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!
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