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.
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