On the menu this week:
Pasta Puttanesca (sauces and fresh pasta making)
Grilled shrimp, scallops, calamari, chicken (marinades)
Salad (emulsions)

Chef gave us an overwhelming menu to create this week (see above). I’m used to focusing on one dish, making it, and making it well. As the weeks progress, our menus are becoming more exciting and complicated.

And by overwhelming, I don’t mean to imply that I cannot make the things he is asking us to make. But rather, I’m overwhelmed by having to make these recipes with three other people who don’t always listen well to directions, and know very little about the basics.

It’s more about kitchen management than cooking with our group. Two of us (me and KH) are more experienced than the other two, so we’re often put in charge, or often take charge. I’m growing tired of telling, showing, explaining things Chef should be explaining to Cool Girl while I’m also trying to learn.

And because I have to keep stopping to teach Cool Girl how to chop herbs or hold their knife correctly, it’s taking away from the time I should be practicing my own skills.

I hope next week Chef can take some time to go over the basics again with everyone, or offer a refresher for those who may need it and let the rest of the class move forward. Hardly anyone is holding a knife correctly. Most in the class have no idea how to cut, chop, dice. And food safety? Don’t get me started.

Chef, if you’re reading this, we need a knife-skills class, pronto, and a food safety reminder. And FYI, I won’t be cleaning other people’s dishes and work stations next week - they should be cleaning their own. Consider me on dish room strike.