day 19: fish and chips, and trout almondine with braised rainbow chard and pommes parisienne

Frying was the theme of the day, and we made some pretty rich dishes. First, we made fish and chips, which tasted great except for my puke-inducing tartar sauce.  I used olive oil to make my mayonnaise, which I could hear Alton Brown reaming me for from his mayonnaise episode of Good Eats. Never use olive oil! Olive + mayo = a hot plate of vomit. Aside from that, Chef Brown said my fish was cooked beautifully, nice and moist inside and golden brown on the outside. The fries were Kennebec potatoes, which is what In-N-Out uses, only we blanched ours first, then put them in the freezer before the final fry. They were deliciously crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

Our second plate was a bit more involved. First, I rendered some bacon. Then, I used it to sautee the rainbow chard, which was really pretty. The stems were all different colors, and I think I did a good job with the brunoise on those. I added just a little bit of water and let them braise until I was done with my other components. The pommes parisienne was pretty interesting because I'd never used a melon baller before on a melon, let alone a potato. The trout was dredged in some flour and pan fried, which took no time at all. The sauce also took no time...I just browned some butter and added sliced almonds. Chef Brown said the fish was cooked nicely, he loved my potatoes which he said were fried really uniformly golden brown, and everything was well seasoned. The clencher? I forgot to use my fish spatula to flip my trout and decapitated it with my tongs. I wish I'd have had the head for presentation, but at least now I probably won't be making that mistake again. Who am I kidding? Of course I will.

day 18: asian marinated grilled flank steak, sauteed duck breast with dried cherry pan sauce, and grilled beef tenderloin

I don't know if anyone else realized this in my class, but today was a great day for building flavors. I got my duck breast and my bacon on fast because those would take time to render. I then cooked my potatoes in the bacon fat, and then the tenderloin in the duck fat.  It wasn't a part of Chef Brown's demo...I just couldn't stand seeing those great fats go to waste, being asian and all. We started with the flank steak, which was marinated in some soy sauce, sesame oil, grated ginger and garlic, minced cilantro, scallions, serrano chili, and black pepper. This took like no time on the grill at all. I wished we could have presented earlier...then, I could have focused solely on my other two dishes. But I guess that's not really the way it works in real life...you wait for good food...food doesn't wait for you. I dressed my cabbage and carrot salad with some sesame oil, salt and pepper and scallions. I also mistakenly plated my sauce which was actually meant for my other two dishes, but Chef Brown said he loved it.  I'll take that.  He said the steak was cooked perfectly medium rare, and the seasoning was great.  There was a great crust on the outside, a tiny amount of gray at the edge, some pinkness and mostly red and warm throughout.  My only criticism I had for myself was that I didn't do a prettier job slicing the steak on the bias. Like tourneeing a potato, I started strong, but my cut started getting wanky fast.

Like my knife cuts, here's where my camera started getting wanky. And it got even worse. Stupid cameraphone pissed me off today! I should get a real camera. Anyhow, enough time had passed now for the bacon to render, so I roasted those potatoes in that fat, along with some minced rosemary and thyme. I reserved some of the rosemary I minced and ganished with that as well. I would have used the duck fat from the actual dish, but I didn't have time for that. We had to plate this dish second, and waiting for the whole duck breast to render wouldn't have given me enough time to roast my potatoes in the fat. But either way is delicious, and I'm glad I used the fat. Chef Brown loved the potatoes, and he said my duck had a nice, crispy skin. It was a bit overdone, but the seasoning of everything was delicious. He loved my pan sauce which was a veal stock/red wine reduction with the dried cherries. I also mounted my sauce with butter at the end to thicken, and if we don't stop doing that soon, I'm going to weigh 300 lbs. But it was delicious, although a bit thick. I need to work on consistency in my sauce consistencies.

Here's my camera pissing me off again. I cooked the perfect tenderloin, had the perfect sauce (same as before, without the dried cherries), and Chef Brown loved my potato...which I took a little cheat from America's Test Kitchen.  More on that later. The tenderloin, being the last dish to present, I finally could sear in the duck fat, even though bacon would have made more sense since it's actually in the potatoes. I had a great sear, and it was thanks to attending Chef Pastore's pan sauce seminar last night. He seared a filet yesterday as well, and I watched him wait until that pan was smoking hot, and the oil was smoking like it was about to get cancer..and only then did he dropped in his meat. I did the same. Next time, I should remember to pick out the little bits of duck before I use the fat. Those started burning towards the end...good thing it did not take long to get a good crust on that filet. I basted with the duck fat, even though Chef Brown had used butter in the demo. I just had so much duck fat to work with, I thought why not? I love watching those Top Chefs baste their steaks with a spoon...it's just not something I've ever done at home before. I guess it makes me feel like a real chef...even though I'm far from being one.  One step closer though.  As much as I loved cooking a perfect medium rare filet, the potatoes got my love today. I'd watched an episode of America's Test Kitchen where Bridget tackled twice-baked potatoes, which always have a rubbery skin that can't even support the potatoes in it, and mediocre filling that doesn't even clear the rim. So first I cleaned my potato, dried it, then rubbed it with oil before I put it in the oven. This would crisp up the outside skin.  It really did...my lab partner's had regular skin that you would have on a regular baked potato. Then, since I knew we'd only have to plate one half, I scooped one half out completely and the presentation one to about 1/4in thick on the sides. If you scoop all or even most of the potato out, the remaining skin will be too flimsy to support the filling. Then, I took the potato boat I'd made, greased the inside and put it back in the oven to crisp the serving side as well and give it better structure. Also, crispy potatoes are never bad. Then, since I only had to stuff half a potato, I was able to overstuff it. I added the usual...sour cream, butter, chives, cheddar cheese, the bacon I'd rendered, but I built that thing up high! I also made sure to top the potato with just a small amount of cheddar. I think it's more attractive to have a mostly white potato with streaks of yellow than just all yellow, all cheddar, all the time. Although that is a lovely thought. I also garnished with some fresh chives I'd reserved. Thank you, Bridget Lancaster!

