Another week, and a full day of testing

So this week wasn't too bad. We started in in cooking at the beginning of the week by making a tomato soup which we had to make up the recipe for. This was mainly because there were extra vegetables that he didn't want to go bad, but also to see where we are and if we are able to create our own soups without a recipe. I think everybody did well on the test, however I do know he said his head was numb after tasting someones soup which had about half a cup of paprika in it!

The rest of the week we also worked on vinaigrettes, and eggs (scrambled, fried, and a review of poached). With the vinaigrettes we also learned how to mix a salad properly (putting the dressing on the bottom of the bowl and the salad on top, then mix with your hands so the whole salad gets dressed without weighing it down with the dressing). On Wednesday we had a quiz/test on theory because the chef got the impression that we collectively had NOT been doing the reading. After that test he gave us a practical exam which meant making one egg- scrambled, fried, and poached. Then make a balsamic honey vinaigrette and a salad to go with it-- mixing the salad in front of him to show we know how to.

Now, this would have been all well and fine (and it was, I believe I did very good) but then in the afternoon we had a test in baking as well. The chef gave us a sheet with recipes we had done in class and we were told to go to work. The recipes were tart from scratch (with flangipan sp? filling --an almond based cream), a butter cake, and macaroons. Now you have to understand that the macaroons use food coloring so at the end of the class most of the students were covered in green or yellow, or red. I worked SO hard to keep myself clean of all those colors (which I think helped my overall grade) Also, some people didn't get to bake off their tarts because they were finished too late and there wasn't enough time to let them bake. We also didn't bake off our macaroons (apparently, unlike cooking, you can tell how the finished product is going to come out based on how it looks before it goes in. Or perhaps he wasn't interested in that as much as procedure as the chef always puts everything in the oven anyways). I got an A.

Tomorrow I plan to pick up my tart, which I was able to bake but was not able to bring home because it was too hot when we left for the day.

Flubbub!

So it's been a little over week since my last update and for that I should apologize as my avid readers are eagerly awaiting more and more news of my exciting life in Israel!

So last week we continued with sauces in culinary... the most interesting class so far was on wednesday (which is our last day of classes) where we were given a practical test. This meant we were given three recipes that we had not seen but included different skills we had been working on up until then. (The recipes were 1. Tomato basil Vinaigrette 2. Carrot coulis 3. mango salsa) We were graded on a number of categories some of which were uniform, cleanliness/ organization (of our stations), knife skills, and taste. After the test the teacher spoke with all the students indivudally to give them their grades and feedback based on their performances. For all those who are curious I did more than just hold my own, but in case anyone in the school is reading it may be better not to post my grades through this medium.
In pastries we were working on butter cakes, muffins, and other various recipes that don't quite spring to mind at the moment. On wednesday the pastry class made parve desserts for the dinner that was being hosted at the school the following evening (see previous blog entry for more details) which apparently went off without a hitch-- the event that is, there actually was at least ONE issue that I witnesses while making the pastries that involved a temperature problem with the oven, unfortunately. Next week there will be practical exams for the baking class.

On thursday, after Ulpan (hebrew language classes) we went to the winery to continue our wine project. This meant that we were straining out the wine, that is seperating out the now somewhat fermented juice from the shells and flesh. I do have a couple pictures but I don't think I'm going to post them today. I will, however, do my best to post them before the week is up.
I was in Yeshiva for shabbat which was AWESOME. I forgot how great an in Shabbos at yeshiva is. There were also a good number of guests there and I had the oppourtunity to get to know some of them and hang out with them.
Another accomplishment is that I finished listening to the radio series for the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (put out by the BBC) -- hence the title of this post. For those of you who don't know what that is I HIGHLY reccomend that you change that immediately...
Anywho, I'm sorry that I kind of rushed through this entry, but that pretty much sums it up. Before I go one joke by my pastry chef:
A man walks into a pastry shop and asks the chef "Do you have carrot cake?" to which the chef responds "No." The next day the same customer returns and asks the same question, receiving the same answer. After about a week of this the customer says "You know I'm going to come back and ask you for carrot cake, so why don't you just make one?" So the next day the chef makes a carrot cake, and when the customer walks in and asks "Do you have any carrot cake?" The Chef responds "Yes! Today I made a carrot cake!" To which the customer replies "Disgusting isn't it?"

Could you please push the stop button?

Okay, so this has been yet another interesting/ intense week. We are actually working more with the food; that is more than just cutting and whatnot, we have mostly been working on sauces still. We made a tomato sauce on Tuesday and I will include the recipe either in this post or the next depending on how much time I have (hopefully it will be in this one). Seriously though, we really haven't done anything else aside from sauces this week. In baking we made quiche dough and sautéed the vegetables for the quiche, however we let the girls assemble them the next day (these were for an order that the school got, so we only got to eat the least attractive one :-p). We continued working on cookies, so that included sugar cookies, checkerboard cookies (these require a little more work but look really cool and also taste quite delicious), and macaroons. The macaroons aren't what you probably think of- the ones you buy in a can around pesach time- but rather a cookie that's crunchy on the outside and chewy and soft on the inside. They are really really good ( I ate waaay too many the first day we made them) and my teacher said he judges the quality of a bakery based on their macaroons. Since they require so much more effort than other pastries if they can make a god macaroon they can make other pastries really well. He said that he had found this to be true across the board.

