Week in Review #4: The Heat is On

It's that time of year in Los Angeles. The mild spring and bright summer has given way to WTF September, in which everyone in Los Angeles checks the calendar, walks out their front door, then says, "Why is it so hot? What the hell is going on?"

It was hotter outside than it was in our class kitchen last week, but thankfully, we got to cook! Albeit just a little, but almost everyone last Thursday got some time behind either the stove, grill, or fryer after practicing our cuts, which we mostly used. It was a good thing I didn't eat lunch that day.

Knife practice, before & after.

Mignonette cut. 

Parmentier cut.

Grilling salmon.

I had a little grill time with some salmon. I'd never grilled salmon before, but in terms of kitchen skill, it wasn't anything I hadn't done before. Aside from the fact that I had one of those humungous offset steel spatulas you see at burger joints, I was pretty comfortable flipping a piece of meat that needed flipping.

Food Safety & Sanitation class trudges on, and we're now two weeks away from our ServSafe certification exam. Which is a little frightening, although we did learn recently the proper steps for – wait for it – washing hands. Seriously. This organization, used by municipalities across the world to certify safe food handling, wrote a book that includes a 5-step process for proper handwashing.

I don't want to brag, but I think I have that part down.

Tip of the Week

Proper french fries should be blanched first, then cooled, then fried again so that they're fluffy inside and crispy outside. How do you know when that first stage of cooking is done? They'll still be the same color, but the fries should have the texture of sandpaper.