Feeling Salty

Day 49

Perfectly poached eggs. Ideal temperature. Good taillage. Nice consistency on the sauce—and it didn't break!

Overboard on the salt. Uh, oh, oh, oh, oh: the white stuff.

It's funny, because when I started culinary school, everyone warned me that the chefs are always criticizing students for not using enough salt. So as a habit, I always add an extra pinch just when I think a dish is flavored to my taste. For the most part, it's been OK; I've usually been told my sauces are well-seasoned. Today, I guess I had a heavy hand on the hollandaise sauce, which was served over poached eggs and cooked vegetables.

For the amuse bouche, one of my teammates—who happens to be from Thailand—made beautiful Thai egg netting, which we wrapped around medium-rare slices of steak, caramelized pears and goat cheese. It was pretty awesome.

Tomorrow is that two-dish thing: Each student has to prepare the fish dish from earlier in the week as well as the lemon tart. After cooking, we're taking an exam.

Talk about adding salt to a wound.

Total Immersion

Days 47 and 48

To sous-vide or not to sous-vide: That is the question.

During the past two days, our class has been learning about the cooking method that uses airtight plastic bags placed in hot water well below the boiling point. Meaning "under vacuum" in French, sous-vide maintains the integrity of ingredients by heating them for an extended period at low temperatures.

Although the technology has been used overseas for years, it is relatively new to the U.S. Most restaurants don't have the machines because of their cost and regulations. (Botulism can result if not used carefully—probably something a business doesn't want associated with its name.)

Restaurants can, however, participate in low temperature cooking without worrying about rules. The chef showed us food prepared by both low temperature and sous-vide cooking.

Our class won't be doing much with these methods until Level 5, but it was a good introduction to something with which I haven't had much—if any—experience.

Besides the cooking methods, we stuck to our regular schedule and each prepared a different dish on our respective teams. Yesterday, I made the chicken grandmother-style (a roasted bird accompanied by bacon lardons, pommes rissole, caramelized pearl onions and sauteed mushrooms); today I was in charge of the lemon tart. Both dishes turned out well, with minor adjustments here and there.

No big fixes necessary this week. Then again, I haven't had to make consomme.

Hill Yeah

Day 46

Dan is the man.

Dan Barber, that is. The chef, who opened restaurants Blue Hill and Blue Hill at Stone Barns, is someone I truly admire. Not only is he an amazing chef (hello Michelin), he's also an

avid supporter of sustainability: The menus at both restaurants feature food straight from the farm in Westchester County, N.Y.

On Saturday, I was honored to have the chance to work with Barber and his team at Le Grand Fooding, a culinary extravaganza which pitted New York against San Francisco chefs. Each team highlighted one dish. The Blue Hill group made beet sausage grilled on carbonized pork bones; it was accompanied by an apple cider mustard, beet ketchup, yogurt, pickled vegetables and a beet puree. Perfect.

I helped plate the dish and then passed them to chef Barber to finish. I had to keep reminding myself that this was really happening. I know that probably sounds crazy to some, but it's true. I usually don't get star-struck—except when it comes to chefs. They'll stop me in my tracks.

Still smiling inside from Saturday, I walked into class today with my daily recipe in hand, hoping for the best. I was poissonnier again, so I was assigned the fillet of barramundi, American style. Looking at the number of steps involved, I was a little worried about completing everything in time. Turns out I had nothing to worry about: The sauce was perfect, and the fish and mussels were cooked well. Oddly, the shrimp—which should be the easiest part—were undercooked. Overall, though, a successful dish.

I'm making the dish again Friday. I'll be sure to check on that shrimp prawnto.