We had a lecture this morning on soups (or in French-Soupe).
There are Clear soups: which include Broths, Consomme (an enriched clarified stock), Esssences (these are infusions made similar to the way tea is made, i.e. using dried mushrooms or truffles), and Jellied soups (served cold or chilled).
There are also Thick soups: Puree (vegetable purees), Bisque (the essence of a single ingredient thickened with rice, i.e. lobster), Vegetable Soups(Potage in French), Cream Soups, Veloute (vel-oo-tay) Soups, and Coulis (i.e. cream of chicken).
And lastly, Specialty Soups: Cold soups like gazpacho, viccyssoise, fruit soups, and Regional Soups like New England Clam Chowder, Egg Drop Soup and Bouillabaisse.
Next we learned how to clarify a consomme. We ended up making this for lunch today in GardeMo. You use 4 egg whites, 1 pound of protein and 1 pound of mirepouix to make a "raft" and stir these ingredients in to cold stock (in our case Fond Du Canard and Fond du Poulet). Place the stock on a moderate fire so that it will not boil too quickly. When the stock comes to the first gentle boil, lower the heat and make a hole in the solid "raft" (once the raft starts to cook it rises to the top). This vent hole allows the stock to simmer without breaking the raft into pieces. Simmer 45 minutes to an hour to extract flavor from the raft and allow for natural clarification. Strain carefully from the top of the pot without breaking the raft. Adjust seasoning and serve very hot. The taste you get from following these guidelines is phenominal!
Besides GardeMo making consomme, we made little choux (as in pate a choux or cream puff dough) and piped liver pate into them. I know, not everyone is a fan of goose, duck or chicken livers but this stuff was even better than last week!
Chef Pete gave us a demonstration on cleaning and cutting beef tenderloin.
The tenderloin was used for our main course today. We had Filet Mignon wrapped in bacon which was seared then baked in the oven for medium rare and served with a Bordelaise Sauce (yum!), Pomme Frites and Haricot Verts. One of my most favorite meals so far!
For dessert we had Mango, White chocolate and Passion Fruit Bavarians layered in a wine glass. It looked very pretty and tasted even better!!
The breads today were baguettes and a toasted hazelnut whole grain bread. It almost tasted like walnut bread!
When I got out of school, it looked like rain again! At least this time it waited until I got home before it started to rain!! Thank you Jesus!
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