Let my words, like vegetables, be tender and sweet, for tomorrow I may have to eat them.

Cuisine II started with vegetables.  Asparagus with... you guessed it - HOLLANDAISE!  Am I never to be free from that mother sauce?
We changed partners for Cuisine II and I find myself in the back row trying to understand what the French chef is saying with all the pots clanging and the water running and the induction stoves making their humming sound. I have taken to watching some of my favorite movies in French, hoping that the language sounds will become more natural to my ear...  really who does crazy things like that??
More importantly, here are some things I learned:  Green vegetables have Clorophyll (shocking) and want to be cooked or blanched in salted water to retain color.  Orange or yellow vegetables have Carotene (not new news) and although their color is not affected by acid, they retain firmness with salted water.  Vegetables which are white or purple - Flavanoids (did not know this term) -  want acid in their water so they keep their color integrity.  When blanching don't forget the ice water bath to stop cooking.
The best dish of Tuesday was a cauliflower gratin - we simply blanched cauliflower in acidic water (lemon juice), sauced it with a Mornay and then added more Gruyere on the top - finished in the oven until brown.  Wow.  We did make onion rings with a bbq dipping sauce - not bad either.  I can do without vegetable brochettes (kabobs).  Do you see a theme here?  I must figure out how to make healthy styled vegetables and like them.
Thursday's best dish might be the braised belgium endive.  Endive cut in half lengthwise; sauteed in olive oil and butter (of course),  we added fresh squeezed orange juice and reduced it - added a julienne fin of orange zest and chicken broth, and braised it... you guessed it, until it was done ; plated the endive, reduced the sauce and poured it over the plated endive - really, very good.  We also made Ratatouille - I have never met a Ratatouille I liked.  We even served it in a parmesean bowl... not impressed.  The cabbage rolls in Asian dipping sauce were delightful - but even the chef said "The sauce makes the dish."  (I overcooked the cabbage leaves and had to redo them - usually I can salvage my mistakes, but I decided when thinking of time and cost I should toss them and give it another try... smart move in the long-run)
News Flash:  I drove all the way home last night in one lane (once I got on the 5  :-] ).  It took me 50 minutes to get home, but I just cruised (generally speaking ;-]) and pretended that it didn't matter that the lane next to me seemed to be going faster than I.