GARDE MANGER

We've about reached the midpoint of Level 2. Tonight is the first night of our new teams. We will be repeating the stations we've done so far once through. My team's the first station is Garde Manger. We'll be doing a Potage Julienne D'Arblay, a Potato Leek Soup, and a Consomme Printanier, a Beef Consomme with Garnish of Spring Vegetables.

Last time I did these two dishes there were some hiccups. We strained the blended potato leek soup through the chinois and returned it to the stove to simmer with some cream. But both my partner and I thought each other was watching it. She left the room to saute croutons in clarified butter (because the 6 burners in pastry/garde manger were being used by seven other students) and I was cutting vegetables a julienne, the result? Burnt soup. LESSON? #1 Be paranoid. #2 If the soup burns, even a little, it's toast. Start over. People can taste every mistake, especially chefs, even just mildly caramelizing the shallots in the first 2 minutes of a 2 hour dish.

We started over, in silence, blaming each other. I was frustrated. I felt I was doing most of the mise en place. I also stewed over my teammate called me "Mr. Impulsive," for salting the pre-burnt, insufficiently seasoned soup. I'd watched several times before when things were underseasoned because I didn't take a stand. I childlishly didn't jump-to the second time round. When we served the new soup and the chef asked if we'd tasted it (you should obviously never forget) I responded less than tactfully, "No, the last time I seasoned something I got in trouble."

Drama in the kitchen. There were some heated words between my teammate and I outside. We smoothed things over but things just haven't been the same.

I was looking forward to being on a new team and taking another crack at this dish but my new partner was absent. The other two students arrived early and teamed up. I was on my own. This isn't necessarily a bad experience. You're disadvantaged because you only have two hands but those hands are both yours. If you move fast and think things through, you can work just as well as two people.

MONDAY GARDE MANGER UPDATE

DISH: Potage Julienne D'Arblay, a Potato Leek Soup

DUE: 8:30 p.m. SERVED: 8:00 p.m.

COOKING NOTES: The leeks and onions should be emincer (thinly sliced), sweat in some butter, to which water, potatoes (also emincee) and salt are added til the potatoes are tender. The mixture should be blended for a full minute, strained through a chinois, simmered over heat with some cream added to taste. Served with julienned vegetables cooked a l'anglaise (salted water), croutons and a sprig of chervil for garnish. I watched the other team struggle with their consomme raft anticipating my own difficulties with. I felt happy that I had the "easier" D'Arblay first and worried at the same time that I wouldn't have enough time to finish the consomme. As a result, I took two gambles: 1) finishing the D'Arblay early; 2) trying to make the D'Arblay superbly to get away with #1. In my mind straining the soup twice would accomplish this with a silky texture.

CHEF'S CRITIQUE: TIf the dish is due at 8:30 p.m. serve it at 8:30pm. Keep it on the side and reheat it for service. You have to learn to serve the food at the time it is meant to be served. The soup was too thin. The flavoring was good but the soup was too thin. There was no body.

DISH: Consomme Printanier, a Beef Consomme with Garnish of Spring Vegetables.

DUE: 10:00 p.m. SERVED: 10:01 p.m.

COOKING NOTES: Three liters of marmite is reduced to 2L, then cooled. Ground beef is tossed with julienned carrots, leeks, celery, chopped tomatoes and egg whites, then the stock is added and the whole mix is simmered on the stove. While the mix cooks you have to stir it with a wooden spoon for about 15 minutes until the solids form a 'raft' (a solid mass on the top), clarifiying the broth. Five minutes of stirring this unappetizing mass seems like 20. The mix is then strained through cheesecloth and a chinois. Having watched the other teams' consomme not clarify (most likely because we were forced to start with a stock with more fat than the marmite we were supposed to have because the kitchen was all out), I took care that the raft formed. Then before ladling out the consomme I set up a double-chinois with the cheesecloth. I placed a sieve in the pot of consomme, pressing down the raft with the sieve slightly straining the broth once in the pot, ladling it out within the sieve and then through the double-chinois with cheesecloth. After a first straining I used new cheesecloth and did the strain again through the double-chinois.

CHEF'S CRITIQUE: More seasoning. You used the same stock, no? I wonder what happened different, it's clear. When I asked isn't that a good thing I got a yes.

OVERALL: Going solo on these two soups and finishing early with the D'Arblay and getting a clear, degreased consomme, it was one of my more successful nights in Level 2.