day 17: grilled salmon and vegetables with lentils, chicken marsala, and grilled sea bass with fine herbs sauce

Today was a great day in class.  We did grilling today, and I got to do something I've seen Rachael Ray do a hundred times, but have never done myself...paillard a chicken breast.  It's not as satisfying as it looks.  Maybe if you've had a really rough day and really need to pound something...but no, in reality you're just hitting something to make it as even as you can.  Paying attention to how even you're making it takes some of the fun out of the randomness of just pounding something senseless. More on the chicken later. Our first dish here is the grilled salmon...which was basically the only composed plate of the day, so I liked it.  I liked how we finished the lentils in pancetta fat, and I also got to practice my knife cuts, which I thought were beautiful (brunoise carrots and onions).  Like yesterday, I also put the pancetta back into the lentils.  Why not?  The vegetables were marinated in some balsamic vinegar and oil, and I seasoned them with some salt and pepper right before they hit the grill.  Otherwise, the eggplant would have definitely absorbed too much salt.  I feel I got a little bit too much heat on the salmon...the quadriller (fancy word for the cross-hatch grill marks) was a bit darker than I wanted.  But Chef Brown said if I composed this plate for the final, it should be exactly as I had it today.  Wow, what a great compliment!

I loved the chicken marsala. Chicken Marsala makes me think of that Top Chef episode where they were supposed to recreate some of the classics, and whoever drew that knife had obviously never made it before and had no idea what went in it, what technique should be used...he basically just made a chicken dish that he liked.  And that would have been me.  Because I don't think I've ever had Chicken Marsala before today.  The taste sort of reminded me of chicken at a Chinese restaurant, even though it is Italian. Delicious! Chef Brown said my presentation was great and the chicken was cooked beautifully, but that I'd overpeppered the dish and he felt a slight burn in the back of his throat when it went down.  I tried it a few times, but I couldn't quite pick that up...although as I've said before, I am a bit of a pepper monkey at home.  I just wish it had an accompaniment. I did have time.  I should have made some pommes puree to soak up that delicious sauce!

Ok, this one hurt. This is the grilled sea bass with fine herbs sauce (parsley, tarragon, chervil and chives).  First of all, this was not the dish I presented.  I plated it, got into line, and realized I was serving fine herbs soup, not fine herbs sauce.  So I took it back, replated the fish, reduced my cream sauce a bit, and did an extra step Chef Brown didn't demo...I mounted it with butter.  It just needed a lot more thickness, as you can tell from this before picture.  I wish I'd have gotten a picture of it after I redid it, but that didn't happen.  Second of all, I decimated that skin.  Look at it!  Chef Brown said the fish was perfectly cooked, and he loved my final pan sauce.  But obviously, that skin is mutilated.  In lecture, he even specifically stated how proteins have a natural tendency to pull away from the pan when they're done and that you shouldn't keep poking and prodding at it.  I poked.  And I prodded.  I just couldn't help it.  I was so worried it was burning down there, I just had to see!  Suffice to say, I did not like what I saw. Ah well, tomorrow we have sauteed duck breast with a dried cherry pan reduction sauce, grilled flank steak Asian style, and twice baked potatoes. Yum!

