Mexican Thursday

Good afternoon to all of your wonderful people out there reading my blog.  I appreciate it so very much that you are interested in the day to day at Dorsey Culinary Academy.  Some times it is a very good ride and sometimes not so much.  I am hoping that everyone out there is enjoying this wonderful afternoon and this fairly nice weather.  Especiales abrazos y besos a usted mi amigo muy especial... esperan que el día es un maravilloso!

Chicken Kiev

Too bad for our Detroit Tigers ... but they are not out of it yet.  Anything can happen.  However it works out ...The Detroit Tigers have given us quite a show this season and they have made us proud.  They are doing a good job!

So, today at school.  What a day ... rush, rush and more rushing.  I think that it is a great deal of stuff to do in one lunch setting and then have all of the clean up when everyone has eaten.  

Chili Relines

First of all I am so sorry that I did not take a better picture of the Chicken Kiev.  You can not see the full effect of it by the picture but I am here to tell you again that it is very good.  

Chili Relines ... well, I did not think that I would even like them when I was grinding two kinds of meat and mixing it all together with the spices

Beef Wellington, Prime Rib and fruit

Lobsters

but I have to tell you ... I was so hungry that when he said we could eat the first thing I grabbed was one of the Relines (only because it was deep-fried) so how bad could it be, right?  It had both pork and beef in them with jalapeno peppers, onions and a whole lot of spices and wow, what a nice surprise.  Not too hot ... just right and very very tasty.

The buffet with the Beef Wellington, Prime Rib and fruit and of course the Lobsters are not anything that I did.  They were a part of the buffet and I just thought that I would share the pictures with you.  I did not eat any of those things so I can not comet on how they were but I did hear teachers going around all afternoon saying how wonderful that it all way.  I think that the 10 class mates and myself kicked some butt this week and i am patting us on the back for a job well done!  A special thank you to Angie for bringing Table 1, team 1 a Mexican tablecloth for our buffet ... it was a very nice touch!

So, I know that I said that I wasn't going to do anymore special credit stuff for awhile, I said that I was going to take a break, right?  Well, I think that I have decided to go to a class tomorrow called:"How to succeed in Culinary School".  I think that I already know most of this information but it never hurts to review does it?  I believe that I a already this type of student but who knows ... maybe I can still learn something new?  If I do or I don't it is only a three hour class and I get 5 bonus points ... in case I need them in the future for something. 

I will be saying good afternoon for now as I have to get dressed (out of uniform) and go and get some coffee and get some oil in my car.  Have a really great day and I will post again tomorrow.  Bye for now from 1HappyChef. :)

Mexican buffet tomorrow

Good afternoon everyone.  How is everyone doing?  I am kind of wiped out today as this buffet building is a very long and slow process.  I really enjoy eating Mexican cuisine but I have never cooked much of it and if I did it was nothing like the things that we are making for this buffet.  I guess that the difference would be is that I am making authentic Mexican food and the stuff that we make at home or get eating out is not usually the real thing.

Things are actually going a lot better this week everything considered.  I am still just a little behind but I am sure that it will all be ready for the deadline tomorrow morning at 11 AM.

Also, this extra job that I took on ... sous chef ... that has been some what of a challenge to get everyone to do their jobs and share the load.  It seems like there are the same ones all of the time doing it all and the rest just sit around and criticize.   

 Hay por ahí, esa persona muy especial que ha estado ahí para mí estos últimos días (especialmente cuando necesitaba ayuda con tareas) que se está constituyendo en un muy buen amigo mío que me ha hecho darse cuenta de que quiero empezar a vivir mi vida otra vez. Me refiero en todos los sentidos no sólo en el mundo culinario que tanto amo y disfrutar ya. No sé cómo explicarlo, pero me encuentro escuchando (realmente escucha) de las palabras a las canciones ahora y hemos sido día soñando en mi tiempo libre... se siente bien. Gracias querido amigo! Creo que ustedes saben quién es usted:

So for today I am going to say good bye.  I don't have any homework (well none due tomorrow at least) so I just took a shower and got on my jimmies and I am going to chill in front of the TV until it is time to go to bed.  I could use just a little break to get psyched  up for the big day tomorrow.

