Vegtables, Rabbits, and Crabs, Oh My!

Hello Loves,

First of all I need to sincerely apologize (which I hate doing because it means that I haven't been doing my job) for not posting in over a week...but I've been completely booked with class and sleeping, really the only two things I do. This week looks a lot better schedule wise, so I should be updating more regularly, but first I have to fill you in on all of the lovely things that I haven't written about yet.

Sitting here, looking back at the list of recipes that we've completed so far, I have absolutely so much that I want to tell you!!! We've done everything from different preparations of puff pasty (100% made from scratch) to forcemeat stuffings to Quiche Lorraine. However, there are a few recipes that jump off the page as being extra-exciting (and extra-intense).

The first would have to be the crab bisque that we made in class. The reason that this recipe was so intense was because it used live crabs!!! Normally I wouldn't have a problem dealing with live crabs (velvet swimming crabs for those of you interested), but our chef decided it was a good idea to fill up these tiny tiny bowls to the brim with our portions of crab. So when I went to wash the crabs, they were all escaping into the sink. I scooped them up and turned around, and the next thing I knew they were crawling out of the bowl onto the floor!!! Luckily only two crabs escaped, but I wasn't able to pick them up immediately because I had to get a bigger bowl to stop the rest from jumping ship also. However, when I went back to scoop up the two other, they were missing! I'm not sure if the chef picked them up, because he was standing right there, or if they're still at large hiding underneath an oven or refrigerator.
Next, we had to sear the crabs in steaming hot oil (which killed them), without even boiling them first, and then crush them with a rolling pin to release the meat and juices. I have to say that it did seem pretty inhumane, but it also did make one good crab bisque.

Also, on a quick side note (for those of you interested in the workings of Le Cordon Bleu), I was one of the assistants for my practical group last week, which basically means that me and a partner had to run down to the basement kitchen, use the dumbwaiter to bring up all the ingredients, sort all of the ingredients and make sure we have enough of everything, and set up the room by putting out pans, cutting boards, etc. It also means that we were getting yelled out by the chef during the entire practical to do extra tasks like cutting portions of meat or running down to the basement during a practical to get extra ingredients (which is especially annoying if you have something in the oven or on the burner that might not turn out right depending on those extra one or two minutes). It also means that you're constantly asked by your kitchen companions where ingredients are...whether or not they're sitting out right on the table in front of the person (some people get so caught up in cooking, they forget to look around before asking) However, I was glad that I did it first and got it out  of the way and now I can focus on cooking as the recipes get more difficult.

The next technique that we've been learning is a little thing called "turning" vegetables and although the chefs make it look simple in the demonstrations, it might be one of the most difficult things I've ever done before. The whole idea for turning vegetables is to make them more aesthetically pleasing  and my mind is more in the "Let's just make this taste good"category instead of "Let's make this mushroom look really nice" category. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of my turned vegetables (which would've got you laughing compared to the actual ones) but I did get pictures of the chefs!

Turned Carrot (Basically a handmade
 baby carrot)

Turned Mushrooms
(We had to recreate the lower one)

Finally, and most importantly, (a little treat for making it this far) we had our infamous rabbit demonstration and practical today! Yes, it was my first time ever tasting rabbit and for those of you who haven't, it's basically a gamey type chicken. Not only do they have us cook the rabbit, but they have us debone...the entire thing (except the stomach). Basically, they give us a half gutted rabbit with the head on, which we have to later cleave off. I didn't take any pictures, so I'm going to steal some from another blog, but I'll post all the gory ones below, so for those of you who are squeamish, do NOT scroll down past the picture of the cute little bunny! I also didn't get a picture of my final plated rabbit dish (I'm always in such a rush to get the plates to the chef so everything stays warm!), but I got one of the chefs, and another of my dinner tonight, so I'll put both of those up also! 

Chef's final rabbit dish

My dinner tonight
(I swear it was much better than it looks)

Finally, now I get to eat Sarah's absolutely delicious desserts which makes me giddy with joy!!! This is why I'm going to gain sooooo much weight in Paris! Also, as a little added bonus for reading eight paragraphs of my rantings, I might just be willing to make you something...just hit me up. Plus, there will be much much more to come!!!

You've been warned

And finally a video of a former student fully deboning a rabbit:

P.S. First of all, this is what I did today. Second of all, I haven't watched the whole thing so I'm not sure if it's completely correct.