#76 - Substitution please!

No pigeons
I forgot pigeons are out of season for another little while.  Luckily there's a rather good butcher (reflected in the prices) just up the street.  They were kind enough to order in some large quail - I figured it would be kind of similar to pigeon in size (although I didn't have to look for birdshot so hopefully that won't affect the timing during the Cuisine final).  The options were to get smaller quails (6 in a packet) or the larger ones (the 4 in the packet below).

So you may ask how it went and the answer is...gloves are the answer.  They keep the blood from sticking to your fingers and any worries about anything yuck being stuck under your nails - it still feels like there's crap under the nails even after scrubbing under them several times with a nail brush.  Ugh.  I'm ashamed to say that there was a little bit of distressed squealing when the tube-y things in the quail wouldn't come out easily and there had to be some yanking and pulling to get it out.



Anyway - there's a bit of an ick factor because you have to get all the spongy bits out of the ribs and things so that they don't cloud the sauce and make it taste yuck.  The wine tonight is from a drier year - about twice the alcohol content of the one from last night, although it's the same grape and the same vineyard.



Ok - enough bitching and moaning. Back to the quails...the lucky (?) guinea pigs are my neighbors downstairs. They both had plans Friday night bu the quails had to be cooked so the plan is to have the plates and dinner the next night...  the good butchers also had some duck fat - very nice, very clean - and expensive, of course.  Luckily you can reuse the fat as long as you clean it so the plan is to filter it through coffee filters (I can't find the muslin cloth), then store it in the refrigerator.  It's a pretty good incentive to make confit anything when you have the right fat.

It was kind of a tight fit to get the 8 legs into the pot but everything eventually settled down and the confit smelled quite nice, especially considering that I don't think quail tastes that nice.


Forgetting almost everything
So I had to check cooking times again because it's been so long since I cooked anything.  The timing is for pigeon, so I have a feeling the legs are a bit over - the meat was kind of falling off the bone, which isn't quite the aim.  Soft, but not falling apart...so will have to rethink the timing again.  On the other hand, the rest of it seems to be on track.  Somehow it's a lot harder to focus at home - so many distractions (laundry, dinner...Harry Potter and a quiddich match, etc. etc.)

Bloodless dinner
Given the blood from the quails (and having to clean out the spongy bits from inside) dinner was perch, hapa rice and broccoli. In case you didn't know, hapa rice is what my sister and I (I think we got it from in-laws) call the white rice/brown rice mix. The white rice is because it tastes better, the brown rice is a nod towards being healthy. I'm not sure how effective it actually is, but it doesn't feel so much like the husks from the brown rice get stuck in your teeth and it cooks faster.

A Saturday Lunch

I promised my friend JB that I would cook for him a while ago.  It's taken us a little while but we finally managed to get ourselves organized.  He tends to eat quite healthy so I had to think a little bit about what to make which would fit in the healthy, not too heavy (it was a hot afternoon) and edible meal.  He said he would be happy with whatever I cooked, but since we both ended up laughing at the possibility of my making him beans on toast, a decision was made to have something that required just a little bit of technique.  We ended up with stuffed mushrooms and garlic shrimp (prawn) starter, sauteed zucchini and pan fried salmon main and a burnt fig and caramel ice cream with mango for dessert.  I didn't make the ice cream but I did play with it a little...

There was a moment of panic when the acetate wouldn't come out of the mould with the ice cream and I could see the ice cream slowly starting to ooze.  Luckily we got it out and took off the acetate (I remembered this time).  Normally I don't like mango, but it went surprisingly well with the ice cream and the mint.

We ate on the balcony, looking down to the water - sorry, somehow I didn't manage to get a photo but a lot of sailboats were out.  The sun has since moved on and the clouds have rolled in.  Perhaps the forecasted rain will still arrive.

Dinner
It seems the reheating can take quite a while - the fondant potatoes were giving me conniptions.  It seemed to take at least another 15 minutes longer than I expected.  The guinea pigs (AC and VB) were good choices - as they are both familiar with French food, I got a nice comment that it tasted like France.  There was a bit of panic over the confit legs because the flesh kept falling apart so that I had difficulty getting a nice piece for presentation.  Baby onions weren't available so I didn't plate them (or the green - parsley? - garnish) and I forgot to buy green olives so it wasn't an olive sauce.  So far it seems like the dish will be ok - except the timing needs a bit of tightening up.  Or a lot of tightening up...

I'm not sure if you've ever smelled duck fat.  If you haven't, let me just say that it's quite a strong smell - so much so that before I was even finished cooking, I didn't feel like eating much.  The result - some vegetables, confit potato (turned for mine) and a quail leg - for a taste.  Actually it tasted quite nice, but I still didn't want anything heavier.  Lucky for me, AC made a delicious salad and I ended up eating most of that instead.  Then grapes for dessert - I think such heavy scents made the salad and fruit seem much more appealing because they are so much lighter.

Verdict - could be better, could be worse.  Timing needs a bit of work and a few details need to be refined.  Hopefully it will be a smooth run for the mock exam.

So until next time - may you be able to enjoy the meals you prepare with your friends and loved ones (instead of just meal times).



#46 - The best laid plans, a first and Not-the-End-of-the-World

(Warning:  long, rambling post...don't say you weren't warned)

I think the last post ended with a plan for my dessert idea.  Well...it didn't work out quite as envisioned.  In some ways this is a good thing because I now know what won't work.  On the other hand, it wasn't good because (a)  I probably got a bad grade on that set of classes and (b)  I now have an idea of just how far apart Chef CB's and my tastebuds are (something on the magnitude of from here to Pluto).  Which is to say, he said it was "tasteless as hell" and I thought it was way too sweet.  My proposed solution?  Add copious amounts of alcohol somewhere, but make sure it doesn't destabilize my mousse or jelly.  By the way, writing about mousse - I looked at the recipe I had written down for a "pina colada mouse".  Now that might have been an interesting dessert!  So - to start at the beginning (for once):

The concept was sound but the execution was...
We spent Monday morning and afternoon making the components for our entremets.  Tuesday around noon we finished assembling the desserts.  The tuiles had to be put back in the oven to crisp up because they had gotten soggy overnight.  Consequently the ones which had previously been bent into twirls and things snapped when I tried to bend them back after the second baking.  Whoops.  The chocolate was not good to begin with - Monday was so cold in the Patisserie that it had pretty much set by the time I had spread it, before I got around to making patterns and bending it.  Note to self - must work even faster for the final...and I can hear Chef NB laughing in my head as I write this.

lacking...
I had misunderstood my brief a little bit.  Since this was (I thought) part of our restaurant dessert module, I had planned on plating the thing - the plans including making a couple of different sauces and decorations.  Ok, an entremet is always served on a cakeboard.  No day in which you learn something is wasted and I have been learning a lot!  On the other hand, my alcoholic pina colada sauce was a hit downstairs with Reception and the Administration office upstairs, or so I was told.  Anyway, here are the photos of my unsuccessful dessert (fyi, Chef CB thought it was mango jelly - it wasn't).

These photos represent 4 class sessions:  planning (session 1), making components (sessions 2 & 3) and assembly, presentation, critique and filling out paperwork (session 4).  Given the results from this week, I now have a slightly better idea of what might work and what clearly won't.  It may require quite a bit of tweaking for the final dessert plate idea, so I am glad that I hadn't started the portfolio yet.  Sometimes procrastination does pay off!

In which we puzzle Chef FJ
Then it was straight on to a Cuisine practical, which was a bit unusual.  We usually have Cuisine Wednesdays - Fridays.  This one was particularly long.  I thought we finished on time, or a little late which only goes to show how bad my sense of time is.  In any event, one of the guys in my class burned his hand very badly on a pan handle (we had been roasting lobster shells in the oven) and had to go to the hospital.  I had a couple of smaller burns on my left hand (same silly mistake) but they are mostly healed now.

My tomatoes got too vinegared in my dressing because I put them in too early and my lamb's lettuce was "burned by the dressing".  Hence the reason why you always do it later - so the leaves don't go translucent and lose any crispness they may have.  The celeriac salad was yummy, but only after I went home and added another whole spoonful of mustard (we made remoulade - pretty much mayonnaise - by hand in class) and a lot of salt.  Yes, it would have been good if I had done that in class, but such is life.  Still learning all the time.  Chef was a bit unimpressed with the time and wanted to know why we couldn't get it done on time.

So the tips

• Don't dress your salad too early unless you like limp lettuce;
• Don't grab a hot pan (duh! to quote one of the Patisserie chefs);
• Don't put your tomatoes in the dressing too early or they will be "not tasty";
• When in doubt, add a bit of salt;
• When in doubt, don't add vinegar;

Wednesday - a first (but not the end of the world because it wasn't close to perfect)...
I had to go to an osteo because I had tweaked a rib - but the appointment was for 2:30pm (can't be choosy about the time on such late notice).  My practical was slated to end at 2:30, so I went to see Chef FJ (who had also had us the day before).  I thought I would skip class.  As Chef FJ laughs, hahahahaha.  He said I would do class and leave at 1:30pm, but he gave me a break on the assignment - only do the risotto and the stuffed pepper.  I thought about it and asked if I could also try the veal.  Given how slow I am in the kitchen, he thought it was a big risk and was doubtful...so this is what I ended up presenting at the 1hr 34 minute mark (4 minutes over - "You're late!  What am I going to do with you?")

