Rick Bayless (Tacos, fine-dining style)

Today we received our new and final chef, Chef Al, a guy with a goatee and a straight, focused way of talking. I liked him immediately. The menus of Rick Bayless are all regional Mexican, calling for techniques we haven't tried much and some ingredients we haven't used at all.

We held the same groups, and I went back into the bubble. My recipe was Gordiata de Tocino con Guacamole de Chile Poblano, or Bacon-Flavored Gorditas Corn Masa Pockets with Roasted Poblano Guacamole. There were a lot of ingredients, and the description of the recipe ran three pages. As I worked through it, it wasn't so complicated -- a toasted and fried tortilla topped with guac n' stuff.

First thing was to mix some water with powdered masa harina (a finely ground corn flour) kneaded to cookie-dough consistency, then wrapped to prevent drying before letting it sit. Took a rasher of slab bacon, removed the skin, and sliced it up and cooked it slow in a pan to crisp. Once done, rough-chopped it into about 1/8" pieces, and mixed half of it (along with some rendered fat) into the masa.

While the bacon cooked and the masa rested, we prepped toppings -- grated queso fresco, arugula, salt, lime juice. Prepared a tortilla press, which looks like a small flat waffle-press minus the heating elements. Each plate had a piece of plastic applied to prevent the masa from sticking.

The guacamole was simple and surprisingly delicious. A poblano pepper was roasted on the open flame until covered with burnt blisters, then placed in a bowl and covered to steam itself to loosen the skin. Three cloves of garlic (with skins) were placed in a hot cast-iron skillet, then moved around occasionally until the skin was spotted black, the garlic soft and roasted. Both deskinned, the pepper and garlic were finely minced, then two avocados were scooped out over it and mashed together with a spoon. Seasoned with lime juice and salt, and into the fridge.

The gorditas were supposed to puff up at some point, to be stuffed like a pita. Either my ratio of water, the lack/surplus of heat on my pan or my fryer, or the presence of hunks of bacon in my dough prevented any puff action. Immediately after pressing, I placed the tortilla in the skillet, a minute on each side to get some nice brown spots, and then dipped them in a pot of canola oil at about 350 degrees (for about15 seconds), watching as the edges got crunchy. And that was that.

From there, it was just assemble and serve. Tortilla, guac spread on with a butter knife, small bunch of arugula chiffonade, generous pinch of cheese, pinch of raw onion, pinch of bacon -- what's not to love? The bitterness of the arugula, the creamy roasted flavor of the guac, the crisp corniness of the tortilla, the smokey num-num-ness of the bacon and cheese, a really good combo.

Tomorrow, the focus on French returns with Daniel Boulud.

ADDENDA:

BREAKFAST:
Throat a little scratchy, feeling tired, on the edge of run down. Took a vitamin C pill in addition to my daily dirt pill.

AM TASTINGS: 11am, bits of slab bacon, a few freshly made tortillas, two bacon gorditas, one pulled beef gordita, a few small pieces of chicken, turkey, cat fish, a little red rice, lime-aide, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Dirty Kim did a dish similar to mine, but hers puffed up in the oil, making them stuffable like pita pockets, but were a bit on the greezy side.

PM SNACK: 3:30pm, cream anglais ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Fell asleep, needed a smack awake.

PM SNACK: 5:45, large green salad, a couple of whole wheat pretzels, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 6:30pm, handful of bittersweet chocolate, .25 bowl, hunger 3/5
Shame on me.

DINNER: 8:30pm, pork cutlet with curry rice, a few pork gyoza, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

EVENING WATERING: 11pm, quart of water

Ming Tsai (Did the recipe or the cook sink this dish?)

In today's class, I took on the Citrus Herbal Tea-Rubbed Halibut with Orange-Fennel Orzo Salad -- a fussy name for a fussy dish. Though I had a solid 2.5 hours from start of prep to service, and the method of cooking the fish was the quick sauté, I really didn't have much time to sit around.

