Final Presentation

For our final, we had to put together a complete dinner, which included: three hor'dourves (four of each), a Terrine or Galantine (I did a vegetable Terrine), and a meal that consisted of an appetizer, protein, starch, vegetable, and dessert. Finally, we had to aspic everything and was graded on this as well as our menu selection, coloring (how it looks on the eye), presentation (how it was put together, and show. We also had to include our tallow project, which had to be a theme of what our meal would be. My theme was Italian and other than the Terrine, I stayed close to it. I loved Garde Manger. It was a lot of fun, a wonderful experience and it really brought out my confidence. Enjoy!

My appetizer tray consisted of Stuffed Mushroom Caps, Honey Mustard and Prosciutto Palmiers, and Mini Cheese Filled Cherry Tomato & Basil Pesto Galettes.

* The Chef pointed out that instead of having two pastry-type hor'dourves on one tray, I should have made one a vegetable type hor'dourve, such as Stuff Red Pepper Boats. It would have also added more color. I had thought of the double pastry thing but by the time I did, it was too late to change.

My Vegetable Terrine was made with eggplant, red, yellow, orange and green peppers, very thin carrot slices (just thicker than shavings). I alternated the colored peppers in between the layers of eggplant and carrots so when it was sliced, it had a coordinated color look to it. I was going to layer carrot slices all around it, but it became too time consuming so I ended up only topping the terrine with them. In the end, I was glad that I didn't because someone else had done that and it looked like he placed the carrots there with aspic after the mold had set.

* The Chef really liked my Terrine and said he could tell I spent a lot of time on it. If only he knew I spent all of 2-hours, if that. He was impressed that I actually got the required 4-slices the same size, especially since I literally "butchered" the one we did in class as practice, leaving no main part of the Terrine in tact (which was a requirement for this project). He thought I should have stacked all four slices as I did the two slice in the back to give it that "domino effect" look but he did like the way that I put in on a curve instead of straight as most people do.

I chose a Tomato Aspic with Mayonnaise and Shrimp as my appetizer.

* The Chef couldn't believe that I actually was able to aspic the lettuce since it's almost impossible to do without wilting it (or so he says). What I did was paint it with my finger and only put two coats of aspic on it. While the Chef was evaluating it, he pointed to the "mayonnaise" and asked me what it was. I told him it was whipped cream with cinnamon in it. He gave me a blank stare so I explained that there was no more mayonnaise opened and instead of opening a new jar to sit there for a month before it was used again (kitchen's closed until Fall Semester), I just used the whipped cream someone else had made up for their project. That impressed him enough, he didn't grade me on garnish. He did say, however, that since I decided to put the mayonnaise beside the Apsic instead of on top, I should have added something on top of the Aspic to give it a little color, such as a lemon twist.

The main course was Broiled Honey-Mustard Salmon, Roasted Potatoes and Grilled Lemon Zucchini.

* The Chef thought I could have brought the color of the Salmon out to a more vibrant red if I would have grilled it instead of broiling it. It's hard to see in the picture but the honey-mustard glazed beautifully over the Salmon and he liked that. He also said I should have one less potato and a couple more slices of Zuchhini to give the plate more eye appeal. In other words, it looked heavy on the starch and too light on the vegetable for the meat portion. Other then that, he said it looked very appetizing and because I had lemon zest on the zucchini (if you look closely, you can see it) and Italian Parsley on the Salmon, no other garnishing was needed.

And last, but certainly not least, the dessert was Panna Cotta with Caramel Sauce.

* Chef didn't have anything to say about my dessert other that it looked good and there was nothing to improve on.

Working with Tallow was fun. There are three colors to work with - white, chocolate (that actually smells like chocolate) and yellow. It wasn't until I did the biscotti did I realize I could combine the colors to make a different color or I would have made the spoon handle and the sugar tongs lighter . I had originally planned to do the Leaning Tower of Pisa with salt dough, as suggested by the Chef. I actually did it but truthfully, it looked more like a light house with balconies than anything. After that I couldn't decide between a pitcher with Italian cooking utensils or an espresso cup and saucer. Slowly what you see is what delvelped. If you take a close look at the Biscotti, you will notice a bite has been taken out and crumbs are on the platter. That was the Chef's favorite part. The week we had to bring them to class so he could see how we were progressing with them (it was a project we did at home), he asked me if I had actually taken a bite out of the tallow. I told no way, I made my husband do it (hey, it was his idea anyway). The tallow will sit in the display window at the school, until it is returned to me when next year's summer Garde Manger students replace it with their tallow project.