Fish Fish Mussels.

Like Duck Duck Goose, only different.

For our last day of new dishes in the skills kitchen (tomorrow and Friday, we're being testing on dishes we've made thus far), we made poached salmon (with rice pilaf, tournéed zucchini, and beurre blanc); fish "en papillote" with buttered potatoes; and steamed mussels with garlic croutons. We started by making a court bouillon, essentially a flavorful vegetable stock, in which to poach the salmon (water, wine, mirepoix, herb sachet). The fish poaching took about seven minutes once the stock was finished. That plate looked like the dieter's special, to me, but it was exactly as the chef ordered. We got two points off for underseasoned pilaf. Otherwise, the day was great.

Today's fish in paper was halibut. A couple of days ago, we each made a half pound of maitre d' butter, which is essentially chopped mixed herbs, lemon juice and white pepper kneaded into unsalted butter, formed into a tube about an inch and a half in diameter. Wrap it in paper, stick it in the fridge. You can then slice off a piece and use it to flavor virtually anything. We used it yesterday under the skin of our chicken; today, it was in the fish packet and on the potatoes. I'll be making some at home in the next day or so. Good use for those "leftover" bunches of fresh herbs.

The mussels were delicious. We made three extra pieces of garlic toast in order to wipe the bowl clean. We steamed the mussels open in white wine, minced shallots, and parsley, then removed them from the liquid and added maitre d' butter, until the sauce was thick and emulsified. Then we put the mussels in a bowl, poured the sauce over it all, placed the croutons strategically, and sprinkled minced parsley over the whole shebang.

Chef spent a few moments talking to each of us about our progress to date. The only bit of criticism he offered to me was that my seasoning can be more aggressive, "but that will come with time". I said, "Well, I'm having fun," and he said "that's the secret to success in this business."