Half done Hell week

Today did not go smoothly, and it's a struggle for me to get the motivation to write this, but I have to get it done so I don't fall behind...

Day started poorly.  I had to get the oil changed on my vehicle, so I woke up early and went to the dealership for 7am.  Unfortunately, since I didn't have an appointment, they couldn't get me in.. I told them I didn't mind waiting until 11am, and they still said no.  Stupid Acura.

So I went home, slept for a bit, and then went to meet a friend for coffee, and got to school for noon.  Practical #015 was run by Chef Benoit and went very well.  My salmon came out perfectly cooked, my Beurre Blanc was about to break because I put in a lot of butter that didn't, and my timing was spot on, I finished right on time.  Even my potatoes (turned to Anglaise shape) came out nicely.  My Jardiniere vegetables were so okay, but my Batonnette cuts were just a tad too large.

Side note:  What does turning a vegetable mean?  It means to carve a vegetable to a certain shape.  For example, carrots can be turned into 3 fingers wide tiny footballs with 7 sides.  It's stupid, and a waste of time, but it's a part of French cooking.  Mushrooms can have their tops carved.. etc.  Look at the pictures for a better idea.

picasaweb.google.com/harvardcook

Demonstration #016 was taught by Chef Gilles.  I don't like his teaching style, and he didn't even finish the demo in 2.5 hours.  Fair enough, he does multiple dishes, but he had an assistant turning vegetables the entire time, and even she didn't finish.  The class was about butchering, and he demonstrated how to butcher a lamb shoulder, as well as some pork.  Warning:  The pics are a bit gruesome...

The three dishes demonstrated were Navarin D'Agneau Printanier, Carre de Porch braise Nivernaise and Boeuf a la Mode.  Chef Gilles managed to finish the first two in about 2:45 and the third one not quite.

Practical #016 was supposed to be the big kick in the ass, the start of the really hard practicals.  The dish was the Navarin D'Agneau Printanier, a Lamb stew.  So we had to butcher the lamb ourselves for the first time (which was actually not TOO bad), and then turn vegetables.   Enough for 4 people.  So 3 carrots each, 3 potatoes, 3 turnips.  For those mathematically inclined, that's 36 turned vegetables. That's in addition to all the other veg you have to do, such as green beans, peas, pearl onions.

So the timeline is something like 1:15 to butcher the lamb shoulder, braise it, put it in the oven, then cook all those vegetables an hour, and then 15 minutes to pull it all together, including reducing the sauce from the stew.  Not very realistic to turn 36 vegetables.  My rate is slightly under two minutes per vegetable, so that puts me at 72 minutes to turn those vegetables, if they were ready to be turned.  ie. cut to the right size, and peeled and washed.  That doesn't even include cooking.

In the end, Chef Gilles was screaming at everyone to bring their dishes and threatening to give everyone zero so I rushed myself and got my plate out first.  My carrots were too salt, my presentation wasn't perfect, but the lamb was cooked well and even though I only turned 19 vegetables (8 potatoes, 6 turnips and 5 carrots),  they were done properly.  What was frustrating is that most people had an extra 10-15 minutes and weren't penalized.  I could have reduced my sauce better (mine was way too running) and done a better job with presentation if I had an extra 10 mins.  Oh well.. if I get this dish for my final exam, I'll cut down my time on the turning and try and do everything else perfect.  I spent at least 40 precious minutes on the turning, and way too much time on the butchering.  I had enough meat for two stews.

Oh well, another day down.. more than half done!  There are only 30 lessons for Basic Cusine...