Day 18 - Buffet Prep

Today we divided up into stations for our Breakfast Buffet for Day 19. Hazel and I were put in charge of the Potatoes O'Brien. The prep involved dicing 22 russet potatoes, 10 green bell peppers, 10 red bell peppers and 10 bermuda onions. Here is the half hotel pan full of the veggies.

We par-sauteed the veggies and parboiled the diced potatoes. The prefix "par" simply means we partially cooked an ingredient so that it will take less time to cook on the day of the event. On the day of the Breakfast Buffet we'll quickly deepfry the potatoes to give them a little crispiness and then finish by sauteeing them with the vegetables.

After we finished preparing the Potatoes O'Brien, I helped K with a dessert she was making. It's a homemade fruit breaded tart dish that looks absolutely yummy. I can't wait to try it tomorrow.

That's basically it for the prep day. It was a lot of work but very relaxed and fun. I'll have a lot more to write about on Day 19. The day of the buffet.

Day 17 - Crepes and Quiches

Crepes Suzette is very fun to make but I fell into the flambe trap. I was so enamored by the bright blue flame over my skillet that I allowed the Suzette sauce to over reduce into a gooey mess. Mind you a gooey but tasty mess, but a mess all the same. This is one of the dishes we're serving at our public buffet on Day 19 but I think I can handle the flambe now.

The last part of the day we focused on Quiche Lorraine and Quiche Florentine. These will also be served at the buffet on Day 19. Unfortunately because they are being served on Day 19 we didn't get the taste them but the Chefs said they looked perfect.

Day 18 will be a prep day for the Day 19 buffet so if we show up on time and work hard we'll get 20/20 for both days. I can use that.

Day 16 - Eggs

Sorry there are no pictures today. I left my camera at home. But honestly, you've seen everything we did today.

First was a Breakfast Platter that consisted of Potatoes O'Brien, Bacon, a Western Omelet and a French Omelet. A Western Omelet is your typical one fold semi-circular omelet that you see at Denny's. The eggs are fully cooked and there can be a little fried color on the sides. A French Omelet is folded in thirds and looks a lot like a blintze. It is usually a little underdone and there is no color allowed at all. It's supposed to be a little squishy.

Everything came out perfect and Chef Reyes was particularly impressed with my French Omelet. I guess other students had a little trouble with it but mine came out perfect. He even appreciated that I cut off the ends to give it a fancier look. What he didn't know is that I cut off the ends because on the second fold, my omelet came apart at the ends. I just trimmed off the parts that didn't look pretty. I guess the breakfast gods were smiling on me today. Maybe even chuckling.

The last platter we turned in today contained Scrambled Eggs, Sunny side Up, Over-Easy, Over-Medium and Over-Hard. One other element added to the platter is that we were not allowed to use a spatula (except on the scrambled.) The good news is I practiced flipping eggs all weekend and was successful on 9 our of 10 tries. The one that I missed however, made a huge mess and took me about 20 minutes to get the fried egg out of the oven dials, the oven door, the broiler door, the broiler pan, etc. But it was worth it because in class I made no mistakes at all. Everything came out perfect.

I'm pretty sure today was scored 20/20. The chefs mentioned before class that breakfast chefs tend to make a little more than some evening chefs because the breakfast foods are so specialized. They said if you are an early riser and are good at cooking eggs, that might be a great job to consider. I had fun today while others struggled so it might be a good fit for me. As everyone knows, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Day 15 - Eggs and Consomme

Both of our chef instructors were out today with the cold thing that has been going around so substituting for them were Chef Melanie a PCA2 instructor and Chef True who teaches the late class in PCA1. During the demo for Consomme (which is a very pure and refined chicken broth) Chef True gave us a couple of helpful shortcuts that made making it a breeze. Unfortunately I let it cook a little too long which reduced my Consomme to almost nothing.

Chef True said it tasted great and my brunoise carrots were cut perfectly, he'd just like to see a little more liquid in the bowl. Frankly, I would have liked that too.

