I can't believe it's August already!! Today we started in our new kitchens. I am the only woman in my group during the next two rotations. My group has Corey and Geoff, who were in my first rotation and will be until the end of the term, then Dustin and Cris. Everyone worked together today on SAUCES. Everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask, lol.
The definition of a sauce is a thickened flavored liquid (doesn't sound all that good so far!). Sauces are meant to either compliment a food or contrast with a food. A carefully constructed sauce is often prepared in several stages or layers. Each stage has rules of its own and requires the close attention of the chef, cook or saucier. Unlike roasts or cakes, which need only to be checked from time to time, the construction of a sauce requires constant tasting and fine tuning to balance its flavors and perfect its consistency. A sauce is never eaten alone but exists to complement the food it is designed to accompany. In the last 20 years, many of the techniques of sauce making have changed. Chefs are not only eager to invent new taste combinations and improve upon older methods but have set out to make sauces healthier and less rich. In the 1970s chefs in France and the US began to eliminate flour from their sauces-a standard ingredient since the 18th century-and replace it with cream and butter. The latest trend is to eliminate the cream and butter and experiment with even newer methods...flour has been replaced as the thickener by reduced stocks or lighter starches such as potato starch. The use of cream and butter minimized by using lighter oils, purees or the addition of fresh yogurt. Many chefs are now complementing dishes with a flavorful broth commonly accepted instead of a sauce. However, in sauce making, it is still essential to know the foundation of classic sauces.
Many liquids can be used to make sauces: white stock, brown stock, fish stock, court bouillon, pan drippings, milk, cream, wine, water, fruit juice, cider, beer and braising, poaching or stewing liquid. There are just as many thickeners, binders or liasons: white roux, brown roux (cooked roux), reduced cream, better, eggs, arrowroot slurry, corn starch slurry, potato starch slurry, nut puree, fruit puree (or coulis), vegetable puree, cocoa powder, reductions, rice, other grains, bread and gelatin. I am sure there are some I have forgotten to tell you!
The physical properties of sauces include Viscosity-which is the resistance of sauce to movement. The three levels of viscosity are spread, dip, and sauce-spread being the most versatile. Next is Texture-which is the proper distribution of size particles in the sauce. Which means a chunky sauce should be chunky and a smooth sauce smooth in texture. Next is color-the proper color of the sauce should be a result of its essential components (tomato red). Next, Luster-which is the degree to which the sauce reflects light. When sauces are done they should shine. Lastly, Opacity, which is the degree of transparency in a sauce. There is opaque (light does not pass thru), translucent (light is diffused) and transparent (light passes thru).
Chef Escoffier, a great mentor of French cuisine, codified and tried to simplify the idea of sauce making by identifying most sauces as derivatives of the FIVE MOTHER SAUCES. Now Chef Pete was taught there were 2 cold mother sauces and 3 warm mother sauces and since he taught the first half of the morning, he taught both, lol. The two cold mother sauces are vinaigrette (which is a temporary suspension) and mayonnaise (which is a cold emulsification). The formula for a vinaigrette is 4 parts oil to 1 part acid with salt to taste. Not to say you can't add other things, but this is the basic formula for vinaigrette. For mayonnaise you use oil, acid, salt, water and egg yolk. 1 egg yolk will absorb 1 cup of oil using lemon, salt and water to taste.
The warm mother sauces are 1. Espagnole (Spanish sauce) which is a brown sauce made using brown stock and brown roux; 2. Veloute which is a white sauce made using white stock and white roux; 3. Bechamel, which is a white sauce using milk and white roux; 4. Hollandaise which is a sauce made with egg yolks and butter; and 5. Tomato which is a combination of cooked tomato puree and stock. However, these sauces are just to stepping stones to making other sauces. If you add an onion puree to Bechamel you get Sauce Saubise. If you add Gruyere cheese to Bechamel you get Sauce Mornay. If you add tomato to Bechamel you get Sauce Aurore, and so on and so forth. LOTS of sauce options. The one interesting thing I did learn, is if you want to make milk more savory (it has a kind of sweet taste to it), you can heat the milk and add one onion, halved with two cloves stuck in it and one bay leaf. It is called an onion pique. Also, Chef Dale added a white wine reduction to his Bechamel while making the Mornay sauce. I would have to agree with Kim from my class, I will never make Bechamel without using the white wine reduction also. You take 4-5 shallots, mince them, 1 1/2 cups white wine, 1/2 cup white wine vinegar, one bay leaf and put them all together in a saucepan. Heat to a boil and reduce. The wine will turn pink because of the shallots but does not color the Bechamel in any way. It really boosts the flavor of this and many other sauces! Yum!
