The heat is on: cooking at a torrid pace

Anyone who has seen the frenzy of a restaurant kitchen in the middle of service can appreciate the steadily accelerating pace we face in Culinary Foundations III.

Chef Dan Fluharty reminds us repeatedly that he is pushing us so we are prepared for the hectic routine of most restaurants.

The past week is a prime example. We have gone from making two plated meals in 90 minutes to making a three-course meal in two hours. The difference might seem minimal. But the three-course meal always involves four or more of the seven basic cooking techniques and three-dozen or more ingredients for eight or nine plated items.

Take Tuesday's entrée: We made osso buco for the first time, braising it as we have done with other meats. On the same plate, we prepared a side dish of risotto Milanese, which we have made a couple of times before, along with braised leeks and carrots. First course was a Salade Nicoise with hand-made vinaigrette, and second course was a soup, borscht.

Chef's requirements for the repeat dishes are getting tighter, as are his overall standards. He wants proteins cooked to his specifications, sauces that are seasoned, flavorful and consistent in texture and starches and vegetables that are neither crunchy nor mushy.

Tall orders, yes. We are running fast but managing to keep up.

(Photo: My cooking station mates Richard Johnson (left) and Rob Park (center) and Chef/Instructor Dan Fluharty.)

I say, 'OSSO!' You say, 'BUCO!'

Veal is generally known for its tenderness, but the veal shank needs some extra cooking to get it falling-off-the-bone good.

That was the case today in Culinary Foundations III as we continued our ongoing series of three-course meal platings for Chef Dan Fluharty.

Osso Buco was the entrée, along with risotto Milanese and braised leeks. We tossed in a few oblique-cut carrots for color and flavor. Osso Buco is braised, meaning low, slow heat, and the result, as seen in my pot of Osso Buco on the right, is wonderful umami, the fifth and most complex of the food flavors.

Before the main course, we prepped, plated and presented Salade Nicoise, including green beans, hard-boiled eggs, bacon, anchovies, red potatoes and other goodies, with a mustard-lemon zest vinaigrette drizzle.

The soup course was borscht, a bowl full of scarlet beauty, taking on the rich earthy color and flavor of beets, which are its main ingredient.

For a cold winter evening, this was the perfect meal.

Culinary challenges continue; confidence climbs

Monday's Culinary Foundations III class ended in a rush of finished entrées and kitchen cleanup, with barely enough time to scribble down today's menu. Here's what I scribbled:

Salad Nicoise, sans tuna. Beet borscht. Osso buco with risotto Milanese and roasted root vegetables.

Daunting on the face of it, because the only components I have made are the risotto and root vegetables. Yet this is what culinary school -- and eventual work in a restaurant -- is about: taking the unfamiliar and applying familiar techniques.

Osso buco is braised. I can do that.

Salad Nicoise is an artfully arranged collection of raw vegetables and a few other items. I can do that.

Beet borscht is a soup, made similarly to many soups -- slow cooking to gain flavor and tenderness. I can do that.

I can do this. I can cook.