Retrospective (Review of Top Chef University at 75% Completed)
Posted by Heidi McDonald on Fri, Dec 31, 2010 @ 03:59 PM
Well folks, 2010 is wrapping up, and I have just passed the 75% complete mark of my Top Chef University courses. It seems so hard to believe that I’ve been doing this for half a year! I can now see the finish line and boy, does it look tasty. Thanks for reading this far.
Between 50% and 75%, some notable things happened. I learned about pork and poultry from my favorite Top Chef contestant ever, Chef Kevin Gillespie, who showed me among other things how to make a crazy bacon sandwich that my 13-year-old now calls his favorite. I had to find some Jedi Mind Magic to get a 6-year-old in a Darth Vader phase to eat my food. And while we didn’t actually lie about the ingredients of the Veal Stew, we managed to get Darth Vader to eat it before he found out what Veal is.
The craziest section, of course, was the Offal. I continue to believe that if I was actually able to boil and skin, fry and eat a cow tongue, I have no reason to ever be afraid of any kitchen task ever again. And I now have an instant fear-inducer for anyone who doesn’t like something I fix, because I can offer to make them liver instead. Sweetbreads were not only different from what I thought they were, but were delicious. I made an important local connection for organic animal products, which I will continue to cultivate and use long after I have finished Top Chef University.
The seafood unit took me right through the holiday season, and presented some delectable opportunities to improve my seafood skills. I had never cooked a scallop in my life, but can now sear one perfectly. I might have chickened out on the whole, stabbing a live lobster through the head thing, but I found a way to serve a version of the recipe, anyway. We do have an improved perspective on white fish, as, none of the dishes I made tasted “too fishy.”
My university grades came back, six classes, all A’s, a 4.0, and I’m proud. It has been interesting, juggling college and Top Chef University. I only wish my success has been as consistent with my cooking for Top Chef University as it has been at school. I still can’t poach an egg using the spinning method, but I can make you a short film and edit it in FinalCut Pro.
I rolled my way through the pasta unit (though still have not made my own by hand) and have started on grains (at which point, can I say, Chef Nikki looks so much like Shannen Doherty that it's off-putting?). The New Year will begin with grains and breads, before moving on to dessert, world cuisine, advanced techniques and entertaining.
I must confess that I did work ahead and watch Richard Blais’ advanced techniques unit this week, because I know that I don’t have access to and can’t afford a sous vide machine, an NO-2 foam machine, or a blow torch. There is one recipe from the molecular gastronomy unit I will try for you down the road when regular sequence dictates. Before I am all finished with this, I WILL go back and make some handmade pasta, just like I went back and made sure I did up that awesome duck recipe when I found duck.
I am eagerly watching a season of Top Chef All-Stars, which includes many of my Top Chef University instructors. I am really rooting for Richard Blais, and was very disappointed when they sent Spike down prematurely, and on a soup, no less. That hurt me to watch. Spike did me such a solid by giving me the power of wicked soup-fu that I am begged almost daily for more of that Chicken Noodle Soup from August.
My fridge is more or less organized, but definitely, we’re still clearing it out often. My pantry has pretty much gone to hell, but if I only need to do a really good pantry organization and re-stock once every six months, that’s cool.
In any case, I have always believed that pausing to reflect every once in a while when you’re on a journey is important to do, and my journey here is nearly over. This has been a wonderful year, and I can’t wait to see what 2011 has in store. 25% more to go at Top Chef University, and I can buy myself that ticket to Atlanta. At the beginning of all this, I said that if I do all of this and come out alive, in celebration, I’ll be going to Chef Kevin Gillespie’s restaurant, the Woodfire Grill. Now I can practically smell the pork! I may have to turn it into a Food Tour and also hit Richard Blais' burger place while there.
Have a delicious New Year, everyone!
Hungrily yours,
Heidi in Pittsburgh