Day 55: Full Service

As we prepare for our last week in the kitchen with our finals in the kitchen and theory we put together a full meal. The day starts with an appetizer that needs to be plated by 9:00 a.m. followed by the main of stuffed chicken supreme with a white sauce, ratatouille, and tourned potatoes to be plated at 11:00 p.m. and a dessert of chocolate mousse plated by 12:00 p.m. It's all about the timing and mise en place today.

After yesterday, I don't have the panic attack and get started on preparing my mise en place. I've got sliced onions sprinkled with thyme, sliced bacon and garlic macerated with salt. The pan is hot and I start with sweating the onions. Chef would like to taste the caramelized onions in this dish. I've got my veal stock in a pot heating and my arborio rice ready to add to the pan.


It's going well for me and I'm working on my garnish. Chef has pancetta in the box and I decide to take three slices and place them in a large pan and cook them in the onion. What I'm trying to do is keep it's shape of a round. I think that the oven also allows for less grease. It's working for me and I have three rounds for the garnish. I do well with this dish on my plating as well as taste. So far so good.

Our next dish is more complicated with the number of ingredients and the techniques required. For the chicken supreme we need to butcher a chicken. The chicken supreme is deboned chicken breast and drumette stripped of it's meat so that you see the bone only. With the bones we are making our own chicken stock that will be used for the white sauce. The first thing to do is make the farce (stuffing). I've got this on the go and leave it to cool because I'll be adding the meat from the thigh of the chicken and then grinding it with the mushroom, parsley, onion mixture in the Robo Coup. My chicken is seasoned with salt and pepper and I'm stuffing it with the farce. Skin side goes down on the pan of hot oil to sear for nice colour. Once it's ready (the skin will loosen from the pan) I put it in the oven to finish cooking.

My mise en place for the ratatouille is ready and I've got that going in the pot. I'm adding an extra vegetable of brussel sprouts to my plate and need to blanch them. I so busy working on my tourne potatoes and have forgotten about my white sauce. My onions were burnt and so was the pan :-(. I have to start over and it sets me back. But I don't forget about the sauce this time around. I'm quickly running out of time now and I can only tourne two potatoes. I need to get them in the boiling water or they won't get a chance to cook. I know that I won't have time to saute them so instead I toss them in some butter and salt. I think they look nice, but I know that they don't have the colour that Chef wants.

It's getting close to 11:00 p.m. and I'm starting to plate my dish. I manage to get my plate over to the staging area a minute or two late. Chef likes the appearance of my plate and that my chicken has been cooked perfectly, but does mention a few technical errors. I'll need to work on my tourne potatoes in picking up the pace. I need to make sure that they are cooked and sauteed giving them good colour. My ratatouille is overcooked but has nice flavour. The vegetables should be al dente ~ I'll need to time them better next time.

Two dishes under my belt and one more to go. Yesterday we did most of the prep on our chocolate mousse dessert and we only need to plate it today. I've got one more garnish to create and I've decided on some sugar work. I'm going to use a random pattern because I don't have a lot of time. A few raspberries, mint leaves, candied lemon zest, blackberry couli and sugar work will be used to plate.

My plating doesn't go as I'd like it to. I forgot to bring my squeeze bottle and trying to plate my couli doesn't go too well for me with a spoon. I need more work on this dish to perfect my chocolate mousse to get it more light and airy. I couldn't remember how to make the sugar for the sugar work so tried to make it with lemon juice and sugar instead of water and sugar. It's all about trial and error. You only learn from your mistakes and from this you get better. My candied lemon zest was an experiment and that went well. Sometimes you win, sometimes you loose. As long as you learn it really doesn't matter which.

Back at home I play around with plating thinking about how I can plate my chocolate mousse dessert. Not only is it fun plating ~ it's also fun eating what I plate.

Day 54: Whip It Up!

I woke up late today! How did I not hear the alarm go off? Up until today, I've heard it go off every morning, sometimes even hearing it twice or more because hit the snooze button.