Next came Eggs Benedict and Eggs Florentine. I did so well with the Hollandaise Sauce on Day 6 (which seems like a year ago) that I started calling it "Hal-andaise." I made the joke in class so now everyone is calling it Hal-andaise. Of course this put undue pressure on me to make an exceptional Hollandaise Sauce for the two visiting chefs.

Both dishes came out great. Chef True thought the sauce was a little salty for his taste but knows that Chef Reyes (our regular instructor) would have thought it was perfect. This picture was taken after the chefs tasted it so it looks a little sloppier than how it was presented.

Our final task of the day was to present a soft-boiled, medium-boiled and hard-boiled egg. This is just simply a matter of making sure the water is at full boil and watching the clock. 3 minutes for soft-boiled, 5 minutes for medium-boiled and 12 minutes with an instant ice water shock bath for the hard-boiled. I nailed all three.

So this brings me to the end of week 3. This is the halfway point of PCA1 and 1/10 of the way through the 30 week course. I have learned so much in these last three weeks. I can't wait to see what's coming next.

Day 14 - Grilled Vegetables and Bruschetta

I started off the day making a tasty Balsamic Vinaigrette. I used 3/4's of it to marinade my grilled vegetables and 1/4 to marinade my tomatoes that would go on my Bruschetta. Chef Perez was out sick today so we had a visiting Chef Watts who rated my dish. She is from PCA2 so she was a little tougher. She thought I should have cut the tomatoes smaller and I should have piled more on. The taste was great though.

While my veggies were marinading, I took the time to make some Santa Fe Sauteed Mushrooms. This was the first time we were asked to be creative and since I know Chef Reyes loves cayenne pepper, I made them as spicy as possible. They came out great.

Lastly I hit the massive school grill and grilled up asparagus, zucchini, squash, tomatoes and eggplant. Once finished I added some mozarella cheese, black olives, green olives and roasted bell peppers to make a Vegetarian Antipasti Platter. By the time this was finished, Chef Reyes had gone home sick (there is definitely something going around) and was replaced by Chef Melanie. She was also from PCA2 and she wasn't super happy with my grill work but she lightened up when she found out we weren't instructed to make a particular grill mark. She was happy the vegetables were cooked through and everything tasted great. Sorry I don't have a picture. I forgot to take one before grading and she butchered it while tasting it.

Day 15 will bring me to the end of my 3rd week and eggs.

Day 13 - Couscous, Baked Potato & Split Pea Soup

Our first dish today was Couscous with Brunoise Vegetables. Couscous is a very fine pasta and brunoise means that the vegetable are cut into tiny squares. Brunoise is a very precise and time consuming process that I have yet to master. Chef Reyes said the couscous was cooked perfectly and seasoned perfectly but he could see some rectangles in the vegetables that should have been squares. I really have to spend time outside of class to perfect my cuts.

Next came the simple Baked Potato with Compound Butter. Compound Butter sometimes called Hotel Butter is a butter mixture of Thyme, Parsley, Shallot, Garlic, Kosher Salt and Lemon. It is then chilled in a cylindrical shape and sliced. I really thought my butter tasted too lemony but Chef Perez said the potato was cooked perfectly and the Compound Butter tasted fine.

Last came Split Pea Soup. This is a pretty easy soup to make. It just takes about 2 hours to reduce down to it's final form. Chef Perez said it looked like it was supposed to but needed more salt. I added more salt and to me it tasted a bit too salty but I guess I'm still developing my palate.

All in all a pretty good day. I'm a bit under the weather at the moment so I'm happy that most things came out okay even though I was a bit out of it. Day 14 brings us to grilling and roasting vegetables.

Day 12 - Rice and Risotto

Well as much as I feared rice day, everything turned out great. The first dish we made was Wild Rice Pilaf with Brunoise Vegetables. It was a fairly simple dish and used both the stove top as well as the oven. Chef Perez said he couldn't say anything bad about it. I said cool.

Then came Risotto with Parmigiano-Reggiano. This was a little more time consuming. It's a dish that you cannot leave while preparing. I almost got there but it needed a little more chicken stock. The end product (after the chicken stock) was extremely tasty and I will definitely be trying this at home.

