Poaching is illegal...NOT IN COOKING!!!! Day 25!!!

Hello Food Diary and Hungry Bloggers!

Poached Salmon with
Rice Pilaf and tourned zucchinis

Poached Salmon 

It is another fabulous day in the Le Cordon Bleu kitchen, and it is our last lesson of the term. This is both an exciting moment, and a scary one...with the end comes finals (DUN, DUN, DUN!!!). After today I have three grueling days of testing (everyone wish me luck!). I love being in the kitchen...but this class has sure kicked my butt!!! I am looking forward to a small summer break and a chance to regroup and prepare for Culinary Foundations 3! I have decided that I am going to start my reading early and get ahead and make life easier for myself down the road. I have grown to love my two chefs and will be sad to move on to a new class... but life must go continue! Today, I am going  to keep this blog short and sweet...I have 3 days of finals to study for...so I need to hit the books! Today was Our last lesson in Les Cuissons, and we learned how to poach. Poaching is the process of cooking something in a large amount of simmering water. On the menu for today was Poached Salmon with Rice Pilaf, tourned zucchinis, and a buerre blanc suace (this is one our dishes on the final), and Fillets of Sole Bonne Femme (A dish with fillets of Sole fish, sliced potatoes and mushrooms covered in veloute sauce). Today I did well on both of my dishes. My Fillets of Sole Bonne Femme came out nice (it looked a little funky, but chef said it was fine)...I had a little too much flour in my Veloute sauce. My poached salmon looked great!!! I finished early today so I got to spend extra time working on my plating (and I got to use the new plate I just bought!) :) I think it came out really cool! Chef loved my new plate and she thought my presentation was really nice. I over cooked my salmon just a tad (Chef said that was partially because I was given a tiny piece of fish)...but otherwise everything was delicious! Today was a very relaxed day...I like to call it the "Calm before the storm." Tomorrow marks the start of my finals! We will be taking the written exam...and then we have the rest of class to practice our 4 dishes for the practical finals on Wednesday and Thursday!! Yikes!!! :)

Fillets of Sole Bonne Femme

Off to study!!

-Chef Kass In Training!

I Love the Fishes Cause They're So Delicious! Day 24!!!

Hello Food Diary and Hungry Bloggers!

Poeled chicken thigh/leg
with glazed turnips and a pan gra

Today we worked more on chicken, but we also got the pleasure of fabricating a fish...NOT easy. I had a very hard time today. Filleting a fish is A LOT harder than it looks. Chef made it look like a cinch...but that was not the case. Today in our Les Cuissons lessons was Le Poeler and Le Sauter. Le poeler is a humid roasting method...where you cook your protein covered with a little bit of liquid. Le suater is sauteing...cooking in a small amount of hot fat. On the menu was a poeled chicken thigh/leg with glazed turnips and a pan gravy, and Sole Meuniere (a breaded, sauted fish fillet with a brown butter sauce and lemon). I started off class with my chicken, and I saved my fillet-ing for last...which was the worst idea! I should have gotten it out of the way first! Anyways, I seared the skin of my chicken leg with clarified butter. Once it was nice and brown I covered it and put it in the oven. From there I had to baste it every 5-10 minutes. After about 20 minutes I added some nicely chopped mirepoix (carrots and onions), and continued to cook and baste. While that was in the oven I tourned my turnips, and started glazing them. After about an hour I had everything done and ready to turn in. My plating looked great...but I had no time left! I quickly turned in my plate (didn't wait for my critique) and got started on my fish.

Lonely, broken, Sole Meuniere. :(

I was filleting a flat Sole fish. This fish is really weird looking! If you have never seen one...it has both of its eyes on one side of its body...but its mouth curves around like normal (how this thing functions in real life is a mystery to me!) Any-who...I had to start off by scaling it, making my cuts (a flat fish has 4 fillets where as a normal round fish has 2), and then skinning it. I was in such a rush doing this that I didn't learn much about the proper way to do it. My cuts were very sloppy and embarrassing. I literally had no time left, so I took my first cut and started cooking it. (we were supposed to turn in 4 fillets...but I figured one would be better than none) I dredged it through flour and threw it in my saute pan. While that was going I attempted to make my brown butter...but that did not work out. Time was up, so I plated my sad, broken, lonely fish, threw on my nice lemon garnish (this is where my extra time went), and gave it to chef. My chicken plate had still not made it up to the front of the grading table so I had both of my dishes for her to grade at once. She took my chicken and said it looked great...but once she touched it she said it was overcooked...by a lot! Ugh. She did say it had great flavor though, and my turnips were good as well. (could have been worse). Now onto my disaster plate. (Although I was very thankful to get anything turned in...this was embarrassing!) She looked at it and then looked at me. She saw it on my face...and knew that I already understood what was wrong with it. I told her I hadn't expected filleting a fish to be that hard...so I didn't manage my time properly (surprise! my biggest problem!). Chef was reassuring and said...it was my first time fabricating a fish and not to be so hard on myself..."it is a hard thing to do." A little disappointed in myself I started my dishes. Thank goodness it is the weekend! I need some time to regroup! Next week I will be back and shining!

