This was a rough week for our quartet. In addition to our evaluation meal on Wednesday not being technically perfect (or even decent), members of our little class had to deal with tough personal issues like a hurt pet, a broken-into car, and a spouse departing for an extended trip to the mainland. It would be true to say that all these distractions had an effect on our performance at school, but Chef Klaus isn't into reasons or excuses so I'll just say that I screwed up on my task, I helped screw up another, and I didn't know what to do to help fix a third. We received a passing grade and everyone passed the the end of phase test on Thursday but the atmosphere of the class is dark and heavy to say the least. We had very high expectations for this week and it just didn't pan out. We chose a meal we felt very comfortable with:
Baked salmon over a spinach and mushroom cream braise with hollandaise
Celeriac cream soup
Vichy carrots
Rice Pilaf
Chocolate mousse
We'd done all these recipes in class successfully, so what could go wrong? Read on and I'll tell you.
As I've explained before, recipes are given by the Chef at the start of the day. We all write them down in as much detail as possible and then produce the items using the recipes and coaching from the Chef. It's a good system, as long as all the steps and procedures are in our written recipes. I was responsible for the salmon entree and one small line of the instructions proved to be my downfall: "fill 1/2 way with cream and place in oven 20-30 minutes." We were supposed to REDUCE the cream and add a butter thickener, but that wasn't in any of our notes. Did we ALL miss that instruction? According to Chef Klaus we did, and remember rule number 1 - Chef is Never Wrong. So I screwed that one up with a thin braise, although it still tasted pretty damn good.
Jessica's celeriac cream soup also tasted fine, but ended up with poor texture because when she asked me about the addition of the stock and cream I gave her some bad advice based upon my notes for that recipe. Upon checking our notes, we all had the same directions so I guess we were just wrong there, too,. I take the blame for that one, though. Sandy's chocolate mousse came out too thick, like a very tasty chocolate pudding, and I'll be damned if I know why. Anyway, we passed but we are not very happy about our score.
So I've had a bad week. School was tough, Wendy left for a trip to the East Coast leaving me in charge of the cats and a long list of tasks to accomplish while she is gone, I found out Thursday that someone had stolen my kayak and the Base Police are clueless, and worst of all, the bastards at AARP sent me my official "Welcome to Old Age" card announcing my eligibility to join their ranks. **SIGH**
So now we move into the Bake Shop for our second three-week stint. I hope we ALL move to the Bake Shop. The difficult week has exacerbated some feelings of discontent some of us have had over the fairness and quality of the training we are receiving. We'll find out Monday morning, I suppose.
My Mom is coming to the Island for a couple weeks this month, and I noticed something very different in her view of our relationship...normally I go to visit her and can expect her to cook things that she knows I like. Yesterday she sent a message that she doesn't need to be entertained while she is here, just fed...and fed well. Seems I'll have to put some of this kitchen education to work, at least for the home-dining crowd.
This tour of duty in Hot Kitchen I marks the halfway point of my course of instruction at Gros Bonnet. In some ways time seems to have flown by, and in other ways it still feels like it will never end. The classes, the kitchen work, and the learning have been a great time, but I have been feeling pangs of regret at missing my accustomed summer work in Alaska. It doesn't help that so many of my friends keep posting on Facebook about the wonderful Alaska weather, the glorious Alaska summer, their awesome fishing trips, their beautiful hikes, and the terrific tours they are leading. I said it earlier in this post and I'll say it again: **SIGH**
"Cute doesn't work anymore, Enju! You have to start performing!" - Chef Klaus
"Get people back into the kitchen and combat the trend toward processed food and fast food." Andrew Weil
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