Tomorrow is the
written part of our final exam. As I blog, I am enjoying an ice-cold beer. Vancouver has been so hot this past week (not that the heat has to be a motivating factor for me to have a beer after work)! I inherited this fun and habitual activity from a British friend of mine (wink wink - you know who you are)! It is a great way to wind down the day plus I'm not too worried about this part of the exam. I tend to do really well on paper.
Today we found out our teams for our final
practical next week. It is really exciting! We each get to invite 2 guests for either lunch or dinner and our teams develop and cook a 3-5 course meal each day. Joining our loved-ones/friends are guest chefs from around the city. Everyone will be judging our dishes while the instructors monitor and mark how well we are working individually and as a team. Chef Ian, we have been told, has a long list of curve balls that he will throw us during service.
We have had such an extraordinary group of people in class this term that it is going to be really sad once we graduate and go separate ways. For the students, we experience it only once. For the instructors, it happens to them every semester. It is very special to be able to connect with so many people and go through a lot more than just a course together. It has been an incredible journey and I have met amazing people from all over the world. Every single person has brought something unique to the class. OK, I'm getting teary-eyed again...maybe that's why I remembered to put my deposit down for the pastry class today. I don't want to leave yet!
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Posted by Kimberley Slobodian on July 25, 2006
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I survived our
black box assignment today. Out of trout, pork tenderloin, and quail, I wound up with the one I wanted the least which was that darn little bird. The other mystery ingredients that I had to incorporate into my dish were sweet potato and cardamom. Where to start...
I wound up deboning and marinating the quail by rubbing it with oil and a garam masala mixture. I roasted the sweet potato and whipped it with some cream that I infused with cardamom to make quenelles on the plate. Quenelles are shaped by alternating a mixture between two spoons until it forms a uniform oval shape. I blanched green beans and white asparagus and sautéed them with shallots, butter, ginger, and raisins. For the garnish, I fried julienne of leeks. I also made a cardamom beurre blanc (butter sauce) to drape over the seared quail.
Everything turned out fairly well (and I was a shocking 7 minutes early) but I forgot one of the most important rules in the kitchen - SALT! I can't believe I did this! I didn't salt the quail when marinating because I didn't want any juices to extract out of the tiny bird because there is barely anything to them. I totally forgot to salt it before searing - big mistake!
At the last moment, I accidentally turned the wrong knob on the stove and wound up burning my beurre blanc base so I quickly had to start over. On the second try, I wound up not reducing the white wine vinegar enough (so my sauce was a little on the tangy side). My plates were also too hot so by the time the chefs judged my entree, the butter sauce started to split. I had good color though and it was plated well.
Over the weekend, I was really stressed out about this exercise and then Marcelo helped to open my eyes. I had a bit of an illusion in my head. I thought that by the end of culinary school I would be able to pull fancy dishes/creations and techniques out of my butt on a moments notice. But it doesn't work that way. I think I have a good grasp on how things should be done but now what I need most is
experience and repetition.
The chefs (as Marcelo correctly guessed) weren't looking for extreme ideas. They wanted us to take what we have learned in class and try to apply it to our dishes. Can we make a puree? Are we cooking proteins to the correct doneness? Do we know how to debone something? Do we know how to blanch, sauté, and sear properly? These are just a few examples but these are the important things to focus on. I am glad that I didn't stress out to try and make something out of the ordinary (and screw it up royally). I just tried to keep the dish simple and use the techniques that I have learned.
In the midst of all of the stress and pressure over the weekend, I needed to remind myself to have fun with it too! The worst-case scenario was that I would get a big fat zero and if that were the case, I still would learn from my mistakes. I went into the exercise today more relaxed and I think I did a nice job. At first I was a bit hard on myself for the errors that I had made but on reflection, I still did well. Here is a picture of my dish:
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Posted by Kimberley Slobodian on July 25, 2006
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We visited Krause Brothers' Farms first and picked gorgeous blueberries and raspberries. Next was Vista D'Oro where we gathered beans, fennel, and some beautiful tomatoes. They also have a small cooking school there and a store filled with delicious homemade jams and other items. The next stop was Glorious Garnish and Seasonal Salads. Susan kindly let us pick edible flowers, all types of lettuce, garnish, herbs and mulberries. We are thrilled that we will be able to serve our guests such lovely ingredients next week. 
We stopped to eat our packed lunch. The previous day in school we cooked up a Middle Eastern and Latin buffet (the last casual cooking day of the course). On Sunday we will be finalizing most of our menu and we will be cooking for guests on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. 
