Soups, Soups, Grains and Drop-Outs

Wow! What a busy week! I haven't been this exhausted in a while. On your feet and running around and then standing and selling wicked kitchen furnishing can really tire you out! After taking our sauce final, which resulted in a thin bechamel and a hollandaise that did not end up on the floor, we started our soup week.

Consomme and Cream of Broccoli were up first. We got some practice with flipping things as we made some fine herb crepes (fantastic). There was a bit of an accident and someone dropped their Cream of Broccoli and what didn't end up on the floor, ended up on my leg. The price we pay to get things done on time. Shrimp Bisque and Corn Chowder were next. And I have decided that Chowder is actually not that bad. Fact: the ingredient that is most commonly found in all Clam Chowder...oh you guessed Clams didn't you? And it's not potatoes either. It's sand. Little dirt never hurt! Puree of White Bean Soup with a garnish of Avocado tomato Salsa and Avocado Creme Fraiche (pictured) and the classic French Onion Soup, topped with my favorite, gruyere. Today was rice and believe it or not, some people actually refrained from asking me if I knew how to cook rice. The favorite of the day was the risotto topped again with gruyere and chives.

To this day we have lost about six people in our class and word in the kitchen is we're about to lose a few more. And I'm not gonna lie...the people that are talking about dropping out, it's about time. Though we're all here for numero uno, we still have group work to complete that some people think means everyone else does it but them. Also, some people are frustrated that 'someone' keeps messing with their stuff. Clearly not really in tune with everything going on.

Tip for the Day: One of the worst things to cut up are jalapenos aka jalaps. For most women, the pain comes from rubbing your eyes. For most men, the pain comes after you use the um, restroom. Ah there is cure! Milk! So, guys if you forget and head to the head after chopping up some jalaps...you might as well grab yourself a quart container...or pint container, fill it up with buttermilk and have a seat. Ladies, just flush your eyes out with buttermilk.

The Job That Makes Me Spend Money

Culinary school is great. I love it so far. The worst part is the cost. So, I got a job...in retail...in a really good place...that provides me with a really good discount. And in our current class we are all assigned different jobs every day that must be completed before we can leave; sous chef, clean ovens, clean walk-in, clean shelves and windows, sweep and mop, take out trash and compost and the most difficult part it seems, dishwashing.

Well with all of this money that I seem to be spending to attend the School, I seem to be working a lot...at the School. Every day we are supposed to be doing something different as far as our jobs go; however, it seems that our class has a LAZY and EGOTISTICAL problem. There are many people who drop their dishes off and get new ones instead of cleaning theirs. Also, when help is needed, standing there seems to be the course that most take. So, not only am I paying plenty of cash to learn some amazing stuff, I'm paying to pick up some slack in the dishwashing area...every day. So, I've been yelling, a lot. And once or twice things actually get done. More or less, the class needs to just do their dishes. Mommy and Daddy aren't here to pick up after you when you're done playing.

I got this really cool job so that I could afford to keep going to school and living in a place with a roof and a bathroom and a bed. The job has a dress code, the one part I get dinged on...I don't have nice enough shoes. For those of you who know me, shoes rank up there almost next to food, Star Wars and panda bears. So the job that I got so that I could start earning some money is actually causing me to spend money, on shoes. Money that I don't even have yet but have to spend so that I can go make the money that will be used in buying the shoes. The real world sucks but we all have to enter it at some point.

Tip for the Day: It's ok to be the leader as long as you're being productive and it's ok to take the back seat to make others step up.
Cooking Tip for the Day: Presentation is an important part of food, so take your time to make it look nice, it makes it appealing to eat. Everything you put in the bowl or plate has to be able to be eaten.

Boneing a Chicken

After yesterday's debacle with the hollandaise sauce, I felt the need to cut something up. So after a slightly uncomfortable time at Henry's with some new friends, I wandered to Whole Foods (right next to P.F. Chang's...O.M.G. I found one). I love that store, that and Trader Joe's and Safeway. I found the meat section which it seems to house not only some of the most derishous looking fish, chicken and meat cuts, but also some of Portland's finest men, they were all very helpful.

The Chicken guys were who I really needed and after much deliberation I chose a 4lb chicken to take home. I told the Chicken Guy, "I'm going to debone her myself" and he laughed at me. I told him it was ok, I was practicing and he offered to do it for me if I couldn't. Well that sounds like a challenge. I also asked for chitlins, and they both laughed at me and told me to go to a Mexican market or a butcher place. So, I brought Evee (that's what I named her) on my 15 block hike home and stuck her in the fridge.

