Salad passes chef school entrance exam

I recently got an e-mail from a student at a culinary school asking all sorts of career questions. She was having second thoughts about the whole "be a potato-peeling peon and work your way up to superstar chef status."

I replied to her that potato peeling is quite a lovely position, she shouldn't knock it so quickly. It's a meditative task and I'm sure Confucius would say it might lead to enlightenment. But, I agree it's boring as heck.

Her questions got me thinking about how all these students in culinary school figure out what area of the food service industry they want to specialize in. Remember in high school when your guidance counselor gave you a career aptitude or Myers-Briggs test? It seems a silly concept to expect an accurate result from pages and pages of multiple-choice questions based on a dude named Jung.

For aspiring cooks, instead of a No. 2 pencil, I'd give each candidate an absolutely perfect baby heirloom tomato and see what he or she does with it. If she sprays it with formaldehyde to preserve its beauty, she may be destined for an executive desk at a big, bad food supplier. Carve it with an x-acto knife to scrape out its precious seeds? Try farming.

He who ever-so-slightly blanches the tomato, shocks it in icy-cold water to let its membrane-thin skin gently slip off, and then drizzles it with a balsamic reduction and basil oil - he is the future chef.

Blanching and removing the skin of these little tomatoes leaves fruit with a texture that's incredibly silky and smooth. It's akin to peeling the skin off large grapes.

Find more of Jaden Hair's culinary adventures at www.steamykitchen.com.

HEIRLOOM TOMATO AND FRESH MOZZARELLA SALAD

(Adapted from ART Restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel Seattle)

I've substituted fresh mozzarella for the Burrata in the original recipe, and julienned fresh basil leaves for the micro-basil leaves. You'll make enough Balsamic Syrup and Basil Oil to dress salads for another day. Just store the excess in the refrigerator.

It serves 4 as part of multicourse meal

1 pint mixed baby heirloom tomatoes (or grape/cherry tomatoes)

1 pound fresh water-packed mozzarella, cut into 1/4-inch slices

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon basil oil

1 teaspoon balsamic syrup

8 basil leaves, julienned

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Prepare a large bowl of ice water and set aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. With a paring knife, gently make a very small incision in the bottoms of tomatoes. Add the tomatoes and boil for 10 seconds (larger tomatoes require more time - blanch until the skin splits.) Immediately strain out the tomatoes and immerse them in the ice water. Slip off and discard the skins of the tomatoes. Toss the skinned tomatoes with the olive oil. Arrange the mozzarella slices on 4 salad plates. Surround with the tomatoes. Season with a pinch of sea salt and pepper. Drizzle with basil oil and the balsamic syrup.

For the balsamic syrup and basil oil:

2 cups dark balsamic vinegar

3 ounces fresh basil leaves

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

To make the balsamic syrup, pour the balsamic vinegar into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Immediately turn the heat to low and simmer to reduce the balsamic vinegar to a dark, thick, syrupy consistency until reduced by half. Let cool.

To make the basil oil, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the fresh basil leaves and count to 10. Immediately drain and discard the water.

Squeeze the basil leaves to get rid of all the excess water. The drier the basil, the better. Add the leaves and the salt to a blender and blend while slowly drizzling in the olive oil from the hole at the top of the blender. Strain the basil oil through a fine mesh strainer and discard the solids.