Examen Final!!!!!!!!!!

(LONG BLOG) Today was the BIG day! Ok...pay attention closely or you may miss out! Ok...so I woke up at ten to 8 (my alarm was set for 8) Got dressed and primped! Left the house a little before 9 and went to buy a new umbrella cause it was raining and i needed to stay pretty :) I bought breakfast for kaili and I. Got to school at 9:30 and there she was sharpening her knives! So we ate breakfast together. At 10:10 she went in and 10:20 I went in! for the next 4 hourse I cooked my meal. Ok...this is the explaination. So I got a basket of ingredients.

I Have to use: 2x 450-500 g gilt head sea bream, 100 g chorizo (spicy spanish sausage), 4 "poivrade" artichokes, 1/2 cauliflower.

Other items I can use: 8 jumbo shrimp (king prawn), 500 g waxy potatoes, 6 large plum tomatoes, 2 red bell peppers, 150 g cultivated mushrooms, 100 g shitake mushrooms, 2 zucchini, 500 g fresh peas, 1/2 bunch flat leaf parsley, 1/2 bunch basil, 300 g new pearl (spring) onions, 2 lemons, 3 slices sandwich bread, 50 g olives.

PLUS i get: white wine, red wine, noilly prat, red port wine, madeira, cognac, butter,eggs, whipping cream, milk, grated gruyere, grated parmesan, rice, breadcrumbs, flour, salt, sugar, tomato paste, potato starch, pistachios, soy sauce, tabasco, 1/2 liter brown veal stock, carrot, large onions, celery stalk, leek, garlic, shallot, thyme, and bay leaf!

With those ingredients I had to make a main dish (which had to be the fish), a sauce, a simple veggie, a composed veggie, and a stuffed veggie. I had to make 4 plates EXACTLY the same!

So....my dish was: Sea bream steamed with salt, pepper, coriander and butter. A tomato sauce (with lots of garlic and coriander). (simple) Roasted garlic in chorizo oil with garlic, parsley and coriander. (composed) Artichoke souffle with gruyere cheese. (stuffed) pate a choux (same stuff you make eclairs with) with shrimp, chorizo, onions, coriander and seasoning stuffed into a mushroom and fried. Under it was a red pepper circle and a channeled zucchini.

Chef came in after the plates were taken downstairs and he said...my sauce was still too thick (like he said during the practice) and the sad part was that after i strained it, it was thin...but when i heated it, it thickened up again! My souffle was a HUGE hit!!! And my mushrooms looked SO much better and tasted just as good. However to find out my grades and all their thoughts i have to wait til graduation! But overall, my practical went smoothly and i felt great! I said to the chef today "you were the one who taught me how to filet a fish and I couldn't do it the first day...and now i'm a pro!" It's truely a miracle!!! I was so proud of myself after the exam! The first two pictures are of my exam PRACTICE which was on Tuesday! I wanted to post them today so you could compare. Not much different...but there is a slight differnce! The ones after are from today!






I went out for a beer with Kaili and some peeps. Went tanning again. Then went grocery shopping. Came home and ate some cheese and a baguette. And have just been relaxing. I don't know what I'm gonna do for the rest of the night...but it's prolly gonna involve R&R!!!!!!!! Have a great nite!!!!