BIG DAY......

Today was the day to prove what we were made of. We started out by discussing the rules and how the day would work, as if we didn't hear it for the past two week. Chef laid out the 'cards' on the table and told us that they came in different sized and don't be fooled into thinking the smaller cards meant an easier recipe. With that said my game plan was to go with a size in the middle. He told us to line up side by side while he stood there and watched us stare at the white pieces of paper that held our destiny...He moved out of the way, said 'GO!' and we attacked. I was close enough that I got the piece of paper I was eyeing. Once I had it, I still couldn't bring myself to look at it. I just held it to my chest until I was away from everyone else. I turned it over and it said 'Make a savory quiche. Add an herb of your choice to the pate brisee. Also, include two additional ingredients to your custard. Serve with a green salad and a vinaigrette.' My first thoughts were to thank sweet baby Jesus that I didn't bail on attempting a pate brisee the day before in the review class. I knew I had drawn one of the easiest dishes one could have.

Once I had my dish, I sat and wrote down my method for preparation. It took me about 10-15 minutes. I had to have both the savory and baking chefs look at it since my recipe contained both components. Once they checked it, they signed the paper and I was off to cook. My first stop was in purchasing to get the 'extra' ingredients I was to include. I decided on putting rosemary in my crust since it's one of my favorites. I decided to put shitake and cheddar into my custard. I really like the combo on mushrooms and rosemary and I knew I couldn't go wrong with that pairing. I started making my pate brisee. I really had to restrain myself here. You are only suppose to put in 4-5 tablespoons of ice water. During Monday's review class, I put in 6 because I though it looked so dry. I over did it then. I had to stop myself at 5 and trust that it would work even though it looked soooo dry. I put it on a dish and in the fridge it went. While that chilled, I made my custard. I had to saute the mushrooms first and let them cool. Once that was combined, I pulled out my chilled dough and rolled it out to fit 2 4-inch tartlette pans. I put them in the tart pans and blind baked them for about 15 minutes. Then, I added the custard, topped with a little cheddar and put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes. When it came out it looked great. The cheese had browned the top and the crust was a nice shade of brown. I let them cool and made the arugula salad and shallot vinaigrette. I plated one quiche and put the salad on the side. I sent my dish up at noon. I was the first one done! It felt awesome to be done, but I wasn't relieved. I think it's because I never freaked myself out before the practicum like others did, so I didn't have this nervous high that I need to come down from...if that makes sense!

There are pros and cons to being the first one done. Cons: dishes and no one to talk to, Pros: seeing every ones dishes and tasting it when it came back. When Chef Lisa came back down after the judges tasted mine she mouthed 'They loved it!'. I finally tasted my second one and it was really good. I was VERY happy with the crust and the filling. The custard was still moist and all of the flavors were there. Chef Jim took my aside to provide the judges feedback and the feedback from himself and Lisa from watching me in the kitchen. He started out by asking me how I thought I did and I said the would have double sheet panned it when I baked it so the bottom of the crust wouldn't have gotten so brown and been slightly less crunchy. He said the judges didn't think that at all. They said that the crust was very tender and flaky. They loved the rosemary and the flavoring. The loved the salad and thought everything was flavored perfectly. They really didn't have anything bad to say about it! Chef then gave me his critique. He said, as usual, I work well in the kitchen. My station is always clean, I am right on my time and work very efficiently. He was able to taste my quiche so he gave me his critique on the taste (I'm not graded on what he thought of the taste, but he is good at giving constructive criticism). He said he agreed with me on the bottom of the crust and thought that cheddar may have been a little over powering, but overall thought the dish was a hit! I pretty much floated through the rest of the day and watched everyone else complete their dishes. I hope pulling this easy of a dish doesn't curse me in the final!!!

Once everyone was done, we headed to Spirit (a bar a step away from the school) to celebrate. Here is where they day starts to head downhill for me. I had 3 beers in the span of an hour, not wise when I am not used to doing that! Oh, and did I mention the seminar that night was wine? Yeah, not the best idea I've had. The silver lining here is that we have to spit the wines out because of some past issues with students. We smelled about 10 wines. Smelling them gave me the biggest headache. We tasted about 5 of them. I'll admit it, I swallowed a little. One was really good, I couldn't resist! By the end of class I thought my head was going to pop off! Needless to say I went to bed as soon as I got home and just thought about what time I was going to call into work sick. Thankfully, I woke up feeling 100%. I've learned my lesson, I will only have 2 beers next week!

It's a little sad because we aren't going to see the Basics chefs we've had to the past 15 weeks. It was nice when they came to have a few drinks with us, they're good people. It's like starting new again next week. We begin a month's worth of Italian cooking with 2 new chefs. The classes will be combined so it will be different in that sense too. We all know each other, because we had baking together, but it was nice to just have a small crew on Monday that really worked as a team. Some people from the other class don't care about that and they make it frustrating. This could be were it starts getting tough for me.

Oh, as far as my grade for the practicum, I can email and get it sometime next week or I can wait until I get the grade in the mail in a couple weeks. I may wait the 2 weeks, keep me in suspense...pretty sure I aced it though!







Some other recipes pulled:Grilled Steak w. Espanole and veg, Lamb Chop with Potatoes and Veg, Danish w. choice of fillings, Paris Breast, Ravioli w. spinach ricotta filling, Sweet custard with coulis of choice, Pork loin with mustard sauce and veg, Genoise with chocolate pastry cream, Veal braise with veg and pasta, Separated sponge roulade with buttercream, Shrimp with rice pilaf, asparagus and Hollandaise