TEACH A MAN TO FISH...

Following the cycle set up in Level 2, our group moved from Garde Manger to Poissonier. We came to class thinking our order was for the Aile De Raie À La Grenobloise (Sauteed Skate Wing in Brown Butter, with Capers, Lemon and Croutons) and the Filet De Sole Marguery (Filet of Sole in White Wine Sauce with Mussels and Shrimp) but the order sheet one of my teammates handed in was for the Marguery and the Filet De Bar Raye Cuit En Papillote (Striped Bass Cooked In Parchment-Paper Envelope). Also, one of my teammates had to leave class unexpectedly, so a student from Level 3 making up missed classes teamed up with us.

Before attending to our 2 dishes we watched our chef demo of the Filet De Sole Marguery, a fortunate coincidence for our team which also shortened our cooking time, challenging us a little more than usual. Afterwards, my teammate and I decided on the Marguery as our first dish.

DISH: Filet De Sole Marguery, Filet of Sole in White Wine Sauce with Mussels and Shrimp

DUE: 8:15 p.m. SERVED: 8:20 p.m.

COOKING NOTES: Everything went very smoothly until we removed the reduced cream to which we'd added the liquid in which we'd cooked the fish. We poured the cream into a steel bowl on an ice-bath and mixed in about 2 tablespoons of whipped cream as directed and seconds later the sauce froze-up thick and seemed to chunk a little in consistency. We tried to bring it back over the stovetop with a little wine and stock but when we napped the plate and put it under the salamander it was runny, didn't have the right consistency and didn't brown nicely. Also, one recurring challenge with this dish is plating the rice. The rice pilaf is made by boiling a cup and a 1/2 of chicken stock on the stove, adding a cup of rice, a half onion, emince, covering it with a lid and finishing it for about 20 minutes in a 350 degree preheated oven. The challenge is filling the small plastic mise cup with rice and flipping it onto the plate. As with many things in the kitchen it may be either a clever trick I haven't learned yet or some common sense maneuver I'm overlooking. So far it's been a leap of faith with mixed results.

CHEF'S CRITIQUE: The sauce broke perhaps because the cream wasn't fresh enough. The same thing began to happen to chef's sauce during his demo. Perhaps we cooled the cream too much before adding the whipped cream. When fixing a sauce in a situation like this we should have added whipped cream again after trying to save it on the stove.

DISH: Filet De Bar Raye Cuit En Papillote, Striped Bass Cooked In Parchment-Paper Envelope

DUE: 10 p.m. SERVED: 10 p.m.

COOKING NOTES: As previously noted, this dish is composed of finely cut mushrooms, chopped tomatoes (both cooked separately) and julienned carrots, celery and leeks cooked a l'etuve, individually. The fish (grilled on the skin side only) is place on a mound of mushroom duxelles and a mound of tomato compote. The fish is then draped with the julienned vegetables, topped with a sprig of thyme, drizzled with a little white wine and finally sprinkled with a any additional salt and pepper (though it's mostly been pre-seasoned). The most time consuming and penultimate task for this dish is the actual sealing of the envelope, done with a brush dipped in egg whites. We folded the paper all around three times, pressing tightly and brushing with egg whites again after folding. The top of the paper is then lightly brushed with oil and the pockets are placed in a preheated 400 degree oven for 8-9 minutes. The envelope is poked twice with a blade to keep the shape and allow the steam to escape and the dish is brought to the table to be torn open in front of the customer.

CHEF'S CRITIQUE: While I sealed the envelopes the chef stopped by to note, "You're using so much egg whites, you'd better fry it." He's a tough chef and it was one of the first times he'd made a joke when directly instructing me. Later, he made a point of noting the height of the Papillote (about 6 inches) and asking me to explain my "secret," pressing the folds tight and sealing them in egg whites enough they should be fried.

OVERALL: Aside from our teammate's misfortune and the broken cream tonight was a success. The dishes were in pretty good shape, I'm beginning to remember the tougher Marguery better and we served on time. In fact, for a while, I suggested getting some practice on an extra dish like a Pate a Choux. Well, perhaps we're not quite there yet. But it was refreshing to even consider it.