Home for the Holiday

Days 85-90 and Everything in Between

In case you're wondering—I'm still alive.

I've been a busy bee the last week. I just wrapped up my biggest undertaking in culinary school: the menu project. For the last few months, I've been planning a multi-course menu, complete with food photos, recipes, a costing breakdown, an essay on my theme and so on. I turned the project in today and am happy with my work.

I'm also happy that it's over, which is why I celebrated tonight with some culinary school friends at Wondee Siam. A Thai classmate and friend took us to the amazing restaurant in Midtown. She says it's the closest food to home in New York.

Because of the menu project—as well as Thanksgiving—I took a mini-sabbatical from my blog. The holiday was amazing; I was so grateful to see my parents and brother in Ohio. We cooked our butts off and ate so much that my pants are definitely not buttoning like they were before. But it was worth it.

Besides the turkey my dad deep-fried, my mom and I cooked most of Thanksgiving dinner. Appetizers comprised butternut squash soup, a foie gras torchon and rabbit sausage; the turkey and gravy, leek bread pudding, sweet potato casserole, green beans, mashed potatoes, a ribbon salad, cranberry sauce and Brussels sprouts with homemade maple bacon were the main entrees and sides; and two pumpkin pies and a caramel apple pie were for dessert.

As if that wasn't enough, my mom and I made my uncle's Polish sausage the next day. I've eaten the dish a thousand times during the holidays, but I've never seen how it's made. I now know the family secret (and am willing to share it with anyone who favors garlic and pork).

After the sausage making, our family headed to chef Michael Symon's flagship, Lola, located in downtown Cleveland. I've been there several times, but it was a first for my husband. He loved it. We (not surprisingly) gorged ourselves on beef cheek pierogies, pork belly, crispy bone marrow, ribeye steak with bone marrow garlic butter, pork chops with cheesy polenta and several desserts. Not to mention the wine and drinks—but how can you pass those when the menu is on an iPad?

I headed back to New York missing my family and feeling as stuffed as a turkey.

Sea World

Days 83 and 84

The orders are coming in—finally!

I don't want to jinx myself, but the pace has been pretty good the last two days. Yesterday, I was in charge of the escargot appetizer and I plated at least 15 portions. Today, I moved to the poissonnier station and was on branzino duty; we sold all but one portion.

For me—never having worked the line in a restaurant—it was pretty exciting. I can see why people love a kitchen's atmosphere. It has so much energy.

Besides prepping the dish's elements for service, I spent today sauteing the branzino to order. I'm back on branzino tomorrow, but this time, I'll likely plate the dish. (We're rotating responsibilities among our team members.)

I never thought slaving over a hot stove could be so much fun. This deserves a cupcake from one of my favorite bakeries, Sugar Sweet Sunshine.

Oh, and some banana pudding, too.

Green Days

Days 81 and 82

Arugula. Frisee. Mache. Greens are taking over my life.

The first (official) two days of Level 5 I spent making salads at the garde manger station. Monday it was a chicken salad, today it was a seasonal salad. Too bad the orders weren't flying in—I spent more time prepping for the dishes than actually making them for customers.

It's OK, though. I know the time will come when I'm completely overwhelmed with dishes. Tomorrow is a start: I'm on escargot duty, which is one of the more popular appetizers. I'm crossing my fingers for at least a handful of orders.

I'm just hoping the day doesn't move at a snail's pace.

I was awoken from the slow day—ahem, days—post-class when I attended my second demo with Jacques Torres. He showed the students how to make croissants, pain au

chocolat and rum cream-filled brioche doughnuts. Amazing. Seriously, his movements are so fluid, you can tell he's been doing this for years.

When I arrived in the culinary theater, a camera crew was camped out. Apparently, they were filming a Jacques Torres iPhone app and the audience was part of it. Now that's a first for me.

Just wish there was an app that would magically write my menu project...

Into the Big House

Days 79 and 80

Today was the beginning of the end.

On the last day of Level 4, our class made a move into the big kitchen. Yes, you've got it: We're finally to the point where the chefs trust us to cook for real customers.

Many—if not the majority—of the students in my class have some experience cooking in a restaurant kitchen. I don't. I was nervous, but I managed to get through the experience unscathed.

I was assigned to be the "floater" of the garde manger station. Basically, I spent the day doing odds and ends—filling in when people needed an extra hand—so I didn't have a specific dish. It was a good way to see each dish in the station and get a sense of the kitchen's flow. Plus, one of my odd tasks was making sausage. It's my new favorite activity.

