Good heavens, time flies

Time sure goes fast when you're in lab all the time, or at school. Today we talked about vegetables and spices. We also had some good food to eat. Yesterday I spent the lab time making a quinoa stew. For the last two days we've had to work in a different kitchen because the international kitchen was being used for something else. We were in chef Diane's kitchen, and she's nice, but definitely a no nonsense sort of chef. I'm sure I'll learn a lot from her class when I get to it, but I am also scared of her. Of course, I think as long as one follows her guidelines and does what she says to be done, there shouldn't be a problem.
I think one of the days it was being used for a black box, and the next it was being used for a competition between the Murrays. (Chef Dean won.) The black box is something that we have to get through before we go on our externships. Chef Ron came from the other building to judge.
I though my quinoa was a bit salty, but people still seemed to eat it this morning.
Yesterday we had the switchel I made on Monday lab, and that was very nice. It took longer than I'd have liked because again I was working in an unfamiliar kitchen.
With all the time I've been spending, however, by the time I have to take the classes that use those kitchens, I should be fairly good at finding my way around. So I'm not going to be too upset at spending this time now.
During lab today I was hoping to get a shrimp stir-fry made, but again, it took time to find stuff, since I was back in the international kitchen. At least I got all the prep work done, and the rest of it is easy to put together.

Pesto and Legumes

On Wednesday we spent time in class making pesto for a team challenge. My team made the one with cilantro, lemon juice and pumpkin seeds. I liked it, since I like cilantro, but we still didn't win a point. Darn. And we were the first one to win points too. We also had a really tender and moist roasted chicken with fresh bay leaves under the skin. A nice, simple preparation, but delicious.
I went to lab later and helped to make lemonades with herbs. There was also hummus and tabbouleh, and different rolled flank steaks being experimented on. I thought the flavours were good, especially since that also meant I didn't have to go hungry, but I'm not sure I care for flank steak. It's one of the tough ones, and I think it could have braised longer to be more tender, and also to get flavour into the meat.
But due to the efforts of the lab, we had lots of good food to eat on Thursday morning. I loved the mint lemonade and hummus. The other bean dishes were very comforting to eat too. I can't wait for the winter when I can cook up a nice batch for my family and friends.
We also saw all kind of legumes and grains. I wish I'd had a chance to cook up the quinoa I'd bought. Maybe I can play with quinoa in lab. There was also something called amaranth I'd like to try.
Maybe it's just that I've eaten a lot of meats lately, but I sort of feel as if my body is craving more fruits, veggies and legumes.

American regional cuisine and herbs

Yesterday we spent the day talking about the different kinds cuisines that can be found in the United States. I've had the chance to try some of these things, and usually try to keep an open mind, but I have to wonder why one would want to eat food that looks burnt. We got to try different kinds of cheeses and meats. Now, I'm a cheese lover, but I have to say that I found one particularly challenging. I don't think I'll be spending any hard earned money on that stuff. We also reviewed the test we had last Friday. Suffice it to say that so far my grade is not in any danger.
Today we had the chance to look and smell herbs. I took lots of pictures. We really need scratch and sniff pictures! We also got to eat them in quesadillas for breakfast. I have to say this class is weird in the stuff I get to eat in the morning. Of course, eventually I have to take a bar and beverage class. I wonder about the wine tastings.
Talked to a couple of other chefs today. I'm joining the blue chippers, and I also asked about things I can do after graduation. Never too early to start thinking about such things. Maybe I should quit my job tutoring math and find a job doing something culinarily related?

Flavours of the World

After a nice week of summer break, during which I finally managed to catch up on sleep, we've been back to class for a week now. Since it's at a campus that's slightly further away, I've had to get up earlier, or else skip some things I usually do in the mornings. The class starts off in one of the demo kitchens. We've had the chance to look at all kinds of salt, as well as try our hands at figuring out what different foods were on our various taste challenges. (Or should I more accurately say our mouths?) Yesterday was the day for mustard, and I must say that my team did well, but lost by half a point. Oh, well. I'm very proud that we got cranberry mustard though. We've also had a couple of chicken dishes to try, as well sausages and fruits, over the last few days. Quite a strange thing to be eating stuff like that for breakfast.
It's nice being in the main campus. I've spent a lot of time in the open labs, and even gotten some very good pictures. I was also able to help a student take food pictures for a competition. I think that I've learned a lot more in lab. We made gravlax the other day, which we tried in class yesterday morning. We also had fruit, which is much better for the morning.



