Day 36 - Salmon

Today we got to fabricate a salmon. These guys have a ton of meat on them. We only used a small portion and saved the rest for other dishes down the road. First up was Grilled Salmon Cakes with a Whole Grain Mustard Emulsion and Frisee Salad.

Chef Reyes said it was very tasty. Then came Grilled Salmon with Maitre d'Hotel Butter, Minty Peas and Mashed White Rose Potatoes and Sunchokes. Sunchokes are another root that can be peeled and boiled like a potato and combined with the White Rose Potatoes to add another dimension to the dish.

The potatoes and sunchokes came out great but I left them in a Bain Marie (a metal bowl left in a pan of water over a low flame) to keep them warm while I was preparing the salmon. Unfortunately the flame wasn't low enough and they got singed. I tried to present the better looking portion of the sunchoke potatoes but Chef Brown could tell by taste that they had burned. He thought everything else including the plating was great.

Day 35 - Snapper & Scallops

Today we did Snapper and I remembered to take pictures!

This is one of my favorite classmates K. If you'll remember she made the tasty Mixed Fruit Buckle dessert at the Mardi Gras Buffet last semester. As you can probably tell, she's more comfortable with fruit than she is with the snapper.

This is the snapper with it's head collared and it's guts pulled out.

And this is the snapper with the fillets removed. Fun, huh?

With the fillet we made Sauteed Snapper with a Melange of Baby Vegetables and Fish Consomme. I wasn't especially happy with the plating of the dish but Chef Brown said it was perfect.


Our second dish was Seared Scallops with Orange Buerre Blanc Sauce.

I really wanted this dish to come out great because every chef needs to be able to do a great job with scallops. They are a very popular starter. I nailed it. Chef Brown said the scallops we cooked perfectly and the sauce was well done. I actually went home and made this dish for my roomies Travis and Josh and they both loved it was well.

Day 33-34: Pork Chops and Sole

On Day 33 we cooked Pork Chops.

Our first dish was Sauteed Pork Chops with Carmelized Sweet Potatoes, Bacon, Braised Italian Kale and Romesco Sauce. Romesco sauce is used like ketchup in Spain and Portugal and is a very tasty and spicy sauce. It contains Ancho Chiles, Garlic, Almonds and Tomatoes. Chef Brown said my dish was perfect.

The second dish was Sauteed Roquefort-Stuffed Pork Chop with Savory Swiss Chard Bread Pudding with Wild Mushroom Ragout.

I made the Savory Bread Pudding with my partner for the week Stephanie. She's an awesome partner. I had never made a Savory Bread Pudding before and it was interesting. Chef Brown again thought everything looked and tasted great but this time he thought the ragout was very tasty but a bit too thick. I kinda liked the way it was presented but who am I to disagree?

Day 34 and we finally get to fabricate fish! I was planning on taking pictures of the whole process but of course in the heat of the lesson, I totally forgot. No worries though, on Day 35 we fabricate snapper so I promise to show you all the fun stuff then.

The first dish was Sauteed Sole with Fava Beans, Green Garlic, Caperbearries and Aioli. Fava beans are very similar to lima beans except they are a little more difficult to prepare. Besides pulling them out of the pod and then you blanch them and then you remove the outer casings of EACH bean. A very hands on preparation and that's why restaurants will charge you more for them.

My fillets were a little on the small side so they kinda got lost in the sauce. Chef Brown thought everything again tasted great but he wanted to see more color on the fish.

Next up Sauteed Sole with Potato and Artichoke Gratin, Spring Onions and a Fines Herbes Beurre Blanc.

Fines Herbes are always Parsley, Chevril, Chives and Tarragon. This dish came out tasty as well but Chef Brown wanted even more color on the fish. I felt it was such a delicate fish that too much color would over power the taste of the sole but tomorrow when we do snapper, he's gonna get color.

Days 31-32: Chicken and Pork

After much deliberation I've decided to keep on truckin'.

The second semester focuses on proteins, plating and the fabrication of every edible animal known to man. It's like they say in the culinary world, "If it's dumber than me and slower than me and tastes good; it's dinner!"

Our chef instructors for PCA2 are Chef Brown and Chef Reyes. Chef Reyes was my instructor from PCA1 and it's great having a familiar face with us. I've been told by many that Chef Brown is the best instructor in the school and that we are lucky he's our instructor. I couldn't agree more. He's very present in the kitchen. He's watching everything we do and doesn't let anything get by us. Chef Brown has over 25 years experience in the culinary world (and he's still 3 years younger than me!) and has taught PCA4 over the last 2 years. It's great having someone who knows what we're in for and can fully prepare us for the final semester. If you haven't picked up on it, I'm lovin' the Chef Brown thing.

Day 31 we fabricated chickens. Fabrication is the breaking down of a dead animal into parts used for cooking. We broke down Mr. Chicken into wings, thighs, breasts and legs. Our dish for today was a Sauteed Chicken Breast with Polenta, Sauteed Brussels Sprouts and a Mustard Pan Sauce. But we actually did two plates of it. One with an Airline Breast (the drummette bone still attached with the meat removed) and one with a supreme breast (boneless.) Chef Brown loved both of my dishes and only had a problem with the sauce. He thought it was a bit too thin. Sorry no pictures, I forgot my camera today.