And now for the best news. I got my grades for week 2 and I'm happy to report that I did better than I did in week one with a 94.4/100. That's another A. I'm thrilled because I really didn't think I did that well. I actually got 2 20/20 for my dishes in week 2. Hollandaise day and Lasagna day. Chef Reyes told me I was doing a great job and I'm right on track. Hallelujah!

Day 11 - Potatoes

My third week started off with my favorite starch; potatoes! We had 4 dishes to complete by 4:00 today; Mashed Potatoes, Potatoes Roesti, Pommes Anna and Pommes Dauphinoise.

Of course, I've made Mashed Potatoes before but the method we used today involved a food mill, drying the potatoes in the oven after boiling to remove the water and allow the butter/milk/cream mixture to fully absorb and scalding the milk and cream before incorporating it into the butter and potatoes. I could really taste a difference in the final product. Chef Perez said it was a little thick but that was fine and it was seasoned perfectly.

Next came Pommes Anna. It's a simple potato garnish of sorts made by frying razor thin potato slices in clarified butter then baking it through. You often find Pommes Anna underneath grilled salmon or some other meat. Chef Perez said it tasted great but he wished I had used a few more potatoes and made the layers a little tighter.

Then came Potatoes Roesti. It's a simple potato patty that is fried in clarified butter. You grate a parboiled potato with skin and an onion, season and then fry them into a small non-stick saute pan. Mine came out okay. Chef Perez said I should have used a little more clarified butter but over all was happy.

Last came Pommes Dauphinoise. It's similar to Potatoes Au Gratin. This is another dish that you layer potato slices in a saute pan, season and cover with cream. You bake it for about 45 minutes and then add Gruyere cheese on top and bake until the cheese browns. You then have to let it "set" for about 30 minutes to get the firmness necessary to serve.

Unfortunately I realized with about a half an hour left before the deadline that I wasn't going to get it done perfectly. I asked Chef Perez which would be better, the dish undercooked but set or cooked through and a little sloppy. He told me it would be better for it to be firm.

So as I approach the Chef's station at the buzzer with my undercooked but nice-looking Pommes Dauphinoise, the Chef announces that he can give 15 more minutes if anyone needs it. I just about shot him. I didn't of course because he's a nice fellow and it wasn't his fault that I didn't get started on it sooner. Oh and guns are not allowed in the school.

Since I couldn't put it back in the oven, I presented it "as is" and got my lowest score ever. A 14/20. Honestly, it tasted great and it looked great but was just a bit al dente. I was bummed out until I found out that quite a few students didn't get their 4th dish in at all and in my book, a 14 is much better than a 0. Sorry there is no picture. I was a bit frantic at the time and forgot to get one.

Something I realized after today is that if I had to do Day 11 again, I would nail it. I know exactly what went wrong and where it went wrong. I mean, you really only learn a dish once and that's where the scheduling and the cooking process are most at risk to mistakes. I really shouldn't beat myself up when mistakes occur. It's part of the learning process.

Day 12 is rice day. Rice is one thing I almost always overcook so cross your fingers.

Day 10 - Lasagna, Ravioli and Polenta

Day 10 wrapped up my first two weeks at the school and I have to say it was my best day yet. By far. I'm not sure if I'm just getting the hang of the industrial kitchen or if I really understood today's assignments but I really did well today.

The first thing I did was to make the fresh Bechamel for the Lasagna Bolognese. It's a cheaper and in some ways tastier replacement for Ricotta Cheese. Since the Lasagna Bolognese was done in teams of two, my partner Chanell and I then layered, wrapped and popped it in the oven. By the way, Chanell is 17 going on 18 and is an absolute a delight to work with. She gruaduated high school 2 years early so she could get a jump start on the business. Besides being bright, Chanell is sweet, funny and has such an infectious personality that I know she's going to be a huge success. I'll have a new partner next week but It has been great cooking with and getting to know Chanell.

