Food… Yeah.

And I aint chicken to say it. So I now draw the veal from that fishy subject called lab. wow… terrible…

anyway, lab was unusually full of unfail for me. both the ribs and mashed potatoes came out amazingly well, not that it is particularly easy to ruin potatoes, but I was quite suprised when the ribs, which as a whole are notorious for being very difficult to get right, came out so well. gotta remember that recipe.

as to the items that i did not directly make off the station rotation, the bacon wrapped loin was very good, the meatloaf turned out to be quite tasty, and the steak, while being a little too well done for my taste, was also very good.

the station rotation, see what I did there? heh… rhymes…, turned out to also be full of things that i found quite enjoyable. the burger particularly. the fried pork chops were juicy and crispy, just perfect. the sautee with the cream and apple sauce actually, at the time of this typeing, I have not eaten yet.

on the whole, once again, lab was a very enjoyable time spent and informitive too.

no odd closer and still no reasons, but I AM STILL TRICKY!

There is just not a better joke than that of which i can think of at the moment, so it will have to do.

Soup, at its core, is probably the simplest concept for a food item in existence. A flavored liquid base often with meat and/or veggies in it. Tasty, straight forward, and easy to prepare, soup can account for any course in a menu quite easy.

Anyway, enough of the elementary rundown of the topic, on to the actual reason you read this thing, watching me make a fool of myself in my attempts at description. the soup that I and Irisa made was the cream of celery. Sweat the celery with onions and add flour to create a roux, add stock and let thicken. When a desired amount of thickening has happened, you then could puree and strain it to make it really smooth, or leave it chunky with the little bite of the veggies.

Lab was, as always, informative and enjoyable, even if it was a little stressful for a second. I dont want to say that it was “soup”er, but as I AM TRICKY, i need a bad joke to close.

Bonus points to those under the age of 20 who gets the joke.

The second week of fish, and I am glad for that. Not many more jokes left that i can think of. Flat fish, rather than round, are a bit of a pain to fillet but are tastier in my opinion than round for whatever reason. Maybe it was the pairing with scallops that did it. Well, with the four fillets rather than two on the round, though round fish fillets are more similar in size allowing for more even cooking.

As it turned out shrimp, which is one of my favorite seafoods, was also prepared. Scampi, alfredo, and cocktail, all made during lab for demo and primarily eaten by me. Thats what happens when you leave shrimp around with me in the room.

I’m thinking that maybe culinary was not the best choice for me as a major. I do not take pressure well, I cant handle stress at all, and I also have no interest in fancy food. Yeah…

More TRICKY to come.

Except for that one bit of cooking that I tried. Yeah, that was my fail quota for the week. If you want to know, I tried to stuff one of my fillets with an impromptu mixture of garlic, onion, bread crumbs, cayenne pepper and a bit of the egg wash used for the fryers. Ok, enough of that.

Lab was actually quite fun, despite the above, particularly with Sargent Chef Bher.  One would not really think that the inside cavity of the fish to feel quite so cool. In order to feel that, one needs to gut the fish and you would think that it was harder to do than it found it to be, but I’m just that kind of weird. Then to filleting the fish, now I found that to be a bit harder. Discard the bones to create stock at a later time, and proceed to remove the skin from the actually edible fish so as to not choke, or suffer some other undesirable malady, on the scales that perforate said surface.

On the whole, a yet again good day with a lot for lunch and all tasty. I ate both mine and half of the demo fish, i was as stuffed as the fail stuffed fillet that i failed at cooking, but better. Any way you slice it, I’M STILL TRICKY, unless you ask Chef Bher, he called me Drew Carrey.

Or the subsequent ghosts applicable. What? It’s Ghostbusters! so many jokes… Ghost chickens in the sky

Chicken! One of Gods greatest gifts to the stomachs of the world. Indeed.

Not too hard to prep, just got to watch out for the knife blade so as to not cut myself again. Legs, breasts, thighs… hmm… thought there was more on a bird than that… anywho. Tie it up and roast/bake it whole, carve it up and create something more, or my personal favorite as used on turkeys, inject, rub, and deep fry. But I digress. Much was learned and the best thing made was the stuffed thighs, ate that for breakfast dayafter actually. about the only issue I am having over all in lab is that I seem to be epicly “failing” at the last things that I do. Pasta last week being too sticky, and misunderstanding that I could have cooked the pasta I cut, and now, the saute both turned into a pain to cook, and it didn’t even taste all that good for whatever reason. Must have put in too much wine, had a kinda inexplicable taste that i can only attribute to alcohol. But I’m not a drinker so it could have been anything. Anyway, have enjoyed it so far, hope it keeps up like that.

No odd closers, but I’M STILL TRICKY! Still no good reasons though.

Ok, ok, lame joke titles aside, the lab was as fun and interesting as ever. Not really a whole lot to say about it, but at the very least vegetables wont be much of a problem in the future, hopefully. not that they were in the first place all that much but still, not needing to worry about it all that much more is always a good thing.

