I was running a bit behind schedule this morning, so I only got to class about 10 minutes early. This was not enough time for me to do my morning prep and thus I forgot to go through the equipment check list and make sure our station had all the equipment it should. Consequently, frustration ensued when it came time to begin production and we didn't have the proper sauce pans, wooden spoons and etc.

Who the heck puts stuff away in the later classes and why don't they bother to get it right?

Prep went smoothly, though it included an awful lot of brunoised vegetables, which take a little more effort and time. Luckily the dishes are relatively quick to prepare. Couscous is almost finished before you start it. You sweat some vegetables, coat the couscous in oil, add boiling water, stir and let sit covered for 5-10 minutes. Fluff it with a fork and it's ready for the plate.

Mine were very good, except for the fact that there was no green in my bruinoised zucchini, which would have added some nice color contrast. Live and learn.

Wild Rice Pilaf is the exact same recipe we did the day before (Rice Pilaf), only with cooked wild rice being added as the last step. It has a wonderfully nice and nutty flavor. Unfortunately, we made our recipes with water today, not chicken stock, so the flavor wasn't very deep.

My final dish, split pea soup, sort of baffled Chef Perez. The seasoning was good, the texture good, and it was nice and chunky, but some of the peas hadn't completely broken down. They were soft and melted on the tongue, but had kept some of their body. I'm not really sure why, since I had simmered the soup for 1.5 hours. Actually, I sort of liked the result.

Overall a fairly quick day.

Tomorrow we leave carbs and starches and move into oils and vinegars (and lots of vegetable prep).