Taking stock ... no, that's making stock

Wednesday's session in Culinary Foundations II was about as real as it gets when it comes to simulating restaurant kitchen work.

Besides the final practice run for today's five-dish vegetable and sauce competency exam, two of us had to start and mind a big pot of chicken stock. We did so under the watchful eyes of Chefs Dan Fluharty and David Isenberg.

Into the huge pot we dumped 75 pounds of chicken bones (photo at left) for a pre-heat and rinse to get impurities out. Then we emptied and discarded the water, refilled and added 15 pounds of mirepoix -- coarsely chopped onions, carrots and celery. Fellow culinary student Alfie Regadio prepped the herbs for inclusion once the temperature came up to simmer. He also did one pass of dégraisser and ecumer -- degrease and skim -- to remove excess fat and foam from the simmering stock. The night class would finish the stock, we were told.

Amid it all -- mostly getting the stock started and occasionally eying its progress -- we did our prep and cooking work on vegetables and starches.

If my artichokes (photo at right, with hollandaise sauce), rice pilaf and pommes duchesse turn out today as they did in Wednesday's practice, I will be happy.

Culinary school quotes of the week, Week 9

Campbell's: the Ford Pinto?
"It's the elegant soup of the world. It's the Mercedes Benz, the Rolls Royce, the Jaguar of soups."
-- Chef Dan Fluharty, describing the place of consommé in haute cuisine.

Something's missing
"This is turducken without the tur."
-- Chef David Isenberg during a demonstration of how a chicken was stuffed inside a duck along with forcemeat (shown at left). Often, the chicken and forcemeat stuffed duck is then stuffed inside a turkey, but not this time.

Please, be exact
"When it's cooked."
-- Chef Dan Fluharty responding to a student's question about length of time for sauté of breaded eggplant. 

Trade ya'
"We're bringing you some creme brulée. Anything for us?"
-- Executive Chef Tim Grable carrying a tray from his pastry and baking class into our kitchen classroom. In exchange, we sent over a big bowl of freshly made tabouleh. 

Paging Chef Merlin
"Water is magic."
-- Chef Dan Fluharty reiterating that a little water can go a long way toward curing the ill of a sauce that's too thick or a veggie that's about to brown when it shouldn't or any other of a long list of stove-top issues.