Rack of Lamb

This is the better blog!

Yesterday was the day where we focused on lamb and veal. The lamb I made and tried of others was really good. I have had lamb before when I was in England. It was the best lamb I have ever eaten. Even though that was my first time, it set the bar extremely high. I’ve never had veal the way we had it yesterday. Veal is a male baby calf. Depending on who you are and what you believe in, you may not believe in veal. There are two types: formula fed and free range. Formula fed calves are the ones that are kept in a cage (only slightly bigger than their body) to restrict movements and are fed a nutrient rich formula. By restricting their movements, the meat is lighter in color and more tender. Buuuuut I’m not down with that. Free-range calves are allowed to roam freely and eat grasses and other natural foods. Their flesh is a reddish pink. When it comes down to it, I just get sad knowing that I’m eating an 8 month old calf. I know that they are raised for food but I don’t know. I’m not sure how I feel about veal just yet. But at this moment, I don’t want it.

From the movie, Ratatouille.

Our vegetable of the week was zucchini and yellow squash. I channeled my inner Remy from Ratatouille. I wanted to layer my squash and so I did. At my dads, we always make veggies in aluminum foil. Potatoes, mushrooms, asparagus, etc. Then we put it on the grill and let it roast. Yesterday I put it in the oven. I layered my squash and between every layer put clarified butter and chopped garlic. I also added a squeeze of lime juice. When I opened up the foil, the smell was absolutely fantastic! I’m not even exaggerating. It looked pretty but best of all, it tasted fantastic!

We also had to make Spaetzle. Don’t even worry about pronouncing it. I messed mine up. It’s a lot of work and requires wayyy too many dishes. I’m not giving up on it, it just wasn’t even fun to make. It looked weird too. It tasted like an egg noodle. But little baby spermy egg noodley things. A lot of us said we never want to make it again. I’m sure we will though. He usually has us make the hard things twice.

On to the good stuff! I made rack of lamb yesterday! I was pretty excited about it because rack of lamb was a big seller when I worked at Josef’s. I never got to make it, I only got to watch. But yesterday I made it and it turned out amazing! It was so tender. I loved it. We made a mint pesto and let it marinate on top of the lamb for an hour or so. Then we put it in the broiler until the top got perfectly crisp. Then we finished it in a 350 oven. I was told to cook mine to medium. It came out perfect.

Looks like an alien face.
That is the Spaetzle under the veggies.

And last but not least, the best news! I have gotten a new job. I have wanted to work/learn at Social ever since the first time I had eaten there. I worked my ass off this summer. Working two jobs and taking in all that I could. 2013 was the year I would apply at Social and hopefully get in. I love the food at Social but most importantly I love that they use seasonal ingredients and have their own garden. I don’t have the most experience but that is why I’ve wanted to work there. So I could get my experience up at a restaurant that I love. To me, Social is my favorite restaurant in Rockford and I’m so proud that I am now a part of this team. I have worked so hard for this and I plan on working my ass off every day that I work there. I just want people to know that hard work DOES pay off and if you have a dream, GO FOR IT. Don’t let anyone tell you “you can’t do it.” When you reach that dream, don’t stop there. Keep going and work harder. I couldn’t have done it alone and I am so lucky that I have the best support system and I appreciate every ounce of support I have ever gotten. If I had one word to describe myself right now, it would be BLESSED.

Extra pictures:

Marinating

Broiling

Salmon

I’m going to make this blog short and sweet.

On Monday, we were shown how to clean a fish; a big ole salmon. We each had to cut out a filet, but I cut mine a little too big. (Not my fault, my teacher showed me where to place the knife.) Anyways, I was feeling reaaaaaal sick that day. I ALMOST went home. But I stuck it out like a champ. I made seared salmon with some peach sauce. It was supposed to be a mango sauce but we didn’t have any mango. I don’t like mango but I was willing to give it a shot as a sauce. We also were supposed to melt brie cheese over the top but we didn’t have brie so I had to use goat cheese.

