Culinary School - Q2 Week 8

Tuesday Class - Concepts and Theories of Culinary Techniques


Chef has a quiz for us tonight.  It is on the Safety and Sanitation class that most of the class is taking online to get their servsafe certificate.  I took this class at Mission College two years ago and already have my certificate so I don't have to take this class here.  Unfortunately for me, it's been two years since I studied any of this stuff.  The test is 80 multiple choice questions.  As I look at it, most of it comes back to me.  After the test we are free to go home!  I stop at the Kohls on El Camino Real for Mogo BBQ!  Now I know why my friend Rene has been stalking Mogo, and BBQ Kalbi.  Amazing spicy pork tacos!  I start following food trucks on twitter.  Big Mistake!  I am now possessed by the whole food truck movement.  I found out about "Off the Grid" which is an event at Fort Mason in San Francisco on Friday nights.  They have something like 35 food trucks selling everything from Creme Brulee to Mushroom Empanadas to Roasted Duck Tacos.  DELISH!

Week 8 Vocabulary
Concepts & Theories of Culinary Techniques Vocabulary Assignment Week 8


Basket Frying – using the basket on a fryolator.
Broil – a method of cooking with dry heat coming from an overhead source.
Court Bouillon – water simmered with vegetables, seasonings and an acid for poaching fish.
Cuisson – French for quick braising.
Deep-Fry - cook by submerging in hot oil.
Double Basket Frying – putting food into one basket and then placing another basket on top of it to keep food submerged.
Fumet – a stock made with fish bones.
Grill – a dry heat cooking method with heat coming from below the food.
Pan-Fry – placing food in a moderate amount of fat and cooking on the stove top.
Poach – to cook by submerging in simmering water.
Recovery Time – the amount of time a cooking liquid takes to return to the desired temp after putting food into it.
Saute – cooking over high heat with just a little bit of hot fat.
Shallow Poach – a combination of poaching and steaming food, usually vegetables.
Simmer – cooking food by submerging it in a hot liquid that is just below the boiling point.
Smoke Point – the temperature at which oil will smoke.
Swimming – foods are gently dropped into hot fat and allowed to swim to the surface.
NAMPS – National Association of Meat Purveyors.
W.O.G – with out gizzards.
C.A.B – Certified Angus Beef.
Grillardin – the person that is responsible for the grilled foods in the Brigade system.
Wagyu – a type of cattle bred with a high predisposition for marbling.
Steak Tartare – ground steak mixed with eggs, onions, capers. Eaten raw.
Carpaccio – a dish of raw meat (generally beef, but sometimes veal, venison, salmon or tuna) sliced super thin.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT

Recipes for tonight are: Sole Meuniere, Whipped Herbed Potatoes, Italian Style Sauteed Spinach, and Steak au Poivre.

Chef has us draw numbers, all the 1's together, all the 2's together and so on.  I am paired with Bobby, Eva and Jerry.  Jerry is going to cook the Sole.  I am on Steak au Poivre, Bobby does the Whipped potatoes and Eva does the Spinach.  We work together like a real team.  We push each other and are the first to present to Chef.  The sole was perfectly golden.  It tasted delicious.  Chef also said my beef was perfectly cooked and he was happy that I didn't over cook it.  It's hard to get it cooked properly because the beef is so thin.  Everything was yummy delish!  I had a great team to work with and I was happy when at the end of the night we left the kitchens at 9:15!

Steak Au Poivre with Italian Spinach

Sole Meuneier with Italian Spinach

THURSDAY NIGHT
Recipes for tonight are: Pan Fried Chicken, Sauteed Chicken Chardonnay, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Basic Pasta.
 
Chef has decided to play a different game tonight.  He picks three people randomly and makes them captains.  Then they pick their teams.  I have flashbacks of getting picked last in high school.  Fortunately, I am the second pick for my team.  The last pick is the one I was dreading.  The guy I can't stand. Crud!  So the team for tonight will be Jerry, Jesse, Eva, Me and Ed.  We divide up duties.  Eva is on Sprouts, Jerry will do the Chicken Chardonnay, Jesse is on Potatoes, Ed is on Pan Fried Chicken, leaving me with Pasta.  I have never made pasta.  I know its pretty easy though.  Except that I didn't realize we were making pasta when we were getting our equipment out of the cupboards.  The ones Chef locks 30 minutes after class starts to train us to get everything we need for our meals.  I did find a rolling pin so I had that, but I had to do everything for the pasta by hand.  No machine.  I ended up making something that was a cross between fettucini and spaghetti.  I had made compound butter the night before so after I boiled my pasta, I tossed it into a saute pan with the compound butter and some garlic.  It went on the plates with the Sauteed Chicken Chardonnay and some Brussel Sprouts.  Ed was screwing around making ribs that he brought into class and some chicken wings that Chef found and not working on his food.  I kept saying we needed to concentrate on our food for the night but he just kept doing his own thing.  It made me mad so I just walked away and worked on my pasta.  It was almost our time to present to Chef and Ed tried to change the time because he wasn't ready. Chef saw that and made us present at our original time.  As it was, Ed's sauce was too thick and he had used the wrong chicken.  I hope Chef doesn't mark us all down because of that. 

Pan Fried Chicken

Sauteed Chicken Chardonnay with Handmade Pasta

 
Next week, Braising!
 
Ciao!