Day 32 we worked with Pork Tenderloin and made two dishes. The first dish was Pork Schnitzel a la Holstein with Traditional Garnishes and Brown Butter. This is where we took two small portions of the tenderloin, pounded them flat and then breaded and pan-fried them. It was presented as a good sized appetizer. The traditional garnishes were chopped anchovies, capers, lemon supremes and parsley. Chef Reyes found it very tasty and had more than one bite.

The next dish was Sauteed Pork Tenderloin with Salsify Puree, Sauteed Apples with Golden Raisins and a Calvados Pan Sauce. Salsify is a root that has a light oystery flavor. You cook it just like you would a potato except you boil it in cream and milk instead of water. My dish came out very tasty and Chef Brown was very impressed with the plating. Too bad I remembered my camera but forgot to put a flash card inside. It was probably the best looking dish I've made so far. The sauce was still a bit thin though.

Tomorrow we have pork chops.

Days 25-30 Catching Up with Ya!

Sorry for the long break. Last week was a very emotional week with a lot of introspection but I'm happy to say I'm back on track and cooking better than ever. In a nutshell, this is what happened...

Day 25 (which was a Friday) was basically a lot more recap and I did just fine. Then on Saturday I volunteered to help out catering an event. This was the worst 6 and a half hours for me in this millenium. And those of you who know what I went through when I shattered my arm in 2004 will fully understand my meaning.

I won't go into too many details but this is a well respected catering company. They served horrible over-cooked/burnt food to 800 guests. The kitchen was disgusting, dangerous and unhealthy. I'm pretty sure if the health inspectors had visited, they would have closed the place down. Two of the senior chef and one of the junior chefs were riding me the entire time. I guess the volunteers were there solely to give the chefs a medium to vent their frustrations upon and not there to learn anything or help out. I worked my butt off for 6.5 hours and still felt like I was in the way the entire time.

So when I arrived at school on Day 26 (the first day of finals) my mind was racing with questions about my culinary future. Is this something I can do and do I really want to? The entire finals week I contemplated giving up. I talked to my counselor, chefs and friends and explained the situation and everyone told me to hang in there. One chef told me that this catering company was reknown for this type of behavior and mediocre food and to not let it get me down. But I knew at the end of finals week which is the end of the first semester, it was the perfect time to take a break from school if I was going to do it.

So I muddled through finals week with less enthusiasm than I had through the first 5 weeks. Some of the dishes came out terrible. I got a 60/100 on my burnt French Onion Soup and got a 75/100 on my Mashed Potatoes because I forgot to season them and there was a piece of carrot in it. I screwed up Mashed Potatoes! Geez! But other dishes shined. I got 100/100 on my Clam Chowder, Crepes Suzette, my Omelettes and pretty good scores on the other dishes. I ended the first semester and finals with an A. I was really happy with that. That gave me a lot of positive energy and gave me a lot to think about over the weekend.

Day 24 - Breakfast Recap

Today wasn't too exciting as we just recapped our breakfast dishes. Sorry no pictures today.

I got a perfect score on my Quiche Florentine, Quiche Lorraine, and my Eggs Benedict (Hal-andaise is still alive and well.) My Breakfast Platter that included Bacon, Scrambled Eggs, Eggs Overeasy and Potatoes O'Brien was great except Chef Perez wanted to see a bit more color on my potatoes. The last dish, French Omelet, needed to be a bit runnier. The French seem to like their eggs very runny.

So I have a feeling the blog is going to be a little boring until I start PCA2 on Day 31 but I'll try to add a little something to the blog each day.

Day 23 - Salads

Since the fever broke about 1:00 AM, I was happy that I was able to make it into school today. I started off the day with a recap of Risotto with Parmigiano Reggiano. I did a really good job on this dish. Chef Reyes said he would have liked a little more creamyness but it was good over all.

Next up came Cobb Salad. Did you know that there are little old ladies that pay $20.00 for this? Well that's what we were told anyway. It has so many ingredients that you could probably make 3 or 4 little old lady meals out of it so I guess it's not too expensive broken down that way.

Chef Perez said it was perfect. I haven't heard that for a while so it felt good to hear. Last came Caesar Salad.

Chef reyes said it tasted great but he would have liked the dressing to be a bit thicker and the croutons toasted a little longer. But all in all a good day.

Day 24 is going to be a recap of breakfast.

Day 22 - Sick Day and Recap

Well the cold that was coming on yesterday came in full force this morning. I was running a fever and couldn't really focus but I didn't want a 0/100 so I went to school and just tried to do my best. Today was all recap.

First up was Cream of Tomato Soup.

Chef Reyes said it was almost there but it needed more Bechamel to help with the taste, color and texture. But I'm pretty sure it was graded a 17 or an 18. Much better than a 0.

Next came French Onion Soup.

Chef Perez said too much pepper and he noticed I cut the onions across the ribs instead of with the ribs like I was supposed to. I'll chalk it up to the fever but again. I'm guessing it was graded a 17 or an 18 so I'm more than fine with that.