We also had to make some sort of special potato that ended up tasting pretty good and I’d do it again. I forgot the name but that’d besides the point right now. We had to add something to our potato and I don’t know why but I wanted to use beet. I just let my imagination go crazy. I made a sauce. I put a whole bunch of stuff in there. White wine, goat cheese, butter, heavy cream, salt. I didn’t like how it turned out so I just added water and brown sugar and it turned out a really pretty color and sweet. I made some sweet beets.

My teacher said that my plate presentation had the best height in the class. Which is a good thing; the higher the better. Overall, I’m glad I stayed because the salmon turned out perfect and I loved it.

Hot Chocolate

Homemade Hot Chocolate with Cinnamon

Fill whatever mug you want to use with milk. Whatever kind of milk you want. 2%, whole, skim, etc.You can also use heavy cream if you aren't on a diet or if you want a richer flavor. Pour that into a saucepan to fit your milk. Turn the heat in between low and medium. You don't want scalded milk. Next add 2-3 heaping TBS of Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder. Whisk it really good to make sure that the cocoa is incorporated thoroughly. Get all of the clumps worked out of there. Next give it a nice squirt of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup. Next add sugar to taste. You either like it sweet or you don't. So you be the judge of sugar. Next add a tsp. of ground cinnamon. Keep on whisking. If you want a little kick of caffeine, add a tsp. of instant espresso powder. Once everything is mixed together and you've got your ingredients all working together and nice and hot, pour your hot chocolate and enjoy it! I was pretty impressed with the result of this hot chocolate. Hints of cinnamon and rich chocolatey goodness. 

PORK!

Monday was a calm day. Both classes were held in classrooms. We talked about ethics in Menu Design. Ethics as in knowing what is right and what is wrong. We talked about many different examples. After a while some people went off on rants about Obamacare and the noise level was rising. I was getting really stressed out. I’m not saying that I didn’t agree with what was being said, I just realized that I don’t handle these kind of debates very well. My teacher noticed the funny look on my face and he asked why and I just kind of yelled, “THIS IS SERIOUSLY STRESSING ME OUT!” Everybody laughed. I love debates and all that good stuff but when people start going crazy, I just get ready for the shit to hit the fan. My fight or flight response is usually flight. I just hate politics.

Today went well, I think. Our class was small. There were only 6 of us in the kitchen compared to the usual 10 or 11. The theme was pork. I had been hoping all day that we’d get to make mashed potatoes! And we did! Duchesse Potatoes. These complicated potatoes with egg and a pastry bag and a whole lot of dishes. We had to add an extra ingredient of our choice. Sometimes, I try to stay away from the usual “mashed potatoes with cheddar cheese” or bacon. Meh. I put goat cheese in mine. Goat Cheese Duchesse Potatoes.

We also had a veggie of course. Today was BRUSSEL SPROUTS. I was pumped! I’m tired of green beans, and spinach, and whatever else. Give me something good! I love Brussels. We had to boil and shock our Brussels but we had to add 2 other ingredients and we couldn’t sauté them. So we could grill them, steam them, or roast them. I roasted mine with grapes and honey. That sounds so weird. BUT IT TASTED SO GOOD! Roasted grapes taste like grape jelly! Go figure, right? They taste really fresh and the sugars are enhanced and it’s just really good! Try it sometime.

The pork. We had a few different recipes to choose from. Some Carolina Barbecue ribs, chimichurri kabobs, Asian ribs, and a few others. I chose the Pork Tenderloin Au Poivre (Aw-pwah). I picked this recipe because I’ve never had pork tenderloin so I wanted to give it a shot. Me and another lady made this recipe. The recipe requires you to kind of pound your tenderloin medallions. The other lady had to pound hers, but the teacher didn’t want me to pound mine. He wanted me to cook mine to a perfect medium.  You might be thinking, “What?! NO! You have to cook pork all the way through! You’ll get worms! Or get sick! And die!” But what if I told you that that is an old wives tale? Well, it is. YOU DON’T HAVE TO COOK YOUR PORK WELL DONE! If you haven’t learned anything new today, then there you go. You’re welcome. ;) So the chef challenged me and I accepted. I was a little nervous because I was working with a new meat. I had to sauté the medallions. Then remove them from the pan. Add wine and vinegar to deglaze the pan. Let it reduce. Add cream, salt, and pepper. Let it reduce. And then HEY! I’ve got a nice sauce. My medallions did come out to a perfect medium and that made me feel pretty good. My sauce came out perfect as well.