That was pretty much it for the cooking part of school this week. On Thursday we had our first (of six) ulpan class. Ulpan is a hebrew language class. The course is open to those who want to participate. After the class we went over the menu for a dinner that we are catering next thursday night. We is atually a relative term in this case because they picked eight names out of a hat four who are doing the cooking and four who are waiting the tables. My name was not picked so even though I will be in school next Thursday for Ulpan I won't have to stay to help in the kitchen. Don't worry though, I will get a chance to work in the kitchen.

So one more thing before I give you the recipe for the tomato sauce: The title of this blog is in reference to something that happened to me yesterday on the bus. At one of the stops a mother had her child get on the bus by himself (she made sure he got on okay). For those of you who don't know, the buses here are like the greyhound buses in the US (they're coach buses) and the stop button is on top where the lights are. Now I was wondering if this kid would be able to push the stop button, and got my answer when he leaned forward about ten minutes later (he was sitting behind me) and said something to me in hebrew which I did not quite understand but i got the general idea that he wanted me to push the stop button for him. I thought he would have been more resourceful and stand on the seat or something, but alas, he did not.

Tomato sauce:

Mire Poix (50% onions 25 % carrots 25% celery-all chopped) 200G

Skinned Tomatoes 1000G

Tomato Puree 200G

Tyme 2 sprigs

Bay leaf 1

Garlic 2 cloves finely chopped (into a paste is better)

Parsley 1/4 Cup

Salt and pepper

Sugar 5G

Water 750 ML

Directions:

1. Sautee vegetables till clear

2. Add sugar, bay leaf and thyme stir then a couple minutes later add garlic

3. add parsley stir for a couple minutes

4. Add tomato paste and big pinch (using 4 fingers) of Salt and Pepper

5. Add tomatoes- cook for a couple minutes then add water- let cook for 1+1/2 hours then take out bay leaf and blend using hand mixer

** for those who don't know how to skin tomatoes- cut out the tops and cut an "X" into the bottom then put them in boiling water for a couple minutes. You will see the skin start to come off- this is when you take them out and put them into cool water. Keep in mind you don't want to cook the tomatoes at this point. Then take them out of the cool water and take off the skins. Also, for this recipe you want to roughly dice the tomatoes.. they will be blended anyways, but you want them to be small enough that they'll cook nice.

Enjoy! :)

Cookies and sauces and wine (oh my!)

So, I've had quite the week. As I already posted at the beginning of the week we didn't have school on sunday or monday because there wasn't electricity in the school. At the same time I wouldn't have gone because I was also sick. Luckily I only ended up missing ONE day instead of THREE. Anyways I found I didn't miss too much once I got back. In the baking class they had started on cookies (we ate like three trays durring class on wednesday so everyone was KINDA starting to get hyper... or at least I was). In cooking we had started on sauces, so we used the same basic method for all of them (thickening up soup stalks with a rue). There was added confusion in class because there wasn't enough fish stock for everyone to make a full recipe so the chef told us to half both recipes then he realized there WAS enough chicken stock for a full recipe which confused alot of people.
On thursday we went to the Katz winery (which is on the same moshav where school is). So Mr. Katz (at least I think thats his name) gave us a very very long lecture on wine explaining all about the chemistry and whatnot which alot of people found very boring (myself included) although it could have been related to the fact that you had to really pay attention to him to understand his english. Finally after several hours we washed out the bin we were going to use for our wine and then we put the grapes into a machine that seperated them from the stems. Then after a long day we were allowed to go home.
All in all a short but interesting week.

Oy Gevalt, I'm sick!

So I hope that I'm able to write more often even when I'm not sick, however today I have the opportunity to update, so here it goes:
Yesterday morning I woke up and I wasn't feeling so good. I didn't feel warm or anything, but in the evening I started to get chills and I had a temperature of 37.7 C which is about 99.9F, roughly. So I had been spending shabbos in mivaseret with family friends (and my parents, as it was their last day in Israel), and I was supposed to get a ride back to Bet Shemesh anyways, so before I went to yeshiva I went to Terem, which is like an open doctors office until midnight (and it's open later than regular hospitals are here). So I get there and I'm waiting and when they finally take me into a room and take my vitals... my bloodpressure was a bit higher than usual, and my temperature was 39 C which is about 102 F. To make a long story short (okay, it's not THAT long) they took a throat culture and ruled out strep, and then they said I should just take medications and stay home from school for a day or two until I feel better. Etty, was very kind and generous and offered for me to stay at her house (where my parents have been staying for the past three weeks) until I get better, which was very kind of her. I think that the offer made my mom feel at ease because she felt bad about returning home while I was still sick.

Anywho, I go back to yeshiva and collect my things for the next few days and Etty took me back to Mivaseret. But here's the kicker: I woke up this morning and I got a call from the principal saying that the electric in the school went out and class was canceled for the day. Here's the bigger kicker: I received an email from the principal this afternoon saying that the electric was not fixed today and they would have to return tomorrow to finish fixing the electric thus no school tomorrow as well, which means two days to get better without missing ANY school!!!