The Perfect Meal: Part I

Today's the day: 3 courses, 3 hours to cook, and 3 chefs evaluating the final product. 10 bucks for ingredients, and 10 students anxious about what the chefs will say and do. Will they pull out rulers to measure our brunoise? Thermometers to make sure all the meat is cooked to the proper temperature? Scowl even when they like what they taste?

One of our chefs has a cold. Will he be able to taste and appreciate the ever-so-subtle hints and nuances of a dash of this or that?

Tuesday night I got a bit nervous... after hearing my classmates talk, it seems a lot of us are making some sort of custard for dessert. (Hey, eggs, cream, and sugar were all in the pantry.) For a flash moment Tuesday night, I thought about changing my dessert. Then I thought, nah, stick with what I know.

I woke up this morning excited. I couldn't wait to go shopping for my ingredients. (I really am a kitchen geek!) The guy behind the fish counter at Whole Foods was looking at me kind of strangely as I weighed four different sweet potatoes.

Here's the tally:

walnuts, $0.84
semolina, $0.35
chicken, $1.64
parsnip, $0.67
crimini mushrooms, $1.03
banana, $0.31
ginger root, $0.20
sweet potato, $0.86
french roll, $0.49
TOTAL: $6.39

That leaves me room for parmesan cheese, which Mike and I are splitting. But I figure $2 or $2.50 for cheese. (Hope he's got a small piece.) As I write I've got a little more than an hour before I'm in the kitchen... I'm debating going back for another banana, or maybe some tarragon... or should I get a bigger sweet potato?

Comments

[J.T.]

Just stopping in to say hello :-) You've been busy I see...keep on blogin!!

J.T.
Pastry Life

[scott]

good luck! (the irony of it is that i procrastinate studying for my final exams by reading about yours...)