Good

Phase 3, Week 2, Day 8

Today we had a practical covering three dishes:

1) Grilled Veggies
2) Chicken Ballontine w/ Latkas
3) Grilled Airline Chicken breast, Fruit Salsa, and Curried Lentils

The day went pretty smoothly.However, I cut off the second joint of my chicken wing off of the breast. Oops! That wasn't what I said though. ;0). An airline chicken breast has a bone from one of the wings left on it w/ the skin removed. Secondly,  I did burn my first batch of latkas. Man, if you turn your back for just one minute your food will turn on you like nothing else. Always be vigilant of what you are cooking and know how it will react to heat. For instance; all oils cook differently at different temperatures. Sauces with cream or eggs will break or separate on you if not handled with care. A sauce to go from nappe to burnt in 30 seconds.

The interesting thing we got to play with today was caul fat. Caul fat is the fatty membrane of a pig's stomach used to wrap meat. We wrapped our chicken ballontine in it and then sered it. The caul fat holds it all together and then melts away when exposed to heat. It's kind of cool.

Results:
Grilled Veggies: Good, nicely seasoned, nice little presentation
Ballontine: Good. Nice presentation, good flavor. Made a second batch of latkas ;0). Sauce, good.
Chicken: Even without the breast, the dish was "Good." A bit too much salsa on the plate. Lintels, good.

Overall it was all "Good." I finally asked if Chef Bruce had anything else to say about any of the dishes. Nope they were good. What does Good translate too?

Apparently a 97%. I'll keep chugging along to attempt to come back from my 300 pt deficit....

Chicken Ballontine

Chicken and Lintels

Grilled Veggies