So Close

Only 5 more classes until my final from FCI. I'm so excited that the end is near. It has been quite year for me, and I have learned so many new things. The past few weeks at school have been great, too. I love the menu we are cooking now, especially on the meat station where is where I am currently (at least for 1 more night). We have a hangar steak in a bordelaise sauce with brussel sprouts and pomegranate, as well as a pan seared pheasant stuffed with a foie gras mousseline. I was in charge of the pheasant Wednesday night and again tonight. It was great cooking up some extra plates at the end of the night and actually getting to have a meal that I enjoyed :-)

I would also like to thank all of my friends who have made it out to L'Ecole for dinner in the past few weeks. I appreciate the support, and hope you had fun!

So, after 9 months of culinary school, how have I changed?

I'm definitely much more confident in the kitchen these days, and I like how I need to rely less and less on actual recipes. People often ask me if I am more critical now when I go out to eat of the food that gets served to the table. Overall, I would have to say no. I still like the same places I always have, and I still think Benihanna is the best meal a person can have, haha. I have definitely become more adventurous in my eating and I'm more willing to try almost everything. Just recently I had dinner with a friend a Japanese grill restaurant and tried chicken heart and gizzards, which I found to be quite good (however, the texture of the gizzard is less than appealing). I have even developed a love for foie gras (sorry to all you PETA folks out there), and find enjoyment in a nicely grilled squid with a good sauce. In the past, unless the calamari was breaded and fried, there was no way I would have gone near it! I have also learned that venison and rabbit are delicious, however, I'm still on the fence with lamb. I enjoy a nice medium rare chop from time to time (especially baby lamb, yum!), but I'm still not a huge fan of lamb when its braised and cooked through in a stew. I have also learned I may never eat monkfish again (ask me if you really want to know), and only order the barramundi if you feel like having a fish that tastes like dirt.

I will tell you, however, what has changed for me when I go out to eat. When it comes to sanitation and food safety, I notice EVERYTHING. I was at a really nice restaurant in Union Square this summer, and the waiter placed our bread plates on the table and placed his hand directly on the top of the plate. Thanks buddy, but I don't know where that hand has been. I sent the plate back. We had to take a food safety certification, and one of the things you learn is never, ever touch any part of a plate, silverware or glass that a diner will put to their mouth or where food will be placed. Unfortunately, I have become a psycho over this. I'm also crazy with time and temperature as it relates to cooling things before saving the leftovers, and re-heating before eating again. The rate bacteria can grow is astounding and those upset stomach one can get after a meal from time to time are often directly related. Fun topic, yes, I know.

I will get some pics up of our level 6 dishes soon!

Woo Hoo

Our "savory choucroute" got a mention :-) haha

Time Out NY Article

Here is a pic too. It got sent out with cute little spoons in the cup.

Follow Up

As a follow up to my last post, you can read about the event here.

Home Stretch

Well folks, it will all soon come to an end. On Wednesday I start day one of the final level of culinary school. I can't believe how fast it has gone! With the switch in levels, the menu will again change. I have not looked through all the recipes yet, but I do know they include a hanger steak and a foie gras stuffed pheasant. I'm really excited for this menu, but worried at the same time. With all the rotating through the stations, you only get to really cook each dish once or twice. When our final comes around, we need to be prepared to cook every dish on the menu, as we will randomly select 2 from a hat that we need to prepare. Best of luck to my level 6 friends that will take their final on Wednesday night. Cooking with you guys the last 6 weeks has been fun, and I learned so much from watching everyone!

So, although last night marked my final night in level 5, we did not cook the regular restaurant menu for one last time. Instead, last night marked FCI's 25th anniversairy, and there was a private party for the celebration. So, instead the kitchen turned into a catering frenzy, as we pumped out 20 different passed hor d'oerves. Not only were all the deans in attendance, including Jacques Pepin and Nils Noren, but Eric Ripert was in the house too! For those of you who are not familiar, Chef Ripert runs the ever so wonderful Le Bernadin in NYC.

My classmate took pictures of some of the dishes that went out, so I will post those when I have them. I, specifically worked on one that was warm saurkraut topped with pork belly, bacon, and bratwurst. Yummy goodness does not get any better than that :-)

In the meantime, here are some of the dishes we made during level 5 for the restaurant.

