Day 5, The End

I woke up this morning at the appropriate time, and was not late like yesterday.  I got ready and lugged my suitcase and bags out to my car.  It was very cold and dark, and these was frost on my car windshield just like on Monday.  I didn't need to scrape it, though.  Once I got the car started and the defroster on, it came off.

I made my last drive up to the campus, parked, and walked to breakfast.  There was a new item on the menu that interested me: Cannoli stuffed French Toast.  I ordered that, and it was really great.  A nice last breakfast at the CIA.

When I got into our lecture room, it was set up for our morning activity: Culinary Jeopardy!  Each team had a buzzer that lit up when we buzzed in, and it was really cool.  Chef Bruno ran the Jeopardy game as the host, and they brought in a student to keep score.

I was the main answerer on our team.  We started out fairly good with the game, but when I knew the answer to the questions, I was usually a split second slow and another team had buzzed in.  In the first Jeopardy round, I answered a bunch of questions right, but I guessed at a question and got it wrong, and it put us in the negative category.  In the Double Jeopardy round, I redeemed myself in the category called 'French Culinary Terms'.  I ran the category and got all the answers right:

• This is a thickener made from butter and raw flour.  What is beurre manie?
• The cooking liquid in shallow poaching that is used for the sauce.  What is cuisson?
• A knife cut that is 1/4 x 1/4 x 2 inches.  What is batonnet?
• This cut is used with herbs to produce fine strands.  What is chiffonnade?
• When an onion is charred and browned to add color to a stock it is known as this.  What is Oignon brule?

Our team was also able to answer a few other questions, and we were in second place when it came to Final Jeopardy.  Our team bet it all.  The category was Culinary Myths.  Here was the answer:  "Searing beef does not seal in juices or moisture as is commonly thought.  But searing does accomplish 4 things.  Name 3 out of 4.

Doo doo doo doo doo doo doo. Doop, doo doop doop doop, doop. doop.

The question was:  What is Color, Flavor, Texture, and Fond development.  RIGHT!  We doubled our score.  Unfortunately, the team in first place wagered enough to win by 1 point!  So our team came in second.  BOO HOO!!!  As their prize, they won CIA measuring spoons.  Oh well, it was fun to play.

After the game we took a 30 minute break, and then it was into the kitchen for our Market Basket challenge.  Here is the menu that we came up with:

• Mesclun salad with feta cheese, olives, red onion and anchovy dijon vinaigrette, and crostini garnish.
• Grilled marinated lamb chops with romesco sauce
• Grilled vegetable kebabs
• Lentil Couscous 

We started with the marinade, and I crushed some garlic, and we ground up some herbs.  After a demonstration by the Chef, I helped fabricate the rack of lamb into chops.  We put them in a hotel pan and put the marinade on, and then put it in the fridge.  I worked on the anchovy dijon vinaigrette, and it came out great.  You couldn't even really taste the anchovies.  We needed an anchovy paste, so I did that myself just by chopping the anchovies, and then using the tip of the knife to make the paste.

Next, I roasted some red peppers on the stove to char them, and then I put them in a plastic bag to steam a little.  After some time, I was able to get the skins off very easily.  I assembled the mis en place for the the romesco sauce, which was made with blanched almonds and hazelnuts, sauted bread in olive oil, roasted garlic, tomatoes, red peppers, red wine vinegar, and olive oil.  I never made this before, and I never tasted it before, but it turned out really nice.  I did it all in the food processor.  The Chef tasted it, and he said it had good flavor, but it was a little thin, romesco sauce is supposed to be thicker.  Well, for a first try I was pleased with it.

The other team members prepared the salad, crostini, vegetable kebabs, and the lentil couscous.  I helped do the kebabs, and then it was time to do the grilling.  I did the grilling with one other team member and the help of a student assistant.  We learned the proper technique to do beautiful cross hatch grill marks.  It didn't take long to do the grilling of the kebabs or the lamb.  I put them in the oven to keep warm.

Before long, it was time to do the plating, and the other team members deferred to me to get our presentation plates done, with was great.  I had the chance to plate and style our food, and I think we did the most professional job of plating compared to the other teams.  We had a lot of colors and textures on our plate.  I made sure there was a focal point, the main course lamb was closest to the guest, and all the food was inter-related on the plate.  We also achieved height with the lamb bones.  For a small garnish, we added a thin slice of tomato on the lentil couscous.

We did the large serving platter for the salad and the platter for the entree and sides.  It looked great and I thought presentation-wise, ours looked the best.  Taste-wise, it was good too, but the other dishes from the other teams tasted very good.

We made up our lunch plates, and we all sat down to eat in the dining room.  I don't think any of us were very hungry since we have been force-feeding ourselves the last few days.  But I sampled as much as I could.  Also, there were some more amazing desserts that were set out from the pastry students.  And actually, in the morning before the cooking started, I was watching a class of students working on piping melted chocolate into swirl patterns, which looked so beautiful.  Well, the chocolate swirls were there as the garnish for one of the pastries.  I thought that was so great -- I saw them making it in the morning, and now here was the finished product!  It was delicious, too.

After eating, we gathered in the kitchen for our final critique on the food for the day.  Very good comments and good feedback for the most part.  As for my team, we were busy the whole morning, and we finished right on time, and I don't think we could've done any better than that.

And with that, the Culinary Boot Camp was over.  I shook hands with Chef Bruno, and the other Boot Campers as we gathered our stuff and started to go our separate ways.  I stopped off at the Apple Pie Bakery to buy some presents for people, and I stopped at the Bookstore and bought a few things there too, like a refrigerator magnet, and a keychain, t-shirt, and some post cards too.  I went to the car, got my street clothes, and changed in the restroom near the Escoffier Restaurant.  The campus was busy today -- they are having a graduation this weekend.  There was a lot of activity, and I was ready to leave so that all the graduates and students could have their special time together.

I drove down to the Newark Airport.  Traffic was bad, and I made a wrong turn right before the exit to the airport, so I had to take a convoluted route back to the airport.  Ugh, it was so stupid of me.  But I had enough time to return the rental car, get checked in and check my bag, and go through security without being rushed.  The flight was pretty much on time, nothing major to report on that.

I got home to the Pittsburgh airport.  Home sweet home.  It was lightly snowing, and beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.  I am so inspired and happy that I did this experience at the CIA.  It affirmed so many things for me, and I hope that this is just the start of something, and not the end.  I hope this new path that I started this week helps me to keep seeking out these kinds of culinary experiences.  Thank you CIA!  I loved every second of this week.