In which Chef FJ was (a little) impressed - still not quite the end of the world
And yet, when I showed him the plate, everything was there except the Bayonne ham (because they didn't have any in the production kitchen).  He wanted to know if I had done everything myself.  Yes, Chef!  I did...obviously not pefect, but I'm not sure I will ever get even close.  A few things wrong with the timing, but it wasn't horrible, or so I hope.  Others in class started to plate (and I assume present their dishes) soon after - but it was a nice feeling to get it all done and everyone was very encouraging as well.  I have found out the secret to saving some time...which is not to worry about wasting a little bit.  They threw out that little bit of carrot so I may as well use it to get the perfect little cubes rather than using as little as possible.  The less wastage will come later (I hope).  The chefs have been saying to treat our class days as we might an exam - given the nerves, shaking hands and nausea since I had to finish and go, I can only say that the Stanislawsky (sp?) school has something to say for it.  Anyway, I still had to clean up before I could leave.

Chef FJ thought I took too long cleaning up, but having a look at my station (after I had cleaned away as much that was unnecessary as possible), wouldn't this take you longer than 5 minutes to clean up?  Cleanup duly completed and all my knives cleaned, even had time for a quick shower before getting to the osteo (a little early).  Must go back next week, but am back in working order.

More quail (cute, until they get blood everywhere)
Yesterday we had to make quail again.  Puff pastry, chicken livers, veal sweetbreads...oops, forgot to tell the guys in the real estate agency there are sweetbreads in the puff pastry friands.  I hope they like them.  Or at least don't dislike them.  We also did a mousse with minced chicken and thigh meat from the quail to spread around the quail, livers and sweetbreads to keep them from drying out.  It was fairly warm in the Cuisine kitchen, which kept things a bit tricky with the pastry.

I have the leftover pastry scraps from some of the other students because we had discussed making mini-palmiers as part of our petit fours.  The idea was subsequently abandoned, but I have the scraps in the fridge.  I suppose this means I can used the poached pears to make some sort of puff pastry something-or-other so that nothing is wasted.  Photos later, if I do them.  This is a much nicer thought than what I was thinking while cleaning the quail carcasses for the sauce (yes, we butchered 2 of them).

You can't have blood and organs in the sauce because it will not be nice.  On chickens this is fairly easy to address.  In quails I have resorted to using the back of my knife to scrape out all the spongy (and wormy looking!) bits because it's kind of hard to get quail blood off your hands and the spongy bits feel disgusting.  Plus you can't get all of it out unless you use something to get into those little nooks and crannies.

Switching gears - back to desserts, then ballet, then...
We finished our meeting about the Superior Dinner Event (now less than a week away, eek!) and it was still early enough that I got over to ballet class just in time for some exercise.  It makes it a lot easier to sleep at night since it clears all the food stuff out of your head.  Unless, that is, you're like me and you go grocery shopping at 9:30pm after cooking in class.  I didn't want veal or quail (with livers and sweetbread) but Waitrose was selling a couple of salmon pieces for 30p.  I was going to cook last night anyway, so I bought them.  They were very nice on their own.  They didn't taste as good with my salad dressing - something about the Cajun spices I put on the salmon not quite matching the dressing which tasted really good with the seafood ravioli (relax, only 6 raviolis!) but it was an interesting experiment.

I also roasted and marinated some bell peppers (red, yellow and orange) because they make a nice snack with french bread and we start our boulangerie modules on Monday.  It feels so much more multi-task-y (even if it's just putting something in the oven) to think that you have 2 pots, a couple of bowls and the oven all going on at once, even if it's all easy, simple stuff.  Apparently I am not quite tired of cooking and I knew we wouldn't be cooking at school today.

For now, it is Friday night.  I have put on a load of washing (yes, more laundry - I dropped a piece of quail yesterday and it left marks down the front of my apron), written this entry and am about to go meet several of my London friends for dinner.  We are celebrating a new job and seeing each other again after a while.

There has been a fair amount of sun this week, which always makes things seem so much brighter.  There have been lots of discussions about technique, feasibility of various ideas, potential execution problems, an experiment or three as we prepare for our Student Event.  Tickets went on sale yesterday (or possibly the day before) - today there was a sign up at reception informing students that they are all sold out - quite encouraging.

Have been watching the chefs even more closely during demonstrations.  I think I have counted up to 7 pots and pans going on at once while things are still being done for other preparations.  Way better than watching...is it Masterchef which is full of amateurs cooking?  We can't predict the lines which always makes it more entertaining.

Until next time, may you have as enjoyable a week as I have had with all my classes and phone calls home.  If everyone could have even half as nice a week, what a happy world we would live in.  As it is, people seem pretty cheery and happy most of the time anyway.  Everyone has been telling each other to have a nice day (I heard them) and smiling at each other.

#30 - Um, where did the time go?

