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.

Stacking Up

Days 69 and 70

It's time for some fall cleaning.

In Levels 1 through 3, I brought index cards to every class per chef instructions. Each card featured a recipe—ingredients and method—to aid students in making dishes. Those "cheat sheets" are no longer part of our repertoire.

I found half a stack of the index cards at home today (the other half is in my knife kit at school). After debating about whether or not to keep them, I tossed them in the recycle bin. After all, I have the same recipes in my textbooks. Why keep a second set?

The stack of cards reminded me of how much I covered in three short months. I'd like to add up all the dishes sometime.

Family meal Thursday comprised homemade lasagna—even the noodles were from scratch. I spent a good hour making sheets of pasta with the hand-crank machine. Chefs and students alike thought our mission was ambitious, but we did it. And the lasagna was damn

good, too.

Today, we made orange chicken, pepper beef and duck fat-fried rice. I was skeptical about re-creating dishes that I believe are best left to inexpensive takeout joints, but we pulled it off.

Two more days are left in family meal. Let's see if we can produce some more winners.

We Are Family

Days 67 and 68

First two days of working the family meal rotation = success.

It's tough work. The day starts an hour earlier than usual and is nonstop until the school starts lining up for lunch at 11:30 a.m.; the rush lasts for about an hour, our team gets a mini-break, and then the madness continues until 3 p.m. as we prep for the following day.

In total, family meal is cooked for approximately 300 people. Those eating include students,

chef instructors and other staff.

Tuesday, we prepared roast beef, potatoes gratin and roasted Brussels sprouts; today, we served fish and chicken tacos, cabbage slaw, and rice and beans.

In addition to the mains, we also prep a salad bar, condiments and various drinks. So far so good: I'm hearing compliments, so I'll take that as a sign my team is doing well.

All this hard work deserves a reward. What better way to pat a chef-in-training on the back than with a good meal—cooked by someone else, of course. A small group of friends from school hit up DBGB for some of chef Daniel Boulud's house-made sausage. We split foie gras with black mission figs, hazelnuts and brioche; Thai pork sausage with green papaya, basil fried rice and a quail egg; pork sausage served over bacon and lentils; cold-smoked ribeye with cauliflower puree and bone marrow ravioli; and a green apple and honey ice cream sundae. Afterwards, we stopped by Painkiller for some retro tiki bar libations.

Can I get an "Oh yeah?"