Today's class was all about Beef. The new thing about class would be that we each give a 2 minute presentation about what we read from our book on the current subject. This was the Chef's way of getting us to read our book each week. It worked and I read and took some notes to read in class about Beef. I talked about Kobe beef and why it is so expensive. It is beef mainly raised in Japan and they feed them a specialized diet which includes beer and give the cows massages to relax them producing better beef. Bizarre, huh? Now you know next time you see Kobe beef on a menu why it is expensive.
Anyway, we were then given our assignment for today. We would be preparing a sirloin steak medium (140 degrees). We would also have to make risotto to go with the steak, which would be my 2nd time to make this in class so I wasn't worried at all. And then I learned we would be having partners. Ugh. I didn't want a partner. I like cooking alone. And my partner would be a guy in the class who I didn't know and didn't talk much. Double ugh.
So off we went and started our plan. We actually worked well together and decided to go with a vegetable medly of Zucchini and Squash and my partner had an idea of baking them with oil and cheese. He said his Grandma makes them this way. I wanted something a little more and suggested balsamic vinegar. Unfortunately I couldn't find any. My partner suggested red wine vinegar. I didn't like this idea - I really wanted balsamic as I knew it has sugar in it which when cooked carmelizes a little bit and would be great on these veggies. I passed on the vinegar but then minutes later he showed up with the red vinegar. I decided to let him go for it since he had complete control over this side dish. I took control over the risotto as I knew you have to constantly stir it and constantly add liquid to it. We both took control over the meat and really babyied it to get the perfect temperature. We were so worried that our thermometers were not working right and our temps were off but I kept saying "take it off when your gut tells you". I don't know where that cooking intuition came from but I just knew we'd know when we'd know. I also knew meat keeps cooking a little more after you take it off the heat so a few less degrees would be just fine.
So, we took the meat off, put the risotto in a ramekin and then got our vegetables out of the oven. Our veggies looked dull. Very limp and dull. I was not impressed and knew the Chef wouldn't be either but we had no choice but to serve it up. To the Chef's table we went. He cut into our meat and was pleased - cooked to the right temp. He then tasted our veggies and....uh oh...oh no, he is making an awful face and..oh no, into the trash he spits them out. "That tastes funky he says. Did you taste them?". You ever watch those cooking shows and the judges ask "Did you taste this" and you think how could you forget to taste your own food? NOW I KNOW. You just do - when up against the clock you usually don't have time to taste and if you do you certainly don't have time to adjust - so I guess it's better if you don't know.
Needless to say even with perfect risotto and steak we bombed on our veggie side dish and got a 22 out of 25. Triple Ugh. It was a team effort so I don't feel anyone is to blame and we did all learn something from this and that is - red wine vinegar does not taste good drizzled on veggies and baked - it is NOT the same as balsamic, not even close. Trust me, don't try this at home.
