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