Friday night, last time in Garde Manger, we had a substitute Chef for the evening as well. Remembering how to prepare the recipes we are learning in this last level is vitally important since they will be our final practical exam. In the final we will be given an appetizer and meat course to complete or a fish and dessert.
The days at FCI are winding down and I’m sad to think this part of my food adventure will be over. It has been such an amazing experience but I’ll hold off on all the nostalgia until the very end.
Spencer and I worked our tails off that night, Ashley was out for the evening so it was just the two of us. We went down our knock-out list to ensure we were set up for the evening’s service and were working on the prep for the incoming students on Monday.
I wanted to tackle making the cavatelli again using the right flour this time. I kneaded my pasta dough until it had a leathery feel and then allowed it to rest for at least 30 minutes. I was still nervous that somehow I was going to be doomed again. I set up the hand-cranked cavatelli machine and hoped for the best.
While I cranked out the cavatelli, the first few didn’t come out perfect, but I finally figured out the necessity of over-flouring the pasta dough so it wouldn’t stick in the machine. Over the next few hours I found myself cranking out cavatelli that actually looked the way it was supposed to – I battled the dough and won this time.
We were all prepped for service, we had a porcini flavored consommé on the stove, crustacean broth simmering, and butternut squash roasted. My favorite remark from Spencer that night was, “a blind person could plate these dishes,” referring to the amazing organization and access to our necessary ingredients. I agreed, we were rocking it out and ready to send out orders.
At the end of the night, I found myself immersed in lobster and crab bodies that needed to be cleaned for the Monday’s crustacean broth. The lobsters were without tails and had their legs and green tamale in tact. The crabs needed to have the legs removed and the bodies discarded. It was dirty work and the shellfish smell invaded my hands and clothes. When the night finished up I was pretty crabby too.
Showing posts with label Garde Manger. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Garde Manger. Show all posts
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Unconsummated
This past week has been somewhat of a challenge in the kitchen. I’ve been terribly distracted with other things on my mind and I’m having a hard time focusing on my work. In the Garde Manger kitchen we prep stocks, consommé, and most everything for our next class as well as prepare fresh pasta every night and sauté fresh squab and the daily task list goes on. As part of our prep time I started working on the clarification mixture to make consommé from beef stock commonly know as marmite.
When I started culinary school consommé was a mystery to me. When using marmite the stock is cloudy and a little flavorless this is completely normal. By preparing a clarification mixture of egg whites, lean ground beef and aromatics the marmite transforms into a sparkling clear broth that obtains added flavor from the aromatics. The mixture draws out all the impurities in the marmite and attaches to the proteins in the egg whites and beef as it simmers for an hour.
I started by heating up 2 gallons of marmite in two separate stock pots just to make it manageable and then added the clarification mixture. The process is to bring the liquid to a simmer, stirring constantly to help form a “meat raft” – yes, that’s what we call it.
Here comes distraction – hungry – so I leave the stove and go to the family meal kitchen to get some grub. While I’m there I start chatting with Chef Laura and completely forget what I was doing – not good. After some time, like a lightning bolt striking the ground I realize my stupidity and race back to Garde Manger. Chef Wanda had saved my consommé – the meat raft wasn’t forming and started to stick to the bottom of the pot. Chef replaced the pots and scolded me in a nice way. Apparently my brain left me for a period of time and I was on auto-pilot. My near miss almost cost me an additional 2 to 3 hours of work starting from scratch. I felt like an idiot and apologized for my lack of focus.
That evening I finally realized what I did to create the pasta disaster from the night before. I used the wrong flour to make the dough. The recipe calls for “00” flour which is like talcum powder. My brain once again on auto-pilot used all-purpose flour that resulted in a dry, unworkable dough. Another “ahuh” moment.
The evening did end on a funny note, a Level IV student came in and asked if we were “guarding monger” we figured she wanted to know if she was in the Garde Manger kitchen – we all had a good laugh – I thanked Mon Dieu that I studied French for so many years!
