Skills 3 Day 13





My groups plates up at the grading table



Today was the final day of skills 3, we had to take our final written exam and our practical exam. For the practical we would be split into new groups that we would find out the day before our actual exam. Also at that time we would figure out what our menu would be. At the end of day 12 we found out our new groups and I was quite content with mine, also I was happy with the menu I got. I had made the same menu before for class, so I was feeling pretty confident about the exam. For the practical we had from 6:45 am till 10:25 to prepare our dish and if we didn't do it in time we would loose major points. Our dish was sauteed chicken fines herbs, with carrots and sugar snap peas, with freshly made saffron pasta. I was in charge of all the vegetables and cooking of the chicken for the dish. We started off the day pretty well and our prep went just as planned, we were right on track with everything. It was now 10:20 and plating was going perfectly. One thing that we had to make sure of when we took our plates up to chef was that our food was hot. He was big on making sure our food was hot, one of his favorite sayings was "make sure your food is HTH, aka hotter than hell." When we took our food up there he would shoot it with this laser gun and make sure the food was at 145 degrees. He asked me if I had made sure my vegetables were and I told him that they indeed were. He put one in his mouth and almost spit it right back out because it was so hot. He was like I think I just burned my tongue, I could not help but laugh and tell him "I told you it was hotter than hell!" He laughed a little after that one and just kind of shook his head at me. It was a good day, my group ended up getting a 92 on the soup and a 90 on the entree! It was pretty awesome final grade for the class!

Skill 3 Day 11 & 12

Salmon in Poaching Liquid

Day 11 was an exciting day for me because it brought me back to about a year and a half ago when I came to The Culinary Institute of America. At that time I was still trying to decide whether or not I wanted to do Culinary Arts or Baking and Pastry. I came to the CIA to participate in a program they have where you can shadow a culinary or baking class. I shadowed both but the significance to this story is that when I shadowed the culinary class, it happened to be skills 3 and on day 11. When I went into that class to shadow for the day I was put on the soup and salad station and ironically for my actual skills 3 class I was put on the soup and salad station for that day too. I would actual get to make what I helped with a couple years ago, it was actually kind of bittersweet. Also on this same day a man came into our class to shadow it for the day to get a feel for the curriculum and the school itself. For day 11 I made Spinach, Arugula, and Radicchio with Honey-Poppy seed Citrus dressing, and the soup was a cream of cauliflower. That day was successful and fulfilling! Day 12 I made Deep Poached Salmon with Sauce Béarnaise, Tournéed Potatoes, French Cut Green Beans and Squash Noodles. It all went smoothly we got our deep poach done on time along with all the other components of the dish and chef was happy with the final product.

Skills 3 Day 9 & 10

Beef stew

Chicken Fricassee

Day 9 and 10 we would be learning all about braising and stewing. On day 9 I made beef stew, whipped potatoes, battonett vegetables, and for the garnish we made these little things that look like a potato chip. Then right before service we had to top it all with parsley that was chopped up. Day 10 we made chicken fricassee, chicken fricassee is a white stew. I really enjoy this dish because the chicken is so moist and all the components together make for a nice filling lunch or dinner. Accompanying the chicken fricassee was rice pilaf and battonett squash, beans and peppers. For the rice pilaf we mixed wild rice and jasmine rice to give the rice some more appeal. Both days went well and chef was happy with the groups!

Skills 3 Day 7 & 8

On day 7 I was on grilled steak with sauce Marchand de Vin sauce, french fries, and stuffed tomatoes. The tomatoes were stuffed with a mushroom duxelle which is mushrooms chopped up very fine and then they are cooked. I grilled the steaks for family meal and was in charge of plating for service. When I am in charge of plating I have to add whatever the garnish may be, such as chives, parsley, or compound butter to the top of an item. Then I must wipe the outside edge of the plate and make sure it is clean and presentable, then I cover it and and take it to the line for service. I enjoy that job because I get to see a really cool final product every time. On day 8 I was on grilled Mahi Mahi with pineapple salsa, jasmine rice pilaf, grilled vegetables and green beans. I was in charge of making the pineapple salsa, cutting up the veg for the day, and I grilled the fish for family meal. I love the salsa that accompanies the fish, so I was very excited to be making it! The grilling of the fish was a success I had never really grilled fish before so this was an exciting but scary task, because I did not want to mess it up. Luckily when we went and ate family meal nobody had a overcooked or undercooked piece of Mahi Mahi on their plates! It was a good day.

Skills 3 Day 5 & 6

I want to apologize to everyone who is reading my blog for the delay of a new post, I could not remember my user name or password to save my life! I finally figured it out today and will be putting a couple of new posts up at a time, enjoy! Day 5 and 6 were fun, I made sauteed beef medallions with potatoes au gratin, cauliflower, green beans and sauce chasseur to go on the beef medallions. Day 5 was successful and chef was happy with our production. Day 6 I was on the soup and salad station and all we had to do was make Caesar salad. It was an easy but fun day, I got to help out other groups if there was prep that still needed to be done.

Skills 3 Day 3 & 4



Sauteed Trout



Sauteed Chicken

Day three and four was all about sauteed white meats and seafood. On day three I was on the sauteed chicken entree with sauce fines herbs, fresh saffron pasta and broccoli rabe. Day three was fun because I sauteed the chickens for family meal and made the sauce that went to go on top of it.  In my opinion it was absolutley delicious, probably one of my favorite meals we have made so far.  Day four I made sauteed trout amandine, which is a brown butter sauce. With the trout there was tourne potatoes and seasonal vegetables, we also made burdock root chips to go on top of the dish. On this day I was assigned to doing all of the tournes for the class because I was the best at making tournes in skills 2, so I ended up making about 60 tournes! I was so glad to be done with all of those little potatoes. Days 3 and 4 were very successful and fun!