Tuscany

Sorry I have been delayed in getting a new blog up. I think it's because the Italian classes have not been as fun as the food basics classes were. It has nothing to do with the cooking. It's the fact that the dynamics of the classes have changed. We have lost people from our class that were only doing the certificate program and have completed what they needed to do, so they combined the remaining people. We all know each other because we have had baking together, but it still makes it harder because there are a few people from the 'other' class that don't do anything to help others out. A lot of people get frustrated with that, but that is the least of my worries. I know that I can't rely on those people, so I don't consider them. The issue I have is with the teaching methods from certain teachers. It makes it hard to get excited about going in and being there for 8 hours. I think we are all at the point where we cannot wait for the summer. When school began, there were people before us that started in September and will go right through until graduation next month. At first I though this was good because they can finish in less time and not have that 3 month break. Now I realize that I would slowly go nuts if I didn't have this break coming up. When I told Derek that he said 'But, I though you liked cooking?' I do, it's just hard to enjoy what you are doing when you have a million people in your way and little birdies chirping in your ear telling you 10 different ways to do one simple thing. It's getting to be a lot. Anyways, only 3 more weeks!!

In class I cooked the pork loin, roasted rosemary potatoes and baked cauliflower. It was all pretty good. I don't really care for pork or potatoes so I couldn't care less about the dish. Tuscany is known for their painfully simple dishes. They do not believe in sauces or millions of ingredients. Some dishes were good that way, but it made some suffer in my opinion. During class we also got our 2nd semester binders. I haven't had a chance to look through it, but I think I will like it because it changes a lot. There are no 6 weeks worth of classes on one particular subject. The variety should keep it interesting.

During wine seminar, we focused on food and wine pairings. This was the best wine class by far. Next week is our last class and we have our exam as well. I also have an Italian quiz next week too. Both have to do with a lot of memorization, not so much about knowing cooking techniques like Food Basics was.

One final thing, I know I told you I got a 94 on my practicum and the second part of that was the written exam. On that I got a 88.9125....stupid right?!! Just round up for pete's sake!!!

Italian Week 1 Piedmont/Lombardy

Monday's class focused on Piedmont in the Northwest region of Italy. They are known for their rustic, mountain food. We started with the lecture which was pretty much read word for word from our vocab list in the back of our binder. Once that was over, we got into the kitchen to cook. The recipe I received was Fonduta with Polenta. It was a pretty quick recipe and needed to be served as one of the first dishes. I started by making the polenta. I pretty much had to stand over the oven and stir it for about 30 minutes. Once it was cooked, I had to pour it onto a sheet pan and spread it so it could be cut after it cooled. While this cooled, I started to make the fonduta. The difference here is that there are egg yolks and no wine in the recipe. That was again a process of standing over the stove for a while. I cut the polenta into triangles and sauteed them in butter to give them a crispy crust. The fonduta was really good. It was a very Strong Fontina that was used in the recipe and it tasted great with the polenta.

Piedmont Recipes:Baci Di Dama al Funghetto, Zuppa di Valpelline, Peperoni Ripieni con Tonno, Fonduta and Polenta, Sformato di Spinaci, Brasato al Barolo, Gnocchi di Patate alla Piemontese, Cipolle Ripiene di Margo, Pan Valle D'Aosta, Dolce Torinese, Baci di Dama, Grolla D'Amicizia

Tuesday's class focused on Lombardy. This is to the east of Piedmont, so the food style is somewhat similar. We started by watching a video about the region. It was mostly about Milan since that is the most popular location on Lombardy. We then went into the kitchen, before the lecture, to start the braise and prep our other dishes. During this time, I made a dessert that needed to be frozen ASAP. It was called Semifreddo al Torrone. I had to start by ribboning egg yolk and sugar together. Then I added whipped egg white and whipped cream to that base. It was very light and airy. I then layered some chopped chocolate and Torrone in the bottom of a dish and covered it with the egg and cream mixture. Torrone are those Italian nougat candy that comes in a blue box. They have almonds in them and some are flavored with orange, almond or lemon. Dad has gotten them before from Simple Elegance so some of you may know them. This molded mixture then went into the freezer. Lecture was pretty boring and so was the rest of the day. Some of us weren't in the best of moods due to certain conditions, but I won't write anything harsh since this is a public blog...I'll bite my tongue. All I can say is that we could not wait for the class/day to end. Now that I know how things are going to be, I guess I won't expect as much for this Tuesday class for the next few weeks that we have it. I also made a saffron risotto as well.

Lombardy's RecipesDoratini al Tre Formaggi, Insalata Capesante con Funghi e Carciofi Crudi, Busecca Matta, Tortelli Di Zucca, Osso Bucco, Risotto alla Milanese, Pomodori Ripieni, Ciambella con le Noci, Semifreddo al Torrone

For tonight's wine seminar we focused on writing wine notes. We had to focus on the smell of the wine, fruits, non-fruits and oak aromas. Then we tasted them and focused on the sugar and acidity levels. The class went really well. It's a lot of wine to take in. We probably did about 15 wines. The whole class I sat there and wondered if people that are highly educated in wine have a hard time just enjoying it or if they are too busy to think about bitter tannins. In a couple weeks we do wine pairing with food, can't wait for that!

P.S. I received a 94 on my practicum! No word on the written exam yet, but I will take this 94 and run with it!

