Today's lecture was on the cold mother sauces of which there are two-Vinaigrette (a temporary suspension) and Mayonnaise (a cold emulsified sauce).
The three main ingredients in a Vinaigrette are Acid (any citrus or vinegar), Base (oil, usually olive oil) and Salt. That is not to say you cannot add other flavors, such as mustard, herbs and spices. Put your lemon juice or vinegar into a bowl along with your salt, then whisk in the oil slowly. This can also be made in a Cuisinart Food Processor. Vinaigrette are usually served over salads.
There are three types of salads:
1. Simple Salad-mixed greens, mildly and lightly dressed. This is usually served after the fish or meat course during a French meal.
2. Mixed Salad-cooked or raw vegetables that are served with a vinaigrette (think picnic salad).
3. Composed Salad-which is pretty much a salad bar or Salad Niscoise.
When dealing with greens, remember to wash, wash, wash! Pick thru them to remove any debree, slimy leaves or bugs. Spin them dry-otherwise the vinaigrette won't stick to the greens. Then decide how big you want the greens to be for serving and cut or teat them to that size.
The formula for mayonnaise is 1 egg yolk to 1 cup of oil plus lemon juice, water and salt to taste. Put your egg yolk in a bowl, squeeze in half a lemon or less, a pinch of salt and about a tsp of water and whisk. In a slow stream, add your one cup of oil (canola oil is the most common). You can thin the mayo with more water or lemon juice if it becomes too thick. Season with salt and more lemon juice when done. It will keep in the fridge for at least a week.
There are at least 11 mayonnaise variations:
Aioli (mayonnaise flavored with finely pureed garlic, lemon and boutique olive oil Andalouse (flavored with thick tomato sauce and minced chives)
Au Curry (flavored with curry powder and orange juice)
Dijonnaise (flavored with Dijon mustard)
Echolote (flavored with finely chopped roasted shallots)
Gribiche (flavored with chopped hard cooked egg, minced capers, minced cornichons, fines herbs and minced shallot)
Verte (flavored with parsley, chives, basil, watercress)
Remoulade (flavored with minced capers, minced fines herbs and chopped anchovies) Rouille (flavored with cayenne, mashed garlic and roasted red pepper pure
Suedoise (flavored with thick applesauce and horseradish)
Tartare (flavored with minced parsley, minced chives, minced cornichons, minced capers and minced hard cooked eggs).
We had eight variations with our salmon at lunch today!
Do not give home made mayonnaise to the elderly or the very young as the yolk in this mayonnaise is served raw. Commercial mayonnaise barely has any egg in it-just emulsifiers, therefore can't go bad.
After we split into groups of two and made our own mayonnaise, we went off to our own kitchens. GardeMo made mushroom soup, which tasted so hardy, some people thought there was meat in it! They did a great job! Hot Plate poached salmon in fumet (fish stock), I got to make a "coleslaw" of celeriac or celery root, apples, mayonnaise, a little Dijon mustard and salt. I have included a picture of it for today! Chef dale carved an apple bird and some lemon halfs for us. We also made a beet salad with an orange-flavored vinaigrette. Dessert was a Frasier, an almond sponge cake filled with strawberries and creme mousseline (pastry cream "lightened" with butter). It was YUMEEEEE!
A couple of us got together after school to talk about our European trip. So much to see and so little time! All in all, I will likely be there 3-4 weeks, for which I am very pleased.
Then home to the B&B to do laundry and a little baking (white Chocolate Cranberry Cookies and Almond Poppy Seed Muffins). Now I need some sleep!!
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