Level 2 Session 1

We made a braised lamb stew, which my new partner wanted to do most of the work on, while I tourneed the vegetables.

Then, we made Coq au Vin, or more appropriately Poulet au vin rouge, for our first session in Level 2. The dish is usually made with older, tougher chickens and stewed for a very long time to tenderize the meat. We just used the little purdue birds that we butchered during our practical and left to marinate in red wine for a few days. Since my partner did the lamb, I wanted to at least take over with the chicken.

One thing about working in a kitchen: most people are control freaks. He was perfectly fine with me taking over the chicken. That is, until he told me I had browned them enough, and could lower the heat. He even came over and adjusted my burner. And then he checked to make sure they were done. And he monitored the sauce. And for the few minutes that he left me unattended, he was away, "helping" other people, practically cooking their dishes for them. I literally(although lightly) slapped his hand when he came back over and tried to take the lid off my sauce. I'm all for teamwork and I do appreciate the help, but I just got the feeling he had no faith in me whatsoever.

So, I said to him, nicely, "I let you do most of the cooking with the lamb, and you said I could take care of the chicken. And I just want to point out that if I had let them brown as long as I'd wanted to, they'd have much better color."

He was caught a little bit off guard, but responded, "Comment duly noted. Now, would it be okay with you if I warmed up the Spatzle(these cool egg noodles that we made) with butter?"

"Yes, that would be wonderful."

I immediately felt bad, because he's nice and I know he just wanted to make sure our dish came out well. And it turned out alright, and hopefully we don't bump heads too much from now on.

Level I Comprehensive Practical and Theory Exam

So, I didn't do so bad on the practical exam. They moved us to a different room to take it. I'm not sure what purpose that served except to frighten us a little and make us feel like we were thrown to the wolves, which it did. We were put in a much smaller kitchen, elbow to elbow with each other, and the lighting was very institutional, with a bluish tinge.

I didn't think I'd be nervous, but I was. If the change of scenery wasn't enough to rattle our nerves, through the windows we could see Chef Chris Burke, a contestant from Food Network's Chopped. He was in the next kitchen, doing who knows what, and I've never seen the episode, but according to my classmate Maria, he is what one might refer to as an extremely ungentlemanly presence.

So, here we were, ready to complete our most important test thus far in front of Chef Burke and all to see. I didn't do so bad. My turnips came out too short, and I made them too salty- after we'd been taught to salt, salt, salt! And I sliced my finger open while butchering my chicken, so I left the little guy on my board, walked away, and got myself a bandaid. Big no-no. Raw chickens should always be kept on ice. My grade for the practical was a 94.

Then, the theory test. I actually showed up three hours early to re-read chapters and review my notes. Chef Phil saw me sitting alone in the lounge with my Starbucks coffee, looking pitiful. I am convinced this is the only reason I received a 100 on the test. It was not composed of all the chapters, like we were told. Instead, it was mostly based on the last few classes, which I barely got to reading in my study session. And instead of multiple-choice questions like we were used to, every question was in short-answer form. So, I did my best to give detailed, BS answers. And it worked!

After class, Maria and I attempted to score some free bread from the school's bread department. We have attempted this several times before, ever since we discovered they throw the bread out if no one takes it. Unfortunately, the bread is usually gone by the time we get there. Why don't we just spend a dollar and buy ourselves a loaf from the supermarket? Because our school has a reputation for making the best bread in the city.

So, we waited... and waited... and when we realized the classroom wasn't going to clear out for awhile, we gave up and changed out of our uniforms. Then, we decided to give it one more try on the way out. Sure enough, there was no one but cleaning people in the bread room. And a plethora of bread! And we took them all, save for about two which we couldn't fit in our bags. We took about twenty loaves of bread: baguettes, and other unidentifiable loaves. And we laughed all the way out with our ridiculous amount of bread- our reward for completing Level I.

Sessions 14 - 19 Level I Finale

My sister says she's going to start blogging, which is perfect because maybe she'll stop being such a nagger when I don't update mine. It's been a busy couple of weeks with school and work and time with Omar's family, that blogging has been the least of my worries.

I am nearing the end of Level I(of 6) in Culinary School, and I still have that "Wow-this-is-really-happening" feeling. I have learned so much, and it has definitely improved my skills in the kitchen.

I've gotten used to:

• trimming my nails twice a week
  
• salting and buttering and tasting and reseasoning everything I make(the key to good food- I used to just wing it)
  
• the occasional, or frequent burn and cut
  
• keeping a neat work area while cooking
  

Pork Chop and warm red cabbage



Not school-related. Look at this line! At 2am! The famous Halal cart in Midtown.

It's sort of a rite of passage to share your battle wounds during break. Mine are minor compared to some. There was a story of some student nearly chopping his entire finger off with a mandolin in another class. Down to the bone- ouch.


A little burn bubble

A mouthwatering piece of meat with Sauce Choron


Poulet Gran Mere or Grandma's chicken


Cute pastry work


How on Earth do they do this?


Mmm. Fillet Mignon.


