growing?!?

this post is a rather large deviation from my normal post, but is far more... important? change inducing? reflective maybe?
anyways, here it is. my life is a bit of a mess. i have had little to no organization throughout my 'adult' life. i'm not going to go into details, this isnt the place for it, but, im working on changing that. i'm trying to make sense of what is going on, where i've been, and where it's all heading. and the one constant throughout it all has been my love/passion/ down right obsession with food. cooking, eating, serving, pleasing people, it's what i live for. and now, through this culinary school experience it has forced me (in a VERY good way) to get some semblance of order in my life. I know it has only been a few weeks, but i have been working hard at it. and people in my life, (friends, family and the like) have already started to notice. It's going to be hard, it's going to take time, but i'm certain that my passion will keep me going through the tough times. lets see. I'm trying, we'll make this thing happen.

lots of happenings this past week

ive been reading eric ripert; on the line by christine Muhlke, and it has been a very informativ e look into the height of fine dining. from the front of house to the operations of the kitchen, and the intricacies of running a fine dining establishment. and the recipies it has included are very facinating even if i will not get the chance to cook a good many of the. (where does one get fois gras in omaha anyways?) but it amazing how both simple in their overall nature, yet complex in their sauce the thought that goes into their creation.
i spent friday evening making ravioli with the 5 year old daughter of my special lady friend, and we had a blast, i'll post pictures as soon as i get them from my friend. she really liked mixing the green spinach pasta dough, and turning the crank on the pasta machine, but aparently stuffing ravioli is harder for others than it is for me. we then finished it with a sauce of unsalted butter and black olive paste, and pared it with a rather light pinot noir.
the planning for the great pork adventure taking place at the start of may is starting to come together. still looking for a pig head and some boudin noir.
knife skills are coming together, havent started on my Julienned sweet potatoes yet, but have been slicing other things.

learning

in class yesterday i had a revelation forced upon me by the great Chef O'Donnell. our kitchen was a MESS. and that limited our performance... a lot. so, what do i take away from this.
1)know the recipe. I had glanced over it, but didnt have a full grasp on what it was going to involve.
2)teamwork, let's establish one person as the team leader, and have the tasks evenly broken down.
3) plan for things to go wrong. it seems that where we really got off track the greatest was when the boiled potatoes for the pommes duchesse were not fully dont and i had to really struggle to get them riced.
4) I can focus a lot better when i'm not exhausted. no more parting until 3 when i have to be up for class by 630.

here's my morning breakfast of awesome
corned beef hash using leftovers. I like my has using home frys and medium diced beef, it feels more substantial, and the texture is more interesting, plus i can still get a good crust. my fried egg technique is really improving as well.

check out my huevos

homework was to practice french omelets. easy... except, well i didnt have any nonstick pans. so, i went and got one. now i can cook the eggs. here our delightful eggs were ever so delicately prepared with a touch of crumbled cheddar and colby cheese, and a bit of chopped bacon. i say delicately because we only want these flavors to enhance the flavor of the eggs, not become the focus of the dish. the rye toast and blackberry jam worked to cut the salty richness of the omelet, and it paired nicely with a fairly respectable cabernet. this may at first seem an odd choice to go with a light egg dish, but i did not find the eggs to be overwhelmed by it, and the jam and toast really highlighted those notes in the wine. but, of course the focus was the eggs. which i still dont really care for, especially now after having to eat several over the course of my practice.

chicken bits

so, here's a bit of my weekend in review. I made some homemade chicken nugget-y bits for my good friend and his family. sorry the picture is so bad, I blame poor lighting, crappy cell phone camera and user error. they are not really that dark, and I don't have a plated pic because they never made it that far. a pack of hungry kids gobbled them up.