"Will you come work at my fat camp?"

As part of our nutrition lecture this morning, we had a free-wheeling discussion on the question, "Is obesity a disease?" We reached a degree of consensus that, while there are hereditary factors, and diseases which result from obesity, it is more a lifestyle choice with heavy socio-economic and environmental influences. During break, Jordan described his entrepreneurial vision, a summer camp for fat kids, and he invited me to join his team. "You can be the nice person," he said. Seriously. I guess they've got me pegged.

In another example of preaching to the choir, Chef Glen lectured the eight of us (out of fourteen) who were in class by seven am today about wasting our money when we are late or absent. ("You're spending three hundred dollars a day for this!!") He was even more direct following our kitchen session (we totalled eleven, by that time): "Cut your losses. Don't go backwards. You know who's dependable. Build a strong team."

I can't complain about working with Aaron, that's for sure. He's thoughtful, quick, resourceful, polite, and funny. He wears glasses with thick black rims, and a diamond high on his ear that's covered by his cap, and non-uniform black loafers. Today, we braised: coq au vin and swiss steak. We had to serve the chicken with pilaf and "vegetables du jour"; mashed potatoes and braised red cabbage with the beef. Aaron suggested mixing the veg with the pilaf, so he parboiled carrots brunoise and short pieces of yellow and green beans. Our chicken was a leg/thigh piece, with carmelized skin and a beautifully mahogany sauce studded with pearl onions, diced bacon and mushrooms. Rating: 11.5 out of 10. It was the dish to beat today, and no one did.

The swiss steak was really fun. First, we used a piece of flat-iron steak that Chef had marinated overnight in red wine, onions, rosemary, and garlic. After flouring and sautéing it, we added sliced onions and minced garlic, herbs, and red wine and veal demiglaze, then simmered it for an hour. Mashed potatoes and braised cabbage were also on the menu. We added chives and horseradish to our potatoes (Aaron likes horseradish as much as I do), but he was befuddled by the cabbage. He's Filipino, and is used to eating cabbage cold, shredded with fish sauce, so the brown sugar and apples and long cooking did nothing for him. I added some red wine vinegar, a lot of black pepper, and some caraway seeds. The piece of meat, about an inch thick, seemed like it would have to be tough, but we seasoned the sauce and put the plate together. Chef Glen tasted the cabbage first. "What's in here?" he asked.

"Caraway."

"Where did you get that?"

"From the spice shelf."

"No, I mean, what made you think of that?"

"It needed a little something."

Andy, at the adjacent table, looked up and said, "That's a great plate of German food, right there." (He's from Minnesota, so he knows.)

Thank you, Grandpa. (Rating: 10.5.)

Today, I made and used beurre manie for the first time. It's equal parts butter and flour, combined (I mushed it together with my fingers, which was really cool), and it's used as a thickener for sauce. You add a lump to the liquid at the end of the cooking, bring it to a boil, and cook for a minute or two, until you reach the desired consistency. Super easy.

I only had a small taste of our finished dishes, because I had plans to meet Sandra for lunch, but Aaron finished off the swiss steak, which was incredibly tender. He ate all the potatoes. And the cabbage. He's a convert.