PICA: Adventures in Culinary School part 4
It's hard to believe that we're reaching the end of three weeks. I feel like I've learned so much, but at the same time that I still have a long way to go.
[Flank Steak with pommes frites and grilled vegetables; sherry reduction.]
The story on this dish is that we messed up on our sauce - it kind of evapourated away, so I kind of ran around getting stuff to doctor it. In the end I kind of half rescued it, but it just wasn't as full bodied as it should have been. Oh well, I think I should be more proactive on watching the stove, even though my workstation is kind of on the other side.
It's nice that we get out on the early side - I try to be on top of clean up for my station, as well as helping out in the dish pit. Also, we're all more efficient in the kitchen, so we're getting better :) The only problem is that my hands are suffering a little because of the chemicals used in cleaning... they make my skin dry, which in turn means rough patches and itchiness :(
[Moules Sétoises; mussels with a compound butter with breadcrumb topping]
Mussels - so yummy! The compound butter was really nice, with hints of sweetness and an underlying kick just to really jazz up the bivalves.
The weather has been cooperative for the most part, but it was raining the other day, and biking home was one very wet ride.
[Poached pear with walnut pastry cream, red wine reduction and sour cream drizzle.]
The red wine was used to poach the pears, and the reduction that came from it was so syrupy and sweet! But oh so tasty. The pastry cream was really well done and helped to balance out the sweetness the same way that ice cream sometimes helps to take the edge off a really sweet dessert.
[Veal Chop with beet chips, fingerling potatoes, turned zucchini and carrot, and demi glace]
I think I overcooked the veal chop just a bit (it was more medium than medium rare), but then again it wasn't quite cooking evenly across the whole piece. It was really huge, and then since it's a chop it comes with the bone too... the beet chips were a little disappointing I think, because they kind of ended up a bit soggy rather than crisp and crunchy the way I thought they would be. But the flavours were so awesome! Each time, I'm learning a bit more and working on getting it right next time...
[Melon salad.]
Nice, light, refreshing... but not enough melons! Sigh. Wish our piece was bigger. The melons were really nice and sweet. Yumyumyum.
[Onion Tart with dijon salad.]
Onion tart was sweeter than I expected and the bits of bacon kind of blended into the quiche but still so yummy. The balsamic really brought a brightness to the dish. I like how my plating worked out such that the round of the tart matched the rim of the plate, while the edge of the tart matched the diagonal lines.
[Pear, rhubarb, and parsnip soup with candied pear chips.]
Meanwhile, I was disappointed with my plating here. After looking at it I thought I should have used the pear chips as wings and drawn a bird with the sour cream drizzle, which I think about have made a more artistic dish. Oh well! The soup was thick and a little on the heavy side but I was starvinggg and nommed it really fast. The candied pear chips were soooo yummy, I wish I could have had more with the soup.
[Steamed salmon with spa vegetables and a vegetable cream sauce.]
Light and tasty. Jackie didn't cut the ginger finely enough, so it wasn't as crisp as it could have been. I loved the little fried capers, they added a lot of depth of flavours. The little pattypan squashes were so cute looking hehe.
[Frog's legs]
It was really funny how that pair was bent. Like the frog had been dancing..
[Frog's legs, fried pommes pailles, lemon butter sauce.]
...and it danced all the way in the butter and onto my plate! The butter was really rich and with the deep fried potatoes it kind of made for a greasy plate. The lemon supreme (segments) really helped to cut through the richness on the plate. The frogs were... pretty light meat - white, so kind of "tasteless" like chicken, but with a fishy texture. Not a bad first time experience!
School has really been rolling along, and next theory test is up soon. I did really well on the first one, but there's a lot more for the second! Everything is just piling up as we keep building on those foundations we learned at the beginning. I know it's a tough journey, but so far I'm feeling pretty good about my progress so far!
[Flank Steak with pommes frites and grilled vegetables; sherry reduction.]
The story on this dish is that we messed up on our sauce - it kind of evapourated away, so I kind of ran around getting stuff to doctor it. In the end I kind of half rescued it, but it just wasn't as full bodied as it should have been. Oh well, I think I should be more proactive on watching the stove, even though my workstation is kind of on the other side.
It's nice that we get out on the early side - I try to be on top of clean up for my station, as well as helping out in the dish pit. Also, we're all more efficient in the kitchen, so we're getting better :) The only problem is that my hands are suffering a little because of the chemicals used in cleaning... they make my skin dry, which in turn means rough patches and itchiness :(
[Moules Sétoises; mussels with a compound butter with breadcrumb topping]
Mussels - so yummy! The compound butter was really nice, with hints of sweetness and an underlying kick just to really jazz up the bivalves.
The weather has been cooperative for the most part, but it was raining the other day, and biking home was one very wet ride.
[Poached pear with walnut pastry cream, red wine reduction and sour cream drizzle.]
The red wine was used to poach the pears, and the reduction that came from it was so syrupy and sweet! But oh so tasty. The pastry cream was really well done and helped to balance out the sweetness the same way that ice cream sometimes helps to take the edge off a really sweet dessert.
[Veal Chop with beet chips, fingerling potatoes, turned zucchini and carrot, and demi glace]
I think I overcooked the veal chop just a bit (it was more medium than medium rare), but then again it wasn't quite cooking evenly across the whole piece. It was really huge, and then since it's a chop it comes with the bone too... the beet chips were a little disappointing I think, because they kind of ended up a bit soggy rather than crisp and crunchy the way I thought they would be. But the flavours were so awesome! Each time, I'm learning a bit more and working on getting it right next time...
[Melon salad.]
Nice, light, refreshing... but not enough melons! Sigh. Wish our piece was bigger. The melons were really nice and sweet. Yumyumyum.
[Onion Tart with dijon salad.]
Onion tart was sweeter than I expected and the bits of bacon kind of blended into the quiche but still so yummy. The balsamic really brought a brightness to the dish. I like how my plating worked out such that the round of the tart matched the rim of the plate, while the edge of the tart matched the diagonal lines.
[Pear, rhubarb, and parsnip soup with candied pear chips.]
Meanwhile, I was disappointed with my plating here. After looking at it I thought I should have used the pear chips as wings and drawn a bird with the sour cream drizzle, which I think about have made a more artistic dish. Oh well! The soup was thick and a little on the heavy side but I was starvinggg and nommed it really fast. The candied pear chips were soooo yummy, I wish I could have had more with the soup.
[Steamed salmon with spa vegetables and a vegetable cream sauce.]
Light and tasty. Jackie didn't cut the ginger finely enough, so it wasn't as crisp as it could have been. I loved the little fried capers, they added a lot of depth of flavours. The little pattypan squashes were so cute looking hehe.
[Frog's legs]
It was really funny how that pair was bent. Like the frog had been dancing..
[Frog's legs, fried pommes pailles, lemon butter sauce.]
...and it danced all the way in the butter and onto my plate! The butter was really rich and with the deep fried potatoes it kind of made for a greasy plate. The lemon supreme (segments) really helped to cut through the richness on the plate. The frogs were... pretty light meat - white, so kind of "tasteless" like chicken, but with a fishy texture. Not a bad first time experience!
School has really been rolling along, and next theory test is up soon. I did really well on the first one, but there's a lot more for the second! Everything is just piling up as we keep building on those foundations we learned at the beginning. I know it's a tough journey, but so far I'm feeling pretty good about my progress so far!