Everyone have a really great evening and I promise that I will have lots of great pictures and lots of news tomorrow.  Take care and good night from 1HappyChef.  :) 

Getting ready for Thursday Station Buffet

Chicken Kiev

Good afternoon all of my fellow readers.  Hope that you are all doing well today and that you are enjoying this really nice weather.

Fall is my favorite time of the year ... the smell of burning leaves in the air and all of the beautiful colors.

Tempura Veggies

More chicken, onion rings and hush puppies

Today in school we got our teams buffet instructions and once again all of this needs to be completed on Thursday at 11 AM.  So, I will admit to you right off the bat that today went a lot smoother for me.  I wasn't nearly upset and confused ... still a little mixed up on the menu (and our team is cooking Mexican and I am not familiar with that at all) but when I am done with this short and sweet post I am going to try and make some sense of it and see if we can stay ahead of the game and finish in a timely manor on Thursday.  I volunteered to be the sous chef today for the week ... I forgot what a headache that can be as I have not done that in awhile .... not since the first mod.  Anyhow, today it got done and I will do the best that I can for the rest of the week.

Also today we got our report cards form the MOD that we just finished and I got an 4.0 GPA and I went to school 320 hours ... all that there were to go.  I also got A and A in both classes CA104 and CA105.  So, for me this is very good news as I try very hard to do as well as I can ... I guess that I am doing that ... at least for now.

 

Also today we had something called something like a "deep-fry fest" and we were responsible for deep-frying two things to have ready to put out at 11:30 AM and our team did Chicken Kiev (it was very good) and tempura veggies. Chicken Kiev chicken is so good that it can't possible be good for you just because it is chicken.  I had 6 chicken breasts and I pounded them out pretty thin and then in a bowl I mixed 1 lb. of soft butter with jalapeno peppers chopped up and some parsley, thyme, tarragon and salt and pepper and then I rolled the butter into big logs and placed on one end of the chicken breasts and rolled them up then dipped them in flour and then in egg wash and then in the bread crumbs (that we homemade with bread that we made) and then you put them in the fridge to cool for a short time and then drop them into the fryer until crispy brown and then on a sheet pan and in the oven until done.  When I cut them in thirds to plate them you would not have believed how good the inside roll looked (and it tasted even better).  You can not see the inside the way I took the picture but we will be making it again on Thursday as that is part of our buffet so I will try to take a better picture then for you to see.  The tempura veggies are just a very thin coat of batter over any vegetable and deep-fried until a very light brown and the veggies are cooked through.

The plan for tomorrow needs to be reviewed and put into place so I feel as good tomorrow about school as I did today.  When you have a plan it always just seems to go a little smoother and makes the day a little bit easier.  

So, for now from 1HappyChef I will say good bye and have a great afternoon.  :)  PS>hi FP!

Warm one more day ... enjoy!

Good morning everyone.  Hope that everyone is enjoying this great weather ... warm during the day and cool down at night for great sleeping.

Not a lot to report today.  I am just working on my  "China" 10 minute oral report.  I have gotten on the Internet (Thank you Frank Pierce III for all of the information) and have printed it out so I can read and high-lite important things (I am not sure that I will ever have 10 minutes worth to say) and then type up the paper and go over it again so I can read it.  The Chinese have so many words that I can't even pronounce that I think that I will be in big trouble when I am trying to read it in front of the class.

Yesterday the "Special Decorating Class" was fun.  It was not as I had expected it to be but I did learn and have a good time.  The day overall was very long.  I am not sure that I will ever be able to build up that kind of stamina again.  I am working on it so we will see but being on my feet for 5-6-7 hours right now is about killing me.  Posted are some of the cakes .. they turned out very beautiful!

Next week ... after the 10 minute oral report we are going back into the kitchen to work on another buffet.  I think this one will be a little different as  it will be a "station buffet" with an "action item" ... what the heck is that?  I guess that I have a lot of reading ahead of me.

I just saw that CO got 8" of snow yesterday ... wow, hope that doesn't ever happen in MI.

