Day seventeen: Where’s the beef?
Posted on | June 25, 2009
Finally, my chance to cook some beef is here.
Or so I thought.
Because, despite all the beef in the kitchen, I am the one student who never gets to lay their hands on any.
Not another mirepoix challenge!
Yep, another one. And we didn’t win this one, either, despite the fact that we had our cuts done first. See, we were also supposed to collect all sorts of data on the vegetables, such as weight and yield and what have you. We collected everything we thought we needed and gave our data to the chef. But, between the time he realized we were missing volume and the time we got it for him, another team slipped into first place and we tied with the other group.
Bother.
“Get the pan hot. You want to hear it when you sear it. And it’s less likely to stick.”
~ Chef Rushmore
My teammates fabricated meat on Friday, cooking half and leaving half to cook today.
Which meant we had three steaks.
Sweet Line Cook decided to make gnocchi for us. Asian Guy was going to make the vegetables. And I, I wanted to cook those steaks.
So we dove in and did our mise en place.
Then we were told that there was to be a tie-breaker to determine who would be last and the recipient of the punish-the-student move the school calls a “special learning opportunity.” The tie-breaker: Make a quart of hollandaise.
I make great hollandaise. So I got the job.
I promptly broke it.
I told you the next sauce I made would be horrible. This was because I said I made great sauces. Jinx.
I could have fixed it, but we did not have the time, so I ditched it and started again.
It ended up being merely okay, but it was still better than the sauce from the other team. And we had more.
But we where both short of a quart, them by a cup or so, us by an ounce or so. So we were both given the “special learning opportunity.”
One representative from each team had to clean the blood and other debris from the bottom of the reach in (think large refrigerator).
I volunteered from my group.
And, no, I never did get to cook any beef. Again.
Bring on the tests
The lecture started with a written test and ended with culinary math problems. Oh joy! But we did find out what was going to be covered in our mid-term.
First, there would be product ID tests (What are these ten or twenty herbs? Spices? Grains? Legumes? Vegetables?). Then, we go into the practical tests.
Because we clearly have not had enough, our first practical test will be a mirepoix challenge. Then, we dive into egg cookery and make an omelet and either an over medium or an over easy egg, depending on the mood of the chef.
Join me, please, in praying I get the over medium egg. I almost always smack one yolk of the over easy egg in the pan when I flip it, allowing the yolk to escape which isn’t at all what is supposed to happen.
Assuming I survive the egg practical, we then have to toast and grind a spice. I’ve done millions of these, so no problem.
Next, tie a roast. I was good at this … six weeks ago … so I better check my textbook to refresh my memory.
Then we have to make a mayonnaise or a hollandaise. Lucky for me we had a refresher today. I remember how to do both.
Finally we have to saute, flip, and properly season two cups of mirepoix.
And that’s it for the practical tests. Then we get to go to the lecture room. Where, no, there is no rest for the wicked.
But there is a written test.
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