Week 3, day 5

Hello everyone, so sorry for the posts I have been missing, it has been one of the most stressful weeks so far this year for me and I have been up studying really late the past few nights.
I woke this morning to a chilly room, and then to snow as I left the house for body moves.  The snow is terrible, I hate snow. Anyhow, the past few days have been interesting. Warm weather, lots of classes, lots of projects that have been adding up, but since staying up from 4:30 until 11:00 last night with only a break to make a risotto for dinner, (which turned out fantastic) I believe I am 90% caught up. The last of the catching up will be for tonight or tomorrow. I have only my spec assignment for this week, and to study for my exam. My gastronomic writer in residence assignment, basically just an assignment on my favourite food, what it is, and why, was the first that I completed finally last night. There is a test today, so I studied for it. The test is on the effects of grains, and I chose the negative effects regarding cattle in particular and how it is very negatively affecting the health of cattle worldwide, but more importantly, how it is effecting our health. I will answer any questions about such topics if anyone has any, or just wants to know more. I do have strong opinions, specifically with the food industry, and with my faith, so I won't argue with anyone over what is right or wrong, or force anything down anyones throat, but if you ask, don't argue with me, just accept that my views may be extremely strong regarding situations and I will respect your views as well. Anyhow... on to the rest of the week.
Practical cookery has been more and more interesting as the days go on, and I am learning a lot about pan frying and sauteing. I have pictures below of the dishes we cooked the past few days. I will be adding some more of the dishes that I will be preparing today. Unlike previous posts, I won't be listing of the dishes here in the blog... honestly because I don't want to dig through stacks of papers to try to find the french names at the moment, but if anyone has questions about what the dishes are, how we made them, or any other inquiries, I will be happy to answer them if you leave me a comment or question via facebook, or the comment section below.
I have a project regarding the renaissance period that needs to be completed this weekend, as well as some reading from our literature circle project book, 'wine and war' for wine class. During the tasting in wine class yesterday, I found that sickly sweet wines such as ice wines seem to be appreciated by most people, however I found it to be overpowering with a taste of..  how to describe it...   basically, a glass full of fermented sugar and wine.  The other wine we tasted was much dryer and subtle, and I really enjoyed it, although I can't remember what it was.

Practical cookery tonight, after culinary management, where I'm told we will be watching a short film, and then a test to follow from commodities on the effects of corn on cattle. Please wish me luck next week in my exams, as I am beginning to really worry, and I hope that I can present these dishes fantastically. Off to the study cave again for my test and to study my dishes for my exams, and for practical tonight. Pictures will be added on the weekend from tonight's practical class.

Week 3, Day 1 part 2

My day began, as you may have read, later than usual, classes beginning at 1:30. I had writing class, which is becoming very frustrating, however I'm doing pretty well. I got 2 assignments back, 80% on each of them, and on one I was given the opportunity to re-write, so I'm going for 100% on it! I also got a 90% on my SPEC in that class, so I'm keeping up to my own standards of at least 80% on everything so far. The math class that followed writing class explained everything I had a little trouble with last night; it was so simple I was overlooking it, but then we added a whole new portion of food costing that will take a bit of studying to understand thoroughly. After food costing, myself and one of my classmates made a poolish for pastry class tomorrow morning. It is basically a pre-ferment that will be added to the bread in the morning when we make it. This allows it to ferment all night and add a lot to the bread when we bake it. Practical cookery followed, and it was the most awesome practical cookery class so far! Pan frying is the method of the week, and my dish was "Tournedos Vert-Pre"  Basically, take one of the most awesome cuts of meat from a beef tenderloin, pan fry it to medium rare perfection, serve it with some deep fried potatoes cut julienne, almost like little potato chip strips, and garnish with watercress. Not just a steak though, that would only be mostly awesome. Instead, you then take "Beurre Maitre d'hotel" and place a block of this amazing butter mustard lemon sauce that has been frozen on top of the steak, and throw the steak under a broiler for about 30 seconds to melt the creamy awesomeness all over it. Then you can eat it! This dish was only one of the awesome dishes made in my class this evening. We also made a version of Pork Schnitzel with Mushroom Gravy, Scalloped potatoes of sorts with a veal sausage, and this amazing chicken dish. I can write down the actual names if anyone wants, just leave a comment on facebook or underneath if you can and I'll get back to you. Pictures are included below as well, questions or comments will be answered. Sleep time now, I have to be up early to start a puff pastry for pastry class tomorrow morning so I'll write again in the evening.

