Fish en Papillote

Fish dish:  Bass with mushroom, tomatoes, celery, leeks, carrots, thyme, butter and smashed garlic.

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Fun with Tarts

Tart class was the best. The pace was manageable and we had 30 minutes to spare. 
Gorgeous, isn't it?

APPLES! 

...I didn't make that one, but I made this one:

PEARS!!!

We explore the wild world of potatoes on Saturday! 

Culinary Techniques Update

I have hit the 1/3 mark of the Culinary Techniques at FCI and I haven't suffered any severe injuries, apart from a mild peppering of oil burns from trying to flip an ungodly number of eggs over easy in last week's exercice de oeufs. We went through 800 eggs or so. Don't worry everything is composted, so it's not a total waste! 

My omelet was perfect the first time around. The second time around I didn't really roll it down the pan properly, but the color, texture and cooking technique were fine.  Refining my presentation will be the goal for the next batch of eggs I prepare.  NOTE:  When you find yourself at any lovely brunch place and decide to order an omelet, you should know that it will be LOADED with butter.  We used TUBS of clarified butter.  Clarified butter gives your omelet a very pale yellow coloring.  You can try to cook with olive oil (use a low flame, b/c olive oil burns faster), but it doesn't taste the same or look the same.  In addition to several omelets, we made Eggs en Cocotte, poached eggs, fried eggs, eggs over easy, medium, hard.  The pace was frenetic, so I don't think I would ever want to work in a kitchen trying to expedite breakfast.  Today, we made Eclairs (made from choux pastry dough and  creme patisserie (vanilla, coffee and chocolate), creme de chantilly, Pot de Creme, and Creme Caramel.  Pace was much better, but measurement and precision are critical. Bon Appetit! More updates later...

Culinary School Starts

Rissoulet, tournee, sautee, oh my!

In case you didn't know, I've enrolled at the French Culinary Institute and learning classic cooking techniques from an actual French chef. There are 15 people in the class, with varying degrees of facility in the kitchen, but a shared love of food. With quite a few people interested in a career change, the class is taken quite seriously and everyone takes copious notes and documents the class with Flip camcorders. The instructor expects that the lesson to be reviewed prior to class, so the demonstration and actually instruction are quick, yet questions are always answered. l've taken a number of cooking classes where you are given a bottle of wine to crack open and have all the time in the world to gab away while you learn. There's no fucking around with a glass of sauvignon blanc while you knead pasta dough and talk about sunsets in Tuscany in this class! In fact, the instructor quizzes random students to ascertain that concepts have been learned.

On our first day, we were given a heavy duty knife bag stocked with nifty goodies (chef's knife, paring knife, balloon whisk, mellon baller, and 15 or so other tools of the trade). We were also given a professional uniform with our names embroidered on the front that we are required to wear everyday! The uniform consists of an actual white jacket with woven buttons (just like Top Chef!), dowdy garter trousers and the most UNFLATTERING hat ever! I tried to get away with not wearing it or rocking it to the side, but wisps of hair would falll around my face and the instructor whispered that I needed to wear it properly. Additionally, no nail polish or garish makeup ( Viva Glam Gaga Lipstick must stay in your cosmetic bag...) Asserting individual style is not encouraged.

The first weekend was spent doing the following:

• Knife skills/Taillage
• Various ways of cutting vegetables (jullienne, brunoise, macedoine, ciseler, emincer, jardiniere, chiffonade, etc...)
• Tourne-style Vegetables (blood was shed for some!)
• Learning which pots and pans are appropriate for certain types of cooking
• Cooking A la Anglaise, blanching, roasting and sauteeing, etc....
• Beurre blanc, beurre brun, beurre blonde etc...

That wasn't even everything. I'll match the pics to the techniques, but I need to nap first...More to come over the next few weeks!
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