Ratatouille - not just a movie!

Well, week two has come and gone, and it feels like I'm getting into a groove.

Most of our time this week is spend in the food lab. There we each have a designated area with kitchen equippment, tools, sink, gas stove, induction stove,...here is were we learn the basics.

Each day we start out with a procedure called "mise on place".

We establish a plan of what we are going to cook, what ingredients we need, which cooking procedures and techniques are used and we write it down, so we can reference throughout the day.

We are fortunate that a lot of our ingredients are sized and measured and prepared for us ahead of time. We line up with our trays and pick up what we need. (This will change, once we head upstairs into the main kitchen).

We are reminded and encouraged not to be wasteful, instead to use and collect some of the peelings or ends of vegetables for stocks or 'mire poix', to be organized as you work and to always keep a clean and tidy work area.

One day this week we made Duchesse potatoes and used our piping kits to practice piping.

We also made Beef Bourguignon (which is beef in red wine). Our ingredients were:
5 oz stewing beef, 1 tsp oil, 1 shallot minced, 2 oz red wine, 8 oz brown stock, 3 mushrooms quartered, 8 pearl onions, 1 slice of bacon, salt and pepper to taste.

                                   The food lab smelled delicious that day.


Another fun dish we did was Chicken Ballotine with a demi glace, Lyonnaise Potatoes, Sauteed Snap Peas and Cranberry Sauce.

For the Chicken Ballotine, we deboned a chicken leg and stuffed it with a delicious stuffing (medium diced bread, sweated shallots and celery, a few chopped cranberries, orange zest, stock, salt and pepper). Then we rolled the leg up and tied it in a 'bundle', hence the name ballotine. We seasoned and oiled the skin lightly and baked it in the oven.

It smelled and tasted like Thanksgiving dinner. The only thing missing was Pumpkin Pie.


It has been another busy week. I am learning a lot. I'm getting to know a few of the students in my class and I love my instructor.

Life is good!



Week 1. At The Culinary Arts Institute

With eyes wide open I venture into this new and exciting part of my life  called 'Culinary Arts Student at the University of Vancouver Island'.

Day one is orientation, house rules, facility tour, filling out forms, buying supplies and textbooks, including my very own kit of chefs knifes, lockers and fitting for uniforms.

I am glad I see some familiar faces on Campus. People I have worked with for the last three and a half months. It proves to be a source of encouragement to sit with colleagues during break time and catch up with the rest of the world.

Week one is tough. I am physically exhausted by the time my day is done, but I am also mentally drained from a lot of information and the challenge of textbooks, homework and the lack of a routine.

I haven't sleep well the first few nights and on day three I am wondering why I am putting myself and my family through this.

But things get better from here. Lot's of great encouragement from family and friends and also the fact that I have a great instructor. She makes learning interesting, allows for feed back, has numerous ways to communicate facts and procedures to make them 'stick' in your head.

We learn how to use our chef knifes and cut and dice.

We learn how to make white stock from chicken bones and brown stock from veal bones. And since we are learning the 'Art of French Cooking', I will be brushing up my french vocabulary.

We learn about: mise en place, mire poix, emulsion and beurre mainie, as well as the difference between a sachet and a bouquet garni and also the difference between herbs and spices.

On Friday we make carrot soup, tomato sauce (with tomato concassee) and penne primavera.

Unlike my primavera sauce, this one has vegetables (carrots, celery root, zucchini, mushrooms and tomato) of different texture. By applying different cooking methods to the vegetables and pasta they are all done 'al dente' (soft but not mushy, tender but not crisp). We season with salt and pepper to enhance the flavours not to give it flavour.

This is the end of my first week and I am looking forward to more to come...

Hungry For More

Image via Wikipedia

The other day I was looking through an information package, my daughter Rachel received a couple of years ago.

We had made some reservations at a restaurant called 'Discovery Room', which is located on the campus of Vancouver Island University.

The Discovery Room Restaurant is unique in a couple of ways. First, it is situated so the guests can enjoy a panoramic view of the Georgia Straits. Second, the menu is put together and cooked by students of the Culinary Arts Program.

We went there to celebrate a birthday, and because Rachel voiced some interest in the program, the hostess gave her this information package. She also took Rachel in the back to see the kitchen first hand.

I don't think I have to tell you that I read the whole info package before we made it home. But since at that time I hadn't realized yet that the dream of cooking, was mine much more then it was my daughters, the info package was shelved.

Now I am 3 days away from starting this very same program.

Hungry for more?

You bet I am!