The Day I Did Everything Wrong... (at least in cuisine)

Today I had 2 practicals, one cuisine and one pastry.  Cuisine came first, and we were supposed debone a chicken, stuff it with pistachios and fois gras, then roll in up in plastic and poach it in court bouillon.  First, I started deboning the chicken at the breast.  WRONG.   We were supposed to debone starting around the spine, so from the get-go my chicken was lumpy  I managed to hide my mistake from the chef and get everything wrapped up.  We cooked the bird for the rest of class and will finish and plate it during the next practical.  Attached is a picture of my bird mid-procedure.  

While the chicken was poaching, we practiced making hollandaise.  In basic, my hollandaise was relatively easy and the Chef raved about it.  My first attempt was too thick, so I warmed it a bit, which caused it to break and curdle.  Chef Thivet told me to make another egg yolk emulsion, but instead of adding clarified butter, throw in my ruined sauce in the end.  I should have trusted my instincts and NOT tried to make a new sauce out of my first horrible sauce, because the second attempt was even worse.  Finally, Chef came over to my station and made a new hollandaise, showing me every step in detail.  How embarrassing.  But at least I got some one-on-one instruction and hopefully I will get it right next time.  

In pastry practical, we made the bavarian 3-chocolate cream cake.  It was delicious and mine turned out ok.  I needed to work more on my layering, which was fairly sloppy.  It still tastes great and is currently hidden away in my freezer.  

Bon Appetit!