New York Nortons

Today we actually turned on the burners and oven but spent the most of the class turning vegetables.  I can’t tell you how sore the thin muscle in my left forearm (Daniel said it’s the extensor brevis) is today.  I spent about an hour creating 4 potato cocottes Friday night that Chef X graded in class.  Class started out like normal setting up our station, peeling vegetables and learning more technique on how to cut potatoes, carrots, turnips, and artichokes.  We also threw in green beans, peas and pearl onions.  Back at our stations, Chef X announced that we had 15 minutes to create 4 potato cocottes – starting now.   You could hear a pin drop in the kitchen because everyone was silent with concentration.  Last night, it took me over an hour to create the same thing!  I quickly cut the basic shape of each piece then spent the last 5 minutes smoothing out the edges.  Next we had 15 minutes to create 4 cocottes from the carrot then the turnip.  The carrot was really solid and hard to shape.  I thought the turnip would be easy but they were old so the meat was spongy and hard in spots.  By the end, I was very proud of my turned vegetables.  Next up was the artichoke.  In my essentials class, I completely butchered my product.  Today I really tried to get the paring knife in the right location and conquer the artichoke.  Since we only needed the heart, we didn’t use most of the product which annoyed some people.  I’m very indifferent to the taste of artichokes, so I didn’t really care.

Then the time came to fire up the burners and ovens, and we finally we got to cook something!  Today we learned how to cook vegetables a l’anglaise (blanching in hot salted water and then shocking in ice), glacer (glazing) a blanc, a blond and a brun (water with a pinch of butter, salt and sugar with a parchment-paper lid) and a blanc.  We cooked the peas and beans a l’anglaise.  We cooked the turnips glacer a blanc, carrots glacer a blond and pear onions a brun.  Quick tip: to peel the onions soak them in warm water while cutting your other vegetables. Also make sure to remove the second skin or it will burn and taste bitter.  We cooked the trimmed artichokes dans un blanc.  Basically we simmered them in water with a little oil, salt, flour and lemon juice.  I doubt I will every do this at home because it just seemed mushy when we fished it out of the water an hour later.  The pommes rissolees were my favoite part.  In the essentials class we made the dish with little balls cut using a parisienne scoop (mellon-baller).   This is a 4 step process 1)blanch in unsalted water 2)air dry 3)saute in oil and 4)roast in a 400 degree oven.  Our text book describes it as a 3 step process leaving out the crucial air drying step.  Chef X said if we leave out the air drying on our test the entire answer will be wrong.  Oh the test – anxiety already.

At the end of the class we presented our first plate for judging.  While my green beans were too al dente (probably in response to eating brown mushy green beans my entire life at family gatherings which everyone loved but me) my pommes risolees were highly praised!!!  We stuffed the artichoke with the peas in the center of the plate and neatly grouped the other vegetables around using odd numbers and balancing colors.  After presentation, I quickly ate the potatoes, carrots and onions and cleaned up my station for the day.

Next week Chef X will assign our stations based on each students strength.  I really liked my partner the past 2 weeks because she worked cleanly, quietly and we really shared the duties.  Our lesson next week is all about stocks!!!  While it includes emulsified sauces at the end, I’m not sure we will have enough time to learn sauces too.  If we do I know one thing for sure – my whisking arm will be just as sore as my paring knife forearm muscle!!!

Ash cooking, nyc

I started back in cooking classes at the French Culinary Institute yesterday this time taking the 22 week course: Culinary Technique.  I loved the 8 week Essentials of Fine cooking so much that I decided to commit 22 Saturdays to really learn how to cook.  I thought about the 5 week Breakfast Breads class but lets face it – I don’t have the counter space to make croissants.  Our first class almost didn’t happen because of the storm of the century.  A part of me almost wanted to get snowed in and have class canceled like I was 10 years old.  My neighbor reminded me that even if we got a foot of snow Jubilee market would be open and I could walk to Bway & Grand.

