The Final

We began the day with our knife cuts. I was ready. I had practiced. My Julienne and Batonnett carrot cuts were my best yet. My Macedoine and Bruinoisse had nice square edges and mostly the same size. Unfortunately I did not practice Tomato Concasse or Lyonaisse Onions and it really showed. I even forgot to seed the tomato, and that was the most important part. So all in all I received the grade I deserved.

We then preceded to make the Nicoise Salad with Salmon. Chef told us to keep trying something that we do not like and eventually we will acquire a taste for it. Well I guess it is true. I never really liked Dijon. However after practicing the dish several times, I think at least the recipe provided is the best I have ever had. In making a salad, it is critical that the salad greens be crisp and dressed just before serving. The potatoes need to be nicely browned and the green beans crisp. The Salmon is quickly seared in a hot pan to get a golden crust on the presentation side. The salad is served with tomato wedges and a hard boiled egg. This was my best dish yet!

The Final before the Final

Week Nine has so far been my favorite week. I know that it is important to work in teams. I know that I will have to work with others in my own kitchen. However I really do enjoy the Wendy Show. It provided me an opportunity to validate what I am doing. I prepared Warm Salmon Salad Nicoise.

First thing first, I have talked about Mise en Plas before. It means have everything in its place to prepare the meal. There are several steps in the preparation of the salad. Having all the ingredients lined up in the order I need them, really works and does make a difference.

I was expecting Chef to rip my dish up. He said he was going to be highly critical. I did find the critique very helpful to prepare for the final. This honest feedback allows me to focus on those critical preparation points to produce a $15.00 plate.

I continue to practice my knife cuts. They cuts are cleaner and straighter, carrot cuts I mean. Luckily still no blue band aids.

Many more Lessons Learned

Friday was another one of those eye openers for me. It does not matter how much I am practicing my knife skill, if I am practicing it wrong. Also I found I like the carrots at school better for practice. I know we are suppose to cut other items, but I really need to get the carrot thing down.

Our team came into the kitchen with a plan, my plan. It worked really well, we were on top of everything until the plating. I did not have plating in my plan. It is now my understanding I need to do that first.

The food was really good. I had only occasionally cooked with wine. I had never cooked with a whole bottle. My Beef Bourguignon Pot Pie should have been called a stew. I did not have my oven hot enough to get the needed puff on the pastry top. Also I think that the dough was in contact with the liquid. I will try this again at home.

Our Braised Short Beef Short Ribs were off the chart good, wish I could take credit, Drew did an outstanding job. We could have done a better job plating, each plate was different in appearance.

I even tasted two new vegetables. You need to try Pureed Celery Root, it was wonderful. Our texture was a little off. We used the Food Processor instead of a Ricer. In the Pot Pie were baby turnips. They were surprising delicious.

As Chef told us we need to take the blinders off and be prepared to try new foods. We do not have to like it, just try it. I have spent my life assuming that I did not like this or that. The sad part is I never even tasted most of them.

So the biggest learning lessons. Be prepared to try new foods and plating, plating, plating. I need to make plating a part of my Mis en Place. I need to make it part of the set up. I must visualize what my final dish is.

Vegetarian Night - What a Surprise

My fifteen year old daughter recently showed a interest in a vegetarian diet. Not totally vegetarian, but wanted me to include some meatless dishes for dinner. Last night I prepared Eggplant Parmagian with Tomato Sauce and Angel Hair Pasta. The tomato sauce was well seasoned. The eggplant was nicely browned and mildy cruchy on the outside, but very mushy on the inside. I wonder how to keep them firm. I will find out and let you know. Pictures to come.

Home Practical - Nicoise Salad with Salmon

Tongiht I am prepared the Nicoise Salad with Salmon as an appetizer for two. It was fairly easy to prepare, but I did make some mistakes. Look forward to trying it again on Friday.

Expanding my Horizons

I have always enjoyed cooking and considered myself to be a good cook. I am creative and really enjoy the process. Since I began Culinary School, my eyes have been opened to a wider variety of preparation methods and spices. I find myself trying new foods with an open mind, and that is no trick. Tried a new recipe, Thai Beef with Rice, and for dessert I made a German Chocolate Cake without a mix!

