Say Cheese :-)

One of our classes at the end of level 2 was dedicated to cheese. We made ricotta and mozzarella, and spent over an hour cheese tasting and learning about the varieties from goat, cow and sheep milk. After tasting 14 cheeses, three types of milk and three yogurts I was sick to my stomach. I have to admit that as much as I love cheese plates, halfway through the tasting I didn't think I could go on. I finally now realize why when you do get a cheese tasting somewhere the portions of cheese are so small. They want you to actually enjoy it!

Here is a look at my tasting plate - looks like a lot, huh? I did not finish all of the cheeses, but we ended up having to eat a good amount because after we would try another, we would have to go back and re-taste to make comparisons, etc.



My favorite was the Pierre Robert, made from cow's milk. This is the first solid cheese you see in the middle of the photo on the left hand side (looks like brie). It's buttery, with a bit of a peppery kick, and tastes even better with bread!

Making Ricotta (we saved this for our next class to fill our homemade raviolli):




Making Mozzarella (got to take this one home and enjoy the same night!):

As Good As it Gets

When it comes to the culinary world, one of the biggest legends in the industry is Chef Jacques Pepin.

He is just awesome.

With over 60 years of cooking experience, various shows on TV, including one with Julia Child in the late 1990's, Jacques has also published many books. His most notables being La Technique and La Methode. For many years, these have served as the bible to French cooking. And they still do. If you have ever heard Tom Colicchio talk about how he got into cooking, it was by studying these books and self teaching himself the classic techniques of the French. In fact, in the latest season of Top Chef, Jacques appeared with several other Master Chefs on a panel for the top 5 contestants to cook them a "last meal" of the Chefs choice. Carla was assigned to cook Jacques his last meal request of squab and peas, which she did incredibly well.


As the Dean of Special Programs at school, we are often very lucky to have him come in and give a demo. Today he gave a class on basic techniques. Basically, he covered all the fundamentals we have learned over the past 2 months, but to see it from the master himself was just amazing. He literally filleted and skinned a fish in 4 strokes of the knife, and so fast that if you blinked you probably missed it. And deboning a whole chicken? Pretty close to a minute or so, and that was with stopping to explain some steps to us.

Like a dork, I brought in my book I had of his and asked him to sign it.





Life is good.

Time Flies

Wow, this Friday I take my final for level 2 already! I can't belive how fast this level flew by. The last 2 weeks we have been focusing on nutrition, menu planning, costing and more food safety. Tomorrow I actually take my certification exam for food safety, so wish me luck! And then Friday is both our written and practical exam - I will have to truss and then quarter a chicken, fillet a trout, "turn" 2 potatoes into those darn football shapes, and make a mayonnaise all in specific time frames. It's the timing that really trips you up. You need to hurry, but at the same time need to do it correctly, so hopefully I can jet the job done.

I am especially excited for level 3. This is the level where we basically make the same repertoire of dishes over, and over and over for 6 weeks straight. What we need to do is make it consistently and within a specific time frame and have the food ready at a specific time as well. So, for example, we will be given a dish and then told it has to be ready at 8:03. If you are a minute early or late, points off. If the dish is not seasoned properly or presented correctly (plate presentation, hot food on a hot plate, cold food on a cold plate, etc.), points off. If the shapes and sizes of anything you cut are not uniform, more points off. This is where we start to get a feel for what it will be like in the restaurant kitchen. Should be exciting. We will cook everything from apps to desserts, and will even be given a "quick fire" challenge at the beginning of each class. Everyday when we come in, we will also be given a random list of ingredients and will have to come up with an amuse bouche to be served at the beginning of the meal. At the end of this level, we will pick randomly 2 dishes from the level, and in a "Top Chef" format, have to cook and present the dishes within specific time frames to a panel of judges consisting of our Chef and a selection of Alumni. Ah, the nerves already!

For an inside look into the midterm at FCI, here is an interesting article written by an alumni judge.

The Great Pastry Finale

So, it finally comes to an end. The pastry portion of my education ended with nothing other than souffles. Awesome night!

