Week 2
First full week of school, 5 days of cooking. what an exhausting week, as we are all slowly getting the hang of things. It's a lot of adjusting and as in life, you have some good days and some bad days.
September 26th Day 4 AM: Cooking
FORGOT TO TAKE PICTURES AGAIN, BUT CHICKEN WAS QUITE TASTY AND MUCH EASIER AND LESS TIME CONSUMING AS THE USUALLY TURKEY I HAVE TO ROAST FOR THANKSGIVING. THE BOILED CABBAGE WASN'T MY FAVORITE BUT WE WILL SOON REALIZE THAT ANY GREEN VEGETABLES ARE A WELCOME TREAT. THE PEAR AND RASPBERRY CRUMBLE WAS GOOD BUT THOUGHT THERE MIGHT HAVE BEEN TOO MUCH CRUMBLE TO FRUIT FILLING.
Lemon and herb roast chicken
Roast potatoes
Boiled cabbage
Pear and raspberry crumble
Day 4 PM: Demonstration
Escalopes of pork with orange
Oven rosti potatoes
Potato puree
Leeks with cheese sauce (Poireaux au gratin)
Coleslaw salad
Sauce mayonnaise
Latticed apple flan
Creme anglaise
September 27th Day 5 AM: Cooking
ACTUALLY QUITE ENJOYED THE SALMON, IT WAS STILL QUITE TENDER AND NOT OVERCOOKED AND THE MUSTARD ADDED A BIT OF FLAVOR THAT DIDN'T OVERPOWER THE FISH TOO MUCH. I WOULD DEFINITELY MAKE THIS AGAIN. RHUBARB WAS SOMETHING I NEVER REALLY COOKED OR BAKED MUCH WITH, BUT IT WAS QUITE A NICE, SHARP, AND RELATIVELY LIGHT DESSERT.
Brown stock
Baked salmon with mustard sauce
Oven rosti potatoes
Rhubarb fool
Shortbread biscuits
Day 5 PM: DEMONSTRATION
Smooth chicken liver pate (Pate de foie de volailles)
Melba toast
Rack of lamb with garlic and parsley crust (Carre d'agneau persille)
Rosemary potatoes
Broccoli
Simple lemon mousse (Creme asphodele)
Tarte frangipane
SEptember 28th Day 6 AM: theory
today was our first theory class. WE LEARNED ABOUT COSTING FOOD, HOW MUCH A DISH COSTS WITH ALL THE INGREDIENTS ADDED. WE ALSO COMPARED PRICES AT DIFFERENT SUPERMARKET FOR ONE RECIPE, FINDING OUT THE CHEAPEST OPTION TO THE MORE EXPENSIVE OPTION (ORGANIC) FOR EACH INGREDIENT THEN ADDING ALL THE COSTS AND SEEING WHAT THE PRICE DIFFERENCE WAS FROM EACH SUPERMARKET. THIS SHOWED US POSSIBLY WHAT INGREDIENTS WE MIGHT WANT TO GO CHEAPER AND WHICH INGREDIENTS WE WANT TO GO MORE EXPENSIVE OR USE BETTER QUALITY. THEN WE STARTED THINKING ABOUT THE DESIGNS FOR OUR CHRISTMAS CAKE, MORE TO COME ON THIS.
Day 6 PM: Cooking
FIRST TIME FRENCH TRIMMING A RACK OF LAMB AND THAT WAS QUITE A DIFFICULT AND TIME CONSUMING TASK BUT IT DOES MAKE A NICE PRESENTATION OF THE LAMB. IT IS QUITE A LOT OF WORK FOR JUST A FEW PIECES OF LAMB. I GUESS IT TAKES A LOT OF PRACTICE TO GET FASTER AT THIS, SO LOTS OF LAMB WILL BE MADE IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS THEN.
brown stock
latticed apple flan (Shortcrust pastry)
rack of lamb with garlic and parsley crust (french trimming)
september 29th day 7 am: cooking
french onion soup
RACK OF LAMB WITH GARLIC AND PARSLEY CRUST
potato puree
broccoli
simple lemon mousse
Day 7 pm: DEMONSTRATION
pate demi-feuilletee (flaky pastry)
Quiche Lorraine
Trout with almonds (Truites aux amandes)
Steamed potatoes (Pommes de terre vapeur)
Creme reversee au caramel
Simple fruit brulee
Trout with almonds
Simple fruit brulee
September 30th day 8 am: cooking
FINALLY LEARNED HOW TO LATTICE A PIE, I HAD NEVER DONE IT BEFORE AS I THOUGHT IT WAS DIFFICULT AND TOO TIME CONSUMING. WELL IT IS COMPARED TO THE CRUMBLE I NORMALLY DO, BUT IT DOES MAKE THE PIE LOOK THAT MUCH NICER SO NO EXCUSES FROM NOW ON. IF I NEED TO BAKE AN APPLE PIE THEN IT WILL DEFINITELY BE LATTICED.
Escalopes of pork with orange
Oven rosti potatoes
Broccoli
Latticed apple flan
Creme anglaise
Day 8 PM: Cooking
Tarte frangipane (pastry)
Magda biscuits