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 garlic
Brennan's red-wine and mushroom sauce
Basic simmered rice
Roast Cornish game hen with wild rice stuffing
Country Braised chicken
Tomato concasse
Teriyaki salmon with pineapple-papaya salsa
We 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 the recipe would be "flicked" off the plate at the presentation window. The presentation window would be open for 1 hour at which time each of the 4 teams would bring their plates to be evaluated.
Whew!
We had about 2 hours, give or take depending on the presentation time, to figure out how to prepare 4, yes 4, plates of food consisting of the entree and side dishes. We had to decide which side dishes went with which food and we could look in the "par stock" (foods available in the walk-in or pantry) for other side dishes, and decide how to garnish the food. Additionally, our plates were to be hot at the time of presentation.
I thought I was nervous, but one look at my partners and they too had the deer in the headlights stare. Before we began, however, we had the pleasure of practicing cutting up an onion, potato, and carrot in 5 minutes. This only added to the nervous energy in the room.
Somehow we managed to fix all the food required, although we were criticized for the following:
rice--not done enough and no seasoning (trying to cook rice on the stove on low heat proved to be a big challenge as the flame kept going out)
salsa piled on top of seared fish--not good, put the salsa to the side
fish served skin side up--didn't we know that even a skinless fillet has a "skin" side where the skin has been? (no--I guess not) don't serve it skin side up
lemon zest on zuchinni--somehow there was a lot of bitter skin in the zest which tasted bad
red wine sauce on the cornish hen--don't put the sauce on top of a nicely roasted thing, put in underneath
too many sprinkled herbs--we didn't need to sprinkle cilantro and parsley on everything
We did get some positive comments on our creative use of vegetables, french fries with our pan fried fish and use of teriyaki glaze on the seared fish, so it wasn't all bad.
I learned a lot and plan to read up on food presentation and practice at home.

I really enjoyed working with my team, Robert and Penni. We managed to get everything done on time with no drama.

Exhausted, but still went grocery shopping after changing out of the uniform and enjoyed a dinner at Sushi Axiom (no COOKED FOOD) and a very nice appletini.

Tonight I'm cooking Singapore chicken-rice. I watched an Anthony Bourdain episode in which they traveling to Singapore and sampled the chicken-rice, their national dish. It sounds and looks wonderful--chicken simmered in ginger, garlic and onions served with rice cooked in the chicken stock and dipped in dark soy, chili sauce and other citrus soy sauce. I'll make some stir-fried bok-choy as a side dish.

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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 pried the chicken leg open with tongs to see if it was done all the way through, so good thing we used our instant read thermometer to insure it was 165 degrees inside.

At one time my plate was piled with french fries, more onion rings, and a nicely roasted chicken leg, however I sampled a few of things on the way home. We don't get a lunch break at schoool, so after having breakfast at 9:00, then racing around the kitchen, smelling all the good food, by 2:00 it's time to have a bite to eat. I guess I was really hungry because I thought my food tasted great.

We had a new instructor this time, Chef Jesse Watters. He is a personal chef with a business called, "Let's Cook Gourmet". He told us about his business which sounded like something I would really enjoy one day. He often cooks for small groups of people in an individual's home and also teaches cooking classes for private individuals and their friends. He has a mobile kitchen, so to speak, and can set up a cooking demonstration just about anywhere. He taught us how to saute, poach, and steam. I'm sure we'll be seeing more of him.

School is getting both easier and harder. Knowing the rules, people, and process makes it easier but getting the assigned tasks done in a new kitchen where you don't know where everything is kept and working around a group of people who are all competing to use the same burners, fryers, oven, etc. is hard. Organization, timing, memory, and skill are critical to completing the tasks. The instructors are very detail oriented and observant so you can't get away with anything. If you do something wrong it will be noticed, however I was happy to receive a positive observation from time to time and I can honestly say I have learned a lot in 3 short weeks. Chef Heather Kurima, Chef Nona Sively, and Chef Brad Waier have all been great instructors.

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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. Oh well, no more of that syle of cooking. Tonight when I made dinner I made sure every last thing was on the counter, even the fresh basil out of the garden which I usually send Steve out to get at the last minute. It really was more efficient but it will take time to get into the habit. Makes sense in a commercial kitchen, though. With our class of 12-13 students it would not be a pretty sight to see us all scurrying around constantly grabbing stuff as we went.

We also made 3 types of stock: brown stock, white stock, and court bouillion. Stock is very important, very tedious, and very slow. Translation: boring..... So just remember, don't use Swanson's broth. It has salt in it and real stock does not have salt it in. Real chefs use real stock made by using veal (beef, chicken) bones, lots of mire poix (onions, carrots, celery), fresh herbs, wine and slow cooking at a bubble, not a simmer.

Clarified butter is also important for professional cooking. Instead of just melting the butter and living with the cloudy color, we learned that by melting it and heating it the milk solids separate and can be skimmed off the top (and left on the bottom), yielding a clear, golden substance that has a higher smoke point than whole butter. Who knew?

And, of course we practiced knife skills. We were told to get a potato, onion, and carrot and then told to peel them all, julienne the potato (2 inch long, 1/4 x 1/4) dice the onion (1/4 " cubes), and brunoise the carrot (turn it into 1/8" cubes). We were timed and after what seemed like no time at all, told time was up. We had been given 12 minutes. Chef told us during our final test we would have 5 minutes to complete these tasks! Yikes! I had diced the onion, not touched the potato, and brunoised about the half the carrot. I tried to practice at home as you can see from the above photo. I julienned the potato, brunoised part of the carrot, but didn't touch the onion.

Much more practice is needed.

Finally, notice in the photo, a mandoline. I had to learn how to use this scary piece of equipment. I see chefs using them on Iron Chef and always worry they are about to slice their hand along with the potatoes, apples, radishes, etc. and I feel very uncomfortable. Turns out you're supposed to always use the guard. We were told to get comfortable with the mandoline because we'd be using it a lot (and it makes neat waffle fries like Chick Fil A.) I decided to take the plunge and buy one so I wouldn't look like a total idiot if I had to slice paper thin cucumbers one day. In one of the photos, notice the waffle cut potatoes. We had delicious, very crisp potatoes tonight and everyone was very impressed. Steve used the mandoline more than me and kept slicing different types of potatoes. It was actually fun and I look forward to using it.

It can sure julienne potatoes a lot better than me.

I signed up to volunteer at the Jazz on the Boulevard event next week so I will be out there in public. Hope nobody I know wanders by and recognizes me (or a real chef asks me to do something I don't know how to do).

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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 Wustof 8" chef's knife and I learned I had been holding knives wrong all my life. There are 12 students in the class, some young, some not so young, and a couple who may even be middle-aged, but we are all treated the same, even when it comes to clean-up and everyone is scrubbing, cleaning, sweeping, and mopping.

In my everyday job I'm in a leadership role but at the cooking school I am nobody special!

A humbling experience, but I don't regret the decision to go there yet. (Next week is making stock so I may take that statement back.)

I have signed up to work on October 5 from 1-8, Sunday brunch, November 14, 1-8, wine-pairing event, and December 1, from 1-8, Sunday brunch. Details on how to reserve a table can be found at the website: www.csftw.com

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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 with the new knives (which are actually sharp, unlike the usual kitchen knives) and came to Day 1 with cut up hands.

I'll be signing up for my 24 hours of "internship", working at the cooking school events. This means family and friends can come and observe me making omelets or whatever (if they're willing to pay $35.00 for dinner or $15.00 for Sunday Brunch). I can hardly wait.

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