Exam results are in - Budget Lunch

Well that was quick!!!

Exam results were posted today at Tante Marie for the Budget Lunch task we undertook last week, and I was able to improve on my previous score of 74% and pulled in a not too shabby 81%.  Very pleased with myself, the 28hrs it took to make my three different stocks (chicken, veal and lamb) and combine and reduce them into one for my 'shepherds shepherd pie' seems to have paid off.

It was a far from perfect performace... I f***ed up my bread again, slightly over seasoned my soup and meat base for the shepherds pie and used a few unseasonal ingredients (peas* and mango) but lesson have been learned and will be taken into next terms exams.  At least I know I have more in the tank and can hopefully tap into this next term.

So I am celebrating tonight with a take-out curry, my first in 3 months which is an achievement in itself!  I guess the result means I am going to have to work harder to try and stay were I am, its going to be tough as there a few people nibbling away at my toes who have their eyes set firmly on the 'prize'.  Should be fun!

For now at least I can feel like Maverick here...

Dylan


*I originally wanted to make a seasonal soup but ran into supplier issue, I had intended to make 'celeriac veloute with curry scented crouton's instead of the 'pea and bacon cream soup'... however the two local supermarkets aren't stocking celeriacs!

Budget Lunch Exam... and one pic!

Just got in from Tante Marie.

Today I had my “Budget Lunch Exam”... you can read about the criteria in my last post here.

Just a quick post to say that all went well, a couple of issues but most were ironed out to my satisfaction, such as forgetting to add a teaspoon of flour to my browned meat to thicken the gravy-like juices... so I had to make a buerre manie. My soup was slightly over seasoned to my taste, although other students said they liked it and a few others like the soup being too smooth.... anyway... unfortunatley my memory card is showing an error and I cant get many of my pics off at the moment, will update if I sort it out

In my previous post I gave you the menu but undersold it somewhat, so I thought I would oversell it now so you can see the additions you would have got but did not expect.

Undersold Menu -

Pea Soup

with bread rolls

Shepherds Shepherd Pie

Mango Rice Pudding

Oversold? Menu - 

Garden Pea Soup

with a smoked bacon infused cream and

pain d'epi

Shepherds Shepherds Pie

with freshly minced lambs breast, heart, sauteed kidneys,

caramelised onions and a veal and lamb jus.  

Served wth garden fresh green beans and carrots vichy.

Kaffir Lime Leaf Rice Pudding,

served with caramelised mango on puff pastry arlettes

and a mango sauce.

Fortunately I have a picture of the desert with is the only 'looker' on the menu.  Baring in mind it was supposed to be a family meal I didn't want to go crazy on the presentation front.  The soup was served in a soup terrine with a jug of the smoked bacon cream on the side, allowing for guests to make it as bacon like as they chose... or not!  The Shepherds Pie was sever in individual ramekins with the potato piped on top, the carrots and green beans were served in mini rectangular Le Creusets dishes and the desert yo can see below.  The rice pudding is in the glass, topped with a little mango sauce and a sprinkle of the arlettes that had broken up (they are sooo delicate), the caramelised mango is sat on the arlette biscuit and there is a little dribble of mango sauce on the plate... because that's what you do to make it pretty is it not?  ;-)

All in I was fairly happy with how it went, my bread was a let down again, I think I will stick to making it home rather than in exams where I can take all the time in the world to knead it!

As for Top Gun and there being no points for second place, I think I will have to make do with no points.  It was good but it was not flawless so I am expecting a good grade.... just not the spectacular one I would have liked... oh well, will just have to wait for the Celebration Lunch next term and do it all over again!!!

Dylan

The Budget Lunch Exam

Your idea of a budget lunch???

Its exam time again at Tante Marie and this time we, the students, get to choose what to cook for it. The task is designed to test our budgeting skills, and how we need plenty of that skill when trying to cook a three course family meal for four people, total budget being £8 and not a penny more or a penny less. Yes you read it correctly, eight pounds sterling, and to make sure it is a test we have 2hrs 45mins in which to serve it all... sounds like a challenge more than a test to me though... and boy do I love a good challenge!

So its a 'family meal' meaning a starter of “Free-range 'Woking' Escargots à la Bourguignonne” which I collected from the car lot behind where I am staying, is off the menu as those picky kids would probably find snails a little 'out there'. A condition of the the task is that we have to pay a fair price for everything we use, so if I were to go and 'collect' a couple of Pheasants or a Pig for free, I would still have to cost it at a price I could reasonably purchase it for from a butcher or supermarket.... hmmmm that's that idea out the window then!

