10/13 A test of memory and an afternoon under the sea

            The morning finally came when I had to take hopefully my last test ever. It had been about 2 years since my last test and hopefully I wont see one next semester so I was happy to see the scantron page come and go. Serve Safe, while a nice accreditation to have is a little ridiculous in its methods. I felt that the questions were a little bizarre and I really have no idea how I did but it is done (until I make sure I passed) which is a lovely feeling. (Update: I PASSED!) 

Peeling a hubbard squash

Oysters with bacon, leeks, and love 

            The afternoon was spent with Jeremy Sewall and his assistant who is the Chef at Island Creek Oyster Bar, Row 34 and Eastern Standard. We mostly worked with clams, oysters and lobsters. 

Chef and a fluke 

Dishes we made

1.     Crab cakes with a apple and celery root slaw- I loved how light the crab cakes were and the freshness of the slaw.

2.     Homemade pasta with caramelized cauliflower and steamed lobster

a.     We made the pasta and let it sit. When it was ready we pulled it through the pasta maker to get fettuccini

b.     In a large skillet I browned cauliflower and .5 lbs of butter

c.      We steamed two large lobsters

d.     We combined everything with some beurre blanc sauce.

3.     Baked salmon with hubbard squash and brussle sprouts with a hubbard squash pure

4.     Baked haddock with a tarragon infused beurre blanc sauce and a lentil and turmeric rice pilaf

5.     Baked oysters- grilled leeks and bacon on top of the oysters

6.     Scallops over lentils and parsnip pure

7.     Steamed clams

8.     Spicy steamed muscles

9.     Home made ravioli and tortellini stuffed with potato, leeks and chives

I made that! 

It was a long a fulfilling day full of wonderful food. We all generally agreed that today was our best plating day and we all felt comfortable working with the seafood a little bit more. For all we accomplished, everything was very very good.

I am proud of the sheer amount of food we produced.

I need to work on mastering the simple flavors.

Take aways

·      Those crab cakes were amazing. Just really really good. He made sure that the consistency was correct before he formed the patties. He added a ton more mayo and about a half a cup of panko breadcrumbs to let it bind a little bit.