricating it. Flounder is the easiest type of fish to fillet. It’s what we got to do for our cutting practical in Seafood class. Sadly, though, the seafood class sent us already fabricated flounder. I have never seen such a disappointed room of culinary students. I really love the student body at this school… Where else do seventeen 18-24 year olds get sad about not breaking down a whole flounder?

Wednesday 2/24: Herb-Roasted Chicken with pan gravy, oven-roasted potatoes and classic ratatouille. This was one of the easiest days that we have ever had. Once the chicken was in the oven cooking, all we had to do was finish all the small dicing for the ratatouille. Generally, I had a good day. My chicken was cooked and broken down properly. My gravy had good flavor and consistency. The ratatouille had good flavor and was cooked well, but of course, my knife cuts were off. They so often are. My potatoes also could have been a little more moist. All in all, not a bad day.

Thursday 2/25: Best. Day. Ever. We made Braised short ribs, haricots verts, soft polenta, and roasted root vegetables. I have a very fervent, fiery, love of all things braised. Also, polenta is just the best starch ever. Since after the ribs are seared, all they do is sit in stock in an oven for two hours, it was another easy day. There is always about 10 minutes when it’s service time that get busy, but other than that it was another calm day. When Chef Velie was giving us a demo on how to plate the dish, he pulled out these giant tweezers to place the haricots verts around the plate one at a time. Picture tweezers that one would use to pluck eyebrows, but make them 10 times larger. I could not contain my laughter at not only how ridiculous the process was, but also at the size of the tweezers. Without missing a beat, my friend Stephanie says, “Oh, damn! I forgot to bring my giant tweezers today.” On the surface, it’s not that funny. However, I lost it. I had to walk away for a minute and collect myself. My food turned out quite well. Chef’s only critique: my knife cuts on the root vegetables… of course. He also told me that he nominated me and another kid in my class for a faculty-nominated leadership scholarship. I was completely touched and honored. I never thought that he would choose me for something like that, especially since the other person he nominated is Jim, our class’s outstanding group leader. Even if I don’t get it, just knowing that Chef Velie sees potential in me was a great gift. It really boosted my confidence and was just what I needed to hear.

Friday 2/26: We made simmered broccoli with (say it with me now: ) melted butter, whipped potatoes, and veal fricassee with all kinds of classic, French, cooked garnishes. Fricassee is basically a thickened white stew. I have never had it before, and I really quite enjoyed it. The plating was kinda cool: we piped the whipped potatoes into a boarder around the plate and used them as “walls” to hold in the fricassee in the middle of the plate. It was garnished with bacon lardoons, mushrooms cooked in bacon fat, and glazed pearl onions. I was really worried that my potatoes were overcooked, dry, and under-seasoned. Once again, I proved that I am a terrible judge of food because Chef saw no big problems with the dish other than a little overcooked broccoli. As the days pass, I am learning to really hate cooking broccoli. It’s quite a temperamental vegetable…

Now it’s the weekend again and I am determined to get things done. Today I am dedicating to my externship search, and tomorrow I am dedicating to homework. Perhaps there will be an Indian food break in there somewhere. We’ll see, though. I have my Writing final on Tuesday morning. It’s just an in-class essay. I am not worried. That will also be the last day of that class. I can say goodbye to waking up at 6am every Thursday and Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, I have my first tour. I have followed like four so far. I will give the tour on my own, but there will be another guide there in case I need help or get stuck. Then on Friday, I have my written final and cooking practical for Skills II. Big week…wish me luck!