Delicate, airy, temperamental, mousses and soufflés require a gentle hand and a good whisking arm to beat your egg whites to stiff peaks. Mousse (means “foam” in French) can be both savory and sweet.
Chocolate Mousse
150 grams bittersweet chocolate chopped
400 ml heavy cream
3 egg whites
30 grams sugar
Procedure: Melt the chocolate in a double boiler slowly – when melted remove from stove to cool slightly. Beat the cream to soft peak stage. Beat the egg whites to soft peak stage, add sugar and continue beating to stiff peak stage. Don’t over beat the whites, please. Fold in ¼ of the stiff egg whites into the chocolate, then incorporate the rest of the whites. Next, fold in your whipped cream – incorporate fully. Cover mousse and refrigerate for at least an hour. Voila, Mousse au Chocolate!
In class, my partner Hernan and I melted our chocolate and added a little Grand Marnier to the dark melted goodness. Unfortunately, the alcohol changed the consistency of the melted chocolate to more of a frosting – that wasn’t going to work. So we started over. My mousse had a nice chocolate flavor but Chef thought it was a little dense and the texture could have been lighter. I must have over whipped my cream or egg whites.
On to Soufflés – the mere word strikes a nervous cord with some cooks since these dishes require careful preparation and a prayer to the patron saint of Chefs. We began with a Soufflé au Fromage (Cheese Soufflé) by preparing buttered ramekins dusted with breadcrumbs. We made a roux (butter and flour) added warm milk and cooked it down so it was thick. Off the heat, we added grated gruyère cheese and incorporated 2 egg yolks one at a time. Some seasoning, salt, cayenne, nutmeg then on to whipping the egg whites. Once stiff peaks have been attained, same procedure, fold in ¼ of the egg whites into the mixture, then add the rest. Spoon into prepared molds and into a 400 degree preheated oven. Once the soufflés are in the oven then drop the temperature down to 375 degrees. Puffed and golden the soufflés came out of the oven about 15 minutes later – serve immediately since they deflate quickly.
We practiced more soufflés that evening, including a chocolate soufflé and a light pear soufflé. Out of all the soufflés, my cheese and pear soufflés rose to the occasion – as for my chocolate soufflé if it had a nickname it would have been – shorty.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
I Scream, You Scream!
For ice cream, sorbet, frozen soufflés, granités – all the wonderful frozen desserts one could enjoy. Friday night we gathered around Chef and watched as he made a vanilla custard-based ice cream from the rich Crème Anglaise we prepared in the last class. He poured the mixture into a high-powered ice cream maker and about 20 minutes later we had ice cream flecked with vanilla beans.
We also made a Sorbet au Pamplemousse (Grapefruit Sorbet) using the same machine – both the ice cream and the sorbet went into the freezer to set. On to our next recipe, a Soufflé Glacé Aux Fruits (Frozen Fruit Soufflé). By team we made an Italian Meringue by heating sugar and water together to a hot simple syrup then adding that to beaten egg whites. The hot syrup cooks the eggs whites and we proceeded to continue and beat the egg whites to a stiff peak. We whisked some heavy cream to a fluffy, whipped consistency then added a purée of passion fruit. To that we added our meringue and carefully folded the mixture together. Chef came by with a puzzled look on his face and said, “what happened to your mixture - it is too liquid,” we verbally ran through the recipe and steps making sure the cream was properly whipped, the meringue was stiff, then he asked what kind of fruit purée we used and I responded, passion fruit – there lied the problem, Chef told us that the passion fruit purée was too watery and our frozen soufflé would never set properly. So, we tossed out the entire mixture and started over. Chef apologized and said he asked the assistant Chefs in class to get rid of any remaining passion fruit purée in the refrigerator. Stephen, my cooking partner and I bounced back very quickly and whipped up a new batch using raspberry purée. The resulting mixture, was light pink and airy – we piped the mixture into ramekins that were outfitted with parchment collars to give the effect of a freshly risen soufflé. Our ramekins went into the freezer to set – an easy no bake dessert.
Our last recipe for the night was a Bande de Tarte Aux Fruits (Puff Pastry Fruit Tart) we used the puff pastry we made a few nights before. Rolling out the puff pastry was easier than I thought it was going to be, we docked the dough, gave the edges a little egg wash and baked it. The dough puffs up nicely if made properly and takes on a golden color. After our tart dough came out of the oven we set it to cool and proceeded to prep fruit for the topping. A layer of Crème Patissière is placed on the tart, then fruit is layered artistically. After brushing on an apricot glaze, Chef remarked and said it was very nice. We carefully wrapped our fruit tarts (we each made our own), I put mine on the rack above my head while I cleaned the station – we worked late that night and it was quickly approaching 11:00 pm.
With a train to catch I raced out of the kitchen, put my street clothes back on in the locker room and rushed to get to Canal Street to take the subway uptown. It was Friday night, the weather was gorgeous all day and it felt like Spring. I was tired but happy to be able to sleep late the next morning. On the subway I realized I left my fruit tart on the overhead rack in the kitchen. Forgetful me, I hope someone enjoyed it…
We also made a Sorbet au Pamplemousse (Grapefruit Sorbet) using the same machine – both the ice cream and the sorbet went into the freezer to set. On to our next recipe, a Soufflé Glacé Aux Fruits (Frozen Fruit Soufflé). By team we made an Italian Meringue by heating sugar and water together to a hot simple syrup then adding that to beaten egg whites. The hot syrup cooks the eggs whites and we proceeded to continue and beat the egg whites to a stiff peak. We whisked some heavy cream to a fluffy, whipped consistency then added a purée of passion fruit. To that we added our meringue and carefully folded the mixture together. Chef came by with a puzzled look on his face and said, “what happened to your mixture - it is too liquid,” we verbally ran through the recipe and steps making sure the cream was properly whipped, the meringue was stiff, then he asked what kind of fruit purée we used and I responded, passion fruit – there lied the problem, Chef told us that the passion fruit purée was too watery and our frozen soufflé would never set properly. So, we tossed out the entire mixture and started over. Chef apologized and said he asked the assistant Chefs in class to get rid of any remaining passion fruit purée in the refrigerator. Stephen, my cooking partner and I bounced back very quickly and whipped up a new batch using raspberry purée. The resulting mixture, was light pink and airy – we piped the mixture into ramekins that were outfitted with parchment collars to give the effect of a freshly risen soufflé. Our ramekins went into the freezer to set – an easy no bake dessert.
Our last recipe for the night was a Bande de Tarte Aux Fruits (Puff Pastry Fruit Tart) we used the puff pastry we made a few nights before. Rolling out the puff pastry was easier than I thought it was going to be, we docked the dough, gave the edges a little egg wash and baked it. The dough puffs up nicely if made properly and takes on a golden color. After our tart dough came out of the oven we set it to cool and proceeded to prep fruit for the topping. A layer of Crème Patissière is placed on the tart, then fruit is layered artistically. After brushing on an apricot glaze, Chef remarked and said it was very nice. We carefully wrapped our fruit tarts (we each made our own), I put mine on the rack above my head while I cleaned the station – we worked late that night and it was quickly approaching 11:00 pm.
