Day 59 was the midterm and we all passed! It wasn't nearly as nerve racking as I had originally thought it would be. I drew #3, which was a great number. Victor served first, then Bobbie, then me. Mark followed, then Tomas was #5. We all made consomme and the thick-cut pork chops with pommes …
Continue reading Days 60-66: Level 4, family meals, a saw and a machete
As mentioned yesterday, I cooked fish en papillote (parchment paper) today. Anne got the salmon and Rachelle and I got the striped bass for our fishes. I wish we would have had the chance to fillet this sea bass that Level 5 got today: Nonetheless, our dishes were spectacular with salmon and striped bass and …
Continue reading Day 58 – Bass en papillote, an Italian-style dinner, and purple cauliflower
For the past 2 days, I have been smelling chocolate while we cook. It's most definitely from the pastry folks in the pastry program and today it got the better of me. I begged Chef Tomm to include chocolate chip cookies in my menu of salad nicoise and thick cut pork chops with greenpeppercorn sauce …
Days 50 and 51 were last Thursday and Friday. It was pretty much more of the same as we'd been doing in Level III - 2 dishes a day under time pressure, plus a second day of Sous Vide thrown in on Friday. On the Day 2 of Sous Vide, we tasted our short ribs …
Continue reading Days 50, 51 and 52 – More Sous Vide, BLTs (at home) and creme puffs!
So, I don't really have any "new" shots of food from school, as we've been rotating many of the items I've already posted pictures of in the past. This feature picture is Branzino with a sauce Americain. Sauce Americain is made by sauteeing lobster shells & legs, and shrimp shells; adding carrots, onions, and garlic; …
Continue reading Days 48 and 49 – More time pressure in the kitchen and some delights at home
Yesterday was day 1 of Sous Vide, which means "under pressure" in French. Can you tell which steak was seared in a pan and put in the oven and which one was sous vide and then seared on the outside for a quick minute afterwards? Each of the steaks and pieces on the right in …
I have been woefully remiss in posting this past week, so this is going to be a long post. I’m going to start out with a recipe of my new favorite dessert (of the week) – the lemon tart. The filling in this tart is fabulous, as it contains about 4-5 fresh lemons! I’m still …
Chef Tomm gave each of us a chance to create two courses of our own choosing using at least 2 of the 3 proteins he picked: ahi tuna, calamari and shrimp/prawns (differing sizes). He went around and labeled our stations with "A-1", "A-2" and so on. I set up at A-1 prior to the labeling …
The grapefruit, fennel, artichoke, watercress and walnut salad was delicious. The grapefruit vinaigrette was so nice and light, especially due to the sweetness of the fresh grapefruits we worked with today. Here's the recipe (it's really simple): 1-2 Tablespoons walnut oil, 2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons fresh grapefruit juice you reserved after …
Friday was crepe day! For all the things I have made in my life, never have I made crepes. There are so many crepe eateries in San Francisco that if I want one - and a good one - there are places to go. I think the best part of making them was trying to …
Salty Apron 