Until next time!! Cook on!

- Chef Kass In Training!

Stuff It!! Day 23!!!

Hello Food Diary and Hungry Bloggers!!

Pounding my chicken breast!

It is day 23 and once again our main focus is on chicken (bawk, bawk). Today was kind of a cool day! As many times as I have cooked chicken in my life...I have never done what we did today! On our menu was a Ballotine stuffed (de-boned) chicken leg with a pecan butter, and a Chicken breast Roulade stuffed with Duxelle (a minced mushroom stuffing) - everything was served together with glazed carrots and roasted Peruvian potatoes. To start off I had to make my stuffing and get my veggies going. So I cut my carrots, got them on the stove and started roasting my potatoes. Then I had to de-bone my chicken leg...not such an easy task (and kind of gross). To de-bone you have to cut the meat away from the bone little by little being careful not to puncture the skin of the chicken (you don't want any holes when you are stuffing).

Me and my Pig Stomach
 Lining...Yummy!

Roulade wrapped in pig stomach lining.
My little "present"

Once That was done I had to pound out my chicken breast - this needed to be super thin so I could stuff it and roll it. Now that my chicken was all prepped and ready, it was time to stuff those babies! I nicely packed my de-boned leg full of pecan butter (Sauted shallots, garlic, chopped pecans, parsley, bread crumbs and butter). Then seasoned it and put it in the oven. Then I moved on to my roulade. I placed my Duxelle in the middle of my flattened chicken breast and rolled it up. Now here is the coolest part!!!! I took a grotesque looking pig stomach lining and wrapped up my roulade like a nice little present! :) It looks so nasty...but tastes so good! I took my little "present" and sauted it until browned and crisp on the outside, then finished it in the oven with my stuffed leg. Those took about 30 minutes to finish cooking.
By that time I had all of my side dishes finished. I let my chickens rest for a few minutes while I made my sauce...then plated everything! Looked yummy! I handed my plate to chef and she said "looks wonderful." She tasted my roulade first and said it was "really good and nicely seasoned" Then she moved on to my Ballotine. "You over cooked it. Don't base you cooking time on the temperature of the stuffing, but the feel of the chicken.Otherwise good flavor." I wasn't used to cooking chicken in this way, so it was a new concept for me...and I needed to work on it. Not a bad critique...I was pretty happy! I tasted my food when she was done and it was sooo good! It was hard to stop eating and move on to my clean up!

I will leave you with a word of advice...


“The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.”


(I felt like this was a good cooking quote... patience is a virtue, and is very helpful in the kitchen...plus it's chicken day..so a chicken reference makes it all the more relevant! ) :)


Bon Appetit!

- Chef Kass In Training!

The Ins and the Outs of a Chicken! Day 22!!

Hello Food Diary and Hungry Bloggers!!

Why dose the chicken coop always have 2 doors?
- because if it had 4 doors it would be a sedan! :)

Trussed, raw chicken.

Chicken roasting on a
bed of mirepoix.

