(possible) exam dish, saved dish, class dinner and studying

Ah yes, I did sleep in today. Woke up after 10 o'clock this morning. I wasn't really interested in doing a very dull trout fish terrine. It looked nice, but was no real taste to it when I tasted after Thursday's demonstration.

So I missed the first point (out of 6). No problem. Today, Friday that is, we did our fish practical - THE possible exam dish.
Everybody took notes - this was important !







Chef Lesourd gave us a dozen of not so subtle hints in the demo and he allowed us to purchase some tweezers and a descaling tool for fish. Tres important, you know...! yeah, right.









During practical we all did fine, until I had to do my sauce. I added the cream too quickly. I forgot I had to reduce it first to a glazing liquid and ony then to add the cream. S&%t ! I put the 'sauce' quickly in my fridge, out of sight - I think chef never saw it..
Cristina helped me out quickly. She had plenty of fish-stock left and gave me half. So I could start all over again with the sauce. Result was super ! Thank you C. !

Actually, I liked this dish. It looked good, had good taste and was not that difficult to make. Hope I can do this one at the practical exam next Wednesday morning. My sauce wil be fantastic...



Finished by 6.15, the quickly home for a shower and a clean shirt. Tonight is our class dinner at a restaurant at Bastille. This dinner is for everybody in basic cuisine and pastry (and partners = euro 65 extra...).


And, surprise,surprise, there was another version of our possible exam dish on our plate ! hi,hi, I think I can do better than this...

Barbara & Rosario

Katie, Eduardo, chef Fred and Barbara

Chef Bruno with 'his girls !

Got home by 1 o'clock. Tired. Saturday was a very rainy day in Paris. Had brunch near Les Halles with oysters, saucage/lentils and a glass of wine. During ze weekend I have to study a bit. We have to memorize 10 recipes. Not that difficult. This years list is:

• Roast duckling with turnips
• Poached hake steaks with Hollandaise sauce
• Beef Stroganoff, rice and vegetables
• Brill fillets in white wine sauce
• Traditional veal stew with pilaf rice
• Sea bream fillets with fennel
• Sauteed veal chops with glazed onion,mushrooms and lardons
• Rabbit with mustard and sateed potatoes
• Sauteed chicken with tarragon and a turned vegetable garnish
• Poached chicken with a supreme sauce, rice 'au gras'

So we have to make a meat or fish dish, a sauce or jus and sometimes vegetables on the side. It sounds a lot better when I write down this list in French, but with all the accents, ^ and other things, its just too much work....(Words like poularde, lapin,blanquette de veau, filet the this and that, poulet and canette sound a lot nicer then just chicken, beef or rabbit.)

The possible two exams dishes are number 1 and 6 on ze list. We'll see...

Have a nice weekend,and see you all tomorrow, Sj

PS: still no result of the written exam.