Week one of culinary school was over and done last Friday, and all I have to say is I've learned so much this past week!! If you ask anyone I know you will find out that before school started I was a whole lotta nervous about starting this new adventure, being in school again and making friends, my nerves were definitly jumping! But, as we all have settled in to our class, have gotten to feel more comfortable around Chef Luke, and continue to get to know one another it has helped me to really enjoy the time I spend learning about something I love, FOOD.
Above are some of the cuts I have been practicing in my Foundations class, pont neuf (the 1/2 inch potato sticks on the left), mignonette (the 1/4 inch potato sticks), and allumette (the 1/8 inch potato sticks). On the right are some dices, also referred to as macedoine and above paysanne (the pizza shaped carrots). Chef Luke is encouraging us to practice as much as possible at home and to also create muscle memory when we use our knives. These may seem like everyday cuts that you may see in a restaurant etc, and you may think, "That doesn't look that hard!", but my are you mistaken! Try doing those cuts in a minute and then tell me they are easy!! Well, maybe not that fast, I don't want you to lose a finger, but you get my point. Being able to learn all these cuts and being able to chop, dice, and pont neuf in record time is what the people in the food industry expect from us so we practice and practice!
This little gem is the tournes cut, a 7-sided football shape used for cooking poatos, carrots, and other veggies at the same rate, while still being decorative. I haven't quite got the hang of it yet, but I am practicing. I have to admit this cut was harder than I had first imagined and after doing five of these potatoes my hand was shaking because my muscles aren't used to this kind of work-out!! Chef says it is a "diamond in the rough" and I have to agree. We have also been learning about food safety and the millions of food born illnesses that can occur, but I won't gross you out and just get to the good stuff:-p
The other AMAZINGLY AWESOME thing about culinary school is all the free food we get to try. Last Friday, after class we were invited over to another classroom where that particular class was presenting their food for their buffet day! We were asked to try the food and rate it to see which group was the best, look at all that delicious food!!:)
This was my plate...I love food!!
This particular dish was very interesting to me, it was a cold cantaloupe and brandy soup. It tasted like a liquid pumpkin pie with a hint of brandy, a great concept and my favorite item out of the entire buffet.
Oh, and in the middle of the week I was able to pop these babies out, cream cheese blueberry scones. I made some tweaks to this alternate recipe, and I have to say, these were pretty darn good!! Maybe even better than the ones I had made last year!! They reminded me so much of Diamond Head Grill's and made me a little homesick.
I hope everyone's week is going well and you are all baking or cooking up deliciousness in your own kitchens!!:)
4 comments:
Love it! This is so your calling :)
yay! i'm so excited for you and sooo soo happy you're following your dreams! you're going to do so well! :)
oh my gosh, those cuts look beautiful! i need to learn how to chop better too haha. maybe you can teach me? ;-)
also, i loooooove that you get to sample what the other classes are making. it kinda makes all your hard work so worth it!
Oooh, can you tell us what you did to tweak the recipe for the Blueberry Cream Cheese Scones? I tried the original recipe and just used half and half instead of milk. I don't know if it really changed anything.
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