Week 3, Day 1

Hello everyone, and happy Monday! This weekend has been busy, and full of studying and spending time with my amazing fiance. I told everyone I'd add picture of the lamb tongue, so they should appear below this blog if it works out right. I'll be taking pictures every day as long as I can and I remember to take my camera with me. Studying for food costing is not as bad as I thought it would be, it is math, however i'm able to do half of it in my head without even using a calculator. I can't figure out the practical questions and problems though... so I guess I'll be learning that later today. I have a writing class at 1:30 today, followed by food costing, and then my practical cookery class is taking place this evening. The schedule is way different than every other week, hence my post being so early on a Monday for once! (this meant I got a well needed sleep in day) The method of cooking for the week is pan frying and sauteing! I'm really excited, the dishes I will be putting together are looking pretty awesome, and I'll talk about them in future posts.
The cold weather is coming on Thursday up here, but until then it remains around 10 to 12 degrees celsius. I'm hoping the cold front gets pushed away by something else, as it doesn't need to snow until I'm on christmas break! I'd rather not walk half 45 minutes to body moves in a couple feet of snow! I have to finish studying for culinary management now though, so I'll post tomorrow with the pictures from todays practical cookery class and tell you how everything goes.

Week 2, day 4

Happy Thursday everyone!  It has been a relatively relaxing day as far as classes go but stressful as my first test is tomorrow afternoon. Practical cookery began my day as usual. I had the opportunity to cook lamb's tongue, and serve it. I actually brought my camera to class, and I will be doing so in the future whenever I can remember. This will allow me to share my cooking creations and experiences visually with all of you so you can have an idea of what I am actually cooking, and what it looks like. French words explaining food doesn't seem to always cut it, as I can barely tell by the descriptions what I am cooking sometimes even until it pulls together in the end. I will begin adding pictures tomorrow as my camera is downstairs and it would take a lot of effort for me to get it at this moment. I am quite tired, and the stress is slowly adding up, but everything will be completed this weekend homework wise; just in time for another week to follow with more projects. The lamb tongue was interesting, as it had to be poached in a stock for two and a half hours before it was tender enough to consume. The other interesting thing about this dish is that it is served cold. There was not very much to prepare for it, and so I practiced turning vegetables, shaping them like a football with a paring knife. My paring knife is extremely sharp, because nothing is more frustrating and useless in a kitchen than a dull knife. I did however feel very uncomfortable peeling towards myself, holding the blade to use the tip of the knife to shape potatoes. I managed, but then out of curiosity, boredom, and in hope to expand my knowledge and improve my knife skills, I tried doing the same to a turnip. (The other group needed the turnip as well to be shaped and cut like this, so it was for a reason.) A turnip however, is much harder than a potato, and requires a little bit of slicing back and forth to get it started. When it slips off the turnip and the slicing motion hasn't stopped, an extremely sharp paring knife tends to slice your thumb open apparently. Luckily it was a very small cut, however I do believe I will buy a cheap knife, and purposely dull it to a point where I can't slice my finger open just for this use.
Back to the tongue,  it has been poached for two and a half hours, and is very tender at this point. Note for anyone that wants to cook lamb tongue in the future, peel the skin BEFORE the tongue dries out and cools down, and if you don't have time, leave it in the broth until you have time to peel it. The skin is VERY difficult to peel when the tongue has dried out and cooled.
The flavour is very good and similar to pork, and if sliced, doesn't look anything like a tongue and won't discourage unknowing guests from tasting it, and telling you how tasty it is. They will most likely however develop a horrified expression, and may never trust your cooking again once you tell them what it is, but it may be worth it.
Wine class followed, and we got to taste a terrible 6 dollar bottle of wine, for which I can't remember the brand. This wine was aged in a pine barrel, and so it has a distinct pine taste in it, which is not very pleasant. Commodities followed the wine class, and we are now learning about rice. Pasta was last week, and tomorrow there is a test on our knowledge of both rice and pasta. I, in the past few hours, have learned more about rice and pasta than I ever thought possible in a lifetime, and I'm not certain I have even begun to touch the surface about these two commodities. There is a fantastic history and background, as well as uses and facts about these commodities that is very interesting, and very practical in many ways I couldn't really begin to describe. Every week, I will be learning a new commodity, as well as expanding my knowledge on the everything I have learned previously.
After class, I was convinced to go out for sushi, and had, for my first time, a guide through my sushi experience. The local sushi restaurant in my hometown of Chatham Ontario is pretty good, however I didn't realize how amazing a higher quality restaurant would be. The salmon and tuna was pretty awesome, as well as many other dishes that I couldn't name to save my life, made up my dinner this evening, and I was very satisfied with the quality of all the food I ate. One of my fellow classmates assisted me with my choices, as well as explained chinese and japanese cultures and a short bit about their brutal history. As you have probably figured out, I have been immersed in a never ending sea of knowledge it seems for the past two weeks, and it is only getting bigger and bigger, and my mind will probably explode if I don't get some sleep now. I will tell you tomorrow how I did on my SPEC,... and I hope not to disappoint any of you with the mark I get, but I will be just as surprised as you will no matter what it is. If it's poor, I'll learn from it and do way better on my next one, and if it's good I'll strive to do better still on the next one due Monday morning.