When I started culinary school consommé was a mystery to me. When using marmite the stock is cloudy and a little flavorless this is completely normal. By preparing a clarification mixture of egg whites, lean ground beef and aromatics the marmite transforms into a sparkling clear broth that obtains added flavor from the aromatics. The mixture draws out all the impurities in the marmite and attaches to the proteins in the egg whites and beef as it simmers for an hour.
I started by heating up 2 gallons of marmite in two separate stock pots just to make it manageable and then added the clarification mixture. The process is to bring the liquid to a simmer, stirring constantly to help form a “meat raft” – yes, that’s what we call it.
Here comes distraction – hungry – so I leave the stove and go to the family meal kitchen to get some grub. While I’m there I start chatting with Chef Laura and completely forget what I was doing – not good. After some time, like a lightning bolt striking the ground I realize my stupidity and race back to Garde Manger. Chef Wanda had saved my consommé – the meat raft wasn’t forming and started to stick to the bottom of the pot. Chef replaced the pots and scolded me in a nice way. Apparently my brain left me for a period of time and I was on auto-pilot. My near miss almost cost me an additional 2 to 3 hours of work starting from scratch. I felt like an idiot and apologized for my lack of focus.
That evening I finally realized what I did to create the pasta disaster from the night before. I used the wrong flour to make the dough. The recipe calls for “00” flour which is like talcum powder. My brain once again on auto-pilot used all-purpose flour that resulted in a dry, unworkable dough. Another “ahuh” moment.
The evening did end on a funny note, a Level IV student came in and asked if we were “guarding monger” we figured she wanted to know if she was in the Garde Manger kitchen – we all had a good laugh – I thanked Mon Dieu that I studied French for so many years!
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Away in a Manger
First night in Garde Manger was a pasta disaster! Armed with the recipe for cavatelli I proceeded to make the fresh pasta dough so it could rest for 30 minutes before cranking it out on the cavatelli machine.
I worked the dough to a leathery softness and wrapped it in plastic wrap to sit in the refrigerator. When it was time to make the cavatelli the dough seemed very dry and did not cooperate with the pasta machine. Every fifth cavatelli was somewhat useable the rest was just a mess of malformed skinny rejects. I was getting so frustrated and Chef Wanda thought the pasta needed more water to moisten it up. So I added more water, kneaded it again and let it rest.
My second chance at making the pasta was a complete failure as well. We were baffled why this simple and easy recipe was producing the most terrible cavatelli. Luckily, another Chef had cavatelli from the night before and we used that for service. I couldn’t figure out what went wrong, I used the right amount of flour, semolina, ricotta and eggs. It was the most annoying thing and only added fuel to my already dough-phobic psyche.
We stretched that borrowed cavatelli for about 12 to 15 orders. We cut it extremely close to running out completely. The dish is composed of cavatelli with crab meat, sea urchin, a crustacean broth and flavored breadcrumbs. Trying it made me wince a little – too fishy for my taste.
I called it a night befuddled by the mysterious plague that cursed my pasta dough. My mind ran circles around the recipe and procedure trying to figure out what went wrong.
I worked the dough to a leathery softness and wrapped it in plastic wrap to sit in the refrigerator. When it was time to make the cavatelli the dough seemed very dry and did not cooperate with the pasta machine. Every fifth cavatelli was somewhat useable the rest was just a mess of malformed skinny rejects. I was getting so frustrated and Chef Wanda thought the pasta needed more water to moisten it up. So I added more water, kneaded it again and let it rest.
My second chance at making the pasta was a complete failure as well. We were baffled why this simple and easy recipe was producing the most terrible cavatelli. Luckily, another Chef had cavatelli from the night before and we used that for service. I couldn’t figure out what went wrong, I used the right amount of flour, semolina, ricotta and eggs. It was the most annoying thing and only added fuel to my already dough-phobic psyche.
We stretched that borrowed cavatelli for about 12 to 15 orders. We cut it extremely close to running out completely. The dish is composed of cavatelli with crab meat, sea urchin, a crustacean broth and flavored breadcrumbs. Trying it made me wince a little – too fishy for my taste.
