New Adventures on the Horizon

Since it has been a while in my adventure writing, I will fill you in on what I have been up to. This spring and summer I am doing a co-op placement at a hotel here in town. The Economic Crisis has finally reared its ugly head in my world, things the past weeks have been slow... So as there are plenty of jobs in culinary, I will now be working at two hotels in HRM! I am excited by this venture as not only am I already working with Award winning Chef Sean Ducet and his team, I now have the unbelievable opportunity of working with Chef Luis Clavel and his team. Chef Clavel has won awards such as Iron Chef, several other awards and most recently has won the regional award in The Canadian Culinary Federation (CCFCC) Competition. It will be an amazing summer getting to participate in such unique and different styles from wonderful teachers.

A few weeks ago we volunteered our time and labour to an event for Habitat for Humanity called Raise a Little Hellp. The event raised funds for a family that needed a home. The goal was reached and then some. The food spread was unbelievable, with decadent desserts, a seafood station that made your mouth water consisting of pan seared scallops, shrimp, lobster risotto, mussels, salmon... garnishes to match, beef that melted in your mouth. Hand rolled sushi, hand made passed hor d'ourves, cheese from around the world, local breads and several other stations with wine and drinks to compliment. The food had rave reviews and the 500 guests were talking about the event long after it ended. Food truly is the way to the heart and home is where the heart is. Glad I could help participate in such a worth cause. If you would like to help a family in need you too can contribute!
www.habitathrm.com

Last week I had the delight to fillet a halibut that was almost as big as I. Working with meat and fish has always been a favorite of mine and the raccoons had a visit to my clothes line at the end of the day!

The fundamentals of cooking... working on stocks, sauces, meats, fish, every aspect of the kitchen and having the freedom to be creative, laying down the building blocks that will allow me to succeed is on my list of goals this summer. Building my strong foundation for things to come and having mentors that have a vested interest in getting me there is my adventure for the season. I could not ask for better classrooms to nurture my love for culinary then where I am at right now.

This weekend brings the NS Seafood Festival where chefs from around the region will showcase some of there best creations. competitions, wines music and more. Come out and have a taste, hope to see you all there!
http://www.novascotiaseafoodfestival.com !

As every hard working aspiring chef needs a little break I am off sailing in beautiful Halifax for the day to practice for the upcoming Women's Sailing Provincials. Should be great! But somehow I'd rather be in the kitchen. Until next time happy adventures!

Soup, Salmon & Lamb....The end......

Today I completed the last exam of my first year!!!!!! It was the year end practical which gives us the go ahead to come back next year! Words can not express how excited I am to be done! I am excited to move on to my work term and gain hands on practical experience on my own. Today's test included: baking rolls, Cream of Asparagus Soup, Cold Poached Salmon, with a mayo based garnish, frenched lamb with appropriate veg and starch. We were allowed to interpret those items and be as creative as possible. Tuesday night I worked on the plates, coming up with what I hoped would give me a passing grade! I believe that I have success! My Chef gave me great feed back, stating my salmon plate was one of the nicest and best he has seen in years!

We were marked on creativity, technical merit and applied skills. Marks were given for safety/sanitation/tools and equipment. A la Carte - which is timeline, work sheets, sequence of production and service timing. We were graded on our stocks, soups, poaching technique, using our garnish appropriately, meat cookery and on and on. It took some work to prepare the A la Carte sheets but in the end I was pleased with my timing, presentation and the feed back on the taste of my courses.

Attached are some pictures of my dishes. The three spoons being the cold salmon plate. I used micro beet greens in the middle of the dish for the practical instead of the basil you see in my home photo. Each piece of salmon was wrapped in a different garnish with a different flavor on each one, complimenting one another. For the lamb I marinated it in olive oil, basil, thyme,rosemary and black pepper and pan seared it to medium finish accompanied with a side of wild mushroom risotto drizzled with white truffle oil, red pepper rounds, frenched green beans and a shallot balsamic reduction. The soup pic is not mine (I forgot to take a picture!) but it was a simple asparagus soup with a ball of sweet potato, a dollop of sour cream, grilled asparagus spears and phyllo paper swirls. My rolls were made into a nice crusty roll.

I will be blogging through the summer months to update my progress at my co-op placement. I am off now to eat Italian food and drink a great deal of Chef Juice! All of this cooking is making me hungry! (and thirsty)