Sweet Caro-LINE!

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. That's a very popular saying, though never really rang true for me until yesterdays practical.

Practical #12 Supremes de volialle farcis, sauce aux champignon; tourner les champignons

We walked in to 1ps and everything was set up for us. Definitely the best assistants yet. Lara and Fernando gave us all our cutting boards, and had placed our trays with ingredients in our spots. It was heavenly! OF COURSE Chef Cotte came in to our practical "Bonjour a tous" he says. Having had him yesterday (and done pretty darn well) I was feeling pretty good going into this one. We had to take a balloon chicken (one with the legs chopped off already), remove the breasts- chop the carcass for our braising liquid and sauce, stuff the breasts with chicken mousse (ew) and finish it with turned mushrooms and a cream sauce (are you catching a theme here?)

Chef kept walking by me and singing Sweet Caroline in my ear. He was clearly looking for a reaction- and I knew I had to stay focused. I felt very disorganized in the beginning- not remembering which 'blanc' which mushrooms had to be cooked in, how much the sauce had to reduce- but I managed to get a hold of myself and stay on my game.

I went to work removing the breasts from my chicken. I used the fish filleting knife because I would be able to follow the bones more precisely on the chicken with that knife. I knew it was mainly for fish but I've been told that I leave too much meat on my carcass so this time I was determined to get every ounce of meat off the bones. Chef Stril came into our class and made a comment about my knife choice. I simply said "hey, it's working, I'm getting all the meat" and he couldn't argue. As long as I knew that I was using a knife that was different than what he used- I was ok. That's what they are trying to teach us- we need to find our own groove and realize what works best for US. Every Chef that we encounter has a different way of accomplishing the same thing- they want us to be able to make a choice and deal with it.

3 of the chicken breasts were to be stuffed and one was to be diced and used in the stuffing. Lara and I were the first 2 to the robot (kitchen-aid) to make our mousse. We were actually ahead of the curve! We made our stuffing and went to work pushing it through a sieve to make it more mousse-y. It's repulsive. I found myself really working myself into a full blown sweat getting this mousse through the sieve and into the cooler while I worked on my breasts.

Irene- next to me on the left was hysterical. She had the comment of the term so far "GUYS, MY BREASTS ARE JUST TOO DAMN SMALL!" we couldn't help but laugh. Irene doesn't say boo in class, but when she does speak- it's genius!

I sliced the breasts, concassed the carcass- sauteed it in butter and removed it from the heat to actually stuff the chicken. Using a piping bag (first time this term!!) I took my mousse and piped it into the cavity I had carved into my chicken breasts. I of course blew right through the other end of one of the breasts with the filling, but managed to take the tender of that breast and patch up the mistake. I actually said out loud "come on Carolyn, you can do this" and managed to rock the last two. I poured stock into a saucepan and my chicken was in the oven for 25 minutes.

Turning mushrooms is cruel and unusual punishment. I can't even begin to explain how difficult this process is without a picture. I will spare you the frustration we all felt while trying to do it, and move right into taking our chicken out.

Chef kept singing in my ear, but again- I was determined to not let him get to me today. I worked quickly and cleanly- taking my chicken out of the oven and it looked GREAT. The juices ran clear so I knew it was cooked, and the skin was gorgeous and brown. I removed the breasts, covered them and set them near the heat to keep warm. I put the carcass through a chinois and let the jus reduce for a LONG time. Chef came by and said that he had never seen a sauce so gorgeous. Obviously he was lying, but I went with it. I added cream and butter to my sauce to make it shine and added my cooked mushrooms (not the turned ones).

After heating my plate and making sure everything was very hot- I plated my dish. My sauce was perfect, chicken cooked perfectly. The only note Chef had was that my mousse could have used a touch more salt. Again- better to under season my food than over season. I was thrilled. I had gotten stressed at the end and was dripping sweat. I hadn't even noticed that Phillip had sliced his palm and there was blood everywhere. I was in the zone, and it paid off. Cotte liked it! Even though he's a pastry Chef- he's the one that scared me so badly- and I won him over with my food. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

I cleaned my station and went down to the winter garden. I couldn't stop sweating. It was SO hot in there with everyone's ovens at 200 and all burners fired. I ripped off my necktie (soaked) and noticed that not only was my hair completely sweaty- my undershirt was completely soaking wet. Well at least I did well!

Lara and I went for a crepe and headed home to relax. I did it- I survived practical with Cotte again. I was quick, clean, and my food was good. Best of all, my sauce reduced enough!!! That was HUGE and I was so proud of myself- I can't believe I didn't let him get to me. He was actually starting to grow on me. Best of all, I was feeling I'm really getting it- that I belong here. I can hang with the best of them and I can suck with the worst of them. This is what I'm supposed to be doing and I love it. I don't mind re-writing my notes from class and spending HOURS ironing my uniform. I love it, I belong here and am starting to really get my groove.

Allison said when Cotte first yelled at me that he'd be my favorite at the end. He certainly isn't my favorite (yet) but I survived and even spoke to him in French. I think I'm starting to get the hang of this thing- imagine that!

Will report tomorrow after falafel... I can't wait to have it again!

A Bientot!

ps. Thanks so much to everyone for their kind words of encouragement. They go a LONG way when you're trapped in a kitchen using a cleaver to destroy a chicken carcass. I hope you're all enjoying this journey as much as I am!