Unrelated, again. Paying homage to warm days in Inwood<3





A lemony icey treat


I am green with envy, Pastry students. Green with envy.


Thusfar my favorite dish. Rare duck l'orange. Yes, that's rare duck, not steak.


Oh, and we had a fire drill the other day. Random. A bunch of kids in Chef's jackets thrown out with the pedestrians of NYC.

So, our next class is our Practical Examination(Butcher a chicken, Filet a fish, Julienne, Jardiniere, etc.) and our Comprehensive Written Examination. And then I'm on to Level II! Woo!

Sessions 7 - 13

It has been awhile, hasn't it? I've been working and going to school back-to-back for two weeks and have not had the time nor the energy to make an entry. Since there is wayyy too much that has gone on in the 30 or so class hours since I last wrote, I'll just make this brief and let the pictures speak for themselves.
I will leave you with a few cool tidbits I learned, though:

• Add a couple of drops of olive oil to goat cheese to make it more spreadable
  
• The magic number for deep frying is 350ºF
  
• There are only 2 species of oysters. The varieties taste different depending on the water they grow in
  
• When whipping cream, place your bowl atop another with ice to make the process much easier and quicker
  
• Rubbing the little hairs between a lobster's eyes puts them to sleep
  
• When making French Fries, blanch them in unsalted, boiling water first. Salt destroys the potatoes surface.
  
• If you want to save money on lobsters, ask for the "culls" or the ones with a missing pincher. They're almost 40% cheaper.
  

Mayonnaise


Bearnaise


Orange Supremes topped with a sweet Saboyon

A salad of macedoine/cubed vegetables dressed in mayonnaise and topped with goat cheese, and smoked salmon



Salade Nicoise




An example of Tournage/Footbally Vegetables

Potato Souffle Before:


After:


Potato Pancake! (It was Potato Day)







Chocolatey Goodness by those darn Pastry students



Flounder


Up close and ugly


Decapitated





Fried Flounder prep, and a pretty little potato basket


A red bell pepper dipping sauce


Fried parsley for garnish


Yummy Aftermath


Braised Flounder


What's left of a perfect plate of scallops


I tried to sneak this photo without getting a yelling: Chef Phil demonstrating how to kill the "Evil Lobster." "Think of them as cockroaches. They're evil. I once saw a lobster kill a guy on Fifth Avenue," he said


My poor one-armed lobster breathing his last breaths.


Killing him was seriously one of the hardest things for me. My annoyed partner insisted on doing it. I eventually did it, looking away. A knife right between the eyes.


Nothing but butter and a hint of vanilla, lemon, salt, and pepper. Mmm.


Freshly shucked oysters


Chef Wall of Fame

Session Six: Preservation

Chef Phil rearranged the room so that everyone had a different partner and unfortunately- or fortunately- my new partner was absent. So, I had to complete all of the recipes on my own. It also happened to be the one day I forgot to take notes on the recipes beforehand, thinking I could rely on my partner for them. I had to resort to hiding pages from our book under my station. Lesson learned.

It didn't turn out to be a complete disaster. Thankfully the recipes were a bit easier than the soup and sauce days. We watched Chef demonstrate how to cure Salmon, which is surprisingly easy, and I might actually try it at home someday. You basically rub it with salt and sugar, stick it in the fridge for a day or two, then rub it with herbs, brandy, lime zest, and black pepper. Put it back in the fridge under some weights, and the next day you'll have freshly cured cold-smoked salmon.

My first task was to cure duck legs for the first half of Duck Confit. This was the easiest recipe of the day. I just rubbed my little duck legs with salt and herbs, and stuck it in the fridge with everyone else's. On Saturday, we'll continue the confit.

Next, I had to clean and pickle an artichoke. We were instructed to remove all green and purple parts and then simmer them in our pickling solution. Having never handled an artichoke before, I think I may have taken off too much, because it looked like a sad, white lollipop when I was finished, and nothing like anyone else's. Luckily, with my new seating assignment, I was out of the war path, and nobody came to check up on me. So, I snuck my nubby little artichokes in with everyone else's when no one was looking.

Next, we had to pickle four different items and present them to either Chef Tom or Chef Phil. This was also our first time practicing "tournage" or the art of cutting vegetables into "little footballs(see right)." One day when we're tested on this, I know I'll fail miserably.

I presented my plate to Chef Tom, and:

Tomatoes: Overcooked
Zucchini: Undercooked
Cauliflower: Not enough seasoning
Mushrooms: Overcooked

Gah!

Next class is our first test- written, thank goodness. So, I'm off to study now.

The easiest, most delicious croutons you'll ever eat

Ingredients:

• A couple of handfuls of half-inch cubes of bread(It's easier to cut if you freeze the bread first)
  
• Enough butter to coat the bottom of a frying pan
  
• A generous sprinkling of salt
  

Steps:

1. Melt the butter over medium heat.
2. Add bread and toss around until completely coated in butter and all sides are golden brown
3. Drain on paper towels and pour on the salt! Mmm.