I had to fight every bone in my body to stick with the 'family' theme, a task made easier a few weeks ago when briefly speaking with 'Al' one of the teachers at Tante Marie. He advised me not to try and go all fancy, but to make sure it was tasty, “remember its a family meal” he said. He went on to say that if he was doing the task he would make a Cottage Pie, and that with the budget we had he could make the best version in the world... a tall claim methinks! But forget whether his claim is full of hubris or not... the important thing here is that his statement sounds very much like a challenge to me.... and boy do I love a good challenge! (déjà vu anyone...?)

Going back to a previous post on “Underselling and Over-delivering” my menu is as follows;

Pea Soup

with bread rolls

Shepherds Shepherd Pie

Mango Rice Pudding

There was a prime example on Masterchef last week of doing the opposite of what I like, and am trying to do with the above menu. This particular gent “oversold and under-delivered” by producing dishes for the judges which were visually amazing, yet failed to live up to the expectation in the flavour department... the MOST crucial department surely!.

So.... my selection is a very family friendly in my opinion, comes in at £8 exactly, all that remains is for me to execute it as well as I can. I maybe pushing myself a little as there are a few little extras not mentioned above that will be appearing on the dish... you will have to come back another time and see how I got on and what they are! One mistake will throw me off my time plan so it needs to be a faultless performance... a tall order but I know I can do it, whether the occasion gets the best of me remains to be seen, I just hope the gas ovens treat me well and that the bread comes out well!  What could possibly go wrong....

What do you think of my menu, over unsimplified? Mango in the winter? Let me know any thoughts below in the comments section.

Dylan

Exam results are in - Intermediate exam

Earlier in the week we received our grades for the 'Intermediate Exam' we undertook last week at Tante Marie, you may remember the 'issues' I had with my bread and my attempt at piping a pretty design on a chocolate cake... just in case you missed it you can read about that here, towards the end of the post.

Being extremely disappointed with how the bread rolls turned out, and making a couple of other school boy errors I had resigned myself to getting a mark a fair bit lower than what I know I could have achieved. The results were posted on the board in the entrance to Tante Marie for all to see, and low and behold I had somehow managed to score enough to be top of my group and second in the class comprised of the two groups. To say I was very surprised with my position in the class is an understatement, in fact I must admit to feeling slightly embarrassed after discussing with classmates all my mistakes at length and in great detail.

What I wasn't surprised by was my mark of 74% which is just a touch higher than I expected. Not having a clue how the various marking criteria were weighted I came to my expected score by simply imagining that if I had done as well as I knew I could, I would get 100%, then I deducted marks for the errors I made. Simples.

I had a 15 minute debrief on Thursday with 'Mrs A' about the exam, whom I have now started to refer to as 'The All Seeing Eye'. 'The All Seeing Eye' sits at the front of the exam kitchen, pen in hand, note pad on the counter, mini cafetiere no more than arms length away... and doesn't miss a thing... nothing, nada, nowt, **** all, NOTHING!   I had heard this was the case from other students but I guess one does not believe such things until it is witnessed first hand!

'The All Seeing Eye' even reads this blog... I told you nothing is missed!  (Hi Mrs A.. I will bring you a coffee on Monday if you promise not to shout at me for your new nickname!)

So it turned out that my own observations of my short comings in the exam where the same as 'The All Seeing Eyes'... bread was crap, piping was “variable”, lamb jus under reduced etc etc etc. I must say that the positives were also pointed out, those I was most pleased with were my Lamb being cooked well, general level of seasoning being good, and the way in which I work (tidyness etc.) being very good.... so good in fact I received full marks in this area, something for which I have to thank 'Geoff the Chef' for beasting me about when I worked with him over the summer on a yacht.

So all in all I have no complaints, my mind is now focussed on the 'Budget Lunch' exam I have on Wednesday (post to follow shortly). The intermediate exam was a good warm up and introduction to how the practical exams will work here at Tante Marie, I just need to focus more and trust my own judgement, rather than worrying about what I think the examiner wants to see.... and lets be honest when it comes the result, to quote a classic movie...

"there are no points for second place"

Dylan

Week 5 & 6 at Tante Marie

Apologies for the lateness of this post but I was kept busy with preparing for my first practical exam at Tante Marie, which kept me from updating you on the last two weeks events.

Week 5 started with icing the dreaded Celebration Cake with cold fondant, a task that didn't go entirely smoothly but resulted in something which I am happy with knowing my skill level (-10) at these sorts of things.

Celebration Cake - covered in cold fondant

We also made up some Royal Icing and did a little piping practice, something which my perma-shaking hands are never going to cope with too well. Next step for the cake is to start decorating it... and that is where the real “fun” begins allegedly.

 My humble/feeble attempts at piping... this cake is not going to be pretty!

