Life as a Culinary Student: Creative Direction

For most of my time in culinary school, I’ve been learning time-tested techniques or following a recipe “to a T.” So with the exception of a few lessons in modern plating, the ICE “market basket challenge” was the first time I was asked to truly cook creatively for my Chef Instructor and classmates.

These Chopped!-style lessons, which culminate in an exam of the same format, have been among my favorite moments in the program. After months of following specific directions, I knew that having a blank canvas with only the specification to use “bacon, scallops and tomatoes” or “half a chicken” would be the ultimate test of what I had really learned.

To understand what I experienced during those lessons, it’s important that you know a little about my cooking skills before I entered the Culinary Arts program. I was an above-average home cook—highly knowledgeable, but with no technical training. Cooking dinner for 15 was a task I had already accomplished on numerous occasions, and experimenting with new ingredients is one of my favorite hobbies. So as I approached the “market basket” lessons, I was actually most anxious that I might feel I had not advanced significantly as a cook during the past several months of culinary school.

A “market basket” trial run: half poussin with roasted potatoes, cauliflower, porcini ragout and pan sauce

However, over the course of our two market basket “practice days” and exam, I realized how dramatically I had underestimated the transformation of both my skills and my confidence over these past few months. From pan sauces to warm vinaigrettes, creamy purées to perfectly cooked proteins, I honestly couldn’t believe how easy it felt to execute these dishes—and how proud I was of the results.

Now, before you call me “cocky,” let me be the first to say that there was still improvement to be had. For example, when I served a delicious and well balanced—but rustic—half poussin, Chef Sabrina Sexton challenged me to elevate my presentation style. So, leaving behind the bistro style that came most naturally to me, I felt motivated to tackle a true fine dining presentation for my final exam. Integrating a rainbow of colors, a balance of sweet and bitter flavors and at least seven different textures on a single plate, my final exam dish felt like an overwhelming success. While plating the many components of my “high end” braised chicken—with roasted and raw beets, sautéed radicchio, squash purée and carrot ribbons—was far more difficult than my bistro-stylepoussin, the flavors and textures were spot on, and never in a million years would I have imagined that I could have come up with such a dish. With a gentle push from Chef Sabrina, I realized for the first time, the incredible possibilities that could be available to me as a cook.

My “market basket” exam: braised chicken with orange/squash puree, roasted and raw beets, carrot ribbons, stewed radicchio, pan sauce.

As we move toward graduation—and I plan a three-course appetizer menu to serve 60 guests—I’m all the more grateful for this “market basket” experience. While it taught me about time management, multi-tasking and devising a dish from scratch, it also taught me not to play it too safe. At the end of the day, cooking is the most fun when there’s a little risk involved—or, as some might prefer to call it, when you’re learning something new.

Life as a Culinary Student: The Recipes of Iconic Chefs

As I round the corner on the last lap of culinary school, it’s amazing to consider how far my classmates and I have come. Less than eight months ago, many of us didn’t know how to tell the difference between oregano and marjoram. Today, we’re tackling the recipes of the greatest chefs of our time.

After working through a seemingly endless array of techniques, our class has arrived at the point in our program where we spend five days crafting menus by five incredible chefs: Mario Batali, Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, Rick Bayless and Ming Tsai. Yet, despite the caliber of these culinary leaders, I didn’t initially feel excited about these lessons. Of course, I have immense respect for all these chefs, but, as a student, I have typically found that I learn more by studying a general concept than by following a recipe.

But oh, how I was wrong. Just like any line cook who has worked under a truly great chef, “merely following a recipe” turned out to be quite the lesson in and of itself.

When you’re attempting to recreate the classic dishes of these chefs’ fine dining establishments, recipes that might traditionally consist of three to four steps often require six, seven or even 17 steps to accomplish. Now, certainly you might ask, “If they’re such master chefs, shouldn’t they be able to accomplish delicious dishes moreefficiently?” The answer is yes—but these chefs aren’t just working fast, they’re actually redefining the limits of delicious.

Mario Batali’s Fennel Dusted Sweetbreads

Take, for example, Mario Batali’s Fennel Dusted Sweetbreads: Chef Batali doesn’t use just one type of onion, he uses four! Any good cook knows that shallots, white onions, red onions and scallions all have different properties, and Batali uses each to build complexity and interest in what could have been just any rustic offal dish. What’s more, he’s demonstrating a very clever chef skill: using multiple related ingredients in a single dish.

