Culinary Foundations Final (Kitchen Days 23 & 24)

THANK YOU, CHEF MARCUS LEPKE!!!

He will finally get some rest! 6 weeks of our crazy class. (Rhymes with lazy ass? Coincidence? Hmmm...) We probably took years off his life...

Here we are. The last days of the first culinary block at Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts, Boulder. 6 weeks! (5 in the kitchen, I didn't and don't count ServSafe as part of the Kitchen journey; it is INCREDIBLY important though.) It has gone by so fast, I feel like I blinked too many times and now it's all gone. Writing this blog is by far the best idea I have come up with in a while, going back now and remembering will be so much fun!

The food:

As far as what we needed to accomplish to pass this block, our dish was as follows:

• Prepare a chicken from scratch
• Only the chicken breasts are to be used
• Prepare chicken and separate individual components to use later
• Carrots a la Vichy
• Cut carrots to desired shape and sauté with soda water and sugar
• Mashed Potatoes
• Correctly cook potatoes and prepare into the right consistency
• Veloute
• Prepare a veloute gravy for the dish

This was a really fun final test. It took me a bit longer than I would have liked, I didn't utilize the time as efficiently as I could have. I did however do a fairly good job, but we will get to that later, it's time for everyone else to shine...

Mitchell Spencer

Mitch, in my opinion, did the best out of everyone on the final. This man finished cooking and plated his dish in less than 45 minutes! We had 2 hours total to get it done! No one, NO ONE else came in under an hour. I thought I would be close, but no way, it took me around 1 1/2 hours. I definitely applaud you sir for your excellence on this day!

I believe one of his keys to success was he started his sauce and potatoes immediately. While they were cooking he dressed his chicken and cut his carrots. Doing this, having multiple things fired at the same time, allowed him to cut down on total time. Incredible job Mitch!

 This is my favorite photo. I can't believe I actually got the flame!

This photo isn't the best showcase, but I wanted to get a cool perspective shot. 

Kurtis Irwin

Kurtis definitely brings some skill with him to class. Unfortunately I didn't get to witness as much of his cooking process as I would have liked, I can say he did a very good job.

It's super cool to see that although we all started with the same ingredients, and had the same dish to prepare, they all come out in a different way! It really shows that cooking isn't so much an exact science as it is a true art. That plate (above) is definitely pretty!

Chef is pleased with the results!

Jakob Schmidt

Jakob came into school with some very good prior culinary experience. He is a great student, always happy to cook and learn. I definitely have enjoyed working with him.

Jakob's catering background really shows in his plate presentation. His skill at coming up with garnishes is really great! I wouldn't have ever thought to cut a carrot like that! 

A very beautiful dish!

Sarah Curt

A very tasty dish!

(We all know I'm behind a few days, so a flash forward to current events.)

Sarah has become very enthusiastic with baking in our current course. The last few days she has not hesitated to get right to it and get her hands dirty! I can see some tasty pastry coming from here in the next few days!!!

Claire Fries

Claire loves to cook. Anyone in our class can tell you that she is quite passionate about it. Every day she brings in a driving energy to get going and create something new. Her dish was very creative and Chef Marcus enjoyed it a lot!

Frida Sofia Ayala Andrade

Everyone knows Frida. Her energy is unstoppable and reaches all corners of the kitchen. She absolutely has a fire and a love of food. I really enjoyed her presentation for the salad in the Mason Jar. I doubt anyone in our class has a negative word about Frida, she is very fun to work with! (Chef Suzanne will point out though, Frida is committing a culinary sin! NO TOWELS on shoulders!!!!!)

Mashke Twohawk

Besides having an extremely badass name, Mashke continues to amaze. She is 16. 16 years old!!! By far the youngest member of our kitchen. But in no way is she letting that get in her way. If you had her final dish at a restaurant, you would have never guessed it was prepared by a young culinary student. I really enjoy working with her and seeing what she can do. (Again moving up to the CE, she has made an incredible Lemon Curd the past few days. It is so good that Chef Suzanne has banned her from making it so the rest of us can have a go.)


And finally:

My dish, Benjamin Faurer

I did a fairly good job. I had a fun time doing it, took way longer than I wanted! I thought I could be somewhere close to Mitch, but I ended up taking 1 1/2 hours!!! He did such a great job! Anyway, my chicken was very good, seasoned and cooked correctly. Chef liked my carrots, but my mashed potatoes were slightly less creamy than we both would have liked. Oh well.

I really can't believe that this whole block is over. It's gone by so fast (even more so now...). I love this. I should have done this sooner!


Gravlox Tasting

After letting it cure for 48 hours we were finally able to taste our Gravlox. I have eaten a decent amount of lox/smoked salmon in my days, and I really enjoyed Chef's take on it. Super simple to prepare, just basically forget about it for a few days, and then eat it!

Chef Marcus even brought in his special Japanese Sushi Knife to carve the meat. That blade was the sharpest knife I have ever seen! It slid through that like it was water!

Culinary Foundations:

The Mountain Chef! Ugh I look so goofy! Food looks amazing though!!!!

It has been such an incredible journey so far! All of the amazing things we have learned, delicious food we have created! I have hundreds of photos that will never make it on here, hopefully the ones that do can paint a great story. I can't wait to see where it goes from here!

Thank you Chef Marcus!

We definitely could not have made it without you!!!!!

From left to right: Keenan, Megan, Rigo, Chef Marcus Lepke, Bubba, Me (Benjamin Faurer), Bri

Thank you Chef! I look forward to the next time!