Filleting Flatfish, Consuming Consommés

I can't decide if the weeks are going by quickly or slowly. Time seems to be flying by but at the same time it seems like it has been forever since my last class. That probably won't bode well when it comes time for tests.

Last Friday in proteins was all about finfish. Of all the classes that would have benefitted from the cooling system working in the protein lab, that would be it. It was pretty fishy smelling toward the end and I don't know if it was that, the 16-hour day, or being hungry (despite Gary's delicious meal he brought for us) but I was starting to feel a bit ill.

I don't seem to have any problem filleting the flat or round fish but when it comes to skinning the filets something always seems to go wrong. I wish we had some more practice with it before the practical. It also seems like merely walking through the door to proteins that first day instantly dulled all my knives. I've hit the boning knife and now the chef's knife with that somewhat ghetto 3 sided sharpening "stone" that is really more like 3 sharpening rods, but it doesn't seem like that works as well as the actual stone, hopefully we can procure that this week.

Soup/sauces was interesting on Monday in part because there seemed to be (and actually was) a lot of people gone as well as it being the ICA open house. Lots and lots of students running around doing prep and then once we were in lab a lot of visitors coming and poking their heads in while we were cooking. I noticed Chef Garvey being interviewed by what looked like a TV station but I didn't see the news that night to see if anything made it on.

Consommés are an interesting beast. Basically the only thing that they require is patience, which I generally have in spades. Needless to say I think mine turned out pretty well. The chicken was really tasty and the beef was good but a little more fat needed to be taken off the top. It is amazing how concentrated the flavors get, it was like drinking a glass of chicken (in a good way).

More about ala carte and protein this weekend...maybe. Phil gave us all his Picasa info and he takes a ton of pictures so hopefully we'll all have some good pictures to pull from.

It's So Much Better When You Earn It

Of course I am referring to shower beers, that magical combination of a hot cleansing shower and delicious fermented hop juice. How did I earn such a treat you ask? I had just gotten home from my first experience of working "on the line". Now granted it was only for our class and I only really fired three entrees of Mac-n-Cheese, but still! Ala Carte Cookery has easily been the class I have stressed about the most so getting through that first day on the line was a big deal for me, plus it was St. Patrick's Day.

Unlike most people in the Culinary Arts program I don't plan on working in a restaurant or owning my own restaurant AND I have never worked in a restaurant. I have no delusions of being some hugely talented chef, I know my place isn't in the kitchen but in the lab. So having to prepare high quality food in an extremely timely manner for people who have actually spent money on what you are about to feed them was a little nerve wracking.

It was cramped and it was hot and we only worked for about 30 minutes but we all made it and I think it went pretty smoothly for our first time. Dare I say it was even kinda fun? Of course there are things to work on, like cooking a hamburger properly which no one seems able to do (myself included) but I also think a lot of things will fall into place once we break into our breakfast/lunch crews and we become increasingly familiar with the menu. I think it took some of the stress off when I learned that first day would be the only day I would have to be there at 6:30am as well.

My quarter got slightly less hectic today with my decision to drop my chemistry class. I went through several hoops to get in that class without taking the prerequisites, apparently a bachelors in Biology means nothing when it comes to 0900 science classes. It's not that it was too hard, it certainly wasn't, I just didn't see room in my days for 3 culinary classes, working 40 hours a week, including 8 hours on Saturday and Sunday, plus a 3 hour chemistry class 3 nights a week. I'm sure I could do it but it would put me in the same position I have been in every other time I've had chemistry; just struggling through it and immediately forgetting it.

Day 2 of Protein Fabrication tomorrow night and I think we're tackling fish of some sort. That class fascinates me, I just wish they could get the temperature in the protein lab down like it is supposed to be.

Also a note on my shower beer of choice: that is no ordinary skunky can of Schlitz, oh no no, that is a bottle which contains the "original 1960's recipe". Call it Schlitz Throwback if you will, the farthest west I have ever seen them is Des Moines but last weekend when my dad was in Illinois (wow that website is hilariously terrible) he brought back two 12 packs.