"good people of earth"

My chef addresses us as such occasionally and I just love hearing him say that. It makes me feel so good about myself. I am a good person of earth, I like it.

Today was Day 1 of Skills II which meant purple/red vegetables and potato day! Glazed beets, braised red cabbage, Duchesse Potatoes, and Cocotte Potatoes were prepared today in the wonderful world of Skills II. We are still in the same kitchen with the same chef that we had for Skills I.

The Cocotte potatoes were definitely my favorite because they reminded me of really good french fries. For the Cocotte potatoes, we shaped potatoes into 7 sided tournes and then pan fried them in butter. They developed a crunchy exterior and a decadently soft interior, just like the best french fries. The Duchesse potatoes are simply a mixture of pureed potatoes, egg yolks, butter, and nutmeg, seasoned with salt and pepper. The smooth mixture is then piped into a small mound and browned in the oven until it is golden in color. They're pretty nice but they get kind of dry in the oven and I don't really like that, but they are beautiful. The glazed beets were a delicious combination of boiled beets with a reduction of fresh orange juice, honey, and red wine vinegar. Right at the end butter was added, which is so Classic French. The braised cabbage was sweet and sour and wonderfully fragrant. It retained its beautiful purple color because we cooked it in a combination of red wine and red wine vinegar, giving it a very acidic environment which is good for the purple pigment, anthocyanin.