Day 19, Foundations III

Today was a fun class.  We fabricated a snapper, peeled and deveined shrimp, made fish fumet, made fettuccine, remoulade sauce and blackened the snapper.   It was an easier class than most and went quite smoothly.  I received the highest grade in the class with a 50 out of 50 points... Whoo hoo!!!
These pictures are from the chef doing her demo, the shrimp pasta and the blackened fish with remoulade sauce on the side..

Above and to the right is the chef's demo. 

Above are my fillets and shrimp. 

These are the two plates for tonight.  The blackened snapper and the shrimp scampi..

Day 18, Foundations III

Tuesday's class was all about lamb.  Yesterday we fabricated/cut the meat for our recipes and today we prepared them. We made the tatziki on Monday for the gyros.  Our individual production consisted of:  roasted rack of lamb, zucchini saute provencal, marchand de vin (sauce), lamb stew, rice pilaf, and the tatziki was a group production.

We had plenty of time to prepare the dishes and the evening went pretty smooth, although tons of dishes to clean up!  To me the flavor of lamb is very distinct and I don't particularly care for it.  Here are some pictures of the plates..

Day 17, Foundations III

It's a good thing Monday's are easier than the rest because I think that we're still tired from the weekend.  At least I know I was tonight!  Today's demo included machonner of lamb racks, fabricating lamb shoulder and leg.  Chef is demoing in the pictures.


Then we had to do an individual production of frenching 1/2 a lamb rack, fabricate lamb shoulder into stew meat, and fabricate lamb legs into stew meat.  We also made Tatziki in preparation for our dishes tomorrow. 

To have something to eat we made BLT's.. the hardest thing

we've ever done...LOL!

Day 16, Foundations III

Well, another 7 days to go and I will be done with this class... It has been fun, but very very hard... Today I went to the early class at 11:15 because I had to attend the Chez Couture party for the Foster Children's Organization in the evening.   I have to say for my fellow class mates - our class is THE best!  Thanks guys for making it that way!! 

Due to the large amount of students in  the 11:15 class, I was unable to take pictures of my dishes and I had a hard time getting in my groove!  There are about 30 people in this class compared to about 18 in ours. Quite a difference when it comes to working in the kitchen.  We all have our own space/stove, etc. and it's difficult going into another classroom with so many people and so much going on...   Anyway, we finished the osso buccco (YUM!), made risotto and mushrooms, polenta, veal scaloppione ala marsala, and blanquette of veal, with individual sauces to go with each... As you know, veal is VERY EXPENSIVE but very very good!!!

All in all, was another great day in culinary school.. I just love it!!
I finished ahead of time and got 41 out of 45 points... I forgot to garnish my risotto with parsley and the marsala sauce for my  veal was slightly greasy.  Just look at us all workin away!

Day 15 - Foundations III

The chef is demoing frenching veal racks.  We deboned and cut veal shoulder for stew.  Started Osso Bucco for Thursday.  We also cut veal scallopines, trimmed veal and made stock in preparation for Thursday.

Day 14, Foundations III

Today was busy as we had expected.  We had six recipes to prepare and plate.  We made carnitas (pork), corn with poblanos, black bean cakes, roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes, grilled pork cutlet and maitre d'hotel butter.   All went pretty smooth, although it was a very busy night... I learned some wonderful new recipes... very delicious!  I have to urge my friends and family that a food mill is well worth it to get.  It is an awesome piece of equipment and makes the very BEST mashed potatoes!!

Day 13, Foundations III

The last couple of Monday's have been easy, and tonight was as well.  That's why I love Mondays at school.... so far they have eased us into the week.  The chef demoed for about 45 minutes on whole pork loin fabrication, trussing a pork loin, cutting pork cutlets, baby back rib fabrication and cutting pork bellies into bacon... So, now I know where the bacon comes from and how it is cut and prepared.  We watched a pork slaughter video which was pretty gross.  I couldn't even watch it at one point.  It was just as disgusting as the beef slaughter video we watched last week.  I am not a huge fan of pork - never have been. 

We made two BBQ sauces, an Asian sauce and a Carolina sauce.  We each had to truss a pork loin, then as a team we made the sauces, made the brine for the pork cutlets, cured the bacon, poached baby back ribs then grilled them and finally cut the pork butt (sounds tasty, doesn't it???) for carnitas which we are making tomorrow.  Pretty much all today was preparation for tomorrow.  We did eat the baby back ribs with the sauce - very tasty..  Here are some pics of the chef cutting the whole pork loin, cutting through the ribs and the last picture is one of bacon that has already cured and the one that we are getting ready to cure.

