This week was a stressful week for me. We had midterms on SafeServe classes on Wednesday and lab midterms on Thursday. We had a substitute Monday through Thursday. All of us seemed to be off on Monday and Tuesday. We couldn't seem to get our rhythm going until about Wednesday. I liked our substitute, he was easy going and joked around with us. It was a good experience to have a different perspective for a few days. It was nice while it lasted, but I missed my Master Chef instructor.
Our chef has so many stories and he has been all over the world. He seems to be able to answer every question and back it up with some experience he has had. I didn't realized how much I missed him until he came back today. I am hoping that he will get to teach us the next unit we will start in May. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
I did well on my lab midterm. That is where you have to display your cuts and your skills in sauces. I was soooo worried about the Hollondaise sauce, but it came out perfect. The consumme, on the other hand, was a bomb. It came to a boil. ( I had it on low, I swear I think someone touched the knob when I wasn't looking, does that sound paranoid?) I ruined it, but I strained it anyway and presented it. It was cloudy and not clear but I knew what mistake I had made and understand the techniques so I got partial credit. Thankfully, I wasn't the only one who broke my consomme. You only get a certain amount of time (I think it was three hours) to get your consomme, and three sauces and a homemade mayo done. I messed up my mayo and had to start over but I had enough time on the clock to do a do over. I feel like I am the slow one in the class, but I actually finished everything in the allotted time. The pressure was on that last hour. The chef would come in the kitchen and say you only have 45 minutes left. You have 30 minutes left ... You have 12 minutes left ... Times up ... STOP!! By that point I was already finished. The one person I thought would have finished because he is an older guy who is laid back and very confident, didn't get to finish his Hollandaise sauce. He just had to put his whisk down. I felt so bad for him.
This morning (Friday), it felt good to have the midterms behind us. It was much more relaxing today in lab. Today we made several dishes involving, boiling and steaming. My favorite was Poisson en Papillote with Summmer Herbs. This is when you steam fish (poisson) in a paper bag (papillote) or parchment paper sealed around the edges. We used fresh red snapper. The recipe didn't call for sauteeing the herbs but I did it anyway, plus the chef felt it was a better idea than the crazy instructions in the recipe. At home, I use a recipe mainly as a guide. In class the first two weeks, I was going exactly by the recipes but the chef reminded us we can change and tweek it as long as we are using the right skills. Anyway, after sauteeing the parsley, basil and spring onions, I poured it over the fish that was in a butter lined parchment paper, added wine and a little lemon juice (recipe didn't call for those last two ingredients but chef made the suggestion). Chef, patiently showed all of us how to seal the paper and leave an inch border for the steam. I popped it in the oven for about 12 minutes. I checked it once by touching the top of the bag. The chefs are big on always telling us to touch your meat, fish, chicken for doneness. Touch it. Get a feel for when it is done. My fish came out perfect and flaky. It was yummy except it could have used more herbs and salt in my opinion but I couldn't stop eating it. I saved about 2/3 of it to bring home to my husband. I am going to steam some fish again in a bag at home, real soon. Question is, where can I get some really fresh fish? I don't trust the grocery stores around my house. I will have to ask the chefs at the school. I am sure they can tell me.
I am glad it is the weekend, although I have studying and research for a paper I am going to write. I will write more about my paper later. It is late and I am waiting for a call from my teenager who I haven't seen all day. It is Friday night, she is never home on Friday nights. Oh well, she just called, will be spending the night with her friend. I guess it will just be me, myself and I tonight. Since I have access to this computer with no interruptions tonight, I think I will close this blog and start my research. Google, here I come. Research, research, research .... I'm a student. Tee hee.
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