This middle week of Hot Kitchen II had a bit of international flavor, as we put together some classic dishes that most everyone has heard of but many haven't tasted and even fewer have tried to cook for themselves. Eggs Benedict (the hollandaise done right is the only tough part), Soup Garbure, Beef Bourguingnon, Risotto Milanaise, and Crepes Suzette offered welcome challenges to the class and of course some delicious lunches. We all know that recipes are in place to insure that a dish comes out looking and tasting as it should, but most include seasonings "to taste", and we are asked constantly if we have tasted it, seasoned it, checked it for flavor, etc... Chef Sigi is very interested in our flavoring opinions, and allows us pretty free reign on how we make things. Beef Bourguingnon apparently being the exception. Despite all the students tasting and agreeing that it definitely needed something more, he overruled us and left the dish as it was, which I thought was a little lacking. I think this was an "I'm the Chef" moment.
Thursday we peeled and sliced a 40 pound box of potatoes. So we have THAT skill down pat.
Not everything we make in class is as simple as get the recipe, put it together, cook it, eat it. This week found us preparing several dishes that were marinated in various mixtures of wine, vinaigrette, stock, vegetables, and seasonings and left overnight to absorb some pretty distinct flavors. There were also different tasks to perform with the left over marinades, pan drippings, and flavoring vegetables. These multi-step recipes are great practice for learning to time the completion of various components of your meal, and coincidentally gave Chef Sigi plenty of opportunity to shout out reminders (whether needed or not) about each phase of the preparation. A thick skin is helpful in a kitchen environment, and I've come to take the Chef's comments and admonitions for the guidance that they are. Once in a while I feel a little flash of insult, but usually a quick wise ass reply gets me back in the right frame of mind with little risk of offending the Chef.
Last week was the start of a new school cycle, with a smallish class of 5 beginning the first classroom phase. They are missing out on the eclectic teaching style of Chef Otto, who is on his semi-annual three week trip to Thailand, Myanmar, and Vietnam to promote his cooking schools, visit his wife, and spend some time with his...ladyfriends. With 4 men and 1 woman, the new class is our exact opposite, and have been spending part of their break times observing us in the kitchen. We generally have a pretty good time, so I think they are encouraged when they see us work. It seems both so long ago and just yesterday that we were in our first classroom, anxious to get into the kitchen and get busy. Next Thursday will mark the completion of our first rotation through the different phases of the course and I'm thinking that our familiarity with the kitchens and Chef Instructors will make the next rotation easier even if the standards and expectations for our performance are raised.
Classmate Enju opens her Mac daily and video records all the Chef's lecture and recipe offerings for translation and study later. He found this a little disconcerting at first, but seems to have grown comfortable with it. He hums and sings almost constantly in the kitchen, and his only requirement is that none of the video
that she takes find it's way onto Youtube or any other Internet sharing site. He's actually pretty lucky. Chef Chad was constantly in motion, so she recorded him by turning on her iphone recorder and putting it in his breast pocket every day.
Mistakes we made this week:
Monday's recipe called for fine chopped parsley. I was scolded for chopping it too fine.
Tuesday's recipe called for fine chopped parsley. I was scolded for not chopping it fine enough.
Wednesday somebody else chopped the f*#$ing parsley.
I dropped and broke an egg, which I cleaned up. Then I got another egg out of the refrigerator and dropped that one too.
A Sachet Bag is a permeable baggie containing spices and seasonings that is placed on a string into a simmering pot. If you don't tie the string off to the pot handle it hangs down into the burner and can catch on fire...ask how we know this.
On day one in Chef Sigi's kitchen he told us emphatically: Only drain one sink at a time. Wednesday Enju pulled the plug on two sinks and flooded the kitchen floor. So that was fun.
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