Cooking Class #9

We arrived bright and early, coffee in hand, for our final class. The chef greeted us, gave us some tips, more pep talk and told us to have fun. Our final assignments were:

Turkey stew
Sauteed salmon medallions with a pan sauce
Chicken veloute sauce
Brown sauce
Hollandaise sauce

I took my time to set up my station. This was bittersweet. I looked forward to finishing class and having my Saturdays back again, but I really enjoyed the last three weeks hanging out with a chef and tackling his challenges.

First, I made the stew. I browned the turkey, browned some vegetables and cooked them down with a touch of tomato paste and brown roux. Then I deglazed with my own homemade chicken stock (leftover from Thursday night), threw in some spices, and placed the pot into the oven.

In the meantime, I tackled both the brown sauce and the veloute sauce, using similar techniques but different stocks: veal stock for the brown sauce and chicken stock for the veloute.

Next, I seared the salmon on both sides and put it on a plate. I deglazed the pan yet again with chicken stock, then added butter and flour to thicken the sauce, and seasoned with salt and pepper. I drizzled the sauce over the salmon and sprinkled some chopped parsley on top for garnish.

Lastly, I whipped up the Hollandaise. Egg yolks, a vinegar reduction, lemon juice, butter, and salt pepper. How does anyone eat this stuff? This one, I just don't get.

When I offered my dishes to the chef for his inspection, I was both hesitant and eager. I didn't get perfect 10's on the brown sauce and the Hollandaise which didn't really surprise me. Those two sauces were the ones with which I was least familiar. My vegetables caramelized a touch too long so the brown sauce had a bitter aftertaste. The Hollandaise could have been on the burner a bit longer.

I did get perfect scores on the veloute sauce, the sauteed salmon, and the turkey stew. The chef said that my salmon was beautiful. "Picture perfect." The highlight of my day though was watching the chef taste the turkey stew. He took a spoonful, tasted it, and his eyes widened and a big smile spread across this face. "This is awesome stew." I told him that he'd never know the joy I felt watching his face as he tasted something I'd cooked.