Weeks 1, 2 & 3 - Stocks, Soups, & Salads

First week of classes were a bit slow for me.  Having just spent four years at university, the move to college has been a transition I've had to get used to.  Classes are smaller, attendance is mandatory, and teachers know your name.  The methods of teaching in college are also far more juvenile when compared to university - where close to all responsibility is placed on the student (to show up to class, to do the readings, to come in for tests, etc). 
At 22, I was one of the youngest of my friends in Montreal.  At George Brown, however, I feel rather old, a feeling that is quite foreign to me.  Most of the other students in my program are just out of high school, with a small proportion of those I've met having gone to university, decided it wasn't really for them, and dropped out to attend Chef School.  So far, I am the only one having fully completed a university degree.  Although it may seem like I'm bragging, please don't get me wrong: to the food service industry, not only does my academic background mean nothing, but most chefs/cooks start out in professional kitchens at very young ages.  As a result, I feel rather disadvantaged next to students who have spent years working in kitchens, developing their skills and experience. 
My schedule at school is as follows: Monday we have Food Theory and Demonstration Lab, Tuesday we have Nutrition, Wednesday is Culinary Lab I, and Thursday we have Banquet Production and Hospitality Math.  Fridays I have off, as I was exempt from college level English - YAY!
Chef Mac is my Culinary Skills instructor.  She has been working at the college since 1969 and has quite the reputation.  She is a short, round Scottish woman who prides herself on being incredibly strict and firm with her students.  The most accurate way I'd describe her is as a female version of the infamous Gordon Ramsay.  She shouts, picks apart your work, and doesn't stand for any fooling around.  When our other instructors asked us who we had for lab and we responded, they all had the same reaction: (laughing)"Well, you will certainly learn a lot, but whatever you do don't get on her bad side!"(laughing).
How it works is that on Mondays, in our demo,  Chef Mac demonstrates exactly what/how we will be cooking in our lab on Wednesdays.  If you miss the demo, then you cannot attend lab, and will get a 0 for that week.  If you fail more than 2 labs, you automatically fail the course and cannot move on to the next semester. 
For our first week of classes, we learned how to make proper stocks, both white and brown.  In lab, we were responsible for making our own chicken stock (using chicken bones, a mirepoix(onion, leek, carrot, celery), and a sachet). With said broth, we then made our own vegetable soups, learning how to carre (dice) turnips, celery, carrots, and a tomato (which we had already blanched ourselves).
My stock was perfectly clear.  Unfortunately, according to Chef Mac, my veg (kitchen slang for vegetables) carre cuts were too large: "Shall I call the zoo and let all the baby elephants know they're getting some lunch today?!"  SHIT! I went through my diced veg, one by one, carefully sizing them down, so as to not lose too many marks.  The soup ended up tasting great and was much appreciated by my sister and Dad who ate it for dinner.
Week 2 we learned how to employ thickening agents, such as a roux, cornstarch and arrow root, and puree of veg.  In lab we were responsible for cooking a cream of celery soup, using a white roux, and beef consomme.  While the cream of celery soup was pretty straight forward, at least for me (having used roux in a fair bit of my home cooking), the consomme was quite the meticulous task.  I would love to go into detail about this process but will spare you.
As garnish for our consomme, which through a carefully controlled cooking method should turn beef stock into a lovely clear, oil-less, rich-flavoured, and golden coloured broth, we had to make a brunoise cut of celery, turnips, carrots, and leeks.  Brunoise cuts are very small carre (a dice about 3-6mm squared).  Once again, baby elephants were brought up in regards to my cuts, even though, to my eyes, my brunoise were exactly the same size as my neighbours, who got praised for her work.  Either way, in accordance with Chef's orders, I went home and practiced my Brunoise. 
I made Osso Buco for the first time this week too! I take it upon myself to attempt new dishes almost everytime I cook, with the exception of a few favorite recipes that are always winners with friends and family.  While I do find inspiration from cook books and the internet, I generally like to be creative and spontaneous wth my home cooking, only using recipes as guidelines.  This is one of the things I love most about food, one's ability to be endlessly innovative and whimsical with both ingredients and preparatory techniques.
So, when I stumbled upon gorgeous veal shanks for extremely cheap(only $1.99/lb) at the independent grocery store near my house, I called a few friends over for dinner and got to cooking.  Osso Buco (literal translation "bone hole") is a classical dish that involves the braising of veal shanks in white wine, beef stock, and mirepoix, tomatoes/tomato puree, thyme and bay leaves.  It's name is attributed to the delicious marrow fond in the bones at the centre of each shank.  Although rather simple to prepare, braising meat such as veal, beef, and lamb provides a fool-proof product of tastiness.  The meat falls off the bone, a tenderness your guests will adore you for, and the flavours of the mirepoix, wine, and tomatoes are deeply infused throughout.

In our third week of Chef School, we learned how to properly prepare salads.  While one might assume that salads are rather straighforward, boring, and simple to prepare - as did I - the reality is that, in the food service industry, consistency and uniformity are highly valued.  In other words, your ability to do your cuts percectly time and time again, and to produce the same dressing, for example, over and over, are extremely important skills to have.  This week's lab was therefore a testament to this fact. We learned how to prepare class ceasar, italian, and potato salads.  In other words, practicing our julienne, brunoise, and emulsification techniques were what this week was all about.  Emulsification is defined as the mixing of two unmixable ingredients, in most cases oil and an acid, such as vinegar or lemon juice.  Ingredients such as mustard and egg yolks are class emulsifyers - helping bond the oil and acid molecues together.  The result is a smooth, creamy dressing, that has no separation between the oil and acid substances. In order to ensure this effect, one mst be very patient and careful not to be over-eager.