I then moved into making the Polenta. We were instructed to make Soft Polenta and Fried Polenta Cakes with Bolognese. We added Mascapone and Aged Blue Cheese to the Soft Polenta and that added wonderful flavor to something that really has no flavor at all. Chef Perez called it "outstanding." To me he is the tougher of the two chefs to please so I was thrilled. But it wouldn't be my last "outstanding" of the day.

I then moved to Fried Polenta Cakes with Bolognese. This is where you take the soft polenta and flatten it into a sheet and chill it for about an hour. Then you cut it into shapes and fry it in some olive oil and present it with some sauce and cheese. Chef Reyes said it was "excellent" but to make sure I fry both sides of the cake the same amount. One side was a bit darker than the other but because it wasn't really something we had discussed in class, I doubt he took off points for it.

Then came Mushroom Duxelles Ravioli with Pesto Sauce. We had made the mushroom filling on Day 9 and the dough on day 8 and Chef Reyes made the Pesto sauce so all we really had to do was roll out the pasta and shape the raviolis. I presented this to Chef Perez and he said, "Great flavor, nice texture, perfect." This is when I started thinking that I might actually be getting the hang of this whole chef thing.

But the best part of the day was when Chanell and I present our Lasagna Bolognese.


Chef Perez said, "Wow...outstanding." He then took a second bite. That never happens!

Then the chefs said the students in PCA4 (which is the highest level of students in the school) asked if we could send some lasagna over to them to try. Since they are constantly bringing us some of their tasty dishes, I gave up a big piece that I had planned to take home and brought it down to them. After they ate it, one of the Instructor Chefs from the class came to our class and told me that it was absolutely delicious and almost as good as his Italian grandmother's. He then shook my hand. That was awesome!

So heading into week 3 I'm feeling as confident as ever. Sorry there aren't more pictures today but all of the pictures I took at school came out blurry and I didn't have time to figure out why. I snapped the lasagna picture after I got home. And then immediately ate it for dinner.

Day 9 - Fettuccini Alfredo and Pasta Carbonara

Today was a good day. I got my second "perfect" today. It was from Chef Reyes after trying my Fettuccini Alfredo. It's weird how I seem to do better on the things I like to eat.

My second dish today was Pasta Carbonara.

Chef Perez said the flavors were spot on but he had a problem with the sauce. There are 2 eggs added to the cream and if the temperature is too high they become a little scrambled. I wasn't happy with the thickness of the sauce so I raised the temperature a bit while my noodles were cooking. A rookie mistake but lesson learned. It was still edible and very tasty. I actually brought both home. That's the first time I've done that.

Tomorrow is Lasagna, Mushroom Duxelles Ravioli and Polenta.

Day 8 - French Onion Soup & Sandwiches

We were told by the chefs that Day 8 was designed to be hectic. Today we made French Onion Soup, Bolognese Sauce, Fresh Pasta Dough, Reuben on Rye with Braised Sauerkraut and Russian Dressing and a Croque Monsieur with Whle Grain Mustard. We're saving the pasta and sauce for Days 9 & 10 but we had to turn in the soup and sandwiches today.

My French Onion Soup was very tasty and got great marks from the chefs. I was pretty sure Chef Perez was going to say that there was too much pepper but I like a lot of pepper and so does he so he didn't say anything but "...very tasty. "


Because the sauce and the soup had to cook for a long period of time, I rushed the sandwiches at the last possible minute. They both came out great (although the Rye Bread was a little dry for the Chefs) but I didn't get pictures because I turned them in before snapping a picture. They were both quite impressive and tasty.

Day 9 is going to be very fun for me. We're finally making stuff that I like to eat. Pasta!

Day 7 - Bechamel and Veloute

Today we made 2 more of the mother sauces; Bechamel and Veloute. If you're keeping score, there are five mother sauces... Bechamel a cream based sauce, Espignole a veal based sauce, Tomato a (believe or not) tomato based sauce, Hollandaise (sauce from hell) with a clarified butter base and Veloute a chicken stock based sauce.

So today we started with the Bechamel and Veloute. With the Bechamel sauce we made a Cream of Tomato Soup.

