Monthly Archives: November 2006

In our third class, we had a substitute instructor. It’s odd having a substitute for a class that only meets 4 times, but this substitute was a fantastic chef. He was able to keep the class on target as well as offer 1-on-1 instruction for anyone who had questions.

While this hasn’t technically been a service class, we have been serving the pastry students. We supposedly had 80 pastry students on Sunday, but it didn’t seem like that many. We were able to get the food done in plenty of time for the 11:30 service. It’s amazing to me when that happens as the first class I had was a true service class (meaning the students in the dining room classes used our kitchens to serve from) and it seemed as if we always had trouble getting things out on time.
I made coq au vin (chicken with wine) in the morning and braised short ribs in the afternoon. Both came out really well. However, I did manage to almost singe my eyebrows off when I flambed with some congac and I almost started a fire when some parchment paper came in contact with the burner next to me.

We have one more class. I have my practical exam — I have to make veal stew and some braised potatoes. Let’s hope that I don’t burn anything during that!

I’m halfway through the next culinary class — Traditional European Cuisine. The main focus is on braising and stewing. For those interested, these are similar ways of cooking. They are both combination methods of cooking which means that they start out by dry cooking and end with moist cooking. Basically, it goes like this:

• Take a large hunk of meat (if you’re braising) or smaller chunks of meat (if you’re stewing) and sear them in a little bit of hot oil until the outside is golden brown.
• Remove the meat, add some aromatics (traditionally, mirepoix, but any combination of carrots, celery, onion, pepper type veggies will do.) Sweat for a few minutes.
• Add some herbs, spices, salt, and pepper. Deglaze with some wine, or beer, or plain stock/broth.
• Add enough liquid (stock, broth, tomato sauce, if you’re desperate, water) to cover completely (for stewing) or 2/3 of your main food product (for braising.)
• Simmer on stove (stewing) or cook in a 375 degree oven (braising) until meat is fork tender.

It’s a perfect way to cook in the fall when you’re looking for warm up the kitchen and cook some comfort food.

As far as the class goes, for some reason, I’ve been a bit off. I think it’s partially because there are 13 of us cooking on 9 burners. This means it’s a fight to get a good spot in front of the stove (all the burners are right next to each other). Usually, it also means, that I’m cooking sideways with just enough room to get my arm in there for stirring.

I’ve burnt myself about a dozen times because the pan handles get hot. I have nice, rubber, heat-resistant handles at home. On the plus side, I’m building up those chef’s callouses.

The chef is hard to read. First, he’s got a very thick accent, so I have a hard time understanding him, and more importantly, decoding when he’s joking. I think he’s a jokester, but sometimes I take it more like he’s angry at me. And his quizzes are HARD! I really bombed the last one with a 6 out of 10.

But, overall, I haven’t been too nervous to ask questions, and speak-up in class, so I’ll consider that as a pretty decent chef to have as an instructor.

The great part about this class is my partner. She’s a couple of years younger than me, and similarly high strung. The excellent part of the pairing is that we’ve managed to calm each other down when we’re getting anxious or upset. I think it’s because we both get a little crazy and can understand each other. So far, it seems, that when one of us is down, the other is able to be a calming influence. It’s fantastic.

So, halfway through, I’m giving the class one thumb up and the other thumb in a neutral position. We’ll see what kind of grade I can manage to be the final factor!