Thomas Ho

Professor Charlotte Howe

English 1010
April 22, 2015

Recipe Quail Mousseline

2 Quail Birds
6 Beet Leaves
2 Lobster Mushrooms
1/2 Diced Shallots
1/3 Cup of Burgundy
1 Slice of White Bread, Edges Trimmed Of
2 Table Spoons of Heavy Whipping Cream
1.Fabricated Quail Mousseline into breasts and separate the thighs. Keep the
scraps from the thighs.
2.Blanch the 6 beet leaves.
3.Diced up the Lobster Mushrooms, make sure to use cheese cloth to take out
the moisture.
4.Heat saut pan, and add shallots then mushrooms.
5.Remove when all moisture of mushrooms is gone.
6.Sear of the 2 out of 4 breasts till brown and crispy on one side.

7.Add the 2 of the 4 breast and all the useable trim into a frozen processor.
8.Blend and if needed add ice cubes to maintain the low temperature.
9.Then add the Panada reduction with the break soaked, and add into the
food processor.
10.Add the 2 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream.
11.Obtain a muffin tin, and play the leaves, folded out so at the end it can be
folded above the mousseline layer.
12.Layer the quail mousseline, lobster duxelle, quail breast, mousseline, and
then fold in the leaves.
13.Then put into an oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until you press
down it is firm.
Panada Reduction
1/2 Cup of White button mushrooms
1/2 Onion sliced length wise
1 Teaspoon of Mace
1 Teaspoon of Coriander
1 Teaspoon of Nutmeg
1 White Wine
1.Heat a saut pan and brown the onions and mushrooms.
2.Add in the white wine and seasonings.
3.Let it reduce until thick

ACF Student of the Year

Backing up my car into the loading dock at the Miller campus, while looking
out the car window the sky is still dark and the birds havent started chirping.
Excited to start my day of to attend the competition in Utah Valley University; I
waited in my car where my instructor, Jason Talcott, promised he could wake up this

early because he used to be in the military. When Jason arrived he unlocked the
door to the classroom and walk-ins, and we both started loading the food into the
ice chests and on to the car. We also loaded up a ton of kitchen equipment in case
they didnt have the right equipment.
As daybreak we both start heading down to Orem, whereas Jason had to drop
by Target to grab a few items that we forgot to prepare. Driving down the highway
where the sun started to come out, I was excited listening to music to pump myself
up for this competition. Following my GPS to the UVU campus I apparently arrived
just in time, because we need to be an hour early before the 8 oclock competition
to set up the station and check in with the competition host. Backing up my car in
their loading dock I start transferring my equipment and ice chests into their
kitchen to get ready for my competition.
As the competition is 30 minutes to start I meet my four competitors from
the Art Institute, UVU, DATC, and Park City Culinary Institute. Everyones ego is
bouncing of each other telling about where they have worked and their experience
to get a grasp of their skills. I talked to my coach where he told me to put all egos
aside and focus on my own station and food, because at the end we will see who
won. Ten minutes before we start, I finished my red bull and put on my nice French
striped apron awaiting the competition host to tell me to start. As I wait the judges
walk by and introduce themselves to me.
We begin, and I start fabricating my quails making sure that they are
butchered to the correct numbers and cleanliness. I turn around to look at the stove
that the host assigned to me, and I noticed that three out of the six knobs for the
stove burners were missing. I was frustrated thinking, Are they trying to sabotage

me? Being angry at this, I just told myself Im keeping all six burning on all the
time and forget there gas bill.
Two judges are hovering over me on the other side of the table making sure
Im not making any food safety violations. Sweating and thinking in my mind,
Please dont mess up, please go away and bother someone else. Right as I
finished fabricating my quail, I started on making my panada for my mousseline. At
this time the UVUs all-star student competitor that did this competition last year
was hovering over me. As Im cutting the white button mushrooms, I notice three
more people come over from their school to intimidate me. I begin to feel nervous
and hands start shaking while cutting the mushrooms for my panada and my
duxelle, and they all look slanted and diferent sizes. As I told myself Stop shaking,
Stop shaking you will cut yourself. Just ignore these people because they have
nothing else to do. I turn around and empty the mushrooms in a hot pan, and just
as I turned around to start slicing the beets; one of their coachs from UVU asks me
Whats the mushrooms for? I heard his question but I did not want to be more
nervous and did not answer him, because I didnt care to answer his questions
because my time was limited. I continue to finish the beets and carrots and place
them in blanching water getting ready for one to be pickled and one to be sauted.
Throughout the competition I kept wiping my station down with sanitizer and
making sure everything is clean and organized. I keep seeing the judges passing by
writing down in their notepads. And me being curious thinking what could they
possibly be writing down, did I make a violation?
I start assembling my quail mousseline by placing the beet leaves inside
muffin tins and wiping the sides with butter. I first by placing a bit of the quail

mousseline down to make a base and then layering it with the seared quail breast.
Finally topping the quail breast with mousseline to seal up the rest of the layers.
As everything is done and finished cooking I placed everything in the oven at
100 degrees F, to keep everything warm. I wait for the host to tell me that I have
ten minutes left. I still had eight minutes to spare, so I just stood there and watched
the other competitors run around like headless chickens. As the window of plating
started I quickly open the over and grab out all the diferent components to the
dish. Quickly everyone in the kitchen; coaches, students, judges, and other
competitors hover over my station to watch me plate up my dish. I overhear them
saying What kind of a knife is that, it looks nice. I start placing all the diferent
items and my hands start shaking and I keep telling myself to focus and not let
these observers to intimidate me.
As I walk my dish to the judges sitting down at the table I describe my dish
and walk back into the kitchen. I start cleaning up and chatting with the other
competitors on how they did. Of course no one said that they messed something up
or that it was difficult. As the judges finish judging and I was told to come back to
hear their comments, I sit down and notice that I know two out of the three judges.
But there was one judge that was from UVU, so I was feeling that he better not be
the one that chews me out on my food. They said everything was good, but the
parsley puree was a little bit on the salty side. The UVU judge said that the food
was cold because I did a modern presentation where the food items were spread
apart. He was chewing me out about that Im a culinary student and that we arent
taught modern style but classical. He also mentioned to me Who taught you to
plate like this? Jason your instructor? They said this because when my instructor

did his ACF Certified Executive Chef test he fought against these old judges that
modern cuisine shouldn't be looked down on.
The next day there was a dinner hosted at La Caille where awards are
handed out to every competitor. This ranged from cooking to instructors, food
vendors, and health inspectors. This dinner was called the ACF Presidents Ball. They
started announcing the awards in sections with the courses. There was an appetizer
course, entree, and dessert course. I thought this dinner for the La Caille chef would
be super stressful, because the food for the event is all for chefs which cook
themselves. I thought that most of the people consuming the food for the night
would judge how everything was. The announcement for the ACF Student of the
year was at the end of the entree course. It started out with the ACF chef of the
year following by the student award. I was preparing myself to get up there and
make up a speech quickly in my mind. My hands were sweating and my coach was
looking at me very nervous. The host was starting to announce the award and I
thought that the time of her speech was super slow and that I wanted to get this
award over with. Finally she announced that the winner was Thomas Ho from Salt
Lake Community College, and I ran up to the stage and felt nervous in front of
everyone. I managed to squeeze out of my self only to say I'm glad this happened,
and I can only say thanks to my instructors that helped me through this.