With a train to catch I raced out of the kitchen, put my street clothes back on in the locker room and rushed to get to Canal Street to take the subway uptown. It was Friday night, the weather was gorgeous all day and it felt like Spring. I was tired but happy to be able to sleep late the next morning. On the subway I realized I left my fruit tart on the overhead rack in the kitchen. Forgetful me, I hope someone enjoyed it…
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Custard's Last Stand
Custards fall into three main categories: stirred, baked and starch-bound. A custard is basically a mixture of liquid and egg that when gently heated thickens or sets from the coagulation of egg proteins.
For our stirred custard we made a Crème Anglaise – a rich vanilla scented custard usually used as a dessert sauce. The sauce is simple to make and consists of milk, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla bean or pure extract.
The starch-bound custard recipe was Crème Patissière (Pastry Cream) where flour and cornstarch are used to give it body. We all made a batch of Crème Patissière and stored it in the main refrigerator to use for a later class.
Crème Renversée (Crème Caramel) is a baked custard and includes a sweet amber-colored caramelized sugar. We made a basic custard recipe on the stove top and on the side we caramelized our sugar with a little water. When the sugar starts to caramelize it is best to take it off the stove a few minutes before you reach the color you desire since the caramel will continue to cook.
We poured our caramel into little ramekins and set those aside to harden. In the meantime we prepared a bain marie (water bath used to gently cook the custards) and preheated our ovens. Remember to use boiling water for your water bath. Once the caramel is hardened in the ramekin then you can put in your custard mixture and then into the oven.
While all that was happening, I started to play around with the remaining caramelized sugar. I took a flat bottomed pot and sprayed Pam® on it to create a nonstick surface. I drizzled lacy patterns of the now darkened sugar to use for our presentation.
My cooking partner Joseph and I unmolded our Crème Renversée (Crème Caramel) which was a little challenging because the little buggers just didn’t want to let go! But we prevailed in the end and topped our four presented custards with the lacy caramelized sugar on top. Chef liked the presentation and at the end of the evening we had a moment to breathe and enjoy our creamy dessert.
For our stirred custard we made a Crème Anglaise – a rich vanilla scented custard usually used as a dessert sauce. The sauce is simple to make and consists of milk, egg yolks, sugar and vanilla bean or pure extract.
The starch-bound custard recipe was Crème Patissière (Pastry Cream) where flour and cornstarch are used to give it body. We all made a batch of Crème Patissière and stored it in the main refrigerator to use for a later class.
Crème Renversée (Crème Caramel) is a baked custard and includes a sweet amber-colored caramelized sugar. We made a basic custard recipe on the stove top and on the side we caramelized our sugar with a little water. When the sugar starts to caramelize it is best to take it off the stove a few minutes before you reach the color you desire since the caramel will continue to cook.
We poured our caramel into little ramekins and set those aside to harden. In the meantime we prepared a bain marie (water bath used to gently cook the custards) and preheated our ovens. Remember to use boiling water for your water bath. Once the caramel is hardened in the ramekin then you can put in your custard mixture and then into the oven.
While all that was happening, I started to play around with the remaining caramelized sugar. I took a flat bottomed pot and sprayed Pam® on it to create a nonstick surface. I drizzled lacy patterns of the now darkened sugar to use for our presentation.
My cooking partner Joseph and I unmolded our Crème Renversée (Crème Caramel) which was a little challenging because the little buggers just didn’t want to let go! But we prevailed in the end and topped our four presented custards with the lacy caramelized sugar on top. Chef liked the presentation and at the end of the evening we had a moment to breathe and enjoy our creamy dessert.Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Pâte à Choux, Gesundheit!
Puff Pastry (Pâte Feuilletée) and Pâte à Choux are two important pastry doughs to learn how to make successfully. Pâte à Choux is the only dough that is cooked twice and Pâte Feuilletée is time intensive and a little tricky.
If you love éclairs, profiteroles, or even the towering croquembouche, all of these are made with Pâte à Choux. Last night we tackled both types of dough starting with the Pâte Feuilletée since it needs to rest between folding and turning to create that flaky, layered pastry. Palmiers, Napoléons and Tarte Tartin all require this type of dough and time and care need to make it properly.
After combining our ingredients and making the puff pastry dough we let it rest for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator. We started on the Pâte à Choux which is easy to make – bringing water and butter to a boil with a pinch of salt and sugar then adding flour to make the dough come together. Once the dough forms together, it is necessary to keep stirring it on the stove to dry it out before adding eggs. Once eggs are added and the dough cools a bit it is ready to use. We filled pastry bags with the Pâte à Choux and piped elongated éclair shapes and small cream-puff sized pastries brushed with egg wash. The dough baked for about 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven until golden brown, light and puffed.
We made our own Crème Chantilly to fill our puffs and Chef’s assistant made pastry cream and coffee cream for the éclairs. We ended the evening making Beignets Soufflés à l’Orange (Orange Fritters) with another batch of Pâte à Choux. These past few classes in pastry have been enjoyable – learning about different dough and their uses. I’m longing to get back to cooking real food – sweets are nice but I’m really all about the savory.
If you love éclairs, profiteroles, or even the towering croquembouche, all of these are made with Pâte à Choux. Last night we tackled both types of dough starting with the Pâte Feuilletée since it needs to rest between folding and turning to create that flaky, layered pastry. Palmiers, Napoléons and Tarte Tartin all require this type of dough and time and care need to make it properly.
After combining our ingredients and making the puff pastry dough we let it rest for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator. We started on the Pâte à Choux which is easy to make – bringing water and butter to a boil with a pinch of salt and sugar then adding flour to make the dough come together. Once the dough forms together, it is necessary to keep stirring it on the stove to dry it out before adding eggs. Once eggs are added and the dough cools a bit it is ready to use. We filled pastry bags with the Pâte à Choux and piped elongated éclair shapes and small cream-puff sized pastries brushed with egg wash. The dough baked for about 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven until golden brown, light and puffed.
We made our own Crème Chantilly to fill our puffs and Chef’s assistant made pastry cream and coffee cream for the éclairs. We ended the evening making Beignets Soufflés à l’Orange (Orange Fritters) with another batch of Pâte à Choux. These past few classes in pastry have been enjoyable – learning about different dough and their uses. I’m longing to get back to cooking real food – sweets are nice but I’m really all about the savory.
Monday, April 21, 2008
Holy Crêpe!
We made crêpes in my last class - as I learned how to correctly swirl the pan with some fancy wrist-action I was reminded of someone very special.
Here’s a story from childhood…almost every Sunday after we had our family meal, my mother’s sister Emily would come over to visit for the afternoon into the early evening. My Aunt Emily married a Frenchman (my Uncle Laurent) who was a Chef in New York and he taught her everything about fine food. Aunt Emily was an absolute epicurean and she knew so much about food and where to get the best of anything. My mother told me a story once that when Emily was just married to Laurent she cooked for him for the first time and he commented on the differing shapes and sizes of the vegetables she prepped, and asked if she was cooking for the pigs! I figure Aunt Emily’s food education was probably no different than what I am learning now – a little trial by fire. Unfortunately, my Uncle Laurent died when I was just a baby, so what I know of him is limited to some colorful stories and some wonderful culinary memories inspired by him.
