Culinary School Pt.2: Building Flavor & Foundations
This is a very overdue post, sorry for the delay! I finally had a Sunday to lounge on my couch and update you all on my culinary school adventures at Escoffier. We just finished midterms last week. For the practical, we had to fabricate a whole chicken, then prepare two plates of seared chicken breast, potato puree and seasonal vegetable with a veloute, as well as a green salad with a vinaigrette dressing. I chose to French my chicken breasts, which is when you leave in the drummette and clean the bone, as well as slice my chicken to plate, which most other students didn’t. I prepared an herbed honey balsamic vinaigrette for my dressing. I got a 98% on my practical and a 99% on my written, not to shabby!
Up to the midterm, we have been continuing learning all the foundations of cooking. From fabricating different types of meats, to sauces, to cooking techniques, to baking. A lot of this was review for me, but I have picked up so much more along the way as well! I have really been focusing on building more flavor than the recipe would normally involve by reducing and deglazing and building a dish layer by layer. I am also working on plating. I figure a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are some photos from what we have been doing the last couple of months. I will be sharing our sticky bun and cinnamon roll recipes with you soon- they were the best I have ever had!
Our cheese tasting platter
Our fruit platter (+ apple bird!)
Duck Confit Salad w/ Strawberry Vinaigrette
Salmon Gravlax
Ceviche
Lemon Risotto Cake, Proscuitto w/ Red Pepper Aioli
Bread Baking Day
Our kitchen and dinner table, each night we set the table and eat everything we made.
Dessert Day- Creme Caramels closest
Chocolate Pots de Creme
Cinnamon Rolls
Sticky Buns
Fruit Tarts (Mine is the one with the kiwi and strawberries)
I hope you enjoyed the update. I will try to post more often for this next semester! If you have any questions, feel free to ask!
1 Year Ago: Green Olive Hummus
Jenny,
I am sooooo proud of you!
I brag to friends all the time that my niece is a student at Escoffier, and a star student, at that. I didn’t expect otherwise. 😉
I really want this recipe, if that is possible:
Lemon Risotto Cake, Proscuitto w/ Red Pepper Aioli
Love, Janine
Thanks for the update. I’m always intrigued with the goings on in Culinary School. Great info here. Looking forward to more. Hope you’re keeping a journal. Perhaps an e-book of your experiences in culinary school? I would buy.
Jenny, congratulations on your midterm results — well done!! It’s fun to see what goes on behind-the-scenes and your food (and photos) are drool-worthy! I agree with you on presentation — I’m borrowing your “pickle flower” idea on Thursday. 🙂 Happy Thanksgiving!
If only I had time!