First, I had to get the fish into the dry rub and then into the fridge to absorb as much flavor as possible. The main feature of the rub was dried citrus zest. With a micro-plane, I stripped two lemons, two limes and two oranges, and spread them on a silicone mat and into the convection oven at about 100 degrees. The recipe called for 225 for 1.5 hours, but the fan-action of the convection oven made quick work of the drying, maybe 15 minutes.

Into the rub went the dry zest, ground green tea leaves, powdery dried mint, dry lemongrass flakes, salt, turbinado sugar, and freshly ground ginger. I had a whole side of halibut to work with, and Chef A generously reviewed how to break it down. First split the top from the bottom, then remove the bones near the gut-cavity in one long piece (you lose a little flesh, but to try to take each bone out with a pair of pliers would take an hour AND tear up the fish). A few cartilaginous spots from the spine also had to come off. With the boning knife, I cut an angle through the flesh to the skin, then sawed the knife across against the skin while I pulled the skin towards me with a balled fish. Fwooooop, and the fish was skinned. From here, I cut trachons -- thick slices on the bias. Sheet-tray lined with parchment, scattered with rub, each piece dipped in rub, wrapped up, and put into the fridge.

The second component was the Orange-Fennel Orzo Salad. Boil up some orzo until tender, then shock in ice bath to keep from getting mushy. Juice a few oranges and a lemon, cut up 2 oranges worth of supremes, thinly slice a few bulbs of fennel (cored) and mix it all together with a healthy shot of olive oil. Tasted really bland, so I hit it was a couple of fistfuls of salt till it tasted like something.

The recipe called for canola oil, which I don't care for so much. I considered using clarified butter instead, but that wouldn't happen in Asian cooking. So I tried for peanut oil, but the commissary sent up toasted peanut oil, which would not do, though I added a shot of it to hopefully mask the canola.

I cleaned my station and set up my sauté, and by then it was about a quarter to 11. Hit the pans with the oils, then placed the rubbed fish on it. Fried each side for a good 3 to 4 minutes. Last time I sautéed multiple batches like this, I forgot to wipe down the pan and all the residual spices from the first batch burned and ruined the second batch. Not this time! I wiped down and cleaned the pans, reheated and reoiled, and all was well.

And in the end, the dish was....feh. It wasn't bad, but was definitely missing something. The orzo salad was a bit of a one-note flavor, the orange kind of overwhelming the fennel. The fish didn't taste much of anything, the green tea not really notable, a vague mint overtone, but kind of bland -- I should of doubled the salt in the rub, or hit it with salt right before cooking.

Tomorrow, Rick Bayless.

ADDENDA:

Stupid scale said 226. Stupid scale.

BREAKFAST: 7am, good granola with the good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5

AM TASTINGS: 11am, a few pieces of Chinese sausage, ginger butterfish, soba noodle sushi, Mongolian beef with black bean aioli, corn fritter, rice noodle stirfry, orzo with sausage and sambal, spicy shrimp with mango, achiote duck breast, halibut, quart of water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Food today was surprisingly good.

PM WATERING: 12noon, quart of ice water

DINNER: 5:15pm, extra-large green salad with balsamic, olive oil and a pinch of sea salt, whole wheat pretzels and good peanutbutter, ramakin of cream anglais ice cream, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5

Mario Batali (Putting my own stink on Batali's sprouts)

Today was the first day of the fifth and final mod before we go into the world for our externships. The mod starts with single days spent creating dishes by various famous chefs, today Mario Batali (or as Chef M called him, Mario Bobali).

Chef A, who subbed the first day (aaaalright? Okaaaay!) of mod 3 was in to sub today and tomorrow, after which a new chef will take us through to the end. Chef A divided up the class alphabetically, which meant I was placed with Roundhead (ok), 2nd Language Girl (pheh) and the dreaded Dora the Explorer. We had three dishes, Two Minute Calamari Sicilian Lifeguard-Style, Monkfish Piccata with Caperberries and Preserved Lemon, and Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta. After asking what everyone wanted to do, I took on the sprouts. After yesterday's ride, something simple and without aggravation was in order.