Sometimes Aunt Emily would bring over freshly made crêpes that we would warm up, spread some fruit preserves on and roll them up to enjoy. At holiday time she would make this wonderful Gateau Brêton (a butter cake from Brittany). The cake was dense and so delicious with a great cup of coffee.
Over summer vacation from elementary school, Aunt Emily would pick me up and we would run errands and go have lunch. Those times together really cemented my love for her, she was very special, had a wonderful joie de vivre, and best of all an epicurean than loved to teach me about food.
Aunt Emily died when I was in high school – I was devastated. A few years ago I was organizing some old recipes in my file and came upon the Gateau Breton recipe I scribbled down once a long time ago on a post-it sized piece of paper. I’ve renewed the holiday tradition by baking this indulgent, buttery cake for my mom and siblings – hoping it brings back warm memories of Aunt Emily.
Sorry for the fork in the road, but when I think of crêpes I reflect on the first time that I had them and the incredible person in my life that help inspire my love of food. In class we made Here’s a story from childhood…almost every Sunday after we had our family meal, my mother’s sister Emily would come over to visit for the afternoon into the early evening. My Aunt Emily married a Frenchman (my Uncle Laurent) who was a Chef in New York and he taught her everything about fine food. Aunt Emily was an absolute epicurean and she knew so much about food and where to get the best of anything. My mother told me a story once that when Emily was just married to Laurent she cooked for him for the first time and he commented on the differing shapes and sizes of the vegetables she prepped, and asked if she was cooking for the pigs! I figure Aunt Emily’s food education was probably no different than what I am learning now – a little trial by fire. Unfortunately, my Uncle Laurent died when I was just a baby, so what I know of him is limited to some colorful stories and some wonderful culinary memories inspired by him.
Sometimes Aunt Emily would bring over freshly made crêpes that we would warm up, spread some fruit preserves on and roll them up to enjoy. At holiday time she would make this wonderful Gateau Brêton (a butter cake from the Brittany region of France). The cake was dense and so delicious with a great cup of coffee.
Over summer vacation from elementary school, Aunt Emily would pick me up and we would run errands and go have lunch. Those times together really cemented my love for her, she was very special, had a wonderful joie de vivre, and best of all an epicurean than loved to teach me about food.
Aunt Emily died when I was in high school – I was devastated. A few years ago I was organizing some old recipes in my file and came upon the Gateau Brêton recipe I scribbled down once a long time ago on a post-it sized piece of paper. I’ve renewed the holiday tradition by baking this indulgent, buttery cake for my mom and siblings – hoping it brings back warm memories of Aunt Emily.
Sorry for the long-winded diversion, but when I think of crêpes I reflect on the first time that I had them and the incredible person in my life that help inspire my love of food. In class we made Crêpes Suzette and savory crêpes filled with ham, mushrooms and cheese. One bite, a flood of memories, and my hope that I’ve made Aunt Emily proud.
Here’s a story from childhood…almost every Sunday after we had our family meal, my mother’s sister Emily would come over to visit for the afternoon into the early evening. My Aunt Emily married a Frenchman (my Uncle Laurent) who was a Chef in New York and he taught her everything about fine food. Aunt Emily was an absolute epicurean and she knew so much about food and where to get the best of anything. My mother told me a story once that when Emily was just married to Laurent she cooked for him for the first time and he commented on the differing shapes and sizes of the vegetables she prepped, and asked if she was cooking for the pigs! I figure Aunt Emily’s food education was probably no different than what I am learning now – a little trial by fire. Unfortunately, my Uncle Laurent died when I was just a baby, so what I know of him is limited to some colorful stories and some wonderful culinary memories inspired by him.
Sometimes Aunt Emily would bring over freshly made crêpes that we would warm up, spread some fruit preserves on and roll them up to enjoy. At holiday time she would make this wonderful Gateau Brêton (a butter cake from Brittany). The cake was dense and so delicious with a great cup of coffee.
Over summer vacation from elementary school, Aunt Emily would pick me up and we would run errands and go have lunch. Those times together really cemented my love for her, she was very special, had a wonderful joie de vivre, and best of all an epicurean than loved to teach me about food.
Aunt Emily died when I was in high school – I was devastated. A few years ago I was organizing some old recipes in my file and came upon the Gateau Breton recipe I scribbled down once a long time ago on a post-it sized piece of paper. I’ve renewed the holiday tradition by baking this indulgent, buttery cake for my mom and siblings – hoping it brings back warm memories of Aunt Emily.
Sorry for the fork in the road, but when I think of crêpes I reflect on the first time that I had them and the incredible person in my life that help inspire my love of food. In class we made Here’s a story from childhood…almost every Sunday after we had our family meal, my mother’s sister Emily would come over to visit for the afternoon into the early evening. My Aunt Emily married a Frenchman (my Uncle Laurent) who was a Chef in New York and he taught her everything about fine food. Aunt Emily was an absolute epicurean and she knew so much about food and where to get the best of anything. My mother told me a story once that when Emily was just married to Laurent she cooked for him for the first time and he commented on the differing shapes and sizes of the vegetables she prepped, and asked if she was cooking for the pigs! I figure Aunt Emily’s food education was probably no different than what I am learning now – a little trial by fire. Unfortunately, my Uncle Laurent died when I was just a baby, so what I know of him is limited to some colorful stories and some wonderful culinary memories inspired by him.
Sometimes Aunt Emily would bring over freshly made crêpes that we would warm up, spread some fruit preserves on and roll them up to enjoy. At holiday time she would make this wonderful Gateau Brêton (a butter cake from the Brittany region of France). The cake was dense and so delicious with a great cup of coffee.
Over summer vacation from elementary school, Aunt Emily would pick me up and we would run errands and go have lunch. Those times together really cemented my love for her, she was very special, had a wonderful joie de vivre, and best of all an epicurean than loved to teach me about food.
Aunt Emily died when I was in high school – I was devastated. A few years ago I was organizing some old recipes in my file and came upon the Gateau Brêton recipe I scribbled down once a long time ago on a post-it sized piece of paper. I’ve renewed the holiday tradition by baking this indulgent, buttery cake for my mom and siblings – hoping it brings back warm memories of Aunt Emily.
Sorry for the long-winded diversion, but when I think of crêpes I reflect on the first time that I had them and the incredible person in my life that help inspire my love of food. In class we made Crêpes Suzette and savory crêpes filled with ham, mushrooms and cheese. One bite, a flood of memories, and my hope that I’ve made Aunt Emily proud.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Let Them Eat Cake!
Génoise (whole egg foam cake) and Crème au Beurre (Buttercream) go together like Marie Antoinette and the guillotine. More adventures in pastry land, as we began the evening with the Génoise batter – which is relatively simply to make – what’s interesting here is that there are no leavening ingredients in this cake and airy beaten eggs helps it rise in the oven.
Each of us made our own 6” cake – we buttered and floured our pans carefully so the cake wouldn’t stick when trying to take it out. In the meantime, we made our Buttercream. For those diet-conscious readers, pay attention, because I’m about to share the recipe to show the obscene about of butter used to create Buttercream.