For lunch-it was Chef Pete that came to the rescue. He took Belgian Endive, rubbed it with oil and roasted it with steam in the Combi. Then he wrapped each head in ham and "napped" it Mornay Sauce. Napping means to cover with a sauce. He then baked it in the oven for a short time. Very nice! Earlier in the morning, before we started with sauces, a few students trimmed up lamb loin chops (2 inches thick!) then put them in a marinade of oil, vinegar and herbs. Right before lunch, the Hot Plate group put then on the BBQ outside to sear the outside. I learned how to get those nice grill marks on your meat. Very cool! We did however, finish them off in the oven rather than wait for the meat to finish on the grill. Chef Pete roasted potatoes and romaine lettuce, both tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper. I may try roasting romaine myself! You keep it in big leaves until it is has some color but is not wilted, then slice it and serve. Pastry was also new and we did not have the trio of sorbets that were promised but cherry pie instead because beautiful cherries came in from Grant Farms and just HAD to be used (too bad, huh?). It was served with hand made vanilla ice cream...... I love my school, lol!
I came home and baked a little. I made Raisin buns using Pate a choux dough. they turned out well. I also made Bran Muffins with a cream cheese filling. It is dough that will keep in the fridge for about a week, as will the filling, so you could bake them up as you needed them.
Time to sign off.....tomorrow is another busy day!
We will continue to learn more about sauces over the entire week. I think that Friday's exam is gonna be tough.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Today I went with Cris and Becklein to the Renaissance Fair in Larkspur, CO. It's quite large and today was the last day of the Fair. Some people were dressed in period garb and others wore street clothes. We walked and walked, saw three shows-"The Laundry Well Wenches"-it was a "water" show, lol but very funny-all the more reason not to sit in the front row! We watched belly dancers-one of which used swords. And then went to "The German Brothers Show"-German "rap stars". They were hilarious! All of these shows had audience participation. Not something everyone wants to do, but there were good sports in the audience.
We left Denver at 10:30am and I didn't get home til 7:15pm. A long day! Tomorrow I start a new rotation at school-Hot Plate. Wish me luck!
We left Denver at 10:30am and I didn't get home til 7:15pm. A long day! Tomorrow I start a new rotation at school-Hot Plate. Wish me luck!
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Saturday was a quiet day. The restoration company finally put the lion's head on top of the B&B. It was fun to watch it go on. I think they are either done or almost done with the house restoration.
I picked up my scooter in the morning (they adjusted the carborator-nothing else going on), then came back and baked Molasses cookies, berry cobbler, two coffee cakes (one with apples, one with just cinnamon sugar and nuts) and Maple Pecan scones. Carl has a busy day on Sunday!
Saturday evening, I went out to dinner with Paula to 1515, a restaurant in downtown Denver. We had a great time! Dinner was delicious. I did the five course tasting menu so got to try little bites of five different things. Yummy! Then back home and bed.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
We had our test first thing this morning. I think I did ok! We'll see next week. I also found out that everyone that took the ISG exam for first level sommelier passed, which means me too. I just don't have a hard copy!
We had a lecture on cookies and then on dessert sauces. Cookies are a diverse group of small sweet cakes or pastries described and categorized by how the dough is prepared and shaped for baking. There are eight basic methods for shaping cookies, which give the different types of cookies their names:
1. Hand-cut or Rolled Cookies: i.e, Sugar Cookies
2. Bagged or Piped Cookies: i.e Spritz butter cookies
3. Dropped Cookies: Chocolate Chip or Oatmeal Raisin cookies
4. Sheet Cookies: Brownies or Blondies
5. Bar Cookies: Biscotti
6. Icebox Cookies: Shortbread cookies
7. Molded Cookies: Mexican Wedding Cookies, Russian Teat Cakes
8. Wafer Cookies: Tuiles and Pizelles
I have to say, I had to "suspend disbelief" on some of these as they are not the way I have been taught before. But, when in Rome......
Next Chef Lexie talked about dessert sauces:
1. Pouils-which is fruit puree, thickened or unthickened
2. Chocolate-not just melted chocolate, but chocolate with something else in it-cream, butter, liquor
3. Caramel-which is a stage in sugar cookery, caramel plus liquid = sauce (cream, coffee, liqour, water, pureed fruit). The more liquid you add, the thinner the sauce.