I called it a night befuddled by the mysterious plague that cursed my pasta dough. My mind ran circles around the recipe and procedure trying to figure out what went wrong.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Changing of the Garde
Our last night in the Garde Manger kitchen was mostly uneventful, no fires, etc. We had a busy night as the orders kept rolling in. Chef Laura is wonderful to work with, she is focused, and makes sure each of us are on the ball.
As I was making digestif salads I thought about our next move to the Poissonier Station. Learning new recipes and plating guidelines on the first day is always a little scary. Also, timing is everything, once an order comes in, you are on high alert until the expediting Chef says, “Firing, one cod and one char!”
My team is really good, the three of us really work well together and we help each other out as much as possible. I know when we get to the fish station we will pull it together as usual and work as a well-oiled machine.
As I was making digestif salads I thought about our next move to the Poissonier Station. Learning new recipes and plating guidelines on the first day is always a little scary. Also, timing is everything, once an order comes in, you are on high alert until the expediting Chef says, “Firing, one cod and one char!”
My team is really good, the three of us really work well together and we help each other out as much as possible. I know when we get to the fish station we will pull it together as usual and work as a well-oiled machine.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Burnin' Down the House
Since we only have a limited amount of days on each station it is important to master each dish and be in total control of it for at least one night. Last night I concentrated on the calamari appetizer. Getting into the kitchen at 5:30 pm I went straight to work cleaning the calamari – removing the head and tentacles from the body. Once that is done, the body tube needs to be skinned and the cartilage that gives it shape needs to be removed. Back to the head, I proceed to cut off the tentacles right below the eyes (which stare at you in a creepy way) and clean out both extremities. It’s important to be careful to remove the tooth and cautious not to pierce the ink sac which is not always possible. It is amazing black ink gets ALL over everything and when wearing white the combination is a disaster. One looks like that had a fight with an army of pens and lost!
After painstakingly cleaning the calamari, the haricot verts needed to be blanched, fennel shaved thinly with my nemesis the Japanese mandolin, garlic cloves peeled and sliced, fresh lemon juice squeezed to deglaze the pan and Parmesan cheese flakes for garnish. We had herbed Panko on hand, good extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dress the fennel and green beans.
While I was prepping for service, I noticed a gray-haired man walked through the Garde Manger kitchen and he proceeded into the main working kitchen. He wore a chef’s jacket but not chef’s pants, so I thought that he was just someone that was visiting the kitchen and put it out of my mind. Next thing I know, the same gentleman comes back into our small kitchen and I was surprised to see it was Chef Jacques Pepin in person! He asked Chef Laura if she could make him a small salad and she happily obliged. I was thrilled to be in his presence, he is approachable and very understated quite honestly a veritable legend in the cooking world. My surprises for the night didn’t end there!
Once service began I was ready to whip out dishes of calamari per order. I was a little nervous manning the stove, the dish isn’t complicated it is just very easy to overcook and the calamari is sautéed on the stove and then Panko breadcrumbs are added and the entire sauté pan goes under a broiler to brown the breadcrumbs. With too powerful cooking sources it was tricky to ensure that nothing was overcooked. While behind on two orders of calamari, the gas flames licked the outside of the pan and ignited the oil in the pan, I quickly moved the pan away from the gas and fumbled to get another larger pan to cover the flames and extinguish my “little” fire. Instantly the flames reached up in between the two salamanders (over-the-stove open broilers) and the greasy mechanical parts caught fire. With one fire out and another started there was no easy way to extinguish this new problem that was not burning out. I blew into the one inch space betwen the salamanders as hard as I could and Chef did the same and after a few heavy huffs and puffs we managed to stop the flames and smoke.
I imaged myself standing out in front of the school’s restaurant with the fire trucks surrounding us and the diners and Chefs all pointing at me because I set the school on fire. Not what I want to be remembered for – luckily that scene never played out and I gained my composure and caught up to my orders. That being said, whenever you face a grease fire the best way to stop it is by smothering it with a large pot lid and never use water! Sometimes a lot of baking soda can put it out too but that usually is not as convenient. Smother a grease fire and be sure not to get it close to flammable curtains, wood cabinets, etc. Smokey the Bear says, “only you can prevent forest fires,” did he mention anything about the perils of cooking?