Crème au Beurre (enough for two 6” cakes)
300 grams sugar
100 ml water
6 egg yolks
600 grams butter (room temperature)
Our team consisted of four students and Chef instructed us to make a recipe and a half so we ended up using 900 grams of butter – it was a heart attack looking for a home.
Our cakes came out of the oven golden brown and sprang back when touched. We removed them from the pans and let them cool on racks. After toasting some sliced almonds we started decorating our cakes. The Génoise was cut in half lengthwise, frosted in the middle and capped off with the top of the cake. We had to practice our piping skills and the Buttercream I was using was too cold to pipe correctly. My cake’s frosting looked amateurish but I think the French peasants would have like the way it tasted; then again maybe it would be my head on the guillotine!
Each of us made our own 6” cake – we buttered and floured our pans carefully so the cake wouldn’t stick when trying to take it out. In the meantime, we made our Buttercream. For those diet-conscious readers, pay attention, because I’m about to share the recipe to show the obscene about of butter used to create Buttercream.
Crème au Beurre (enough for two 6” cakes)
300 grams sugar
100 ml water
6 egg yolks
600 grams butter (room temperature)
Our team consisted of four students and Chef instructed us to make a recipe and a half so we ended up using 900 grams of butter – it was a heart attack looking for a home.
Our cakes came out of the oven golden brown and sprang back when touched. We removed them from the pans and let them cool on racks. After toasting some sliced almonds we started decorating our cakes. The Génoise was cut in half lengthwise, frosted in the middle and capped off with the top of the cake. We had to practice our piping skills and the Buttercream I was using was too cold to pipe correctly. My cake’s frosting looked amateurish but I think the French peasants would have like the way it tasted; then again maybe it would be my head on the guillotine!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Sweet & Savory
French pastry…just the words alone conjure up buttery croissants, crisp palmiers, savory tarts and rich desserts. As part of my culinary education, we are learning the basics in pastry – techniques all chefs should know and master.
Tart dough (pâte) is defined as a flour-based preparation used as a container to hold fillings. Fillings can be both sweet and savory and pâte brisée, pâte sucrée and pâte sablée and most frequently used as the dough for these types of tarts. Almost all pastry dough is composed of flour, fat (butter, oil, lard), salt and a liquid (eggs, sour cream, milk).
We began by making a pâte brisée for our two recipes for the evening – a savory Tarte à l’ Oignon (onion tart) and a classic Quiche Lorraine. I’ll be honest I was completely dough-phobic going into the class. I’ve tried my hand at baking and making dough and it is just not my thing. I enjoy cooking – baking is a completely different mindset.
So with hesitation, I started making my dough and learned what I was doing wrong. There are a few things to remember when making tart dough. The ration of flour to butter is 2 to 1 (for example 200 grams flour to 100 grams butter). Mix the salt (5 grams) with flour and sift the mixture right on your bench. Use very cold butter, cut into small pieces and form a well in the flour and cut the butter into it with a pastry cutter. Work the flour and butter until it resembles a course mixture with pea sized pieces. Create another well and add your liquid (in this case we added 1 egg with a teaspoon of ice cold water). Work the liquid into the mixture just until the dough comes together. Never over work the dough or you will develop too much gluten in the flour and the dough will be tough and hard to work with and always allow the dough to rest shaped into a disk and wrapped in plastic then into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Resting the dough is very important, it allows the gluten to relax, moisture to become distributed throughout and allows the fat to chill.
We then prepared a pâte sucrée for two recipes: Tarte aux Pommes (apple tart) and Tarte aux Poires à la Frangipane (pear tart with almond pastry cream). The same dough making procedure applies – here we sift the flour, salt and sugar together.
Our savory tarts for the evening were off to a good start, our dough was resting and we began by making the fillings. The onion tart (one of my favorite savory treats) consisted of bacon, carefully caramelized onions and custard made with egg, milk, cream and seasonings. Our quiche filling consisted of bacon and custard as well as the addition of gruyère cheese.
Our tarts came out of the oven (which needed to be calibrated since it was not baking at the proper temperature) and the fillings were golden and beautiful. The tart dough was undercooked and inedible – Marcella and I were disappointed but proceeded to spoon out the amazing quiche filling leaving the crust in the dust.
On the flip side, our sweet tarts would have won blue ribbons at the state fair had we entered them. Chef came around to inspect our final two tarts and smiled and was happily pleased with our baked result. He took our pastry brush and (almost bordering on) lovingly applied the apricot glaze to our Tarte aux Pommes. He called around to the class and asked them to check out our tarts for their beautiful color and presentation.
Marcella and I were thrilled to take the spoils of victory home with us. I packed up with one half of each dessert tart and headed to my bunker to rest my weary head and have sweet dreams.
Tart dough (pâte) is defined as a flour-based preparation used as a container to hold fillings. Fillings can be both sweet and savory and pâte brisée, pâte sucrée and pâte sablée and most frequently used as the dough for these types of tarts. Almost all pastry dough is composed of flour, fat (butter, oil, lard), salt and a liquid (eggs, sour cream, milk).
We began by making a pâte brisée for our two recipes for the evening – a savory Tarte à l’ Oignon (onion tart) and a classic Quiche Lorraine. I’ll be honest I was completely dough-phobic going into the class. I’ve tried my hand at baking and making dough and it is just not my thing. I enjoy cooking – baking is a completely different mindset.
So with hesitation, I started making my dough and learned what I was doing wrong. There are a few things to remember when making tart dough. The ration of flour to butter is 2 to 1 (for example 200 grams flour to 100 grams butter). Mix the salt (5 grams) with flour and sift the mixture right on your bench. Use very cold butter, cut into small pieces and form a well in the flour and cut the butter into it with a pastry cutter. Work the flour and butter until it resembles a course mixture with pea sized pieces. Create another well and add your liquid (in this case we added 1 egg with a teaspoon of ice cold water). Work the liquid into the mixture just until the dough comes together. Never over work the dough or you will develop too much gluten in the flour and the dough will be tough and hard to work with and always allow the dough to rest shaped into a disk and wrapped in plastic then into the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. Resting the dough is very important, it allows the gluten to relax, moisture to become distributed throughout and allows the fat to chill.
We then prepared a pâte sucrée for two recipes: Tarte aux Pommes (apple tart) and Tarte aux Poires à la Frangipane (pear tart with almond pastry cream). The same dough making procedure applies – here we sift the flour, salt and sugar together.
Our savory tarts for the evening were off to a good start, our dough was resting and we began by making the fillings. The onion tart (one of my favorite savory treats) consisted of bacon, carefully caramelized onions and custard made with egg, milk, cream and seasonings. Our quiche filling consisted of bacon and custard as well as the addition of gruyère cheese.
Our tarts came out of the oven (which needed to be calibrated since it was not baking at the proper temperature) and the fillings were golden and beautiful. The tart dough was undercooked and inedible – Marcella and I were disappointed but proceeded to spoon out the amazing quiche filling leaving the crust in the dust.
On the flip side, our sweet tarts would have won blue ribbons at the state fair had we entered them. Chef came around to inspect our final two tarts and smiled and was happily pleased with our baked result. He took our pastry brush and (almost bordering on) lovingly applied the apricot glaze to our Tarte aux Pommes. He called around to the class and asked them to check out our tarts for their beautiful color and presentation. 
