week one...little orphan annie and the great gazoo

i think i'm gonna like it here.

my chef this quarter is focusing on a la minute cusine - totally different from straight up prep or the steamer-heavy quanity cooking. we each got to break down a whole salmon on friday. it was gorgeous fish from cleare bay in alaska. the (insanely low talking) fisherman came in and spoke with us about his boat, his fish and his processes and then he demoed his filleting process. then he left and chef diana gave us another way to do it, which is a slight cheat, but very helpful. we all filleted 12-14# fish and we'll use them throughout the quarter - even the scrap. it was a terrific experience, though i'm hardly any threat to professionals. my fish maybe looked a little...blended in places. overall though - first time out with instruction - i'm happy with the result. chef diana came over and told me it looked great. she lies very convincingly. it's sweet, she's very nurturing. i got a little misty about it last night. i loved chef K.G. and wanted nothing more than to please him, but i really didn't learn that much. i think i can't help but learn this quarter, and it takes off a tremendous amount of pressure that she's so supportive. it feels a little unreal - both in the departure from what i've experienced and in the sense that restaurants are *not* so much like that. i'll take it while i can, though.

the gazoo encounter was totally maddening (gazoo aside). he was our computer teacher - one week, first week of class - something like 7 hours. it was a survival class and i learned exactly one thing. whatever. little gpa boosters are not to be sneered at...he looked like the great gazoo. or like a cross between mr. mackey (m'kay?) from south park and moby. he was funny "screw that, ok?" and didn't seem to mind that we were all doing email. the other section had to stay until 3 every day and had a test. we clearly lucked out.

i broke down 2 chickens yesterday. i timed myself...i was making stock and curry so i needed everything to be skinless and boneless. i realized that i did learn some things about chicken last quarter. my boned legs/thighs looked really good. i broke each one completely down in just under 15 minutes. i should probably be able to do one in 5. K.G. can do it in about 90 seconds. i'd like to see how fast i can get 8 cuts - but there's only so much chicken i can make rob eat. i made a really concentrated stock - it's probably my favorite stock i've ever made (without a bowstaff). tonight i'll grind up that second chicken and make gyoza - add some shiitake and scallion and infuse the broth with lemongrass and ginger and serve the dumplings in the broth. the curry was good but i inadvertently proved a theory set out by chef gregg first quarter. i cooked my potatoes first in the sauce. the sauce is a spicy vinegary sauce and those potatoes would *not* get soft. i even pulled them (after an hour!) and nuked them...no luck. so - acid really does prevent vegetables from getting tender. next time i will cook them separately and add them later.

time for coffee!