Seriously? I'm stuck on Family Meal!?!

When I moved to Banquets back of the house (kitchen), I was put on family meal....meaning me and my partner were responsible for cooking lunch (family meal) for the students who were serving. We did not have a part in the cooking for the class, what a lack of a learning experience, or so I thought. I have a little experience in catering previous to coming to school, so I have an idea of how it all works, but being stuck on family meal is something I would consider good for me.
My chef pretty much refused to order anything special for us to make for family meal, except for the protein of the day. He wanted us to learn how to use what, and only what, was available in the kitchen that day (since that would be a real life scenario).
I found it difficult to scrape something up to cook because of course I want to make a delicious family meal....the class before us served baked chicken almost every day with some lame over dressed salad, garlic bread, and a some over cooked vegetables. I wanted to actually make something palatable. But now I see why it was so difficult. The kitchen barely had any useful ingredients to begin with!
I am most proud, however, of when we ordered in flank steak and I made the same beef wellington sauce I made for Christmas break. We had all of the necessary ingredients in the kitchen, i was SO excited to make it! I took Madeira wine and reduced it with tarragon and shallots, added veal stock, reduced it, then added in honey and some cornstarch to thicken. It tasted great! I even impressed one guy in my class who never really took me seriously until he realized that, oh my goodness, I can cook!
As for the flank steak, my partner did not quick hold up his end and we ran late on serving family meal, but the sauce was sooo good! My mom can vouch for me since she ate it at Christmas dinner.

Banquets and Catering

I finished my cuisines of the Mediterraneans class. It was bittersweet. I definitely saw improvement as the days progressed. I saw an odd pattern when it came to grading. On the first day of every new country (4 different countries/regions were studied), I had an average grade, but as the days progressed, my grade progressed. I guess that says something for my improvement! All in all, the class was a very good experience. It made me be sure to come to class prepared, to know everything, to not be afraid to ask questions, but to think about the question before actually asking it, and much much more!

I have moved on to the Banquets and Catering class. For the past 7 school days, I was working the Front of the House, so I was a server. Our class catered about 90 students who come into our dining room each day for lunch. They are served a 3-course meal (app, entree, dessert) by us. It is fun for me since I used to be a server, but for others, not so much. I understand how facing people is difficult...but in order to be a successful chef, you have to have some sort of people skills! I have enjoyed it thus far. On Thursday, I move to the back of the house, so I will be cooking for the students.