Today was grilled salmon, steamed veggies (red pepper and leeks), waffle fries (thinly sliced), cauliflower soup, and endive & orange salad. Turned out pretty well, I have some nice pics. Today, my dad and I got to talk to Chef Deb (she is a graduate of the same program we are in and is a private chef) about our goals and ambitions. It was very cool. She is just packed full of energy and useful information. We only talked for a little while, but we're going to set up some times that we can talk more and get a little more information. The part that was just awesome for me was that she had this book called Alinea. This book is about a restaurant. I saw a show a while back about this restaurant that actually helped me to consider cooking as a career. The chef doesn't cook anything that's just basic, or filling, or anything like that. His style is an ART. There is no other way to describe it. The things he makes are just beautiful and that is my goal. I will work the line, and I will learn the basics, but that is the ultimate goal. Forget anything else, I have an eye for art and I am going to use it. So it was a pretty good day.
Oh, and apparently there has been a little trouble with the pictures. Facebook was set up to let people in regardless of being in there or not, but it doesn't seem to be working. I'm going to look into a Picasa hosted album. I'll let you know.
Test score = 100% Woo! Congratulate me and Dad as well plz. He got 100 too. I'm very happy. We also had a practical exam today, it was on knife cuts. We had ten minutes to cut a carrot medium dice, a stalk of celery small dice, and mince a shallot. I got through the carrot with very nice dice, through the celery with decent dice, and halfway through the shallot with a good mince. I was the closest to finishing on my side, so I'm VERY happy with that (I've been very unhappy with my cuts lately). I'm a bit of a perfectionist, if you hadn't noticed.
We did stuffed chicken again, but this time it was chicken mousseline (which is basically a very pureed and strained chicken mixed with shallots, garlic, egg white, and whipped cream) and yes I'm aware it doesn't sound great but it just tastes like chicken. We also had zucchini (which was my contribution), beurre fondu again (which I love), rice, salad, and minestrone. We switched the service order so it wasn't salad first, but still a three course meal. I did the chicken cuts this time, and made SURE the skin wasn't sliding off and getting cut. It kinda annoyed me yesterday. It looked very good, and I was pretty happy with it. I also did the dressing garnish on the salad and helped with the plate layout for the chicken (which I wasn't entirely happy with). It was very geometrical, which is not my style, nor my favorite. Anyway, I have a bunch of pictures up on facebook. They're labeled with Team A/B, as well as what it is and the date. Enjoy.
Today was horrible. Traffic was so stupid. Yes, there was snow. No, you don't have to go 2 miles an hour. We got to class an hour late and missed the test. Because of the snow (and more than a third of the class not making it in time) we only got a tardy and no points were taken. We also had to stay after class to take the test. So it didn't end as badly as it started, but gah, I hate snow drivers. The test wasn't nearly as bad as I was anticipating. Granted, I overstudied a lot. Obsessively almost. I only got a couple things wrong, and I'm pretty sure I nailed 9/10 product identification questions. Cuz balsamic vinegar is difficult to identify. ^_^ The only ones I almost had trouble with were questions asking us to list the ingredients and amounts of ingredients for particular recipes, but I figured it out after a minute. We made chicken roulade, rice, beurre fondue (butter sauce), salad with vinaigrette, and a barley soup today. First we had to get a goat cheese filling in (and that was my job today). Shallots, green peppers, and red peppers get sweated first, add thyme, and fold into the cheese. That goes into the chicken thighs (that the bones got pulled out of) and the chicken gets rolled around it. Then we seared the chicken and baked it. They were pretty good (see picture of Team B's chicken and rice above). I did the garnishing on that plate. All in all, pretty happy with it. Oh, and we find out our test scores tomorrow.
