ORDERING: ONE SEA SCALLOPS!

Tonight's Monday menu is our first at the fish station (Poissonier) and we're slated to cook the Sautéed Sea Scallops With Tomato and Spices, Duchesse Potatotes (Bretagne), Coquilles Saint-Jacques Sautées Nantaise, Pommes Duchesse. An update on the action after class...

DISH: Sauteed Sea Scallops With Tomato and Spices, Duchesse Potatoes (Bretagne), Coquilles Saint-Jacques Sautées Nantaise, Pommes Duchesse.

RECIPE: Keep in mind that the recipe below is for 8 servings. We multiply it for service in the restaurant. The recipe calls for the scallops to be opened and separated from the shell but they came pre-separated so all we had to do was wash them and gently pull off the mussel which once connected them to their shells. We had enough scallops for thirty-five servings and they were portioned in hotel pans, three per serving and returned to the fridge.

Start boiling a pot of water on the stove and grab an ice bath. On the stovetop melt two tablespoons of butter and sweat six finely minced (cisele) shallots, 1/4 teaspoon of curry and a pinch of cayenne. Add three tablespoons of brandy, 185 ml white wine and reduce by half. Using the pot of boiling water emondez 750g of tomatoes. Pull them out of the water after a few seconds and cool them in the ice bath. Peel, seed and chop the tomatoes then add them to the sweating shallots with thyme and bay leaf for 15 minutes (don't mush the tomatoes!) then remove herbs and season the tomato concasse with salt and pepper-- set aside.

Clean and remove stems from a bag of spinach. Mince two garlic cloves and sweat in two teaspoons of oil and a teaspoon of butter. Flash spinach in pan and season with salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. Just wilt the leaves, don't overcook! Set aside.

Separately, clean, peel and chop 750g Idaho potatos (as if making mashed potatos) then toss in water, bring to a boil and heavily salt. When tender, strain, air dry, season with salt and pepper then add 45g chopped butter, and two egg yolks, mixing well. Whisk two eggs with a pinch of salt for an egg wash. Fill piping bag with potatos duchesse and pipe onto shells or plate. Brush the duchesse with the egg wash and brown under a salamander or broiler.

For service place shell with duchess in plate corner (see image, right) with a spoonful of tomato in the center of the shell. Put two thin strips of spinach on the plate and a spoonful of tomato between them. Prep scallops by lightly salting, peppering and sprinkling curry powder on each serving. Heat a nonstick sauteuse (saute pan). When hot brush pan with blended oil and a touch of butter then toss in the scallops. Sear both sides but don't overcook. Place two scallops on the tomato concasse between the lines of spinach and the thickest scallop on the tonato concasse in the shell with duchesse. Serve it up.

BREAKDOWN: I didn't want whatever happened on Friday to carry over tonight so I spoke with the member of the group I'd had some difficulties with on Friday and apologized for whatever part I had to play in the escalation. Things were very smooth after that--even the fish expediter (not our group member who was doing the meat expediting) misfiring a few orders didn't set us off our game. We'd seen one of the other groups struggling to get the dish out on time but we had a pretty easy night (image above left, workstation prepped for service). As it was during prep for the dish I ended up peeling garlic roasted in oil for Saucier's Forty Garlic Clove chicken because we were ahead with our own dish and even with one of our group expediting, there were still moments when we were standing around waiting for the orders to get fired. Now I'll give you we've got an extra person in our group but again, he expedited while we cooked. Despite a few differences here and there (and a little difficulty once in a while between determining between urgency and panic) we've got an excellent group. We make really good food pretty quickly.

In other news, one of our group was grustrated with the job she took at a small restaurant in Queens after discovering that she wouldn't get paid. From what I understand this is how it works for the most part. You work for free for a while as an 'externship' and then you have a good chance at getting hired, depending on the place I understand you'll make a little more or less than $9.50 an hour. My philosophy is if you're going to have to work for free you might as well do it at a really good restaurant and hope to get hired there. I don't think she'll be working in Queens much longer.

Also, her Globo knife broke while chopping vegetables. Yikes! I thought those things were supposed to be better than that. I'm glad I went with my Suisin. Now to just get it's edge fixed and to learn how to sharpen it!