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

Review

Today our class was a review and prep for our mid-term practicum for tomorrow. We started by reviewing the 15 weeks of Food Basics and Baking. Our baking chef just went through the techniques we will need to know for tomorrow, but our Food Basics chef went over more of a review for the written exam we will have on Saturday. Once they were done, we were free to use the kitchen to make something we never had or to review the methods by actually doing again. I made lemon curd, which was super good and super easy and I made pate brisee (pie dough). I helped make a peanut butter buttercream and poached an egg. I didn't stick around too long because I feel like I have a handle on most of the recipes/techniques.

The way tomorrow will work is that we will come in and there will be cards waiting for us. Half will be a savory dish and half will be baking. We pick a card and then have to write the method in which we will cook the dish. The cards will simply have the name of the dish and the ingredients(with the amounts). Once the proctor has reviewed our written method, we will begin cooking. There are 2 judges in a 'hidden' room that will taste the food. We will need to bring them one dish at a time, so the proctors need to be in tune with us and our cooking time so they can space them properly. Generally, if you are making a cake, it may get pushed down the line for something a little more urgent, like a souflee. Once you dish is done and judged you can leave. The bad part about this is that I will get out early no matter what dish I have, but I have to stick around because I still have my seminar that night. The good news is that it's the beginning of the wine seminar...so, if I do really bad, I can just drink a lot of wine and forget about it!!! I am hoping to get a savory dish since that is where my confidence is, but there are a couple of baking dishes I can pull off, like a genoise with a buttercream or pate a choux. If I pull semi/full puff pasty or danish, I am screwed. So, here's hoping for the best!!!

Commercial Baking

Yet another failure in baking for me! I was assigned a chocolate round cookie recipe which did not take long to execute, so chef gave me a macaroon recipe to do. The batter ended up being too thin and would not do what we wanted it to do. I was so pissed off that I refused to even touch it again. Chef wanted me to fix it by adding more almond paste to thicken it up. I told her I needed to stay away from it for a while for my sanity. I really hate baking, but I despise baking with almond paste. That stuff is disgusting. So she eventually asked if she could have someone else fix it...of course I said yes! That's what I wanted to hear from her mouth the whole time! Anyways, my chocolate cookies came out really well, so that made me happy. They are essentially a shortbread cookie and I don't like that texture, but Derek really did.

We didn't really do much other than bake in mass quantities. It was a really short class. The fun really began during seminar which was garnishing. We had the cutest little Asian chef to teach us how to make roses out of radishes and things like that. The best part of the night was making the 3 fish in the mushroom. I totally mastered that and will use in on my practicum plate on Tuesday!

Today's Recipes:Ham and Cheese Scones, Jalapeno Cheddar Biscuits, Sour Cream Coffee Cake, Congo Bars, Peanut Butter Brownies, Molasses Ginger Crisps, Double Chocolate Round Cookies, Muffins of all kinds!

Sauces

Today's class was a review class for us. We focused on the Mother Sauces that we would have to know for the practicum. We didn't have any set recipes in our binder, we would just cook whatever they had in purchasing and that went with the sauces we were making. We pulled some salmon, t-bones, and made french fries. Everyone made every sauce for practice. I am more than comfortable making a mayonnaise, so I hope I get a dish with that for the practicum.

The highlight of the day was that purchasing had FIDDLEHEAD FERNS!!! Talk about back in the day! They weren't nearly as big as the ones dad and I used to pick and they aren't as good with out the marinade and the Townhouse Cracker underneath! Still nice to see them though.

We discussed our Practicum a lot. We will have half our cards as savory and half our cards will be sweet (pray for me to pull a savory! Preferably a braise). They will have the name of the dish and the ingredients and their measurements. When we pull our card, we sit down and write our our method for cooking the dish. We then bring that to the proctor so they can inspect it and make sure we will not make a fool of ourselves when we start cooking. Once we have their approval, we make the dish for 1 serving. The proctor will bring it up to 2 'judges'. Most of our grade comes from the dish we serve and how it tastes, however, our proctor will be watching us and our kitchen performance and we will be graded on that too. I am a little nervous, but not too bad. I think Saturday I may practice, but on Monday we have free range to practice whatever we want, so that will really help me out a lot.

Gelatin/Bavarian

We were warned that this would be a pain in the ass class. For me, it was, but not because of the gelatin or Bavarian, but because of a damn genoise. A simple stinking cake. I had to make a genoise as the base to my Bavarian. You whip the eggs over a double boiler just until the increase in volume and turn to a pale yellow. Well, I cooked mine way too long. It was so thick after I mixed in the flour. I had to split it in between 2 cake pans. Normally you have 2 cakes that are about 2 inches high...I had 2 cakes that equalled half an inch. Needless to say, I did the recipe again. The time I was more successful and I ended up being glad that I did it again, so I know the technique. To make the gelatin for the top of the cake, you can use 1 of 2 types of gelatin. There is the powder kind, which you add water too until it's the consistency of applesauce, then apply heat to make it a smooth liquid when you are ready to use or you can use the gelatin sheets which you just add to water to soften them, then they dissolve in whatever you put them in. I used the powder. The flavor of my gelatin was peach. The peaches they gave us, from the can, were not sweet at all. My final product was pretty boring. I should have added another fruit to bump up the flavor. Oh well, it's only baking!

We also had a quiz, which I got a 100 on. I needed that since I got an 88 on the Food Basics quiz the week before. Since this was suppose to be a 'hard' class, I think we did well seeing as there were no major disasters.

Today's Recipes:Tangerine and Vanilla Bavarian, Hazelnut Chocolate Mocha Torte Brunelleschi, Chocolate Bavarian with Bitter Orange Sauce, Bavaroise Rubane, Blanc Mange, Apple and Calvados Bavarian, Creme Fraise Bavarian, Coffee Mousse, Cherry 'Jell-o'