Week 12: Thursday, last day of Culinary Instruction

12 weeks of instruction have passed in a whirlwind and in the course of that time, I have gotten to know 13 more individuals working towards, for their own reasons, a career in this field. A tough field with plenty of challenges but with lots of satisfying and humorous moments. The day was like a [...]

Week 12: Wednesday, Antipasti bonanza and bra’zhul with rigatoni

So it looked like we were going to be done by 1pm today as all we had slated to do on the menu was deep fried fish with marinara sauce. But there was no way I was going to have my crew loitering outside and harassing pedestrians while looking at ways to finagle more alcohol [...]

Week 12: Tuesday, Carbonara and the silence of the lambs

Every group of two got to bone their own leg of lamb today.  Chef Dale demoed the fabrication and then went into his office to bite down on a piece of leather while the students boned their own legs of lamb.  We used to do the same thing at CSR but we added a few [...]

Week 12: Monday, Grilling the old 64 and getting our fingers in Venus’ navel

So hard to believe that the cooking portion of this program is almost over.  So much information covered and so much good food enjoyed.Today we focused on the food of Tuscany.  This is a region that I very much want to visit.  It’s the Provence of Italy and just as popular.  I got up and [...]

Week 11: Thursday, Musselling our way through Normandy

Rough start to my day. I came in and had a talk with my group on hot line. Storming Norman was on point, so I knew the group would be micro managed. See Norm has beautiful physicist/architects pencil writing and his time lines are quite precise (take a look at his day planner sometime). Jason [...]

Week 11: Friday, Cassoulet and Corbieres

The day started as most Fridays do with a written quiz. The exciting thing for the students however is that this is their last culinary quiz of the program. Today was also the day their regional report and food cost assignments were due, which everyone handed in on time. So a big load was taken [...]

Week 11: Wednesday, Frogs in Spain and choking on ribs

Chef Lexie came up and talked about Petit Fours and Mignardises (minyardeeze). Then we started on production. The veal shortribs on hotline were in the combi since the previous day at 175º/80% humidity. We froze a section of tenderloin from Tuesday to put together some carpaccio for a sampler before the appetizer. We also worked [...]

Week 11: Tuesday, Veecheeswaze, the twin rosemary spud towers and crispy currant tart

The topic today was Burgundy and Chef Dale stepped up to lecture.  Our meal didn’t quite reflect the area but could have been made in Bourgogne.  For first course we had Vichyssoise.  A cold potato leek soup created by Chef Louis Diat in NYC.  He named it after his hometown of Vichy, France.Chef Dale had [...]

Week 11: Monday, The Savoie and Dauphine

We’re back with more regions of France for our students to learn. Today I lectured on the Savoie and Dauphiné. Two great regions of France which combined are known as the Rhone Alpes. The land of Beaufort, reblochon, St. Marcellin, sauce Nantua and birthplace to Brillat Savarin (Belley). Historically significant restaurants like Fernand Point’s La [...]

Week 10: Friday, Kegs and Eggs; and chicken ballottine. British Taste 5

I have to find a way to stay on top of what it going on in LoDo because it can seriously affect your day if you are unprepared.  Maybe I get some kind of email alert. Fortunately for me I only take the bus to work each day to avoid the stress of traffic and [...]