Week 2, day 3

Sorry about the post I missed yesterday, crazy days and a lot going on.

Wednesday, I can't believe it is already half way through the poaching week here in Stratford. The day was gorgeous, no hint of winter yet, which is a very good thing! Practical cookery started off the day. I really have to focus on my knife skills, as my lack of paying attention to detail would have cause my dish to fail if it had been an exam. Lots of chopping is in store for the next few weeks here after school hours before my exams in week four. On a more positive note, the "beurre blanc" that I made in class turned out very well, and the chef even said I did a good job on it, which is quite a compliment, as chef Steele is a very particular man who tells you exactly what he thinks of your dish. Along with the Beurre Blanc, my group cooked a Poached Supreme of Salmon with Turned Potatoes, and Provencal Vegetables. It tasted very good, however the presentation was poor due to the vegetables being chopped imperfectly.
Nutrition class followed, very uneventfully, and then Culinary Management followed nutrition. Culinary management is a very fast paced class, as we were learning about the structure of a french full course meal just last week, and now we are on to sauces, and their importance in french cookery. Sauces are one of the most important things in nearly all french dishes, which was unknown to myself until this afternoon. The french words that we had to memorize are turning out to be a fair amount easier than I imagined, but still a bit of a challenge, as I have so much other work that needs to be done, it feels lower on my priority list than it maybe should be. There is a lot of knowledge and theory behind this class however, and I am learning about the importance behind the way dishes are served, what they must be served with, in what order, and how to compliment a whole meal with sauces, and other dishes.
Tomorrow I will be having another wine class, which again adds another aspect on food and complimenting drinks with meals as well as a newly found high appreciation for wines. I am looking forward very much to the wine tour that I will be taking in the Niagara region near the end of the month.
After class, I got my exam meal handed out on a piece of paper. Two meals for two days to be exact. The first being Fettuccine, Hollandaise, 1 cup of julienne vegetables, 2 soft boiled eggs, Sauce Andalouse, and a French folded omelette. I have made none of these in the practical cookery class yet, so hopefully I can at least learn the french folded omelette and make it in class in the next week. The others I will be practicing at home whenever I can, providing I can attain all the commodities required. This exam will take place on Monday in week 4 here, which is only a week and a half away. I will be the second person presenting on top of this, at 10:30 in the morning which leaves very little time for error or mistakes. On Thursday of that week, I will be performing my second practical exam. The recipe I have been given is Escalope of de veau aux champignon  and Asparagus and Oyster Mushroom Ragout.
After receiving our exam recipes today, I had a meeting with the gastronomic food writer in residence, Clotilde Dusoulier. She is a food writer, and has a very popular blog called "chocolate and zucchini" and she is assisting the chef school students this year on our writing project that we had to hand in a few weeks ago. She went through them, and made grammatical corrections, as well as figured out how we could write them better. Today I had my meeting with her, and my piece of writing turned out a lot better than I thought it would. My description of my favourite food, haggis, was very good however I did not talk about how my experiences have lead me to enjoy this meal. This was the only big problem with it, so I have 2 weeks to add that, but I should be able to get a very high mark on this assignment. It was very nice talking with someone that makes a living writing about food, and that has such an esteemed blog. I have learned a lot, and hopefully this will reflect on my future blogs, and on all my writing in the future.
Tomorrow proves to be an exciting day, the afternoon will be a visit to Bradshaws, the local kitchenware store here in stratford, where I just may get some free cookware, and where there will be free food! It is the open house, so I will be there tomorrow afternoon, and I am really looking forward to receiving my very own amazing set of amazing saucepans as a door prize! (I'm really hoping)
I'll tell you how awesome they are if I win them, or anything at all in tomorrows blog.