This morning I plopped her on the table and just stared at her. Then I remembered, I attend a culinary school, there has to be pictures and a chapter on poultry, and low and behold there was. In 28 minutes, I had Evee eighthed, skinned and the thighs and breasts deboned. All the bones are now just awaiting to be made into a stock. It was an amazing thing, I got to cut something up and it is going to be useful for pospas, stock, chicksalad. I feel very accomplished now and less stressed, huh the irony.

Tip for the Day: In the real world, always pay attention to your Cost Production and you're Yield Percentage. The percentage should always be 75% or better. This is to maximize costs and product.

Hollandaise

Fact of the Day: On any DAY the average chef will consume between 3,500-4,000 calories, just in TASTING. This does not include the regular meals that everyone should eat. I'm going to need to bump up the workout schedule...

This past week we have been working on our sauce making for our practical exam on Monday. We have plowed through bechamel, veloute, espagnole and tomato. Today was our hollandaise sauce and from those we had to make a maltise (flavored with a blood orange puree) and a moussleline (folded in heavy cream). We only had the two hours to au sec our emulsion and whip it good. Our group is also behind one morney sauce. It's going to be a busy weekend!

After burning my reduction and starting over, I found myself a little behind. Being as small as I am also holds a bit of a disadvantage when trying to get some leverage and height on the tables not to mention a mixing bowl, sauce pan and whipping room. I was one of the last ones to get started on my whipping but was still making good time. Since I was a little lower than the mixing bowls I was practically mixing the stainless steel off the bowl, instead of "stir/mixing". Then when I was almost done it broke, no big deal easily fixed with a little hot water! Well to get to the hot water, I needed it from the sauce pan that was heating the mixture. So naturally I took off the bowl to get to the water. And in my rush, I set the bowl down on the table and it was hanging off the edge a little, leaning on me. So I took a slight step back and...SPLAT. All over the under table and my knife kit and all over the table.

After yelling some profanities, Chef On Your Toes came over. She grabbed my arm that was now frantically whipping at practically nothing, told me to take some deep breaths and helped me finish my sauce as silent tears ran down my face. It was a mistake. At the end of class we all went over what we did wrong and what could make it better for Monday. As everyone left I went over to assess the damage that I had caused to my area. My close classmates had cleaned up most of it and sprayed my bag off for me. They are great, and then I just started crying. Like Izzy Stevens crying, ugh and I had no idea why. Chef On Your Toes just kept telling me it happens and I wasn't the first one to cry in her class. I apologized and thanked her for helping me out.

So the only thing that I am really sure is, hollandaise is my true enemy on Monday. My pride was hurt because I had to get help, but this is why I'm at school and my table or at least a few of us at the table, are a team and we when said we'd help each other out we meant it. I was upset because something that happens every day in the kitchen happened while I was starting. But now, I know how to make one of the hardest sauces and all the things not to do. Maybe I'll open up a breakfast place...

Learning

So just to clarify, Chef BA is no longer Chef BA. She is probably one of the nicest people and has proven to be a great instructor. For now she will just be Chef on Your Toes. And she really does keep you on your toes. Something that we have learned-WATCH YOUR BURNERS. She goes around turning your burners on higher or turning them off. She has caught me several times doing something I shouldn't be doing. She's like a cat! But she is a great resource who is packed full of information. There hasn't been an hour that has gone by where I haven't learned something new.

Today she asked me how I was doing and later "Are you learning?". "Oh yeah, Chef, I'm learning a lot. Mostly because I'm making so many mistakes," was my answer. Today I found myself cover from head to toe in tomato and supreme sauce. It was the most fun I've had yet. Our class is awful about doing the dishes but it's a learning experience and we are learning who holds their ground and who is holding us back. Survival of the Fittest again. Today we learned that multi-tasking is a must in the kitchen.

Tip for the Day: Vinegar takes out tomato stains.

Sweat, Blood and Tears

Well. Work, play, learning, being an adult! The last few days have just flown by! First and foremost job. As great as the job sounded, the hours are proving to put me into poverty faster than my lack actually having a job. So, I'm back on the market. Interview tomorrow and then I'm on the prowl again. The best part of my job besides the awesome discount, is the picture Feature. Star Wars kitchen attire. So naturally I'm sold to continue working there.

The second cycle of class has been amazing. Yes, my change in attitude in just a few days. My emotional breakdown was just another step to making me realize that I am still growing up and realizing that I really do want this. I haven't sweated this much since my days with the GP Mustangs and the NHS Rangers. And those were due to the sun beating down and the rigorous sport. For a constant 4 hours I'm running around, mise en placing, chopping product, cooking stocks, sauces, setting my arms aflame, and weighing things. It is on average 90 degrees in our kitchen; people yelling kitchen speak; burning milk and mirepoix. I LOVE IT. Today, I was soaking wet with sweat from working my butt off and helping my classmates bust out six tables worth of dishes. I may be a Hermione and wore a hairnet for the first few days, and have lost/burnt off all of my arm hairs, but I'm a doer and I'm having fun!

