#81 - Practice, practice, practice...

Hopefully not where they shop...

Yesterday I was meeting a friend to go make a practice schedule for our exam dishes.  While I was waiting, I happened to notice one of the ubiquitous sights we all take for granted.  However, the noticing ended up in a rather icky place - the street pigeon was just strutting his stuff on the sidewalks of Sloane Square.  Which is fine, except I was thinking of the cuisine final, saw this thing walking around and had the horrified hope that this was not where they source our pigeons!

I found out last night that it was one of my hosts' birthdays so what was going to be a pretty plain Sunday night dinner gave me an excuse to start practicing my plated dessert.  For the moment I was just practicing a couple of elements - got some good feedback so now the recipes need to be adjusted a little bit.

Sunday dinner

The main and starter had nothing to do with exam dishes for anywhere.  It was freezing today so a nice Sunday roast seemed to be in order.  Then because it was a birthday and I wanted to make sure there were some veggies in evidence, I ended up making a starter.  Good thing I had a couple of different kinds because one of the people isn't a huge fan of smoked salmon.  I've come around gradually to the cold smoked one but I agree with her - the flavor and texture isn't the nicest if you're not a fish person.  I am, but I still prefer the smokiness of hot smoked salmon.  Luckily I had enough greens to make more salad so everyone got to eat something they liked.

Then it was on to the mains.  I bought the beef at the farmer's market this morning from one of the butcher guys there - I think they had 3 or 4 guys.  Anyway - this was a nice, dry aged (29 days, I think) beef, still on the bone.  They had taken the fat rind off, which was a bit of a shame, but it still turned out ok.  I also did roasted vegetables - personally I'd rather have my roast beef with rice but I'm in the UK so I did as they do here.  The butcher had given me some meat trimmings because he didn't have any good bones and he couldn't sell the pieces he gave me.  Nice jus although it was a bit heavy - I didn't have veal stock so I tried a beef one instead.  It came out tasting kind of strong, but still good.  The meat was rested while we had our starter so even though it was cooked to about medium, I would describe it in the photo as closer to medium well.  Drat, missed the cooking point!

Playing with dessert
Not a happy camper - I couldn't do a joconde for various reasons and the genoise recipe is not meant for this.  Even worse, I hadn't thought it through very well and let me tell you, genoise doesn't seem quite appropriate for this dessert.  I didn't spread it well and it overcooked so it was hard to make it line up enough when I lined the moulds.  Had a bit of a problem with the which chocolate mousse when the chocolate hadn't melted enough by the time I needed to mix it with the angalise for the mousse so I had to warm it carefully so that I wouldn't kill the gelatine.


The end result:  white chocolate mousse (needs flavors adjusted), red wine and blackberry jelly and a raspberry sauce which should have been a glaze.  Need more jelly for the balance of the dessert and I'll need to rethink the glaze because it currently looks like something is bleeding onto my mousse.  So much to do, so little time.


So until next time, happy cooking.

#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).



#63 - In which the Grinch fails to make an appearance

The Whos in Whoville (aka students at LCB) are beginning to breathe sighs of relief as the unrelenting pressure of finals end with the exclamation of "finished!"  Well - that's true for everyone else who happen to be taking their exams.  The Who writing this post is bummed she's not partaking of the final dash and the commiserations/celebrations which follow as the Sword of LCB finals still hangs over her head.  In some ways, much more painful than the Sword of Damocles will ever be.

Last Superior Cuisine Demo ever at 114 Marylebone Lane
Anywho...ok, that was bad.  However, you'll live.  We had our final Cuisine demo on Friday - and here's a photo of some of the happy Superior Cuisine students.  What's not to like?  Delicious food cooked by an amazing chef and since some people didn't show up, extra for everyone.  I have to admit, it was a really good dinner:  Coulibiac de Saumon (salmon in a brioche crust with dill sauce) and Grilled rack of lamb with pepper sauce and pressed tomato/chevre/cream cheese mix.  Those of us who were still there after everyone had had their first smidgen of a taste went back for more - it's the whole good manners thing.  You can't take a whole lamb cutlet from the rack until everyone has had some, but once they have (and the photos have been taken) it's pretty much a free for all.  Since I can't cook at home (more on that later) it was really nice to have a meal that wasn't cold pizza or some random takeout.

