Weekend Update: I’m back after a very full and tiring weekend. Saturday was relaxing by design, since I knew Sunday would be packed. On Sunday morning I attended the Cochon555 event in downtown Washington, DC and didn’t leave until about 10:00 pm. I ended up working with the winning chef, Scott Drewno of The Source, which was exciting and hectic. The day was full of unique and delicious dishes, and I had the chance to meet—or at least be close to—several well-known chefs.
One standout was a blood and chocolate ice cream (yes, really) served in a chocolate-dipped cracklin (pork fat) cone. It sounded bizarre but wasn’t bad—though I wasn’t personally a fan of the cracklin cone itself.
After returning home late, I went straight to bed to prepare for a long stage the next day (noon to 11:30 pm). I’m happy to report I was offered another externship position. I still plan to stage at a few more restaurants before deciding, but the application deadline is approaching (May 22).
I’ll try to write more about these experiences soon.
Having gotten home after midnight, the last thing I wanted to do was wake up at 5:15 am for school. It was probably the least eager I’ve ever been to go. The morning felt slow at first, but by the end of service the day had gone much better than expected. We also learned our new partner for the month—I’ll be working with Blanca. Although we were adjusting to someone new, service ran smoothly, which is always a relief.
Our first course was an elevated eggs Benedict. This version was more refined than the one we made in Phase I: English muffins were shaped into perfect rounds, we used thinly sliced pancetta crisped in the oven instead of Canadian bacon, and added pan-roasted tomato slices for balance.
The main course was a millefeuille of salmon—layers of blinis (Russian savory pancakes traditionally served with crème fraîche and caviar), pan-seared thinly sliced salmon, sautéed spinach and mushrooms, finished with a lemon-dill beurre blanc. To make the blinis more interesting, we folded chopped spring onion, roasted corn, jalapeño and chives into the batter.
We garnished the dish with very thinly sliced fried shiitake mushrooms. Although I’m not usually a fan of dill, the sauce complemented the salmon nicely and the dish came together well.
For dessert we served fresh fruit—strawberries, orange supremes and raspberries—with a warm red wine sauce (excuse the blurry photo). The sauce was made by reducing red wine with a little sugar and aromatics like peppercorns, star anise, raspberry preserves and a cinnamon stick. It was brought to a boil, reduced to thicken, and finished with a splash of port just before serving. A chiffonade of basil and a scoop of ice cream rounded out the plate. I wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but it was a pleasant surprise.
In the afternoon we began prepping the next day’s main course, which features pork belly—should be interesting. We also have our first wine class tomorrow afternoon, and everyone is excited.
I’m going to cut this short to catch up on sleep.
Hope everyone had a great and relaxing weekend!