We spent most of the day together at school rather than in our separate kitchens. Chef Dale Demoed veal hind quarter fabrication (dividing the hind quarter into usable parts). I mentioned primal cuts yesterday, well today we learned about sub-primal cuts. The hind quarters can be divided into nine cuts: lower shank, flaps, tenderloin, top sirloin, knuckle, top round, bottom round, eye of round, upper shank. The lower shank and flaps and fat are considered "trim" and used for stock in the case of the first two but the fat is rendered with a bouquet garni and kept for cooking. Once Chef Dale had taken the hind quarter apart, he divided us into groups of two and gave each one of us a muscle. We each weighed our muscle before we trimmed it, then again after we trimmed it. We also weighed the trimmed material (fat, "silver skin", tendons if present). The exercise was to see how accurately we could weigh and to see how much of the veal would be left "saleable" (the amount you can actually sell and charge for). We started out with 57 pounds of veal at $5.75 per pound. We measured 11 pounds of bone, 6 pounds of fat (only the fat that was initially removed during fabrication) and 51 pounds of muscles. That adds up to more than 57 pounds, so obviously we did something wrong. The point of the exercise, however, was to show us what we get for our money and that we can save money by doing the butchering ourselves. Although there will be times when buying cuts of meat already cleaned and ready to go will be more cost effective for us.
We also talked about our final project (I already talked about that the other day) and Chef Dale showed us some previous projects so we could see what to do and what not to do. It is definitely a lot of work!
The only thing we had to do for lunch was make our own veal scallopini (which is actually a cut of meat and NOT a specific dish). Veal scallopini is very thinly sliced meat. We dredged the scallopini in seasoned flour, then dipped them in an egg/Parmesan cheese mixture, then sauteed them in blended oil until lightly brown and just cooked. Chef Pete made Panzanella (a Tuscan bread salad) and gnocchi for us and Chef Lexie made Arborio Rice Pudding seasoned with quatre epice. A very good lunch, if I do say so myself! Our wine was a Valpolicella from Italy.
We got an email from Jackie, our Alumni Director, about a four month culinary internship in St Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands working at a resort. Their executive chef is a Cook Street Grad so is looking for other Cook Street grads! Nice! I am thinking about taking it. It would cover their busy time, which is essentially winter for us. A hardship, I know, but somebody needs to do it!
I've had to rewrite my resume, as it is all about nursing. Now I need to be sure that potential employers, etc, realize this is a career change for me (when they look and see I have no real culinary background) but that I can bring many skills and talents from my nursing career to my new culinary career (management, purchasing, organizational skills).
All that said, it is time for laundry! No baking tonight-we still have things left over. Carl is completely full from now until after September 1. He is very happy about that. He is planning a Restoration Party in September and is going to let Cook Street students cater the party. We are all excited about it! Will let you know more later....
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