Well, Im finally here and a bit tired. Landed this afternoon. Didnt die on the plane ride over- always a plus. At baggage claim there was 3 boxes of fresh fish to be picked up along with our luggage (not to mention a large satchel full of pasta and other specialty ingredients). Just one day away from the big dinner, all the details seem to be coming together rather nicely. We checked into our hotel rooms, got some lunch and did a little walking..a bit of exploring. I love New York City.

Tonight is about getting settled and enjoying the city. The night is young…headed to the Village to get some celebratory drinking in.

Years and years ago I visited New Orleans. Such a memorable city- the scenery, art, the captivating architecture. Amidst all those wonderful things, those beautiful sights there was one place that to this day comes to mind most clearly. Cafe Du Monde in the French Quarter. I can precisely recall eating sugary beignets & sipping on hot cafe au lait right there in one of the most charming cities I’ve had the pleasure of visiting. The weather was warm enough to make sweat bead on my brow but the donuts and coffee were so good that the heat didn’t do a damn thing to deter me. Read the rest »

More consomme production today…which unfortunately I missed. Stayed for the first half of class but had to leave in order to make a doctors appointment that just couldn’t be rescheduled. Damn. While I was there however, I did happen to catch a restaurant oriented Monty Python film snippet which Chef deemed relevant…oh, and also completed a couple more tests. This is the end of our Foundations class- it pulls to a close next week while Im away. Upon returning Ill be moving on to the next course, walking in to an entirely different classroom lead by another Chef instructor. This past month has blown by so quickly…is it over? So soon…too soon. Read the rest »

Consomme, Carrot Puree & Cream of Carrot. All three soups were demonstrated today by Chef (the man can multitask like mad). Purees and creams had already been visited earlier in the week so it was time to become acquainted with the new kid on the block. Consomme is defined as a perfectly clear broth and I was curious to see exactly how that clarity was achieved. Come to find out, its a matter of combining stock with a “clarification mixture”… doesn’t that sound a bit bizarre? I half expected some sort of chemical component to be introduced. Read the rest »

Its done. Finals, for me, are finished. The studying, the worry, the nervous anticipation is over. What a fucking relief. The test did indeed prove challenging but really not as bad as I had imagined overall. It began with a multitude of knife cuts-brunoise (carrot), julienne (carrot), batonette (potato), small dice (potato), oblique (carrot), concasse (tomato), mincing/making a paste (garlic), chiffonade (cilantro), tourne (zucchini) and cisseler (onion). Then on to the production of a mother sauce (I ended up making veloute, although I was actually more than ready to make hollandaise) as well as mayonnaise. Read the rest »

Im not usually hungry during class hours. The morning schedule has me feeling like the breakfast I ate at home barely has a chance to settle before cooking/eating/sampling at LCB begins. Today was a different story, although Im unsure whether it was just me or the food we were cookin’ that made my belly growl in anticipation. Chef prepared a thick hearty puree of split pea, a rich cream of mushroom soup and a sweet carrot ginger concoction. We’re moving into the whole soup stretch- consommes, creams, purees, bisques, chowders. Read the rest »

This weekend was busy, fun…and much too short. Saturday morning found me cranking out beignets in preparation for NYC (dessert is one of my responsibilities at the James Beard dinner). For Brian, I wont be making beignets exactly- the dessert Im set to produce is “Bambolini (an Italian donut) with Mascarpone & Citrus Confit”. Kind of the same thing? Well, slightly…they have their similarities. In any case, the plan is to make his recipe later in the week to practice for the big event. Oh and also, Ill post the beignet recipe/ pictures from this weekend as soon as I can get to it. Read the rest »

Its been ages since Ive had a good trout. Too long. I love the fish but rarely see it on menus and of course, when it is featured, the preparation is seldom to my liking…so I skip it. Lose lose. But wait, theres a win…theres finally at long last a win- Thursday night, Spring Hill brought me back to my beloved. Pan-fried rainbow trout served with cracked bulgur, celeries and caramelized fennel- the meal was flawless. Read the rest »

Third times a charm right? Seems to be the case. Following numerous disastrous attempts, I finally produced a satisfactory hollandaise. Finally. Having to go at it time and time again, however, was torture. My issue this round? Too thick. All was well until I tried to thin it out with a bit of cold water. This is where the shit hit the fan- the cold water brought the temperature of my egg yolk/ butter mix down and in set the coagulation. Of course, I should’ve used hot but unfortunately caught my mistake too late in the process. Whisking away in hopes that it would magically right itself, I watched with a heavy heart as my hollandaise began to pull away from the bowl. Read the rest »

Pale, warm, mucus-like…lackluster in flavor- a white braise is not something I care for. It doesn’t look good, it hardly tastes good and all in all it seems drab. This viscous mess of matte was demonstrated today in the form of Chicken Fricassee. Poultry was floured, seasoned and seared (carefully as to avoid browning/coloration). That same pan (minus the chicken) was then used to sweat onions before adding more butter, more flour and stock (at this point what we had was a veloute sauce). In goes some additional flavors (bay leaf, thyme, stalk of celery, salt & pepper) and finally the bird is reintroduced. Read the rest »