day 16: herb roasted chicken with rice pilaf, and baked red snapper

Today was an exciting day! We made our first fully composed plates today. The only meat we've really used before this was some ground meat in our consomme, and some bacon here and there. But today we made actual meat. We made meat brown. To be eaten. It was great! So first we made an herb roasted chicken. My chicken didn't have a lot of extra fat on it, or I'd have started my pan sauce with that fat. Instead, I decided to render bacon fat to reinforce the bacon flavor in my pan sauce I'd make later with the chicken drippings. I also put the bacon lardons back into the rice pilaf I'd made, to be served with the chicken. That chicken dish was bacony goodness! Chef Brown complimented my seasoning, and he said my chicken had a perfect doneness..although I swore I'd overcooked it.  It went a bit over temp when I took the chicken out and I just prayed to the baby Jesus it would be okay while I went to work on my snapper.  He looked first at the bottom of the thigh, and said it looked like it was just done.  He said that sometimes means that means the breast can be overcooked since it's the top side that's exposed to more heat.  But he cut into it and tasted it, and said it was moist.  Chef Brown's only critique was that my sauce needed to be a bit warmer. He complimented the taste of my pan sauce, as he did mention earlier in lecture that he was a great lover of bacon...and really, who isn't? I think if I wouldn't have been fussing with taking pictures of my plate before presenting to him, it would have been warmer. Maybe I will start making two plates, one to photograph, and a fresh one to present. Please. That's ridiculous.  Oh, my pilaf.  The technique we learned for pilaf (finishing in the oven) has never worked for me.  But then today I remembered I was Asian, and I know how to cook rice.  I know how to cook rice perfectly.  On the stovetop.  So I did.

The chicken was a bit more involved, and I think it definitely makes a prettier plate, but this red snapper.  Mmmm!  I love fish.  I'm not a big fan of sushi, or sashimi, but I do love a nicely cooked piece of fish.  And the sauce we made from it was full of umami goodness!  Chef Brown said it was perfectly seasoned, moist and well cooked, and that I made a great pan sauce.  I totally did rock that pan sauce.  I was nervous when I was reducing the stock the fish had been cooking in, because it wasn't thickening.  It was still basically water consistency, and if I kept going, I wouldn't have had any stock left to make the sauce.  So I took it off the heat and mounted the butter and bam, instant sauce!  I'd concentrated my fishy flavors down quite a bit while reducing...it was absolutely delicious.  Once again, Chef Brown's only critique was that my sauce could be a bit more hot when my plate made it to him.  I'm gonna have to work on that one.  I also have to remember to start taking pictures of my plate from a better angle.  I wish I could see the mound of tomatoes and mushrooms I'd tried to pile as high and center as I could.  It was beautiful!  Tomorrow...grilled salmon!

day 15: vegetable pasta soup and french onion soup

Today was the first day of our second intro class. We made a vegetable pasta soup with onions, celery, carrots, turnip, squash, zuchinni, tomatoes and some fresh egg pasta. After finding just the right level of salt for Chef Pastore's food over the last three weeks (which is almost none), Chef Brown added a bunch of salt to my pasta vegetable soup when I presented my dish today. I've been so nervous about oversalting my dishes the last three weeks, I guess I forgot to trust my instincts. I sort of have the opposite problem with pepper, however. I'm a total pepper monkey at home, and I need to stop doing that in the kitchen. You can totally see the pepper in my bowl. In my defense though, I had to pour this back out my tupperware after I realized I'd forgotten to snap a picture...and not having my basil chiffonade garnish on top anymore, I went for what else? The pepper. Chef Brown did compliment my knife cuts though, and he said my vegetables and pasta were cooked beautifully. Two firsts today (well, probably more than that)...I'd never eaten turnips before in my life (eh), and I'd never made bowtie pasta (it's fun). You just pinch it. Oh, Chef Brown also noticed the amount of garlic in my dish. I'm not sure if that was a good or a bad thing. He just asked, "You like garlic, don't you?" Hell yes. Chef Pastore and Chef Shalchian always joked about how much garlic they both probably went through, being Italian and Armenian. Hmmm...I think I will test Chef Brown's garlic threshold again tomorrow. Chef Brown also said I had too much "stuff" and not enough "soup." I agree...that ratio up there just isn't exactly right.

So the real star of today was the french onion soup. Mmmm! Like the tomato sauce that we made a few weeks ago that made me take an oath to never buy Prego again, french onion soup was so ridiculously easy to make, and the results are infinitely better than anything you can buy pre-made in the supermarket. Seriously, you just need like, an onion! Okay, you might need a few other things. But it doesn't matter. You should never buy Prego, and you should never buy french onion soup from the freezer. Chef Brown's only critique of my french onion soup was that I hadn't picked out all the black bits of onion that had burned, but it wasn't so much that it was noticeable anyhow...only visible. I really did try to fish that burnt shit out as best I could. He said it was damn good french onion soup, and he did something I'd never seen Chef Pastore or Chef Shalchian do before. He had a second spoonful. And then a third. It felt great! I wasn't sure if I was getting my bowl back, but I did after that. And the soup is safely waiting in its tupperware for dinnertime tonight to go a second round in the oven with the croutons I toasted with some extra virgin olive oil, and the grated gruyere bubbling its brown goodness on top. Next time I make this, though, I think I will make a cartouche for the bowl, and then cut out the center, so it doesn't splatter so much. Or serve it in something without a rim. I think it would have been great to put it in a little ramekin with a sheet of puff pastry or something right over the rim of that so it's like a pot pie. Mmmm! Chef Brown said I did a good job with plating, but those splatters were bugging the hell out of me. He liked how I shingled the croutons...I didn't even realize I was doing it. I did think the parsley in the middle looked kind of sad. Next time, I will mince it and dust it on top. Tomorrow, we roast a chicken!