CHICKEN!!! Today was all about chicken! We have moved onto yet another Les Cuissons: Le Rotir (roasting). We only had to cook one dish today...which was nice for me because there wasn't a whole lot of time management needed, and I was more or less familiar with what we were making. As well as cooking, we also learned how truss (tie up) and fabricate (cut up) a whole, raw chicken (so nasty!). I hate raw chicken it grosses me out. (I guess I better get over that asap...I'm pretty sure I will be cutting up many a raw chicken in my studies!) On the menu for today was a roasted Cornish Game Hen with tourned glazed vegetables. We started class of with a lesson on how to truss our chicken. The purpose for trussing is to give a nice shape to your chicken and to hold it together while it cooks. Trussing was a breeze. After the lesson we were on our own. I got together my mise and started my dish. Before I even touched my chicken I made sure to get all my veggies chopped up and ready to prevent any cross contamination. Raw chicken can carry salmonella (not a fun thing to get), so you want to avoid any contact with other foods while dealing with it. I finished all the tournes for my glazed vegetable side dish (carrots, turnips, potatoes, and pearl onions.) and got them on the stove simmering with water and a tiny bit of sugar. Then I clean my chicken, dried it off really well and seasoned the inside and skin with salt and pepper. I trussed it and was ready to start the cooking! I learned a cool trick today. If you saute the skin of your chicken in hot butter (until it lightly browns) before you put it in the oven, you will get a really nice crispy skin in the end! I got my saute on and then placed my cute little hen on a nice big bed of mirepiox and stuck it in the oven (350F). Now time to play the waiting game. While my meal was cooking, chef gave us a demo on how to truss our chickens. After the demo, I checked on my roasting hen and it was done! I set it in some foil and started making the gravy with the yummy fat and suc (suc is those crusty drippings that you get on the bottom of your pan after roasting your chicken...they are a delight!!!) in the pan. I put my pan on the stove, sanjed with a little flour (for thickening purposes), deglazed with chicken stock (making sure to scrape every last bit of suc off the bottom), and let it reduce. Once reduced I salted it, strained it and I was done! I plated my cute little hen, arranged my veggies in an arts fashion, and lightly drizzled my gravy onto my plate. I topped everything with parsley and presented my lovely dish! I was one of the first people to finish today, which made me really happy. Chef sliced open my chicken, "This is cooked perfectly, sauce is good, veggies could use a tiny bit less sugar...great job!" YAY!!! I am back on track...I just need to keep this up! Now it is time for the fabrication... eeek.

Add caption

Roasted Chicken with glazed vegetables.

 Not looking forward to this...I took my raw chicken and began to slice away. Chef made it look really easy...it is not. Finding the right place to cut feels like walking through a corn maze...you don't know what to do next. I did my best to remember what she told us and sliced it up. I didn't do to bad...I missed a few things...but I was pretty satisfied. (it was my first time...I cant always be perfect.) I wrapped up my chicken and put it in the fridge for tomorrow. Overall today was a satisfying day! I did well with my time and got good feed back on my cooking...plus I have a whole hen to take home for lunch! :) I am excited to see what tomorrow brings!!

Cluck, cluck, cluck (that's chicken talk for have a great night!)
-Chef Kass In Training!

Pork...the other white meat!! Day 21!!

Hello Food Diary and Hungry Bloggers!!

Escalope de Veau a la Creme with Petits a la Francoise

It is day 21, and a week away from our finals!! Yikes! Today we made two of the four dishes that will be on our final exam. We have also moved on to two more of our seven Les Cuissons: Le Griller and Le Sauter. On the menu was a delicious Grilled Cotes de Porc Charcuterie with Pommes Puree (Grilled pork Chops with sauce Robert and mashed potatoes) and Escalope de Veau a la Creme with Petits a la Francoise (Pan seared Veal with a mushroom cream sauce, mashed potatoes, and a seared bacon lettuce salad). I'm am seriously feeling the intensity of this class...and my nerves are getting the best of me. Today, like yesterday was a frantic struggle for me. I was a mess! I kept burning things and having to redo them, and I barley finished all my food before the presenting window was closed. I need massive help with my time management.

Pounding out my veal!

FLAMBE!!!!!

Searing my flour
dredged veal patties.

I started with the veal dish. First off, I took my veal steak and pounded it out with my mallet until it was really thin. Once it was ready I cut it in half, seasoned it, dredged (coated) it in flour and threw it into my saute pan with some hot butter. I cooked it until lightly brown (for about a minute), then I took it off and kept it in some foil. I then threw my sliced mushrooms into the hot butter and sauted them. After the mushrooms were browned, I cranked up my heat and flambeed them with cognac (this was the coolest thing I have ever done!!). My whole pan lit up with flames and I tossed my mushrooms around getting the full effect of the flambe. I had most of the class watching...it was awesome! The flame lasted for only a few seconds. When the excitement was over everyone got back to work. I added veal stock to my mushrooms and let it reduce until nappe (coating the spoon). When I had the perfect consistency I added cream, salt, and my cooked veal patties. While all this was going on I had already started my mashed potatoes, so those were done. I put my veal on a low heat and quickly made my seared lettuce salad. I rendered my bacon in a saute pan...burned it, and had to start over. UGH. I grabbed new bacon and tried again. Once my bacon was done (a little too over done, again) I added my blanched pearl onions, and a little bit of sugar. I deglazed my pan with water and let it cook out. Last but not least, I added my peas and lettuce until hot. I was finished with my whole dish! I plated my mashed potatoes, placed my veal on top, added my sauce and salad...vioa! I turned it in to chef, "Very nice. Good flavor on your sauce. On your salad make sure not to over cook your bacon." Not a bad critique! Now onto my pork chop!

