Life and Flavors: 3 Months Worth - Le Cordon Bleu Superior Exam

HELLO HELLO HELLO!!! So this is the third part of my blog for the past three months that I've been away from the social network. So how did you like my first two entries??? I know, not much food. This part, I'll give you too much food that you will even throw up seeing all of it. I'm kidding. So anyway, yes, we did a lot of shit in culinary school, I even miss school! I'm so bum right now. I've got nothing to do and I'm broke. I just hope that someone would drop by our doorstep and give me a billion dollars out of nothing. That way, I could buy that Le Creuset Cast Iron Pan and what else? I don't know. hahahaha

So anyway here were the things we made during Superior Cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu. God I realllly miss school. I miss the chefs, the students and even my locker. I hope they cleaned my locker well, I think I may have left a tie of parsley in there. ulk. haha. I MISS SCHOOL. okay enough. So for final dishes of Superior Cuisine... Let's starrttt!!!

Frozen Chocolate Parfait, Orange Cream with Citrus and Basil

Herb Crusted Salmon, Mushroom Flan, Red Wine Sauce

Orange Filled Melba and Caramelized Cream

Frog Legs with Garlic Puree and Green Jus

Pan-fried double lamb loin chops "Maintenon", Green Beans in Bacon and Artichoke Chips

Apple Crisps with Pineapple Sorbet and Lemon Balm-Lemon Grass Syrup

Crispy Sea Bass - French Toast Style, Capers and Lemon and Chicken jus

Buckwheat Crispy with Crab Meat and Vinaigrette

Inversed Flat Peach Melba, Red Currant Jus flavored with Hibiscus

Red Mullet with Tapenade Sauce

Lamb Rib Roast in Bread Crust Artichoke Fonds with Hazelnut Oil

Sauteed Green Asparagus Spears and Langoustines and Beetroot Vinaigrette

Bananas baked in their skins with Brown Sugar and Banana Sorbet

Foie Gras Flan with Fresh Morel Mushrooms and Asparagus

Hake with Parma Ham and Grilled Egpplants

John Dory in Tandoori Sauce w/ Wild Rice and Spinach

Chocolate and Orange Marmalade Tart

Squab Breast wrapped in Cabbage, Legs Stuffed, Tartlets with Wild Mushrooms

Lightly Pan Fried Scallops, Scallop Parmentier and Carrot Butter

Seasonal Fruit Flan and Streusel with Mango-Passion Fruit Sorbet

Cherried Pan Fried with Port Wine and Vanilla Ice Cream

Duck Bavarois, Mesclun and Confit Tomatoes

Glazed Stuff Sole and Surprise Crepe Parcels

Green Asparagus with Parmesan Cheese

Blancmange with Seasonal Fruit and Kiwi Coulis

Tabouleh with Fresh Bouquet and Shrimp Vanilla Oil

Red Mullets Fillet with Crispy Potato Scales

Swedish Style Marinated Herring with Cream and Avruga Caviar

Beef Cheek "Miroton", Cumin Carrots and Stuffed Turnips

close up on potato scale

Soft Macaroon, Candied fennel ice cream, wild berry coulis

Light Tiramisu-style mousse and sugared raspberries

orange and lime sorbet with sweet wine jelly and balsamic vinegar dressing

Artichokes "Grecque Style" with Saffroned Mussels

Roasted Rabbit Tandoori with Herb Salad

But we're not done yet, let me spill some of the photos during our last moment in culinary school. I know I've been saying this, but I really miss school and my classmates. They're just too awesome to be with. I somehow bonded with them and I hope I'll see them soon...

I just love Marianne

Steven or Si Toan in Vietnamese

with the girls and boob grabbing action

i have the best boobs in culinary school, I think.

Jonathan(singapore) Steven(vietnam) and Felix (south africa)

thai classmates

brite and nam

bacardi shot

Zach (Wisconsin)

Clement (Switzerland)

my turn

ulk. it just burned my throat.

sleeping is okay in class

and so as yawning

the boys in their high waisted pants

and us in our cropped pants

my partners in practical, they're just the best

last demo!

Pang, happy that class is almost over

More and Make

Marianne

and M, sleeping in front of chef

Cha and her Pastillage

Fendi on screen

chef wilfrid and cedric

And now that the class is over, let's go to the Final Exam day!!! I was really nervous about my dish, because I wasn't really confident about it, but it tasted good to me. So the common ingredient for all students were... Turbot 1.2kg, 16pcs. of Baby Carrot, 1 bottle of Belgian Trappiste Beer and 200g of Chanterelle Mushroom. In school, all examinees are given 5 hours to finish their dish, I finished mine in 4 hours, and I WAS THE LAST ONE TO SERVE. lol.

So for the Turbot, I braised it in stock and semi-filleted the top so that it will be easier to come off from the bones after it has done cooking in the oven. I braised it with stock, aromatic herbs and with the beer. Braised and semi- baked and filleted it after. Then I reduced the liquid with the carcass and mix it with a Veloute and made a sauce for it, thickened with egg yolks and cream w/ lemon. Then to make it orange-y, I made some Orange Gastrique and mix it entirely with the sauce.

For the Baby Carrots, I kept the top part of the stem and and slowly sugar glazed it and finished it with orange zest and a pinch of cumin. Then for the Chanterelle Mushroom, I sauteed it in butter w/ thyme and garlic and stock until it is eatable, and put it in the blender w/ some cream, just to make it into a creamy mushroom cappuccino soup. And a cappuccino is not complete if it doesnt have a foam, so I softened some onion with stock with olive oil and blended it to make a froth and topped it in the soup.

For the side dish, I made some turmeric rice, which I bought in Bangkok's Gourmet Market and made it into rice pilaf with tomato confit. lovely. And I made a micro salad with orange vinaigrette. Brocolli sprouts, rockets, alfalfa sprouts and etc.

Result.. AMAZING. Well, the Chef's have finished their plates. Everything was well combined and well seasoned. They love the whole idea of my dish, which I called, "Turbot Sauce Allemande a' L'orange" LOVETTE!

all prepped up for exam