Prior to last Friday, I thought “concentration methods” included a cup of strong coffee, a bowl of Wheaties and a walk around the cube farm when your eyes get droopy. Apparently in cooking there are more specific concentration methods, such as roasting, sautéing and grilling.
Continuing our concentration education, we made a flattened and breaded chicken breast escalope with a “Viennese” sauce, or the French’s interpretation of what they think is eaten in Vienna. Raging stereotypes are very typical of the French cuisine. In fact, I think next week we’re making a dish called Les Oversized Americaine aux Rude and Lazy Sauce. We also seared and cooked a nice little beef filet tournedo and served it with….I’ll give you one guess……...take your time…………….butter. In fact, the French have improved butter, believe it or not, by adding herbs and salt, freezing it in a log and cutting it into slices to place on top of already buttery butter meat. It’s really unbelievable sometimes.
I was at the sink rinsing my potatoes when I suddenly heard a faint, “Bill, she better hurry up if she’s going to execute the garniture before 10:30.” I looked around, and as expected didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. “What the freak was that,” I thought to myself, shrugging it off and continuing, but a few minutes later the voice returned as I was reducing the sauce on the stove. “She’s gone too far! There’s no turning back now, the recipe might as well be over. Ever since the trials, Jackie’s been nursing a burnt hand and she doesn’t seem to have recovered properly. This could really hurt her in the end.” “Now, that’s a little judgmental. This ghost voice is not being very supportive.” I couldn’t seem to figure it out, but was getting more and more self-conscious as the night wore on and as the voice got more negative. “Look at that, Tom, she’s just haphazardly flipping the meat with no skill. This is not the day for her to half-ass this dish. Ivanka Klavnikova has already plated the potatoes and is draping them with the finished sauce. Jackie’s got 10 seconds to pull this off if she wants to go home with a medal.” Well good news Bill and Tom, I went home with a medal on Wednesday in the shape of a beautiful and delicious filet mignon. I also learned that just because the Olympics are on doesn’t mean we have to constantly watch them – apparently it doesn’t mix well with lack of sleep.
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