Choux in the Face

For all of you who are still out there reading, even though my lack of posting has probably left you dying for more culinary tales...hello. I'm sorry. This week/last week has gotten the best of me and I haven't had one moment (ok maybe instead of napping on the train I could have posted) to sit down and write! But in all honestly, you haven't been missing much. Level 3 is really not very exciting in terms of the dishes that we make because we really make the same thing every single day, but just rotate through who makes it. The last two weeks of level 3, instead of being on our own in a group of four making one dish like we were in the first two weeks, now we are with a partner making two dishes everyday. We usually finish up by 1:15 everyday and then after a short break we've been helping Chef Pascal with the charcuterie work that he's doing for a big James Beard Foundation event next week. The more we've gotten to know Chef Pascal, the more we've come to love him, almost as much as we all loved and now miss Chef Rogers. And although I'd been warned that he likes to do it, today he got me with one his signature tricks. As we were making our third attempt (the first one burned, the second I put the flour in at the wrong step) at choux dough for profiteroles, he came over to make sure we were doing everything right. As he stirred it he lifted up the spoon, smelled it and said, "Geez, what did you guys put in this, it smells funny, smell it," and stuck the spoon in my face. I took a sniff and all of a sudden I had a noseful of slimy, sticky choux dough. "CHEF!" I yelled. He and my partner Sam both found it pretty amusing. But I let him know that I'll be seeking revenge in the near future. I contemplated throwing a piece of crushed garlic at him later in the afternoon, but figured that I need to get him back the way he got me. Some kind of sauce in the face. I'll let you know how it goes.

But all quirks aside, he's a very enjoyable chef instructor to have and definitely one of the favorites at school. I stayed after school with a few other students to help him with the extra charcutuerie work that he's been doing for the James Beard event that is coming up next Wednesday. We lined about 40 terrine molds with caul fat (the fat from the lining of a cow's stomach and intestines...not actually as gross as you would think, it kinda just looks like a spiderweb) and then filled the molds with a pork and chicken liver pate. We cooked a little bit of it to try and it was actually very delicious...and I don't really like pate. Also, in case you were wondering what has become of the pig rectum we were cleaning last week...it became andouille sausage, a traditional French sausage made from pig rectum/pig intestines. It's supposed to be very good. And the people who are going to be eating it at the James Beard Party next week are paying a whooole lot of money to eat that. I hope they like it. This weekend me and a few other students are helping Chef Pascal with a party on Saturday night, and hopefully I'll have some time to relax and cook a few things. I'm thinking something with butternut squash...I have to milk whatever's left at the farmer's market while I still can!