Day 12 - Foundations III

Today we made beef consomme, beef ravioli, gratin dauphinoise, grilled rib eye, creamed spinach and onion rings.   We had about an hour and 15 minutes to make and plate all the recipes....  First we made the gratin dauphinoise as it needed to cook the longest, then the beef consomme.  Beef consomme is pretty easy to make as long as it doesn't break.  The ravioli was pretty neat - we made the pasta then the beef filling.  We cut out the pasta in circles then filled them with the beef filling and topped them with another layer of pasta.  Boiled them in salted water and to serve, put them in the bowl with the beef consumme.  Following that we made the creamed spinach, onion rings and finally grilled the rib eyes.  To get the grill marks on the steaks (or chicken for that matter) always start at 10:00 then pick the meat up with tongs and move clockwise to 2:00.  Grill for about 7 minutes for medium rare.  Turn steak over, follow the same procedure for the second side.  Again, grill 7 minutes - remove steak to rest.  Below are the plates... ravioli in beef consumme, rib-eye and onion rings, creamed spinach and gratin dauphinoise potatoes...

Day 11 - Foundations III

Chef demo of breaking down a 109 rib.. (rib eyes). We cut our own steaks from that for tomorrow night.  Then we watched a beef slaughter video.  It was horrible.. Almost made me want to become a vegetarian. Oh, the way they treat those poor cows..... I was shocked at the process and had to turn my head a few times.   Then we cured brisket for making pastrami and corned beef... Did y'all know that both pastrami and corned beef come from a brisket? And do you know why it is called corn beef?  Because back in the day the brisket was rubbed with pieces of salt the size of corn kernels and so it took on the name corned beef.   Then we ground meat for our filling for ravioli for tomorrow night.
Pretty cool.  Then we took the mid term exam.  UGH!  Wasn't too bad though.  Finally after that we made rueben sandwiches with previously cured corned beef and pastrami.  When you cure pastrami or corned beef it needs to cure for 3-6 weeks.  The sandwich consisted of rye bread (buttered), with russian dressing on the bread, then the pastrami (or corned beef) then the swiss cheese, then sauerkraut.  Toasted on both sides until the cheese melted, and that was dinner!  YUM!  Very delish!  Tomorrow is gonna be hard... another night of Hell's kitchen in Foundations III!!

Day 10 - Foundations III

Tonight was such a fun class.. We grilled a NY Strip steak, seared a tenderloin, made grilled vegetables, croquette potatoes, french fries, caesar salad (made a GREAT caesar dressing), and bordelaise sauce.  And, we had to make our own croutons for the caesar salad... The best way to make them is to cut the bread into 1/2 inch pieces and heat some olive oil in a small frying pan.... add the bread with a little salt and just keep flipping them until they are done..  nice and crunchy!! and beautifully golden..

For the potato croquettes we cooked potatoes, ran them through the food mill, added a little salt, pepper and butter.. then added chopped chives, crumbled bacon and egg yolks. Then cooled them in the freezer,  rolled them into balls, rolled them in flour, dipped in egg wash and rolled them in panko crumbs.  Finally we deep fried them.  They were delicious!!

A tip on the fries... always deep fry (blanch) them first.  Drain and put them in the freezer and then deep fry them the next day.  They will be crispier that way...

Day 9 - Foundations III

 Monday was a pretty easy class.  The chef demo'ed how to trim and cut beef.  From this piece of meat we cut our NY strip steaks and our tenderloins.  We then cleaned and marinated skirt steak (similar to a brisket, but very tasty).  We made a chimmichuri sauce to go with that. If you like spicy - it's fantastic!  We made our noddles, rolled them out and put them in the frig (for making ravioli), cut and blanched fries for one of Tuesday's plates and grilled the skirt steak to eat..

Here is a picture of one corner of the kitchen, and a picture of Cris, Sonia and me.  We even had a little time to chat last night which is rare.  Tuesday is a busy night, so once again we are looking forward to our version of Hell's Kitchen!!

Day 8 - Foundations III

Whew!  What a night... Chef's demo lasted almost an hour, then we were on our own... Big night tonight.... We had to prepare nine recipes in about an hour and 20 minutes... Seared Duck Breast, Tourneed Turnips Etuvette, Orzo Pilaf, Sauce Bigarade, Turkey Scaloppine with Shiitake Mushrooms and Roasted Shallots with sauce, White Bean Salad, Tossed Greens with Vinaigrette.....  It was hard, fun and delicious!

