Culinary Highs and Lows

I know I said that I was super busy, and I actually do have fair amount of other constructive activities that I could be partaking in right about now (i.e. rewriting recipes, flashcards, running (that 10 mile race is in t-minus 9 days - ha)...), but writing the blog is so much more fun!  I just woke up from a nap because the 08:30 practicals are killing me, and I have class at 08:30 AGAIN tomorrow morning (yes, that's Saturday)...BUT it is my last weekend class in the kitchen!! WOO!!!  I did, however, sign up for French classes at the school that will be turning some 10 hour days into 12 hour days and take up 3 hours on a few, otherwise free, Saturdays, but that's okay because it's all for the cause!

This week has been a crazy mix of ups and downs in the kitchen, and I am quickly starting to realize that that is just how it is.  I feel like everyday at school is a new hump on this insane roller coaster that I am on.  You either have it all together, or you don't.  Obviously, I would prefer more highs than lows, but I guess this is all part of the learning process.  The school says that you aren't required to have any previous culinary knowledge in order to go through the Basic Cuisine or Pastry classes, but I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like trying to survive this experience without at least having basic knowledge around the kitchen.

So, without further adieu, I will share with y'all some of my culinary highs and lows from this week!

I started out at 08:30 on Monday morning with a Pastry practical on puff pastry (which we had already made in Cuisine, so I was a puff pastry pro -- ha, wishful thinking) where we made apple turnovers and palmiers.  As always, the pastries that the chef made were perfect and beautiful and delicious!!!

Filling the apple turnovers

YUM!!

These are the palmiers, pretty much puff pastry rolled in lots of sugar and then folded up so they make the cute little heart shape

I had my shot at these pastries in my 12:30 practical, and they actually turned out pretty well!  It was a little touch-and-go for a while because the butter had not completely melted in my dough like it should have, so while everyone else was rolling out beautiful cream colored, homogeneous dough, my dough looked like it had leprosy.  That oven works magic though, because both pastries came out looking decent!

My palmiers!  The chef said I needed to work on folding them better, BUT he said that they could be displayed in a shop window!

Apple turnovers!  I don't think my dough rose as much as it should have, but they certainly were delicious and did not stand a chance in my apartment

 My last class of the day was a Cuisine demo, and we got to watch the chef make crab bisque...with live crab...

All of the little suckers awaiting their sauna...

Meet a velvety swimming crab

The above picture is somewhat disturbing...after we threw all of the little crabs and vegetables into screamin' hot oil, we had to smash them with a rolling pin to break them all up.  Now, this was nowhere near as disgusting as filleting the fish, but I'm not going to lie, it was pretty gnarly.  The bisque simmers for 45 minutes or so, and then it is passed through a chinois (sieve), so all of the guts and shell and stuff stay behind. 

The finished product

Now that you understand the process, let me just go ahead and tell you that my crab bisque was failure pile in a sadness bowl.  (I wish I could take credit for that, but it is from a skit by comedian Jim Gaffigan about those ridiculous KFC bowls with the chicken and corn and mashed potatoes...check it out sometime because it is hilarious!!!!)  You don't even get to see a picture of my bisque because it was not pretty.  All was going well until some of the crab/veggies browned on the bottom of the pan (which I still never really saw, even when the chef pointed it out) when it was simmering, therefore, he said it was bitter...the best part is, he tells me while he is tasting the bisque that I should have transferred pots to avoid the bitter taste...and add MORE cream to cover it up...why didn't he tell me this stuff when the incident occurred so I could fix it?!  How am I supposed to know?!  He also said I got carried away with the cayenne pepper because it was too spicy, and I am cooking for other people not myself, so it shouldn't be spicy.  Whatever, he just couldn't handle it...Cajun is in my blood!!  Oh well, I guess I will know for next time.  I did eat it for dinner that night and lunch the next day, and I thought it tasted pretty good...but I guess that's just me.  I also ate an entire baguette on my walk home because I was upset --- yikes!

After that culinary disaster, my spirits were pretty low, and I kept questioning why I was here in the first.  It's funny how I can get a compliment from the chef and it makes me happy for a little bit, and then I move on to something else; however, if I am constructively criticized, it stews in my mind for the rest of the day.  Why does that always happen?  My goal for myself is to not cry over bitter crab bisque and really try to not get so worked up about the little stuff.  After all, this is my first time ever making most of this stuff, so it definitely isn't going to be easy or perfect at the beginning.

The rest of the week went well.  I made beef consomme on Thursday, which was a whole lotta work for nothing, really.  You start with a big pot of stew, and strain it to remove the beef and bones.  Then, you make a clarification that consists of ground beef, egg whites, and aromatic veggies, and drop it in the stew broth to simmer.  It's pretty nuts because you start out with a cloudy mixture, and the egg whites and blood from the beef purify the liquid until it is completely clear!  Somehow I got stuck cutting and grinding the nasty beef while everyone else was chopping their vegetables (I am still not sure how I got suckered into that job...), but it gave me an opportunity to talk to the chef!  He is an older gentleman with grown kids, and he kindly let me know (in very broken English) that the French have a lot to learn when it comes to hamburgers and that his favorite song is Georgia on My Mind.  Isn't that adorable?!  My consomme clarified properly and came out crystal clear, thank the Lord!!

We added all of the veggies to work on our knife skills

The week rounded out with chocolate eclairs and chouquettes that I made this morning.  The chouquettes looked good, but the chef said my eclairs needed to be a little bit bigger.

School hasn't consumed ALL of my free time this week (only the majority of it), and Nicole and I went to a one man comedy show on Wednesday night called, "How To Be Parisian in an Hour".  He pretty much made fun of Parisians, Americans, and everyone in between, and it was hysterical!  We had a perfect little French dinner before at a cafe down the street, and it was delicious!

I had the veal Piccata and Nicole had a beef dish with mashed potatoes

Waiting outside the theater to go in

Nicole went up on stage and passed the test on "How to Become Parisian in an Hour!"

Tomorrow morning we are making roasted chicken with garden vegetables, so I will make sure to let y'all know how that goes!

Gooooooooooooo Dawgs!  Sic 'em! Woof, woof, woof, woof!!!!!

- à tout à l’heure!