Marcella and I were thrilled to take the spoils of victory home with us. I packed up with one half of each dessert tart and headed to my bunker to rest my weary head and have sweet dreams.
Jolly ole England
I had a wonderful opportunity to get away for a few days to London. I missed one class but will make it up in a week or so. London has made significant leaps in the culinary world since my first trip to the UK about ten years ago. I’ll never forget that trip, most everything I ate was horrid! I thought it was just bad luck but it was just the way things were…thankfully most of that has changed.With three full days in London we were ready to explore and dine. We had a fantastic dinner at Bistrotheque in East London the restaurant lives in a former clothing warehouse. A very eclectic crowd buzzed about and the food is a blend of French bistro and British classics. I started with mussels in a velvety white wine cream sauce and had a delicious steak with chips and béarnaise sauce.
After a day of shopping, theater and endless trotting about we worked up a good hunger and had some respectful pub food (Sheppard’s Pie and Steak & Guinness Pie) washed down with some tasty ale. For dinner we headed to the meat-packing district and dined at Smithfield Bar & Grill. I couldn’t help my carnivorous-self, I had a yummy grilled rib eye steak with an ice-cold French Martini.
On Sunday, the London Marathon was racing through the city. We headed to the Tate Modern, one of my most favorite museums. Over the Millennium Bridge we arrived at the Tate and leisurely browsed the galleries. To escape the throngs of people we descended into the Underground and rode the Tube to Green Park. A misty rain was falling and we walked along Piccadilly past the Ritz Hotel and stumbled upon The Wolseley. My absolute favorite dining spot was our lunch here – a former car showroom turned bank now restaurant. We shared a leek parmesan tart and soupe au pistou to start. We sat in the bar and enjoyed great people-watching – the service was top-notch and graciously old-style. Joe had the Roast Landaise Chicken with Lyonnaise Potatoes and I had a luscious and classic British Sunday supper of Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding.
The next morning, I awoke at 5:oo am to get to Heathrow for my morning flight. Joe went on to St. Pancras Station to board the Eurostar to Paris for business. I arrived at home in New York, unpacked, showered and went to my evening class at the French Culinary Institute. Severly jet-lagged I mustered enough strength to stay alert as we started our first class in pastry.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Just Offal
Where to start? Offal (les abats) is a classification of organ meats and are organized by abats blanc (white organs) such as sweetbreads, bone marrow, brains, tripe, testicles, head, feet and abats rouge (red organs) heart, kidney, liver, and tongue.
Our recipes for the night: Ris de Veau, Petits Pois Paysans (Braised Sweetbreads with Country-Style Peas), Foie de Veau à la Lyonnaise (Sautéed Calf’s Liver with Caramelized Onions), and Langue d’Agneau, Sauce Piquante (Lamb Tongue with Spicy Sauce).
Sweetbreads are the thymus glands of veal, pork, young beef or lamb and I believe are a required taste. We tackled this recipe by first sautéing the sweetbreads then the mirepoix in the same sautoir. We created a braising liquid by deglazing the pan with white wine and port wine and reduced this slightly. We added veal demi-glace (any stock reduced by half is a demi-glace) covered and put into a 325 degree oven. In the meantime we made our country-style vegetables consisting of peas, carrots, turnips, pearl onions, and a chiffonade of Boston lettuce.
The outcome? My partner Stephanie and I are open to trying everything, we both share a love affair with food. I can’t remember the last time I had sweetbreads, I’m sure I’ve had them before I just can’t remember – anyway, Steph and I both had a bite at the same time. The sautéed sweetbreads had a nice flavor upon first bite, then upon chewing it became most unpleasant! Simultaneously, our expressions changed from interesting to horrified. We both ran to grab paper towels to politely spit out the rest. Ah, we had a good laugh after chugging some water – you can’t say we didn’t try!
Our tongues braised in court bouillon – doesn’t that sound effusive! Perhaps it could be the title of my culinary memoirs – anyway, I was referring to our lamb tongues. The court bouillon softens the tough meat. We prepared a Sauce Piquante made of shallots, course peppercorns, red wine vinegar, tomatoes, stock, white wine and herbs. The sauce was made by combining the above ingredients then strained and tested for seasoning – it had a bite of pepper and a nice acidity. The tongue was sliced very thin and delicately mounded on the plate with the sauce napped over it. Finished with herbs, Chef said this would be an appropriate first course. The tongue was tasty, meaty, and the sauce gave it punch.
Lastly, the liver was prepped and sliced. Chef hauled out this huge pinkish, red calf’s liver – it was enormous! He removed the transparent skin and sliced very thin slices for us to make our dish. Simply sautéed in oil and butter, the liver was served with a sauce of caramelized onions that had a kick of vinegar. Of all the dishes that night, this was my “favorite” and the most palatable dish, as for the others we prepared - they were just offal.
Our recipes for the night: Ris de Veau, Petits Pois Paysans (Braised Sweetbreads with Country-Style Peas), Foie de Veau à la Lyonnaise (Sautéed Calf’s Liver with Caramelized Onions), and Langue d’Agneau, Sauce Piquante (Lamb Tongue with Spicy Sauce).
Sweetbreads are the thymus glands of veal, pork, young beef or lamb and I believe are a required taste. We tackled this recipe by first sautéing the sweetbreads then the mirepoix in the same sautoir. We created a braising liquid by deglazing the pan with white wine and port wine and reduced this slightly. We added veal demi-glace (any stock reduced by half is a demi-glace) covered and put into a 325 degree oven. In the meantime we made our country-style vegetables consisting of peas, carrots, turnips, pearl onions, and a chiffonade of Boston lettuce.
The outcome? My partner Stephanie and I are open to trying everything, we both share a love affair with food. I can’t remember the last time I had sweetbreads, I’m sure I’ve had them before I just can’t remember – anyway, Steph and I both had a bite at the same time. The sautéed sweetbreads had a nice flavor upon first bite, then upon chewing it became most unpleasant! Simultaneously, our expressions changed from interesting to horrified. We both ran to grab paper towels to politely spit out the rest. Ah, we had a good laugh after chugging some water – you can’t say we didn’t try!
Our tongues braised in court bouillon – doesn’t that sound effusive! Perhaps it could be the title of my culinary memoirs – anyway, I was referring to our lamb tongues. The court bouillon softens the tough meat. We prepared a Sauce Piquante made of shallots, course peppercorns, red wine vinegar, tomatoes, stock, white wine and herbs. The sauce was made by combining the above ingredients then strained and tested for seasoning – it had a bite of pepper and a nice acidity. The tongue was sliced very thin and delicately mounded on the plate with the sauce napped over it. Finished with herbs, Chef said this would be an appropriate first course. The tongue was tasty, meaty, and the sauce gave it punch.Lastly, the liver was prepped and sliced. Chef hauled out this huge pinkish, red calf’s liver – it was enormous! He removed the transparent skin and sliced very thin slices for us to make our dish. Simply sautéed in oil and butter, the liver was served with a sauce of caramelized onions that had a kick of vinegar. Of all the dishes that night, this was my “favorite” and the most palatable dish, as for the others we prepared - they were just offal.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Please Mind The Gap
I'm off to London very early tomorrow morning and will be reporting on food and dining in that amazing city. Tonight in class we will be cooking offal (organ meats) - more to report on this upon my return - or whenever I can grab some computer time in the UK. So please mind the gap between postings - I promise to keep you up to date on all my culinary adventures here and across the pond!Cheers, Anthony
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Absolutely Stuffed!