After class on some days I'll have to go to work which makes it a 12 hour day on my feet. After my "first" day (I missed that real first day) I took off my shoes and realized I bled through my socks. Lesson=thicker socks and comfy shoes, perhaps some clogs. And after my 12 hour day on my feet, I finally make it home and actually don't want to cook anything, so I am lazy enough to eat cookies and milk out of the cartoon and I just dropped my tortilla and cheese on the floor...10 second roll.

So, it's really this is all worth it. In two days time I'm sure I'll find something else to pout about but for now, I'm being run ragged and it feels great. Every day after class, it's raining, pouring rain...it's great.

Tip for the Day: Mother Sauces are the foundations to everything; soups, small sauces, gravies, glazes. Enjoy them and make them right so you don't have to do them again if they are going into another food.

1 Day Down, 27 to Go

Whew! They were right about the change of pace! My back hurts, I have never sweated that much since I played soccer and it was only the first day. Mise en placed for tomorrow's beef stock production and our group is in charge of the white veal stock.

After being able to choose our groups in the first class, our groups were chosen for us in this class. Pretty sure she went back and asked Chef Shotgun who we didn't get along with and put us together accordingly. It will be the best learning experience ever if I do not end up in jail for violent actions with a peeler. We were short a group member, who slept in, and our group was also the Sous Chef(s) for the day. Needless to say our group is a bit behind but not too bad and this makes it a little more exciting I have decided. After having an emotional breakdown and regressing to my childhood to cry to my parents ears, I reminded myself that I want this. And yes, I did rock it for the most part.

Grades are in for the first cycle and it feels good to do well at something again. So, the techniques and methods are in the works to be perfected. And today, someone called me Hermione Granger. So it's nice to know that I have one part of this place down.

Today was technically supposed to be my first day of work but a horrific chain of mis-communication with my place of employment led me to miss my first day. And after reviewing the "absence" point policy, I should be fired. But they're letting me come in tomorrow so yay for some income!

Tip for the Day: When making a brown stock DO NOT RINSE THE BONES. This takes away the moisture and dries out the bones and stops the caramelization process, thus making it hard to actually produce a brown stock. -Hermione Granger

The End of the Beginning

Tip for the day: Food borne illnesses are mostly caused by physical contamination so by people. And many of the illnesses come from or are found in feces. So please, wash your hands, no one wants your poopy fingers.

Last week ended our first cycle of our adventure and tomorrow we start our new adventure with our supposed Chef Battle Axe. This is it! WE finally get to COOK! And with our Cultural Nights fully underway, we all couldn't be more excited to learn some new things.

This past weekend was a little rough trying to get prepared. I helped out with graduation and fully realized that I WANT THIS BAAAD. I want the experience, the knowledge, the cords, the diplome and everything. After learning some things from my classmates I also realized that making friends is not a priority on my list. Neither is being nice to anyone. Apparently I am a control freak, "princess" who gets whatever she wants and just rollin' in the dough, among other things. Well I hate to disappoint everyone, but I am NOT rollin' in the dough, so stop asking me for money; I'm a control freak when it comes to my own things and getting things done for me; actually I'm a Queen, Miss Oak View to be precise and yes I get almost everything I want because I work hard to get it. So, people, and you know who you are, be prepared for me tomorrow. And since you can't get past your pretentious, judgmental, self-absorbed, chauvinistic crap self, I will be learning more than you. I am going to rock you.

Beef stock, and a perfectly pressed apron is required for tomorrow. Professionalism and continuous learning is required for the next 6 weeks. And as an added bonus we get to take home most of what we create. So hopefully I won't look like that panda bear...

Cooking Naked

It has always been advised to not cook bacon naked. This is true, in general cooking. However, my bedroom is in my kitchen and this causes me to sometimes cook with minimal amounts of clothing. And no, no one sees me since my bedroom is in my kitchen. And for the most part, the blinds stay closed because of Craig, the homeless man living outside of my window. A story for another time. But back to cooking naked or with minimal amounts of clothing. I bring this up since I have been flipping eggs, no spatula, to hand flipping, just flipping with a pan. I have now egg stained a shirt, 3 pairs of socks, made a mess of stove top and have egg in my toe cuticles. There are pros and cons to this cooking method.

Pros: You don't stain your clothes and clean up off yourself is easier than trying to blot out of clothes. If there is splatter, it is an instantaneous reaction- clothes may delay a reaction causing more damage. Comfort! Who wouldn't want to cook naked or with minimal amounts of clothing?!