After painstakingly cleaning the calamari, the haricot verts needed to be blanched, fennel shaved thinly with my nemesis the Japanese mandolin, garlic cloves peeled and sliced, fresh lemon juice squeezed to deglaze the pan and Parmesan cheese flakes for garnish. We had herbed Panko on hand, good extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dress the fennel and green beans.
While I was prepping for service, I noticed a gray-haired man walked through the Garde Manger kitchen and he proceeded into the main working kitchen. He wore a chef’s jacket but not chef’s pants, so I thought that he was just someone that was visiting the kitchen and put it out of my mind. Next thing I know, the same gentleman comes back into our small kitchen and I was surprised to see it was Chef Jacques Pepin in person! He asked Chef Laura if she could make him a small salad and she happily obliged. I was thrilled to be in his presence, he is approachable and very understated quite honestly a veritable legend in the cooking world. My surprises for the night didn’t end there!
Once service began I was ready to whip out dishes of calamari per order. I was a little nervous manning the stove, the dish isn’t complicated it is just very easy to overcook and the calamari is sautéed on the stove and then Panko breadcrumbs are added and the entire sauté pan goes under a broiler to brown the breadcrumbs. With too powerful cooking sources it was tricky to ensure that nothing was overcooked. While behind on two orders of calamari, the gas flames licked the outside of the pan and ignited the oil in the pan, I quickly moved the pan away from the gas and fumbled to get another larger pan to cover the flames and extinguish my “little” fire. Instantly the flames reached up in between the two salamanders (over-the-stove open broilers) and the greasy mechanical parts caught fire. With one fire out and another started there was no easy way to extinguish this new problem that was not burning out. I blew into the one inch space betwen the salamanders as hard as I could and Chef did the same and after a few heavy huffs and puffs we managed to stop the flames and smoke.I imaged myself standing out in front of the school’s restaurant with the fire trucks surrounding us and the diners and Chefs all pointing at me because I set the school on fire. Not what I want to be remembered for – luckily that scene never played out and I gained my composure and caught up to my orders. That being said, whenever you face a grease fire the best way to stop it is by smothering it with a large pot lid and never use water! Sometimes a lot of baking soda can put it out too but that usually is not as convenient. Smother a grease fire and be sure not to get it close to flammable curtains, wood cabinets, etc. Smokey the Bear says, “only you can prevent forest fires,” did he mention anything about the perils of cooking?
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Salad Daze
The best thing about starting on the Garde Manger station is the chance to work with Chef Laura once again. Our assistant Chef for Levels I, II, and III – she brings a calming air to the kitchen.
Chef Laura walked us through the process for the evening, showed us how the two appetizer dishes we make are prepared and she gave us the lay of the land. The Garde Manger kitchen is its own separate space amidst the sea of controlled chaos.
There are four appetizers on the menu of L’Ecole – Level V students make two and the other two are made by Level VI students with whom we share the space. Our job is to coordinate our orders so they go out together. On the menu, we are making an Arugula, red & yellow roasted tomato, goat cheese and olive tapenade tart on puff pastry. Our other dish is a sautéed calamari with garlic and lemon dusted with herbed Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) served with a salad of shaved fennel and haricots verts. Level VI students make a consomme with foie gras gnocchi and a salmon roll with a lemon sauce.
Chef asks me to tackle the puff pastry (that was made from a previous class) and roll out two of them so it will be ready to bake. As I roll out the delicate dough I notice that it is tearing from the gentle pressure of the rolling pin. As I baked the puff pastry and took it out of the convection oven our faces dropped – the butter in the dough was never properly incorporated when it was first made and it basically produced a flat, lifeless hard cracker that we had to toss out. Chef asked me to run up to the second floor pastry kitchens and ask the chefs if they had any dough to spare – no dice. However, Chef Karen who is in the Production kitchen miraculously came to our rescue with frozen dough that she had in the freezer. Towards the end of the night I started making puff pastry for our next night so we would be aptly prepared for service.
As the orders rolled in we took turns calling them out and coordinated our dishes very well. I spent a good portion of the evening running trays of appetizers up to the front of the kitchen. Mid-way through service the orders for digestive salads started cranking out. The restaurant serves a small mixed green salad with ricotta salata and a quenelle of sorbet to aid in digestion and clean the palate before serving dessert – which look spectacular.
When the final orders for digestive salads were completed we started to clean up our space and call it a night. We worked really well under the fast-pace getting our appetizer plates out quickly and artfully prepared. The Level VI students pitched in when it was quiet for them and I was impressed by their willingness to help out. As always its a pleasure working with Chef Laura, she is a consummate professional with a great sense of humor and I’m looking forward to the next 3 classes dishing up the apps.
Make your reservations now for L'Ecole (reservations can be made on (www.opentable.com)! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday - I'll be dishing out something good and I may even surprise you with something special. Let me know if you make a reservation so that I'm aware.
To learn more about L'Ecole and browse the current menu - click here.
Chef Laura walked us through the process for the evening, showed us how the two appetizer dishes we make are prepared and she gave us the lay of the land. The Garde Manger kitchen is its own separate space amidst the sea of controlled chaos.
There are four appetizers on the menu of L’Ecole – Level V students make two and the other two are made by Level VI students with whom we share the space. Our job is to coordinate our orders so they go out together. On the menu, we are making an Arugula, red & yellow roasted tomato, goat cheese and olive tapenade tart on puff pastry. Our other dish is a sautéed calamari with garlic and lemon dusted with herbed Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs) served with a salad of shaved fennel and haricots verts. Level VI students make a consomme with foie gras gnocchi and a salmon roll with a lemon sauce.
Chef asks me to tackle the puff pastry (that was made from a previous class) and roll out two of them so it will be ready to bake. As I roll out the delicate dough I notice that it is tearing from the gentle pressure of the rolling pin. As I baked the puff pastry and took it out of the convection oven our faces dropped – the butter in the dough was never properly incorporated when it was first made and it basically produced a flat, lifeless hard cracker that we had to toss out. Chef asked me to run up to the second floor pastry kitchens and ask the chefs if they had any dough to spare – no dice. However, Chef Karen who is in the Production kitchen miraculously came to our rescue with frozen dough that she had in the freezer. Towards the end of the night I started making puff pastry for our next night so we would be aptly prepared for service.As the orders rolled in we took turns calling them out and coordinated our dishes very well. I spent a good portion of the evening running trays of appetizers up to the front of the kitchen. Mid-way through service the orders for digestive salads started cranking out. The restaurant serves a small mixed green salad with ricotta salata and a quenelle of sorbet to aid in digestion and clean the palate before serving dessert – which look spectacular.
When the final orders for digestive salads were completed we started to clean up our space and call it a night. We worked really well under the fast-pace getting our appetizer plates out quickly and artfully prepared. The Level VI students pitched in when it was quiet for them and I was impressed by their willingness to help out. As always its a pleasure working with Chef Laura, she is a consummate professional with a great sense of humor and I’m looking forward to the next 3 classes dishing up the apps.
Make your reservations now for L'Ecole (reservations can be made on (www.opentable.com)! Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday - I'll be dishing out something good and I may even surprise you with something special. Let me know if you make a reservation so that I'm aware.
To learn more about L'Ecole and browse the current menu - click here.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Leading the Pack
From now until our real Mid-term in mid July the game plan has changed – Chef Nicolay has put us into groups of four to train as a mini kitchen set-up covering the four main stations: Garde Manger, Poissonnier, Saucier and Pâtissier.
Our group of four students must execute one dish from each station and after each class we will rotate into the next station. Our first night I started on Garde Manger and had to make our Consommé Printanier. I have a good group to work with – all very focused students and I’ve had the enjoyment of working with each of them individually in the past.
The very first night as we were assigned to our group and stations we realized that the student on the Pâtissier station was absent. Chef told us to cover the station just as we would have to in a normal restaurant. Since the Consommé is relatively a low maintenance dish, I jumped on the Pâtissier station to make the Génoise and Crème Anglaise since my station mates had more involved dishes.
