Aggie Almanac; 126; Cooking Up A Future

You Coming up on Aggie Almanac, there's a whole lot cooking in this student-run restaurant at NMSU. The hotel restaurant management, it's all about dealing with people and you can't teach that out of a book. You have to get out there and do it. Hi, I'm Hillary Floren and thanks for watching Aggie Almanac where you get a first-hand look

at some of the amazing things going on at New Mexico State. In today's show, get ready to start smacking your lips as you watch a gourmet meal being prepared by future chefs. In NMSU's hotel restaurant and tourism management program, students run a real life on campus restaurant called 100 West Cafe. It's the way they get the experience that they'll need for their culinary careers. Producer Gary Worth was in the kitchen with them for hours as they experienced the ups and downs of meeting the lunchtime deadline for some very picky customers. They say too many cooks spoil the broth, but in this case it seems to be the more the merrier. They're not experienced chefs, but some of them hope to be.

I plan to do event management, probably entertainment, music, sports marketing, things like that, but along with those kind of fields comes the catering part of it. There's a lot of formal dinners involved in those types of events, and so this is really good training for me, especially to interact with the customers up front and in the back. It really helps out a lot to have this experience. All the cooks here are students enrolled in a foods class in NMSU's hospitality, restaurant, and tourism management program. It's cooked up, but you'll have to chop it up. But it's more than a class. It's also a working on campus alacart restaurant, normally open to the public two times a week. But today, 30 university VIPs will be ordering up lunch at 100 West Cafe. It's 10.30 right now, just 90 minutes until meal time, and the students get last-minute instructions from assistant professor John Hartley, who is also the brains behind this operation. Not many folks are here, but I want to go ahead and get started, because not a lot of folks are here.

Emily, you're on trout, right? You have a lot of dicing to do, the tomatoes and things. So you need to get on that, the trout is out, and it's hot, the grill is hot. You need to mainly concentrate on making the sauce, because we'll be grilling the trout to order. You won't be actually cooking it until the people are here. It's already butterfly, and all you're going to do is put it meat side down on the grill for usually just takes about 30 seconds or a minute, flip it over, same thing on the other side. Okay, it's fish the kind of thing that they can order a certain way, or is it okay? No, trout cooks so quickly. You'll be actually pulling it off to keep it from drying out, more than trying to keep it a certain temperature. And the sauce, I'll show you the garnish, but basically I want you to make diagonal hash marks on the trout,

and then just put a thin line of the sauce on a bias with your grill marks. And it'll be served with the potatoes and the green beans. Okay. If you're doing dishes, Zach and Grisel, the potatoes are already in the oven, because they took too long on Wednesday, and the water's already on for the green beans, and we'll cook those to order, so just help somebody else out. And I believe we have Dean Careathers coming in this party today, so we want to get the dining room looking really nice. Okay. So get on it. There's this crazy sauce I have to make. Look at all these ingredients. I don't have to do a bunch of dicing, so you should help me cut up to make this.

You're going to need to help set up, because we are short-handed in the front. I might even have you serve a little bit. Really okay. That's all right. I brought my smile. While the room is getting set for lunch, things begin to get hectic back in the kitchen. The students are rotated through a new job every week, so one week they'll serve, one week they'll bus, then they'll do appetizers or entrees or desserts. And by the end of the semester, everyone has had to work every position in the restaurant. So through about three quarters of the semester, they're literally trying something new every day. They're both black pepper, right? We'll use this one. We're making a much chicken mushroom soup. And we're just softening the mushrooms.

It looks good. So what is it? This is a dredging flour for the chicken that we're going to do. Is it a fast way to do it and the slow way to do it? This is for a sauce. We're going to be doing a trout, and we're just going to be giving it some real marks real quick. And then the sauce that we're going to make is going to be a compliment to that. It's a real kitchen, but it's also a lab, a place to learn from your mistakes, like forgetting to remove the stems before chopping up the time. I knew it! If you just strip from the top down, so come right up. Right. We don't have yellow, but basically you just need to take some of the bigger tomatoes,

slice them about that thick, salt and pepper, and just get them in a bowl ready to go. And then probably 15 minutes before service, just go ahead and start plating so that you have some ready to go. And I leave those in the cooler so they stay nice and chilled. And then all you have to do when you start getting orders is drizzle the oil and vinegar and you're done. Wash your hands every seven minutes. Most important thing you can do. One of the main courses is coming along with little trouble. We're going to put a little flour on it to help thicken the sauce when the chicken comes out, the rest of the ingredients will go in. It's a very big saute. Melissa Muhammad has a big responsibility.

She's in charge of a very complicated dessert, a cheesecake. They're chopping the pistachios for the top and edges of the dessert. But they can't figure out how to get the electric processor working. How many students is it to use a food processor? Go. And you have to get it locked on the lid and the bottom for it to turn on so it'll work and we can't get it to lock correct. Like to fit every direction possible. Don't know. It doesn't like us today. Always like that. And then this. By the way. There we go. The technical problem is solved. But Melissa's still got her hands full making the filling. To pour in the ingredients and then I need to add some sugar.