I have to report that I am thoroughly and happily addicted to Kona coffee. We brought back a few pounds of java from our fall trip to the Big Island. It is so smooth and intoxicatingly good – a very satisfying cup – that softly nudges me into the day.
This morning, the Kona is brewing, I’m also enjoying fresh blackberries with farm-fresh vanilla scented yogurt – so good! Lastly, I’m also thrilled to be able to take better photographs of the dishes we create in class with my new iPhone. No more yellowy pictures, the iPhone is really amazing.
Last night, was all about stuffings (Farce)…stuffings are composed of cooked or raw finely chopped ingredients. Stuffings can be used into terrines, pâtés, galantines, ballottines and spread on croutons. Stuffings in the French kitchen go way beyond what I considered a stuffing. For instance, Chef demonstrated a mousseline, made with chicken, egg whites and cream. He macerated the chicken in a food processor then mashed it through a fine drum sieve called a tamis. Afterwards, added beaten egg white and lightly whipped cream to form a lighter then air mousseline that can be made into a terrines, quenelles, etc. Chef also made chicken liver pâté and we were able to snack on it with crusty baguette slices later in the evening.
Our main dish and dinner for the night was a Paupiette de Boeuf (Stuffed Escalope of Beef). Chef hauled out a top round of beef and trimmed off the excess fat. He sliced the meat for our mise en place (prep work). We covered the slices of top round with plastic wrap then flattened the beef with a mallet. It was comical, at one point I didn’t know if I was working in a kitchen or a wood-working shop with the constant banging echoing throughout the stations.
Our stuffing was ground pork, mushroom duxelles, and fresh herbs that we prepared a little ahead of time. Once our meat was thin enough, we placed a few tablespoons of the stuffing on the meat and proceeded to roll and tie it. Dusted lightly with flour and seared in a sauté pan, the meat was set aside until the braising liquid was prepared. Once we sautéed our mirepoix, we returned the beef to the pan and added veal stock, bringing that up to a simmer then covered to cook for 20 – 30 minutes. In the meantime, Chef decided we should all make rice pilaf to go with our dish so we sprinted to get that together.
Once the meat was cooked, we removed it and kept it warm, we degreased the sauce and reduced it – sound familiar? The sauce was finished with a little butter swirled around the pan, we plated the beef which was sliced on a bias and we napped the beef with sauce and used a ramekin to form the rice on the plate. All four dishes were presented to Chef, who commented that the sauce was reduced too much and needed some salt and the plates could have be hotter. Overall, the flavor of the beef was underwhelming, meat stuffed with meat…my only choice was to dig in since it was my dinner for the evening.
Our last dish after dinner break was stuffed vegetables (tomato, zucchini and mushroom caps). We prepared a stuffing that consisted of sautéed smokey bacon, mushroom, tomato and zucchini trimmings, garlic, shallots and thyme. We cut the zucchini into 2 inch lengths, stood it up on its side and scooped out three-fourths of the flesh. We hollowed out the tomatoes and prepped the mushroom caps as well, then seasoned and sautéed in a little oil to gain color. We added freshly grated parmesan to the stuffing mixture, then carefully filled our vegetables. Returned to the sauté pan, our vegetables were standing at attention dressed with a touch more of parmesan. We added a few tablespoons of chicken stock to the pan and placed it into a 350 degree oven to complete the cooking process.
My partner, Marcella, and I plated our veggies on extremely hot plates, not trying to make that mistake again. We arranged 1 tomato halve, 1 zucchini and 1 mushroom cap in single file on the plate with a sprig of thyme in the zucchini. Chef enjoyed the presentation, and said our zucchini was cooked properly and the plates were sufficiently hot. Phew, some redemption at last!
This morning, the Kona is brewing, I’m also enjoying fresh blackberries with farm-fresh vanilla scented yogurt – so good! Lastly, I’m also thrilled to be able to take better photographs of the dishes we create in class with my new iPhone. No more yellowy pictures, the iPhone is really amazing.
Last night, was all about stuffings (Farce)…stuffings are composed of cooked or raw finely chopped ingredients. Stuffings can be used into terrines, pâtés, galantines, ballottines and spread on croutons. Stuffings in the French kitchen go way beyond what I considered a stuffing. For instance, Chef demonstrated a mousseline, made with chicken, egg whites and cream. He macerated the chicken in a food processor then mashed it through a fine drum sieve called a tamis. Afterwards, added beaten egg white and lightly whipped cream to form a lighter then air mousseline that can be made into a terrines, quenelles, etc. Chef also made chicken liver pâté and we were able to snack on it with crusty baguette slices later in the evening.
Our main dish and dinner for the night was a Paupiette de Boeuf (Stuffed Escalope of Beef). Chef hauled out a top round of beef and trimmed off the excess fat. He sliced the meat for our mise en place (prep work). We covered the slices of top round with plastic wrap then flattened the beef with a mallet. It was comical, at one point I didn’t know if I was working in a kitchen or a wood-working shop with the constant banging echoing throughout the stations.
Our stuffing was ground pork, mushroom duxelles, and fresh herbs that we prepared a little ahead of time. Once our meat was thin enough, we placed a few tablespoons of the stuffing on the meat and proceeded to roll and tie it. Dusted lightly with flour and seared in a sauté pan, the meat was set aside until the braising liquid was prepared. Once we sautéed our mirepoix, we returned the beef to the pan and added veal stock, bringing that up to a simmer then covered to cook for 20 – 30 minutes. In the meantime, Chef decided we should all make rice pilaf to go with our dish so we sprinted to get that together.
Once the meat was cooked, we removed it and kept it warm, we degreased the sauce and reduced it – sound familiar? The sauce was finished with a little butter swirled around the pan, we plated the beef which was sliced on a bias and we napped the beef with sauce and used a ramekin to form the rice on the plate. All four dishes were presented to Chef, who commented that the sauce was reduced too much and needed some salt and the plates could have be hotter. Overall, the flavor of the beef was underwhelming, meat stuffed with meat…my only choice was to dig in since it was my dinner for the evening.
Our last dish after dinner break was stuffed vegetables (tomato, zucchini and mushroom caps). We prepared a stuffing that consisted of sautéed smokey bacon, mushroom, tomato and zucchini trimmings, garlic, shallots and thyme. We cut the zucchini into 2 inch lengths, stood it up on its side and scooped out three-fourths of the flesh. We hollowed out the tomatoes and prepped the mushroom caps as well, then seasoned and sautéed in a little oil to gain color. We added freshly grated parmesan to the stuffing mixture, then carefully filled our vegetables. Returned to the sauté pan, our vegetables were standing at attention dressed with a touch more of parmesan. We added a few tablespoons of chicken stock to the pan and placed it into a 350 degree oven to complete the cooking process.
