In theory practice we are cutting the bones out of chickens, removing the meat from the skin, pounding the meat thin, and rolling it back up in the skin. Later we will stuff these chicken rolls and poach them. This is called a galantine. All of the students are looking at their macerated bird and saying they are going vegetarian.
I am working three days this holiday week, in cooked to order. The regular chef who runs CTO is on vacation, and Larry the management instructor is in charge. What a fantastic teacher he is! The menu consists of 7 oz New York strip steaks (which he shows us how to cook on the grill) bacon wrapped scallops, (we burn the bacon and have to start over), pork chops stuffed with Fontina cheese and prosciutto, and vegetarian steamed dumplings. All of this is served in the dining room for less than $7 for the individual entree and soup or salad. Merlin has lunch in the restaurant Thursday and I give him the department tour.
Friday I do an extra cooking day to satisfy banquet hours. I get to cook chicken caciatore from scratch, just as I would cook it at home, and it is colorful and delicious. As I have mentioned before, the food is fresher and better tasting on Fridays. There are less students than on class days, and we have less to do. I am able to finish reading one chapter for the test on Monday.
I am working on a Washington Award for Vocational Excellence scholarship application, (as a challenge), and they don't make it easy. There are 6 sections with a requirement of at least 150 words stating things like what career and technical education has meant to you. After the student fills it out, it goes to the instructor to fill out his part. We'll see how this progresses....
Friday, January 23, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
2nd Week Winter Quarter
I am on the vegetable station, learning to create some dishes from a recipe, on my own. The manager hands me a recipe for cous cous with roasted vegetables and I am to do all the steps to assemble and cook the finished dish. Cous cous is a tiny pasta that is interesting in that you only have to pour the boiling broth over it. After absorbing the liquid in 10 minutes or so, it is ready to eat.
In theory practice we are learning to carve vegetables for garnish. Making figures of crabs out of zuccini and yellow squash, with grapes or green peas on toothpicks for the eyes, is challenging for the non artist that I am. I want to get better at carving so I can have a visible display of what I am learning, to show when I serve things to my friends. I borrowed the required book and carving tools from another student who is finished with this portion of the class.
In theory practice we are learning to carve vegetables for garnish. Making figures of crabs out of zuccini and yellow squash, with grapes or green peas on toothpicks for the eyes, is challenging for the non artist that I am. I want to get better at carving so I can have a visible display of what I am learning, to show when I serve things to my friends. I borrowed the required book and carving tools from another student who is finished with this portion of the class.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
First week of school '09
Woo Hoo!
Checking the on line transcript for the last quarter, I find I earned straight A's. The vice president of Clark College tells me in a letter that I am in the top 5% of 11,048 students enrolled fall quarter. This stimulates my interest in finding a scholarship for next quarter. Having looked at a few lists, I think one of the few that would take my application is the one for those who have not been in school for a long period of time. Even if I count anesthesia training, it has been 40 years since I have been in school.
Most of the students from my class return this quarter. Some of them have moved up to management, and I hear that there are 20 managers for 10 work stations. I count 7 new faces and the classroom and kitchen are filled with people. It is difficult, with so many cooks, to complete any project alone. Everything is a team project. I am able to put together a pasta salad for the cafeteria line, but other than that, my time in the kitchen is non productive. As the old saying goes: many hands make light work.
In theory practice we will be concentrating on vegetable and fruit carving plus fancy decorated food. George shows slides of winning chefs who have competed with sculpted and decorated food. The food was expensive and had to be thrown away after the judging, so now it is mainly done on cruise ships or for expensive banquets.
Checking the on line transcript for the last quarter, I find I earned straight A's. The vice president of Clark College tells me in a letter that I am in the top 5% of 11,048 students enrolled fall quarter. This stimulates my interest in finding a scholarship for next quarter. Having looked at a few lists, I think one of the few that would take my application is the one for those who have not been in school for a long period of time. Even if I count anesthesia training, it has been 40 years since I have been in school.
Most of the students from my class return this quarter. Some of them have moved up to management, and I hear that there are 20 managers for 10 work stations. I count 7 new faces and the classroom and kitchen are filled with people. It is difficult, with so many cooks, to complete any project alone. Everything is a team project. I am able to put together a pasta salad for the cafeteria line, but other than that, my time in the kitchen is non productive. As the old saying goes: many hands make light work.
In theory practice we will be concentrating on vegetable and fruit carving plus fancy decorated food. George shows slides of winning chefs who have competed with sculpted and decorated food. The food was expensive and had to be thrown away after the judging, so now it is mainly done on cruise ships or for expensive banquets.
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