Wednesday was really rough.. For whatever reason, I was really tired, and it was a double practical day. The first thing in the morning, we had to make a Souffle Glace a L'Orange. It was taught by Chef Gilles. Basically, it's a mixture of three different parts: Meringue Italienne (egg whites with a simple syrup), Sabayon (orange juice and egg yolks) and whipped cream (cream that is well.. whipped). Unfortunately, we had to mix these all by hands, and it was a huge pain in the ass and really tiring. I thought my arm was gonna fall off. Anyway you fold all these ingredients, and then put them in a ramequin, put it in the freezer for 6 hours and serve with a candied orange which should be translucent when cooled. Oh, cool note about the Meringue.. when it's ready, you can literally hold the bowl above your head and none of it will drop on your head. I was sure if it was ready, and didn't really have the guts to do it, so Chef Gilles came over and did it... (over my head).
Lesson 9 saw the return of Chef Benoit, and was all about French salads.
Some terminology:
Oeuf Cuit Dur - hard boiled egg
Ecaller - remove the shell of an egg once cooled
Riz Creole - Rice cooked in boiled salted water
Degorger - to let fluids render, soak in water or salt
Robe des Champs - cooking potatoes with skin on, preserves
Mariniere - method for cooking mussels, put them in a pot with shallots and white wine, bring to a boil, and cook for a couple mins.
Emulsion comes in two types, stable and unstable. An unstable one will separate after some time, for example salad dressing that needs to be shook. A stable one has an emulsifier (ingredients that have the ability to bind two ingredients into stable form).
Ebarber - remove black thing from mussels
Chef Benoit went into this long discussion on how to properly cook a hard boiled egg:
Boiling water, from Fridge 12 mins, from room temp 10 mins.
Cold water, from fridge 15 mins, from room temp 12-13 mins.
The egg white is also known as albumen, and the egg yolk is known as lecithin. The method Chef Benoit suggested is to add a splash of vinegar to the water in case it cracks and to put it in boiling water straight from the fridge.
My method, which works every single time, is to put the egg in cold water, with a cover, and bring it to a boil. Remove it from the heat, and let it cool .. perfect hard boiled egg every time.
Potatoes should always be boiled from cold water. If you use hot water, it will cook the outside too fast, and the centre will take longer to cook. In fact, even longer than from cold water.
Chef Benoit also discussed the finger method for checking meat. Have your hand loose and feel the meaty part of your thumb with:
Rare = Index + Thumb
Medium-Rare = Middle + Thumb
Medium = 4th + Thumb
Mendium-Well = Pinky + Thumb
Dishes demonstrated were Salade Francillon (Potato Mussles salad), Frisee Aux Lardon (Chicory and Lardons), Salade Des Nonnes (Rice & Chicken salad - gross), and the classic French Salade Nicoise (which is the practical we have to do).
The afternoon Practical #9 went off fairly smoothly. I had to redo my boiled egg once due to trying the vinegar and boiling water method (it ended up slightly under cooked), but other than that it was fairly straightforward. My final presentation, should have had a bit more salt in the vinagrette and I should have put more on the potatoes and the leaves, but it was acceptable. My souffle glace from the morning was ready, and it turned out quite well. Chef Benoit said I had the nicest candied orange in the class. It was a bit unnerving though, because he had everyone's souffle lined up, and he picked the best 4 overall. Mine wasn't one of them, for some reason, mine turned out quite sweet. I think I might have used orange concentrate instead of Orange Juice. Ooopsies... It rose quite well though.
Today was demonstration #10 and Chef Benoit is quite passionate about Fonds (foundation / stocks). There are two major Fonds. Fond blanc (white stock) can be made from Volaille (poultry), Legumes (vegetables) and veau (veal). Fond brun (brown stock) can be clair (non-thickened) or lie (thickened). They are usually made from Veal in French cooking or Beouf (beef).
From the 5 great "Sauces Meres" / Mother Sauces, you build all the other sauces. They are: Sauce Tomate, Sauce Espagnole (Brown sauce), Sauce Bechamel (White sauce with dairy), Veloute (White sauce, no dairy), Sauce Hollandaise (butter sauce). You must use GOOD stocks to do these properly.
Some other terminology:
Fumet - quick stock. Important to make a small amount, no freezing, short cooking time.
Fumet de poisson - made from white mirepoix and fish bones
Marmite - aside from a pot, it can also be the mix of two stocks
Bechamel - milk, roux + flavour
Veloute - roux + white fond
Ecumer - remove impurities w/ spoon. never cover the stock pot.
Pincer - to push veg to one side, leaving an open area in the pot to cook tomato paste, until a little brighter and concentrated colour. Moderate heat.
Singer - add a uniform film of flour, stir to cook flavour.
Mouiller a hauteur - to add a liquid to the top of what you are cooking
Cooking Modes
Saisir - lock in moisture, concentration
Expansion - to get rid of moisture
Mixte - S + E, ie. roasting bones, and then simmering them
Chef Benoit demonstrated Fond blanc de volailles (White stock made with chicken parts), Fond brun clair de veau (unthicked veal brown stock), sauce tomates (a tomato sauce made with mirepoix and pork belly), Fumet de poisson (quick fish stock) and Filet de sole de Douvres Dieppoise (The pratical).
Practical 10 was at noon, and I was the Sous-Chef for the first time. This was our first "real" dish, and I messed up because we had to make the Fumet de poisson from scratch as well, so I had to go back to the production kitchen to get leeks, celery and extra shallots. Oh well.. Overall the dish turned out quite well, even though I didn't have enough time to properly prepare my notes. Anyway, my dish turned out too salty, my mushrooms were a bit under cooked, but I got the fish and mussels done properly and presentation was okay.
Lesson 11 was about Sauces Meres + Derives (derivatives). It was taught by Chef Benoit.
Sauce Espagnole becomes Sauce Demi-Glace when it is reduced.
Sauce Bechamel is: 140g Roux Blanc, 1L Milk, 1 onion, nutmeg, salt/pepper.
Veloute de Volaille is Fond Blanc + Roux Blanc.
Sauce Supreme is Veloute de Volaille + cream.
Liasons are yolks, blood (careful, if boiled will turn grey), starch, by reduction, fat (cream / butter), coral (unfertilized eggs, ex. lobster roe)
Riz Pilaff - DO NOT MESS WITH THIS RECIPE!!
Time: 17-19 Mins at 400F
Quantitiy = Liquid = 1.5X amount of Rice
DO NOT STIR
Cover with 2 lids (parchment paper and regular)
Bouqet Garni
Terminology
Glace de Viande - reduced veal stock
Depouiller - to remove sin from a sauce
Habiller - to dress a chicken
Tamponner - to gently melt butter over the surface of a sauce to prevent a skin from forming. The "film" protects the sauce.
Chef Benoit showed us how to prep a chicken for the Poulet Poche sauce supreme (next practical), demi-glace (made by reducing the veal stock from the morning), Sauce Espagnole, Sauce Bechamel and derivates of Bechamel: Creme (with reduced cream), Mornay (with egg yolk and cheese) and Soubise (finelly chopped onion that is cooked, and then pushed through a strainer).
Taste wise, I really didn't care for the chicken. It reminds me very much of the Salade Des Nonnes actually. White sauce and chicken.. ugh. It's cool to cook some meat finally though.
Friday is going to be double demonstration day... can't wait for the weekend!
Ask him when he plans to show you how to cook "le poutine". It is a French dish after all.
ReplyDeleteWell, French Canadian atleast.
S.