I left off last week with a mention of our having free reign over a whole flounder, our first opportunity to be creative. It definitely rattled my nerves and I know I was not alone in feeling a tad anxious and unsure of the dish I was trying to turn out. Luckily, I was assigned an old familiar face as my current partner (Korean Spiccoli) and that helped me relax a little bit. The night ended up being a ton of fun once we got into the groove of cooking. My class produced the most beautiful plates that were equally delicious, it was both impressive and a source of pride that we all kicked ass. For my dish, I poached the flounder fillets in fish fumet (fish stock), white wine and some fennel and orange zest. I served it on a bed of sauteed spinach, surrounded it with an orange beurre blanc sauce and orange supremes (sections in which the peel and pith have been removed), topped it with some thinly sliced fennel sauteed in butter, blanched orange zest (to remove the bitterness)and garnished it with some chopped fennel fronds. It turned out quite well and gave me a little confidence boost that the dish I envisioned actually worked out. It was also very cool to see what everyone else had come up with and draw inspiration from their plates, garnishes and techniques. I know we made Chef Nic proud.
We also had a class dedicated solely to cheese on Friday. Do I need to say more? We watched a video on cheese (way better than the culinary math video that may have made me dumber for watching it), we tasted a variety of cow, sheep and goat's milk cheeses (plus their respective milks and yogurts to get an idea of the underlying flavors and progression with aging), and then we made our own ricotta and mozzarella. I could not have been happier until a classmate who works nearby kept passing me her aged goat cheese samples because she didn't like the flavor. Then I was even happier! Tonight, we had a lesson on pasta, risotto and gnocchi. Yes, this is my life.
I will spare you the details of my weekend eating, drinking and shopping with Trisha. We managed to cover a lot of ground, leaving a path of destruction in our wake, mostly to our bank accounts. It was a great weekend and one that should only be repeated sparingly, but I am far better outfitted for winter than I was a week ago. Not that I want to entice bad weather just so I can wear my new rain boots, belted trench and what Trisha and I call the sexy sweater. But when it does come, I will look good.
Putting all the fluff and day to day stuff aside, I do have something heavier weighing on my mind, something that puts things like football games in perspective. One of my dearest friends, my college roommate, the woman who introduced me to Mike, was Maid of Honor in my wedding and I in hers, and whom I consider to be a sister, is hurting and that means I am hurting. Although I can't begin to imagine how she feels and how she is coping, I know that she is drawing on the huge well of strength that she has within. She and her wonderful husband, Kris are recent parents to beautiful twin daughters, Kali & Maya. As if life with twins weren't eventful enough, Kali Jade was just diagnosed with neuroblastoma and began chemo this weekend. It's totally unimaginable that a tiny perfect little baby who hasn't even been on this earth for 6 months would have to battle something as daunting as the word that I just don't want to say. The prognosis is good and her mom and dad are thinking positively, but how can this not take it's toll? So, if you can do me a huge favor and send some loving, healing thoughts to sweet little Kali and her family, I would be grateful. Below is a picture of Kali (left) & Maya (right).
Oh Emily, I miss you! I found your blog link on FB. Culinary Arts? Sounds like so much fun . . . I'm glad you enjoyed the cheese. How do feel about raw meat?
ReplyDeleteLove ya, Shelley