When I get to school, everyone is already in the kitchen. I find out that today, we are to make mushroom soup and a chocolate mousse dessert. I've made both these dishes in our first three weeks in kitchen. Seems like a long time ago and now I'm charged with finding out if I can remember how it's all done. We get to look at our recipe bible (personal recipe books), so it's not as bad as it sounds.

Making mushroom soup isn't very hard at all. My mise en place for this dish is minced onions, thyme, minced garlic, and sliced mushrooms. I get my soup pot and put some oil in it and get it hot. The onions go in and I season with salt and pepper, then add in the minced garlic. After I deglaze the pan with white wine, I saute the mushrooms and add water ~ just enough to cover them and then some. I leave the pot to simmer and clean my work area. When the mushrooms have cooked out developing it's flavour in the soup, I put the immersion blender through it to make it smooth. The pot is back to the stove over medium heat and I add cream. Once I've got the right texture and the soup is heated through, I test it to make sure that it's seasoned properly, adding a pinch or two of salt and pepper.

I'm ready to plate and have a few garnishes to top the soup off. I've cut some chives on an angle, red pepper that has been small diced and cut on an angle and slices of mushroom that have been cut on the round of the mushroom top.

After Chef has tasted and critiqued my soup, I take a little break and relax a bit before we start on our next dish ~ a chocolate mousse dessert.

It's time to whip it up! To make the chocolate mousse dessert, I need to make a sponge cake (aka. Genoise cake). This requires a good arm using a wire whip. If I should make it a career, I will look like a tennis player. My whip arm will look larger than my other arm.

First off I get my mise en place for the chocolate mousse and sponge cake. I want to make sure I have everything and that I don't forget anything. The last two weeks in the kitchen, every dish that we make will be marked by Chef.

To make the sponge cake, I need whip sugar and eggs until they are light in colour and airy in texture. When I've done this, I can stir in sifted flour alternating with melted butter and vanilla. It's important to not over stir the batter. The sponge cake needs air ~ the air that was created from whipping it until light in colour and airy in texture. My cake pan is lined with parchment paper and rim buttered. The batter is poured in and put into the oven. I take it out when it's perfectly baked and cool it on the baking rack after I've removed it from the pan and peeled the parchment off the bottom of the cake.

My arm is now ready to take on some egg whites. It's important when whipping egg whites that your bowl is dry and that no water gets into the egg whites. If this happens, your egg whites will not become stiff. I've done it properly and my egg whites are stiff.

Next I need to whip together cream and sugar. The two get whipped until it resembles whip cream.

With my chocolate and butter that has melted over a bain marie (hot water bath), I mix it into my egg whites, and then mix in the whip cream. Once it's all incorporated, I pour it into a pipping bag and put it in the refrigerator.

I'm ready to start building my chocolate mousse dessert. I slice off about a quarter inch from the bottom of the sponge cake. I get my ring mold and cut a round. I get a strip of acetate and dip it in chocolate on one side and carefully (as best I can) insert it into the ring mold, chocolate side on the inside. I set this in the refrigerator for the chocolate to harden and while waiting, I clean my work area.

The chocolate has set and I pipe in the chocolate mousse, cover and label, and it's back into the refrigerator for tomorrow to finish off plating.

Chef wants us to take our left over chocolate mousse and sponge cake home tonight. I have no problem with that. I like this and when I get home, I make a dessert for my neighbour. Here's what I came up with. I hope they enjoyed it.

Day 53: Projects, Tests, Black Boxes

I start the week with handing in my finished project. The last of for semester. My last two weeks are going to be so busy with tests and black boxes. Today is not an exception.

We start the day off with a test on fish. Last week was fish week and Chef wants to know how much we learned, and the easiest way to find out is to give us a test. It's a good thing I like fish, and this helps me in passing my test.

With the test over, we're back in the kitchen and Chef gives us our assignment. We can make whatever we like as long as we have one protein, one starch and two vegetables. Chef has pork and chicken. Our group is assigned chicken and we get a bit of a break to think about what we will be making today for Chef to taste and/or critique.

