Knife Tray Practical Day

Good evening all!

I apologize for being so tardy for the party, but it was a loooong, and HOT day! But all in all, it was a successful day at school. We had our knife tray practical exam and I got a 100%! The knife tray, for those who don't know and have asked, consists of the following cuts:

Mince a shallot, 3 cloves of garlic, and and small bunch of flat parsley.
Concasse 2 tomatoes. That is to first core the stem end and then score the opposite end with a small X. Drop into boiling water until the skin cracks, and then drop right into an ice bath This shocks the tomato and makes peeling the skin very easy. Then you cut into a rough chop.
After that, cut 2 onions: 1 into 1/8" slices, and the other into 1/4" dice.
And then the really hard part... The dreaded potatoes... We had to cut a medium dice or 1/2" cubes, Batonet of 1/4"x1/4"x2-2.5" (think McD's fries), Alumet Julienne of 1/8"x1/8"x2-2.5" (Alumet Julienne is for potatoes. Fine Julienne is for other veggies, which is 1/16"...), and finally Brunoise which is 1/8" cubes. The Mid Dice is the hardest! Probably because you have too much room for error...
Finally, making a sachet d'epice--parsley stem, thyme, bay leaf, cracked black peppercorn, and a clove of garlic tied up in a cheese cloth, which is used as an aromatic for soups, sauces, etc. So easy and flavorful!

And that's knife tray. We started at a time limit of 1 hr, 20 minutes, and the test today was only 45 minutes. Perfect score! I was so happy.

While doing that, we had to make our second consomme, and again, mine was cloudy... The draw back of the day... But then I made my first mayonnaise and hollandaise sauces from scratch! Who knew it was so easy! I mean, it's tricky, but once you get it, you get it. And mine were perfect! I was honored when Chef used my hollandaise as an example for color, viscosity, flavor... And I now have a new appreciation for hollandaise. I never liked it before...

So that was the day. I promised you a continuation of the Year in Fort Worth, but I'm so worn out after the day I had... I work in the computer lab in the morning, so I plan to write again then. Thanks for your patience!

Clear Consommes and Precision Knife Cuts!