Steaming and Simmering

Fridays class was one of the most anticipated lessons for me. I absolutely love Italian food, or at least the American interpretation of it. To follow the list of things I learned in class. What is amazing everyday the list grows as I think back to the class and the information presented.

1. Knife Skill - practice, practice, practice
2. Clean as I go - I was more vigilant this past week about cleaning. I just need to remember the spot sweeps
3. Pasta did not come from Italy, or Asia
4. Italian Food is not all about the tomato
5. I really enjoyed the sauces especially the Fredo, the best I have every had. I assure you I have had my share.
6. I learned how to say Bolognes Sauce. I think I would have enjoyed it with more of a tomato base. Again I think this goes back to sauce in a jar.
7. I also enjoyed the Puttanesca Sauce. I had an opportunity to try it at the Taste of Nebraska, Chef Tim's recipe is better.
8. At school I learned that making pasta is not easy. At home the lesson was reinforced, it cannot be done without a pasta machine. ( I make pizza crust, how hard could it be to roll a thin sheet of pasta? Take my word do not try.
All fun aside, it is amazing the amount of information that I am learning. Will keep everyone updated as the the progress. And by the way NO BLUE BAND AIDES.

The Best Lobster I have ever had

Ever since Chef Tim told us about poached lobster, I could not wait for the first opportunity to try it. I did not however want to try it on a family of four, kids never really appreciate lobster. This past weekend home alone, I tried it. Once again Chef Tim is right, I'll never want to eat it prepared any other way. The absolutely best lobster I have ever eaten, I made it and it was serve hot! Try it.

The So Called Easy Day

When I went to class last Friday, I was under the false impression that it was going to be an easy day. Looking back, how could I possibly think that anything I am going to learn from Chef is going to be easy. If it was easy, I would not be needing to go to school. It is amazing how easy it is to forget the Mise en Place, and that it applies to more than the ingredients. It is a whole process. The uniform, the ingredients, the team work, communication and the clean up during and after. A far as being a relatively easy dish to prepare it was, however that is what lulled us or at least me into a comfort level that was misguided. We spent so much time marveling at how we were going to plate on time, we were patting ourselves on the back. The learning lesson really came on Saturday when I was at school and saw the Saturday class that prepared the same meal we did the day before. The kitchen was clean. We need to do better. It can be done.

Roasted Chicken Surprise

Last Friday's class was a real eye opener for me, in so many different ways. First I had cut six pounds of carrots to practice for the exam. I knew I was ready. However I found that I have an opportunity to improve my knife skills. What I found out is consistency is more important than time and quantity. That will come with practice. Teamwork is the other thing that I learned. At home, my kitchen is my domain and I make everything. I found cooking with others can be enjoyable if I can let go of my control freak issues. Our merry three worked with the other teams to produce the meal. We coached and encouraged and even laughed at each other, but we learned and produced some good looking food.



Our task this week was to roast a chicken. I decided that this would be a great Sunday night supper. This was my first experience at cutting out the wishbone, no problem. I stuffed the chicken with salt and pepper, rough chopped carrots, celery, onion, half a head of garlic, fresh basil, thyme, and a half a lemon. I trussed by chicken and seasoned the outside well. I decided to roast the chicken on whole carrots, celery stalks, and onions cut in half. Baked at 425 degrees for 1 hour and 20 minutes. As a dish, I also made the Rice Pilaf, with enough salt this time. What a wonderful meal.

Sauteed Pork Medallions

Found a another new family favorite, Sauteed Pork Medallions. Ever since Chef taught us about sauteeing and de glazing pans I have been having a lot of fun experimenting with different flavors and proteins. This one stands out. It is prepared just like my Chicken Spaghetti mentioned in a ealier blog. Do not get caught up on using wine. Any number of liquids could be used for de glazing. Juices, liquers, and stocks. I am sure there are so many other choices. This is my 6th week in class. I will keep you posted if I come up with any other tasty de glazing ideas.