Grilled Cotes de Porc Charcuterie
with Pommes Puree

Pork chop!

I spent way too much time on my first dish. I only had 20 minutes left and I had a raw pork chop sitting on my station waiting for me to cook it. Lets see how this goes... I quickly took my pork chop to the grill. I needed to get good grill marks before I finished it in the oven. Grill marks are not as easy as they look! I had a little trouble with the first side...so I flipped it over and tried again...I was able to get decent grill marks. I frantically took my pork covered it with foil and placed it in the oven. I started my sauce Robert...In a saute pan I added butter and chopped onions, and let them sweat. Then I added white wine and white wine vinegar and let that reduce until almost dry. I added some veal stock, gherkin juice, peppercorns, mustard, and let it reduce until nappe. When ready I slowly swirled in cold squares of butter to make it creamy. When it was done I added sliced gherkins. My time was up. I took my pork chop out of the oven hoping it was done and set it aside while I plated my mashed potatoes. I uncovered my pork...it looked good!! I placed it on top of my potatoes and drizzled some of my sauce along the side. I don't know how I was able to finish this dish...but I did...barely. I turned it in and waited for the feedback...nervously. Chef cut into my pork....not raw!!! Yay, it had finished cooking! She said I had cooked it just the right amount, "it had just the right amount of pink." She tasted my sauce and said "It was to vinegary and I needed to reduce it more than I did when I added the vinegar." My results weren't nearly as bad as I was expecting! I must have had the food fairy looking after me today...I cant believe I was able to get my pork cooked in time. Today was a stressful day for me...I am feeling a little defeated and it has put me in a weird mood. I am kind of contemplating whether or not I am cut out for this. Time management is my set back. If I can just figure out how to organize my thoughts and production schedule in a way that works for me I would really prevail. I just need to relax and go to bed. Tomorrow is a new day, and a chance for me to try again.

Until next time!

-Chef Kass In Training!

Fish and Chips!! Day 20!

Hello Food Diary and Hungry Food Bloggers!!

I hope you all had a great weekend! I did a lot of great eating this weekend! I am a member of a club at school called "The No Reservations Club." This club is all about eating :) We pick restaurants that are great eats, but aren't necesarily the most fine in dining, and go as a group to eat! (sounds fun, I know!) This weekend was the second outing we have had since my school career has started. We went to a little pizza joint called Tomato Pie, and let me tell you...this is where I will be eating pizza from now on! The food was amazing! Wes and I got four slices (BBQ Chicken, Hot Wing Pizza, Veggie, and Sicilian Peperoni) and an order of garlic knots. We couldn't finish it all but I love cold pizza leftovers!!

Enough about my weekend! Lets get down to the cooking! It is day two of our Braiser and Frier lesson. On the plate for today is Fried Fish Fillets with pommes frites and tartar sauce (Fish and Chips), and Braised Lettuce (a cooked lettuce pouch stuffed with bacon, shallots, parsley, breadcrumbs and an egg.). I started on my lettuce first...I was a little iffy about cooking a leaf of lettuce...it sounded kind of weird (But I am a chef now and I need to keep my mind open to new experiences!) I blanched my leaves of lettuces, stuffed them with my mixture and then I had to fold them into little pouches. Folding a soggy piece of lettuce is not an easy thing to do, it is very delicate! Once I had my cute little lettuce pouches I put them in a saute pat with chicken stock, sliced carrots and onions and I simmered them until the stock was reduced by 3/4. Then I plated them and gave them to chef. She said they "tasted good, but my stock had reduced a little too much, making my sauce to thick." I was ok with that critique...it wasn't too bad considering I had never even heard of a stuffed, braised lettuce pouch. :) I tasted my finished product after critique and I have to say they were delicious...I will be making them again!

