Wednesday, July 7, 2010

First thing this morning, we learned about serving and table settings as Garde Manger is responsible for service. We pulled out bowls, plates, silverware and glasses for the entire class plus chefs and staff. We polished water glasses, wine glasses, plates, bowls and silverware. The glass gets polished by sticking the glass into a metal pitcher filled with very hot water until it steams up, then wiping the glass thoroughly with a linen napkin or serviette. The silverware and plates and bowls are polished with a mild vinegar solution, then wiped down with a linen napkin. This removes any water spots, and lets you look for chips and cracks in the serving pieces.

After this, we had a little time for breakfast (biscuits and a frittata) before Debbie went over our last two tests from our wine course (finally!) I received an 88 on test 3 and a 94 on test 4. Amazing! We have yet to hear about our ISG exams but that will come directly from the ISG board and not the school.

Once Debbie was finished, Chef Dale went over the different pots and pans and equipment at Cook Street. So many different things to remember! There are hotel pans #200 (2 inches tall and full sized), chafing dish inserts (they have a wide collar), 9th pan, 6th pan, quarter pan, third pan, a 200 half pan (2 inches tall), a 400 half pan (4 inches tall) and a 600 half pan (6 inches tall), a perforated pan (which fits in a chafing dish as an insert and can be used for steaming food), fiberglass pans, a Rondeau pot (which is wider than it is tall with two hook handles), a saute pan (which has curved sides), a Santeus pan (deeper with curved sides and larger capacity) and a Santior (which is wider than it is tall with one hook handle and one long handle-I always thought THIS was a saute pan!). There are 2, 4 and 6 oz ladles. A whip is different from a whisk. There are timbales, which are small metal containers. Cambros, which are plastic containers with red lids. The plastic container is heat safe up to 300 degrees but not the lids (they melt!). Mandolines, box graters, food mills, ricers, a bain (as in bain marie), a bar blender, a Robot Coupe (food processor) and the meat slicer. We learned that a pot should be twice the size of the volume you are preparing and that the pan should not be more than half full when you are heating it's contents. Chef Dale feels Kitchenaid makes the best pots and pans because the sides and bottoms of the pans are of equal thickness and they use rivets on all their handles, which is the strongest method to attaching handles. Also--pick up the lid when you go get a pan so you don't have to make multiple trips or guess the lid size!!! Do not cook in hotel pans, they are too thin. Wipe out all your pans before you use them, even if you think they are clean!

Next Chef Lexie talked to us about measures. 3 tsp = 1 Tbsp. 2 Tbsp = 1 oz (wet measure). 16 Tbsp = 1 cup. 4 cups = 1 quart = 32 oz. 4 quarts = 1 gallon = 128 oz. 1 cup = 240ml. 1 oz = 28 grams. 1 kg = 2.2 pounds = 35 oz 16 oz = 1 pound. There are three different types of scales at Cook Street-a digital scale, a spring scale and a triple bean scale. The most accurate measure is weighing your ingredients before using them.

Chef Lexie then moved on to bread (I thought we'd never get there!). There are two important bread terms we use: Crust or exterior of the bread and Crumb which is the intereior of the bread. Both are evaluated for smell and texture. Bread in our context is yeast leavened breads. Quick breads are totally different and not considered true bread.

The basic bread ingredients are: flour, water, yeast and salt. Flour is a study all by itself! There is high protein flour (greater than 13% gluten), bread flour (11-13% gluten), all purpose flour (9-11% gluten) and pastry and cake flours (8-9% gluten). Flour has sugars and proteins so you do not need to feed the yeast in your bread with sugar! Gluten serves two functions: 1. it gives the bread elasticity and 2. it gives bread extensibility-which is the ability to stretch the dough without tearing it. There are two ways breads differ: hydration and gluten.

There are 8 steps to making bread:
1. Mise en Place (getting all your ingredients ready).
2. Mix/autolyse/knead (autolyse is letting the bread rest for 15-20 minutes until the flour absorbs as much water as it can).
3. Fermentation.
4. Degass (taking the air out of the dough)
5. Scaling/Benching/Shaping
6. Proofing (this is not about flavor but about size and texture)
7. Scoring and baking ( you use a lame (pronounced lamb)to slice into the top of the loaf to controll oven spring)
8. Cool (your bread is still cooking as you take it out of the oven so it needs to cool down completely before you eat it-sorry everyone).

After all this talking, we finally got to make bread!!! Yeah!! We shaped a loaf from dough that Chef Lexie had mixed up the day before so we could learn to make a baguette. Then we mixed up our own dough, kneaded it then put it in an oiled baggie so we could take it home to bake at home.

Chef Dale made chicken soup with homemade pasta for us. It was delicious and also unusual. He did a slow, low temp saute of onions, carrots and celery (a mirepouix), then added chicken broth and brought it to a boil. At that point he added a Persillade (remember that from yesterday? Garlic and parsley and salt), salt and some Madeira. When all that was boiling away, he skimmed off the fat then put in the homemade pasta. As for plating, someone took some of the pasta out of the stock, twirled it on the center of the soup bowl, scooped in the broth and veggies, then sliced chicken breasts were placed on top of the pasta, given a grind of white pepper, then served. Mmmmmmm-I am SO glad they use salt here!! It was the best chicken soup I have ever tasted! For dessert we had the supremed grapefruit from yesterday (artfully arranged on a plate) topped with Pernod, basil chiffonade and candied grapefruit peel. This was a nice light dessert. The wine served with the meal was a Pinot gris from Oregon. Not bad, not my favorite.

Clean up then home! Tomorrow I learn to make Fond de Veau Blanc (veal stock, lol) and duck stock.