Lets try Desserts

It has been a sweet week at the Kuhnert house. I a Brownie Nut Pie and Fresh Berry Shortcake. The Brownie Nut Pie was fudgey and especially good warmed with a bit of whipped cream on top. The Berry Shortcake consisted of my first Angel Food Cake topped with a mixture of fresh blueberries and strawberries that had a light sugar glaze. This was topped with fresh whipped cream and berries. It was my personal favorite.

Guess What? Still no blue or any other color band aides

Easter Dinner was a huge success. The meal was wonderful. The meal provided me with an opportunity to practice my new found knife skills. I have continued to practice everyday. Wednesday I began having my own practicals and they have progressively produced more consistent cuts. Bring on the practical.

Who needs Butter?

Well there are no pictures. The dinner looked to good to wait. Last night I prepared Spaghetti with Meat Sauce and it was delicous. Thanks to Chef Tim is for the lesson on Roasted Garlic. I roasted garlic last night and mashed it into a creamy paste that was spread on hot french bread. Who needs butter? Thank goodness we all ate some and are family.

Heading to a real grocery store. The one here in Glenwood tries hard, but falls short. Easter Sunday will bring my husbands family for dinner. I will be feeding ten. Dinner will consist of:

Green Salad with Balsmaic Vinegar Dressing
Poached Samon
Roast Tenderloin
Brown Rice
Potatoes Au Grautin
Fresh Green Beans
Corn
Choclate Cake with Homeade Ice Cream

Let you know how it goes

Julienned Sweet Potatoes again, and again, and again

Three cheers! I found sweet potatoes at Bakers for $0.49 a pound. I just finished cutting my two pounds julienned sweet potato. It only took a little over an hour this time. What I find amusing is I am still saying s-l-i-c-e to myself. This exercise proved to be very valuable. My knife skills are starting to be more natural and fluid. I also am finding myself more comfortable using a knife. Look forward to testing out new skills.

Risotto or not to Risotto that is the question.

Last Friday brought another great learning opportunity, and no it does not involve blue band aides. Did I have tell you that the best way to produce excellent food is to have your Mise En Place. Unfortuneately, I had too much in place. Mise En Place is a french term for having everything in place prior to preparing a meal. That way you are not running all over the kitchen at the last minute. What I did was try to set up Mise En Place for two dishes at the same time. You can imagine what happened. My Rice Pilaf failed because it did not have any Orzo in it. The Risotto was not Risotto at all because it had no Rice in it.

Steak with Red Wine Reduction Sauce

Truly amazing what deglazing a pan can do.

Chicken and Rice

Hungarian Goulash

My family loves it!

Sweet Potato Hell

Last week in class Chef challenged us for homework to julienne one pound of sweet potatoes. He told us it would be good practice for Friday. It took over an hour, but I do admit it was good practice.

Stuffed Green Peppers

Friday Night I made Stuffed Green Peppers. They were outstanding.

Another Blue Day

Many consider blue a beautiful color. There are blue skies. Blue waters. Blue eyes and blue bandaides. Today was my day for blue band aids. Once again I managed to nik myself a couple of times. What I learned? I am going to slow down and become accutely aware of my surroundings.

Friday was all about "mise en place". It is french for everything in its place. Our team started out really good, and lost focus. Not only did we loose focus, we all got really dirty. We failed to clean as we were working. Goal next friday is to clean as we work.

Tonight I am going home and will be preparing Stuffed Green Peppers.

All about the Egg and the Knife

I really enjoyed the first 7 hours of Culinary Foundations. I will call the first 7 hours all about the EGG and the KNIFE. I learned how to cook a fried egg, over easy, sunny side up and how to clean the flipped egg out of the gas burner. Once we mastered that, we moved on to French Rolled Omelet. The demonstration by Chef Tim made it look so simple. Piece of cake I thought. (eventually one of our instuctors will prove me wrong about the piece of cake thing I am sure)
It took several tries to make an omelet that was almost picture perfect, except for the stuff running out of the middle, no I did not try it. Let me tell you about the last part of class and what I learned the most. Take my time, do not be in a hurry. At least not yet. I will always take the time to ensure that there are not any dangerous items in dishwater that I have not prepared or cannot account for the contents.