TIME FOR PÂTE À CHOUX?

I've gotten comfortable with the fish dishes and that's good becuase it looks as though this was our last night at Poissonier during Level 2. We're scheduled to have a mock-midterm on Friday to prep for the real thing on Friday, May 26th. The midterm will be two of 27 recipes. We'll each individually have a limited amount of time to prep two dishes on one burner, one flat-top and using one oven. In the past the combinations have been a dish from Poissonier and one from Patisserie or a dish from Saucier and one from Garde Manger. The past couple of classes have done the Tart Aux Pommes so I'm guessing it won't be on the offer unfortnately. My plan for the real midterm is to take off the week before to do a once through of all the dishes.

Tonight we were scheduled to do the Éscalope De Saumon Grillée, Sauce Au Vin Blanc et Aux Herbes, a Grilled thinly-sliced Salmon in White Wine Sauce and the Filet De Truit À La Nage, Sauce Beurre Blanc, a Poached Fillet of Trout, with Foamy Butter Sauce.

DISH: Filet De Truit À La Nage, Sauce Beurre Blanc, a Poached Fillet of Trout, with Foamy Butter Sauce

DUE: 7:45 p.m. SERVED: 7:45 p.m.

COOKING NOTES: We made the court bouillon with water and a full recipe of 8 servings worth of vegetables (for four servings), 350 grams of carrots and onions but we only used the canneleur on the amount of carrots needed for the presentation of the dish. The trout cam pre-gutted so all we need to do was cut the head off and cut straight back through the fish from the head end through, staying near the spine of the fish. I butchered the flesh of the fish a bit while separating it from the spine but once cooked it wasn't terribly noticeable. It just took gentle treatment. Once the fish was filleted, the remaining belly-bones could be fairly easily sliced out. The most time-consuming part of prepping this fish is picking out the pinbones.

At the end of the Level 2 kitchen, there's a doorway into a hallway that opens onto a busy corridor that a few steps away has another doorway into the restaurant kitchen, the ice machine and the dishwashers. In order for us to drop off dirty pots, plates, dishes, and utensils we have to do this gauntlet. There are globe mirrors in two places in the hallway so that you can see people coming round corners with hot pans and stacks of dishes. Inevitably during the night the spot directly in front of the doorway in the Level 2 kitchen gets wet. I've previously had some close-calls but tonight coming round the corner I stepped on a wet spot and wiped out. I made a save by putting my hand down to break my fall but it seems as though the bulk of my weight landed on the tip of my middle right finger. It's kind of bruised.

Shaking off the bruised finger...the close call tonight was the beurre blanc. After straining the shallots out I poured the sauce in the presentation sauceboat on the flat-top while plating. Halfway through I turned to check it and found it bubbling over. I made a quick save, my partner grabbed another sauceboat and we transferred the sauce. Whew! Something to be wary of. A burnt sauce would mean a failed midterm.

CHEF'S CRITIQUE: Well seasoned and successful. The taste improves measurably with the sauce. Sure, plates need to be hot for service but when it's being served in a bowl the serving plate underneath shouldn't be put in the oven.

DISH: Éscalope De Saumon Grillée, Sauce Au Vin Blanc et Aux Herbes, a Grilled thinly-sliced Salmon in White Wine Sauce

DUE: 9:30 p.m. SERVED: 9:32 p.m.

COOKING NOTES: Having cooked the spinach too early last time and overcooked it at that, I took extra care with the spinach. I threw it in with the sauted spinach only until most of the leaves had wilted then spooned it into a bowl and covered it with a plate. When we were ready to plate we threw it back in the pan briefly to warm it and it turned out beautifully. I had some trouble grilling the fish and handed off to my partner. I've got to be more patient with the fork and the fish spatula when doing this. It's a tender operation because you've got to do a nice quadrillage on the presentation side, the fish is so thin and breaks easily but it still needs to be flipped and cooked briefly on the second side. Having been told previously to be careful about when we add the fresh chopped herbs to the sauce lest their chlorophyll turn it green, we added them at the very last moment. The sauce still turned a little green but overall we were pleased.

CHEF'S CRITIQUE: Nice sauce, quadrillage, plating. The fish was a tad too cooked.

OVERALL: I'm pleased with how these two dishes turned out. My biggest concerns are remembering how to fillet the different fish in Poissonier and grilling the salmon well.