Week 4 -- Field Trip

This week, we had a field trip instead of lab. We went to the Great Harvest Bread Co. and Dan McGees restaurant. When we visited Great Harvest, we got to taste many of their different types of breads and tour the kitchen. I thought it was neat that they grind the grains on site to make their own flour. That guarantees that their flour is fresh since they know it hasn't been sitting around for days or weeks since it was milled. They have a really cool rotating oven; it was huge! I enjoyed the field trip and the two breads I bought that night. I'm going to have to go back soon because I need more of the Breakfast Blast bread! It was so good.

After Great Harvest, we headed to Dan McGees Restaurant in Frankfort. Chef McGee put together a prix fixe menu for us, which I thought was really nice of him. For Starters, we could choose from their Simple Salad or Wild Mushroom Soup. I had the Simple Salad, which was really tasty. It was mixed greens with a balsamic vinaigrette, toasted almonds, and oven-dried tomatoes inside a parmesan "bowl." I really enjoyed the salad and thought the presentation was pretty. For our Entrees, we could choose between a Grilled Filet of Salmon, Roast Breast of Chicken, or Grilled Pork Chop. I was going to order the pork chop until I heard the chicken came with asiago mashed potatoes. I'm a sucker for pretty much any kind of mashed potato! The chicken came wth the mashed potatoes, spicy Italian sausage, tomatoes, and rosemary. Overall, I was kind of disappointed with my entree. I though my chicken was a little overcooked. It still tasted good though. For dessert, they brought out two of all of their desserts for us try share. The desserts were pumpkin creme brulee, orange and espresso mousse, Grand Marnier panne cotta, banana napoleon, chocolate mousse, and chocolate souffle. My favorites were the orange and espresso mousse and the Grand Marnier panne cotta. I didn't think I would like the orange and espresso mousse because I'm not really into coffee-flavored stuff. It was not overwhelmingly coffee flavored. The orange was a nice counterbalance. It was a great dessert. The Grand Marnier panne cotta was also excellent. I think Chef McGee said there was orange marmalade at the bottom of the glass, the panne cotta, and strawberries on top. The dessert didn't taste very liquor-y, which I thought was good. It was a nice balance of all of the flavors. After we finished our desserts, Chef McGee came out to talk to us and answer questions for us. It was very nice of him to take time out to talk to us. He's quite an accomplished chef, so it was nice to hear what he had to say.

Overall, I would have to say that this is the best field trip we've taken throughout our time at RMC. It was nice that Chef Mark took the time to think about giving us an experience that related to our coursework, was informative, and was also fun.