Oils

Last one. Let me know what you think of them.

1. Grape Seed

I gotta be honest, I didn't really smell much of anything on this one. It was thin, fairly clean feel for an oil, and was very slightly nutty.

2. Sunflower

Again, I couldn't smell much of anything on this one. It tastes a bit like sunflower seeds, and it's a little more viscous than the grape seed.

3. Canola

Not a lot of smell, thicker than the other two, tastes like oil. Lot of people already have and idea of this one anyway.

4. Olive (Pure)
Light smell, light flavor. This is fairly thin as far as olive oil is concerned.

5. Carli EVOO (Italian)
The next three are different brands from different areas, but they are all EVOO olive oils. This one was a nice strong smell to it, kind of delicate. The color was better on this on than on the pure (picture doesn't do it justice).

6. Almazara EVOO (Spanish)
Smelled slightly fruity. The color was even darker than the carli and it tasted a little bit like butter (Dad said something about movie theater popcorn). This one was my favorite.

7. D'opio EVOO (French)
Smelled like grass. No kidding, go outside and smell grass clippings and that's what this smelled like. Tasted like it too. It was a little peppery as well.

8. Walnut
Strong sweet nutty smell to this one. Tasted like walnuts. Definitely a salad dressing oil, something you'd want to taste in the food.

9. Sesame
Smelled and tasted like toasted sesame seeds (which is what they did to the seeds before they made the oil). Very nice, but very strong. Too much...would be obvious.

10. Mustard

Smells like lemon/mustard. So it smells a little citrusy and you'd think it wouldn't be so bad, yes? I tasted this one and it just tasted like oil at first. It's viscous and thick, but I sat for a minute thinking it wasn't so bad. Then the flavor hit me over the head with a board. It's like spicy Chinese mustard. And I grew up hating that mustard. Oh, it was a bad couple of minutes, this stuff leaves the tongue very slowly. Do not overdo this sucker, it will hurt.

Vinegars

These were...hard to keep tasting. I drank so much water for these tastings.

1. White Vinegar

This one was fairly pungent. It's kind of bitey and sour, but it burns off quickly and you don't notice the flavor anymore after a bit.

2. Rice Vinegar

Lighter smell than the white vinegar, but still a bit of a bite to it. It's slightly sweet and it reminds me a bit of sake. It's slower to leave the tongue.

3. Apple Cider Vinegar

Bitey smell. Tart, slightly sweet, and a little fruity. Flavor burns off quick.

4. Champagne Vinegar

Sharp smelling, but slightly flowery. Slower than the apple cider to leave the tongue and I tasted this more toward the front of my mouth than the back (like with the others).

5. White Wine Vinegar

Lighter smell than the champagne. Slightly sweet, fairly acidic.

6. Red Wine Vinegar

Less bitey than the white wine, with a slightly lighter smell (not by much).

7. White Balsamic Vinegar

Bite on the smell, with a little sweetness. Flavor is a bit sweet, with no real bite in the back of the throat. It's very gentle and leaves the tongue quickly. This is one of my favorites.

8. Balsamic Vinegar

More pungent than the white balsamic. Has more of a bite as well, but it's still a bit sweet. A bit stronger and more viscous.

9. Sherry Vinegar

Less of a scent on this than the balsamics. Leaves the tongue very slowly. Bit of a bite, and the flavor is fairly strong. Little sweetness comparatively.

10. Malt Vinegar

Lightish smell. Potent taste, but less bite than the sherry had (I don't know how much of this is due to having tasted quite a bit beforehand).

11. 6 yr Balsamic Vinegar

Smells sweet, with very little bite. Tastes very sweet as well. Smooth, viscous, with no sourness on the back end, and slow to leave the tongue. Lingers quite a bit. I'm fond of this one.

12. 12 yr Balsamic Vinegar

And even more fond of this one. Smells sweet, but with a woody, rich scent to it. Again, it's sweet, but even more viscosity. It has even less bite, less sourness, and leaves the tongue even slower than the 6 year.

Salts

The tasting evaluations will be done separately so you can search it properly (and so the amount of information isn't overwhelming).

1. Kosher salt
White, flaky, and dissolved fairly quickly. Didn't taste immensely salty, but did give a little crunch and texture.

2. Iodized salt

It's table salt. Please don't ask me how the flavor is on that one. It's salty. End of story.

