Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

 

Today was the much-anticipated 1^st Julia Child dinner. We didn’t go into class until 1pm to compensate for how late we’d be getting out. I found myself paired with Ihsan Gurdal of Formaggio. Because he was only preparing cheese tasting plates, I spent the beginning of the afternoon assisting JJ on his arctic char prep. We spooned sauce into little bowls, chopped lettuce, and assembled plates. When Ihsan finally arrived, he led us through a demo of how he wanted each cheese and their accompaniments displayed. Accompaniments included Italian hazelnut honey, plum jam, and red pepper jelly. I didn’t like it as much as the cheese and wine tasting Chef John assembled for us last month, but everything still worked together and looked nice on the platters. It didn’t take long to finish that work, too, so I soon found myself floating around the large kitchen and alternating between curious observation and stepping in to help as needed. I got to see how each dish was made, assembled, plated, and expedited. It was a truly unbelievable experience to observe each chef in action. Once thing I loved was that many of the chefs stepped in to help other chefs when they needed it. At one point, two chefs were assisting the chef creating the tarte tatin while three or four more chefs observed. Coincidentally, my favorite chef station was the tarte tatin because Chef Jacky Robert used a red-hot branding iron to caramelize the tops of the tarte tatin. He kept the large, round irons on the stove for quite a while before using them. The gas was cranked up high and we could tell that the next step would be very exciting! When it was finally time for the dessert courses, he began branding each individual apple top, before passing it along to another chef, who plated the caramelized apple and pastry round and dolloped on crème fraiche. A large portion of the room became hazy with a wonderful burnt sugar smoke. And I thought the only thing pastry chefs had to worry about was White Lung (from long-term inhalation of flour).

By the end of the evening, we were able to taste virtually everything that went out into the dining room, including the massive tiger prawns and oysters on the half shell (from Island Creek Oysters). The two shellfish were served on ice in a real wooden boat which was set up on the demonstration table in the dining area. It was AMAZING. The prawns were so big they could have made mock lobster rolls. My favorite savory dish was the monkfish sautéed with roasted cherry tomatoes and olives. I scared a classmate by doing a Google image search for monkfish while we were tasting it. At some point, someone pointed to a large, metal stool hanging out in the kitchen and told us it was “Julia’s stool.” Apparently it was her favorite back in the days when she actually taught students in the program. Awestruck, we all clamored to take pictures of ourselves while enthroned on the very famous stool.

The official menu from the night:

First

 

Omble-Chevalier Mousseline (Arctic Char) by Jean-Jacques Paimblanc

Monkfish pillard Nicoise Olives with a Cabernet Franc Sauce by Richard Vellante

Foie Gras with Oxtail Potato Cake by Stan Frankenthaler

Second

Rabbit Ravioli by Jody Adams

Roasted Lemon Chicken with Garlic and Parsley by Gordon Hamersley

Ginger-Orange Duck “Cassoulet” by Ming Tsai

Pithivier with Candy Striped Beets, Mission Figs, and Roquefort by Susan Regis

 

Third

Cheeses by Ihsan Gurdal

Tarte Tatin by Jacky Robert

Dacquoise and Chocolate by Jim Dodge

Monday, October 1, 2012

Monday, October 1, 2012

Today Chef Jim Dodge demo’d and cooked with us all day working on the Dacquoise for tomorrow’s Julia Child event. It felt very high pressure as we were actually making something that would represent Chef and BU. The Dacquoise consisted of two parts—a mocha buttercream and thin rectangles of hazelnut meringue. The two were layered and cut to create narrow slices of “cake.” Finally, we made several batches of ganache and a simpler chocolate sauce, made without a fat of any kind. I inherited two quarts of the sauce, so I hope it’s good!

 

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Today was a very busy day, with a completely different chef and cookery style in the A.M. and P.M. In the morning, Chef Manuel Sifnugel from Masona Grill came in and demonstrated two dishes—Peruvian Lomo Saltado (Stir-Fried Beef) and Shrimp Ceviche with Sour Orange Aji Sauce, Cukes, Red Onion, Lime, Cilantro, and Red Pepper. In case you can’t tell, Masona Grill serves Peruvian food!