I'm just going to mix this first and then add the rest. Yeah. I'll just pack them all in. Mean time hardly has stepped in to speed up the process of cooking that chicken entree. She was just dredging them one at a time and putting them in instead of dredging all the chicken breasts at once. This way you just get them in the heat a lot faster and they'll all cook fairly uniformly. You won't have some that are overdone and some that are underdone. They'll all cook together. Not far away the salad crew is hard at work testing two ways of slicing tomatoes.

This is called a mandalette. And what you do is you slide the food on what you're trying to do over this blade right here. You got to be really careful because if you go too far you'll cut your finger small. And that's not very good. And it's kind of difficult to do it with tomatoes because they have a skin that makes it kind of difficult to do. It's a sharp knife. It's working a little bit better right now. Meanwhile the battle with that cheesecake continues. It keeps rising so we need to push it back down and make sure that everything gets mixed up properly. This is straight cream cheese, flour and sugar. It's very thick. The cheese is going to be really good. The moment has come to add the zest and time for another lesson. When you're using it, if you try and do it this way it won't cut.

You have to use it flat against the fruit and it'll cut. Or you go get oranges and lemon. Oranges are on the grocery cart and lemons are in the walk-in. Two of each. Now you're going to need four. You need five tablespoons of zest. Probably about six or eight lemons or five oranges. They're a lot. The soupshaps are having less trouble. This is going to be the soup base. And so to make it thicker and thicken it up we're going to add some flour and then some other seasonings because season it up. And then we'll puree it and we'll add some soup stock and chicken and it'll make it good soup. Yeah bring it to a boil and then let me take a look at it. It's looking thick enough. We probably won't have to thicken it anymore. It's done. There you go.

We are. Bring on the orders. Oops, it's time to take the chicken off the fire. Begin the sauce. This is for the chicken actually. We're going to saute these peppers. Separate. We already took the chicken out and then we're going to saute onions and peppers together. And there's garlic cloves. Back in. Back in. After we've made sauce. Yeah it's going to, well this is reducing. And then back in goes the chicken. Yeah just finish cooking them in that as soon as they're done. Pull them back out and then put them in that oven to just a hold warm. Reduce your sauce. Put it in a pan and you're ready to go. There's an exotic vegetarian dish on the menu that's taking shape. These are capers.

I'm crushing them up for the panapodinuscus sauce. And show me, and show me taste, the greatest small thing in the world. And as lunchtime draws closer, a reminder. Before you guys start plating, make sure you put on gloves. The salad might be ready. Yeah, we're ready to serve. But that cheesecake is another story. You have all your zest in there? Not yet, I'm going to pour it in there. Because at this point it's only got about 30 minutes to cook. You're running behind. A decision is made to put the cheesecake filling into a larger bowl. Fill these things up and get them in the oven. And it is beginning to look a lot like cheesecake. A cheesecake that is finally on its way to the oven.

Put them down for the water in it and I'll slide them in. You have three quarters right there. Have you already added the butter? But there's a small crisis with the sauce for the fish entree. That's right. That's what we're doing right now. Okay, you have not put the butter in yet. Just keep it off the heat. It's not broken. But on the next batch, reduce it by half. Then stir in the butter. But never boil it after you add the butter because that'll break it. Okay. Okay, finishing the sauce with butter. It's literally the last thing you do and you never boil it after that. So you're still adding more butter to the butter?

Yes. Yeah. It's a mistake he will not make with the second batch of this special sauce. There's, okay, I'm sauteing these diced tomatoes in olive oil. Then there's a white wine, white wine vinegar, removed, whole butter, heavy cream, thyme, salt and pepper. That's everything. Those cheesecakes may be in the oven, but the job's not done. There's a topping to be prepared. A sauce for the cheesecakes to go on top of it with the eapercut preserves, oranges and a little bit of lemon. Outfront, the tables are set and servers learn the menu and get their pronunciations correct. Is this one the penne put canesta? Yeah. Should we go ask?

Yeah. Does that want to be able to pronounce it right? Yeah. Hey, you're going to do 13. Okay. 14. 14. Penne put canesta is a classic Italian dish. It's canesta. Put canesta. It's got olives and papers and chovies and red chili and sliced garlic. It's a pretty spicy dish. Put canesta is just the kind of dish it is or it's okay. It's just the name of the dish. Penne. Penne. Okay. Pistachio citrus cheesecake is pretty much a traditional cheesecake with orange and pistachio flavorings and a pistachio crust. And creme brulee is like flan with a caramel crust. Put canesta. Put canesta. Put canesta. Got it. All right. Oh, yes. The creme brulee, the other dessert. And that one is creating some problems in the kitchen as well. The torch is acting up.