The night started out in an unusual way. Our regular chefs were both out that night and we were greeted with 2 new chefs for the evening. Our head chef for the night was like a French military chef. Ha, ha. No, it was not that bad but he was such a contrast to our regular chef who is quite laid back and tries to strike a balance between serious behavior and having fun (which, don't get me wrong, I think he is great. Is serious and disciplined, as well as fun at all the right times). This night, however, it was all work and don't even think about cracking a smile. Honestly, I loved it. I'm a competitor, and sometimes I wish some people in the class would take things more seriously. Listen. Follow instructions. Focus. On this night, there was not a wimpy "Yes, Chef!" in the house!

Anyway, onto the the desserts!

Mousse Au Chocolat



And finally, the souffles!!! I was surprised at how fast it takes to actually make a souffle, and then once it goes in the oven it's just a lot of waiting and hoping! I'm happy to report that all my souffles rose and were very yummy! It's such a fine line between it being undercooked and over cooked which makes it so tricky. The first cheese souffle I presented ended up being too runny on the inside, but the sweet ones actually came out quite good :-)

Cheese Souffle



Grand Marnier Souffle (and my personal favorite)



Chocolate Souffle

Save Room For Dessert

Some of the sweets we made recently were ones right up my alley. Was fun having them to bring home and eat for dessert during the week. Well, that is if it even made it through the week :-)

Pate Feuilletee is another type of puff pastry that takes a bit more precision to make. In a nutshell, the dough needs to be rolled out in such a way that you are able to roll out butter in the same thickness as the dough and then place it in the dough and fold it in like an envelope. The dough then needs to be folded in thirds 6 times and allowed to rest in the refrigerator in between "turns", as it is called, for about 30 minutes. All the folding allows the dough to form "leaves", or layers, within, that puff up into a flaky crust when baked. When it's time for it to be baked, the dough is rolled out, and must be really cold and then go directly into a hot oven (400 degrees). The butter that is within the layers of the dough will then create steam that will cause the layers to rise and puff up.

Here is the tart before and after. Obviously, the sides puff up higher, allowing you to fill the middle with goodness. This is filled with pastry cream, layered with fruit and covered with an apricot glaze. Nate and I devoured this entire thing in 2 days.....oops.





Another favorite of mine is creme caramel - I was able to take the extra ones I made home too :-) The trickiest part to these is making the caramel carefully enough that it does not burn, which can literally happen in seconds. Then the bottom of the ramekin is lined with the caramel and the custard is added and baked in the oven.



This final dessert is called a Charlotte. The cake itself is called a "biscuit", and is similar to the Genoise in that it's and egg foam cake, but instead of whisking the eggs whole, the whites and yolks are whisked separately and then folded together. This cake is a little drier and lighter than the Genoise. Once the biscuit is baked and cooled, it is layered with jelly, rolled and sliced. The slices are placed in a bowl and then Bavarian cream fills the rest of the bowl. Once chilled, the cake is released upside down onto a plate, and voila! A Charlotte! Similar to the Genoise, I was not a huge fan of this one either. I guess I just don't like jelly in my cake???

GO, Nils, GO!

The premiere of Top Chef Masters airs tomorrow at 10pm on Bravo! (Of course, I will be in class, but it's a good thing Bravo repeats everything!)

Please watch and cheer on Chef Nils and his support of "Friends of FCI"!

Go, Nils, Go!

We Love You, Pate A Choux

Pate a choux is the basic dough for puff pastry. You know, profiteroles, eclairs, need I say more? The dough for this pastry is unique in that it is cooked twice. Once on the stove top to dry out all the moisture in the mixture, and then again in the oven after is it piped out onto sheet pans, which is when it puffs up into the shapes we know and love.

We are given a little leniency when it comes to pastry in that we can sometimes alter the final product to our liking. In this case for me it was the protiferoles. Traditionally they are served with a whipped cream filling, which I'm not a huge fan of. So, I just turned all of mine into eclairs :-)

The pate a choux dough can also be deep fried and then coated in cinnamon and sugar. All yummy goodness!