4. Reduction-wine, fruit juice or poaching liquid that is reduced to a syrupy sauce
5. Sabayon-cooked egg foam (yoks only). This can be sweet or savory. The formula for this is 1 oz yolks to 1 oz booze to 1 oz sugar.
6. Custard-creme anglaise, which is stove top custard with the texture of melted ice cream.
After this short lecture, we broke into our individual kitchens to make the items on the menu given to us yesterday. Alan and Corey from our group made Tomato Gruyere Tarts with a small salad dressed with vinaigrette. Geoff and I made Vichyssoise (cold potato leek soup). I have to say, I think our kitchen was the most relaxed. Some of the students freaked out at being on our own with no recipes! We got pretty good marks from Chef Lexie and Chef Dale. (Chef Pete left last night to go to Phillie to see family.) We got our dishes out on time. There were a few criticisms: the tart, which was a "amuse busche" or "amuse poo-poo" is suppose to "amuse the mouth" and be just one or two bites, max. Ours was a little bigger than that, though not by much! Our soup, though tasty, had a "sour" note to it-not sure what that was from-according to Chef Dale. Hot plate made roast chicken with Sapaina and Duchess potatoes. Pastry made Marjolaise-hazelnut meringue with chocolate ganache and buttercream. Everything tasted good!
As this is our half-way point, a few of us went out for a drink to celebrate. Hard to believe the first month in the kitchens is over!!! Then it was home. Paula and I decided to change our dinners out to Saturday so we could enjoy them more! I think we are going to try the restaurant 1515 (part of the address also). I'll let you know if the restaurant is good or not, lol!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
This morning I finished up the Bolognese sauce with Chef Pete. I skimmed off the fat that had come to the top once the sauce was cold, then we added another carton of Pomi. Pomi is an Italian brand of tomato product. It comes in a puree and as crushed tomatoes. Not sure if it comes in any other form. The best product to use if you can't get fresh tomatoes. We did MEP for making limoncello-15 lemons, 3 bottles of vodka and 1 quart of simple syrup (I was SO excited to hear this-I've always wanted to make limoncello). Then did MEP for our salad today-frissee, endive, lemons and truffle oil. We had a photographer at school all day today, taking pictures to use for a new website for the school. She took so many shots, it was amazing! We'll have to wait and see what shots they use on the new website!
After that all of us worked with Chef Dale to roll out the spinach pasta we made yesterday. It turned out perfect and the little green bits you could see when the pasta was rolled out was impressive. You could definitely tell it was not machine made pasta. Once the pasta was rolled out in long sheets, it was cooked in hot water. We set up stations on the center island and used the pasta to make lasagna for today's lunch. This is NOT your typical lasagna! Our MEP was pasta, bolognese sauce, balsamella (bechamel sauce with cheese in it, which is technically a Mornay sauce, but since we are studying Italy, we made it the Italian way, lol), and grated grana padamo cheese. First a light layer of bolognese sauce went down, then the sheets of cooked spinach pasta. On top of the pasta we ladled bolognese sauce alternating with balsamella for a striped look, a little sprinkle of grana padamo then another layer of pasta. (It makes a nicer presentation.) We were trying for seven layers total. We did it! Then we set them aside to bake.
After that, Chef Pete lectured on Italy, recapping some of the geography and then launching into Italian courses. First is the antipasto course which literally means "before the meal". There is antipasto misto (mixed hors d'oeuvre), an affettato, which is primarily meat or an antipasto di pesce which is fish. Chef Pete calls these "little poo-poos" before the meal. (Don't know where THAT comes from, lol.) Antipasti are often served at home.
The next course is Minestra or soup course. Strictly speaking, minestra is the first course. In this soup the various elements-whether cubes of vegetables, grains of rice, or shapes of pasta-are quite separate and distinct, and are distinguishable from the stock in which they cook. This is what differentiates it from a zuppa, which is more of a thick mixture that is served with toast or fried bread.
Next comes the Primo or Primo Piatto, the first course of a meal. Traditionally speaking, i primi consist of all the different types of minestre, both asciutte and in brodo, gnocchi, pasta, timballi, lasagna, etc. In other words, a starch course. The three starch pillars of Italian cooking are risotto, pasta and polenta. These three starchs, served as a first course are cooked in a simple manner and very simply dressed (no spaghettie and meatballs here!).