The smoked rabbit sausage I made in class this week was dinner tonight. I served it over lentils. Ryan and I scarfed it down.

This week was a sausage fest.

Nuts for Nut Rolls

Days 77 and 78

Ahh, the comforts of home.

The third and final buffet group presented its week's worth of hard work today. The theme was Croatia, and I was a happy camper: Several of the dishes reminded me of food I grew up eating. (I'm half Slovenian—the country of Slovenia is adjacent to Croatia and has very similar food—and the rest of my ethnic background is Italian, Irish and Polish.)

One dish in particular—potica—was especially meaningful. The first bite of the nut roll brought me back to Christmas in Cleveland when my Grandma Mary was alive. She would make it every year; if there was any left, we'd take it home and dunk it in coffee in the morning. The potica made for the buffet was awesome. Thank you, mom, for sending the recipe, and thank you, chef and a good friend (you know who you are) for trying your hands at a family favorite. Grandma would be proud.

I was obviously thrilled about the potica, but I was also psyched to work with rabbits. The butchering comprised the entire day. The first half, I deboned them and used Activa—also known as transglutaminase "meat glue"—to roll the rabbit into a sausage-like shape. During the second half of the day, I broke the rabbits into several pieces, including front and rear legs, tenderloins and the smallest rack of ribs you've ever seen. Butchering took up most of the day yesterday as well; I removed the legs and breasts from ducks.

I really racked up some butchering practice this week.

Holy Smoke!

Days 75 and 76

It feels like I'm smokin' through Level 4—maybe 'cause I am.

The wood chips and charcoal have made several appearances in the past few days of class. My team can't get enough of them.

It all started with the duck breasts; they were amazing (I offered a piece to Ryan's parents—

who visited this weekend and have never tried duck—and they loved it.) Next came the trout, cured in a brine of juniper berries, Madeira wine and maple syrup. Also awesome. The spicy Italian sausage wrapped up Friday.

Today, we smoked the bacon we cured last week. Tomorrow, we're smoking salmon, rabbit sausage and more trout.

The smell of burning wood chips certainly evokes feelings of fall. Sometimes I miss having a fireplace. I'm definitely looking forward to heading to Cleveland for Thanksgiving. My mom and I have been planning the menu; deep-fried turkey, leek bread pudding and sweet potato casserole are confirmed.

Oh, and the infamous Level 3 lemon tart might make a reappearance...

Fish Tackle

Days 73 and 74

Give me that fillet o' fish, give me that fish.

I spent the first two days of production cleaning, filleting and skinning cod, branzino, steelhead trout and monkfish. My arms were definitely open to the task at hand; I need work in that arena. I've never been big on buying fish—especially whole—so I'll take any aquatic creature thrown my way.

Of all the fish, cod was the most challenging. It's massive. On Wednesday, the fish was more than half my height. Pretty freakin' awesome—except for the worms. The fish often has a parasite (the cod worm) that crawls in its flesh. I'm not sure I'll ever order cod again after plucking those guys and watching them squirm.

No more fish tomorrow. Production works like this: Each person spends two days on a rotation, comprising filleting, butchering and stocks. I believe stocks is next. It's the rotation I'm least looking forward to due to all the horror stories of burns and back aches.

I better stock up on sleep 'cause tomorrow is gonna be a long one.

Hello, Goodbye

Days 71 and 72

Family meal: I'll miss you.

Today was the final day of the rotation—and it was a good one. We roasted six legs of lamb (which a few of us deboned yesterday) stuffed with garlic, rosemary and oregano. I was skeptical—especially considering the pungent smell coming from the oven—but it was amazing. Seriously. Crispy skin and juicy meat... what more could a carnivore ask for?

Per usual on buffet day, the family meal was overshadowed by the abundance of food on the opposite side of the room. It should be: The buffet team plans an elaborate meal for a week in hopes of wowing the school. This week's team settled on the various neighborhoods of Manhattan for its theme.

For yesterday's family meal, we made a version of boeuf bourguignon and served it with polenta. To be honest, it wasn't my favorite day, as I had to man the salad station. What a mindless task. However, I fully understand we have to pay our dues.

Tomorrow is production. Hopefully the family meal mascot (a grumpy French chef PEZ dispenser) will continue to watch over us.

We're gonna need it.