My partner, Marcella, and I plated our veggies on extremely hot plates, not trying to make that mistake again. We arranged 1 tomato halve, 1 zucchini and 1 mushroom cap in single file on the plate with a sprig of thyme in the zucchini. Chef enjoyed the presentation, and said our zucchini was cooked properly and the plates were sufficiently hot. Phew, some redemption at last!
Mixte Emotions
Monday night, we began Level II and started learning about marinades and how they can tenderize and flavor meats. There are two types of marinades, cooked and uncooked. Cooked marinades are used when you are marinating foods for longer periods of time (uncooked vegetables in the marinade would start to ferment if left for too long).
We tackled two recipes: Navarin Printanier d’Agneau (Lamb Stew with Spring Vegetables) and Poulet Braisé au Vin Rouge (Chicken Braised with Red Wine). The term navarin refers to lamb stew and is mixte cooking using both the concentration method by searing the meat in a sauté pan then cooking it in a liquid – the extraction method.
My cooking partner and I prepped our Printanier of vegetables (turnips, carrots, pearl onions, string beans, and peas) by cooking some of them with a buttery glaze.
The lamb cooked in a covered pot in the oven for about an hour. At the end of the cooking time, we removed the lamb, degreased the liquid, strained the mirepoix from the cooking liquid and we began reducing the sauce. We finished the sauce with a beurre manié (room temperature butter mixed with all purpose flour) to give the sauce more body and texture). We plated as Chef loomed nearby – he was waiting for four exact plates to be presented. We did a good job on the dish, but Chef critiqued us by saying the plates could have been hotter. Chef bellowed, “Hot food, hot plates!”
Our chicken had been marinating for two days and the chicken took on a purple hue from the red wine marinade. We prepared the chicken in a very similar way, searing it then cooking it in stock covered on top of the stove for about 30 to 40 minutes. Note: if you plan to use your marinade as a finishing sauce, you must bring it to a boil to ensure it is free from bacteria, the chicken marinade is a veritable pool of salmonella!
We prepared spätzle to accompany our chicken dish, we each made our own dough and Chef demonstrated how to cook it – we combined all of our spätzle dough and cooked it together in one huge pot of boiling water.
We sliced the cooked chicken, degreased the sauce, strained it and reduced it a little to concentrate the flavor. We place the chicken back into the sauce, heated our serving plates and presented our final four plates to Chef. He said it was beautifully presented, and the sauce was the best he had that night. A job well done.
We tackled two recipes: Navarin Printanier d’Agneau (Lamb Stew with Spring Vegetables) and Poulet Braisé au Vin Rouge (Chicken Braised with Red Wine). The term navarin refers to lamb stew and is mixte cooking using both the concentration method by searing the meat in a sauté pan then cooking it in a liquid – the extraction method.
My cooking partner and I prepped our Printanier of vegetables (turnips, carrots, pearl onions, string beans, and peas) by cooking some of them with a buttery glaze.
The lamb cooked in a covered pot in the oven for about an hour. At the end of the cooking time, we removed the lamb, degreased the liquid, strained the mirepoix from the cooking liquid and we began reducing the sauce. We finished the sauce with a beurre manié (room temperature butter mixed with all purpose flour) to give the sauce more body and texture). We plated as Chef loomed nearby – he was waiting for four exact plates to be presented. We did a good job on the dish, but Chef critiqued us by saying the plates could have been hotter. Chef bellowed, “Hot food, hot plates!”
Our chicken had been marinating for two days and the chicken took on a purple hue from the red wine marinade. We prepared the chicken in a very similar way, searing it then cooking it in stock covered on top of the stove for about 30 to 40 minutes. Note: if you plan to use your marinade as a finishing sauce, you must bring it to a boil to ensure it is free from bacteria, the chicken marinade is a veritable pool of salmonella!
We prepared spätzle to accompany our chicken dish, we each made our own dough and Chef demonstrated how to cook it – we combined all of our spätzle dough and cooked it together in one huge pot of boiling water.
We sliced the cooked chicken, degreased the sauce, strained it and reduced it a little to concentrate the flavor. We place the chicken back into the sauce, heated our serving plates and presented our final four plates to Chef. He said it was beautifully presented, and the sauce was the best he had that night. A job well done.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Comprehensive & Practical
Wednesday night was tough, we had our Level I comprehensive exam and our practical. We met Chef outside of a kitchen that we’ve never worked in before – not knowing the lay of the land always makes me apprehensive. He called us in and we were assigned a station.
We began the evening with our written comprehensive exam which covered Level I material. I read each question thoroughly and answered it as best I could from what I had studied and remembered doing in class. After our written exam we went right into our practical. We were given a potato, onion, carrot and turnip. We set up our stations with the appropriate knives and waited for our instruction.
We were tested on knife skills, time management and organization. We had to take the turnip and cut it into julienne and brunoise cuts. The carrot was to be cut into jardinière and macédoine, the onion was cut into ciseler and émincer. We had 30 minutes to clean our veggies, peel them and cut them into the appropriate sizes. We were judged on accuracy and how much we wasted of the vegetable. The time clock started and I washed, peeled, and got to work. I finished with a little time to spare. We were asked to plate our cut vegetables, then put our ID on the chopping board and leave the kitchen when we were done. In the hallway, my fellow classmates nursed bloody fingers, and chatted about what they did right and wrong. Once time ran out, all the students had to leave the kitchen in the same manner and have our work graded by the proctor.
The kitchen door opened and we are called in to the next part of the test. We had to take the potato and make four perfect cocotte-sized pieces. I bought this fantastic tournage knife that has made a world of difference. I carefully sculpted four impressive specimens (at least I thought they represented some of my best work). Again, ID on the chopping board then out into the hallway until time ran out. Cocottes are the bane of many an FCI student’s existence. It just takes practice, control and a very sharp paring knife.
The old kitchen doors swung open again and we were called back. Lastly, we had to cook our macédoine carrots à l’anglaise as our final test in the practical. Once it was all over I was relieved and happy it was all over. We immediately had a break for family dinner then a lecture followed in the classroom upstairs.
At the end of the night, after our lecture, Chef gave us our final Level I grades. He handed out the comprehensive exam and went over it. I was so shocked to receive a perfect score! I thought I must have screwed something up but I guess my answers were spot on. He then called us up individually and presented our practical grade for the evening where I received a 98! I was thrilled and felt so happy to have done so well. On the train ride home I was finally able to exhale and smile. One battle under my belt with many more to go!
We began the evening with our written comprehensive exam which covered Level I material. I read each question thoroughly and answered it as best I could from what I had studied and remembered doing in class. After our written exam we went right into our practical. We were given a potato, onion, carrot and turnip. We set up our stations with the appropriate knives and waited for our instruction.
We were tested on knife skills, time management and organization. We had to take the turnip and cut it into julienne and brunoise cuts. The carrot was to be cut into jardinière and macédoine, the onion was cut into ciseler and émincer. We had 30 minutes to clean our veggies, peel them and cut them into the appropriate sizes. We were judged on accuracy and how much we wasted of the vegetable. The time clock started and I washed, peeled, and got to work. I finished with a little time to spare. We were asked to plate our cut vegetables, then put our ID on the chopping board and leave the kitchen when we were done. In the hallway, my fellow classmates nursed bloody fingers, and chatted about what they did right and wrong. Once time ran out, all the students had to leave the kitchen in the same manner and have our work graded by the proctor.
