Day 19 Le Cordon Bleu Paris

The light can be seen at the end of the tunnel with this being our last full week of school (next week we'll have only 2 days of class) . Although this is day 19 of school, we have completed 23 demonstrations and 23 kitchen practicals for a total of 138 hours of instruction. We have all come so far in such a relatively short time.

The day began with a demo covering the classic Beef Stroganoff which we would have to make in the practical, Grilled Langoustines with a salad, and Salmon and Watercress Gratin. All were delicious.

The salmon dish below was prepared by cutting escalloped pieces of the salmon and barely cooking them in a steam oven, then layering the pieces on a plate covered with cooked mushrooms, reduced watercress, slices of avocado, sliced, peeled and seeded tomatoes and then covered with a mousse line sauce. Mousseline is nothing but hollandaise with whipped (fluffed) cream. Finally the plate was broiled. The finished product is pictured below. What a nice taste!

Salmon and watercress gratin

Next the Chef made the langoustine dish which he mentioned can be made with shrimp or scallops as well.  The langoustines were marinated with what I thought were Indian style spices: Anise, cardamom, coriander seed, cumin, and ginger. They were then grilled and served on some mixed greens with a garlic infused olive oil with Thyme and lemon juice.

Grilled Langoustine with salad

Finally the Chef finished with the Stroganoff. At first I thought it was only me, but the class seemed real subdued with not the usual enthusiasm nor the usual round of questions. I'm not sure if everyone is a little ready for the end or if they were recovering from their weekends. I think I am feeling the cumulative effect of the program. We have our only written exam coming up on Thursday along with a very busy week. I need to study.

Beef Stroganoff et Riz Au legumes

We had about an hour break before the practical. Once again, there was this quietness about as I watched  everyone just doing their own thing in the winter Garden. Here are a couple of pictures. Here are Sara and Allis taking a breather. Also below is Alan.

Alan reviewing his game plan for the Stroganoff practical

Of the 3 practical groups, my group had the good fortune to have Saturday off while the other 2 groups came in and completed their roasted duck dish. Well, it was time for my group to pay for it. So while the other 2 groups went in to cook their beef Stroganoff and finish at 3 p.m., we had to cook the roasted duck, and then cook the Stroganoff for a double session.

The roasted duck went fairly well. We all seemed to have a little trouble with the trussing because the duck just didn't seem to truss like the chicken for some reason! Other than that I think it went well for everyone. The desired doneness for the duck is rare. Mine was bloody and the Chef said tres bien! I thought for sure he would have told me to cook it some more. I wasn't terribly happy with my sauce being too runny either but he thought it was fine. Here is my plate:

My roasted duck with glazed turnips

After I finished I went into the other group's kitchen to check on their Stroganoff to see if I could get any pointers and I got a picture of Pablo (from Chile).

Pablo pointing out the intricacies of his sauce toChef Lesourd in French, English, and Spanish

It was on to the final practical. The Chef allowed us to start early so we could get out early. As we were all trimming our tenderloin pieces, Kelsey cut one of her fingers with the boning knife. The boning knife is the 2nd most dangerous knife in our kit after the serrated bread knife. She hit a nice vein which resulted in a lot of blood. She immediately ran to the reception desk where they whipped out the First Aid kit and put her back together. Julia jumped to her rescue and finished trimming her meat for her.

The Beef Stroganoff was not too bad. I really enjoyed the sauce. It was made with the browned tenderloin trimmings, onions, and tomato/tomato paste, deglazed with white wine and reduced with veal stock. Just before serving, it was strained and cream was added to thicken. We all finished early and left by 4:30.