New Chapter

 

Let it be known that today I hacked (several) halibut into chunks with a giant cleaver.  Those of you who know me will realize that this is a fairly odd thing for me to be doing, since I don't like fish, and typically avoid it at all costs.  BUT, what some of you might not know is that yesterday I started culinary school.... so I didn't really have a choice! (About the halibut, that is.)  So, I embraced it a la Julia Child/Julie Powell (from Julie and Juila) and said "Don't be afraid!"

So, Culinary School, eh?  I know most informal food bloggers like myself take pride in the fact that they are self taught and all that, which up until now, I have.  But I had sort reached my limit on my old job (gardening), and so I decided to leave Nantucket and enroll in culinary school at Boston University.  I don't really know what I'm going to do with my new skills, but it seemed like a fun thing to do.  

So far we have made stocks:  Beef/veal, chicken, vegetable, and fish (hence the halibut).  I have to say, I have never bothered with making my own stock; I know that every credible chef says you should, and I acknowledge that, but a) I've never had a big enough pot, and b) it seems like a lot of effort and wasted ingredients (since you throw out the veggies used in the stock afterward).  At least when I buy stock in a carton, I don't have to think about the waste.  But, I will say this: our stocks were pretty darn good.  I'd have to taste a carton stock and our stock side by side in order to see exactly HOW much better homemade is, but my initial reaction was that ours were probably better.

But anyway, I don't intend to change the focus of the blog too much, or get too fancy on you, but I do intend to keep you all updated on any new and interesting things that I learn.  My gem for the day is don't handle halibut if you don't have to.  Okay, okay, maybe I'm biased, but my hands still smell fishy, after washing them at least 10 times, and showering!  Although it was kind of satisfying, except for how I ended up spraying myself with little bits of halibut... But for those of you who have told me that I should open my mind for the sake of my education, I will have you know that I even tasted the fish stock (by accident--I thought it was the chicken!)  It was fishy....

And that's all I have to say about that today.  But I didn't want to withhold my exciting news any longer! 

Tomorrow: Soups!  a.k.a., one of my all time favorite-est foods ever, so I think it will be a good day!