Day 3, Part 1

I went to bed last night at a "normal" time, around 10:30 pm, compared to the first two nights.  I slept fairly well I would say, although getting up at 5:30 am again was TOUGH, I must admit.

I got dressed in my chef outfit, as usual, and drove to the campus.  Very dark outside, and very rainy.  It rained practically all day, as a matter of fact.  I parked and walked to Roth Hall and to the main dining room.  I seriously was not hungry at all, but I knew I needed to eat something for some energy that I would really need the rest of the morning, so I had some rice chex cereal and banana again.  Nothing fancy.

Our original Chef Instructor Dave Bruno was back.  He was sick with a fever yesterday, but he seemed better today.  I was glad to know he was feeling better, and although I liked our substitute chef yesterday I am glad Chef Bruno returned.

We had our morning lecture on Dry-Heat Cooking without fats and oils, such as grilling, broiling, roasting, and baking.  I could see how these methods were different than yesterday's techniques (saute, stir fry, pan fry, etc).  One thing I learned on the subject of roasting is that there is carryover cooking when you roast something and take it out of the oven.  The item continues to cook once you take it out, and the temperature inside continues to rise.  So let's say you have a roast that you want cooked to 130 degrees.  Take it out of the oven at 128 degrees.  It'll continue to heat up to 130 outside the oven, and this way you will prevent the item from drying out, or overcooking.  I never thought of this, and I liked this a lot.

Do you happen to know what the scientific term is for when meat browns?  It is called the Maillard Reaction.  Interesting to know this, it has to do with how the protein molecules are changing and reacting to the heat.

Another technique I learned was for grilling.  You know those pretty grill marks that you see on meat that is grilled?  To achieve this, put your meat on the grill at a 45 degree angle, and only cook it 25% of the way done.  Pick up the meat and turn it so it is 45 degrees in the other direction, and cook it 25% more.  Flip the item and repeat on the other side for the nice grill marks.  Also, you want "medium" grill marks, not too black, and not too light.  Go for medium.

During the lecture we also talked about soups, and the different kinds and style of soups, from clear soups (Consommes, broth) to thick soups (cream, puree, bique, and chowder).  So what's the difference between a broth and a stock?  Stocks are made with bones only.  Broths are made with both bones and meat, and are served "as is".  Stocks are used in other applications and aren't served as is. 

The lecture was good, and then we went over the menus for the day.  Team Two's menu was the following:

• Roasted Chicken with Pan Gravy
• Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes
• Grilled Zucchini
• Sweet Cornbread with Honey Butter
• French Onion Soup

I was feeling a little bit daunted at the start of the time where we were in the kitchen.  I asked my team members if I could do the cornbread, since it was in my comfort zone (I like to bake).  They were okay with it, so I got to work on the cornbread.  I had to use a GIANT cast iron skillet as the pan for it, and man it was the HUGEST cast iron skillet I ever saw.  And the batter that I made was also the largest volume baked good I ever made by myself.  It had 5 cups of flour, 1 1/2 cups cornmeal, and 9 eggs in it!  That's a lot of cornbread!  I sprayed the skillet with cooking spray, assembled my mis en place for the ingredients, combined the wet ingredients, combined the dry, then mixed the dry into the wet (in 2 additions).  I pre-heated the skillet in the oven per the Chef's instructions, and then put the batter into the pan, and into the oven it went.  There was no cooking time on the recipe, so I had to be aware and watch for it to be done.  Luckily I checked it about 1/2 hour after I put it in the oven, because it was done!  I tested with a wooden skewer in the middle and it came out clean.  The edges were a little dark, so I was a little worried, but also relieved I check it when I did.  I think I got it at exactly the right time, so I think my baking instincts just sensed it was done. 

While the cornbread was baking, I worked on the honey butter.  This was really easy to do, take a cup of butter (8 oz) and add 1/4 cup of honey.  Whip it in the mixer with a paddle attachment until it is fully incorporated.  It came together really nicely.  Chef demonstrated how to roll a compound butter in parchment paper to form a tube.  He put the butter on parchment paper, and covered it with the parchment.  Then he used a cookie sheet tray to push parchment and the butter together to form the roll.  I tried it, and it worked great!  I had a really professional looking roll of compound butter.  I put it in the fridge to chill.

After I finished these tasks, I helped the team with the other things were were making.  I helped prepare the chickens for roasting, and learned a fantastic way to truss the bird.  This trussing really worked wonders because our chickens were so juicy and moist!  I helped with the potatoes, we put them through a food mill again to mash them.  I watched and assisted a little with the pan gravy - it was excellent gravy.  The things I did not do were the French Onion Soup (which I already know how to do, and I like my recipe better), and the grilled zucchini.  Unfortunately half of the zucchini got burned to a crisp, so we had to throw those out, but who cares.

We did our plating for the presentation plate, and the large platter, we sliced up the butter and put it on a plate for the cornbread, and then we put our food with the other food from the other teams.  SO MUCH FOOD.  There were 4 different kinds of soups, 4 entrees with multiple side dishes, as well as desserts like Baklava, fruit crisp, and vanilla ice cream.  We did all this in 3 hours (including cleaning up, although we don't have to do the dishes, we just pile them up on a moveable tray carrier, and they take them to the dish room).  It is amazing what 15 people, a well-stocked professional kitchen, and a trained Chef can do, eh?

We ate, and I got so many compliments on the cornbread, including from Chef Bruno, so I was feeling really good.  I must admit I did knock that one out of the park.  People went back for more cornbread, it was really really good.  It's a good recipe, but it didn't make itself, right?  So kudos to me, pat myself on the back.

After lunch, we debriefed on all the dishes and soups, and we critiqued the plating.  This was a good discussion, very constructive.

For the afternoon, we had a wine-tasting class.  I have never done something like this before, and it was very enlightening to me to help me understand wine better.  I am not a big wine person, though, since it can bother my stomach due to the acidity, but I still like to learn about wines.  Our teacher was the school's main instructor on wine, and wow, he was so impressive.  He knew so much, and I tried to take as many notes as I could.

We tasted 6 wines - 3 whites (Sauvignon Blanc, Reisling, Chardonnay), and 3 reds (Pinot Noir, Zinfandel, Port).  I tasted the wines, but spit them out into a cup.  The instructor did this too.  The other boot campers were drinking theirs, but not me.  1. I didn't want to get drunk since I had to drive to the hotel.  2. I didn't want to get heartburn.  Luckily with the tasting, I didn't get drunk, and no heartburn.

After the wine tasting and discussion, we were done until dinner, which is at the Escoffier Restaurant (French) on the campus.  I drove back to the hotel to shower and freshen up and get some down time.  I was pleased with how today went, especially considering how daunted I was feeling in the morning.  I was wondering how in the heck we were going to get all the food made, and have it still be hot, and on and on... But we did it, so I am proud of that.

I'll be back for more writing tonight after dinner.  See you then.