Bread Street Kitchen again
Then tonight I had dinner with UP down at Bread Street Kitchen.  Yes, again.  And I had the same thing as last time so I didn't bother to take photos (still yummy).  UP had the mutton with potatoes which turned out to be Shepherd's pie so he was very happy because he loves Shepherd's pie.  Dinner was fun - there was a couple not looking very happy at the table next to us, so we spent a little time speculating as to what the reason might be.  This naturally turned our attention to several other tables - in front of us, a table of 4 girls + 1 guy.  Speculation that it was friends out for dinner, not work colleagues (I wonder if the guy was an honorary girl?) although hard to say - at one point after the fellow had left, all 4 of the girls were on their phones at the same time.  I think my objection to phones at the dinner table are well founded (subject to certain exceptions - like family emergency, the dog ate someone's homework, etc. etc.)  Behind us was a table of 5 guys - speculation that they were work colleagues and given the area, most likely in the finance sector.

Night photography
UP had a bit of amusement while I tried to get some pretty photos.  These don't do the actual view justice - partly because I'm not even an amateur photographer (there's a reason why these things are called point-and-shoot) and partly because I probably need a more technical camera to get good shots.  But - it was too pretty to pass up an attempt at the dome of St Paul's cathedral and the lights around.  The clouds were blowing around so the shot of the moon by St Paul's didn't come out well at all (hence not being included in this post).

Horses!
After a delicious dinner and yakking away about Christmas parties, travels and a few other things, it was time to go home.  Then a bit more amusement for UP:  the police horses who were wearing blinky lights which makes sense safety wise - but also had tail lights!  I had to get a photo of those although I'm not sure if the lights are just flashy safety ones (like on bicycles) or if they serve an additional purpose.  In any event, I missed the first pair of horses who went past the bar under the restaurant before I had a chance to get the camera out of my bag, but managed to get the zoom to work for this shot.  They may have this in other places, but for me, this is only in London.

No taxis were to be had at that hour in that part of town (slackers!) so I hopped on a bus headed my general direction then hurriedly pressed the stop button when I no longer knew where it was going after Oxford Circus.  Possibly in my general direction, but possibly not.  So then a walk home from Oxford Street - not too late so there was plenty of foot traffic.  A bit too many tourists for my taste, but I finally had my camera with me so I took some photos and did as the tourists did.

There are pretty lights in quite a few places - all along the high street outside my window, up and down Regent Street and Bond Street - they're quite pretty.  The Oxford Street ones are nice as well, and some of the ones for the department stores are very pretty (John Lewis and House of Fraser are in the photo above).  I have to admit there's one I'm not a huge fan of but I've forgotten which store it is.  The lights are rainbow colored but not put together in an attractive package - I say this both as a slightly snotty, but also as an aesthetic observation.  What looks right on Rainbow Drive-Inn's sign just looks wrong next to the pretty lights along Oxford Street.  And I finally got a shot of the moon!

Remote and distant
It's strange - I love the moonlight on water and on snow but here, where there's neither (unless it rains, in which case no one's looking anyway) the moon seems to be a lot further away and colder.  The nimbus, which  looks like a rainbow when we look at it in Honolulu only looks like a distant halo around the moon when I look at it from Marylebone High Street.  The halo can be obscured by the clouds but is nevertheless present.  I suppose the thought of being homeward bound at this time in 2 weeks is making me start to think of all the things I am looking forward to seeing, doing and experiencing upon my return.

So until next time may your inner Grinch be mollified or banished by all the pretty, twinkling lights.

#37 - Serious study mode - if I remember how...

Warning - this is super long - abstract:  had classes last week where we cooked.  Discussion about pole dancing/strip clubs; had a weekend where I cooked some more, not always successfully.  Descriptions of cooking.  Pretty pictures.  The end.  Those who are time poor may stop now.

Am cursing the fact that I need to sleep.  Exams are looming and I feel like I got a very late start.  Last term we had so many long weekends that there was an extra week of classes.  Then there the long weekends themselves, so we actually had more time to digest and learn things.  This term went by extremely quickly - our first day was in the last week of June - so exams are during our 10th week - not a whole lot of time to practice 3 cakes and 2 cuisine dishes, all with multiple components and followed by theory exams.

I think I've forgotten how to memorize and to learn - it's been years since I had to take a closed book exam - law school is pretty forgiving that way - if you know where to look for it, the exact wording is there.  It's been writing drills (flashes back to Korean school where they used to make people write things down 10 times to learn something) and trying to learn the components of our cakes.

Here's a quick rundown on the last few days.  Tomorrow morning is my Patisserie final and I am praying that I pass the exams.  Yes, that's exams, plural.  We have our practical exam at 8am followed by theory at noon.  You would think they would cut us a break and give us an opportunity to finish our practicing and then focus on the extra reading - but no...and do I remember my quantities, ingredients and methods from basic?  Um, not really...do we need to know them?  Apparently so.

So last week:
Wednesday - our first vegetarian dish - Artichaut en Croute farci etc. etc.  (Stuffed artichoke in puff pastry)

We had to saute spinach, make a tomato sauce, glaze 'baby' vegetables (Chef hates the term 'baby' because they are actually just small veggies), stuff an artichoke with spinach and wild mushrooms and top it with a puff pastry lattice, then bake it.

The artichokes are big - the globe ones.  Still had to jump on mine (we had 2) to get the stems and attendant fibers off.  Then we had to turn them...which means you have to cut off the leaves (about 2/3 from the bottom), cut off all the green and make sure you remember to rub lemon on the cuts so it doesn't discolor.  The lemon is very useful - in addition to preventing discoloration of artichokes, mushrooms and certain other fruits, it helps you to find all the tiny little cuts on your hands that you might otherwise not know are there.  If the artichokes are really big and you can't fit them in your hand, it helps to just take a knife and cut off the outer leaves first (basically cutting instead of turning) and picking them back up once they're trimmed down a bit.

Not sure why but it seemed to take forever - it's actually not a very time consuming dish but I felt very disorganized.  However, it was finished and served - the mushrooms needed more lemon (yes they did - I forgot the lemon altogether and had to try to sneak in a couple of drops between the holes in the lattice just before service) and the carrots needed more salt, as did the sauce.  Otherwise - not bad...the pastry was kind of soggy by the time I got home but the sauce and the vegetables were very nice on some leftover chicken the next night.

8am Thursday morning:  Chocolate tasting (really)
We started out with a cup of hot chocolate that tasted and felt decadent for the first couple of sips.  Then the amount of chocolate and cream started to make themselves felt.  No one finished their half cupfuls of hot chocolate, not even the most avid chocoholic.

Chef MH played a little trick on us.  There was one bag of chocolate which was old but no one was told until after we had tasted the button and a chorus of "ugh!" and "what is that?!" started flying around the room.  All I could taste was powdery flour and something not very nice - I'm not sure I have the words for it.

Some of the other chocolate had lingering aftertastes which wouldn't go away, no matter how much water or tea I drank.  The colored buttons (clementine and strawberry) are actually flavored white chocolate - so not chocolate at all.  I think if you like sweets, they might taste really nice.  I was already overdosed on sweets from the hot chocolate so this was just more sickly sweetness.

Thursdsay night - Canapes class/workshop - teamwork
...many hands make light work.
They broke this down into little teams so each team of two was in charge of one canape (except for the Thai marinated shrimp - those people also did the parmesan sables).  It was odd because each canape had a tiny bit of busy time at the beginning and a little at the end, but the rest of it was a lot of waiting around where everyone asked everyone else if they needed any help.  For instance, the dough for the parmesan sables had to rest, as did the batter for the blinis (go TN!  Chef JB said they were amazing) and ML and I had to wait for the court bouillon to boil for our cod.

As for the cod - we got asked how long we cooked it.  No idea - it was more a case of picking up a piece from the court bouillon and looking at it - it looked done so we fished out the pieces and made the balls.