The chefs said it was okay but Chef Perez asked me to add one more pinch of salt to what I had left in the pan and compare that to what I presented. I will admit after adding the salt I expected the new soup to be more salty but instead it was more tomatoey (if that's a word). I was suprised that by adding the kosher salt, it brought out the natural flavor of the soup instead of making it saltier. I was a pinch of salt away from perfect. Lesson learned.

We then took the Veloute and made Mushroom Soup. I unfortunately didn't get a picture because I was short on time but picture a bowl of thick greyish-brown liquid. It was a little thin for the chefs but they said the flavor was spot on. I just needed to reduce it a little more (let it cook a little longer.)

So seven days down and I'm pretty exhausted. It's a ton of info thrown at us so fast but I'm dedicated to hanging in there. I've been promised it gets easier. We will see.

Day 6 - Hollandaise Sauce and Tomato Sauce

Today was the day we were told we'd dread because we had to make Hollandaise sauce. I'm not sure if it's widely known how difficult it is to make but there is supposedly nothing more difficult. But finally I nailed something. I was told by Chef Reyes that it was perfect. My first perfect! Woo-hoo! Sorry the picture isn't better. I turned it in for tasting before I snapped the picture.

We then paired up and made 2 quarts of tomato sauce. That was a lot of fun and we'll be using it this week when making bolognese sauce for lasagna. It was so easy to make that I doubt I'll buy canned sauce again. You could really taste the difference.

I also got my grade for the first week and I ended up with 92.6/100 which is an A. I couldn't be happier. I really thought it might be lower than that so I was thrilled.

Day 5 - Mayo, Spinach and Green Beans

Today we made mayo which was fun and tasty. I didn't realize how precise but simple the process is to make mayonnaise. I don't think I'll ever buy a jar of mayonnaise again.

Next came Haricots Verts Amandine which is just the French name for green beans with sauteed almonds.

I cooked mine perfectly with a nice al dente but failed horribly on the seasoning. I didn't put nearly enough salt or pepper on the beans.

The final dish of the day was Sauteed Spinach which again I cooked and strained perfectly and looked great on the plate but this time added a bit too much salt.

Hopefully before the month is out, I'll become better at gauging the amount of spices needed on each dish. Switching from Iodized salt (which I've learned is not healthy for you) to kosher and sea salts has confused me a bit because the amount needed is different. You need a bit more salt when using kosher and sea salts.

This past week I've twice had the opportunity to try food from the KA kitchen. The kitchen is staffed by students in the 4th portion of the school. I have to say I've been pretty impressed with what I've tried. On Wednesday I had a wonderful Butternut Squash and Goat Cheese Ravioli with a delicious Braised Pork Loin. On Friday I got to try a delicious Duck Salad and a Pork Cheek with Lemon Risotto. I have never had the cheek of the pig before and it was so tender and tasty. I highly recommend it as a cut of meat. To top things off on Friday, I was served an amazing Apple Tarte Tatin with Homemade Ice Cream.

So with my first week in the bag I can safely say that I've learned a hell of a lot in 5 days and it's only going to get more intense. We have a quiz on Monday to recap this past week so besides chopping and slicing this weekend I'm also studying the text book.

Day 4 - The Dishes Begin

Today we got our first chance to display the culinary expertise we've learned in the last three days. My first dish was Glazed Carrots. Besides being graded on presentation and taste, the dish was also graded on the cut of the carrot, the quality of the al dente, the quality and consistency of the glaze. Well I did great on the taste, the cut and the al dente but my glaze was too thin.

I'm not sure what my grade was on the Glazed Carrots but Chef Reyes said it was a very good start. Oh and the carrots were very tasty.

Our second dish of the day was Vichyssoise. It's basically a cold leek, onion and potato soup. This dish required much more cooking time and I don't think I gave it the proper amount of cooking time because my final product again was a little too thin. Flavor, chilliness and presentation were all excellent (notice the chive K for Kitchen Academy) so Chef Perez was overall very happy with my work today.