ANYWAY, at the end of the day, as I still cant get the logistics quite right ever, I had thought that the class would just be the veggie cut practical and we would be done just that soon. Thats what I get for thinking I guess. That sandwich never got eaten, ever. By the time I remembered it was in my cooler, it was Saturday and nothing, besides Twinkies, stay good that long in a cheap cooler. Off topic again, nice Nic, rambling on and an on about nothing.

The food. Yes, the food. The food was good. I like food. Does this sound too simple? Maybe I’m actually vegging out now. Yeah… Cooked vegetables, simple, tasty, and good for you, long as you don’t deep fry them, but that makes them taste the best, particularly with the bechamel sauce on them.

EVEN MORE COMPLETE RANDOMNESS!

This blog thing does not like the fancy French words for food. As I am looking now, it is saying that bechamel is spelled wrong.  suggested spellings include; Bechtel, bedchamber, Beckham, and chameleon. Weird.

Ya, ya, back to the main point. Roll blog!

Undoubtedly, the best thing made was the squash soup, and i’m sure all will agree to that statement. The broccoli and cauliflower were not the best as both were still rather tough, and in my opinion, the sauce for the broccoli was not that flavorful at all. Butter, flour, and cheese should taste more like…well…butter and cheese, not as bland as that was. Either way, it was all still good food any way you slice it, and a lot is being learned too. not as much as getting eaten though. I like eating, don’t you?

Still more terrible REASONS THAT I’M CALLED TRICKY!

Not that I mind rice, mind you, Just not my favorite grain out there and when else could i pull an Indiana Jones reference?

Just think of it as a minor focus away from the whole. Lab was tasty today, gnoiches…

MORE COMPLETE RANDOMNESS!

I know thats not how ya spell that, but my spell check is down with my office word. Did you know that typeing anything is concider optional after the trial of word runs out? So now I cant write any papers on my computer, nice ain’t it?

And now back to your regular blog entry

…in alfredo sauce, barley pilaff, risotto,spetchel and fresh pasta. All great to know how to make. Little sad that I couldn’t actually cook my pasta due to a misunderstanding on my part, but whatever. My dough was crap anyway. Talk about stick to your ribs! that was more stick your ribs to your butt. Anywho, all said, lab was quite enjoyable today. To abuse an old cliche, my compliments to the chef!

MORE REASONS THAT I’M CALLED TRICKY! None good, but there there.

And indeed, there is none, cause i ate it. Eggs, waffles, and other various breakfast foods prepared this week. Informative in that stuff was learned, like how to make hollandaise sauce, but not so much when one remembers that we all have cooked breakfast before, unless your rich and have had private chefs all your life. But I digress. Back to the topic of the hollandaise, don’t add so much lemon juice as i did, for it made it rather sour, odd for lemon juice, isn’t it? However, as I had no previous experience with the concoction before, it may have been perfect, although I would still just put cheese on it instead anyway…

We interrupt this blog for MOMENTARY RANDOMNESS!!!

As i am typing this, the draft has saved a couple of times. It now says, “Draft Saved at 12:47:46 am.” According to my clock, it is only 8:47 pm. Where is this place based anyway, England? We now return to your regularly scheduled blog already in progress.

…what i ate of it was still quite tasty even though the plastic fork I was using at the time couldn’t cut the English muffin. And always remember, flip the omelet seam side down so as to… hide… something, smooth Nic, it’s a presentation thing. Also, don’t attempt to combine all of the things that you cook all on one plate in a somewhat interesting way, tried today, failed epicly. Anyway, breakfast tastes good, lab went well, and THERE ARE STILL REASONS I’N CALLED TRICKY!

Nicolas dewing

Thursday lab is come and gone, and while i like potatoes, i’m full hours later. Not a bad thing mind you, but that does lead into the dumbness bit. Yesterday all I ate was a bowl of cereal, a glass of juice, and cocoa at breakfast, and a hotdog when i got back home round 9.30 pm. So as to not repeat this, I decided to make a sandwhich for lunch today. When lab began i remembered that we get to eat what was made, thus rendering the aforementioned sandwhich pointless. So now im sitting on a lunch uneaten, no desire to eat that much, which is sad for me, and blogging. That also has its little dumbnesses. I cant find how to enable comments, if anyone knows how to enable them, please leave a comment on this post, that will help greatly. I told you before, THERE ARE REASONS I’M CALLED TRICKY!!!

Nicolas Dewing

Well, if it’s required, i guess i must do it. oh joy…

Culinary Arts Lab, i would guess that since it is only the first week of lab and school in general, it would be a bit dry, but one would think that it wouldn’t be so dull. However it was an informative use of time, even if there is no use for that pretty football like cut except to look pretty. My main problem with this whole shebang is that all i really want to do, as far as my career is concerned, is own a little hole in the wall somewhere, maybe have a variety show for the diners, it has never been my intention to manage, run, own, or be a part of the operation in any way, shape, or form a 5 star restaurant or high class hotel kitchen. There is more charm, in my mind, in the places shown on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives on the food network then in any… um… insert name of fancy expensive restaurant here. I will learn this fancy stuff, don’t get me wrong, it’s just a matter to divine a purpose for the veggie cuts learned today, beyond even cooking and looking nice. Anyway, more rants to come.   THERE ARE REASONS I’M CALLED TRICKY!!!

Nicolas Dewing