Salad (No, not the particularly healthy kinds)

After a brief, rote lecture about the different kinds of salads (side, composed, grain & bean, potato, fruit) and the method of dressing (nothing swims), Chef C went and chose teams rather than depend on chance. I got matched with Dirties Kim & Dave and Long Island Lolita, who I sit with at morning lectures anyway. There were three sets of recipes for three different teams, but I wrote down all the recipes in my cards so I was set.

After working the Fancy Food show yesterday, going to go to James Beard House tonight and all the other things I'm doing, I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to learn more outside the classroom than in. With DK, DD, and LIL, there really is no need for a team leader -- everyone tells everyone what they are doing, everyone is competent, and everyone jumps in on each other's recipes when they got their own on locked down.

DD took the mixed grain and bean salad, a boring mix of pasta, chickpeas and lentils barely saved by an interesting hazelnut vinaigrette. LIL went on the Cobb Salad, basically a bunch of complementary piles of ingredients laid over a bed of greens, and DK went and made mayo, roasted and cut chickens, and assorted things to support the team.

I made American Potato Salad, which I actually kind of despise -- always too much mayo, always hard boiled eggs hidden in a way you can't really pick them out. Placed waxy red potatoes in cold water, brought to a simmer until tender. Cooled, sliced, mixed with fresh mayo, diced onion, celery, and hard boiled eggs; seasoned with mustard, salt, and an extra helping of Worcestershire sauce. Everyone was saying how rocking it was, even Chef C said it was perfectly balanced, which is nice, but it just tasted like starch floating in mayo to me.

If I were rewriting the recipe, I'd dice the cooked potatoes, halve the mayo, replace onions with scallions, replace eggs with firm tofu (same consistency as hard boiled egg whites), and replace the mustard with a pinch of cayenne. Maybe a squirt of honey, too. Or crumble in some honey-bacon. Damn, July 4 is almost here, maybe I should kick it then.

Our team whipped off a Cesar salad at the last minute, as the dressing just called for dropping stuff in the robo coup, tearing up some romaine, and dressing some bread cubes in oil, salt, and grated parmesan before sticking in the oven for a couple of minutes. While the other two teams struggled with each other, all three of our dishes plus and extra was ready and out on the presentation table.

Chef C gave a little moral-boosting talk about team work, then we dug in. Funny thing about team work, it works best when everyone on the team rocks hard -- there is no space on a good team for a Dora the Explorer, no amount of team work is going to make that work. If we had same teams today, I was planning to take the leader role and basically try to separate DtE from the rest of the team by having her work on one recipe for the entire time, and let her sink or swim on her own .

Tomorrow, sammichez! Wednesday, the practical and written exams for the end of the mod.

ADDENDA:

During the last hour, an externship advisor pulled each student out one by one to talk about The Future. I had spoken with her before, but I sat down just to check in and tell her everything I've been doing -- and so far she seems to think I'm doing everything right. As Norbit came out of his time, I overheard him saying, "Everyone in my group hates me!" Uhhhh, he he he.

Spent my afternoon and evening assisting in the kitchen of the James Beard House with visiting chef Michelle Bernstein and her 6-member team from Miami. It was really cool seeing a well-run team crank out 100 appetizers, 100 pastas, 100 firsts, 100 mains and 100 desserts within 2 hours. It was a lot to take in and digest, perhaps more on this later.

BREAKFAST: 6:30am, good yogurt with honey, vanilla, cashews, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM TASTING: 11am, caesar salad with croutons, tabouleh, various potato salad, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1:45pm, 20oz gatorade, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM TASTINGS: 8-10pm, watermelon & tuna ceviche with truffles, truffled fresh pasta with gremolata, prime rib with truffles, truffled french fries, french toast fried in olive oil, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5