I think generally it went pretty well - VC and TN were a bit upset because they thought there was too much horseradish in the cream for the smoked salmon.  Personally I thought it was perfect - and the fact that the horseradish had been freshly grated just gave it that extra zing - really yummy.  After plating and a quick talk from Chef JB, we all dug in.  A couple of people took some canapes home and I packed a few when it looked like they were not going to be eaten or taken - but there weren't many looking for a home.

Thursday night Dinner #1 - canapes from class followed by leftover stuffed artichoke en croute with yummy sauce (thanks for the veggies PA!); Dinner #2 - rice with chicken goujons (that's chicken fingers for those of who don't speak French); Dinner #3 - um, I mean study munchies - baguette/s (!) from friends in Superior Patisserie - with Brie de Meaux and Fig & Almond loaf.  Because frankly, if you're studying at 11pm, you just need that little something to keep you going and I had been thinking of the baguette with cheese since I'd been given the bread.  I like to keep the fresh bread in my locker because when you open it, the smell of it just wafts out and banishes some of the less fragrant smells in the locker room.

Friday morning - Cervelas de Saumon (Salmon and Foie Gras Mousse sausages)

8am on a Friday...way too early for foie gras - but then, any hour is too early for foie gras.  We had to test the mousse to check the consistency and texture, which means having to taste some of it after we cook it off - NOT yummy.  I suppose if you like foie gras, it tasted good (so said Chef FB) - for me, not so much, mainly because I hate foie gras and I found that even 50g of it really came through even though that was only a small proportion of the mousse itself.

We didn't have the pork intestine to stuff the sausages (hooray) and eventually they brought up lamb intestines - yech - so in the meantime I rolled my sausages in cling film (Saran wrap for the Americans) and practiced making roulade shapes, then stuffed a few in the lamb intestines.  Anyway - we were all running late and we still had to take the mousse out of the intestines, chill them, roll them in butter, then bake them.  We didn't have time to chill them so people just took them out of the casings and fried them in breadcrumbs and butter.  The breadcrumbs kind of fell off the sausages when I was frying them in butter but they still turned out ok - I made sure to present one which had been in the casing rather than the saran wrap ones.  It was a plain dish and we didn't have any other herbs, so I made a tiny parsley salad/garnish to go with it - still a slightly boring looking plate but there wasn't a whole lot you could do with it, given we only had the ingredients from the dish available.

Head Cheese

Then it was the demo for Charcuterie II and head cheese.  FYI - head cheese is made from a pig's head but it is not cheese and apparently, it doesn't resemble cheese either.

Head cheese includes trotters (yes, feet!  Chef had a bit of fun, dancing the feet across the chopping board) and tongue, all from pigs.  There was a tiny discussion in class as to the various inappropriate things we were not going to say - a bit Gilbert and Sullivan, actually...as for what's below the feet on the right:  the pig's brain.  It wasn't on the ingredient list but Chef DM wanted to show it to us after he spent all that effort cutting the skull open to get the brains out.  They passed it around class - I have to say that the smell alone would keep me from eating it, even if I could get past the texture and knowing what it is.  All of these were put into a brine solution and is being kept for the next demo (later this week).

So that was the week and you would think it's all smooth sailing from here, except...

Friday night - in which I accidentally crashed a stag night

I'm not sure anyone ever plans to crash a stag night, especially if the person in question is of the wrong gender to attend - in a guest-ish capacity, anyway.

The initial plan was to have dinner with a friend's husband.  She was unavailable that night as she had plans to go to the theater as part of pre-wedding celebrations for a friend of hers.  He was at loose ends and I hadn't seen them in almost 6 months so dinner after class sounded fine.  Another friend who is moving to Hong Kong shortly, joined us for drinks and in the timeless way of going with the flow, we asked him to join us.

We ended up at this place - Mr Kongs?  Mr Hong's?  Something like that - in Chinatown.  I hadn't eaten much during the day except some delicious focaccia from two friends, given the whole foie gras at 8am then the pig's head at noon so I told the guys I was starving.  Food duly ordered (3 mains, 2 rice, 1 veggie) - I had to tell them I was still hungry.  Another main, veggie and rice later, we were all happy.