But you were just firing the top to create the crunchy candy top of it. So that's what we're doing right now. But you're having some trouble with that as well. Yeah. The torch isn't cooperating with us. Behind you with the torch. Another more professional torch is brought in. So that's a good one. Yeah, but you got to be real careful. There's a real fine line between a good plan and way too much fun. Eventually, the first torch gets sorted out as well. I think this torch is actually over full. So hopefully it'll settle down here in a second. How do you know it's finished? When you get all the sugar, caramelized. Yeah. Students finally take over their tricky task. Hopefully we won't burn anything down. And they quickly get the feel for it.

As lunchtime draws closer and guests start to arrive in the seating area. In the kitchen, there's a dry run on how to properly cook a fish filet. Is it going all the way through? Yeah. I just wanted to show them a demo. A sample plate is prepared. So students will know exactly how it should look. And then just a line of sauce. Let me help. That's it.

It's time now for the grilling of the fish to begin an earnest. There's a quick lesson on lining up the grill marks. Leave them on the front side longer so you get a nice brown crease. And try and get it on a diagonal like that one, not straight across. You know what? Cooking fish is not my forte. I've never enjoyed it. Fish dries out really quickly. There's no really determined set level of dunness. It's really all up to the customer. And it's just like playing a guest sometimes. And some final instructions on how to serve up the chicken. Make sure you got tongs to pull your chicken out with. A little ladle for the sauce. And you need your scallions cut.

Here, let me just show you what I'm talking about. It's a nice bias, just so they're long and look nice. Watch fingers. As heat practices slicing onions, in the serving area, things are also getting nerve-wracking. It's a little bit hectic at the beginning. Once we get ready to serve everybody, seated and ready to go, it flows pretty simply. I like cooking. Out here, there's always a possibility of spilling all over the people and stuff. A little nervous to ask you to carry these big trays and stuff. But the waiting is over.

The salads begin to take shape. The soup's on. And the first of those big trays, this one with appetizers, is ready to go. I think one of the hardest things for students to understand is that in this business, it's all about having every little detail taken care of before the customer ever walks in the door. When the dining room is full, that's not the time to realize you don't have lemons cut for the iced tea or napkins folded for the play settings or whatever it may be. If everything is done, it goes smoothly and it's easy and you can have a lot of fun. But if you have a lot of little details that got lost in the shuffle, you run and you scramble and you're lucky if you can pull it off without the customer knowing. As guests start to show up, waiters tally the orders which are arriving at a steady stream.

We've got to get them all sorted so we don't make too much of one thing. Practice. Back in the kitchen, remember that troublesome cheesecake? It's back on deadline, cooked and ready to be chilled. There's also that vegetarian dish on today's menu. The one so many of the servers are having trouble pronouncing. The penne putanesca, it's also being served up. And the chicken entree crew goes into full production. Like about a half a ladle, not even a half a ladle. And then a couple of mushrooms and a little sprinkle of chives. Looks great.

A lot of different offices here. Do you? I think it's wonderful. I think it's terrific. We never had anything like that when I went to school. I've been hearing how nice it is my first time to come here. And everybody said, this is great. You got to go over there. And I'm very delighted. I'm very pleased to have you here at this time. Pretty good. Finally, those desserts so tough to prepare, so delectable looking, top off a meal that seemed to satisfy this hungry group and teach the students some real-life lessons. It's an experience that you're not ever going to get out of a classroom or even, you know, just cooking a little bit. Like you don't understand how much and how it all goes together until you do it. So this program is very well developed. And I've actually learned quite a bit from doing it just in one semester. You know, you learn more than most people will learn in a couple years

out trying to do a restaurant to restaurant or hotel to hotel. They won't get this kind of experience that we are right now. So it's really great. Hotel restaurant management, it's all about dealing with people and you can't teach that out of a book. They do have the classrooms where they get the theory and they do a lot of book work and learn the accounting and the human resources. But you can't read a book and learn how to serve a table. You have to get out there and do it. Cooking, you have to learn by doing. It's actually experiencing it is the best way to learn it. And this gives them a real-life setting to serve customers and either make the customer happy or not make the customer happy and either way it's an important lesson to learn how to properly handle whatever situation happens. You can experience these students' tasty meals for yourself.

100 West Cafe is open for lunch with an all-acart menu from noon to 1.15 on Wednesdays and Fridays at NMSU's Gerald Thomas Hall. You need to buy tickets in advance at the hotel, restaurant, and tourism management office. The price is $7.00. The restaurant is open through May 4th. And that is our show for this week. I'm Hillary Floren. Thanks for watching. See you next week. See you next week.

Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.

At the fun of playing and learning together is more than just good. It's great. The second tale is funded in part by a grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting through funds from the U.S. Department of Education. It's not easy being in fourth grade, but it's a good thing you've got friends. Bye-bye.

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