What looked pretty straightforward actually had a lot of subtlety to it, and Chef A really helped me understand what was going on. Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta: trim sprouts, blanch and shock, cube and render pancetta, cook sprouts in a pan till tender in pancetta fat, add pancetta and minced thyme and parsely, hit with salt and pepper to taste.

The recipe calls for 2 minutes of blanching before cutting the sprouts in half. I had cut them in half beforehand; they turned out woefully undercooked. I had a hard time finding the right temp to render, and the pancetta first just sat their in the pan, turning an unappetizing pale grey, then burned. It was still pretty edible and crispy, but the fat all dissipated.

Chef A recommended caramelizing the sprouts slowly over low heat. A bit of olive oil, a couple pats of butter, then place the undercooked sprouts in the pan. First hit it with high heat to rid of the water the sprouts were sitting in; after steaming, put on low heat and let sprouts turn a little brown, a little sweet. Myself, I'm not a fan of brussels sprouts, but I tried a few to check for doneness and flavor. They seemed a little tough and chewy, but seemed to be browned enough with the right amount of natural sweetness. On Chef A's word, I took some chicken stock and put it in the pan, blasted high heat to cook off the stock. Then I tossed in the pancetta and herbs, tasted, determined the appropriate sharp saltiness of the meat, put in some fresh ground pepper, and plated. I'm still not a fan of brussels sprouts, but these were ok, with a sweetness that cut down on the funky brussellsy flavor I don't like.

Tomorrow, Ming Tsai.

ADDENDA:

With the format of this class (every group doing unique dishes), I think I'm going to report on just the stuff I have a hand in, not everything my group works on. Today I did refresh 2LG on how to clean and disassemble squid, and sat in on Chef A's demo on how to clean monkfish, but over all just stuck to my own thang.

BREAKFAST: 7am, good yogurt with honey, vanilla, nuts, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5

AM TASTING: 9-11am, fenchbread, a few tiny bites of bacon, a few tiny bites of pancetta, a few brussel sprouts, mint pasta with lamb ragu, skate and shrimp with lemon sauce, a bite of sweetbread with caramelized onions, water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 3pm, 2.5 ears of boiled corn with butter and salt, water, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 5pm. 3 tiny school made croissants, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6pm, fancy onion rings, a little tomato salad, small portion of scallop ceviche, small piece of pinapple upside down cake, small piece of bland brownie, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Underwhelming dinner at Tabla Bread Bar. Portions too small for the price, ceviche not particularly bright despite being acidy, brownie unforgivably mediocre.

EVENING SNORT: 7-9pm, equivalent of one glass of wine, prosciutto, a little cheese, a couple of crackers, a slice of cheese cake, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5
The wines of Spain mostly taste like ass, other than this one 25-year-old sherry, which was quite nice. They had more food in the class today, and it was funny to see B "share" a piece of cheese cake with me. I put it in front of me, and she pretty much kept reaching over until it was gone and I hadn't even had a bite yet. Wimmin!

Weekend Report (Suspicious Sports Drink)

I was in the local conventional supermarket Saturday, picking up tinfoil, toothpaste, razorblades, paper goods, and the like. I spent a few extra minutes milling around, trying to get inspired about what to eat for dinner. In the dairy aisle, there was packages of pre-cooked bacon. WTF? Bacon is wonderful, but if it ain't hot off the grill, it tends to be disgusting -- this product seems to be predestined to be detestable.

As I digested my pancake & bacon dinner Saturday night, while it stormed out and B was out at a bachelorette party, I hunkered down to get to bed early for the next day's ride...and had an urge to call up my mom and make small talk with her -- I'd probably lead off with berating her about how her generation's laziness has caused the invention of pre-cooked bacon. It was a weird moment, a few seconds of friendly excitement about a comforting conversation followed by the awareness of her having been gone almost three years now. I think I'll ride by her grave site next weekend, and bitch about tainted bacon to her then.