Somehow the first week has gone by in a complete blur.  Then the second week...I'm not sure where the time went, but here is a quick recap:
The end of June had Pithivier (right) and Mille-Feuille cake (left), both made with the Evil Puff Pastry from Hot Monday (aka the first day of Intermediate) - and I was so tired by the end of the day that I got the two mixed up on their labels when I put the photos up on Facebook.

Then we had three practicals for Cuisine - a (too salty!) pumpkin soup and Flemish style beef stew with braised endives on Wednesday, a Dover (?) sole with seafood and cream sauce on Thursday and a braised salmon fillet roulade with sole and scallop mousse, turned mushrooms and broccoli on Friday.  The salmon dish, by the way, is one of our potential exam dishes for cuisine this term.

Braised endive with
Beurre Meuniere

Pumpkin Soup

Braised fillet of Sole
with seafood sauce

Salmon stuffed with
scallop and sole mousse,
mushroom cream sauce
and steamed broccoli

Carbonnade of Beef

FYI, it was 39 degrees in the kitchen on Thursday and on Friday it was 40 degrees.

Saturday was a lovely day of nothing, ending with a delicious meal (Lebanese?) in Islington.  I don't think I've been there before, so it was a nice little adventure.  Then came Sunday and the highlight of my week - a cruise down the Thames followed by a pub lunch and a long walk in the English countryside.

I was invited by a friend of my eldest brother (from their university days).  There was  some unfortunate miscommunication at Paddington station involving my asking for the next train to my stop, the lady (it appears) not knowing and telling me that the trains only run once an hour to that stop (they don't) and my arrival much later than originally planned.

Anyway, I arrived and we took the canal boat from Abingdon to...I've forgotten the name of the little town.  During the trip we went through a couple of locks and I got to steer for a little while.  I gave back the rudder when we approached the first lock, mainly because it required steering in a straight(ish) line and my steering had the boat basically waggling along down the river.

We saw lots of swans, coots which look like ducks a little, ducks and gulls with black heads.  There was a cricket game going on - it wasn't over when we came back 5 hours later - and we passed by little village churches, under various bridges and past fields of wheat and barley.  The wheat has already started to turn golden but the barley is still somewhat green.  In the meantime, I had Sting's Fields of Gold running through my head.  Until we arrived at the second lock, anyway.

KTQ hopped out of the boat to push buttons to open the sluice gates or the lock gates to adjust the levels of water so that we could get into it, T had the rudder and one of the big ropes and I got to play deckhand and loop the rope around one of the things on the side of the lock while they lowered the water.

We made pretty good time and stopped by the bridge of this tiny little village where I didn't even know which direction was the town center.  We had lunch by a pub which had delicious looking food.  I couldn't go past the traditional roast beef (very traditional beef!), Yorkshire pudding and some vegetables.  I feel bad I couldn't finish the potatoes but we had a lot of walking to do and we were starting to feel tired from all the food.

Then came week 2
There was baking - lots and lots of baking.  We did various buns, pastries, more fish and for the first time, quail.  Quail is a lot harder to carve once it's cooked because it's so small and you don't want to mess it up - bones aren't nice for anyone.  I'm so happy that there are more vegetables on the menus this term.  I'm not sure if it's because we have to work faster or if it's more advanced stuff, but depending on the day, we sometimes make a starter and a main in our cuisine classes.  It will take too long to write about all the food, but here are the pictures:
Patisserie

Hot cross buns



Brioche




Croissants and Danois

Cuisine
I couldn't find my camera to take photos of the roast pork filet with prunes that we did the day before the quail so I don't have any photos for that one, unfortunately.  They are starting to do desserts in our cuisine classes as well, hence the souffle.


Braised trout wrapped in lettuce
and braised lettuce



Vanilla Souffle











Roast quail with glazed
veggies, potato rosti and jus

Selle sur cher with glazed
beetroot, grape and poppyseed
vinaigrette








Also, finally made it to the British Museum on Saturday morning.  There are just as many tourists as I feared there might be, but I did get to see things I haven't seen before.  Last time it was most of Ancient Egypt (the ground floor part) and part of Assyria.  This time it was some of Ancient Egypt, then on to Ancient Greece and Rome with a wander through the Celtic region and Britain during the Iron Age.  It's amazing how so things have survived, virtually intact, for a few thousand years.  Anyway, I'm not a huge fan of eeling through hordes of people who stop in the middle of a sidewalk to check their maps.  You tend to run into them if you're walking quickly and then they give you a dirty look and you just have to smile sweetly and apologize.

Yesterday was bread day...I officially have bad boulangerie hands.  The dough for the rye (pain de siegle) kept sticking to my hands.


Baguette viennoise, pain de siegle and focaccia


No cooking today, but tomorrow it will be back to two classes in the kitchen.  Wish us luck - we start going over our exam cakes next week.
So until next time, may the tourists not be with you.