The other chefs’ menus proved just as educational. Both Daniel Boulud and Thomas Keller’s recipes required me to reserve the cooking liquid leftover from steaming shellfish. Despite having frequently cooked clams or mussels before, I never previously considered transforming this cooking by-product into the base for a flavorful seafood soup or the starting point for a chowder-like sauce. In both cases, the results were brilliant.

Reserving the liquor of steamed mussels // Daniel Boulud’s famed “Billi Bi Cressonière”

In short, these lessons were “aha!” moments for me on two fronts. First and foremost, they increased my respect for not only these chefs, but also for every line cook who has ever worked in a fine dining establishment. Second, they conveyed the importance of a well-written recipe, both as an effective guide and an educational tool.

As the end of our program draws near, and we enter into lessons in which we will devise our own creative recipes, I have already begun to apply the lessons that I have learned from these culinary masters—and I can say with confidence that learning to cook a great chef’s signature dish is 100% more satisfying than simply ordering it at a restaurant.

Interested in checking out culinary school for yourself? Click here to learn more about my program at the Institute of Culinary Education.

To Garlic, With Love

Of all the unattractive things that men have said to me on dates over the years, two stand out in my memory: (1) "I'm allergic to octopus." (2) "I don't like garlic." (Now to be fair, I've never avoided dating a man due to his culinary preferences, but garlic haters are crossing a defining line.)

Photo Credit: Saveur Magazine. For more garlic love, visit: http://www.saveur.com/article/ingredients/types-of-garlic

While others' food vices might consist of champagne or chocolate, I covet the roasted (or not so roasted) cloves that other cooks might discard in the trash. In culinary school, I'd even steal leftover, lonely cloves from other classmates  sheet trays. Golden brown and roasted through, I can easily eat a whole head in one sitting. I'm too addicted to worry about the after effects. 

But I wasn't always so bold about my unabashed love of garlic. It actually wasn't until I learned of this aromatic's health-giving properties that I fully owned predilection for popping cloves. It was during my time working at a holistic nutrition school that more than one colleague offered up stories of surviving trips to India unscathed by the notoriously aggressive "delhi belly" or related ailments. How did they do it? Garlic—one to two raw cloves a day. Being both curious (and romantically unattached)) at the time, I eagerly experimented with taking raw cloves before bedtime. Not only did it make my stomach feel better after over-indulgent outings, but it boosted my overall energy incredibly. What's more, I discovered that by chopping the garlic finely and swallowing it like a pill (i.e. not chewing it at all), I could avoid any overly fragrant side effects.

Garlic scapes, shaved into ribbons and stir fried with broccoli rabe.

The more I practiced this incredible garlic cure, the more I began to indulge my penchant for cooking with garlic. I sought out black garlic, garlic scapes and even purple varietals. I devised extra-garlic'y recipes for caesar salad or roasted veggies. And eventually, I lost any sense of shame about my garlic cravings. In fact, I've met some garlic addicts far more bold than I, who will crunch on raw garlic because they like the pungent burn.

Now, this is hardly the most attractive habit for a young lady to disclose, but I've learned that I'm one of many, many garlic lovers out there. True, some people are overly sensitive to this particular species of allium, but it's always worth a try.

Here are some of my favorite ways to enjoy a wide range of garlic varietals:

• Roasted soft or hard neck garlic: snap the neck or slice off the tips of the head. Roast at 400F on a sheet tray until cloves are soft and golden brown. Spread on bread or just pop the cloves like candy.
• Garlic scapes: shave with a vegetable peeler into long ribbons and stir fry with bitter greens. (Click here for full recipe.)
• Fried garlic chips. Slice garlic thinly. Pre-heat oil to 300F. Fry cloves for 12-15 minutes until crispy. Strain, let dry and sprinkle on anything you like!
• Black garlic: Use this sweet, soft fermented garlic to add a less harsh, umami flavor to your stir fry of choice. 
• Garlic oil: Bring 3-4 cloves to a simmer in one cup of oil. Turn off heat and let cool. Use as a dip for breads or for future cooking projects. (It is also an excellent ayurvedic remedy for colds. During the winter season, drip a few drops into each ear before bed. Place a cotton ball in each ear to prevent the oil from leaking out while you sleep.
• Raw garlic: For a cure to digestive ailments, chop up one clove garlic very fine. Place in a shot glass. Fill glass 2/3 of the way with water. Swirl and throw back garlic. (Swallow, do not crunch with teeth.) Repeat until you have swallowed all the garlic.