Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Day 29 of PCA II – Last Day of Proteins

Wow I cannot believe this course is coming to a close. I look back on all the meats we’ve fabricated and all the dishes we’ve prepared and I’m amazed. Tonight we did Miso Soup, Tempura and the pan seared duck breast with plum gastrique and roasted plums.

Everything came out very good. I was so happy that this time I didn’t over ‘pan sear’ the duck breast. Last one had a lot of color on it….ok ok I’ll be honest it was blackened duck breast. But this time it was a beautiful golden brown. It actually look edible. I wasn’t happy with the tempura. The dough, once fried, didn’t have that crunchy texture. It looked beautiful and tasted great, just missing that element of what makes tempura – tempura.

I am extremely pleased to announce I passed with a A!! Yes I’ll take the big WooHaa!

Oh forgot some drama from last week…let’s tune in shall we…?

~~As the Kitchen Burns~~

This episode opens with Carrie at the sink station finishing up some of her dishes. Denise “Red” approaches to do the same…we hear the whispering…

Carrie “So how’d you do?”
Red “Pretty good. I think I….what the hell is this?!?!” Red raises her voice in the shock of what she sees in the sink.
Carrie “No clue but that was here when I came over”
Red “Oh hell no this is just wrong! Chef!?”

As Chef Rorschach approaches Red shows her the parchment paper left in the sink (ok not a biggie) and on the paper is about 6 cloves of sliced garlic (wasteful yes, but not major) but then there in the middle is well over 4 ounces of butter in a perfect brick. Chef Rorschach was not happy and wanted Chef Romero to see it as well. Talk about wasteful!

At the end of the evening everyone is lectured on what it means to take that extra step, or 30 seconds and wrap up food and label it and put it away. The affects of cost management and how you pass that cost on to your consumers, not to mention how disappointed she was in whoever did it. Chef Romero even added on that he would have more respect for the person who did it to just own up to it. (No one moves) He also stated that he’s failed people on their finals for this type of behavior. That if he had seen it that person would get a zero for the day.

So class is wrapped up, we are told goodnight and everyone starts the slow migration to the door. Chef Rorschach calls out “E may we see you please after class?” Chef didn’t sound too ‘friendly or chatty’ when she asked. My guess is E is the one who left the butter. I think a lot of people tend to forget there are cameras everywhere and they see and hear all.

And thus ends this episode of As the Kitchen Burns. ~~~

So tomorrow I begin CCT – Cold Cuisine Techniques

The course run down is – An introduction to the fundamentals of cold cuisine and the unique aspects of the professional cold cuisine kitchen. Students start the course by fabricating an entire pig and utilize all parts of the animal. Students will learn about curing, brining, smoking, drying, ageing and sausage making as well as other finished products using the pork. We will provide the entire school with bacon, pancetta, ham, sausages (fresh and dry), hocks, Canadian bacon, ribs in an effort to illustrate both self-sufficiency and product management. Students will learn about pates, terrines, duck and duck products (confit and foie gras), salads, sandwiches, canapés, old appetizers, oysters, gravlax, caviar and chesses. Students will plan and execute an hors d’oeuvre presentation in the dining room of the school.

Well the only thing I was disappointed to hear was no sushi.

The cool thing is we get a whole pig tonight! Woot!

We lost another classmate so now we’re down to 13 from our 21. Which is good because our new lab is very small. I’m anxious to meet our new Chef Instructor and see how ‘measures’ up hehehe. I’ve heard good things about him. So…

Until Tomorrow!...

2 Comments:

At 2:07 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good Job Denise!! I didn't have any doubts about your performance tho!
Angela

 
At 6:19 PM, Blogger Jacki said...

Congrats! You've obviously worked very hard.

 

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