Now that I had my braised lettuce out of the way I moved onto my fish and chips! I didn't have a whole lot of time left, but it shouldn't take to long to get this dish finished. I had everything prepped and cut already and all I had to do was through it in the fryer and put it on a plate. Easier said than done...I share my cooking station with 3 other people, and we were all sharing one pot of oil for frying. Everyone chose to do they're fish and chips last and it was a nightmare. With only 5 minutes to go, I was waiting for the others to finish up with the oil...I might not get this done! Soon the oil was free and I threw in my batter/breaded fish...that cooked fast. I took it out and put it on a paper towel to drain the excess oil. While I was doing that I threw in my fries...one minute left. Yikes! With seconds left on the clock I took my fries out and they were still soggy :( Once again I have to serve food that I knew was bad. I don't like that at all! Chef said my fish was cooked nicely, and I needed to make sure the breading was consistent on the fillet before I threw it in the oil. She also said I was a little "heavy handed on the cayenne pepper" (what can I say? I love spicy food!). She didn't say much about my fries...she knew that I was well aware of what I did wrong and how to fix it. All and all today wasn't to bad of a day. I have learned that frying food is not my specialty and I need some practice. Tomorrow we move on to Griller and Sauter! Cant wait!

I bid you Adieu!




-Chef Kass In Training!

Fried Shrimp and Lamb Stew Day 19

Hello Food Diary and Hungry Bloggers!!

TGIF!!! It is Friday and I am sure glad it is the weekend! Today was our first day of cooking actual proteins!!(yay!) I have moved on from side dishes up to the head honcho of the meal! Today was also our first day of cooking Les Cuissons (Lay Kwee-Saun). Les Cuissons are the different types of cooking methods. There are seven total and here they are: Le Brasiser (to braise), Le Frire (to fry), LeGriller (to grill), Le Sauter (to saute), Le Rotir (to roast), Le Poeler (to humid roast), and Le Pocher (to poach). We will be practicing each of these before the term is over, but today we are getting our Frier and Braiser on! On the menu is Navarin of Lamb (Lamb stew), and Beginets de Gambas with Curried Mayonnaise (Fried Shrimp). Yummy!!! So here we go...

After the demo from the chefs I got started on my Lamb dish. I took my piece of lamb and sliced it into little 1 inch cubes. Then I threw it in a sauce pot with a little butter to get a nice brown sear on the outside. I didn't want to fully cook it on the stove because it was going straight into the oven to finish. Once ready, I took my lamb and set it aside. I used the fat still in my pot to sweat my aromatics (onions, carrots, garlic). Then I added tomato paste until fully heated and mixed in, and sanjed everything with flour...this will thicken my sauce, making it a more stew like consistency. After sanjeing I added a sliced tomato, some water, my bouquet garni, and my chunks of lamb. I covered the whole pot with tin foil and put it into the oven to braise for about 45 minutes. While my stew was in the oven I prepared my garnish for the top - the garnish consisted of tourned (tourne is a type of fancy knife cut - it has seven sides and looks like a football) carrots, turnips, pearl onions, peas, and green beans. I threw my carrots, turnips and onions into a saute pan, added a chunk of butter, some water, sugar and salt - covered it and let it simmer until tender. I blanched my green beans until tender and set them aside. Once my stew was done I took it out  of the oven threw in my peas, checked for flavoring (it needed a bit of salt), then I nicely poured it into a bowl. I topped it with my glazed veggies and some chopped parsley and served it to my chef! "Perfect! Great consistency, color and flavor. Great job." Yay, chef liked it! I was really happy about my results on this one because this dish was one of the 4 dishes on the final. It was a relief to get good comments!





Now onto my shrimp...easy as pie....or so I thought (dun, dun, duuun). I made my breading which consisted of flour, cornstarch, baking soda, and water. Then I de-veined my shrimp, dipped them into the batter and threw them into the fryer. BAD MOVE!  The oil in the fryer was wayyyy to hot!! My shrimp almost immediately browned (burned) on the outside and were left raw on the inside. I don't know how anyone else at my station was able to get acceptable shrimp using this oil...maybe they weren't?? I didnt have any time to redo my mistake so I had to turn in what I made. Very upset with my results, I handed chef my plate with a little advisory. "Shrimp are still raw on the inside...do not eat!" :( We talked about what went wrong and she gave me some advice for the next time we fry something..."Check the oil temp before you throw your stuff into it" (you would think I would know that already...and I do...I just didn't put it into practice today). So...very depressed that I didn't get to enjoy my delicious fried shrimp, I started on my dishes. Time for the weekend!

I hope you all have a great weekend! Mine will be filled with cooking, studying, cooking and some more cooking...but I will eat like a queen! :)

Talk to ya'll on Monday!

- Chef Kass In Training!