Who Is Jane Dough?

Pixel Pusher. Recent NYC transplant. Studying Classic Culinary Arts at the French Culinary Institute.

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man down

so we lost another classmate. unfortunately we have an uneven number again, so someone has to work alone. it will be interesting to see if the rest of us can hold on now that the two weakest links are gone. anyway, we are already on day 8. by this saturday we'll be half way through level two. it's really starting to FLY.

so we learned a bit about food-costing. i was dreading it because i hate math, but it's not so bad. chef gave us a good lecture. he talked about his experiences with trying to rescue restaurants and fix food-costing issues. it was quite interesting.

this time around i finally got paired with the partner i've been wanting. he's my biggest competition in the class. he finished level one 1% higher than i did. it's nice to be working with the best. unfortunately, we have been doing some really easy stuff. i mean, i guess it's fine. nothing to push us. 

we've made a couple of doughs to freeze for our upcoming tart lesson. we did the eggs lesson and i shared my wisdom about how to tell if a poached egg is ready. i made some kick ass eggs thanks to my time at the square cafe (thanks doug!)  we also kicked off pastry by making a few different pastry creams, ladyfingers cake, and two little caramel custard/flans. super cute! love it! tomorrow onto ICE CREAM and sorbet!  

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grand finale. whoops.

it's been nearly two weeks since our final/practical for level one. sorry to leave you in suspense for so long, but i passed! I had a 99 on the practical and 100 on the theoretical. pretty sure those were the highest scores in the class. the stress and the studying and the build up was pretty intense. i think mostly because no one knew what to expect, but the chef was doing a pretty good job of scaring us. with that experience under our belts, we are able to breathe a little easier and focus on level 2.

LEVEL 2! wow, i've been waiting for this since before school started. we finally get to LEARN PASTRY!!!!! there are also a lot of other cool lessons in this level. food costing, pasta making, cheese making, wine tasting, game, offal, menu design and plating! 

we're coming up on day 5 (already) and things are moving right along. my weaknesses and areas i need to focus on are becoming more obvious as we cook through the recipes. i've had a pretty good partner (one i also had in level one) and am looking forward to a switch tomorrow.

at the end of level one (during the final) chef gave us a long lecture about how shitty we've been and how we really need to get it together and get serious. he also said he would ride us this first half of level two (before he leaves) by being more strict and giving us homework every class! that has yet to happen :) he's been extremely jovial and easy going. i think he has a serious case of senioritis (or something like that).

outside of school i've been having some pretty amazing meals. i hope to continue that as the year goes on. i also am planning a meeting with career services to start discussing my options and opportunities that might be available with my schedule. 

im still extremely conflicted about my plans after school. to be continued i guess...

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burnt

hi friends. sorry to leave you hanging so long. last night i finished day 19, so i have a few classes worth of stories to report. 

right now i have a pinched nerve/pulled muscle in my neck, my feet hurt and i am dead tired. in the next 3 days i have to practice cutting veg again for talliage, practice tournage, and study for 2 written tests and be ready to take FINALS tuesday. then level 2 starts thursday. no rest for the weary (wicked). 

since we last spoke, we made our way thru chicken, other poultry (duck & quail), beef, pork and finally lamb. im happy to report other than the duck lesson there were no major kitchen fails. i ended up having the terrible partner again (see above), but was finally able to come to an "agreement" with him. he has since missed two classes out of the last 3. not sure how he hasn't failed out yet as he missed two classes in the beginning as well. ill be shocked if he makes it to level 2 (if not, that puts us at an even 12).

anyway, i think i may have also mentioned previously that our chef is leaving us to go and teach at the california school (FCI). we finally learned that transition will take place sometime near the end of january, so fortunately we'll have him for the first half of level 2! this is kind of a relief. he's really whipping us into shape and helping to prepare us for future levels. its going to suck when he goes :(

lastly, there's been a lot of drinking, gossiping, secret-telling and of course eating. our group is becoming more like a family. except no fights (yet)! it's great that we're finally bonding. looking forward to warmer weather and field trips!!

ah well, im done. it's friday. my neck pain is moving into my head and i fear may turn into a migraine. talk to you after tuesday :)

xoxo

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fish x3

so i left off at day 11, and 3 (class) days have passed since! ive tried to sit down and write this post a couple of times, but something distracts me and the details get a bit fuzzier. 

FORTUNATELY, i got some pics/vid of chef in our last class demoing how to put a lobster to sleep before you kill it. PRICELESS! i will post that right after this…

so we started off last tuesday with a test (which i feel like i aced) and then got busy with the fish fabrication! we began with round fish (trout) and learned how to fillet and skin. it was awesome! we got to use our super sharp flexible boning knives for the first time! can you tell i was excited? we made two recipes that night, trout en papillote, and trout grenobloise. both were REALLY yummy. towards the end of the evening one of my classmates dropped his knife and made the TERRIBLE mistake of trying to catch it. yowzers. 6 stitches. alas, that was the only bloodshed for day 12.

day 13 i got a new partner, one of my friends! so far we’ve kicked ASS together. been putting out some nice plates. on thursday we made flat fish (flounder) fried and poached (covered in cream sauce). also REALLY delicious. im a fan of fish! day 13 also brought our first evaluation grades. i got an 88. NOT even the highest grade in the class. i was so perturbed, but it made me want it THAT much more. i talked to chef after class and learned what my weak points were (organization) and found out that i had also lost points for some of my partners’ mistakes. i dont feel bad for calling them out anymore!

day 14 was shellfish, which started with us learning how to kill and cook lobsters, followed by bisque, scallops, mussels, and snails recipes. once again, my partner and i rocked even know i think everyone was about worried by the amount of recipes.

it feels like we’ve finally started to get into a rhythm and may even hit our stride in the next couple of classes. this level is wrapping up quickly and i feel more certain our dear chef is leaving us for the California campus though no official announcement has been made. of course everyone is sad/disappointed. we all know he’s the best instructor and really wanted to spend level two building on the foundation he’s given us. i guess we’ll see what happens…