Friday, 4/30/10 – Level 3 Day 7 (Saucier)

I had heard rumors about this night, and witnessed my frantic classmates tournee-ing potatoes with one hand and trussing a chicken with the other, and then peeling pearl onions while simultaneously rolling out pasta. I knew it was a demanding night, the first round of Saucier, but I knew I'd be able to handle it.

Correction, I knew my partner and I could handle it. So when he hadn't arrived by the start of class, I started to get nervous. I had visions of raw chicken, burnt bacon and an unintentional kitchen fire flowing through my brain, and could practically hear the sirens as the ambulances approached the school, ready to take the paring knife out of my eye and put ointment on my charred knee. Needless to say, I felt the beginning of a nervous breakdown coming on. It turns out that was all for nothing – it just so happens that one of the other groups in my "brigade" was missing a partner, so us two lonelies joined forces and worked together. Phew…I was convinced I was going to crash and burn. After the sauce incident on Wednesday, I was having some issues with my confidence.

We got our beef in the oven for the bourguignon first, then made the pasta dough so that it could rest in the refrigerator for at least an hour. We trussed our chicken for the Grand Mere and threw that in the oven as well. We made all of our garnishes for each (caramelized pearl onions, potatoes rissoler, sautéed bacon and mushrooms) and cut out the pasta, cooked it and tossed it in parsley and butter and got our sauces reduced and finished. Everything went really really well, and we plated both dishes just on time. Gratefully, our reviews were shining: delicious sauce here, perfectly cooked chicken there. Chef even savored the beef, smiling and telling us it was "really, really good." It felt great to have such a successful night after such a crappy failure the class before. I only wish my partner had been there to enjoy the beauties of Chicken Grand Mere and Beef Bourguignon!

I decided to let that success carry over into the weekend, and redeemed myself by making a perfect salmon with white wine sauce on Saturday night. It was absolutely amazing, although I made a huge mess in our small kitchen and used about every single pan we have. That's what they're for though, right? Lesson learned: treating a husband with unbelievable food makes him more willing to do the dishes. I also made the Beef Bourguignon for a fancy Sunday night dinner, and the results were…delectable:

I discovered a secret society last week that reeled me into a world full of history and magic quicker than I could say 'onomatopoeia'. I was walking to the grocery store down the street when I happened to stumble across a large brick building. Upon seeing a pretty blue banner with a large red lion on it, I decided to step inside and investigate this fascination on my own. As I crossed the marble foyer I suddenly had the overwhelming feeling that I was home; the smell of decades-old glue and dusty shelves hit me like a wall and took me back to childhood summers spent among racks and racks of biographies, fiction and Choose Your Own Adventures. They call this place a library (sp?), the New York Public Library to be exact. I approached the nice woman at the Information counter, and immediately signed up for a membership to this heaven on earth. They must have noticed something special in me, so they let me take home two books for free, and promised that once those books are returned I can take out another few books…for free! In fact, I was told I can come whenever I want and touch the bindings of the old dictionaries, smell the pages of the bestsellers and put the new Jen Lancaster book on hold once it's received. I probably shouldn't even be writing to the public about my new secret, but it was so good I had to share it with you, my dear friends. I'd even be willing to check out a book for you if you'd like, for a small fee of course. Don't you wish you had one of these 'libraries' in your home town??

RANDOM TIP OF THE DAY

When you cook bacon, don't waste that beautiful and fragrant fat that is rendered! Save it in a tin can and use it when you cook chicken, vegetables or anything else that requires a little fat (butter or oil) in the pan. Just be conscious that it will impart a smoky and bacony taste to your food – but that's usually a good thing.