Week Three - Soups

Friday we made New England Clam Chowder, Split Pea, and Beef Vegetable soups. Saturday was Beef Consomme, Cream of Broccoli, and Shrimp Bisque. They all turned out well, of course. And now I'm going to let you in on a secret...shhh...don't tell, but pretty much everything does if you follow the recipes. Which the other groups didn't. There is a time for improvisation. That time is not when you are making the base sauces and bases for your soups.

Our syllabus is broken down by week, detailing which recipes from the book we will be cooking in our labs. Thursday, Chef tells us which we'll be doing Friday and which we'll be doing Saturday. We are required to copy the recipes onto 3x5 notecards to use while we cook so that our books aren't out on the counters and tables in the way. First week we were told to half all the recipes when writing our cards. I would say about three of us actually do that (out of the six or so who do the recipe cards), which becomes frustrating and confusing if someone is working off more than one card. My group usually uses mine since the two other women write both the whole and the half measurements and the Moroccan doesn't do them at all. I'm wondering how well he can read and write English actually from a couple things that have happened. Moving on... Each recipe includes the appropriate mise en place, which is basically the prep work that needs to be done before starting cooking. Incredibly helpful in getting the timing of the dishes correct.

Friday we started with a quick Q&A about the recipes we would be working on that night and then we were let loose. Our group immediately set to work on the mise en place, looking at the timing for simmering, etc. so that all our soups would be done at the same time. The other two groups just started one at a time, not taking anything into consideration. Which just adds to the time we're all standing around waiting for them to be done. It's getting pretty frustrating. Also frustrating is the fact that we seem to be the only group washing our dishes as we go. As soon as we are done with something, one of us immediately washes it. We're all about using time wisely and strategically. I think it's due to me and Air Force lady. We're very methodical, both planners. I'm slowly becoming the person who plans out our evening and keeps everyone on task, which scares me because I don't want to be naturally good at running a kitchen. If this continues, I'll want to open my own restaurant and then I'll never have a life. Sigh.

Our Split Pea, I'm told, turned out delicious. I'm not a fan of peas unless they are raw or lightly steamed in the pod, so the one very small spoonful of bacony, milled split peas I tasted was more than enough for me. All I will say is that you can rest assured I will not be making that frequently, or at all unless it is requested by someone I really like. The Beef Vegetable was good, boring but good. A little salty, but that's because we had to use beef base rather than stock so the sodium started out through the roof unfortunately. The NE Clam Chowder was delicious and not much made it out of the classroom. What little did, I handed over to Katie who was sweet enough to give me a ride home. She, a native New Englander, texted me the next day saying that it was the best clam chowder she'd ever had. Yay!

Saturday I was able to talk with my Sanitation/Safety instructor about classes and my thoughts on doubling up and getting the AA in Culinary Arts as well as the AA in Baking/Pastry. The difference between the two degrees is about five classes it seems so one or two more quarters to get an entire other skill field would be worth it methinks. I have to meet with my advisor this week to schedule Fall classes, so I'll most definitely be inquiring about the possibility of doing that. I'd be really surprised if it was an uncommon request.

There were only 7 of us (regularly 11) in class Saturday so we thought we might be able to get through things easier than usual. Oh. So. Wrong. I'm going to try to not build up my group as the best thing since sliced bread, but the differences are really becoming stark as the weeks go by. Long story short, one of the women (the uppity one) in the other group is allergic to shellfish and told only her team to hold off on making the bisque until the last part of class. Well, the bisque needed an hour of simmering, the consomme needed an hour and a half and the broccoli needed about 20 minutes. So it made sense to start the bisque once we got the consomme's raft going. (The raft in the consomme is when the egg whites, veggies, and ground meat meld into a solid on the top of the simmering broth.) Having not been alerted to her allergies, we fired up the shrimp shells. After four hours about cross-contamination and the importance of near constant hand washing, I was sure to be washing my hands about every five minutes since I was working on three soups, two of which had raw flesh ingredients. Evidently, one of the guys in the other group was walking all around without washing his hands and Uppity freaked out. The group had already been quabbling with each other over how to do things, how much to put in when, etc. For the most part we ignored it, focused on our own things, but man it was getting tense on the other side of the room. It did not go unnoticed by Chef. At the end of class, he called a Code Blue (which means we all go to wherever he's standing) and dressed the class down for not being careful about the shrimp and not being prepared. After getting condescendingly lectured by Uppity, I pointed out that had she let the entire class know about her allergy instead of just her group, I would not have started the shrimp at the time I did on the middle stove. She was all about reaming the kid who was running around and wasn't hearing what I was saying. It was a bit frustrating. Class ended on a high note though, with Chef taking home some of our bisque. Yay! I had some of the Cream of Broccoli last night and it was so good. If any of you want any of the recipes I mention, just drop a comment and I'll email them to you.

The one really good thing about being the only night class on Saturdays is that we get to take all the produce, etc. left over from the classes. So I headed home with about two pounds of broccoli, some chives, a bunch of fresh basil and tomatoes. Some others took some ground beef, shrimp, parsley, lemons, bell peppers. So much cheaper than the Yes! Organic Grocery down the street!

So, now that the drama is out of the way, on to the fun. Friday, GMC came into our class while his students were working on sandwiches and came to chat with us. I mentioned I'm currently out of work and he said he'd do what he could to help me find something with one of the many companies he works with placing students. I walked by while he was talking with Chef and heard him call me his "sweetheart" to which I just smiled and kept walking. He came over to chat with me and Air Force and we got him to tell us about how he ended up coming to the US, where he studied, who he apprenticed with, etc. He's really an incredible talent and very well-liked and respected. Later in the evening, I had to go down to his classroom to get some skewers. He was at the computer so without thinking, I know-shocker, I said "Chef, could you stop looking at porn long enough to help me find some skewers?" He replied "Oh, I don't look at it, I just do it." GAH! His classroom didn't have any skewers, so I said as I was leaving "I can't believe you're sending me away empty handed. I'm going to have to rethink all of this." About ten minutes later, he came back down with a printout of a bunch of job openings at one of the companies he works with, 99% of which aren't something I would be eligible for, but the thought was there. As he handed it to me he said "Now you aren't empty handed. No rethinking!" This is going to end well...

Enough babble. I'm on to read more than necessary because our lecture syllabus has us doing Eggs and Breakfast this week, while our lab syllabus has us doing Poultry. It's a bit of a pain, but I'm getting through it with the knowledge that the eternal question of which came first will finally be answered Thursday.