We've had to keep journal entries, and also organize our notebooks into certain sections. It's actually nice. I taped samples of salts in mine. I finally got to see fleur de sel. Also got to taste and smell some other ones. So far the smokey flavoured one is my favourite of the new salts we've come across.
We've got to do better at our team challenges.
Speaking of teams, I was put into a team with the same person that I had trouble with back in the last class. I asked to switch, and so far I'm a lot happier.
I've also had some good and not so good things to eat in the student lounge area.
In this class we have a test every Friday. Our first one wasn't so bad though. At least from my point of view, the chef might as well have handed us the answers. Then again, I know very well that my own weakness is not the academic side, but rather the knife skills. So I must practise more on that, especially if I'm to do well on my finals. I am by no means going to get complacent.

No more Chef Ron..... Alas

The last couple of days of class were sort of bittersweet, as parting always is. The exams on Thursday weren't exactly fun, but at least I did well on the written one. Not a hundred percent, but there you are. The cutting exam was awful for me though. I think it was a function of my being slightly ill and also suffering from nerves. Mercifully, I still managed to pass. But I can't believe that I was so nervous that my potatoes kept jumping out of my hands. Definitely need more practice. At least, however, CA-150 is over, and we get to go on. Friday, our last day of classes, we spent cleaning and being divided up into groups, going on into our separate classes. As Chef Ron said, we'll never be gathered together in that forum again. How sad! It's been a fast 6 weeks, and we've all learned an awful lot. I think we all managed to pass, even. That's kind of nice. There's a girl who'll be staying behind to practice more, but other than that, I think we all go on, including one of the people I'm not exactly fond of in my group - oh, well, but I guess good for him. I go on to the Flavors of the World class, which should be fun. Chef Wilke came and talked to us too, about uniform standards and the such. At least in a lecture class I won't have to worry about getting dirty. But we get to try all kinds of food in this one, so I hear. I won't have to take Writing 101, so I should be able to spend some time on HW, and also maybe getting ahead in the next class. I can sure use the extra time to sleep too. The library is a nice place to hang out. Spending time doing my CA-150 homework there has taught me that I can be very efficient there.
So, it's good bye to Chef Ron and Chef Lori, but on to the rest of the culinary world.

Class final tomorrow.

The rest of week 5 was more cooking, and we actually got to deal more with recipes. Unfortunately, we also had to deal even more with personalities, and let's just say it wasn't pretty. In all honesty, we probably are all a bit at fault, but I don't understand why our group, out of all the groups, has had so much trouble getting along. In fact, today some people even asked me if I was OK, because they'd heard how some of the people in the group had talked to me at the end. Just for the record, it wasn't my fault that we were still waiting for the cream sauce at the end - I had asked several times if we shouldn't use a bechamel. The sous chef said several times that he wasn't going to use it, and then about an hour before presentation, he changed his mind. I didn't blow up or anything at any point, but I tried to tune things out when they kept asking me if the sauce was ready. It's a lucky thing for me that I knew exactly how to make the bechamel, even without looking at the recipe. Could anyone in my group today have done it at that point? Anyway, we got it done, so that's OK.
All I can say is that at least it wasn't as bad as it turned out yesterday. What an absolute disaster! We made veal and ravioli. Or should I say we tried to make veal and ravioli. It was edible, but by the end I really didn't want to eat what we'd made. I ended up talking to somebody in my group for a couple of hours, and I also told some of my friends about it over the phone. It was definitely a matter of inept leadership and cooking skills. Person X of the group came in late, to start with, and then insisted on being sous chef. That was rather less than an auspicious start, and it pretty much went downhill from there. I may never want to see another ravioli again. At the same time, I have gained some confidence in my skiil to season things, and to remain focused on my task in the midst of chaos.
Monday was at least a good day in that I got my skills sheet finished off nicely. I had a couple of cuts and some eggs left to do.
On our pasta day I got started a bit late, because I was doing some other stuff, but I ended up doing a pretty interesting pasta which I cooked off and brought home to eat later in the week. I finished off my concassee on another day while working on one of our other dishes. On Thursday I was sous chef again, and we were definitely on time - on Wednesday we were late and chef got very upset. I worked on an aioli with someone. I wish I could have brought it home, but... It was really good though. I made the Mornay sauce for spinach on Friday, which I did bring home to put over potatoes over the weekend. I also stayed behind and finished off my hollandaise. It was beautiful, and I was able to help two other people because they needed to break the hollandaise and fix it.
So what have I learned so far? Maybe this is something I already know - I do still have the ability to remain within myself. But I've also learned who are my friends in the class. Tomorrow is our exam, and then we get a break and go to the main building. Wow.