Professional Cooking Basics

OK, so now my SRJC Classes are in session... actually this is the third week. I was very pleased to get the evening PCB class; this time there were 28 students for a 24 place class. Some will drop, I know, but the "Brickyard" kitchen is really crowded! The kitchen is really a working restaurant, and 24-27 students really don't fit well into the space. Eighteen, maximum, would be better as far as learning space is concerned, but some restaurant kitchen lines are REALLY crowded, so I guess learning in a small space is actually better training for the real world.

Chef Christine is AWESOME! She just knows so much and is really patient with us. There is a lot of reading, and the assignments might be organized differently (I'd rather read the text before the lesson to have a CLUE of what we are meant to be doing), but I'm learning a whole lot. There are so many things in food preparation that I either 'just did' without knowing why they were necessary, or didn't know I was supposed to do at all. Lots of tips, like in Art classes, all given with loads of patience and good humor.

One of the people I baked with in the summer class had a hard time in Chef Christine's class, and wasn't complimentary about her at all... so I saw the instructor's name and was a little distressed. But it goes to show you that one shouldn't take another person's recommendation or dislike to heart - she wasn't a very happy person, and it colored her views of both the class and of Chef Christine, I'm afraid. I REALLY LIKE CHEF CHRISTINE PICCIN! What a good teacher!

The first week we "did" eggs. We fried eggs. We poached eggs. We scrambled eggs. We basted eggs. We baked eggs. We soft boiled eggs. We hard boiled eggs.We made omlettes. And at the weekend, I went home and practiced more with eggs! I'm happy to report that I can now fry a 'perfect' over-easy egg... well actually two together is easier, so I usually do that. Our homework was to look at our own "Global Culinary Heritage" describe it, and present a dish from that place. I chose a breakfast of Kidneys on Toast... Erin was pretty grossed out.

Last week we were on to vegetables: blanching, steaming in the big mechanical steamer, pan steaming, grilling, roasting, sweating, sauteing, and multi-cooking (two or more methods for one dish). Lots of veggies came into our hands, and all the different methods. We didn't have to LIKE them all... just learn how to make them nice for the customers.We learned new techniques and 'different' ways to do familiar veggies. This was pretty cool, too. For example, I had thought that blanching was just to make the tomato skins slip off easier when you wanted to have peeled tomatoes... but I found that you can VERY quickly blanch spinach (like 10 seconds! You ice shock it to set the bright green color if you aren't serving it immediately), then toss it with carmelized onion and minced cooked bacon, slivered toasted almonds, chopped egg, and a little clarified butter to make a lovely vegetable dish. It is a little more cooked than a "Wilted Spinach salad" and served hot, so it is a nice side dish for a meal. I can blanch carrots before I saute them for Ginger Carrots as well, and that will shorten the cooking time as well as make them all the same done-ness. Of course, the pieces all have to be the same size to allow for even cooking, so that is where my Knife Skills training from last Spring comes in. Yummy! The homework was reading an article about "Rochat" a Michelin 3-Star Restaurant in Paris, and writing about a memorable dining experience.

This third week we are on to studying about "Spices and Herbs" (last night)and cooking Beans, Rices, and Legumes (tonight)... see you later.

Run, Run as Fast as You Can...

Sunday was Gingerbread Man making day at our house! Erin needed 45 of them for her (and Renee's, too) Kindergarten students. I had purchased two sizes of small Gingerbread cookie cutters well before Halloween because last year we had to make the Gingerbread into STARS! The little Man shapes were all sold out.

I mixed the dough and showed Erin how to roll and cut the cookies. The I sat back with an eggnog and watched the proceedings. Fun!! By the end, she was doing a superior jobof rolling the dough out very evenly, and the rows of tiny Gingerbread Men waiting for small hands to finish decorating them on friday with icing and "sprinkles" and colored sugar was almost too sweet to contemplate. What a nice way to end the childrens' week!

Erin said she had forgotten how much fun it was to bake... and I reminded her that we'd be baking Mince Pies for Grandpa on Monday next... she was pleased to be included I think.

Waitin' (and cookin' and waitin' some more...)

My JC classes don't start until January 16th, and I'm going out of town for the Holidays... so right now I'm just making and freezing appetizers to take along, bottling my own 'take' on Coffee-Brandy, and baking Chocolate Biscotti for Christmas presents. And waiting.

So far, no nasty email saying the evening section of PCB is cancelled... so that's a good thing.

Open Wide!

Here's a thought... I'll do a cooking blog.

I'm continuing my culinary training at the JC this semester with "Professional Cooking Basics" as an evening class (I'll never do the Culinary Arts Certificate, though, because I'm not a frantic enough chef - I just want to be able to cook in a professional manner... maybe become a "Personal Chef" after I retire from teaching), and both "Yeast Breads" and "Flatbreads of the World" for my Baking and Pastry Certificate. This is provided that all the classes fly - last semester PCB at night was cancelled because of low enrollment. If all goes well, I can take the last two Bakery course and Production Baking in the Summer.. and I'll get my Pastry Certificate this year!

Lots of other things are going on in my life right now, as well, so I really don't know if the plan will stay the same for the entire semester (or even the MONTH).