Well, I haven't had internet connection for a couple of days now, hence I'm a bit behind with my blogging. Besides, this has been a really busy week - when I'm not in class, I'm volunteering in Production Kitchen (and that means being there from 6am). Today I was in Production Kitchen from 6am, and I had a demo class in the afternoon (3:30pm), which meant I didn't get home until after 6:30pm... A long day at School.
Tomorrow (Saturday, and Valentine's Day) I am volunteering for an event at School, which starts at 10am, and goes on till late evening. So, as they say, "no rest for the wicked." (I do want to learn as much as I can while I am here at LCB Ottawa, so I am grateful for all the opportunities we get to volunteer for events.)
This week in Production Kitchen, apart from doing the usual pastry-for-staff-breakfast tasks, I learnt to make, shape and bake different kinds of baguettes (for staff lunches and for Bistro Cordon Bleu). It took me a while to master the techniques for rolling out the baguettes by hand, but I'm getting there.
Chef CP also asked me to make a batch of orange-pumpkin loaves, and they turned out quite well (even though this is the first time I'm making it). Chef CP said that he has had many students make this recipe before, but mine had one of the best textures he's ever tasted (it was moist like a banana cake/bread). That is high praise indeed.
Of course, I didn't tell him that I modified the recipe slightly as I was making it. :) What happened was, the recipe (from the Internet) required something like one-and-two-thirds large oranges (ground to a pulp with the food processor). I simply rounded it to two oranges, because the oranges we have in Production Kitchen are not all that big. Then I added almost an extra egg, because the recipe called for three-and-a-quarter eggs (which, in my opinion, is a ridiculous figure anyway). After rounding the figures up, I figured I'm adding extra moisture into the recipe, so I had better reduce it somewhere else in the recipe. And I reduced the amount of water. Anyway, the end result was quite good. I think I am slowly getting a feel for the science/art of baking.
In the afternoon, before my demo class, I helped a couple of my classmates assemble ingredients for tomorrow's event, but because we didn't get to complete the task before our demo class, we decided we would have to go back to school tomorrow morning to finish it (i.e. the mise en place), and that's how I ended up volunteering for tomorrow's event...
Anyway, I had nothing planned for tomorrow, so it was fine to volunteer for this event. I'll update my blog with details later.
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PS. Happy Birthday to T!
