A menu fit for a foodie

Imagine a restaurant with a menu featuring these entrées:

MEAT

BEEF STEW: Hearty chunks of beef in a richly flavored thick veal sauce; potaoes, peas, carrots and pearl onions.

FILET MIGNON: Wrapped in bacon and seared to medium rare, with a mushroom Madeira wine sauce; accompanied by blue cheese soufflé, haricot verts (green beans) sautéed with julienne of carrots.

SKIRT STEAK: Marinated in olive oil, tarragon and thyme, then grilled to medium rare; accompanied by prosciutto and parmesan potato croquettes, warm artichoke heart salad with julienne of red bell pepper, parsley and mustard/sherry vinaigrette.

PORK SHOULDER: Rolled in minced fresh sage, seared and roasted, with a sweet apple pan sauce; accompanied by sautéed asparagus spears and bulgar wheat pilaf.


POULTRY

TURKEY SCALOPPINE: Sautéed in brown butter, with a roasted shallot and shiitake mushroom pan sauce; accompanied by potatoes croquettes and a mixed greens salad drizzled with mustard vinaigrette.

DUCK CONFIT: Marinated, pan-roasted whole duck leg, with a sweet-and-sour bigarade sauce; accompanied by rice pilaf and sauté of root vegetables.

CHICKEN BALLOTINE: Boneless rolled chicken breast stuffed with a mousse of dark chicken meat, rehydrated cherries, prosciutto and pistachios, then braised, with a Madeira wine sauce; accompanied by sauté of Brussels sprouts and potato pancakes.

CHICKEN BREAST: Grilled, with sauce supreme; accompanied by turmeric and ginger flavored lentils, spicy fruit salsa.


SEAFOOD

ROCK COD AND SALMON MOUSSELINE: Cod fillet rolled and stuffed with salmon mousseline of cream and egg white, with sauce vin blanc; accompanied by quinoa pilaf and sauté of broccoli florets.

Add in a few starters and a dessert or two, and one has the makings for a decent little restaurant menu.

All of the above main dishes, sauces and side dishes we have made from scratch in the first two weeks of Culinary Foundations III. Not a bad beginning.

Got the salt right; now pepper needs work

Not enough pepper was the key criticism -- and disappointment -- over my "best ever" beef stew in culinary school today.

The stew was one-inch dice of beef chuck in a sauce flavored with veal stock, salt, pepper, tomato purée and a bit of stewed tomatoes, garlic and yellow onion. Covered slow cooking, like a braise, deepened the flavors and reduced the sauce to a nice hearty thickness. At the end of the hour-long cooking time, blanched carrots, pearl onions, potatoes tourné and peas went into the pot for final texture and flavor.

It was a good, non-heart-stopping exercise to get us back into the swing of culinary school after two weeks off. The crucial last five minutes did, of course, bring the stress level up a bit. But it appeared that everyone managed to complete the cooking, plating and presentation in the allotted time.

I was last to present, and Chef tasted nearly every component of my plate. He was happy with the meat, potatoes, vegetable and garnish. Only the sauce fell short, and then only for a slight lack of pepper, Chef said.

Monday's "salt band" lesson must have taken; Chef said the salt was just right.

Turning up the heat in culinary school

"I want you to make some kick-ass food today, and the next day, and the next day."

Chef Dan Fluharty (right) presented that challenge today in introducing the agenda for Culinary Foundations III as the new six-week term began at the California Culinary Academy. It's the third and final class in the basic French-techniques curriculum taught at the Academy.

It promises to be a doozy, up several levels from where we left off last month in completing the second class in the triumvirate.

Chef Dan set the tone in an inspiring yet daunting rundown of what we will face for the next six weeks. Here are excerpts of what he said:

"Every day's cooking in here will be a competency exam on which you will get graded. ... I'd like to think when you leave this school that you have a good idea of what makes you a good cook, of what makes you marketable as a cook. ... We want you to achieve the highest level of performance here and in your careers. ... "

"Tomorrow we'll make beef stew. Will it be just any beef stew? We might tend to think, 'Well, it's just beef stew.' But we want it to be the best beef stew you ever tasted. ... So it's time we kind of draw the line a little bit. Do you agree? That means if it's good, I'll say so; if it's outstanding, I'll say so; if it sucks, I'm going to say so. ... Don't take it personally."

Chef said he wants the 10 of us in his class to be a part of the continuing tradition that the Academy "puts out better high-end chefs than the CIA (Culinary Institute of America, the granddaddy of U.S. cooking schools) or anywhere else."

Quite a charge, quite a challenge. Let's get cooking.

'Restaurant pace' comes to culinary school

The beginning of Week 11 in culinary school brought us to what Chef Dan Fluharty called "restaurant pace," meaning we are working by the day now at the pace and intensity we would be in a real restaurant kitchen.

Could have fooled me; I though we had hit that pace at least a week ago, if not farther back.

Today's pace was swift, but it didn't seem unreasonable or chaotic. In two hours of cooking time, we did mise en place and the cooking for three braised dishes -- a beef stew, chicken fricasée and red cabbage. Plus we made puff pastries, although they were from pre-rolled dough and not from scratch.

"It's braising day," Chef announced at the beginning of class. "It's one of the hardest days in the whole curriculum. Why? Timing and the long time it takes to cook."

Indeed, braising is a lengthy process because it involves slow, low heat cooking, designed to turn tough pieces of meat and poultry tender and draw out their flavors. "It's cooking that is as slow as you can get it," Chef Dan said.

The slowness is worthwhile. The flavors cajoled from meats in braising hit the top of the umami chart. Other students seemed to agree.

Chef Dan's remark that, "It couldn't be a better time of year to do braising, because it's colder than the dickens outside," inferred to me that braising focuses at least in part on what we would call comfort foods.

Not to mention that, if I do say so myself, I consider braising to be in my sweet spot when it comes to cooking. I have done it often, and it's my favorite culinary technique.

Evidence comes in the beef stew and chicken fricasée that I brought home from school today: There wasn't any left over.