The Secondo or secondo piatto (piatto means course) is the second course of a meal. It usually consists of a dish of meat or fish and is often, but by no means always, accompanied by a vegetable or followed by a salad. At dinner, usually the lighter meal, the secondo may be an omelet or a vegetable dish.
Next is Contorno which is the vegetable that is served on the same plate as the meat, poultry or fish. It is very rare that more than one vegetable is served as a contorno, more than two never are. Pasta or salad are never referred to as contorni, nor is rice.
Verdure is the vegetable or salad course. For centuries, vegetables have been on of the glories of the Italian cuisine. They have not been, nor are they now, regarded only as an accompaniment to meat. Vegetables come into their own when they are served as a main course.
Next comes Formaggio, which is the cheese course. At table, cheese is eaten before fruit and puddings. It is not usually served at formal dinners, but is always one of the courses at a luncheon party. Cheese is eaten with but never with butter. In the country, parmigiano and pecorino are often eaten with pears. Cheeses cleanse the palate, are a nice break before sweets and aids in digestion.
Next is Dolcetti, which consists of small cakes, although not chocolates. Petits fours, stuffed figs, and jam or fruit tartlets are all dolcetti.
Last but not least is Dolci or sweets. This does not include dolcetti. This word covers the whole gamut of sweet preparations, although strictly speaking doce is the course served at the end of a meal. When dolci is part of a dessert, it always follows cheese and precedes fruit. Sweets are not served as part of a meal every day but are reserved for speical occasions or public feasts.
Lastly, the coffee or espresso is served as it aids in digestion. A nice leisurely dining experience!
Chef Pete feels the Europeans have dining down to a tee. They start slowly with light course, move slowly upward to the heavier courses then bring you gently down again, giving your body time to digest your food. In America, he says, you sit down to a single large meal-you eat, go home, go to bed, then wonder why you have heartburn and can't sleep at night. Pretty interesting thought!
We reviewed Balsalmic vinegar-tru balsalmic vinegar comes from city of Modena in Emilia Romagna. It is made from the trebbiano grape must, cooked until it reduced down, is them put into barrels and aged for at least 12 years.
Parmesan cheese is a hard, cooked and pressed cow's milk cheese that also comes from Emilia Romagna. It is regulated by the government and aged for 3-4 years. Because Parmesan cheese is more expensive, the school uses grana podamo as it is very similar in taste to Parmesan cheese. Grana podamo is made all over northern Italy.
We reviewed ragu. A ragu is a sauce of chopped meats and sauteed vegetables cooked in a liquid. The liquid can be stock, wine, water, tomato, milk or cream or a combination of several of these. What a ragu is NOT, is a tomato sauce with meat. It is a meat sauce sometimes flavored with tomato. In Emilia Romagna and much of northern Italy, the meat is chopped into the sauce, while in sourthern Italy chunks of meat are cooked into a ragu and served separately from it.
Next review was pasta and the difference between fresh pasta and dried pasta. Fresh pasta is made with eggs, dried pasta is made with durum wheat and water, is usually machine cut and can last indefinitely when stored in a cool, dry place.
We got our tests back today from last week. I got a 97! Woo-who! Not bad! We have another test tomorrow.
Lunch was antipasti, lasagna and tiramisu for dessert. Everything was wonderful! As usual! Even the photographer was impressed! We had a formal setting today, sitting at one large table rather than at the "board" (or counter) where we usually sit. It's a lot of work to set up (GardeMo does this too) but fun. Only one more day of serving for us GardeMo folks, then we pass it on to the next group!
After school was done, I went to leave but my scooter wouldn't start-very sad! I called the dealer and they sent someone out to check it out. They picked up the bike and are going to check it out. I should get it back tomorrow. Good thing Kim, one of my classmates was still there, she gave me a ride home. What a nice lady!
Well, I'm gonna go study for my test tomorrow and finish my laundry. Buona Sera! Good Evening!
After that all of us worked with Chef Dale to roll out the spinach pasta we made yesterday. It turned out perfect and the little green bits you could see when the pasta was rolled out was impressive. You could definitely tell it was not machine made pasta. Once the pasta was rolled out in long sheets, it was cooked in hot water. We set up stations on the center island and used the pasta to make lasagna for today's lunch. This is NOT your typical lasagna! Our MEP was pasta, bolognese sauce, balsamella (bechamel sauce with cheese in it, which is technically a Mornay sauce, but since we are studying Italy, we made it the Italian way, lol), and grated grana padamo cheese. First a light layer of bolognese sauce went down, then the sheets of cooked spinach pasta. On top of the pasta we ladled bolognese sauce alternating with balsamella for a striped look, a little sprinkle of grana padamo then another layer of pasta. (It makes a nicer presentation.) We were trying for seven layers total. We did it! Then we set them aside to bake.