Sunday, rode the NYC Century.

SATURDAY
BREAKFAST: 5:30am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Grapes, cherries, blueberries, banana, yogurt, good milk, flax, a dash of salt.

BREAKFAST 2: 9:30am, stirfry, quart of water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Smoked tofu, brocolli, zucchini, seaweed, carrot, scallion, shitakes, brown rice stick, mirin, sesame oil, soy sauce, fish stock. Came out OK, overcooked the veg a little.

AM SNACK: 10am, a couple of spoonfuls of vanilla ice cream
Making the cream anglais into something much yummier.

LUNCH: 2pm, medium green salad, school made soft pretzel, small cup of ice cream, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 6:30pm, pancakes and bacon, handful of chocolate, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

SUNDAY
BREAKFAST: 5am, good granola with good milk, .75 bowl, hunger 3/5

AM BIKE SNACK: 7:15am, krispy creme donut, tiny cliff bar, water, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5
Prospect Park rest stop, not hungry but ate to prevent getting hungry. Saw an orthodox woman in a full-length dress, tailored jacket and strood jogging.

AM BIKE SNACK: 9am, half a bagel w/pb&j, a small piece of pita with hummus, 2 tiny bags of potato chips, a bottle of suspicious sports drink, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Carnarsie rest stop. Giving away "Functional" sports drink. OK, made with cane sugar, but big claims for all these unusual non-FDA-approved ingredients that makes it a bit hokey. Tasted mildly sweet, which was nice, though.

AM BIKE SNACK: 11am, half a suspicious sports drink, water, .25 bowl, hunger 2/5
Kissena rest stop. Stomach really tight, to the point of slight nausea. Legs felt good, but belly a bit....too much water, maybe?

PM BIKE SNACK: 1pm, 1.5 pb&j sandwiches on whole wheat bread, one small piece of pita with hummus, tiny cliff bar, 2 tiny bags potato chips, banana, water, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Astoria rest stop. Hunger back, felt good.

PM BIKE SNACK: 3pm, krispy kreme donut, water, .5 bowl, hunger 2/5
Van Cordlandt Park rest stop. Eight miles to go, stomach tightened up again.

PM OFF-THE-BIKE SNACK: 4pm, large chocolate chip cookie, water, .5 bowl, hunger 2/5
End of ride on the northern end of Central Park, B & her momma there to greet me. Really nice, ate the cookie despite not being hungry because I knew if I didn't it, I'd crash. 108 miles on the body is nothing to play with lightly. Felt drained and out of sorts and ecstatic and so relaxed at the same time.

DINNER: 7pm, shrimp w/broccoli, pork fried rice, pork egg roll, bbq spare ribs, 1.5 quarts of water, 2.5 bowls, hunger 5/5
Ahhhhhh....

Practical (I've never taken a test so sweet)

Today started with making half recipes of pate sucree, which in itself would not be graded, but the rolling of it would be. The written exam was all short answer and surprisingly thorough with 15 questions. Then chef cut out to a private room and we did the following:

• Made a small batch of creme anglais
• Made one perfect cornet for piping
• Piped 'Happy Birthday' in compound chocolate on three cardboard rounds
• Rolled pate sucree into a 10" tart pan

None of this was particularly challenging. With creme anglais, you get the sugar dissolved in the half&half -- you can boil it, but if you do, when you add the whipped yolks, it'll go from thin to thick to scrambled eggs in a hot second. By using medium heat, it took a good minute and a half to thicken, but no eggy grit formed -- perfectly smoooooove.

Cornets are annoying, but once you got it, you can make perfect ones all day. Rolling a triangle of parchment into a cone with a super tight pointy tip doesn't take a lot of skill, just a little practice.

Piping 'Happy Birthday' was easy -- there were lines in the cardboard that you could guide your letters, which would not be on a properly iced (or glazed) cake.

