The Corner Kitchen: Final Days at FCI & Menu Project

I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by, my ~~days~~ nights at FCI are winding down and coming to what feels like (although it's not) an abrupt end. My first night at FCI felt surreal, I dreamed of going to culinary school for years, and there I was. What I remember most about that night was that (1) our Chef was nothing like the intimidating person I was expecting and (2) it was complete and utter information overload. I drew a map of the kitchen so I'd remember where everything was stored...haha. I didn't need it for every long. Some days it feels like that night was just yesterday, and other days it feels like I've spent waaay more than nine months in culinary school. I've come a really long way since that first night, and looking back I'm amazed at how much I've learned and how far I've come.

In less than a week, everything I've learned, and everything I've worked on during the past 6 weeks in L'Ecole, will be put to the test in our final exam. Our final (much like the mid-term) presents to task of preparing two of the eight dishes we've been preparing during Level 6, either an appetizer and a meat dish or a fish dish and a dessert. As for the combination of which specific recipes we'll make, that will be determined by drawing a paper from a hat on the night of the final. I have a lot of studying and prep ahead of me! I'm determined to have a much more successful night then the midterm. What makes the final tough is the tight timeline we're working against!

One of the highlights during school was our Level 5 Menu Project. The premise was create a minimum of a 4-course dinner menu for eight people, with a wine pairing for at least one course, all centered around a specific theme. Awesome, right?!! I had so many ideas bouncing around my head from the get go, but when it came to actually settling on a theme, I was stumped. It was really frustrating. My very first idea was autumn seasonal cooking from the farmers market - my very favorite season for cooking, the time for some of my favorite seasonal produce and the project was due right around Thanksgiving. As much as I liked this idea, I wanted something so much more creative. But my creative juices just weren't flowing, nothing came to me. I toyed around with a couple different themes and menu items, but time and time again I reverted to my autumnal theme (and the project was turned in, in late fall, so it was quite fitting), so I went with it. I couldn't have been more thrilled with the final product!

Amuse Bouche