Day 7 - Foundations III

Well, tonight was a little better than last night - it wasn't so crazy .. We fabricated a duck and a turkey... very interesting and quite fun if I do say so myself.....  better than the fish from last week!!

Tomorrow we make dishes with the duck and turkey.. we have nine recipes to make and I know it's gonna be a tough night...   We made turkey scalloppines (cut into a butterfly shape and pounded out to 1/8 inch).  This is a picture of the duck... very fatty - I've never had duck before so tomorrow's dishes will be interesting...

Then we made salmon canapes from the salmon that we cured last week.  Oh they are SO delicious!  We made several little appetizers, garnished with dill, red pepper, red onion, capers and pickles... I even brought some home for my hubby and he loved them!

Day 6 - Foundations III

OK, well... today was exhausting!  After watching the chef's demo, we prepared Ballotine de Poulet Grandmere (a wonderul chicken dish that I'll be serving at my next dinner party!!)  grilled vegetable medley, potato pancakes, lentils and cream,  fruit salsa (this was SO awesome!!) and airline grilled chicken wth mushroom and onion sauce.

We have an hour and a half to prepare and cook 6 different items.  Keep in mind that the chef is looking at your knife cuts and if the recipe calls for small knife cuts (1/4 x 1/4 x 1/4) then that is what she expects to see....no bigger, no smaller.  Almost every recipe has some knife cuts associated with it and you have to make sure they are perfect to get the maximum number of points.  This is a picture of the plated Ballotine de Poulet, vegetable medley and lentils and cream..

Day 5, Foundations III

I trussed a chicken tonight, which was review from Foundations II.  Trussing is a simple procedure that can enhance a chicken's quality and presentation. Some cooks think it's the most complicated part of roasting a chicken, but that is hardly the case.  It is essential that a chicken be properly trussed to avoid burning the wings and to make sure that the chicken cooks evenly. 

Then I cut a chicken 8 ways (did that in Foundations 2 - but had more practice tonight).  I'll never buy chicken cut up anymore!!  I can cut up a whole chicken now and get every piece of meat off it!  Amazing!  And, every piece is perfect.  Then we cut a whole chicken the airline way.  The airline chicken method is just another way to cut up a chicken is all... I thought it was pretty neat.  The best way to cut the chicken is with the shears, as below, to start off with - then use a boning knife to cut the remaining pieces. 

Then after cutting up two whole chickens we made one dish for tonight and saved the other for Tuesday.  The dish we made tonight was called Poulet Saute Chasseur.  It was amazing.  I think I use that word a lot (amazing!) but I just love this stuff!!

Filleting my red snapper

Chef's demo - salmon gravlax

Finishing up a plate presentation...

Filleting a flounder and a red snapper

Filleting a flounder

New equipment in culinary school

So, I have used so many new tools in culinary school.... My favorites are - a china cap and a food mill. The food mill is awesome for making tomato sauce and mashed potatoes. It the only way from here on out I will be making those!!!

Day 4 of Foundations III

I wish I would have started this blog at the very beginning of my culinary classes. But, never thought of it until now.. so, here we go. The first block of classes was Culinary Foundations I, Environmental Science and Safety and Sanitation (required classes by OCA, short for Orlando Culinary Academy). Foundations I was the basics and pretty much all we did is watch the Chef do demos and practice knife cuts at least once or twice a week. Little did I know you could cut vegetables in so many ways!!! 6 1/2 hours of class four nights a week for 6 weeks. Pretty tiring...

Then came Foundations II - started off the first night making four mother sauces, then continuing with small sauces... made hollandaise, mayonnaise, aioli, consumme, shrimp bisque, corn & potato chowder, leek & potato soup, vegetable dishes, potato dishes, homemade pasta!trussing poultry, fabricate a flat fish, made pork and chicken dishes and much much more....

Again, wish I would have blogged it all to read! Now it is foundations III.

Day 1 - Intro to class, chef's demo on trussing pork/meat fabrication, making stocks for the week.

Day 2 - what a crazy day! Made beef stew, cocotte potatoes, braised red cabbage, roast of pork with sage and apples and barley pilaf! And, we were timed - 1 1/2 hours to do it all.... what a night!!

Day 3 - Made fish fumet, salmon mousseline, gravlax (cured salmon) and fried leftover fish and made home made tarter sauce... YUM!

Day 4 - OK, so this class is intense, harder that the first two, as it should be. Tonight we made Fillets of Snapper Meuiere (that's short for fried fillets with a butter sauce, seasoned well), En Papillote (flounder cooked in parchment paper with Salmon Mouseline, lemons and herbs, with a side of Sauce Choron, Risotto alla Parmigiana and glazed root vegetables.