It looked like I was going to get my early night after all - but then we got a call from the stag and his best man - both of whom I know and whose girls were also at the theatre.  Nothing would do except that we all meet up - and the boys decided they would introduce me to my first strip club.  [**Parents - please stop reading now and pick up at the photos below where it says "The long weekend - cakes anyone?"]

Pole dancing vs strip clubs (Education of a different kind)

Lots of walking around later we ended up at an establishment where the girls danced - pole dancing.  Having seen pole dancing classes offered where I take ballet, I was curious to see if these girls were any good.  I'm not sure if it's because I've never been to one before or if a strip club and a pole dancing place are different - but they didn't dance.  I was quite disappointed...one of the guys (not the stag) was a bit disappointed that the girls were all dressed.  I suggested it might be because they are dancers and not strippers.

One of the girls then educated me on that point - she said it's the same as the US - they take their clothes off (I wanted to ask what more could they possibly take off and not be naked).  So what was the point of the pole and the stage, I wanted to know.  Apparently it's their advertisement - they get up and do a lot of pouting, some posing and a little bit of gyrating.  If a gentleman likes the look of one of the dancers, he pays (someone - I don't know who) and gets a private dance in the back.  They have a garter on their leg but you don't put money in it - so I'm still confused about the garter.

And as all cliches go - the girl who kindly gave me this explanation was studying (she didn't say what) and did this to pay her bills.  She was standing much too close to me so I just wanted the conversation to be over as quickly as possible.  In the meantime, the boys were telling me this wasn't what they had expected - well, me neither.  I think I was the stripper block - they offered to dance for me as well, but I have to say, all I could think was that it was Friday night and I wanted to go to sleep.  In any event, the boys went home (I am guessing) and so did I.

The long weekend - cakes, anyone?

When I was in college/law school, my parents always knew when exams were approaching by the following exchange:

Parents:  So what are you doing/have you been doing?

Me:  Cleaning.

Parents:  Exams soon?

Me:  Yup.  Can't study when it's dirty and untidy.

Parents:  Mm hm.

Saturday began with - yes, you guessed it - cleaning.  I couldn't start cooking because I didn't have space for anything and I need a lot more space to practice this term than I did for basic.  I also cleared off the glass table by the bookshelf and put all my papers and folders in the living room - the most use it's gotten since I moved in.

The Opera - fail

Let's just say that the practice did not go well.  For one thing, I forgot that the tray only slides into my oven easily when the washing machine door is open so that the oven door doesn't get caught on the handle of the washing machine door.  It meant that unbeknownst to me, the tray was tilted - with the result that the sponge slid and one side got very thick while the other side didn't.  The thick side didn't cook and the thin side was burnt to a crisp.  The second tray with batter wasn't full because there isn't quite enough batter for 2 full trays - mine are a bit smaller than the ones at LCB but not by a lot - so more trimming was needed.  The result was quite a small cake.

I finished anyway, just to practice putting the components together and discovered that spatial perception is not one of my gifts.  The layers are all supposed to be the same thickness (cake, ganache, cake, buttercream, cake, ganache + glaze).  None of them are right - and I was looking at a failing cake.  Since the layers weren't even, I just decided to try a zillion different things with the piping, knowing that this cake was going into the rubbish bin.

Sabrina - possibly a low pass

Having put Saturday down to experience, I tried to go over notes and read about eggs until I fell asleep.  Sunday was spent with my Sabrina.  Once again, improvisation was the name of the game - no pistachios to speak of, so I used toasted almonds on the bottom part of the cake.  Baked the sponge on 2 baking trays - but didn't turn the tray so the back part of the full tray was burnt to a crisp and had a concern I wouldn't have enough sponge for the cake.

And the apple and strawberry puree I bought at the store was actually more like apple sauce - so I ended up putting in a couple of frozen raspberries with the puree to get color (they were out of red food coloring at the store too) - except that frozen raspberries leave lumps so that was interesting...