I've checked over the black box filled with ingredients and plan out what products I want to take advantage of. When we get the go ahead, I pick up a butternut squash and some long beans. I'm thinking pasta and start off with gathering the ingredients to make fresh pasta. As I leave my dough to sit for a bit wrapped in cling wrap, I get the pasta dryer and set up the pasta maker.

It's all about timing today. We have about two hours to complete a main dish. I do my mise en place with my vegetables by first cutting the butternut squash in large dice cuts. I am sauteing the squash in a pan over the stove seasoning with thyme, sage, salt and pepper and then put it in the oven to finish off.

I have a pot of boiling salted water and blanch the long beans. I will be sauteing them in butter just before serving. I do the same with the julienne red pepper.

The pasta dough has sat enough and I work on running the dough through the pasta machine five times to achieve the proper thickness. Then put it through again cutting the flattened dough into fettuccine and hang them to dry.

I'm ready for the chicken and clean my station making sure that I do not have any of my other ingredients nearby. It's important to not cross contaminate my meat with my other products. I've got half a chicken to work with and I decide to work with a half breast. I debone the chicken breast with skin attached and season it with salt and pepper. I've got a hot pan on the stove with oil in it and I put the chicken skin side down. I need to brown the skin and as soon as it has browned, it easily separates from the pan. I flip it over and put the pan in the oven to finish off cooking.

Now I'm ready for to cook the pasta in a pot of boiling hot water. Fresh pasta doesn't take too long. It's about 5 minutes and it's done. While the pasta is cooking the chicken is now ready. I remove it and let it rest on my cutting board. With the pan and it's chicken juices, I make a cream sauce for the fettuccine. I've put shallot in the pan to sweat seasoned with salt and pepper, I add in the garlic and then deglaze with some white wine. As soon as it has reduced, I add in the cream. I let the cream reduce and I'm ready for the pasta to be added and the roasted butternut squash and toss lightly.

All ingredients are cooked and ready to be plated, long green beans have been coiled to look like the fresh pasta before it's cooked. The pasta is plated in the other corner opposite. I have sliced the chicken on an angle and plated it between the long beans and pasta. I coil my red peppers and my plate is complete. I'm ready for Chef to taste and critique.

Busy day... and at the end Chef tells us that we're in for another black box day.

Day 52: Fish And Chips And Vinegar, Vinegar, Vinegar ... Pepper, Pepper, Pepper, Salt

Last day of fish week and Chef has us making fish and chips and snapper en papillote.

I'm starting to get use to the idea of having dinner for breakfast. Actually, I have breakfast before school, so having dinner at anywhere from 9:00 a.m. is probably okay. Some say you're suppose to have your biggest meal at lunch anyway.

One of my colleagues has been looking forward to making and eating fish and chips. The mere mention of fish and chips brings a smile to his face. Today Chef has prepared a beer batter for us to use with our fish, which is sole. If you don't have any beer, you can substitute with any bubbly beverage such as ginger ale or soda water. By-the-way, you won't get drunk on this batter either, there isn't enough beer in batter on the fish to get you drunk.

To go with the fish we are making sweet potato fries. Chef has a mandolin that can make waffle cuts and we are all taking turns cutting our sweet potato. I'll have to dig out my mandolin and find out if I can make waffle cuts. With fish and chips you need tartar sauce and we are making our own. Mayonnaise is the base for the tartar sauce. We've made mayonnaise before and it's made by beating two egg yolks with oil and then seasoned with salt and pepper and a couple of drops of lemon juice. To the mayonnaise we add gherkins and capers.

After break and cleanup we get a demo on how to clean a whole fish by Chef. We need to know how to fillet a fish should the occasion arise. We each get our own fish and break it down so that we have fillets for our dish. I am using a white snapper and it is already drawn (guts removed) and need only remove the fins, scales and then cut two fillets (round fish have two fillets ~ one on each side) leaving only the bones behind. I've seen my dad do this so many times - hopefully I'll soon be as good as he is in the kitchen.