Rolling the pate sucree was a bit tricky -- once you roll it out far enough to have enough to extend beyond the 10" pan, it had to be even through out. Once you get it on the pin and transfer it onto the pan, you don't want it to rip and you want enough extra to get onto the walls of the entire tin. Pushing it in and giving a little lip that rises over the edge, it's problematic.

I didn't do anything more than once, and just chugged through -- I was the first in to see the Chef. Most importantly, my creme anglais was a perfect consistency, perfectly cooked. My piping and cornet were good enough for a perfect score, but my tart was a bit uneven on the sides. I had left it on a sheet tray sitting on top of the oven, and the pilot lights heated up the tray enough to make my walls sag. Oh well. I got a 95 on the practical, a 94 on the written, and learned I got a 95 on the midterm.

And that's it for mod 4. Packed up the creme anglais to make some great ice cream at home.

I totally spaced and didn't take a picture. So when I got home early (as we could split when we were cleaned up), I took all my tools out and cleaned them. As I held each one, thought of the yummy meats and starches and greasy things, fried, sauteed, baked, mmmmm....

ADDENDA:
This entry needs more pictures. Here's something delicious:

RUFUS DE CAT!!

BREAKFAST: 6:15am, organic cornflakes with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 2/5
That peasant bread and champagne was sitting with me.

AM TASTINGS: 9am, a couple handfuls of semisweet chocolate, .25 bowls, hunger 4/5
Funnily enough, the practical didn't really involve tasting anything, just making it look proper in thickness, texture, and design.

AM WATERING: 11am, 1 quart

LUNCH: 11:45am, school made fresh beet pasta with homemade tomato sauce, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1:30pm, small plate of mashed potatoes, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Went over to B's friend's house, who just had wisdom teeth pulled out and B dared to make her mashed potatoes....from a box! So I came over with some spuds, heavy cream, Irish butter, and borrowed some salt, a dash of hot sauce, a dash of Worcestershire and made some proper mash.

PM SNACK: 4pm, sesame crackers and peanut butter, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Raiding the fridge at Casa de la HVS.

DINNER: 5:15pm, grilled shrimp with chorizo and corn cakes, water, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Good dinner at Union Smith Cafe.

EVENING SNACK: 9pm, 3 small school made croissants, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

Plated Desserts (Enough Already)

Last day of dessert plating, and the last day of pastry -- tomorrow is both the written and practical exams. The day started with making some cornets and piping 'happy birthday', as well as making creme anglais, two things that make up a part of the practical tomorrow.

Different teams made different things to go with the stuff made over the next few days. We made raspberry upside down cake. Pretty straight forward: make a batter with a lot of egg and a bit of baking powder, lemon zest and lemon extract as a flavor. In round tins, grease them with butter, coat the bottom with brown sugar, put down the fruit, cover with batter and bake.

For non-plating purposes, we also rushed through flourless chocolate souffle, which was basically whipping the hell out of some eggwhites with sugar, melting some chocolate and adding egg yolks, fold the two jammies together, and bake in heavily sugar-coated cups till they puffed up.

The last hour was dedicated to arts & crafts, centered around the upside down cakes, the panna cotta and cheese cakes from yesterday, and all sorts of assorted garnishes -- I was not turned on, though some of it tasted absolutely fabulous.

ADDENDA:
I can't wait to cook up proteins and starches again next week.

BREAKFAST: 6:30am, organic cheerios, good milk, .5 bowls, hunger 3/5

AM TASTINGS: 9-11:30am, chocolate, panna cotta, cheese cake, ice creams, upside down cake, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Panna cotta and cheese cake, not light dishes.

LUNCH: 2pm, turkey on a roll with swiss, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 6:15pm, green salad, 2 small school-made brioche, 2 bowl, hunger 4/5
After such a bad eating day and sitting down with Ilsa, good to get something reasonable in.

DINNER: 7:30pm, a few mini quiche, assorted cheeses on bread and crackers, moz and wild mushrooms on peasant bread, small piece of salmon in cream sauce with couscous, lime sorbet, equivalent of 2 glasses of champagne, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
At a champagne tasting at a friend's house, really fun, she cooked up a storm, I contributed the sorbet which got a surprising number of compliments.