After that, Chef Pete lectured on Italy, recapping some of the geography and then launching into Italian courses. First is the antipasto course which literally means "before the meal". There is antipasto misto (mixed hors d'oeuvre), an affettato, which is primarily meat or an antipasto di pesce which is fish. Chef Pete calls these "little poo-poos" before the meal. (Don't know where THAT comes from, lol.) Antipasti are often served at home.
The next course is Minestra or soup course. Strictly speaking, minestra is the first course. In this soup the various elements-whether cubes of vegetables, grains of rice, or shapes of pasta-are quite separate and distinct, and are distinguishable from the stock in which they cook. This is what differentiates it from a zuppa, which is more of a thick mixture that is served with toast or fried bread.
Next comes the Primo or Primo Piatto, the first course of a meal. Traditionally speaking, i primi consist of all the different types of minestre, both asciutte and in brodo, gnocchi, pasta, timballi, lasagna, etc. In other words, a starch course. The three starch pillars of Italian cooking are risotto, pasta and polenta. These three starchs, served as a first course are cooked in a simple manner and very simply dressed (no spaghettie and meatballs here!).
The Secondo or secondo piatto (piatto means course) is the second course of a meal. It usually consists of a dish of meat or fish and is often, but by no means always, accompanied by a vegetable or followed by a salad. At dinner, usually the lighter meal, the secondo may be an omelet or a vegetable dish.
Next is Contorno which is the vegetable that is served on the same plate as the meat, poultry or fish. It is very rare that more than one vegetable is served as a contorno, more than two never are. Pasta or salad are never referred to as contorni, nor is rice.
Verdure is the vegetable or salad course. For centuries, vegetables have been on of the glories of the Italian cuisine. They have not been, nor are they now, regarded only as an accompaniment to meat. Vegetables come into their own when they are served as a main course.
Next comes Formaggio, which is the cheese course. At table, cheese is eaten before fruit and puddings. It is not usually served at formal dinners, but is always one of the courses at a luncheon party. Cheese is eaten with but never with butter. In the country, parmigiano and pecorino are often eaten with pears. Cheeses cleanse the palate, are a nice break before sweets and aids in digestion.
Next is Dolcetti, which consists of small cakes, although not chocolates. Petits fours, stuffed figs, and jam or fruit tartlets are all dolcetti.
Last but not least is Dolci or sweets. This does not include dolcetti. This word covers the whole gamut of sweet preparations, although strictly speaking doce is the course served at the end of a meal. When dolci is part of a dessert, it always follows cheese and precedes fruit. Sweets are not served as part of a meal every day but are reserved for speical occasions or public feasts.
Lastly, the coffee or espresso is served as it aids in digestion. A nice leisurely dining experience!
Chef Pete feels the Europeans have dining down to a tee. They start slowly with light course, move slowly upward to the heavier courses then bring you gently down again, giving your body time to digest your food. In America, he says, you sit down to a single large meal-you eat, go home, go to bed, then wonder why you have heartburn and can't sleep at night. Pretty interesting thought!
We reviewed Balsalmic vinegar-tru balsalmic vinegar comes from city of Modena in Emilia Romagna. It is made from the trebbiano grape must, cooked until it reduced down, is them put into barrels and aged for at least 12 years.
Parmesan cheese is a hard, cooked and pressed cow's milk cheese that also comes from Emilia Romagna. It is regulated by the government and aged for 3-4 years. Because Parmesan cheese is more expensive, the school uses grana podamo as it is very similar in taste to Parmesan cheese. Grana podamo is made all over northern Italy.
We reviewed ragu. A ragu is a sauce of chopped meats and sauteed vegetables cooked in a liquid. The liquid can be stock, wine, water, tomato, milk or cream or a combination of several of these. What a ragu is NOT, is a tomato sauce with meat. It is a meat sauce sometimes flavored with tomato. In Emilia Romagna and much of northern Italy, the meat is chopped into the sauce, while in sourthern Italy chunks of meat are cooked into a ragu and served separately from it.
