Last Week Of My Subejct BCS1 (Basic Culinary Skills1)

Hello there! It's been quite long since my last post, sorry for that. Been a little busy the past days.. :)

Let me just share about my last week of my subject BCS1, which was my favorite week. We studied the basics about Pasta and Potatoes. YUM!

On Day 1 we were taught on how to properly cook dried pasta (the ones you can just buy at any grocery store). Even though I thought i already know how to cook dried pasta, I still learned new things. For example the Term for well-cooked pasta is called "al dente" which means "to the tooth", meaning that the pasta you cook should still be firm but tender.
Another new thing i learned is that after cooking the Pasta, I actually have to place it in a bowl of ice to completely stop the cooking. I never really thought of it before, that if i just set it aside, it will still continue cooking because its still hot.
Anyway, for day 1, we cooked Angel Hair Pesto and Spagetti Alfredo Pasta :)

Angel Hair with Pesto Sauce

Spagetti Alfredo

On Day 2 we were taught how to make fresh pasta dough this time, i was really excited about it because i never tried making any fresh pasta dough before. It is actually quite simple, all you need is flour, eggs, olive oil, and water. Mix the ingredients together, kneed until it gets the correct consistency. Form it into a ball, place little oil around it when placing into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place the bowl in the refrigerator till you want to roll it out and make your "sfoglia" basic pasta sheets (that look like long lasagna pasta sheets. To create those sheets, we used a Pasta Dough Sheeter. Which looks something like this:

Photo i just grabbed from Google, since i couldn't take pictures inside the school's kitchen.

So on Day 2, we were able to make Spinach&Cream Cheese Ravioli with Tomato Sauce and Spaghetti Vongole. Oh how i loved the Spinach&Cream Cheese Ravioli <3

Spaghetti Vongole

Spinach&Cream Cheese Ravioli

Look at the Spinach and Cream Cheese.. YUMMY!

On Day 3 it was all about potatoes. We did some Duchesse Potatoes, Baked Potatoes, and Mashed Potatoes. I already did some mashed potatoes before, but making duchesse and baked potatoes was new to me. Especially the Duchesse Potatoes, i don't think i've ever eaten it before. It's delicious! :)

Baked Potato

Duchesse Potato

Mashed Potato

Unfortunately I didn't take any photos of the potatoes we cooked on Day 4.. i forgot. :D I'm sure you know how they look like anyways. ;p
We did some Pommes Croquettes, Pommes Frittes, Potatoes Au Gratin, Roesti Potatoes.
The Pommes Frittes or French Fries we cut it into 3 different sizes (french fries, new york fries, and potato wedges) on day 3, blanched it in hot oil, and placed them in the freezer. I learned that blanching fries in hot oil and freeze them before frying makes them crispier.

Aside from cooking the food, i was pretty much busy and stressed studying all lectures we went through in subject BCS1. Which is a LOT! o.0 Luckily, i was able to get a pretty good grade. Actually highest in class. YEHEY!

Last Minute Studying Before Class. *nervous*