Plated Desserts (Chaos)

Today was dedicated for making a few things to plate today and tomorrow, then set up stations and plate a few different desserts. Unfortunately, Chef G wasn't on her game today and we ended up with a quite unproductive, disorganized class. Well, you can't just pin it on the Chef, a lot of the students tuned out because of disinterest in the subject matter, while others were in their usual haze.

Four teams, each got assigned a few things, for some reason my team only got assigned one thing -- milk chocolate panna cotta. After a few words, we got the go ahead to make vanilla panna cotta, but it still only took maybe 20 minutes, and we had an hour and a half to get through.

Milk chocolate panna cotta, easy peasy. Milk, cream, gelatin, half a vanilla bean and milk chocolate. Sprinkle the gelatin over the milk, wait a few minute for it to absorb -- looks like brains growing on top of the milk. Bring cream to a boil with the split vanilla bean, turn off heat and let steep. After a few minutes, combine with the gelatin mixture. Turn on high heat, add chocolate till melted. Pour into cups, cool and refrigerate.

Long Island Lolita was assigned to head up our team of four and she went to help make tart tatins for another team (oval silicon mold, with layer of caramel, fruit (pineapple, apple, banana, etc) then a piece of puff pastry. When cooked, flipped out so caramel and fruit on top. Natasha and I cooked up some caramel (water and sugar on the fire till brown, finished with a solid amount of butter.)

When we finally got around to plating, Chef went around and gave some pointers -- odd numbers always look more interesting on a plate, too symmetrical is boring, choose ice creams and sauces that make flavor sense with the main attraction, always like the main element be the main element, etc etc. Reminded me of many of the art directors I've worked with over the years. Here are a few of the things I slapped together:

This is a glass full of layers of cake and pastry creams, topped with merengue, torched.
This apple tarte actually tasted pretty gross, but the vanilla ice cream (made with beans, not extract) and the caramel sauce was kickin' it.

The caramel of the banana tart tatin brought out the texture of the fruit, and the 1-2 punch of the caramel sauce and the caramel ice cream was a serious menage a trois in my mouth.

Not very porny, I know, but was not feeling particularly inspired with all the grouchy team members and scolding authority figures around. Tomorrow is another day of plating and the last day of pastry, before a battery of tests of Friday.

ADDENDA:
Went to a demo by chef Michael Schlow, cooking recipes from his new cook book. He owns and runs six restaurants, one of them 4-stars, and to have him cook for me (and 19 other students) personally was a treat. I had forgotten what this demo was about, so I made a big bowl of pasta before I went. Used the tomato sauce I made over the weekend, a mash-up of my dad's sauce and Mario Batali's. I sauteed some shrimp in browned butter and a little garlic, hit it with a little mirin and damn if it wasn't the best shrimp I made at home yet.

Then I sat in on this demo, and the chef basically made a simple tomato sauce with salami, white beans and olives that tore my pasta a new one. Mine was 'good', maybe even servable in a cheap red-sauce joint. His pasta had so much heavy, starchy, fatty stuff and STILL tasted balanced, bright and delicious, even though I wasn't hungry at all.

BREAKFAST: 6:30am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
Good yogurt and milk, blueberries, cherries, grapes, banana, flax, dash of sea salt, ice.

AM TASTINGS: 9-11:30am, caramel ice cream, banana tart tatin, caramel sauce, hazelnut sponge cake, handful of chocolate, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5
A full meal of sweets, I can't wait to start cooking real food again next week.

LUNCH: 2:15pm, large green salad with a handful of sesame stick pretzels, half glass of sauternes with a small piece of cheese, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 4:45pm, rigatoni with shrimp and homemade pasta sauce, grated parm, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5

PM TASTINGS: 7-8pm, 4 pieces of creamy mushroom crostini, pappa al pomodoro (tomato and bread soup), rigatoni with soprasetta, white beans and olives, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5