Culinary School

Tonight, I worked at Cincinnati State helping with another non-credit culinary class, this time a team-building event for guests of a local company.

Chef Ritter, Patrick (a first year student), and I got everything together for the class to be able to make Gazpacho, Caesar Salad, Steak Diane, Asparagus with Hollandaise, and to enjoy a Caramel Flan that Chef had made earlier. We prepared the stations with all the ingredients and tools, collected bowls and containers, unmolded and plated the flans, and rolled silverware in preparation for their arrival.

The students — about 20 of them — were enthusiastic and willing to learn & work. Everything went well, but they used nearly every dish in the whole kitchen (it seemed). We were washing dishes endlessly when the event was over! Still, it was fun, and they did a pretty good job — items were well prepared (if a bit underseasoned), so dinner was tasty.

Speaking of Hollandaise, click (more…) for a BigOven recipe for a very easy, tasty Hollandaise from Mark Bittman.

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This evening after work, I went down to work at a culinary event at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. I worked on a Wine & Food Pairing event with Chef Leech, Katherine, and 12 guests. The guests made a variety of dishes — Tuna Tartar with Cucumbers, Rice Vinegar, Lime Juice, Soy Sauce, and Sesame Oil; Shrimp stuffed with Goat Cheese, Lemon, Almonds, and fresh Thyme; Roast Lamb two ways — with sauteed mushrooms and then with Cumberland Sauce; and a Rustic Peach and Apple Tart with a Peach and Apple Concasse.

There was a fair amount of mise en place, so I got right into it when I arrived. I prepared six identical sheet trays with the ingredients that the students would need, portioned and prepared to certain points (we wanted to take care of some of the more routine preparation activities while still leaving them something to do).

Everything was very tasty, and the students really enjoyed themselves as they learned about different wines and how they paired with food. The pleasant surprise at the end was that only one of the wines we served cost more than $10.00. Some of them weren’t great wines, but all of them proved the point that a wine doesn’t necessarily have to be expensive to taste good.

Katherine and I wrapped up the dishes and the room and got out of there by 10:00pm.

I took a vacation day from the office today to wait for our air conditioner repairman to tune-up our air conditioner which is, like every other air conditioner in hot Cincinnati, struggling with the heat. He also removed the broken motor from our whole-house fan and will have that repaired. While in the attic, we noticed that we’ve got (at least) two raccoons living up there, so Wendy contacted a ‘critter getter’ service who will set humane traps in our attic on Wednesday in hopes of catching and removing them.
This evening, I helped with a team-building event at Cincinnati State. It was an evening event, starting at 5:00pm and scheduled to end at 10pm. A company brought 28 employees to the kitchens of Cincinnati State to prepare a three course meal (Artichoke Hearts with Aioli, Potato/Mushroom Lasagna, Roasted Leg of Lamb, Seared Duck Breasts, Green Beans, and Fresh Berries with Burbon Saybayon) under the direction of Chef Arthur Leech, and the assistance of myself and Joe who is a student at the college.

After a late start — because of traffic and happy hour (before we started cooking!) — we got going. The group was divided into 6 groups — two groups preparing the artichoke appetizers, two groups preparing the dessert, and two groups working on the two proteins — and everyone got started. I was impressed with the willingness of the group to try anything. I showed a few people how to cut properly with knives, how seasoning changes the taste of a dish, and the correct response when someone is passing behind you carrying a hot item and saying, “Hot behind”. (The correct response is, of course, “Thanks, I work out“.)

Everyone took tremendous pride in their work, listening to us and taking the time to carefully consider their plating decisions to make everything look great. Food was served and everything was very good — the teams made sure that Chef, Joe, and I got to try everything, so we had a nice dinner!
Chef, Joe, and I worked until about 11:30 to get the kitchen back in shape, and I went home sore and tired, but happy to have helped out.

Boy oh boy what a night of food!

Tonight was my final in the GARDE MANGER class I took this term. I made it to school at 4:15, about an hour before our class was scheduled to begin and about 3 hours before our guests were due to arrive. Wendy drove down with me, and she seemed to enjoy a bit of downtime during which she could sit outside and read while I worked to finish up my platter.

Our final assignment was a ‘presentation platter’ containing 8 portions of 2 proteins, 2 salads, a cracker piece, and a garnish. We also had to present a plate that might be used for service. I decided to prepare the following menu:

Roasted Asian Duck Galantine
Duck and Smoked Foie Gras Terrine
Soba Noodle Salad with Sesame Oil
Carrot & Daikon Slaw with Rice Wine Vinaigrette
Szechuan Red Chili Deviled Quail Eggs Canapes
When I arrived at school, I had both my proteins, my cracker, one of my salads completely finished, and the other salad just needed to be assembled, so I felt like I was in pretty good shape. I still had to make the Deviled Quail Egg Canapes I chose for the garnish, slice and dip my proteins, and assemble the plate and platter.