Next review was pasta and the difference between fresh pasta and dried pasta. Fresh pasta is made with eggs, dried pasta is made with durum wheat and water, is usually machine cut and can last indefinitely when stored in a cool, dry place.
We got our tests back today from last week. I got a 97! Woo-who! Not bad! We have another test tomorrow.
Lunch was antipasti, lasagna and tiramisu for dessert. Everything was wonderful! As usual! Even the photographer was impressed! We had a formal setting today, sitting at one large table rather than at the "board" (or counter) where we usually sit. It's a lot of work to set up (GardeMo does this too) but fun. Only one more day of serving for us GardeMo folks, then we pass it on to the next group!
After school was done, I went to leave but my scooter wouldn't start-very sad! I called the dealer and they sent someone out to check it out. They picked up the bike and are going to check it out. I should get it back tomorrow. Good thing Kim, one of my classmates was still there, she gave me a ride home. What a nice lady!
Well, I'm gonna go study for my test tomorrow and finish my laundry. Buona Sera! Good Evening!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
We finished our cakes today. We frosted them with buttercream and then used our left over buttercream to pipe decorations on the cake. We got to decorate it however we wanted. I did not have very much buttercream (hard to believe that BIG vat we made yesterday is gone!), so I frosted my cake, then used what was left to pipe small rosettes along the outside edge of the cake and set fresh raspberries on the rosettes. Once we finished the cakes, they went back into the walk-in to firm up. We are having a "cake buffet" for lunch!
Then we mixed up some pasta-this one had added spinach for color and flavor. I enjoy making pasta-it goes together quickly and home made is SO much better than most of what you get at the store!
After that-it was off to our own kitchens. Today GardeMo made a rice and celery soup (La zuppa di riso e sedano). I know, you might think that does not sound very good, but believe me, it was great soup! It would be good in the winter too. We used arborio rice which thickened up the soup without having to use flour or any other thickener. We also finished our Rillette (ree-yet)(which is French but that's ok) or potted meat. It was pork cooked for HOURS in the oven in duck fat. It is very similar to duck confit. You then "shred" the meat in a kitchenaid, add back some of the duck fat you removed once the meat was cooked, and season it and served it with French bread. Yum!
Geoff and I (Geoff, Corey and I are all in the same rotation all three months) also started making bolognese sauce, which is a ragu or meat sauce. I did not mention before that on Monday I cubed 24 pounds of veal and pork so we could grind our own meat for the bolognese sauce. I seasoned it with salt, ground bay, ground rosemary, ground thyme and then Chef Pete threw a little bit of savory on it while I mixed it up so the flavorings would be evenly distributed. He did keep an eye on us though, because bolognese sauce is one of his favorites and he didn't want us "messing it up", lol.
Hot Plate made Beef Braised in Barbera with Glazed Vegetables served over Papardelle pasta (Il brasato di manzo al Barbera con verdure glassate). Things sound so much better in French or Italian, lol. Then served it buffet style. We didn't have a formal setting today-we'll do it tomorrow.
Dessert was a cake buffet! 14 cakes!!!!! You really can only take a few bits of anything and/or try only 1-2 cakes. Then they "made" us take our cakes home, lol. I told Carl there was cake in the cooler so help yourself to the White Chocolate Buttercream Raspberry Cake. It just fit inside the seating storage of my scooter so the cake made it home in one piece.
No baking at the B&B today. Just a relaxing evening, catching up with some reading for school.
Then we mixed up some pasta-this one had added spinach for color and flavor. I enjoy making pasta-it goes together quickly and home made is SO much better than most of what you get at the store!
After that-it was off to our own kitchens. Today GardeMo made a rice and celery soup (La zuppa di riso e sedano). I know, you might think that does not sound very good, but believe me, it was great soup! It would be good in the winter too. We used arborio rice which thickened up the soup without having to use flour or any other thickener. We also finished our Rillette (ree-yet)(which is French but that's ok) or potted meat. It was pork cooked for HOURS in the oven in duck fat. It is very similar to duck confit. You then "shred" the meat in a kitchenaid, add back some of the duck fat you removed once the meat was cooked, and season it and served it with French bread. Yum!
Geoff and I (Geoff, Corey and I are all in the same rotation all three months) also started making bolognese sauce, which is a ragu or meat sauce. I did not mention before that on Monday I cubed 24 pounds of veal and pork so we could grind our own meat for the bolognese sauce. I seasoned it with salt, ground bay, ground rosemary, ground thyme and then Chef Pete threw a little bit of savory on it while I mixed it up so the flavorings would be evenly distributed. He did keep an eye on us though, because bolognese sauce is one of his favorites and he didn't want us "messing it up", lol.
