Day 2 of Intro to Culinary

I'm Tony Rasmussen and I am currently a student at Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena. What you are about to read is written by me and only me. Everything is from my point of view and is being written as I go through the program at California School of Culinary Arts. The things that I write about are things that are taught to me while attending the school. - Hopefully that is enough of a disclaimer! If not send me what I should say and I will update my blog to reflect the correct disclaimer!

Let me start by saying that I am pretty excited about this blog thing. I have never done one and I saw Julie and Julia the other day and thought this would be a pretty cool thing to try. Because of the work load that I have while attending this school I figured that this would be a fun way to keep friends and family updated with what I am up to. So I hope you will add yourself as a follower and stay up to date with what I am learning! If you have questions or want to know more feel free to email me directly at TRASMSN@aol.com and I will get back to you!

Bon Appetit! Enjoy my blogs and I look forward to sharing many more days to come!

Okay.... Is it water from all the dishes from the cleanup or is it sweat???? Unfortunately the heat is up in the kitchen. It doesn't seem to matter how many fans are on... the stoves put out way too much heat for my fat ass!!! LOL The amount of water one drinks in class is amazing! I think it is the heat and the amount of work you do in a short period of time. I have a new found respect for Chefs now.

So today is the end of day two. We made blanched spinach (yum yum) and pommes vapeur (aka: steamed tourneed potatoes). The potatoes were pretty good actually but I need to work on the knife cuts because mine didn't exactly look like little mini football shaped potatoes. It was really neat to get to do the set up, the prep and then cook the food and present it to Chef Whitmore for tasting and grading.

Everything from how warm the plate is to how dry and fluffy your parsley is when sprinkled on top of a dish for presentation is important and part of the grade. The taste is actually only a small part! Once he tastes it and plays with it to check texture, temperature and consistency, he gives you comments and tells you to dive in or toss it! Thankfully, I took pictures before he played with my food. That sounds kind of funny to say that actually! I guess I had better get used to playing with my food.

A few of my classmates cut themselves pretty good tonight. Thank goodness I haven't done that one yet. Those of you who know me well know how well I would do with a cut! (Mr. Schranz!)

Knife Cuts:

Not sure how many of you have ever done these but personally I feel that this is the scariest part of this class. Over the years I have eaten in a number of fine dining establishment... probably more than I should have, but either way, I have eaten all types of food and I must say there really aren't many places that I have noticed some of these cuts so I am learning something totally new.

There are three categories of knife cuts:

1. Long Cuts

a. Julienne = 1/8" x 1/8" x 2" - 3"

b. Battonet = 1/4" x 1/4" x 2" - 3"

2. Square Cuts

a. Brunoise = 1/8" x 1/8" x 1/8"

b. Macedoine = 1/4" x 1/4" x 1/4"

c. Parmentier = 1/2" x 1/2" x 1/2"

d. Carre = 3/4" x 3/4" x 3/4"

3. Miscellaneous Cuts

a. Rondelle

b. Asian

c. Oblique (or Round Cut)

d. Paysanne (or Tile Cut)

e. Tourne

f. Chiffonade

The Misc. Cuts are the most unique cuts of all with the exception of the Rondelle which basically translates to small like size slices. For example: Cutting a carrot into small similar disc size pieces is a Rondelle cut.

It was a fun and fast paced night. I can't wait to see what tomorrow is like. We are learning to do brown veal stock, braised leek, glazed root vegetable and le piece de resistance (of the day) is Ratatouille - not the little mouse but the dish! That should be fun!

So I am off to fetch my bag of potatoes and my carving knife to sit and watch some television and practice my cuts. I see many 5lb. bags of potatoes in our future my dear readers!!! LOL

And, if you have not seen Julie and Julia yet, you should put it on your list. As Chef Julia Child once said, "Cooking is not a chore, it is a joy! Dining is not a fuel stop, it is a recreation!"

And I will steel her famous line tonight!

I'm Tony Rasmussen! Bon Appetit!