Have learned quite a few things to be careful of for the exam - like not letting the marzipan just hang out all tilted - because it will dry that way and not lie flat on the cake.  Also - need to work on my piping (when does anyone not need to do that?) - and also importantly - must learn to cut even sized pieces!  It doesn't sound so hard but ask any parent who is asked to cut something in half for two squabbling children - it is impossible because they will pick up the minutest differences.  Frankly I should have 5 year-olds check my portioning.  But I digress - the cutting of the cake into 8 even sized portions is a part of the final mark and I still can't do it.  I think it's the wavy lines from the chocolate - they throw me off.

The only things which seemed to work quite well was the chocolate tempering and the masking - I made sure to squish in as much of the strawberry cream down the sides of the ring as possible before I chilled it so it had time to set.

Rewarded myself by having dinner with a friend.  A girl has to eat and cake alone isn't sufficient.

Other than that - have sunk to a new low.  I am now eating the off-cuts from my cakes.  Have eaten so much cream and cake from the Sabrina yesterday and the cake and buttercream from today that I am starting to feel like I should moo when I speak.

Opera again - potentially not bad (except the piping)

You might be thinking it was time for the Fraisier, non?  I did it the same day that I did the salmon paupiettes (last weekend?  the one before?) - it was so embarrassing that I didn't take a photo of it - but I know what I did wrong and a lot of it is variations on the genoise we did back in Basic (except for the whole marzipan top with rose, which I still suck at).  I went back to the one which was scaring me.

Better today - turning the tray half way through cooking turned out to be the way to keep the sponge from burning to a crisp.  The gas flames are in the back so trimming has to be done - it's just a matter of degree now.  Also I have found a new use for my dishwasher - I can't run dishes in it while I am cooking because they are generally things I need almost right away and it takes too long to wash them.  So I wash them by hand and put them in the dishwasher to dry/drain - excellent!  2 trays or whatever you call them and I know where they are AND it frees up space on the counter where I don't have space for them to dry.  Yes, I could dry them with a kitchen towel but I am in the middle of doing 2 other things at once (laundry...shopping list...oh, and watching the sugar for the buttercream).

Remembered that there had been way too little ganache and buttercream the last time I did this so I trowelled it on.  Still needs more ganache but the buttercream is better.  This one got stuck because I put the bottom layer (chocolate only) on aluminum foil instead of paper, with the result that the bottom layer of the cake stuck, then buckled.  Now I don't know if it's uneven because I spread it unevenly with the palette knife when I put the batter in the tray or if it's because I mangled it when I moved the cake.

Had more practice piping - hoping it will be better on the day but afraid not - last term my hand was shaking by the end of class because of nerves.  They say that mainly the cake has to look and taste good.  The method of getting there, while important, is more flexible as there are many different ways to do things and we are encouraged to try different ways until we find one that suits us.  Not sure if we are allowed to build up the chocolate piping so much but had a little fun seeing if it was possible to replicate anything calligraphic (it may be, but I can't do it).

Am looking forward to having a life again.  Just need to make it through the week and after tomorrow I can go back to worrying about the regions of France,  the dishes, the climate and trying to guess what's going to be on the theory test - because at least Patisserie gives us a list of things we should review (then they tell us other things to add, but the list is a good start) but Cuisine is just hoping you have good notes from class.  Oh, and reading the handouts about foie gras, mussels and shellfish.

Have realized we spent a lot of time with chocolate, sponges and mouses in Intermediate Patisserie and a lot of time with seafood in Intermediate Cuisine.  Hoping to pass both - but afraid of the finals for Superior already.

Yesterday I happened to be out and about.  This weekend was forecasted for a lot of rain and cloud.  I got one of the rare sunny patches on the way back from the Marylebone Farmers' Market and the grocery store (stocking up on supplies).  It's amazing the difference a few rays of sunshine can make.  All this time I thought I was tired, old and grumpy - maybe so, but maybe it was also not seeing the sun for a while.  There are the occasional rays in the afternoon or during the coffee break if we are having a demo, but I can't remember the last time I actually was in the sunlight.  The fact that it was an instant mood boost brought home how I miss it.  London has sunny days and sunny patches but we don't always see that much of it because we are running around in class (or to class) and sunlight in class is not always a good thing, especially during plating.

So until next time, I will be hearing the tune to the song "I'm walking on sunshine!" May you also walk on sunshine.

#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.