Grilling (Squash Booty)

The second and final day of grilling opened with a short and sweet lecture. Some of our preparations involved toasting spices and dry chili. The method involves only warming them in a pan with out oil -- once you can smell them, you're done. This reactivates the oils in them, but does not burn or damage them. If it starts to smoke, you've gone too far and they must be tosses, or you'll have a burnt, bitter taste in your food

Today's lamb and pork had the bone on. The bone keeps the meat moist and gives more flavor, but takes longer to cook and the meat nearest to the bone cooks a lot slower than the rest of the meat. Protein contracts because of heat, but the bone stays big, preventing grill marks in parts.

We were split into new teams today. Chef M put numbers on paper and threw them in a pot. This time, I cheated; I pulled three numbers, one after the other, until I got the one I wanted. My partners today were some of the sharper tools in the kitchen shed, including my Arizona friend. I shall call these two new team mates Dirty Dave and Dirty Kim, because right from the moment we were in a team we all got down n' dirty.

I hadn't even gotten to our table when DK assigned DD one thing and me another. Good for her, she in a way showed her dominance first and oversaw the logistics of who does what in what order. After being with a bunch of quieter, more passive folk for the past month, this was quite a relief -- a guarantee that good communication is going to happen, even if I'm not the one paying 100% attention.

I set about making the Roasted Poblano and Cactus salad to accompany to accompany the pork chops. Red onion, tomato lime juice, and cilantro made this something like a salsa, but roasted green Pablano peppers and a grilled weird Mexican squash (the cactus paddles had to be sent back, as they were moldy) really made this dish nicey nice. After peeling the squash, I couldn't help but notice that the top of the gourd looked exactly like a human butt. We get our small pleasures where ever we can.

As DD toasted and grinded fresh spices and DK trimmed and prepped the meats and fish, I made the vegetable marinade, sliced up potatoes, asparagus, fennel, and onion. I blanched and shocked the taters and fennel, and by that time we cleaned up our station and got ready to grill. Yes, we were first in class to finish our mise and get the grill station up.

Grilling is a fast method, and our food came out swell. I'm no fan of boring salmon, but I ate my piece of grilled salmon with relish -- the cross-hatched grill marks gave it a nice smokey depth you just don't get with baking or saute. The pork chops were great, tender at the bone, and Chef M complimented my cactus salad as having a nice "acid balance" -- which is intersting because after I made it, and our team signed off on it, I thought it needed more lime juice and squeezed another whole lime into it. Lamb chops were nice and pleasantly lamby; the grill flavor definitely complements its strong character. Shrimp, too, really benefits from the grill flavor -- definitely going to try this method on shrimp at home on my grill pan.

Tomorrow, off the stove top and into the oven for a day of roasting.

ADDENDA

At the end of class, a woman came to class to talk to us about externships -- it's time to start thinking about them. To graduate, we must extern in a restaurant or food-related business for 210 hours. She made an aside that for those of us going into media should start thinking now, as those externships tend to be less available. I spoke to her after class and will meet with her one-on-one to see what we can do.

BREAKFAST: 6:30am, granola with the good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

AM TASTINGS: 10:30-11:30am, grilled pork chop with cactus salad, grilled lamb chop with mojo sauce, grilled shrimp kabob with grilled potatoes, piece of french bread, water, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6:30pm, 1 beer, 1 small bratwurst with kraut, spiceymustard and shaved horseradish, small portion of spatzle, handful of lightly chocolate coated hazelnuts, 1.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Why am I feeling more and more cravings for sugar? I hoped today to be a sweets-free day and before dinner I had a jonesing for sweets. Went to a nice Austrian/German pub with friends and ate a small plate at the bar. Of course, at the end they come at us with complimentary chocolate hazelnuts and it's not really in my willpower to say no.

Grilling (Beating Meat and Playing With Balls)

Grilling is a dry cooking method where an open flame is beneath the food. It results in a slightly charred and smokey exterior and a moist interior. Like sauté, it is used for tender cuts of meat. Grilling is an evolution of the ancient method of spit-roasting, which was very slow compared to grilling.