The kitchen door opened and we are called in to the next part of the test. We had to take the potato and make four perfect cocotte-sized pieces. I bought this fantastic tournage knife that has made a world of difference. I carefully sculpted four impressive specimens (at least I thought they represented some of my best work). Again, ID on the chopping board then out into the hallway until time ran out. Cocottes are the bane of many an FCI student’s existence. It just takes practice, control and a very sharp paring knife.
The old kitchen doors swung open again and we were called back. Lastly, we had to cook our macédoine carrots à l’anglaise as our final test in the practical. Once it was all over I was relieved and happy it was all over. We immediately had a break for family dinner then a lecture followed in the classroom upstairs.
At the end of the night, after our lecture, Chef gave us our final Level I grades. He handed out the comprehensive exam and went over it. I was so shocked to receive a perfect score! I thought I must have screwed something up but I guess my answers were spot on. He then called us up individually and presented our practical grade for the evening where I received a 98! I was thrilled and felt so happy to have done so well. On the train ride home I was finally able to exhale and smile. One battle under my belt with many more to go!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Level 1 Finale
Tomorrow night I have a comprehensive written exam covering the past 19 lessons (everything you’ve been reading here) and a practical exam. For the practical we are scored on knife skills, taillage (cutting four perfect 5 cm cocottes from one potato), cooking vegetables à l’anglaise, organizational skills and lastly time management.
So, I’m hitting the books and getting a good night’s rest tonight. I’m nervous and a little apprehensive about the practical. Wish me luck, I’ll report on it when it is all over!
So, I’m hitting the books and getting a good night’s rest tonight. I’m nervous and a little apprehensive about the practical. Wish me luck, I’ll report on it when it is all over!
No Bones About It
I can’t begin to tell you how many chicken carcasses I’ve had to debone, quarter, manchonner (to cut the end knuckles and trim the meat from the drumsticks and wings), skin and truss in the past two weeks.
Our focus for these last few classes in Level I has been on a cooking methods. We learned about the extraction method. Extraction cooking methods include, poaching, simmering and braising. When cooking in this method it is best to start out with the item and the medium it is going to be cooked in cold. This allows the natural juices to come out and flavor the cooking liquid. The liquid that the meat is cooked is then can be strained and made into a full flavored sauce.
We prepared two classic dishes under Chef’s (our regular Chef was in the kitchen of Le Bernardin so we had a substitute Chef) watchful eye including Blanquette de Veau à l’Ancienne, Riz Pilaf (Veal Stew in a Cream Sauce with Rice Pilaf) and Poule au Pot, Sauce Raifort (Poached Chicken, Horseradish Cream Sauce). Both dishes required many steps to prepare but were relatively straight forward to complete. Chef seemed to like the flavor of our sauces and the presentation of our dishes.
Last night (our regular Chef was back), we made Jarret d’Agneau Braisé (Braised Lamb Shanks for our dinner) and Fricassée de Voilaille Printanière (Chicken Stewed with Spring Vegetables). These dishes required that we combine our two methods of cooking – concentration and extraction – this method is called mixte cooking. Mixte cooking is ideal for small cuts of meats that generally benefit from longer, slower cooking.
We seared the lamb shanks with some clarified butter on top of the stove until they had some nice color. Then we removed the shanks and added our mirepoix to give it some color. Herbs, red and white wine, tomatoes, and brown stock completed the cooking liquid. The lamb was returned to the pan, covered and allowed to cook for two hours at 325 degrees. The meat is done when it falls away from the bone. When our shanks were done we removed them from the cooking liquid and set them aside to keep warm while we prepared the sauce. Strain, degrease and reduce: the next steps to finish the sauce. The sauce consistency was excellent, unfortunately we salted it before reducing it making it very salty. Note to self: don’t season until the very end.
Our chicken was a little more complex, with turned vegetables (carrots & turnips), peas, string beans, and glazed pearl onions (the Printanière). During the second half of class most of us get a little punchy after working at our normal jobs all day long and being in the kitchen under demanding time constraints tends to wear us down a bit. Chef’s demeanor was focused and demanding and he was having none of our antics – thus creating a slightly more stressful situation when it came to completing our Fricassée. The dish in itself is a little tricky because you need to sear the chicken first but obtain no color to the skin, or to the pearl onions or the base sauce since the presentation should look as white as possible with bursts of color just from the spring vegetable garniture. At the end of the night, many of us felt a little defeated by our nemesis – the chicken.
Our focus for these last few classes in Level I has been on a cooking methods. We learned about the extraction method. Extraction cooking methods include, poaching, simmering and braising. When cooking in this method it is best to start out with the item and the medium it is going to be cooked in cold. This allows the natural juices to come out and flavor the cooking liquid. The liquid that the meat is cooked is then can be strained and made into a full flavored sauce.
We prepared two classic dishes under Chef’s (our regular Chef was in the kitchen of Le Bernardin so we had a substitute Chef) watchful eye including Blanquette de Veau à l’Ancienne, Riz Pilaf (Veal Stew in a Cream Sauce with Rice Pilaf) and Poule au Pot, Sauce Raifort (Poached Chicken, Horseradish Cream Sauce). Both dishes required many steps to prepare but were relatively straight forward to complete. Chef seemed to like the flavor of our sauces and the presentation of our dishes.
Last night (our regular Chef was back), we made Jarret d’Agneau Braisé (Braised Lamb Shanks for our dinner) and Fricassée de Voilaille Printanière (Chicken Stewed with Spring Vegetables). These dishes required that we combine our two methods of cooking – concentration and extraction – this method is called mixte cooking. Mixte cooking is ideal for small cuts of meats that generally benefit from longer, slower cooking.
We seared the lamb shanks with some clarified butter on top of the stove until they had some nice color. Then we removed the shanks and added our mirepoix to give it some color. Herbs, red and white wine, tomatoes, and brown stock completed the cooking liquid. The lamb was returned to the pan, covered and allowed to cook for two hours at 325 degrees. The meat is done when it falls away from the bone. When our shanks were done we removed them from the cooking liquid and set them aside to keep warm while we prepared the sauce. Strain, degrease and reduce: the next steps to finish the sauce. The sauce consistency was excellent, unfortunately we salted it before reducing it making it very salty. Note to self: don’t season until the very end.
Our chicken was a little more complex, with turned vegetables (carrots & turnips), peas, string beans, and glazed pearl onions (the Printanière). During the second half of class most of us get a little punchy after working at our normal jobs all day long and being in the kitchen under demanding time constraints tends to wear us down a bit. Chef’s demeanor was focused and demanding and he was having none of our antics – thus creating a slightly more stressful situation when it came to completing our Fricassée. The dish in itself is a little tricky because you need to sear the chicken first but obtain no color to the skin, or to the pearl onions or the base sauce since the presentation should look as white as possible with bursts of color just from the spring vegetable garniture. At the end of the night, many of us felt a little defeated by our nemesis – the chicken.
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