Chuck Tender Wellington … A High School Lunch??
Posted on 9 January 2008 under Cooking Classes, Instruction, School Lunches
Did you ever have one of those moments like Bourdain or Zimmern when they find something wonderful in a totally unexpected place, made by the least likely individual?
Lunch was like that today.
I’d headed down to the Penta Career Center in Perrysburg to have something signed and, since I’d gotten there at about 11 a.m., decided to have a bite to eat. Eating at Penta is always interesting in all the best meanings of the word. Chef Jim Rhegness, Food Network gingerbread competitor, is one of the Culinary Arts instructors at this high-school-level school. I’ve eaten in his classroom’s dining room before and have always enjoyed his students’ dishes. Chef Denise Schaefer teaches the Food Service side of things. She and her students run one student cafeteria and a place called the Snack Bar. I’d met Chef Denise at Taste of the Nation: Toledo last April but had never eaten anything her students have made. Her Snack Bar was where I ended up today.
I’m glad I did.
What I ordered appeared a little confusing on the menu; “Hot Sandwich: Chuck Tender Wellington - The chuck tenderloin has been seasoned with a ground steak rub and coated with finely chopped mushroom medley, wrapped in puff pastry and baked to medium.”
That was weird. I found myself thinking, “Is it a hot sandwich … or is it a Beef Wellington?”
My lunch entree turned out to be very similar to the Individual Filet Wellingtons Chef Tad Cousino made for the Chef’s Table (and for my video camera) at the Frog Leg Inn in Erie, Michigan on November 8, 2007. (You can watch the instructional video we made here.)
Not only was I surprised to be able to get any kind of Beef Wellington at a high school-level facility during a normal lunch hour (i.e., not a special event), what was even more surprising was the quality of this entree. It was cooked correctly, the beef medium as advertised. The “finely chopped mushroom medley” (a psuedo-duxelles) was more of a nice touch than I’d expected. The puff pastry was wonderfully flaky, and honestly, I could have cut that beef with a butterknife. There was a bit of A1 sauce for dipping, but I didn’t use it. I also had a dish of Wild & Brown Rice, and a Seasonal Fresh Fruit Parfait, both of which went quite well with the Wellington.
All this for … four bucks??? Amazing.
Heading back downstairs to drop off the trays, I showed Chef Denise the above photo in the camera’s viewscreen. She then pulled over Damien, the shaggy-headed young man who’d made these Wellingtons so he could also see the image. Damien seemed shy, almost embarrassed, almost as though he felt that a high-schooler like himself shouldn’t be told what he’d made was actually quite good indeed.
I think back to those awful Home Ec classes I had to take in Middle School in the early 1970s, with the classroom having multiple installations of cheap almond-colored electric ranges, complete with ratty cabinetry and old Formica counters. We were lucky if our single stack of four pancakes turned out right after 4 weeks of class.
These kids at Penta are training on commercial and professional equipment, preparing real-world dishes for lunch on a daily basis, and doing it well.
Damien’s Chuck Tender Wellingtons would have been more than acceptable in any number of good restaurants.
I hope Damien keeps going with his studies. If he does, he’s going to go places.
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9 January 2008 @ 8:58 pm Posted by JEP
Dave, this is another fine example of how you give those pats on the backs to individuals that really need to be told they are doing an awesome job! I give you a high-five as well—thanks for your ongoing support to all kinds of food related folks!