Just like the grandma says in the movie Parenthood, I like the rollercoaster. It keeps things interesting. But sometimes I just want the ride to be smoother.

Today was challenging. Evidently I have quite high expectations of myself - or at least that's what everyone around me says. It seemed like everything I touched either fell apart, burned, tasted bitter or wasn't the right consistency. Today's recipe du jour was a lamb rib roast encased in bread dough and served with an artichoke puree and a vegetable garnish. The recipe seemed fairly easy when the chef made it in class. Little did I know that it would turn into Mr. Toad's Wild Ride when it was my turn.

I began by making my bread dough - a simple mix of flour, salt, sugar, yeast and water. I set it above the stove so it could rise, the yeast burping happily away and doubling the volume. Although it looked quite lovely when I freed it from the bowl, it was a pain to roll out. Because so much elasticity had developed, it was almost impossible to roll into a rectangle. Plus it decided to stick to every single surface no matter how much flour I used. I set the lamb roast, which I had carved from the bones, on the dough and covered it with a vegetable garnish. I accidentally separated the flap of fat from the roast, so the chef was none too pleased. Then he examined my bruniose (dicing vegetables into 1 mm cubes - exactly the same size) and picked out all the pieces that we're perfect. I had a few carrots that were .5 mm too big.

I pushed forward despite the cut off flap and irregular dice and rolled the lamb and vegetables in the dough. My packet looked more like an the creature from the black lagoon than a nicely shaped bread containing the best cut of lamb possible. Then came the decoration. We of course made a separate batch of dough, without yeast, for creating pretty decorations. No matter how I begged and pleaded, the dough didn't cooperate. Instead of a beautiful leaf and berry design I had thought up, it look like a two-year-old's Playdough sculpture. Too frustrated to care about a pretty design, I took everything off and just made small, round buttons on top. In to the oven it went.

Now came the sauce. By the time I got to it, I reduced it too far so there was barely any left for plating. Not a problem, I thought, I'll just add some water. This usually works, but the water diluted the flavor and the color. To rectify the problem, I added some caramelized onion flavoring (a liquid made by burning onions, boiling them in water and then reducing the mixture). Of course I added too much and the sauce became instantly bitter and still wasn't thick enough. Okay, fine. I then added some veal stock - which isn't on the recipe - and finally the sauce became palatable. It wasn't fabulous though.

With a sigh, I took my lamb out of the oven and realized I'd made another mistake. I didn't close up the dough firmly, so my little bread packet was leaking lamb and vegetable juice everywhere. Another mistake the chef eyed and gave me a disapproving look.

Plating was a little better. I managed to cut the bread/lamb/vegetable mass to make it look somewhat presentable. The artichoke puree was placed in a round mold with some extra vegetable garnish on top. I was stingy with the sauce however, because I knew it wasn't up to par. I presented my plate to the chef like a dog with its tail between its legs. I fought the recipe and this time, it won.

Days like this are pretty far and few between, I'm happy to report. Yesterday the chef had a hard time finding anything wrong with my dish. I just wish I could be a tad more consistent. I guess that's why I'm in school. And hopefully they are more good days than bad in my future!

1 Comment  Leave a Comment