Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Day 12 - Hor D'oeuvres and Canapés

- today we were busy, I blinked and we were done...

So, today was prep work -

Wild Mushrooms for Tartelettes
Curried Chicken Salad for Bouchees
Smoked Whiskey Shrimp for Gougeres
Deviled Quail Eggs
Prosciutto and Melons
Goat Cheese for Peppers

and tomorrow we will prep Tuna Confit

I'm gonna say this and probably just once - I'm enjoying this class more than I thought I would. I can't believe it will be over on Thursday.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Day 11 - Hors D'oeuvres and Canapés

Tonight we started work on Hors D'oeuvres and Canapés. We made Pate Dough for Barquettes and Tartelettes. We made Gougeres, Puff Pastry and some lovely Smoked Salmon Mousse. I'm gonna tell ya right now, I'll never understand why anyone would want to make a mousse out of a fish - it really is a taste only a bear would love!

A composed Hors D'ouevere consists of four elements - Base, Spread, Filling and Garnish.

We made the base tonight - tomorrow we make the spread and filling. And we garnish on Wednesday.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Day 10 - Speed Drill

I started this class two weeks ago and thought I would die on the first day. We made four things and it seemed to take five hours! The second day I was ready to cry. It's been 10 days and I'm feeling a lot better - it covers a ton of things from cold soups, salads, sauces, brining, curing, smoking, sausages, forced-meats, etc... We're busy, it is a lot to learn in a very short time. I'm in the certificate program and we get exactly 14 days for each class. We're doing in 14 days what the associates program does in 6 weeks - I kid you not! I know this because, my son is in the associates program and the Chefs remind us of this almost daily! LOL

The Chefs are great and I've learned a great deal from them. I'm glad I didn't break down and cry! I'm not going to lie to you, I was half way to a break down - I was overwhelmed! Truth be told, I hated this class until the 10th day - on the 10th day we had a speed drill - break down a whole chicken (wings, thighs, legs, boneless skinless breast, airline breast), chicken stock, 4 oz of this cut, 2 oz of that cut, 1 pound of mirepoix, saute the airline chicken breast, butter carrots, rice pilaf, etc... We had 2.5 hours to produce. I received a 95 out of 100.

Several things have been pounded into our heads - hot plate with hot foods, cold with cold food - this class is a mixture of hot/cold plates/bowls.


Sauteed Chicken Breast with Rice Pilaf and Carrots au Beurre