Our Detroit Tigers are giving us quite a show.  The rain was out of their control but never the less the game was a very exciting one.  Keep doing well our Detroit Tigers and give us a show we won't soon forget.  Let's stomp on the Rangers!

Well, I wish that all of you have a wonderful Sunday.  As for me, I have to get started on all of this homework.  

Good bye for now and I will check in again tomorrow.  Signing off for now from 1HappyChef.  :) 

Thursday and "The Buffet"

Good morning to all of my readers.  I wanted to take a day and night to reflect on this past week in the kitchen before I filled you in on the buffet.

If I were to be honest with you I would have to say that it was very nerve racking for me.  We went from this very comfortable setting (Cake Decorating and Healthy Food) to this environment that I did not understand at all.   This part of the program is designed to get you ready to be out in the real world and it is about "building" things.  I do not understand putting things together at all.  I am a very good "hands on" person if I see a demo but for me to just figure it out is very difficult. 

Also, the menu that we were working from ... now that I am looking at it again and the project is  done I think that it was alright but on Tuesday and Wednesday I had a very hard time figuring out what was a "Canape Set". The menu read ... Smoked Salmon with Caviar and when all was said and done the entire process was not done like a pro in the kitchen.  I was thinking all along maybe very thin sliced salmon in rolls with some caviar (which I in my mind all along I was seeing ... capers) so that was wrong right from the start.  And then it never played in my mind that I needed some sort of base (little bread toasts) and some glue .. or doctored up cream cheese with herbs and then yes, the caviar and a garnish.

I would have to admit now that I need to read the information better and I need to re-read the Chapters in the book that apply.  I will never make it through this if I don't understand the process better and I don't think that I can keep my "A's for just showing up.  It would be really great if that happened but I really can't see it going like that ... I am sure that they expect you to learn something from this and I am sure that I will ... the question is ... what and how much?  Right now I feel very dumb!

At 11:15 AM our buffet was on the display table and almost ready to go.  We were aloud 10 extra minutes to put on the finishing touches like "garnish" .. apparently a really big deal in making it all come together and pop.  

11:15 AM and we are up ... THE BUFFET TABLE POPPED AND IT WAS A SIGHT TO BE SEEN BY ALL.  I was proud of the finished product.       Hal-la-lull a!   We did our first buffet and the word is that next week it should be easier.  I am hoping for myself at least to understand it from the get go and not always be second guessing myself as it really sets me back and I always feel as if I am behind the deadline.  Being ahead of the deadline is a much better feeling.

Here are some of the pictures for you to enjoy.  There were 11 students who put this together.  The 11 students were divided into 3 teams and each team had about 8 items to complete for the buffet table.  We started on Tuesday preparing and on Thursday at 11:15 AM is the display.

For the first time I think that we all came together and did well.  Our instructor Chef Abbey said that we did well ... thank you Chef Abbey!

Tomorrow I will have pictures from a class that I am much more familiar with.  I am going to Chef David's cake decorating class.  And I get to bring my cake home so ... I won't be loosing any weight this weekend.  This is a 5 hour class instead of the usual 3 hour extra credit class and I am very excited as he picked me to be his assistant.  I will post more tomorrow to keep you up to date on the day to day happenings at Dorsey Culinary Academy.

Have a really great day and good bye for now from 1HappyChef.  :)

Salmon

Good day fellow readers.  Boy what a day ... I am not sure where to start with this post.

Today I was totally confused and could not find my way most of the class.  I don't think of myself as a dumb person but for some reason today I just was having a very hard time understanding what the game plan was.

Finally I asked Chef Abbey what in the heck we were suppose to do and how were we suppose to do it and I sort of got it for the rest of the day but I walked away today very disappointed in the lack of work that I had accomplished today.

I will try and explain so you will understand it better ... heck, I don't understand it.

For the next 6 weeks we are doing "buffet's" on Thursdays and preparing for them on Tuesday and Wednesdays and then finishing up the dishes on Thursday and putting them all out in a buffet.  Sounds simple right?  We were very lucky in the fact that we got to keep our old team ... we are very capable of finishing the tasks at hand in a timely manor .. so, that was a very good thing.  But our assigned dishes for our team are:  Smoked salmon/caviar, cucumber cream cheese on pumpernickel, peanut butter and jelly (cashew butter and jam), Lamb brochettes with sauce, stuffed mushrooms, chicken in phyllo and profiteroles with chicken moose.  Sounds pretty easy .... well it isn't.