I got right into the work, finishing my second salad quickly and slicing my proteins without incident. I was far enough ahead that I was able to dip my proteins (they’re dipped in aspic, a gelatinized meat stock, to preserve them and to make them shiny) and put them back into the cooler to hold for a while. They tasted great. I worked on the deviled quail egg canapes and got them together easily as well. After cleaning up and a short break, I got my platter together and assembled quickly. I was very pleased with the flow of my platter, and think it looked really appetizing.

Chef walked around and critiqued everyone’s work. He said that my cuts were “deadly accurate”, that the flow of the platter was very nice, and that my plate looked appetizing. His comments to the students were generally positive, but if something needed to be pointed out, he’d do so. Overall, he said that the class accomplished the goals he’d set out for it and that he was proud of each of us. Once he had finished, our guests were permitted to wander around and sample. The students also tried each other’s items, and things tasted great.

I took pictures of everyone’s work, and have labeled it where I could in the gallery. To my fellow students: If I mislabeled something or didn’t mention a name, please correct me! The gallery of photos from our final is here.

We got the kitchen cleaned up and closed down for the end of the term, said our goodbyes, and finished the term.

Wendy, Brian (one of the students in my class), and I went out to KNOTTY PINE ON THE BAYOU. Brian & I worked with them at this year’s TASTE OF CINCINNATI and they invited us out to the restaurant. We feasted! We sampled many items from their menu of Louisiana-inspired fare including fried frog’s legs, shrimp cocktail, etouffee, gumbo, salads with their awesome Onion-Mustard Dressing, fried shrimp, surf-n-turf of lobster tail and filet, and one piece of their made-from-scratch Opera Cream Cake dessert. It was an awesome meal, and we all left there full to the gills.

This evening, I again had the opportunity to work side-by-side with Chef Jean-Robert de Cavel, owner and chef of Cincinnati Ohio’s Jean-Robert at Pigall’s at 7 Days for SIDS: A One Week Fundraiser for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, an event that he and his wife Annette founded after losing their daughter Tatiana to SIDS in June of 2002. In the past few years, this annual event has raised over $100,000 for SIDS education, research, and parental support; and has funded the Tatiana de Cavel scholarship fund at the Midwest Culinary Institute (”MCI”) at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College. This is the fourth year of the event and I was pleased to be able to participate.

I worked with Chef Julie Francis of NECTAR restaurant in Mt. Lookout. She made Fresh Peach Shortcakes with Ginger Cream and Basil Syrup as well as a Fresh Strawberry Mousse in a Chocolate Cup and topped with Candied Pistachios.

When I arrived after my day job, things were just getting started so I was able to pitch in from the very beginning. I worked with Chef Julie on the mousse cups. Once we got those done, I worked with other students on the shortcakes. It was interesting to work with many of the first year students. There’s quite a difference in the skill-set and confidence level between those students and students who are further along in their studies.

After getting the food into coolers and everything cleaned up and put away, I went down to the kitchen theater to watch the ‘program’ of the evening. The program consisted of the evening’s chefs and their ‘celebrity’ assistants doing demos of the dishes we were to serve, followed by a question-and-answer session, all hosted by Storm Bennett from KISS 107.1 radio in Cincinnati. The demos were good and the banter was lively and cordial.

Once the program ended, we staffed our tables and served, served, served. The number of guests seemed to be lighter than last year, but we were still pretty darned busy with service for a while. I managed to try most of the dishes being offered, and really liked the beef tenderloin ‘oscar’ served by the gang at Jag’s. I guess that, and a couple glasses of wine, would be considered my dinner for the evening.

I promised Chef Meg I’d say hi to her on my site, so… HI CHEF MEG!

I finished serving, schmoozed with the guests a while, then cleaned up and headed home.

Another evening of GARDE MANGER class at Cincinnati State as we approach the home-stretch. Tonight, I finished my proteins for our final on June 14th. I finished my Roasted Asian Duck Galentine and my Duck & Smoked Foie Gras Terrine, wrapped them well, and stored them in the freezer until Monday (when I’ll put them into the cooler so they’re nicely thawed and ready for the final). I felt like it took a long time to get my mise en place together but once everything was prepared, the rest of it went very quickly. These things smelled GREAT when they came out of the oven — it seems sad that they’re served cold and glazed. I also had time to make my garnish cracker of piped pate choux, though I may re-do it since mine looks a bit thick. I’ve still got two salads (Soba Noodle Salad and Daikon & Carrot Slaw) and my garnish (Schezwan Deviled Quail Eggs) to put together before the date of the final.

I got home around 9:15 and had a couple pieces of leftover LaRosa’s pizza for dinner.