Lesson 25

Last night was the class dinner.. it was a menu fixe, with a shrimp / asparagus in green pea foam starter, with a main of duck and peaches and a chocolate thing for dessert.  I had brought my camera, but didn't get around to taking pictures.  The food was very meh, I don't particularly care for French food, but the conversation was great.  People were raving about the wine, but it wasn't anything spectacular.  The white was a Chilean 2008 chardonnay and the red wasn't note worthy either, but both complimented the dishes very well.

Today at demo 25 Chef Benoit showed us three dishes:  Salade tiede de foies de volaille (hot chicken liver spinach salad), Cotes de porc charutiere, pommes puree (pork chops and mashed potatoes) and Savarin aux fruits (a baked cake with whipped cream and fruits.  Savarin was tasty, the pork chops were decent (interesting way to make mashed potatoes) and I didn't try the salad.  Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so didn't get pics.

As far as the practical 25 went, we had to make the pork chops, and it went very smoothly.  My meat was cooked well, the mashed potatoes were smooth (Chef Benoit said that they could use a slight bit more milk) and the sauce came out the right color and consistency.  A little bit about the mashed potatoes.  Peel and cut into 1 inch chunks - boil in salted water (use coarse salt, it's cheaper).  When done, put the potatoes through a food mill and fold in a mixture of pre-heated milk & butter that has been seasoned with salt and pepper.  The result is quite velvety, just make sure not to over mix so that it doesn't become too stringy and starchy.   Today was a better day, definitely.

Since class was done at 3, I went with a classmate to get her iPhone fixed.  She dropped it and was distraught because the screen had shattered, but fortunately there is a place in town that fixes them for about $100.  Better than spending $500 on a new one!  It took about half an hour so we grabbed a coffee at Bridgehead.  She's really funny and from Wisconsin (and married, before I give the impression I'm interested).

I would love to blog some more but I have to prepare my notes for tomorrow.

Stay classy,
-THC