Hot Plate made Beef Braised in Barbera with Glazed Vegetables served over Papardelle pasta (Il brasato di manzo al Barbera con verdure glassate). Things sound so much better in French or Italian, lol. Then served it buffet style. We didn't have a formal setting today-we'll do it tomorrow.
Dessert was a cake buffet! 14 cakes!!!!! You really can only take a few bits of anything and/or try only 1-2 cakes. Then they "made" us take our cakes home, lol. I told Carl there was cake in the cooler so help yourself to the White Chocolate Buttercream Raspberry Cake. It just fit inside the seating storage of my scooter so the cake made it home in one piece.
No baking at the B&B today. Just a relaxing evening, catching up with some reading for school.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Today was all about cakes! We didn't work in our respective kitchens, we all worked together making cakes. We learned that there are basically two types of cakes: butter cakes and sponge cakes. Almost every other cake is a variation of these two cakes.
Did you know the very first pound cake was named "pound" cake because it contained a pound of butter, a pound of sugar, a pound of eggs and a pound of flour? I didn't know that!
We also learned of sponge cakes, there are two kinds: Genoise and Biscuit or Bisquit, pronounced bis-kwee. Not to be confused with biscuits as in biscuits and gravy! Genoise are what we use when layering cakes-birthday cakes, wedding cakes, etc. The Biscuit batter is used to make ladyfingers as it is pipeable. Both are light, durable and dry-so they can easily soak up liquids used to further flavor the cakes (simple syrups, alcohol, coffee).
Once our lecture was done, we paired up and made Genoise, which were then baked. Not sure what is going to happen to them as we did not use them today. We then broke into groups of three to make Bisquit. We are using them to make tiramisu for Thursday's dessert. Fortunately or unfortunately, MY group, (Cassie and Kim and I) was the only group whose batter set up correctly and were able to make the ladyfingers. Not sure what happened with everyone else's batter! All three of us felt very proud of ourselves, lol.
After this, we learned how to make buttercream using Swiss meringue. So much better than the buttercream they use at many bakeries, which contains shortening instead of butter!
After that demo, we were each given a cake (Genoise) and told we could flavor our cake however we wanted (with the stipulation that it had to be flavors we would actually EAT, not something like, "I wonder what sardines would taste like as a layer in this cake......"). We had to cut the cake into three layers (Chef Lexie says you need the correct frosting to cake ratio for a really good tasting cake-which is about a 1/4 inch each.), then paint them with flavored simple syrup, a very thin layer of jam, a layer of buttercream, then repeat, ending with the third layer, which is only soaked with the simple syrup. The entire cake is then given a "crumb coat"-which is a thin layer of buttercream used to seal in the cake and prevent "crumbs" from getting in the actual frosting. I kinda like sweet and savory together, so used Leopold Brothers Triple Pins, which kind of smells like Christmas, to flavor my simple syrup. It is more dabbed on than brushed on, otherwise you would end up scraping up a lot of crumb off the cake. Then I put a really thin layer of raspberry jam over the cake. I put melted white chocolate into my buttercream, so a thin layer of white chocolate buttercream went on next. Then another layer of cake, dab on the simple syrup, a layer of white chocolate buttercream, the last layer of cake, dab on more simple syrup. Then frosted with entire cake with a thin layer of white chocolate buttercream and the fussed and fussed to get it all even and flat. You make sure when you start and all during the "assembly" that your layers are even and flat-trimming off cake that is not even. Once the "crumb coat" is on, the cakes were placed into the walk-in to "firm up". We will finish them tomorrow. I've never been much of a layer cake person, always seemed like a lot of work! I was told today and we are now ALL cake people, lol.
Chef Pete made lunch today. We learned how to poach eggs this morning before we started with cake. Kinda cool! And other than putting the service for and setting the table for lunch, he did everything! We had roasted red peppers flavored with capers and white anchovies and a few herbs served with bread. Then spinach soup flavored with brodo (Italian for broth) and Parmesan cheese. For an entree, we had Fonduta, which in our case was a toasted round of polenta topped with serano ham, a poached egg and covered with bechamel made with Fontina cheese. Mmmmm, very tasty and light! Dessert was a cheese platter made up of five different Italian cheeses from "The Truffle Shop" (that name came up during our Wine class when we had wine and cheese pairing). Our wine was a muscato d'asti and a vin santo. Good choice with the food.
