As in, totally wrecked and exhausted.
So, as I will do from time to time, being a relatively young, reasonably intelligent, fun-loving American male, I went out on Wednesday night to celebrate Dale's birthday. Little did I know that I'd hit class on Thursday as a zombie, suffering on maybe two hours of uninterrupted sleep and the general sense of unreality that accompanies such.
Wouldn't you know that my normally four man team would today be half that number, with the other two calling in sick or bored or tired or whatever. It was only me and Jeff preparing macadamia crusted mahi mahi, black bean burgers with a spicy chiptole ketchup, oven roasted potato wedges, all while finishing a pork cassoulet we had started the day prior.
Ouch.
Once in the kitchen, following the lecture, I had caught a second wind that carried me through to 10pm, though I found myself constantly forgetting what I had and had not done. A number of classmates asked me if I'd gotten stoned or if I was sick, which say a lot about my class. We are a rowdy bunch at times. (Reinforcing note to parents: my vices are well confined to cigarettes, coffee, and the occasional one to many at a local bar.)
My plating has gotten very tight, very high and very good since starting contemporary cuisine, and tonight was no exception. While Jeff took care of the mahi mahi, I handled the black bean burgers, which turned out to be a lot more prep than I was ready for. I plated a HUGE burger, prompting Chef Tony to comment aloud that the portion was way too big. I disputed it, albeit it in low, glassy eyed tones. It looked big, but it was only a 8oz black bean burger. As far as my spinning head could conjur, I had turned a cheap conglomeration of ingredients into something extra large in scale. Mission accomplished. Later, I tried to eat the goddamn thing. Being unable to wrap my mouth around it, I figured chef might be right.
The cassoulet, begun on Wednesday, was fair. As it turned out, it really wasn't a classical cassoulet, anyway. The recipes we are given in contemporary cuisine are often absolute garbage, but I'll go over that in a recap post next week. As chef explained it to me, a cassoulet has a distinctive method of preparation that involves crusting the stew, mixing in the crust, crusting it again, mixing in that curst, on and on, until what you have is really more or less a stuffing of sorts. What I ended up with was a stew with a single crust. One that was perhaps a little under seasoned.
I guess that's about it for tonight. I am going to sleep the sleep of the dead. Babies don't sleep as well as I will sleep tonight. G'night.
So, as I will do from time to time, being a relatively young, reasonably intelligent, fun-loving American male, I went out on Wednesday night to celebrate Dale's birthday. Little did I know that I'd hit class on Thursday as a zombie, suffering on maybe two hours of uninterrupted sleep and the general sense of unreality that accompanies such.
Wouldn't you know that my normally four man team would today be half that number, with the other two calling in sick or bored or tired or whatever. It was only me and Jeff preparing macadamia crusted mahi mahi, black bean burgers with a spicy chiptole ketchup, oven roasted potato wedges, all while finishing a pork cassoulet we had started the day prior.
Ouch.
Once in the kitchen, following the lecture, I had caught a second wind that carried me through to 10pm, though I found myself constantly forgetting what I had and had not done. A number of classmates asked me if I'd gotten stoned or if I was sick, which say a lot about my class. We are a rowdy bunch at times. (Reinforcing note to parents: my vices are well confined to cigarettes, coffee, and the occasional one to many at a local bar.)
My plating has gotten very tight, very high and very good since starting contemporary cuisine, and tonight was no exception. While Jeff took care of the mahi mahi, I handled the black bean burgers, which turned out to be a lot more prep than I was ready for. I plated a HUGE burger, prompting Chef Tony to comment aloud that the portion was way too big. I disputed it, albeit it in low, glassy eyed tones. It looked big, but it was only a 8oz black bean burger. As far as my spinning head could conjur, I had turned a cheap conglomeration of ingredients into something extra large in scale. Mission accomplished. Later, I tried to eat the goddamn thing. Being unable to wrap my mouth around it, I figured chef might be right.
The cassoulet, begun on Wednesday, was fair. As it turned out, it really wasn't a classical cassoulet, anyway. The recipes we are given in contemporary cuisine are often absolute garbage, but I'll go over that in a recap post next week. As chef explained it to me, a cassoulet has a distinctive method of preparation that involves crusting the stew, mixing in the crust, crusting it again, mixing in that curst, on and on, until what you have is really more or less a stuffing of sorts. What I ended up with was a stew with a single crust. One that was perhaps a little under seasoned.
I guess that's about it for tonight. I am going to sleep the sleep of the dead. Babies don't sleep as well as I will sleep tonight. G'night.
