September 3, 2017

culinary school flashback: week 4 in review

I’m back with another flashback! Week four of school already!

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week four in review

It’s hard to believe I am already 1/3 of the way through phase 1 of my program. Only 8 more weeks before I transition to phase 2 and then it’s only a matter of time before I am headed to work in a real kitchen! School is flying by.

This week we tackled two more proteins: pork and beef. We learned how to make LA BLANQUETTE DE VEAU A L’ANCIENNE AUX CHAMPIENONS, served with rice pilaf and LA COTE DE PORC POELEE, which is a pork chop topped with a sauce of julienne cornishon (little pickles) and shallots. The LA COTE DE PORC POELEE was served with the most divine mashed potatoes! Mashed potatoes are one of my favorite dishes ever! Combine them with butter, heavy cream, salt, pepper and nutmeg – they were heavenly.

My mom taught me to make mashed potatoes at a young age. She always added cream or milk, butter, salt, pepper and nutmeg. When chef told us to incorporate those exact ingredients to our potatoes, I was excited because it was familiar to me. Way to go mom for teaching me how to make awesome potatoes a loooong time ago!!

We also learned to make a very classic french dish – LE BOEUF A LA BOURGUIGNONNE – a beef stew served with pearl onions, mushrooms and lardon (bacon!). In this case, we also put tournee potatoes on the plate. The beef was so tender, that it melted in my mouth when I tasted it! Sometimes I step back after cooking (and eating) and think,’I made that?!’ It’s a pretty cool feeling.

Besides those three dishes, we also whipped up pea soup (our 6th soup in 4 weeks), eclairs filled with coffee pastry cream, gazpacho, a pear tart, and EGG ROLLS!!