En papillote is a great way to cook lean fish. The fish is sealed in parchment paper by making an envelope. When the envelope has puffed up, the fish is ready. In my envelope with the fish, I add slices of lime, sliced scallions, minced lemon grass, kafir lime leaves, salt, pepper and butter. To go with our fish, Chef has asked us to prepare a starch and vegetable. I decided to go with a vegetarian sushi, string beans and julienne red peppers.

Day 51: Today is Fry Day

Today we are making seafood two ways ~ pan fried and deep fried. For those of us who have never cleaned squid (I'm one of them), Chef shows us how to clean them. Chef also shows us the difference between a female and a male squid. On the outside they look the same, however, on the inside they are different.

After cleaning our squid we slice it making rings. We're making calamari and have set up a breading station ~ flour, eggs, and panko crumbs. Squid cooks very quickly and takes no time in the fryer (hot oil in a pot) to cook. Do not walk away, because your squid will more than likely overcook and become rubbery. To go with our calamari we are making a dipping sauce. Chef shows us how to make a sweet and sour sauce that is nothing like the stuff you get at the food court. Chef's version of sweet and sour sauce if very yummy.

Our next dish today is pan fried salmon. I have pan fried my salmon with skin on. If you choose to leave the skin on you will need to make sure that it is crispy. In a hot pan with oil, the fish should be fried skin side first and then flesh side. Make sure to season the fish with salt and pepper before pan frying and then hit it with a sprinkle of salt once it's done cooking.

To accompany the fish, Chef asked us to make a salad. My salad is rather large as I didn't know the size of fish fillet that I would be working with. Rethinking this plate, I could have stacked my salad ingredients topping it with the fish. There's something about height that makes a dish look so much more appetizing... Well at least that's my opinion.

Day 50: Practice, Practice, Practice

Today we are making salmon wrapped in baby spinach and coated with panko crumbs. The result is a nice presentation of layers. To start, the salmon is pan fried in a little oil. The baby spinach is blanched very quickly in hot water before wrapping it around the salmon. We drain the water from the spinach before it is breaded and then deep fried. This dish is very labour intensive. If you don't have a lot of time, this isn't a quick meal to prepare. To go with the fish, I made diced potatoes (hash browns), pearl onions, and brussel sprouts.

I was not too happy with my plating today. My berry coulis was not working for me at all. I think that except for the coulis, my plate would have looked pretty decent. My salmon was cooked perfect, the pearl onions and brussel sprouts looked good, the hash browns were even cooked nicely. I have no idea what happened when it came to plating the berry coulis.

Tomorrow is another day and I know I'll do better. Practice, practice, practice.

Day 49: Jambalaya { jəm-bə-ˈlī-ə }

As we start fish week, we end with a pot pie and start with a jambalaya. For some reason I have a hard time pronouncing this word. Since the beef needs to braise for a while, we are making the beef stew first so that it can braise in the oven. To get the stew going, we need to dice up some red and green peppers, onions. The beef is cubed, dredged in seasoned and browned. We are adding a few different flavours to spice up the stew ~ this will not be your typical pot pie. After about two hours in the oven the beef stew is put into a bowl and covered with puff pastry and baked in the oven until the pastry puffs.

Jambalaya { jəm-bə-ˈlī-ə } is a Louisiana French dish. It's first know use was in 1872. For me, this dish is their version of paella { pä-ˈe-lə, -ˈā-; -ˈāl-yə, -ˈā-yə },which is a Spanish dish with it's first known use to be 1892. This all according to Merriam-Webster.

Jambalaya consists of a number of ingredients: rice, sausage, shrimp, tomatoes, onions, garlic, herbs and spices. I put a little extra heat in my dish. I think it was from the Thai hot sauce. Chef likes the heat, but reminded me that for the main stream eaters, that I should not put too much heat into this dish. As a garnish to finish off this dish I skewered a few shrimp seasoned with salt and pepper and paprika. I grilled these on a hot plate.

** Pictures courtesy of my classmate. I forgot to bring my camera to school today.