Don't plate things to look like a smiley face!

Basically, I did really good today. Except with my plating. I don’t know why it is so damn hard for me to figure out how to plate some food! Some day I’ll get it. My potatoes were used as an example because they came out perfectly and I cooked my medallions to medium, as requested. Overall, even though I’ve been having a rough couple of weeks, I proved to myself today that I don’t suck. It’s all in my head. I just have to get out of my head, believe in myself, and have faith that everything will be allllllllright. Thanks for reading!

New Experiences

This week has been a little better than last week. Slowly but surely I will get there. I’m starting to realize that I’m slightly depressed and I’m not sure how to deal with it but hey, nobody cares. Just have to say a prayer and leave it all in God’s hands.

Monday was kind of boring. I really can’t get into school on Mondays. Simply because, well… IT’S MONDAY. But I stayed and stuck it out. Got my homework done but while trying to stay positive and upbeat. Sanitation class was sanitation class. Menu design was alright. That class turned out okay for the most part. I left with a smile on my face and a couple laughs in my pocket. Tuesday night was The Buckhorn Dinner. It’s a big dinner that the culinary program puts together every year. A high class menu that is cooked by the second year students and served by the first year students (that’s me). Each plate is $75 and the students ask our employers or other places to donate anything from gift certificates to booze. The people that come to the dinner buy raffle tickets to win prizes. The money we raise goes towards scholarships for when we get to go away on our externships.

So on Monday, the first years had to start prepping for The Buckhorn. We were taught how to fabricate (clean) beef tenderloin. That’s either the most expensive part of the cow or one of the most expensive parts. I wasn’t feeling it. We could NOT mess up. It had to be perfect. I wasn’t mentally prepared for that kind of stress. It was kind of hard but it was a good learning experience. We had a lot of scraps and the chef designated us to 1 of 3 recipes: Beef Stroganoff, Fajitas, or Spaghetti and Meatballs. I didn’t care which one we got because I WAS STARVING. We were assigned the meatballs. Tenderloin meatballs? Um yeah, they were pretty good. Not as good as my nana’s but good nonetheless. Me and my partner had a good time and we ate and all was well. Basically, the chef wanted us to learn how to utilize the scraps instead of throwing them away. One of the biggest mistakes restaurants make is throwing away the scraps. UTILIZE YOUR SCRAPS.

Tuesday was interesting. I had no idea what to expect. It was a perfect rainy day and all I wanted to do was sleep. We had an hour of class then we all went to the kitchen and started getting everything ready to go for the big dinner. I had to count plates, do dishes, put some butter into some pans. A bunch of random stuff. It was fun though.

When we got to The Buckhorn Supper Club, it was old but it’s been around since the 30’s. The current owners let us use it FOR FREE for the dinner. That’s one of the coolest things ever. We had to set tables and when that was done, we got a speech and just waited for the guests to arrive. One of my tables had some of the nicest people I had ever met. They brought a priest and that was really cool. I don’t consider myself Catholic anymore but me and God are on good terms. I don’t have much to say about my other table. It was really cool that my smaller table had someone at it who had made a lot of donations to our program and they were asking me and my fellow server buddy all kinds of questions. “What is your ideal job?” “Where do you want to go on your externship?” Those kinds of questions. It was nice that someone asked and legitimately cared what came out of my mouth.

