Day 4, Fine Cooking 1 at ICE and 7 Moles, day 2

The morning at Fine Cooking 1 was wrapped around eggs. We poached, boiled, made French omelets and souffles with dozens of eggs. We had a new teacher, who is a teacher in the professional classes (as opposed to the recreational division) and she inspected all of our eggs and made us do another if the first one didn't meet her standards. There were many failures, but we all passed inspection after throwing out many sad looking eggs. The picture at the right shows the instructor, Chef Lorrie Reynoso, at the start of the poaching demo.

I managed a "terrific" with my first poached egg. Had to do several omelets (learned the difference between French ... no color, tri-fold.... and American omelets). We also did a Salade Nicoise with freshly grilled tuna (it has hard boiled eggs). This class was intense in a different way ... the exactness that the chef expected was strenuous, but fun.

Then, after a hour of putting my feet up, I went off the the 7 Moles class. I was in charge of re-fried beans (mash, mash, mash ), tortilla chips (fry quickly, salt immediately after they are pulled from the hot grease) and margaritas (2 parts tequila, 1 part lime juice, 1 part Cointreau, sugar to taste). Here is a picture of the final spread. We learned how to cut up a chicken ( something that I had wanted to learn while I was here!)Many of the moles had been started last night, so the intensity of last night's Mole class was not as tense. I am not much of a drinker, but had 3 or four margaritas and a beer and some wine. I wove my way home/hotel at 11:30pm.
I have loaded up all of the pictures from the day here if you want to see all of the gory details. (the internet connection at the hotel is spotty and slow, so I am taking a shower while they load. Couldn't get on at all yesterday! The shower has its own weirdness ... only a millimeter of difference between just tepid and scalding.)

7 Mexican Moles, Day 1 at ICE

After the lamb shank class (from 9:30 to 3:30) I ran back to the hotel, flopped on the bed and then got up almost immediately for the evening class (6pm-11pm) on moles.

As you can tell from the picture the kitchen for this class is similar to the Fine Cooking class. There were exceptions. There was a salamander to broil things under, there was a dishwasher (of the human kind), there were different machines (robo coupe instead of regular blender, etc), and this was the first time this class was offered. It was an intense class. We prepared 7 types of moles, soups, tortillas, tamales, drinks, rice, and other odds and ends. Most of the moles were pre-prepped for the next day. We also made drinks ... beer with Maggi, Worcesteshire sauce, hot sauce and soy sauce... called michilada. Made tequila and sangrita (tomato juice, orange juice mix). We strained, browned, poached, rolled, chopped and flame cooked ingredients.Then we sat down and ate some of what we made.
My assignment was mole amarillo with poached chicken. It was very similar to the moles I have made in the past. I did learn, from Fine Cooking 1, how to poach chicken, which made the whole thing tastier than I had ever made before. Also the straining of the sauce through a chinoise made the mole smoother than previously.
The chef's name was Dan Stone. The helper was Pablo. Both of them knowledgeable and cheerfully helpful. I wish that the class had been a tad less intense. Although the class is called "7 Moles" I actually learned only one.I will let you know how the next night turns out.
If you want to see the rest of the pictures they are here.