3. Balien Fine Sea Salt

Finely ground Balien (French) brand sea salt. It's salty, not as much as the iodized, but about the same consistency and grain.

4. Balien Coarse Sea Salt

Coarse crystal Balien brand sea salt. Again, salty but with a little texture (like the kosher).

5. Smoked Sea Salt

Obviously a black salt. Heavy smoked flavor, with a deep nuttiness. It's a bit sweet on the back end, and it smells like woodsmoke. I love this one.

6. Smoked Sea Salt

A brownish, sort of wet salt (Texture is a bit like brown sugar). Again, a fairly nutty, smoky kind of salt. It has hints of hicory, and is very smooth. This one happens to be my favorite.

7. Smoked Hawaiian Pink Salt

Coarse grain, with chile chunks in it. Smoky aroma and taste, with a bit of spicyness to it.

8. Himalayan Pink Salt

A pink salt with mineral specks in it. Light in flavor and kind of dissapointing. You get what you pay for though, and this one was kind of cheap.

9. Hawaiian Pink Salt

Coarse granules, larger than the Himalayan was. It's less harsh than some of the others, and fairly pretty (picture doesn't do it justice).

10. Hawaiian Volcanic Pink Salt

Literally chunks of salt broken off a larger crystal. This one is pinker in reality. It tastes smooth, it's a fairly light taste, and it's got strong hints of minerals. I like this one quite a bit too.

Tasting day

Today we didn't do very much cooking. We made baguettes and epi (It's a loaf of bread made from a baguette shape, it looks like a stalk of wheat), but that was about it. After that, we did salt, vinegar, and oil tastings. I'm going to make a separate post for that, along with flavors, scents, and general impressions. Plus pictures, that's nice I'm sure. It'll be a long one because of the pictures. We also learned how to take the ovens apart, and we ate etouffee for lunch (Very good, Chef Rebecca made it for us since we weren't really cooking today).

Today, we had a slightly different menu. It was chicken of course, but breast only this time. We broke chickens down ourselves (two chickens each) and made airline breasts. That would be when you don't fully detach the wing from the breast, you only take the lower portion of it off. Then we sauteed the skin side to get a nice crispy side on them, popped them in the oven and let them cook. Oh, they were good too. Skin was awesome. Mine was a little oversalted, but I love salt so no one better could've gotten that particular piece. We also made mashed potatoes again, a little zucchini (which was much better seasoned today), veloute (it's a sauce, there's a picture up), salad with vinaigrette, baguette that I got to help make, and carrot soup. I made the soup on my side and Dad made the soup on his side. No, we didn't plan that. It just happened, okay. They came out almost exactly the same shade. We didn't talk about it, we didn't look over at each other's soup, we just managed to do it very similarly. I used all chicken stock to make mine, and Dad used half stock, half water. He also had ginger in his. I think mine needed salt. Dad's is in the white bowl, mine is in the pan. Oh, and don't mock my lack of presentation, I ran out of time. Plus we only had one bowl.

Oh, and pictures are now working. Somewhat

Check facebook for the full set of pictures, but here's a taster. Click to enlarge.

Be warned, I make up words

Okay, shorter post since the last one was gigantic. Today was the same menu with one addition, as I mentioned. This time I worked on the stratified cream sauce. We'd cut up a ton of shallots from yesterday, so I didn't need to do any more of them but I also didn't know how many there were. I needed three, I got a tub of minced. So I kinda eyeballed it and hoped it'd work. The sauce is made from white wine (a whole bottle) reduced down to 1/4 of it's original amount with shallots and a bouquet garni. Once it's reduced, cream is added. And once that thickens properly, it's seasoned and strained. Mine was...shalloty. Kinda sweet and light colored. The other team's was much darker and a little less sweet. Course, their sauce didn't take the whole time. I think I had my heat too low and it was cooking pretty much the whole time we did the rest of the menu (that's about 2 hours). The addition to the menu today was a carrot soup. And yes, you get a picture. Ours was a little chunkier than I'dve liked, but still good. I didn't have a ton to do, so I cut up an apple in little Vs and put it in the center. Enjoy. Oh, and the green onions weren't my addition, don't ask.

