lullaby

in 10 days i will be on a plane heading to paris....for the first time.  i am truly excited about this trip (especially as the germany trip didn't quite pan out). 
a wonderful opportunity was offered to me through my specialty goods purveyor chef's warehouse.  me and 9 other pastry chefs are going to Valrhona's Ecole du Grand Chocolate.  after flying in to paris we are taking the train to the Valrhona factory in Tain l'Hermitage for a 3 day professional chocolate course. 
i'll be the first to admit that i'm no chocolate wizard.  i know how to make a few desserts with chocolate but i am really excited to see what some masters have planned for us. 

moving ahead of the introduction to this post, my real dilemna regarding this trip is "how does a pastry chef with no pastry staff take time off while simultaneously running a tasty and creative menu?"

i have been trying to make a menu (4 dishes really) that is tasty, creative, and can most importantly be executed correctly in my absence.  i will be gone for 14 days...i don't think i have ever had 14 days off of work..ever.

so running through some familiar techniques with an ease in plating (no one spoon quenelles for awhile) was the modus operandi for my task.

above is the first finished dish.  aerated cream cheese ice cream (seen before with carrot cake), braised huckleberries with tapioca pearls, candied meyer lemon peel and sauce, gingerbread crumbs, and some pansy petals.

by the way, i am loving the pandora function on my blu-ray player. joy division station takes me to the cure, radiohead, new order, interpol...just what i need at 1 in the morning  :)