Romantic Buffet Disaster and Good Beef

The past two weeks have been insane. And I am a connoisseur of insane. I’m related to it, I’ve worked for it and I would be lying if I said that one more than a few occasions… I’ve borrowed from it. So I know what I’m talking about.

Not sure where to even begin…

Things started off well, me team and I have been working well this entire month and we are in second place with regard to team ranking. It’s been nice. Validating.

Then, we were tasks with another student challenge. We were required to prdouce a Valentines Day buffet offering the following:

Soups (2)

Canapes (2 or more)

Salads (2 or more)

Hot appetizers (2 or more)

Fish, complete with sauces and garnishes (2)

A meat carving station with Lamb, Beef and Veal

Desserts (3 – one of which needed to be “attended”, meaning that someone would need to prepare or finish it in front of the customer)

We were assigned to groups of eight and I should have known I was facing a disaster once the groups were assigned.

I don’t want to sound catty by saying that the worst FOUR students in the class were assigned to my group… but that’s exactly what happened.

From the start, it was ruined. Everyone was unorganized, including myself. No one communicated – we simply tried to avoid screwing up the item that we were responsible for- only to later find out that some were in over their head and we didn’t find out until we were supposed to be finished. We were almost 30 minutes late and nearly set one of our tables on fire (no joke – somone set a hot ban marie directly on top of our linnen table cloth and burnt right through it).

This could have been slightly overlooked IF we had produced perfectly seasoned food but that dream was quickly crushed by chef, who could not have been less impressed.

Oh well… at least I had someone great to go home to on Valentine’s Day. Oh wait. There’s no one.

Instead, I got home to learn that my electricity had been turned off. Apparently, the electric company does not care that I am trying to pursue my dreams. Why is everyone so obsessed with money?

The following day, I paid my electric bill. Then I had to prepare for another “market basket” competition. We had to produce a three course meal, prominently featuring a beek shank, frog legs and eggs. My team and I decided on:

Fried frog legs with a basil/garlic aioli

Beef roulade, filled with Roquefort cheese, mushroom duxelle, and sauteed swiss chard served with potatoes lyonaise (also known as fried potatoes and onions) and a layered vegetable of yellow squash and oven roasted tomatoes.

A bay leaf flan (yes, it sounds strange but it was amazing)

The beef roulade was my idea and I had to execute it. Chef told me that a rolled meat is very difficult to pull off because it can overcook easily.

I butterflied it, seasoned it perfectly, sauteed the swiss chard with garlic olive oil, added the mushroom duxelle and crumbled Roquefort cheese over it. I then had roll it – tightly, season the outer layer, tie it with butchers twine, and sear it just for color, finish it in the oven and let it rest so it would be perfect during presentation.

When our turn was up, my teammate and I cut the meat while our other team member presented the first course. The meat looked good – really good and when we cut, it was beautifully pink inside. I was a little afraid that it was possibly too pink but it’s hard to say with the French…

When we presented, I noticed that I got a strange look from chef, which made me nervous from the jump. I stumbled through a presentation of the dish and waited for the judges to begin. The president of the academy was one of the judges, who NEVER fails to make everyone tense. You cannot get more old school French than this guy. So french that he is not fond of anything that isn’t french – or at least finds it inferior with regard to technique.

He was the first to go and took a bite of the meat first, then the potatoes, then the yellow squash and tomato. He then turned to me and said, “A roulade of meet is very difficult to do,”

Immediately, I prepared myself for public humiliation.

“It tends to be over or undercooked and the filling has to be cooked perfectly beforehand because it won’t cook anymore inside the meat and if it does, then it means the meat will be overcooked…”

I could barely look him in the eye at this point.

“This is very well executed. The meat is tender and perfectly seasoned and cooked. It has good color on the outside and in.”

It took everything I had to remain cool and say “Thank you chef.”

My chef looked at me and said ” You see how it is perfectly pink throughout? That is exactly what should happen when it is well prepared. There isn’t too much filling inside – just enough to give the meat more flavor. Very good job, Bobby.” He gave me the thumbs up.

This very well might have been the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. As I made my way back to my seat, several of my classmates mouthed “congratulations” to me. Best. Feeling. Ever.

I felt vindicated from the previous market basket disaster. and ready to celebrate. and by celebrate, I mean drink.