Once we got busy, serving came natural.We did awesome at serving our two tables. We never let a water glass or coffee cup go empty and they didn’t sit around with a dirty dish in front of them for more than a couple minutes. We were on top of it. Some people just stood around and every time I passed a table, people were waiting for their table to get cleared. Maybe it’s because I work at a restaurant that I know what is expected. At the end of the night, the second years came out of the kitchen and lined up on one side while the first years stood across the room from them. White chef jackets lined the whole dining area. We all got a round of applause and that was one of the nicest things that really hit home for me. It made it feel like it was real. Like all of our hard work was for a good cause and it pays off. I love my school. I love my program. And I love (most) of my classmates. I can’t wait until next fall when I’ll hopefully be getting ready to go on my externship.

Time! Time! Time!

Talking Out Of My Ass

The last week has been slightly hectic for me.  I keep getting bad news. It just keeps coming. A constant flow of bullshit. I lost one job and my second job is coming to an end.  I got dumped out of no where. I’m going broke. I owe my school money when I thought they owed ME money. You know, everything that could be going wrong, is. I lost my one job and that has been wearing on my mind more than I thought it ever would. It’s a constant struggle to even remember what day it is. I’m trying so hard to keep it together. I don’t feel stressed but subconsciously, I am breaking down. And I’m feeling it physically, as well. Then you lose a support system. So while you think you have someone to lean on, that’s gone.

I thought I had it all figured out. I thought everything was going good. Just in general. Life, work, everything. I felt like I had it all. But slowly it’s all falling apart and I don’t know what I did to have it all happen at once. I have no idea what to do. I’ve lost my motivation and drive to cook because I keep second guessing myself. I have no idea where I’m going.

Last week, I was decently confident in all aspects of my life; this week, I have hit rock bottom. If it wasn’t for work tonight, I’d be way worse off than I was at 1:30 today. It also helps that one of my good friends is in town for the weekend. I know it’ll get better but I have no idea when. Like, I can’t even imagine what it’d be like if it did get better. I don’t know. I’ll get through it but it’s hard when you feel like you’re doing it all alone. I know I’m not alone but… you know. I can say that I’m forming a new plan. I don’t know why though. Why do we even have to have a plan? Nevermind the bullshit.

School was interesting this week. I got an A on a paper I wrote about a food-borne illness. I also forgot my uniform at home because I didn’t think we needed it for my menu design class. So I was stuck wearing one of my teachers’ chef jackets and a really cute hair net. I also hash-tagged out loud “#chefprobs #mylife #whitegirlprobs” and this one girl said, “hash-tags are meant for the internet.” And I said, “And I like to hash-tag out loud because it’s funny. It also bugs people like you.”

I sucked at everything we made that day. We were given a rib-eye and a NY strip. One had to be grilled, and the other pan seared. We also had to make two sauces. (Both of which I screwed up.) My steaks turned out okay. We also had to make these potato things and our group didn’t work as a group so that was screwed up too. I haven’t been in it this week. Or last week really. I feel like I’m lost in a dark room. I don’t know where I am, who I am, what I want. Nothing.

Tuesday, we went on a field trip. (Thank God!) When I walked in to class that day, first thing a couple of my class mates were talking about was the slaughtering of cows. I don’t want to talk about that. I also don’t want to see it. But then, our teacher had us watch a little like documentary called the “The Good Slaughter.” It was about this company that slaughters animals but they do it quick and painless. It was interesting. It wasn’t too graphic and there weren’t any sounds. I did turn my head a few times and was almost at the point of tears. But they did do it quick. First they shock them behind the ears, then they hang them by their feet so they are upside down and slit their throat so they bleed out. It sounds terrible but it’s quick. Sometimes they use this air pressured type thing and get them through their ears and a rod shoots into their brain. So then they die real quick. It’s gross. I need to stop.

But we went on our field trip and watched them break down a whole half of a cow. We got to see all parts of the cow (or steer, really) (no guts, just meat) get broken down. The meat looked so good. And we got a tour of the factory and at the end I bought some cranberry brats. They were really good. I only ate one but they were pretty fantastic.

And that’s about it.

If you made it to the end of this god-awful blog, I appreciate it. I’m human. I feel things. And as an aspiring chef, I do go through downfalls so why shouldn’t I share those as well? It doesn’t matter to me. Whatever. I don’t need to make excuses. It is what it is.