Grilling is heat from below, broiling is heat from above, and pan broiling is heat from below, in a grill pan. In grilling, the juices and fat drip off into the fire and are dispersed, while in pan broiling the fat and liquid is collected between the raised lines of the pan and cause a bit more steaming action. In our class, grill pans were put on the stove tops at every station, and two coal-grills were shared by everyone.

The method of grilling goes like this: Pre-heat the grill, because insufficient heat will cause food to stick. (Food in general will stick till it is done.) Clean the grill while hot, wwith stiff wire brush). Lubricate grill with rag and inexpensive oil. Dry and season the item (because if there is excessive oil on the item, it will cause fiery flareups that will give an overly smokey flavor). Place items on grill, and if they are square, at an angle. Half way through the cooking of the first side, turn 90 degrees. Flip, cook, turn 90 degrees, cook to doneness (same as sauté.)

There is no fond created, so there is no pan sauce. To temper charred, smokey flavor, grilled items are typically served with salsa, chutney, mayo, marinade, or compound butter.

Compound butter is cool. You basically soften whole butter and mush in minced things, roll into a small log in parchment paper, and whack in the fridge to harden. We made the classic Maitre d'Hotel butter, which is a compound of lemon juice, minced parsley and salt.

We split into groups and did some speed drills cutting up potatoes and various veg, then we got to it. I assigned 2LG, RH, and N their tasks and the mise got together pretty quickly; once again we finished ahead of everyone else. (Certain things should not be rushed -- a piece of steak is done when it is done. However, as long as you're accurate, mise should always be rushed.) I removed and skinned the breasts from four whole chickens, then placed them in plastic wrap envelopes and beat them to flatness, adding a bit of lemon marinade I made the moment before.

After a few demos from Chef M, we set about grilling rib-eye steak served with Maitre d'Hotel butter, chicken paillards in a lemon marinade, grilled chimichurri flank steak and various grilled vegetables. All grilled pretty quickly, and came out looking mighty nice. The vegs were a bit tricky, as each one cooked at different speeds, on top of the fact that there were different hot spots on each cooking surface.

N busted out the melon baller and made little balls of the Maitre d'Hotel butter. I would of preferred the more traditional flat rounds, but that's just me.

Tomorrow, shrimp go on the barbie with more grilling.

After class, I took an extra class where the pastry chef of the Ritz Carlton Hotel came in and made some summery desserts, and we ate them as he went along. He made an uzu-flavored cream-filled donut balls with thai chili sugar (the spice made it), a rhubarb soup with elderberry gelee (oddly good), a black forrest cake (the cherry inside tasted too alcoholic) and a wonderful chocolate tart composed of a tart shell, a big of devil's foof, praline cream, chocolate ganache and roasted peanuts in a caramelized goo. I definitely don't want to be a pastry chef, but I have an idea of the thought that goes into these things.

ADDENDA:
I stood on the scale three times this morning because I didn't quite believe the number: 224. After all the pan and deep frying, after all the excessive desserts I scarfed this weekend, after last night's beer-and-pizza nightcap, I was certain I was in for a rude awakening this morning. Which makes me think....what would I have weighed if I was a little bit more restrained?

BREAKFAST: 6:30am, good yogurt with vanilla, raw cashews, honey, .5 bowl, hunger 2/5
Beer and pizza still hanging out in my tummy.

AM TASTINGS: 10:30am - 11am, chicken paillard, chimmichurri flank steak on french bread with grilled vegetables, small piece of very rich walnut cake, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Chef kept on saying my food was undersalted, but it tasted salty to me.

PM TASTINGS: 1:30-3pm, 4 tiny very fancy desserts, .75 bowl, hunger 3/5

DINNER: 7pm, big green salad, split pea soup with tortilla chips, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 9:15pm, large piece of watermelon, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5