As if that wasn't enough piping, week 5 saw us make a Gâteau au chocolat... which... wait for it... had a delicate design of stars, shells and straight lines piped over and over again across the top :-(   Other dishes included Cabbage gratin, Filets de sole cubat, Warm honey and goats cheese salad, Poulet provençal, Turban d'Agen and a couple of others. The week also contained a couple of demos, a theory class, “The Meat Lecture and “The Herb Lecture”. I intend to post about the about the final two lectures mentioned in the easter break, so tune in then to see what these pics are all about....

A whole Lamb... minus innards.. head, fur... etc...

 

1/4 of a beef!  Hung for 5-6 weeks... get a load of that colouration!

Week 6 was a 4 day week what with half-term on Friday... yeah I said HALF-TERM mofos, Whoop Whooop! The week kicked off with a demo on Monday morning followed swiftly by some of our classes first practical test... the so called “Intermediate Exam” whereby one must cook a three course meal chosen by Tante Marie along with 8 bread rolls shaped into various...erm.... shapes!?!?! The exam is split over two days, a two hour session in the afternoon followed by a 9:30am start the following day, serving starters at 12:00, mains at 12:15 and deserts at 12:30.

On Monday and Tuesday I had to potwash for some of my fellow students doing their exam, before starting mine on Wednesday afternoon. My dishes comprised of Bread rolls, Kitchen garden soup, Garlic and herb crusted rack of lamb, Rosemary potatoes, Cabbage gratin, Carrots vichy and yes you guess it........ a god damn Gâteau au chocolat with all that damn piping!!!!

Anyway, all went OK... not brilliant by far. I was devastated with home my bread rolls came out, they had hardly proved even after nearly an hour over some hot water and when baked were covered in stretch marks and were pasty pale even though I had baked them for longer than required in a desperate attempt to get some colour on them... bloody old school gas ovens!

 From clockwise - Shite, Shite, Shite, Shite, Shite, Shite, Shite and finally...Shite

Of course the piping was not as bad as my first attempt in class the previous week, and although I was quite happy with it, I am fully aware that it would fall short of Mrs A's stringent criteria. The only other problem with the Gâteau was the fact it did not come out of the tine cleanly... again! Despite doing exactly as instructed and taking a solid 5mins to slowly and gently run a palette knife delicately around the edge of the sponge (as it again hadn't shrunk away from the sides as it is allegedly supposed to do, not that anyone else could achieve this... even when it was demo'ed to us!) a good chink was left welded to the oiled cake tin... very very annoyed!

Sooo... Lines not straight and gaps between shells and stars.. on the right side of the third line from the bottom you can see where my shakes really kicked in!!!

Saving graces were how well my lamb was cooked (in my humble opinion), the jus was under reduced as I was faced with the conundrum of serving well rested and hot meat with a under-reduced jus bang on time, or a great jus with cold and dry meat 5mins late. I went with the former option.

The veg dishes were good-ish... the potatoes stuck a little to the pan but were a massive improvement on the “mash with crispy bits” I served up in class when we first cooked them after they welded themselves to the pan. The Cabbage gratin was a revelation as I decided to actually weigh the cabbage I had shredded to ensure I had exactly what was required, beautiful.

The soup came out well... again a lot better than we had made in class mainly due to the fact we followed the recipe and only put 1litre of our carefully crafted veg stock into it... rather than what we did in class and just put ALL the stock... watering the final flavour down by a factor of a million. 
 

Over all I was happy ish, far from faultless and far from what I could achieve. I put myself under the kosh on the second day by remaking my bread rolls.... which I shouldn't have done as they came out even worse... I couldn't believe it! Here's a pic of what I thought was just an OK batch I made at home....

From bottom to top - Not bad, Not bad, Not bad, Not bad, Not bad, Shite, Shite and finally... Shite!

Compared to the two abominations I made in the exam this bread was amazing, despite the cottage loaf blowing its top, and the twist untwisting a little! If I had stayed with my original bread I would have had a nice 30mins to rectify some of the things that weren't great... alas coulda woulda shoulda dont get you very far.

You see, I don't see tests like this as an opportunity to show the teachers what I can do, but as a way of challenging myself to see what I can do. I know a lot of people wont either understand or agree with this, but that's the way it is for me. Yes I would like to get a great final mark for my time spent at Tante Marie, but I feel its more important for me to leave here with a greater idea of what I am, and what I am not capable of doing. I have a feeling that in the real world people are not going to be so interested in whether I got a Pass, Merit or Distinction on this course... but whether I can indeed knock out 500 canapés in the 4hrs before they are needed.

If from time to time you don't push yourself beyond your limits then how can you know where that limit is? And this is what I was thinking when I remade my bread. I didn't go down in flames, yet I didn't shower myself in glory. I guess we will just have to wait a few weeks for the budget lunch exam and see how far beyond my limits I go.....

Dylan