The main objectives are timing, quality, and cooperation. If your teammate is in the proverbial “weeds” it is the collective job of the team to pull them out and get the dishes out on time and perfect. I was wearing my communications hat that night and was belting out reassurances and posing questions to the team to ensure we were where we needed to be in the process. I think I might have been a little bossy but I wanted us to do well and we need to rely on each other and felt we needed a leader for the evening’s flow of progress.
When it comes to seasoning the final dish – we do this collectively so different palates can gauge saltiness, flavor and body – we each contribute thoughts, ideas and recommendations.
We plated the Consommé Printanier on time, Chef said it was very well done. Next few dishes are presented in 15 minute intervals. So if the Consommé is due by 8:30 pm then the skate a la Grenobloise must be ready at 8:45 then the roasted chicken is plated for a 9:00 pm slot and finally the Genoise at 9:15 pm. We all need to be on our game to get these dishes out on time. The night was successful, we received the usual amount of critique but nothing was off the mark.
Part of the hysteria is to also make an Amuse Bouche to compliment the dishes and is presented to Chef between 7:30 and 8:30 pm. That night Michal’s idea won us over, Ashley roasted some red peppers, and Michal cut them spread on some goat cheese and rolled them into spirals with some mushroom duxelles in the center. Very pretty and an appealing “little bite” to awaken the senses. Chef liked it very much.
The Amuse Bouche has become more and more popular at finer & trendy restaurants. Before a diner settles in on what to have for dinner, the Chef sends out a little something delicious from the kitchen to surprise you and stir up your senses. The French term literally translates to "mouth amuser" (bouche = mouth; amuser = to amuse, or to please). We take our Amuse Bouche very seriously – and we’ve decided each of us will have the opportunity to take the lead each night and prepare our own bite-size creation to please Chef.
Our group of four students must execute one dish from each station and after each class we will rotate into the next station. Our first night I started on Garde Manger and had to make our Consommé Printanier. I have a good group to work with – all very focused students and I’ve had the enjoyment of working with each of them individually in the past.
The very first night as we were assigned to our group and stations we realized that the student on the Pâtissier station was absent. Chef told us to cover the station just as we would have to in a normal restaurant. Since the Consommé is relatively a low maintenance dish, I jumped on the Pâtissier station to make the Génoise and Crème Anglaise since my station mates had more involved dishes.
The main objectives are timing, quality, and cooperation. If your teammate is in the proverbial “weeds” it is the collective job of the team to pull them out and get the dishes out on time and perfect. I was wearing my communications hat that night and was belting out reassurances and posing questions to the team to ensure we were where we needed to be in the process. I think I might have been a little bossy but I wanted us to do well and we need to rely on each other and felt we needed a leader for the evening’s flow of progress.
When it comes to seasoning the final dish – we do this collectively so different palates can gauge saltiness, flavor and body – we each contribute thoughts, ideas and recommendations.
We plated the Consommé Printanier on time, Chef said it was very well done. Next few dishes are presented in 15 minute intervals. So if the Consommé is due by 8:30 pm then the skate a la Grenobloise must be ready at 8:45 then the roasted chicken is plated for a 9:00 pm slot and finally the Genoise at 9:15 pm. We all need to be on our game to get these dishes out on time. The night was successful, we received the usual amount of critique but nothing was off the mark.Part of the hysteria is to also make an Amuse Bouche to compliment the dishes and is presented to Chef between 7:30 and 8:30 pm. That night Michal’s idea won us over, Ashley roasted some red peppers, and Michal cut them spread on some goat cheese and rolled them into spirals with some mushroom duxelles in the center. Very pretty and an appealing “little bite” to awaken the senses. Chef liked it very much.
The Amuse Bouche has become more and more popular at finer & trendy restaurants. Before a diner settles in on what to have for dinner, the Chef sends out a little something delicious from the kitchen to surprise you and stir up your senses. The French term literally translates to "mouth amuser" (bouche = mouth; amuser = to amuse, or to please). We take our Amuse Bouche very seriously – and we’ve decided each of us will have the opportunity to take the lead each night and prepare our own bite-size creation to please Chef.
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