My class of 24 students is very diverse this time and not shy.  Our locker rooms are on the 3rd floor with the library, the classroom is on the 4th floor next to the Italian kitchen and I get a photo badge!!!  After changing into our uniform (complete with neckerchief) we walked back to the waiting area and Chef Xavier Mayonove is standing there!!!  I had 4 different teachers during my Essentials class.  I really liked having different instructors because they had very different teaching styles.  The last 2 weeks we had Chef X – born in Corsica, he is a passionate teacher with a very thick French accent.  If he doesn’t remember the English word, he just inserts the French one with an American accent.  He doesn’t put up with any student’s hair being outside their hat, he won’t let you snack on the food you make until after plating and don’t even think about leaving the classroom without his permission.  He walked over to me and said , “Ashley, I know you, which class were you in?”  He had coached me through dismembering a live lobster last December.  Naturally, I was memorable.  Because he didn’t have any student assistants, I was his go to errand girl.  “Ashley, take this group to the 2nd floor for water.”  “Ashley, what is this pot called?”  “Ashley, please put up the fine chinois.”  He expects a lot from his students and when I couldn’t figure out how to calibrate my thermometer (which he pronounces it like ‘terminator’) he shook his head and said “oh Ashley.” How deflating!!!!!

We spent the entire class on taillage – a method of cutting vegetables.  In my first Essentials class we “learned” the same cuts and cooked 2 vegetable dishes in the same amount of time.  I would have been lost with my lack of knife skills if I hadn’t taken the Essentials class.  This time I could really focus on cutting the onion confidently and precisely.  Thankfully Daniel had sharpened my knives the night before.  I learned another method of cutting a finer ciseler (dice) which I need to practice.  Everyone made a half sheet pan of:

1. Onion: emicer and ciseler
2. Carrots: jardiniere, macedoine, julienne and brunoise
3. Turnip: jardiniere and macedoine
4. Leek: emicer, julienne and brunoise
5. Cabbage: chiffonade

If we accomplished that with time left, then we attempted to cut 4 5 centimeter long cocottes from a single potato.  After peeling and quartering a potato, with a pairing knife cut seven sides then smooth out the edges. This sounds easy but it very hard.  First, you have to know how to use your pairing knife correctly which makes my hand cramp.  Then you have to have the control to turn the vegetable – like following the shape of an egg laterally.  Our homework is to bring in 4 potatoes tourner for Chef X to critique.

I actually made it through class without cutting any fingers.  Every time someone sliced a finger Chef X would yell out the number then quickly bandage the wound and send he student back to their station to continue.  When I sliced my thumb in Essentials I took the time to bandage it, cover with a finger condom and avoided my pairing knife the rest of the class.  I better not cut my finger in this class.  Finally Chef X came to inspect my tray and pointed to each cut quickly and I had to name the cut – macedoine, ciseler, brunoise, ciseler, jardiniere, emicer, etc etc.  I’m ok at pronouncing each cut but need to learn how to spell them for my written test!!!!

We don’t have class next week because the school is closed for President’s Day.  I will spend the weekend watching the Winter Olympics and making chicken stock.

Ash cooking, nyc

Despite what the activity on our blog suggests, Ashley and I are very much alive and well. We’ve been really busy with work and play over the last few months, and the blog has quietly sunk in priority. We aren’t making this a resolution or anything, but we will use this site a little more.

• First, I changed the theme again. I really didn’t like the colors or the layout of the last one. This one has a much better design.
• Second, I’ve upgraded the back-end to WordPress 2.7 (non-nerd probably don’t care about this, but it’s much easier to use now.)
• Third, I want to try out video blogging this year. This is the right place to do that.

We hope that you all had a relaxing holidays and are enjoying 2009 so far.

nyc

I say double your fun because we had two visits from the Osbornes in January. Jerry and David Harris came up for the weekend to go to a Thrashers/Rangers hockey game. We also went to a really funny sketch comedy at the “Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theater”:http://www.ucbtheatre.com/ny/. There was also much Wii playing… naturally.

