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;
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment