Essential Skills 2 - Grains and Pasta

It took me awhile to assemble this Polenta Napoleon. There were so many components. First we cut the polenta that we made the day before and had left to chill overnight into circles, and grilled it, along with a portabello mushroom, a roasted red pepper, zucchini, yellow squash and asparagus. Then it was like making a lasagna. One layer at a time. Served on top of a red pepper coulis and some reduced balsamic vinegar. I ended up with a nice little tower.





We also made a classic rice pilaf and Risotto Milanese, which is a risotto made with a saffron infused broth, and of course, Parmesan cheese. I have been making risotto for years. When I made it today, I kind of fell apart. I completely over-caramelized my onions and then added way too much wine. A recipe rescaling error again and a flame problem on my burner. Am I making excuses or should I really start questioning my math skills?

We finished by putting together a pasta dough by hand that will be used in the morning.
Pasta for breakfast. Yum.
Goodnight.

Essential Skills 2 - Potatoes, Grains

Comfortably back in my kitchen with my partner Laurie we continued with potato recipes and attempted our first grain recipe - Quinoa. (keen-wa). Quinoa is an interesting grain, which was a common food of the Incas. Although not botanically a true grain, it's tiny seeds are treated as such. Gluten free and increasing in popularity these days it is marketed as the world's "super grain" because the seeds form a complete protein and contain important vitamins and minerals as well as carbohydrates and fats. (Yes, I'm a nerd who actually reads the text book.) It is basically cooked similar to rice. Sautéed then allowed to steam.

The next recipe was Duchesse Potatoes. These were so fun to make. It is basically a mashed potato with some eggs and then piped into a conical shape. These are traditionally served with chateaubriand or used for a buffet.
We will have to make these for our next practical test on Monday. Mine were not the most uniform shapes so, once again, I had the Traina's over for dinner to practice and once again, I forgot to heat their plates! They are tough.

The next recipe was Roesti Potatoes, which was a type of Potato pie, hash brown style, stuffed with caramelized onions and fried stove top. We all practiced out flipping technique. Plate on top, flip pan and plate over, slide pie back into pan. I didn’t hear any plate shattering.




Finally we made some potato pancakes that were absolutely delicious. I have a good friend named Virginia, (are you out there) who in my mind makes the best potato pancakes ever. (Actually, everything she makes is the best)



Her recipe was passed down to her from her Lithuanian Grandma. I think the ones I made today might hold a candle to hers. Maybe. We just might have to have a pancake cook off!!

Goodnight.

Essential Skills 2 - Potatoes

I switched from my morning class to the afternoon class just for today. It was a good experience to be with a different class and a different chef. I thoroughly enjoyed Chef Udo's style and personality, and enjoyed seeing a few people I had met in the Serve Safe class. I also came away with a new appreciation of my class when it comes do doing dishes.

One potato, two potato, three potatoes.....Did you know that there are 7,000 different varieties of potatoes in this world? I see maybe 10 different types in the produce markets around here. Where are the other 6990? I recently took a trip to Argentina (via Taylor-Made Tours; see my links) and came across these beautiful wild potatoes in a cooking class.

I'm straying.....back to class.

We learned which types of potatoes worked best for the various cooking methods. Your "mealy" (also known as starchy) potatoes have a high starch content and thick skin. They are low in sugar and are best for baking, deep frying and mashing. Your "waxy" potatoes (fingerlings, Yukon gold’s, reds) have a low starch content and are better for steaming boiling and roasting. They are too glutinous for mashed and contain too much moisture for deep frying.

With that said... we took some russets and made Gratin Dauphinoise. You really can't go wrong cream and Gruyere. We then put together a nice grilled potatoes salad using red potatoes and dressing it with basil vinaigrette. Next some classic Lyonnais potatoes (fried potatoes and onions), little steamed tourners with parsley and butter and finally some French fries.

Tomorrow...

…four potatoes, five potatoes, six potatoes more.

Goodnight.

Essential Skills 2 - More Vegetables

We finished up our vegetable run with Brussels sprouts in Pecan Butter, Parsnip puree - piped into cute little spirals, and braised celery hearts, which I had never had before, and to be quite honest wasn't too excited about it. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked them. I'm sure the Basil Beurre Blanc that we made from the braising liquids and served over it helped. No pictures today. No matter how many shots I took I didn't seem to be able to quite capture the beauty of braised celery.

