Westlake Culinary Institute Graduation Banquet

                   

                                       Savor the Harvest

The graduation of my culinary school has finally come and gone, but it was no small feat! I had the honor of being elected Co-Executive Chef for my graduation banquet project.  It was a huge undertaking...to say the least!!  I felt very prepared for the cooking part, but not so much for the Exec Chef part. We were told to plan a banquet and set on our way!  So we hit the ground running with no time to look back.We organized comittees with leads, booked the location, and began to plan the menu...not easy to do with 17 different opinions!  After much compomise and several weeks of testing and tasting meetings we came to terms with an excellent menu that we were all proud of!  After that was in order we designed tickets and sold them, created our program, came up with all decor, put together a video...which one of my fellow student's husband voluteered to do and it came out amazing!  Find food vendors and farmers and aquire donations of food and wine, all that and more in just two months!! This is just a small list of the many things there are to do when planning such an event.  The highlight was the cooking, and it all came together so beautifully!  We all felt a great sense of accomplishment when it was all done at the end of the night!

We made six tray passed hors d'oeuvres, and a five course dinner.  Here's a look at some items from our menu.

One of our passed hor d'oeuvres were these Bouchees of Carmelized Onion, Brie & Candied Pecan. 

There are so many steps that went into these.  The puff pastry was made two days in advance, and then cut into shells and baked the day before.  The candied pecans were made two days in advance and the carmelized onions the day before as well.  The day of we filled the shells with onions, cut the Brie cheese and placed over onions, then the pecan on top and back in the oven to heat, then served. Oh and we made 200 of these!  So much time management in all of the cooking! 

This is a tangent of two Roasted Butternut Squash soups served side-by-side in one bowl.



Field Greens with Roasted Beets, Spiced Pecans, Bleu d'Auvergne drizzled with a Blackberry Vinaigrette.

 

Seared Shrimp & Scallop over a Spinach Ricotta Ravioli in a Roasted Heriloom Tomato, Garlic, and Cream Sauce



Braised Boneless Short Rib in Red Wine Reduction, Filet Mignon & Bernaise Sauce, Roasted Root Vegetables & Scalloped Potatoes

Here is one of the centerpieces that set the mood for our fall,
"Savor the Harvest" theme.  These are real branches that were cut from local trees, and all the leaves and flowers were individually applied by hand...very time consuming. 

Just to give you an idea of the stress this event caused, these centerpieces were put together on location, the day of the event and required about six or more people and took about 5 hours, while simultaniously the rest of the students were in the kitchen prepping and cooking the food.   Me...I was running back and fourth making sure the kitchen was running smoothly and that everyone was doing their job on time, and then to the front to make sure the dining room was decorated properly, and that all decor would be pulled together and placed by our start time...sigh!  There were some tears during all this preparation, but I'm happy to report they were not mine!

This is "Chef" Tim McGrath with the Grand Puba hat we got for him as a gift!  It was an ongoing joke during our classes because he'd mentioned wanting one...and so he got one... and I think it's very fitting!

The Westlake Culinary Institute has been an amazing experience!  I've learned so many different techniques and cooking styles, and I now have so much more confidence in the kitchen!  I didn't realize how little I knew until I started this cooking venture...I thought I was a good cook...now I know I am!