First Chef began prepping the Lomo Saltado. He served the dish with yucca fries, so he brought in already-boiled yucca cut into fries, and gave them to our TA to fry in the back kitchen. Meanwhile, he showed us three different Peruvian chile pastes, including Aji, which he then used as part of the Lomo Saltado. Aji is a vibrant orange, which he mixed with orange juice to create a sweet, sour, and spicy addition to the stir-fry. Chef brought in already-marinated hangar steaks and cut them into chunks. He diced 2 large red onions, 2 large Aji peppers (canned and seeded), and two tomatoes (peeled and seeded). He heated a large frying pan over very high heat—he said it really does need to be smoking to get a good sear on the beef. He then tossed the beef chunks in and let them brown. He added the vegetables and let them cook down a bit. He added the Aji pepper/orange sauce as well as some cider vinegar and soy sauce, and cooked the dish until everything was tender. He served the Lomo Saltado on a plate covered with the yucca fries. To top of the starch madness, he also scooped a nice mound of cooked jasmine rice on the plate next to the stir fry. He had classmates plate liberal samples for everyone. The food was delicious! The yucca fries were starchier and more dense than potatoes, which I like a lot. The hangar steak was tender and the final sauce was spicy, but not deadly.

After the Lomo Saltado, Chef assembled the ceviche. He butterflied 24 large cooked shrimp (tail off) and put them in the fridge. He juiced three limes, thinly sliced a red onion, and diced an English cucumber and red pepper. He then combined all the ingredients with some more aji pepper paste and stirred in the shrimp. He then added in some whole cilantro leaves. He laid down a scoop of the mixture on top of previously-roasted slices of sweet potato and we all sampled it. It was delicious! Light and brightly-colored and fresh-tasting. It made me want summer back!

As good as the food was, my favorite part of the morning was one of Chef’s anecdotes about Julia. He described a cooking event held at B.U. at which Julia gave a cooking demonstration with a whole fish. At some point, she went to drain off some of the fat in the pan over the trash can and accidentally dropped the fish in, too. She reached right down, plucked it out of the garbage, and plopped it back into the frying pan. She then told the audience that she had simply added a little “all spice” to the dish. Julia really could get away with anything. The story was especially hilarious given the ongoing joke Maurisa and I have about “floor beef.” One evening we were watching Chopped on the Food Network, and one of the contestants accidentally dropped a piece of raw beef on the floor, picked it up, and threw it back into the pan. He then served it along with the other pieces to the judges as part of his final dish. One of the judging chefs was pregnant (just to add to the wrongness). As expected, the judges had a thing or two to say about it, but he actually made it through that round! In any case, Maurisa and I took to calling any dropped food “floor beef.” Julia upped the ante with “garbage fish.”

A few random facts from Chef’s demo:

·         Peru has the largest Chinese population outside of China.

·         In most of the world (other than the U.S.), the names for lemons and limes are reversed. For example, in Peru, what they call a lime is what we call a lemon and vice versa. Who knew?

By the time lunchtime came around, we were all full of Chef Sifnugel’s two dishes. It was definitely a step up from the leftover oatmeal I had brought in for lunch. At 1pm, we reconvened in the kitchen for part two of Principles of Meat Cookery with Chefs Jeremy Sewall and Rich Morin. Most of the class was spent with Chef Morin—and boy did he work us hard! We broke into small groups, and my group of three was assigned to make braised rabbit with pappardelle pasta. So, not only did I have to butcher a whole rabbit, but we also had to make fresh pasta. The other two women in my group were so grossed out about the prospect of breaking down a rabbit that they basically made me do it. And as awful as it sounded to me, I think I really benefited from doing it. Yes, it was nasty, right down to plucking out the kidneys, heart, and liver and crunching away the joints and such. I feel like if I’m willing to eat rabbit, I should be willing to prepare it, too—even if I only ever experience it once. I felt the same way about going to the meat processing plant—kind of gross, but necessary. I managed to break down the meat pretty well (considering how miserably I failed at butchering duck and lamb) and we browned the rabbit pieces, dredged, in hot oil. After the rabbit was well-browned, we replaced the rabbit for mirepoix and cooked until caramelized. While the veggies were browning, we mixed up a pasta dough (using a “recipe” that Chef simply thought up on the spot—it included white wine as a moistening agent!). Our TA helped us set up the manual pasta maker, and Chef showed us the correct process to knead and stretch out the dough. After several passes through to flatten the dough, Chef had us cut the actual pasta pieces by hand. He folded a rectangle of dough in thirds horizontally and cut those in thick strips. It was a good trick for keeping the lines straight.