I like going to the movie on Friday afternoons with my girlfriends. I think I was going a little vegetable crazy today when the new Veggie Tales Movie appealed to me. I couldn't talk my friends into seeing it. They wanted to take me for an In Out Burger after the movie to bring me back to my senses.

I am looking forward to beginning Potatoes on Monday.



Goodnight

Essential Skills 2 - Vegetables, Deep Fried and Fried

After today, my worrying about too much healthy eating shifted to a concern for my arteries. A fleeting concern, thank goodness, that vanished from my mind as soon as I tasted a beer battered onion-ring fresh from the fryer. A crisp golden exterior, perfecttly salted with the soft sweet onion consealed in the center. Nice and moist with no greasy flavor.


I know I sound like Florence Henderson in a Wesson oil commercial but it really was that good!

It also helped that we had a commercial deep fryer that kept the oil at a perfect temperature



Another crucial Mise en Place day. When deep frying, you especially need all your vegetables blanched, and ready to go. We made an Asian style dipping sauce for the tempura vegetables, and the different batters were all made and kept in an icebath to stay cold. ( I learned that having your batter ice cold is one of the most important factors to deep frying) You want a reaction when the food hits the oil. ) And finally our breading station was set up. Chef made it all look so easy when he demonstrated.


We were not as smooth at the deep frying when set loose in the kitchen.
My tempura and eggplant was great - my Chile Relleno - I threw away, though I was blow tourch queen at blackening the skins and prepping the chilis.





It was not as easy as Chef made it look. I will be practicing deep frying this weekend.

"The only way to learn to cook is to cook."

Alice B. Toklas (1877-1967)

American writer

Goodnight

Essentail Skills 2 - Vegetable, Stir Fry

I love Asian style stir-fried vegetables.


However, the prepping for all the various vegetable and sauces can
be tedious.

Our menu for today was;
Stir-Fried Asparagus with Shiitake Mushrooms
Mixed Wok Vegetables
Spiced Bean Curd (Tofu)
Duxelles
Ratatouille

Mise en place took up most of the class. Everything had to be completely at hand and ready to go.

Asparagus, cut, blanched, refreshed and dry. Mushrooms sliced.
Cabbage, carrots, zucchini all julienne. Ginger and garlic minced. Cilantro chopped. Tofu cubed. Bean sprouts cleaned. Spicy sauce put together.
Onions, eggplant, zucchini, red and green pepper all in an even dice
Shallots and mushrooms minced.

Let the games begin.
With 16 woks going and 16 sauté pans - things were smoking! Aside from the ratatouille, which simmered a bit in the sauce after sautéing the vegetables, it was amazing how fast the dishes came together.

“...organization is just as important in the kitchen as in any business office…
Dione Lucas (1909-1971)English-American Chef

One mishap today. After cooking up are duxelles, (minced mushrooms with shallots and wine-usually used as a stuffing) chef had us combine our finished product and lay them out on a big sheetpan to dry. Well, at the end of class they were gone. Chef was not happy. Oh where or where have the duxelles gone?

Goodnight.

Essential Skills 2 - Vegetables, Baked and Roasted

Though I love them dearly, all the freshly steamed, blanched, and grilled vegetables I'd been making, were beginning to make me feel a bit too healthy.
I was happy to see a baked garlic custard and a frittatini on the class syllabus. This girl cannot live on vegetables alone! I don't know how Jeremy does it or what he's going to do when we move into meats.

The Garlic Timbales were first. The garlic was first blanched a bit to take out the "bite" and also to softened the cloves. I blended it with cream until smooth then added the eggs and seasoning - white pepper and "thyme tea." I poured the mixture into the little Timbales molds and then baked them in a water bath. Served with carmalized onions in a glace de viande. It melted in your mouth with the creamy taste of garlic.

Practicing my knife cuts , I prepared the squash in two different sized dices and one in a disc shaped, scored. Which I thought was quite nice. It will be my new vegetable presentation until my family tires of it and tell me to stop. The squash was baked with a little brown sugar and cardamom glaze, and a few other ingredients that I will reveal only to my faithful commenters.

The frittitaini was just a mini version of a frittata (baked omelet) . It looked much cuter than a frittata and was fun to plate and garnish. This is one of the items that I will have to make for my next final. Are you ready Jim and Ginna for some frittatini tastings? Judy, are you in too?

The baked corn was like a Corn con Queso. Roasted corn in a spicy chipotle sauce then baked with cheese. I can't wait until summer when I can make this with fresh corn in season.

Goodnight.