Last week was seafood week. We made Lobster Bisque (the pic just looks like mud in a bowl) and yes, we killed the lobster first. My partner killed the lobster while i shoved the live crab in the pot of boiling water lol.


Angel Hair Pasta w/ Lobster and Crab (yummy)

I was excited for the Crab Cakes with Pineapple Salsa (below) until we added the jalepeno and sweet chili sauce which made it too spicy for me to enjoy them :(



We filleted snappers:


and used some of it to make Bouillabaisse (basically a flavoured broth with mussels, clams, and scallops). I didn't think i liked mussels or clams, but this was delicious! One of those moments when eating food makes me happy :)


OH this was also the day when we made snapper ceviche (seh-vee-chay), which means the fish is 'cooked' by the high acidity of the marinade (usually lime juice). So anyways, my jobs were to cut up the jalepenos and juice the lime. and then i made the brilliant decision to touch my eye with my finger. i BARELY touched it and OH MY WORD it HURT. I felt like my face was on fire and i was bent over the sink rinsing my eye for like 10 minutes. One of my instructors joked that i ceviche'd my eyeball lol. I didn't get a pic of the end result (maybe on purpose?).

We ended the day with a Crown of Sole with Carrot Mousse and Pea Veloute.


Wednesday was Restaurant Day, which means we did a big Mise en Place (mees en plahs: getting ingrediants ready) for 4 dishes, and then the instructors would call out the orders for us to finish them like they would in a restaurant. It went ok, i didn't really enjoy the pace or pressure, but my team didn't do badly. Here are the dishes:


Seared Scallop w/ Sweet & Sour Tamarind-Orange Sauce


Pan Seared Snapper w/ Grenobloise Sauce (left) and Tuna Carpaccio with Wasabi-Lime Vinaigrette


Lobster Salad (includes avacados, hardboiled egg, roasted tomatoes, and, well, lobster)

the next day we took another stab at filleting fish, both Trout and Salmon. I got a pic of the trout and my second attempt at filleting it. I was glad we got 2 tries, cuz the second time was much better.



Thursday was a yummy day:


Poached Salmon with Beurre Rouge


Wok Smoked Salmon Belly w/ Ginger-Tomato Consomme and Japanese Spinach Salad (and it looks cute too!)


Trout Meuniere with Apple Beurre Noisette (this was absolutely delicious and my favorite so far)


and somewhere in there, we made Challah bread! (pronounced hal-ah)

and finally, friday was Menu Development day, when each of the 4 people that share a stove station had to come up with a salmon dish and we had guidelines to follow and stuff. My idea was Grilled Salmon with Asparagus and...Saskatoon Veloute! And there's rice in there cuz they made us include rice. I was also going to put lemon curls on top, but we had to have impressive knife cuts so there are apple pieces on top of mine instead :P mine is the one with the asparagus :D


i was so tired after school that i had a nap. and then saturday i spent about 6 hours making Thanksgiving dinner! clockwise from the chicken: pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, and stuffing/roasted asparagus and carrots. and i made everything from scratch! i felt very accomplished and it was all delicious!


Phil managed to get the whole long weekend off to spend with me, so Sunday we took a day trip to Whistler! we stopped at 3 waterfalls (Shannon Falls, Brandywine Falls, and Alexander Falls) and got to see the Olympic Nordic Centre where they held the Biathalon, Ski Jump, and Cross Country Ski events! Here's us and the inukshuk they have at the centre:


and now i need to go to sleep so i can make it through week 6 :P