CAP: September 2007 Archives
I had my second CAP class. this one was much more enjoyable. We did some actual cooking, a little wine, and eating. Martin was the instructor again. We started with some lecture, then we watched a demo. Some pan seared cutlets with a white wine herb sauce. The demo was done very well, explaining as he went from step to step. The only thing I would add to the demo is a warm plate.
After the lecture, we broke into our groups and started cooking. I'll break the night up by recipe.
First, we roasted some chicken leg quarters. This was a straight forward roast, hi-temp oil, salt, and pepper. I observed some really interesting behaviors when the sheet pan came out. It was obvious to me who had been burned in the kitchen, and those who hadn't. When a blazing hot pan of chicken comes out of the oven, you move. Some people were pulled away from the pan, as the person who withdrew it had not cleared a landing pad for it. Maya and I cleared a spot on our cooktop to save the plastic cutting board it was about to land on. The chicken went in for a few more minutes to get some color. It was juicy and quite good.
Second was vegetable soup with chicken stock. Joe, the owner of Sabot Culinary, made the stock ahead of time with the carcasses of the deboned chicken. This was pretty straight forward, though a little unimaginative, we used the miripoix from the night before, added some diced red pepper, mushrooms, herbs, and a blond roux. I like my soups a little spicier, with a few strong flavors tossed in.
Third, we made the chicken cutlets we had seen Martin make earlier. It went well, but it was an ordeal in patience. One woman really wanted to eat shrimp, she was itching to bread the shrimp for our group. At the same time, she managed to cross contaminate our cutting boards and knives. The comment Maya and I had on the dish -- needed a dash of lemon. Back to the getting burned comment. When you walk with a hot pan, let people know you are coming, tap them on the shoulder and warn them, don't hover with a really hot pan. Even better, leave the pan till it cools down if you can.
Fourth was the shrimp, I just backed away, and reminded someone I was allergic.
I really enjoyed this class, I hope the others are more like this one. I have another in a week, then some more next semester. My wife will be taking this class this week, so she may have some input on the class.
I took my first Culinary Arts Program (CAP) class last night. Tools of the Trade, for me, the class was review. The instructor, Martin Gravely was very good. He is very well spoken, answered questions, and was humorous.
The first class was mostly lecture, he covered oils, spices, herbs, pots, pans, ovens, spoons, etc. The last hour of the class was basic knife skills. More review. Dice an onion, a stalk of celery, and a carrot; then de-bone a chicken... well, break down a chicken. We left the bones in the legs and wings. It was amusing to see Martin demo the chicken. The lecture seating is close quarters, and two seats are right near the cutting boards. As he was taking the chicken apart, he was slapping the parts on the cutting board, the two right near him were almost cringing. The class had 16 people, so there were 4 groups of 4. My group had two people with poor knife skills and bad habits.
One woman and I commented to each other about how nervous it was making us. It's weird, I've seen people use knives poorly before, but never has it made me so nervous. Even on the easy things, celery and carrots. There were some things that Martin did not cover, but I assumed they were common sense. If you are taking rotations at the cutting board, put the knife on the board when you are done. I saw many people attempting to figure out how to hand a knife to someone else --bad idea!
The chicken was entertaining. Some people were grossed out by it. The food service woman in my group had never taken a chicken apart, but she breezed through it. I passed (I think a few people have seen my flying duck impression) and let the other woman in our group take a stab at it. I don't think she had ever used a boning knife before, she tried to muscle her way through the chicken. I tried to help her with the deboning, but she mostly ignored me. After she started to saw through the ribs, I stopped her. I pulled the breast back and showed her what she was doing, I tried to point out the area she needed to cut. I offered to help pull the chicken away from the carcass, as I had seen Martin do, but when she almost stabbed me, I just pointed with my finger.
Some knife observations from the entire class..
1. If you are instructed to put the miripoix (celery, onion, carrots) in a central location, either pick up your cutting board and take it there, or bring the pan to your station. I saw so many people scooping some onions on their chef knives and walking past 4 to 6 people to the storage pan. Every time I saw this happen, I grabbed the pan and brought it to the person.
2. Many people hold a knife like a weapon. It's really hard to bone a chicken if the knife is held in a fist. Boning can be done fast and fluidly if you sweep with the knife, but you can't do that if your hand is in a fist.
3. Being put on the spot can make you nervous. I know how to use a chef's knife, but I found myself shaking just a tiny bit. 3 people staring made me a bit nervous. Especially when the knife feels SO foreign. I'm gonna be the idiot and cut myself. I quickly found my zone, and zipped through my produce
Check for more CAP posts as I progress through the program.
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