Background information

Most people who are going to be reading this already know me, but for those of you who do not: This should get you caught up. During high school, I went to Bollman Technical Education Center. I took several classes, but one in particular is worth mentioning. The class was for computer networking, and as part of Bollman's curriculum required me to do job training. This job training and my grades landed me a job as an IT intern for the school district. At that point, I was planning for a career in videogame design. I'm absolutely obsessed with games and they were my sole hobby for about 10 years straight (Although, I haven't been able to play for quite a while now). During the IT internship, I decided I could work IT in order to earn money for classes and try to start my own game company. I went to school at Frontrange Community College to get some basics down for a business degree. I was told I could finish in two years with an associate's and two years later I was half a degree away from finishing at all. I was planning on continuing with the boring pattern, but a seemingly random event changed my mind. A friend of my dad's, Rama (see links to the right) invited us to an open house at his culinary school. Take a wild guess as to which school. Dad was going because he was interested. My mom, brother, and I were going because it was free food. Shush, you can't honestly say you wouldn't do the same. While my dad listened to the culinary arts program presentation, I attended the pastry arts one. I've always had an eye for art, so I was actually interested. Thought it'd be a natural fit with my perfectionism and artistic nature. So I considered the career path change. I won't bore you with the details, but it took about a month or so of agonizing over the decision. I applied for the pastry program, but after turning in all the paperwork I changed my mind. I was seriously bored with desserts and sweet things, I wanted to be less specific (and narrow) in my approach, and I didn't want to have to go back to school if I changed my mind. So I changed over to culinary arts instead of pastry. It's quite a bit more expensive, but clearly worth the expense. No buyer's remorse yet, and I don't anticipate any. There was a little hesitation with letting family members be in the same class, and even more considering the father/daughter relationship, but we were both accepted to the class.

I owe a very big thank you to both my father and to Rama. So thank you, this is far better than sitting at a desk all day.

First REAL day

Yesterday was paperwork, doesn't count. Today the menu was roasted chicken, potato puree, sauteed zucchini, and a stratified cream sauce (building the components, or adding the next liquid, upon the last after reducing liquid off each time). I got chicken today so you get a rundown of that one. I cleaned the inside and stuff some herbs and seasoning inside the chest cavity. I seasoned the outside and we seared them real quickly in a pan (makes the skin a little golden brown and helps it crisp up). After that, it went into the oven and cooked a while longer. Came out very nice, I was very happy with mine. I could tell which was mine, since it was missing the lower part of one of the wings. ^_^ It'll be the same menu for the next two days. We're trying to get the basics down pat, so it's a lot of cutting vegetables, and breaking down whole chickens, and how to not cut your fingers off. Dad has apparently failed the last lesson today, so please mock him. However, he was not the first one to get cut, so bonus points for that.

No go

Here's the link, comment if it doesn't work: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1160015367&ref=profile#/profile.php?id=1160015367&v=photos&viewas=1160015367

Hopefully this works...

I'm trying to add pictures for you, but it's not being nice. So I have my pictures in nice little albums on Facebook and you can access even if you don't have Facebook (for those who don't wish to be on stalkerbook). Cross your fingers...

No info whatsoever

Wow, I just realized how bad it looks that nobody reading this would have any idea what the school is about. CSR is a six month program that deals primarily with traditional French cuisine and the basics of fine dining. We will spend five months working on that here in Colorado, and one month on a stage (internship) in France. We get to go to Avignon for a whole month to learn from French chefs in the area. Of course, this means I need to learn French...

First day!

Soooo. First day of school. Yes, I know plenty of those titles floating around. I started going to a community college right out of high school for business. I took two years because I was told I could earn my degree in two years and here I am, three years later half a degree away. I was going into IT/videogame design and realized that I couldn't actually sit still at a desk for a minute longer. So I decided that wasn't the career for me. About this time, my dad started thinking his career (electronics/IT/computery stuff) wasn't what he wanted to do with his life and with his children now 18 and 20, that it was time to do something for him. We are both now attending a culinary school for classic French cuisine (And yes, they teach more than just French food, but that's the basis for most high end food these days). Today was all about paperwork and introducing ourselves, so no pictures and nothing really interesting. We did get our recipe list, and some homework to start us off. We have to read a culinary magazine (mine dates four years before I was born) and give a two minute verbal report on something in the magazine. Easiest report I've ever been assigned. I'll give you pictures as soon as I have them (and we start cooking tomorrow).