Cons/Pros (depending on your perspective): There is the splatter factor. Hot grease and skin do not mix well and can cause serious damage. You can also avoid the embedded egg in cuticles problem. Timing. If someone comes to the door, well you better have items on hand in order to not cause a scene. This also falls into the dinner party scene, this would be a time to wear clothing while cooking. The in and out of the kitchen, it would be very time consuming. Sanitation. Obviously if you are covered there is no question of contamination.

It would appear that the cons outweigh the pros. Lesson learned don't cook naked. However, if you are silly, like some, aloe works really well on small burns and the scars look kinda cool...Also, OxiClean does wonders on stains, especially egg yolks.

Happy Mother's Day (and yes Mama, you did teach me common sense to cook with clothes on...)

Fact of the day: Sugar is not a traditional ingredient in tomato sauce (like for spaghetti). But they add it in the store bought sauces which is why we hungry Americans love it. In reality, it's actually cheaper to make your own sauce and it tastes better. This sauce is red. This may be one of the times you may want to cook naked...
Tomato Sauce Recipe:
4 oz bacon
8 oz Onion medium dice, 8 oz Carrots medium dice, 2 garlic cloves minced
1 1/2-2 c Chicken stock
6 qt tomatoes : Try to use 3 different kinds, diced, stewed, chopped, puree
Sachet
Seasonings to taste

1. Render bacon but do not brown.
2. Add onion and carrots. Saute until soften DO NOT BROWN
3. Add tomatoes
4. Add stock.
5. BTAB (Bring to a boil) RTAS (Raise to a simmer)
6. Remove sachet and strain or pass through food mill.
7. Season to taste.

Chef Shotgun

Like college there are those professors, in this case chefs, that you find you really like and relate to. My first two Chefs are my favorite so far and this is about my hilarious foundations Chef Shotgun.

I LOVE food. I'm a cheese whore and there are few things that I will not try. Chef Shotgun is also one of these people. He is a tall, very robust man, completely comfortable with his size. The first day of class he massaged his large belly and said, "I did this! And I love it." We have never really seen him mad and he is constantly joking around and keeping us on our toes with his 9-yr-old humor. And he is an amazing chef. And from what we hear, he is an spectacular boss - they base their kitchen speak on Star Wars. I want to work for him!

He is one of our favorites. And every day he makes us a little bit smarter. Today he reminded us that our mistakes are our best learning tools.

Tip for Today: Your mise en place is ESSENTIAL, you screw up the mise, you are making it harder for yourself. Do the MISE!

Survival of the Fittest

Today was a Celebration of Star Wars, beef steak, completed paperwork for the new job, turned in our first project and tasting and critique of roasted chicken and poached chicken. More importantly, I have begun applying Natural Selection to my classmates, rather than thinking of their demise by means of my zester.

This is not the first occasion that I've heard of classmates asking others for "help" or "please do this for me". This was a first time I was approached and of course I said no. A simple project and your juvenile excuses about the lack of internet or you don't have time are beyond ridiculous. The world is based on the internet, if you can't find internet... But then I began to think, ha, you're not going to survive. We're paying tens of thousands of dollars to attend this institution in ADULT education, so far you're failing. There are quite a few people who are having a tough time with the basics and I do feel for them. I will actually HELP you, but I'm not fronting this much money to do everything for you and least of all do it twice.

Today's demo was a delish, moist variety of Lucy the Chicken. She taught me a lot about flavors and cooking methods. After everyone had gotten a chance to taste I heard one my "favorites" say "See all of those leftovers, those are all going on my plate" yet he hadn't eaten or critiqued what was still on his plate. I understand the desire to be a glutton, I know I am at times. But you're not learning when you're a glutton. This is one of the same people who will push people over to take anything that the Chef made home. What you can't try to make it yourself? Did you actually get a chance to appreciate the flavor profile? Did you taste anything past your greediness? Maybe you just want a bigger snack but you will not survive. You aren't learning because you're too lazy to do.

Survival of the Fittest. I am a survivor because my family taught me how to survive. They taught me the basics: where to find internet, to budget properly, to show people kindness even when you don't deserve it, to find the resources to succeed and survive. And I'm applying it all to what I already know. There are a few of us that will succeed because we want it and we know how to get it. Others will fail because they want it to be easy and help them through their midlife crisis. So good luck!

Tip for today: Cinnamon loves alcohol and hates all other liquid. When making things like french toast (tomorrow's breakfast) mix cinnamon with the vanilla to keep from clumping.

A new start

So here it is. A new start means new adventures. And new adventures means lots of ridiculousness. After living in Wyoming for six years, I picked up and moved here, to Portland, OR to change a career that I had not yet really started and started attending Le Cordon Bleu for Culinary Arts. Though my life has never been boring, my experiences and encounters in Portland have thus far been beyond outrageous. This is for my family and friends, who I miss dearly and wish I could see everyday. Recipes and cooking tips and techniques to follow, enjoy!