Makes life simple & straight to the point!: November 2008

Alright, i have started last subject for 1st semester...and its gonna last for one month, then i am free to go on with my holidays...How great is that!!by the way, this particular last subject is kinda tough one...i mean like its the toughest subject in this semester...but is certainly an interesting subject that i would not want to miss...its the BUTCHERING COURSE...but please do not get to the wrong point, i am not doing slaughtering, just some de-boning operation and choppings in order to achieve the desired size or serving portion...okie, last week i was doing some butchering work on a big piece of beef(neck part to rib), about a length of 60cm long, width of 30 cm, and about 8cm thick..we called it "Chunk of Beef"...weighed about 7Kg...I am showing some process photos below...

Before Butchering: -

Chunk of Beef

After Butchering: -

Saleable Beef
From this, we made into cubes and mince beef

Unsaleable Beef(Well, looks disgusting!)
Certainly, this goes into the bins...

And The Products: -

Red Wine Beef

Guinness Beef Pie
(Used lots of Guinness in cooking this)

The rest of them have been packaged for sale in campus butchering shop...Guess what, originally, my campus bought these beefs at a price of $4.75 per Kg..After some butchering work, then these are sold at a price of $9.50 per Kg...As for student chefs, because we are the one doing those work, so we actually can purchase them with original price..So i bought a Kg of beef home..Brother, i helped us to save some living expenses..Haha...

This week, I am doing butchering on a quarter of lamb...the size is slightly bigger than the Beef last week...but got a lot more work to do with this...As for lamb, there are a lot more fatty layers or should i say, "excess fats"...haha...so this actually took us a longer time to finish up everything...Okie then, no more craps, some pictures for you guys below...

Before Butchering: -

Quarter of Lamb(about a weight of 5Kg)

Butchering Process: -
Stage 1

Neck and Front Leg

Ribs and Skins

Stage 2

Usable and Saleable Parts

Mount of Lamb's Excess Fats
(Unusable Parts)
Also, this goes into the bins..

The Products: -

Lamb Shank
(front leg muscle area)

Curry Marsala Lamb

Roasted Lamb Flat
(Part of meat and skin from Ribs)

Alright then...as for the price...this is a lot more expensive than beef...Originally, my campus bought the lamb at a price of $7.25 per Kg..after some work on it, these lambs can be sold up to a price of $24.60 per Kg...Now that i know the reason of why lamb is always a lot more expensive than beef...For student chefs, still the same, an purchase them at original price, but i did not do so, because...i still think that its quite expensive...i mean like its not expensive if we were to compare it with market price..but it is expensive when i have to spend such money on piece of poultry...Hehe...I guess that's all for now...

Okie...here i have got few dishes to share with you guys...its all the photos taken recently at school...i made them and i tried them...Haha..but i didnt bring any home for my brother, because it is limited for student chefs, chefs and customer only...Alright, i shall start with Appetisers...First of all, we have "Antipasto Plate"...Follow with "Mini Quiche"... Last dish would be "Tempura Prawn & Mushroom",served with own-made dipping sauce...

Next, I have got some dessert plates for those "sweet-lovers", i knew one of them would be my brother...Haha...First dish, "Chocolate Sponge Pudding", served with dark chocolate sauce..its named after "pudding", but for me, more or less like a cake...I brought this home to my brother before...Next, this is "Strawberry Gateau"...Guess what, we actually make our own fresh cream to be set on top of the sponge cake in order to produce this dessert...the sauce beside is formed from "creme caramel & strawberry sauce", served with fresh mints that are picked from school compound...Last one, "Baked Apple Tartlet"...we used the best quality apple in Western Australia, obviously, the most expensive ones, Granny Smith Brand...For this, we just serve it with strawberry wedges, fresh mints & castor sugar...