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)

Ummm Ummm Oysters

Oysters... slimy mollusks, clackers, bivalves, mysterious, romantic, aphrodisiac.

To me the oyster has always been mysterious, with questions like; how do they grow? Who first discovered oysters? How do you get the little buggers opened? Why are they considered aphrodisiacs? What makes oysters so special?

So my inquisitive brain has lead me to read and read and read.
The most interesting reading on oysters I have found is a book called Consider the Oyster by M. F. K. Fisher. It is a fun and informative read!

I read... "to eat an oyster is like tasting the ocean". Hmmm... the ocean, the taste of sea salt spray upon my lips that I often have after a day of sailing. This is perhaps what oysters should taste like. I have sailed two oceans and know that they have two different tastes. I have eaten several oysters and have discovered that I can experience more tastes of the ocean through eating then sailing. Oysters have flavor nuances, oysters are much like wine, they take on the taste and attributes of their region and like wine there are literally thousands of varieties of oysters. Most coming from Japan, France, Korea and the United States. Here we have local oyster varieties including Cape Breton Cocktail Oysters and the Tatamagouche Oyster. The Tatamagouche Oyster is said to be one of the most well known on the oyster market.

An oyster takes approximately 2 1/2 to 4 years to grow from seed before harvesting. But before that happens they have this amazing life in which they float free as "spats' for 2 weeks before attaching themselves to the first hard object they hit, becoming oysters. There, they develop growing for a year when they spawn as males. Over the next 1-3 years they grow larger, somehow turning into females and releasing eggs. Up to 100 million eggs annually. Oysters spawn during the summer producing a different taste, leaving them milky and white. It is best not to eat oysters when they are feeling "frisky".

Speaking of frisky it is beleived that Aphrodite born from the ocean, would bestow feelings of love and desire upon any person who looked upon her. Her son Eros also born of the ocean, was lifted up upon an oyster shell. This is where the term "aphrodisiac" originated. Besides the mythological implications of oysters, oysters do in fact have iron, zinc, copper, vitamin B 12, are a high source of omega 3 fatty acids, low in calories, saturated fats and an excellent source of protein. All a part of a healthy diet, resulting in higher "friskiness". It has also been said that chewing an oyster may aid in releasing the "friskiness" qualities into your body faster. So as you tip to your lips, tilt your head and let the oyster slide in taking a little chew.


Tips for shucking

• Scrub oysters with a brush under cold running water.
• For protection, place a folded kitchen towel in the palm of your hand. Holding an oyster with the cupped side facing down, use the knife to pry into the oyster's hinge (bottom, middle).
• Twist the knife to pop off the top shell.
• Gently slide knife along the inside of the top shell to loosen the flesh from the shell. Remove the top shell.
• Run the knife under the flesh of the oyster meat to detach it from the bottom shell.



"a person who works with the things she loves will almost always certainly find true happiness"