Last came Crepes Suzette.

Last time I did this dish I overcooked the sauce because I was mesmerized by the pretty blue flambe' flame but this time I nailed it. The only slight problem Chef Perez had was that he thought the crepes were a bit thick but other than that, spot on. I'm guessing it got a 19 or maybe a 20.

The Chefs let me leave an hour early so I could get to bed and Chef Reyes told me that if I needed to miss tomorrow he would give me a 50/100 instead of a 0/100 because he could tell I was really sick. As much as I appreciate it, I really want to get some more recap in.

Day 21 - Lots of Recap

I came home from class today with chills and a cold so I'm going to make this brief. Basically everything we did today was recap for next week's finals.

First was Smashed Potatoes with Roasted Garlic. The best part of this dish was roasting the garlic. It has a wonderful flavor. I got a perfect on this dish.

Next came Rice Pilaf with Brunoise Carrots.

These also came out great. They could have stood another minute before serving to absorb more of the chicken stock, but they tasted great.

Next came Glazed Carrots.

I was worried a bit about the portion size. I lost some of the carrots during plating and some during cooking. They are supposed to be al dente but about half were overcooked. So I presented this modest portion and Chef Reyes only had a problem with the amount of glaze. He wanted to see a bit more on the plate but everything else was perfect.

Last came Potatoes Gratin.

This is basically the Pommes Dauphinoise we made on Day 11 but this time it has a panko crust baked on top. Chef Reyes liked it a lot and called it "a hit."

The day ended with a knife sharpening demo and getting our grades from week 4. I'm happy to say that I got a 97/100. That is going to help my overall grade immensely.

Day 22 is more recap for our finals next week

Day 20 - Clam Chowder and Gnocchi

After the excitement of the Mardi Gras Breakfast Buffet it was hard to muster the enthusiasm for a regular class. But since it was New England Clam Chowder and Sauteed Gnocchi with Sage Brown Butter I was able to find a little bit of excitement. They are two of my favorite dishes.

First up was New England Clam Chowder. The interesting thing is I'm noticing many students are turning in their dishes before I turn in mine. You don't get any bonus points for turning things in fast. As long as they are in by the deadline, you're fine. So I always take my time and make sure each step is engraved in my brain and that I'm really happy with the dish before I present it. The result was another "outstanding" from Chef Perez.

When other students are moving on to the next dish, I always feel a little pressure to get things done faster. But as long as I keep getting "outstanding"'s, I'm going to use as much time as I'm allowed to get my dishes perfect. I also noticed that there was only one other grade of 20 on chef's grading sheet. I must be doing something right.

Next came Sauteed Gnocchi with Sage Brown Butter. Gnocchi is Italian for potato dumpling. You use a special Gnocchi paddle to shape the dumpling. My tasted great but Chef Reyes thought they tasted a little too doughy. This means that I added a little too much flour to the potatoes and it hid some of the potatoey flavor. The Sage Brown Butter came out great and the whole dish was pretty tasty.

The best news of the day was recieving my Week 3 grades. I was extremely nervous because I flubbed two dishes in Week 3. The Pommes Dauphinoise and the Steamed Rice. Even though it was my lowest score so far, it was still an A with a 91.2. That gives me a 3 week accumulative total of 92.75. I couldn't be happier. I'm working really hard so it's nice to see it's paying off.

Day 19 - The Breakfast Buffet

Today was our Breakfast Buffet and it was a great success. We chose a Mardi Gras theme and everyone had a blast. Hazel and I got great reviews on our Potatoes O'Brien. they tasted great but came out a bit mushy. Here's my partner Hazel stirring the veggies.

Joya did a great job with the decorations and K did an excellent job with flowers. K even brought in a 3 piece band that fit perfectly with a casual Mardi Gras brunch. They are a great musicians.

~~~~ Menu ~~~~

Omelets (made to order)

Crepes Suzette (made to order)

Bacon and Breakfast Sausage

Eggs Benedict and Florentine

French Toast

Potatoes O'Brien

Quiche Lorraine and Florentine

Savory Crepes with Mornay Sauce

Bread Pudding

K's Mixed Fruit Buckle

Orange Juice and Hybiscus Tea

We served over 200 people and many came back for seconds. Everyone seemed to be having a good time. I'm sorry there aren't any pictures of the actual event but I was selected as a runner and had very little time for anything but running. My job was to make sure the servers had nice full, warm pans of food so I would be running back and forth between the kitchen and the buffet line. It was the prefect role for me. I got to see and work with every aspect of catering an event. This is definitely a career path I'm considering.

I want to thank my friends Travis, Josh, Mike and Trevor who came to taste the food and they all said they had a fun time and had very few complaints. The concerns they did have I completely agree with. It was nice to share the things I've learned with my buddies and get real world feedback.

When I got home, Josh and Travis surprised me with a bunch of goodies to congratulate me on my first real kitchen experience. Thanks guys! That was really sweet and it meant a lot to me. The heating pad and chardonnay definitely helped me relax after the busy day in the kitchen.