Hey that sounds like a great idea. I just finished up a month of technical training for my apprenticeship, and one of my class mates who is also a mechanic, got me onto this show, and also I had to do a practical exam, black box style, 3 courses, I started a 2 pm and the third course had to be presented at 6pm.

[shroomgirl]

UMMM hi CoolJ are we talking food or welding, and what is black box?

we're talking food, I am taking a cooking apprenticeship, it's just that the guy I mentioned in my previous posting is a mechanic as well as a cook apprentice.
Black box style is when you are given a list of ingredients and have to make a menu using as much of the ingredients as possible.

[shroomgirl]

So does it differ from a mystery basket?
I taught for 2 1/2 years weekly to an individual that got a CSA (community supported agriculture) bag of produce (about 30 items) .....so for 3 hours we cooked what was in the bag. ***he just happened to be a practicing orthodox jew, three sets of pans.

There was a 5 week stretch where we got a head of cabbage in each bag....try teaching cabbage for 5 weeks, and each cabbage made multiple dishes and there were a variety of cabbages I'd say 3 but still cabbage was the bain of my day....BUT OH I discovered salsify and it is amazing fresh...

What I didn't understand in Soul of a Chef was they had a list they could work from yet there were more ingrediants available to them???? How do you know what you can use if it's not on the list? My pantry is fairly well stocked so what challenge would it be to just pull additional stuff from my pantry?
OR are additional ingrediants made known?

[shroomgirl]

I don't know why I didn't remember this....Sept of 1999 our Chef's Collaborative chapter had a cooking in the fields picnic with educators, farmers and chefs....one of our chefs with the food didn't show (something about y'quem '83 and a party that didn't end until 3am....)
anyway I just happened to throw balsamic vinegar, olive oil, chutney salt and pepper in my car with pans and burners and serving bowls....hey, mother of three, and I cook in the woods alot. Well three chefs and 4 volunteers ended up cooking with the farmer's produce....apples, greens, about 7 different dishes prepped and cooked within 45 minutes for about 60 people. I did have desserts I made and brought ...sweet potato pies, butternut cake with buttermilk and cream cheese icing, brownies....anyway it was a farm mystery basket improptue...wonderful. Don't know why I threw in the chutney.


[This message has been edited by shroomgirl (edited 02-01-2001).]