Plate Presentation

I wish I had taken a photo of my face when I heard our assignment today. We were given a stack of papers with recipes for the following:Pan-fried trout with toasted garlicBrennan's red-wine and mushroom sauceBasic simmered riceRoast Cornish game hen with wild rice stuffingCountry Braised chickenTomato concasseTeriyaki salmon with pineapple-papaya salsaWe were told to get with 2 other people who would make up our team for the day. We had a short lecture on plate presentation and garnishes, mostly warning us not to arrange our food to appear as a smiley face or a "phallic symbol" which the chef described as sunny side up eggs and bacon (sounded more like "breast symbol" to me--but then I'm a psychotherapist and studied Freud.) Then we were warned that any garnish which was not a food used in...

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Week 3: Major cooking techniques

Although this food in this photo may not look that appetizing to you, trust me, it was delicious.For major cooking techniques we learned to sear, saute, pan-fry, grill, roast, deep fry, braise, poach, simmer and steam. We had to grill pork, roast chicken legs, braise chicken thighs, sear a pork chop, pan fry a breaded chicken tender, deep fry batonnet potatoes and onions, saute shrimp, peppers, onions, and mushrooms, poach an egg, poach flounder, steam shrimp and simmer rice and pasta. Wow! Although I've used all these techniques many times I have never had to bring my finished piece of chicken to an instructor to be evaluated. Talk about stress!She...

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Week 2: Mise en place and stock

Week 2: Mise en place and Stock:(and knife skills practice)In cooking everything has a place and must be in the right place before you start cooking. I guess that's why Rachel Ray always gathers up her giant armful of stuff and brings it to the counter before she starts cooking. I always just started cooking and then would run around the kitchen grabbing stuff as I cooked, hoping I had the ingredients somewhere. I think back on all the times I rummaged through the spices in the cabinet looking for allspice or cloves or something I don't use that often, or even worse started frying the onions before noticing I was out of garlic and green peppers....

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Week 1: Knife Skills

Wearing the chef uniform for the first time was quite an experience, but following all the instructions in the first 5 hour class was even more challenging. They don't fool around at the school. I hadn't heard so many rules since Air Force basic training, and that was in 1973 when I was 19. Within a short time after receiving the knives we were in the kitchen cutting up carrots into 1/4 x 1/4 x 2 inch planks which were then cut into pieces that were supposed to resemble cubes. While the instructors watched I felt clumsy and uncoordinated cutting up celery and carrots and didn't do a great job. We were told how to hold the new, and very sharp...

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Preparing for Culinary School

I attended orientation last week and received my chef coat, text book, and policy manual that sounds a lot like military boot camp--no jewelry, no nail polish, no earrings, and no cell phone AND always be 100% in uniform while at the school. I will be going every Saturday for the next 14 weeks and will receive a certificate of completion for "Chef Pro 1" at the end.The uniform consists of the chef coat, black checkered pants with an elastic waist, a neckerchief, and a funny looking hat. (Photo will be taken on Saturday.) If I thought I looked middle-age frumpy under ordinary circumstances, wearing this get-up will be a real joy.We were supposed to get our knife set last week, however we were told that they now wait to issue the knives on the first day of class. Seems the students practiced...

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