Once the mirepoix was done, we added garlic, crushed tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary, crushed pepper and oregano. After mixing well, we put the rabbit pieces back in, covered the pan, and let the food simmer for about 45 minutes. We then boiled the fresh pasta and added it to the pan. Chef had us a do a family style presentation, so we mounded up the pasta on a large, oval dish and topped it with the rabbit pieces and the rest of the sauce. Finally, we sprinkled a goodly amount of grated Parmesan over the top. The finished dish was rich, peppery, and softly chewy. So good! I’m considering making it for Christmas Eve dinner this year, although I’m afraid the use of rabbits will freak out my PETA-loving vegetarian step-mother.

The other small groups made very different meats and accompaniments. There was: roasted leg of lamb (which a student had to de-bone), seared foie gras with figs and port, and pumpkin and blue cheese-stuffed pork loin (biggest pork loin I’d ever seen—it barely fit in the oven!). The lamb group also made a puttanesca sauce and parmesan-crusted haricot vert (aka green beans), both of which were served with the meat. I tried everything except for the pork, as I now know I am not a fan of blue cheese. I wasn’t going to try the foie gras, but a classmate called me out on it, so I took a bite. Notice I didn’t say I swallowed a bite. It was so heavy, chewy, and buttery that I literally felt nauseous. I spit it out in the trash, but at least I can say I’ve tried foie gras now.

Wednesday, September 2012

Today was day one of baking with chef Sciarrapa. She graduated from the culinary arts lab in the mid 90s. In the morning session, Chef told us everything we ever wanted to know about the ingredient components of most baking, and perhaps also some things we didn’t want to know (by which I mean only that it was very, very thorough). We learned about the different types of wheats, flours, fats, sweeteners, leaveners, and dairy products that are used in traditional baking operations. In the afternoon we reconvened and made sables, almond biscotti, and graham crackers. While things were baking, Chef did a demo for us and made chocolate macadamia cookies. They were distinctive in that they only contained about 1/3 cup of flour. The majority of the batter was the nuts, chocolate, butter, and an egg. They were tasty, mostly because she used chopped Callibut chocolate. Yum!

My group of three had a pretty easy time of the mise en place and actual baking of the cookies. The only thing that was tough was cutting the biscotti so that they would maintain the proper shape and not crumble away as we cut the loafs into individual pieces. Can I just say that I have no desire to ever purchase store-bought graham crackers again? Really…these ones were kind of a bitch to make but far more tasty than the boxed ones! I would, however, like to compare nutritional info, as the ones we made today were pretty rich with butter.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

I missed class on Tuesday after waking up with a bad migraine. I felt guilty about it, but not as bad as I'd feel had I attempted to go in and ended up stuck on the T with a migraine. But, I did make up for it a bit by reading the first few chapters of our assigned book "The Apprentice" by Jacques Pepin, which we have to write a two-page review on next month. It's already a lot more interesting than I'd expected. I have to say, though, it does make me even more terrified for the three days we're working with him in December!

Children's books about Julia Child!

Who knew?

This one looks like a kids book, but I think it's really more of a comic book for adults. Either way, I want it:
http://www.amazon.com/Appetit-Delicious-Life-Julia-Child/dp/0375869441/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1348366913&sr=8-2&keywords=bon+appetit+picture+book

And then that led me to this, a real children's book about Julia Child and her cat. Want!
http://www.amazon.com/Minettes-Feast-Delicious-Story-Julia/dp/1419701770/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_y

There is also a much longer, adult book specifically about Julia Child and her love of cats. I fear entering into crazy cat lady land if I post the link. But I assure you, it can be easily found via the above Amazon links, and I may or may not want it for my birthday.

An interesting article about the history of the fork.

http://www.clanntartan.org/articles/fork.html