Jeannie flew up the next weekend to go to a ballet performance with Ashley (for a full review, contact Ashley.) I met them after the performance for some shopping and dinner. Jeannie also had the additional pleasure of staying at the Ritz Carlton in Battery Park City.

nyc

And now with some interesting offerings from Google, it’s getting easier. I’m writing this post using Google Docs . I can then simply configure my blog settings in Google and send posts directly from it. Google Docs allows me to add collaborators, so Ashley and I can edit posts at the same time.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that I’ll take full advantage of this gain in productivity. Everyone knows that I have not been the most loyal blogger in the world, and I tend to overlook writing about stuff that you care about (namely, what life is like in New York.) I think it’s mostly because life in New York is fairly routine. I take the subway to work, sit in front of a computer for 8 hours a day writing Java or Perl or C# or whatever is needed for a project. Then I take the subway home, try to work out, eat, and spend time working on my personal projects or watching TV. The routine has taken a pretty fun turn this week though because we got a Macbook – Barney – which is SO much faster than our iMac (although I am still fond of Homer.)

I’ll throw this out there to keep you interested. I’m currently working on a redesign for this site because the current look is getting a little old. I promise to give the blog a clean and modern look, and we’ll all be happy. No promises that the new look will be soon. I have to figure out the Wordpress Theme Editor first.

nyc, techie

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it on this blog, but I have recently gone to work for Morgan Stanley. And one of the great benefits of working for a huge, New York based, financial company is that they sponsor lots of events around New York. For instance, I saw an announcement about Chihuly at the New York Botanical Gardens for free for Morgan Stanley employees. And since Ashley and I really enjoyed the Chihuly exhibit in Atlanta and we don’t often pass on events for that price, we went.

The New York Botanical Gardens are located just to the north of Fordham University in the Bronx, and they are very impressive. The gardens take up about 250 acres most of which is still original forest. According to the tram operator, it is the largest track of undeveloped land in New York City… which is remarkable in itself.

We weren’t as impressed with the Chihuly exhibit… maybe because we’ve seen a Chihuly exhibit before or because it was in a smaller space in Atlanta. Our general impression was that in the New York exhibit they didn’t try as hard to make the Chihuly art blend into the plant displays. There were sections of the exhibit that didn’t have any plants… just Chihuly. And that took away from the organic feel in a way.

I’m not saying it’s not worth seeing. As you can see, we got some great pictures. The rest of them are located here - flickr.com

activities, nyc

No, that’s not me asking you. That’s you asking us when you stop by this site. You think… “didn’t I see that same post last week? Is nothing going on in the lives of the New York Nortons?” But you’ve talked to one of us lately, and we certainly have stuff going on. You didn’t ask us to blog about it either because you don’t want to be rude or you really would prefer not to read about something that you just talked to us about. But for your sanity and ours, here’s a quick rundown of what’s been happening to the NYC Nortons.

1. Ashley’s on a project in Charlotte.

2. I (Daniel) went to see JJ Abram speak at the Tribeca Film Festival this week. Very exciting. I’ll give you the details if you want.

3. I have been working on some side web development. I wrote a time tracker to keep track of all the tasks I have going on in a day. Feel free to use it and provide any feedback you have. It’s still a work in progress, but it has AJAX which is the new buzz word in web development.

4. We have been to four weddings this spring which means frequent trips to Atlanta.

5. It’s getting warm in New York. Everything is in bloom, and suddenly there are people on the streets again.

6. Lost was great this week! Did anyone else see it? What did you think?

nyc

I don’t normally blog other people’s photos, but this is an absolutely amazing picture of Manhattan. Check out his other pictures here on Flickr.com.

nyc, photography

This picture is not recent. I took it a few years ago, but it’s all I had to show spring is coming to NYC. I will get some pictures this weekend (I promise.)

Also, check out what happens when you click on the picture. This is a new feature I added recently called lightbox .

nyc

We just bought a new lense for the camera, and I took a few pictures just to play around. I thought this one was pretty interesting. The cool thing about a high apeture lens is the low depth of field. The postcard is from Balthazar’s and the magazine is this month’s “New York.”

nyc, photography