Friday night we collectively decided we didn't need to do the fried or mashed potatoes because all of us have made them in class at some point, not to mention all the Thanksgivings at home. We were able to bust through all the recipes that night so we could then just work with our pasta dough Saturday. My group went three of four for best of Friday night. Island Kid put too much nutmeg in our Gratin Dauphinois, but our risotto, rice pilaf, and Potatoes Lyonaise were excellent. Yay!
Chef and I went down to GMC's kitchen to get some arborio rice (the guy who does our cart only gave us enough for one group, not three). Almost immediately after the door shut behind us he turned to me and said "Man, Uppity just gets on my very last nerve. She drives me crazy." So we had a nice conversation about her. I should say now, she's really a lovely person conversationally, very intelligent. But, as is the case with a number of highly intelligent people, she has issues with anyone who doesn't agree with her or who knows something she doesn't. She really likes knowing something no one else does and unfortunately for her, I'm pretty well versed in international cuisines and products. She actually glared at me when I knew what tostones were. Sigh. I can't wait until she gives her attitude to the baking and pastry chef. He does not stand for any disrespect.
Speaking of Baking Chef, I ran into him Saturday before my early class and was able to talk to him a bit about what it is I want to do after graduation. He's a member of the Research Chefs Association (I'm a student member) and is very much into melding baking & pastry and culinary fields, whereas a lot of chefs just do one or the other. I am really looking forward to his classes next quarter. I think he's going to be a great resource. He's also reading the same book I am right now, which is Ratio by Michael Ruhlman. Basically, it's a book that details out culinary ratios. Once you know the ratio, it's like having thousands of recipes. Very interesting and yes, just as geeky as it sounds. But this is coming from the girl who really enjoyed reading The Secret Life of Lobsters so...
Saturday was pasta day. My team only had three people that night so we each took a portion of the pasta dough we'd made and made our own dishes. Most everyone made some sort of ravioli since we had ground chicken and pork on the cart. I kept mine simple, as I tend to do. I sauteed some garlic and onions in a bit of olive oil, deglazed with white wine, wilted in some fresh spinach and then seared up some shrimp and added in some crushed red pepper flakes. Once my pasta was done cooking (about a minute) I added that to the pan and served it up. Chef loved it and kept coming back for more. He actually used some of it to top his fried polenta cake. Yay! I recreated it the next night (Sunday) at home and added in some halved grape tomatoes, which is the picture above. You all can thank Tony for that - he's requested more pictures, so more pictures you will get! Oh, and that isn't a fancy table setting...I had just laundered my apron and it was on the table.
Off to re-read about the 90 different kinds of fish we need to be able to identify.
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