day 101: germany: kartoffelpfannkuchen, linsensuppe, and rheinischer sauerbraten with spätzle and rotkohl mit äpfeln

 

After being in a weird (cooking) funk for the past couple of days, I was all about being the comeback kid today. The potato pancakes I've made about four times in school now (once with apples!), so hopefully I know what I'm doing. Chef Watts ate a whole pancake, which made me feel really good.

The Linsensuppe, or lentil soup, also came out really nice.  Unlike yesterday, I remembered to add the bacon back in...no vegetarian soup today!  It also didn't hurt that I brought in my extra bacon fat.

And for the entree today, I braised the Sauerbraten and served it with spätzle tossed in butter and sage.  I didn't get a single critique today for any of my dishes, which was awesome...although I'm not too sure about this cabbage I made.  I never know how cabbage dishes are supposed to taste because I never eat it (e.g. cole slaw, sauerkraut), so I just tried my best to balance the acid with sweet and salty.  Not too shabby.

day 100: russia/denmark: borscht, pel'meni and mørbrad med svedsker og aebler

I thought Eastern Europe day would be a lot heavier foods, but the soup and appetizer were quite light. The Borscht is a beet soup, with parsnips and celery root, braised in veal stock and red wine vinegar. Chef Watts said I didn't have enough meat flavor in mine, and when I went back to my station I realized I, uh, forgot to put any meat in at all. I should have advertised it as Vegetarian Borscht. 

The Pel'meni are little dumplings of ground beef, pork and onions, poached in veal stock. Our book says these were traditionally made with horsemeat. Uh, delicious.

And for the main course, we have the one that's hard to prounounce, which hails to us from Denmark.  It's a pork loin, stuffed with apples and prunes that were cooked in Aquavit and finished with cream.  I seared mine in bacon fat to give the hunk of meat some flavor, and I tossed my potatoes in the bacon fat too.

day 99: mexico: churros

Today was supposed to be a trip through Spain, but I think I went on the cheap and headed to Mexico instead.  The churros got chocolate and caramel sauce, which was delicious.  But the horchata just tasted like sugar-y water...I guess two hours isn't quite enough.

day 98: france: poulet sauté à la normande avec la purée de céleri-rave

We visited France on the first day of International, really a radical departure from everything we've done so far.  Or not.  I guess slapping that Camembert on the seared chicken breast makes this "in the style of Normandy"...uh, whatever.  Hopefully, the final three weeks of school will be a lot more exciting.

day 97: mushroom terrine

Garde Manger has to be my least favorite class of all.  Aside from the bacon that we cured, I can't think of a single thing we made that I care to make again.  Thank God that class is over.  Unfortunately, Garde Manger is probably one of the first jobs I'll get in a real kitchen.

day 96: sushi

Sushi is a nice snack, but I don't know how you get a whole meal out of it unless you're just wiping your ass with cold hard cash.  Even then...for raw fish?  Pass.  And the sticky rice reminded me of enrobing chocolate truffles...a big hot mess all over my hands.  Double pass.

day 95: antipasti platter; caprese salad

Today, I made Caprese salad with the mozzarella we pulled yesterday...it was a million times better than the chunks of sliced mozarella I put in the one for our BBQ buffet. We also had heirloom tomatoes instead of the usual roma tomatoes, which was a lot nicer. Chef Pastore likes to meander past our plates a lot this term even though he's not our teacher, and he tried to take credit for the inspiration of my stacked Caprese salad.  Sorry Chef, Jacques Pepin beat you to it! But your plate was impressive, nonethless. I also made a ton of different kitchen cheeses yesterday, and I oven dried some roma tomatoes and soaked them in olive oil, garlic and basil overnight. It was delicious with the baby artichokes Jennifer marinated, and the crostini we toasted in butter and rubbed with garlic. And kudos to Brittany for iPhoning a beautiful platter presentation for us. An antipasti success!