Would have I loved to hit a home run out of the gate? Sure. But overall I'm very happy with my first two dishes. We were told by both chefs that our class was one of the better classes they have taught in the last 2 years. I didn't see any scores that were lower than a 16 out of 20.

Tomorrow we tackle Mayonnaise, Sauteed Spinach and Haricots Verts Amandine and by the way: I'm having a blast.

Day 3 - Last Day of Basics

Well I've officially finished my last day of basics. From tomorrow forward it's all about the food. Well the food, the plating, the production schedule etc, etc. Starting tomorrow we're expected to have a pretty good grasp of the basic cuts and terminology. That means I'll be cutting and chopping at home tonight and tomorrow morning. And studying the terms one more time.

Today we watched more sanitation videos. It makes six in all. Apparently it's very important to be very clean preparing food. Duly noted.

We also chopped up leeks for Vichyssoise and did an oblique cut on carrots for tomorrow's Glazed Carrots.

So tomorrow we start cooking. Although Glazed Carrots and Vichyssoise (French for tasty cold leek and potato soup) are not the most exciting meals I've ever prepared, I'm ready to get up and cook the snot out of them. I'll let you know how it goes.

Day 2 - Stock and Stock

Today we took the mirepoix from yesterday and made chicken stock. It smelled soooo tasty.

Then we chopped more carrots and this crazy new ingredient called a potato!


By the way, did you know the the United Nations declared 2008 as the Year of the Potato? It has something to do with reducing hunger and poverty worldwide but all I know is I like 'em spicy and curly. Holla!

Then we sauteed the carrots, onions and celery to make a veal stock.

And this is the veal stock simmering for 48 hours...

Once it's done simmering we will drop the stock which basically means we'll strain it with a china cap and a shinois (filtering utensils) and then immediately put it in ice to cool it below 41 degrees and disappoint any bacteria that might want to jump on board. See bacteria are only comfortable between 41 degrees and 135 degrees. It's important to try to do all the cooking above or below that range.

And that's where I am so far. We've got one more day of basics and on Day 4 we start making dishes. Pray for me. Please pray.

Day 1 - Chop, Chop, Chop

I just finished day one and it was a blast. There are 22 of us in the class and we're from all over the world. Belize, Portugal, Argentina, Costa Rica, Guam and yes even Ohio. I met one young student named Jeffrey who was there because of money his late brother had left him. His brother had always told him he should pursue a culinary career but he could never afford it. When his brother died last August after an motorcycle accident at the age of 21, Jeffrey used the money left to him to enroll in school. Very inspirational. Many of the other students have extensive culinary backgrounds but about half are like me; noobs!

The first part of the class was going over school policies and sanitation procedures (turns out you can't sneeze in your hands and then continue chopping the vegetables, who knew?) But then we got to chop and chop we did. Chop and chop and chop. Ladies and Gentlemen I give you mirepoix.

Word for the day: MIREPOIX - Mixture of aromatic vegetables that includes 50% onions, 25% celery and 25% carrots, used to flavor stocks.

That's all for now. I'll type more tomorrow after some of my calluses heal.

New Boy in the Kitchen

I hope nothing like this happens to me...

Day 0 - Orientation

Hi all! Before I start I want to thank everyone in Palm Springs for giving me a great send-off. New Year's Eve was a blast and I'm sure I'll be visiting often. A quick thanks to Drew for making all of this happen and a thanks to Josh and Travis for giving me a warm welcome and a wonderful place to live and work from while in school.

So today was a quick 2 hour orientation before my first day on Monday. It looks like there will be 16-20 students in my class with 2 instructors. I met one today. His name is Chef Michael Perez and he seems really enthusiastic. But everyone on the KA staff tried to prepare us for the fast-paced condensed training we're about to receive. I'll be honest. They made me a little nervous but I'm ready to throw caution to the wind and make it happen. The best part of the whole orientation was finding out I didn't have to buy the special black chef shoes they were trying to sell everyone. Chef Perez told me the black Lugz I was wearing were perfect for the kitchen. Woo-hoo!

So I have one more day of freedom before my world changes forever...