After getting home, I made Chocolate Gems (cookies) with chocolate that had ancho chiles in it. Carl loved them, lol, hope the guests do too. Can't go wrong with chocolate!
Otherwise, it has turned into a rainy evening so a quiet evening at home is in order. I am getting more comfortable on my scooter. Everyone at school thinks it's so cute! I have to say, it beats taking the bus, and is cheaper than driving and parking every day.
Did you know the very first pound cake was named "pound" cake because it contained a pound of butter, a pound of sugar, a pound of eggs and a pound of flour? I didn't know that!
We also learned of sponge cakes, there are two kinds: Genoise and Biscuit or Bisquit, pronounced bis-kwee. Not to be confused with biscuits as in biscuits and gravy! Genoise are what we use when layering cakes-birthday cakes, wedding cakes, etc. The Biscuit batter is used to make ladyfingers as it is pipeable. Both are light, durable and dry-so they can easily soak up liquids used to further flavor the cakes (simple syrups, alcohol, coffee).
Once our lecture was done, we paired up and made Genoise, which were then baked. Not sure what is going to happen to them as we did not use them today. We then broke into groups of three to make Bisquit. We are using them to make tiramisu for Thursday's dessert. Fortunately or unfortunately, MY group, (Cassie and Kim and I) was the only group whose batter set up correctly and were able to make the ladyfingers. Not sure what happened with everyone else's batter! All three of us felt very proud of ourselves, lol.
After this, we learned how to make buttercream using Swiss meringue. So much better than the buttercream they use at many bakeries, which contains shortening instead of butter!
After that demo, we were each given a cake (Genoise) and told we could flavor our cake however we wanted (with the stipulation that it had to be flavors we would actually EAT, not something like, "I wonder what sardines would taste like as a layer in this cake......"). We had to cut the cake into three layers (Chef Lexie says you need the correct frosting to cake ratio for a really good tasting cake-which is about a 1/4 inch each.), then paint them with flavored simple syrup, a very thin layer of jam, a layer of buttercream, then repeat, ending with the third layer, which is only soaked with the simple syrup. The entire cake is then given a "crumb coat"-which is a thin layer of buttercream used to seal in the cake and prevent "crumbs" from getting in the actual frosting. I kinda like sweet and savory together, so used Leopold Brothers Triple Pins, which kind of smells like Christmas, to flavor my simple syrup. It is more dabbed on than brushed on, otherwise you would end up scraping up a lot of crumb off the cake. Then I put a really thin layer of raspberry jam over the cake. I put melted white chocolate into my buttercream, so a thin layer of white chocolate buttercream went on next. Then another layer of cake, dab on the simple syrup, a layer of white chocolate buttercream, the last layer of cake, dab on more simple syrup. Then frosted with entire cake with a thin layer of white chocolate buttercream and the fussed and fussed to get it all even and flat. You make sure when you start and all during the "assembly" that your layers are even and flat-trimming off cake that is not even. Once the "crumb coat" is on, the cakes were placed into the walk-in to "firm up". We will finish them tomorrow. I've never been much of a layer cake person, always seemed like a lot of work! I was told today and we are now ALL cake people, lol.
Chef Pete made lunch today. We learned how to poach eggs this morning before we started with cake. Kinda cool! And other than putting the service for and setting the table for lunch, he did everything! We had roasted red peppers flavored with capers and white anchovies and a few herbs served with bread. Then spinach soup flavored with brodo (Italian for broth) and Parmesan cheese. For an entree, we had Fonduta, which in our case was a toasted round of polenta topped with serano ham, a poached egg and covered with bechamel made with Fontina cheese. Mmmmm, very tasty and light! Dessert was a cheese platter made up of five different Italian cheeses from "The Truffle Shop" (that name came up during our Wine class when we had wine and cheese pairing). Our wine was a muscato d'asti and a vin santo. Good choice with the food.
After getting home, I made Chocolate Gems (cookies) with chocolate that had ancho chiles in it. Carl loved them, lol, hope the guests do too. Can't go wrong with chocolate!
Otherwise, it has turned into a rainy evening so a quiet evening at home is in order. I am getting more comfortable on my scooter. Everyone at school thinks it's so cute! I have to say, it beats taking the bus, and is cheaper than driving and parking every day.
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