Pappardelle with Royal Trumpet Mushrooms, Pancetta and Butternut Squash Jus


Pork Osso Busco with Risotto Milanese


Buttermilk-poached Chicken with Salsify Puree and Heirloom Tomato Ragout


Pan-fried Branzino with Ratatouille, Lemon Aioli, and Tapenade


My Dessert Special when I was in Pastry - Spiced Chocolate Pudding with Sweet and Sour Cherries and Sesame Tuille


Fall Fruit Strudel with Armagnac Ice Cream

Menu Project

While in level 5, every student must submit a menu project. The menu can be on anything that you want, as long as you choose a theme and can write a related research paper. The paper needs to include the reason for your theme, the history of one ingredient used and a wine pairing for one of the courses. We have to then either cook the menu at home and take pictures of it, or provide illustrations. Since I am an awful artist, I decided to make my dishes at home. We also had to illustrate cooking and plating techniques we have learned up to date, as well as cost out one of the courses with a price per receipe (for 8 servings) and a cost per person.

Of course I waited to until the very last minute to complete the cooking, so after getting the pictures developed I was definitely not pleased with all the platings, but by this time it was too late to do them over. Oh well. In any case, thought I would share mine with you.

I based my menu on the Victorian Era, since a lot of advances in the culinary world came at this time. For example, Louis Pasteur completed his first tests on pasteurization, the first culinary school opened up, and the first cookbooks with step by step instructions were published. It was also a time when the upper class took great pride in entertaining their friends with 10-12 course meals, while also enjoying "smaller" 5-6 course meals when dining with just the family. The meals usually began with a savory soup, then moved onto a fish course, followed by heartier meat courses and finally dessert.

Many of my dishes were based on recipes by a lady well known during that time, Miss Elizabeth Beeton. I also aimed to make dishes with ingredients and spices typical of the era.

So, here is what we have.

Course 1: Oxtail soup





Yep, I was able to find oxtail at a meat market on the UWS. Actually tastes very similar to beef shortribs, and yes I made Nate taste it too! Pretty good actually!

Course 2: Curried cod over a vegetable macedoine salad with potato cocottes



Course 3: Veal Collops with sorrel sauce, served with sauteed spinach and truffled potato gratin



This is actually the course I am the least happy about the plating...um no garnish??? Oops. I almost omitted it from the menu, but felt I had to do at least 5 courses to stay in theme with a typical victorian meal. If I had the time to do it over, I would have also changed the plating to add some height to it, and perhaps sauced the plate as opposed to the meat. Sigh.

(Oh, and for those of you saying, "what the heck is a veal collop?", it is basically veal pounded thin, rolled up with bacon stuffed inside, seared and then finished in the oven. It was actually quite tasty!)

Course 4: Lamb fillet served with red currant sauce and mint butter, parsnip puree and balsamic honey roasted cipollini onions



I paired this course with a Ferarri Carano Cabernet Sauvignon. This wine has rich tannins and a coffee/blackberry/currant aroma. Tannic wines are good to serve with fatty foods, since the fat helps to minimize the astringent effect of the tannins, and make our food seem more flavorful and juicier.

Course 5: Classic Victoria Sponge Cake



I don't have my Kitchenaid stand mixer yet - this was a gosh awful experience making by hand!!!!!!!

(Oh, and it cost me $1.41 per person for this dessert, so think about that next time you pay $8 for a dessert at a restaurant! Ha, ha!)

No Pressure

Jacques Pepin came and had dinner at my school tonight. When the order came in for table 1, my chef said to me, "no pressure or anything, but table 1 is Jacques Pepin".

Um, OK.

Shit.

I had heard during prep earlier in the evening that he was lurking in the kitchen. But that is not unusual. He does that often and sometimes you just look up expecting to see your Chef or classmate, but instead you are greeted with his cheery face. "Hi, chef!" is usually my embarrassing reaction. However, his presence is usually a result of some other event going on at the school, so rarely does he stay to actually have a meal.

I am in poissioner now so tonight I did the spiced monkfish over a bed of green lentils. A lot of the time we make stuff in bulk so it lasts 2 or 3 classes. Good thing tonight I made a fresh batch of the lentils. Actually, I had made it, but the intent was to use it on Wednesday, and finish the stuff we had from Friday. Sudden change of plans. As for the fish, they actually went to the store room and got the freshest one they had (as opposed to the ones we used the rest of the night that were filleted yesterday).

He never came back into the kitchen after his meal so I have to assume my dish did not totally disgust him.

And on we go.....

A Look Inside L'Ecole

CLICK HERE TO WATCH :-)