So, after my little talk with the Chef he showed us how to write it down so it made more sense to us and so we could get a feel for what was a today project and then tomorrows work and then the final on Thursday on the buffet table.

My first project was to cure/cook the salmon because that process takes 3 days so if I hadn't have done it today it would not be ready for the dish.  I get all of my Mise en place ready as we were taught and then my day got ugly.  I went in the walk-in cooler and got a piece of salmon that I thought that we would be using and guess what?  Not so ... I had to put it back and get a salmon that looked about 1 foot bigger than the one in the picture above and then ... look out here I am fighting with the stupid fish that is so big (18-20 lbs.) and slippery that I can't lift it, scale it or anything else to it.  Plus ... we had never cut a salmon before so before I got real scared Chef Abbey stepped in and helped and showed me how and what to do.  He cut off 1/2 of the head and cut down the back bone and showed me what to do and then I had to do the other half.  What a trip ... I was covered in scales and fish blood and guts but I will tell you that in the end I did get a very nice fillet and I put the curing ingredients on it and put a pan on top of that and weighted it down with 4 #10 cans and so Thursday we are ready to go with the fish at least.  The rest remains to be seen ...

I will tell you that I stopped at Rite Aid on my way home and the cashier said ... do you smell fish?  Well, what do you think ... you could see all of the shinny scales that I was covered in ... I came right home and washed me and my clothes.

So, as days go I did learn something today.  Thank you Chef Abbey for teaching me about salmon today!  I am truly hoping that once we do one week of this that it will become easier and I will feel like I accomplished something ... I mean I did the fish and I helped Molly and Angie with their bread that they were getting ready for some of our dishes but all in all I just wish that I got it a little better or maybe I just need to understand the time line and what can be made ahead of time better.

My clothes are in the dryer and I have had a little snack for my dinner and I did some homework that is due on Thursday and I am ready to quit.  I have reviewed and reviewed the menu for Thursday so hopefully tomorrow will go a little easier and feel a little more productive.

Everyone have a really great night and I will post tomorrow and tell you where we are with our portion of the buffet.  Maybe I will have some pictures ... I should have taken a picture of the fish but I was so covered in it I did not want to touch my camera ... maybe tomorrow ... Good night everyone from 1HappyChef.  :)

Monday

Good afternoon everyone.  Hope that everyone is enjoying their day and the sunshine.  When I left for school this morning it was a little nippy but when I got out it was just beautiful out.  Way to go all of our MI teams yesterday ... good job all of you!

Dana Burnstein, Denise and Diana Lewis (WXYZ)

Today was our first day back after a 10 day break and they switched things up on us this MOD.  We used to be in the kitchen on Mon., Tues. and Wed.. and then had classroom on Thursday but now we have classroom on Monday and then are in the kitchen the other 3 days.  It will confuse me for awhile but I am sure that I will eventually get it ... or else.

This is going to be very different.  It will be all about different regions in the Country ... my region will be "China" they told me today so basically my next 12 weeks will be based on this region.  Next Monday I have to have a 10 minute oral report done all about China, the culture and the food they eat and why.  Good thing I had that speech the other day and had to speak in front of 310 people to get me used to talking in front of people.  It should be a breeze to give a report to 15 other students, right?

We also got not one but two new instructors ... For the Monday classroom we will have Chef Daniel and for the hands on in the kitchen we will have the one and only Chef Abbey.  He is very smart and I know that I will learn a lot from him.  I don't know how much I will learn in Chef Daniel's class as most of it is "math" and we all know how much I like that .... not so much but I promise that I will do my best.

So, as I promised yesterday the posts and pictures will start regular tomorrow and everyday from now on.  I am sorry that I slacked off for a short time but I didn't want to write and bore you so I waited.

Go Detroit Tiger's tonight ... give us another win!

Good bye for now from 1HappyChef.  :)