Poultry!

Last class was a great class. It kind of didn't start off so well. I did horrible on my quiz. Apparently I need to review my soups again. Anyway, back to the good part. We went over poultry today reviewing the different types of chicken, duck, turkeys, squab, etc. All very interesting. So many varieties all with different textures and flavors. After the break, chef showed us different ways to cut up a chicken and duck. He cut up 3 chickens and 2 ducks. Let me tell you the man is a French badass. I swear if he wanted to leave cooking he could become a surgeon. He cut through every animal with ease and precision. He made it look so easy and instead of being grossed out (which poulty normally does to me) I was so mesmerized. I was so jealous--I hope I can be that good when the time comes. Of course I'll need to wear gloves, poultry is the only meat that grosses me out. So, what did we do with all that meat? We cooked it of course. We made a whole roasted chicken, whole grilled chicken, chicken fricase, and another chicken sauted and smothered in a red and green pepper reduction. We also made sauted duck with a orange reduction. All VERY good--well I'll admit I couldn't get into the duck. It's really different in texture--really firm and tough. The chicken was so juicy and tender so I took one bite of my duck and that was enough for me. For the rest of the class we practiced our knife skills again like we always do, but this time was different. I checked my batonnets and they were square and the right size. I hardly even looked at my guide and some of my measurements were right on!! So exciting! Julienne, fine julienne all turned out great--not perfect but so much better. Even my tourne's turned out ok. Those I definitely need to work on but they are much better.

Good day in class! Next: seafood.