Last night was all about custards, and we began with a demo from Chef of the three different types- stirred, starch bound and baked. Thankfully, the names are very descriptive of the custards themselves, which makes them easy to memorize- no mnemonics necessary!
Stirred custards are typically crème anglais. This is a thin custard used as a sauce or as an ice cream base. You add cream to egg yolks and sugar, then simmer until it reaches the point where it coats the back of a spoon and when you run your finger against the back, a clear line/barrier stays between the top and bottom half of the spoon coating. This is called “Na Pont” in French. I still have never seen this word in print- I just tried googling it but no luck, I had only ever heard Chef use it. So when he asked until what stage you cook the crème anglais, I said “napont”, praying I had pronounced it correctly. I hadn’t, but I dropped my voice at the second syllable enough for Chef not to notice. Bullet dodged. I felt better about it by noticing that Chef says “cuh-stid” and not “cust-ird”. True, that is his accent talking and not lack of knowledge, but still- we all got problems.
Starch bound custards are also cooked stovetop, but are much thicker (because they use starch as well as eggs as a thickening agent). A good example of a starch bound custard is pastry cream. Thick, smooth, delicious and no confusing French words. Baked custards are started like stirred; warmed milk/cream added to eggs- but its not thickened on the stove. Rather, you bake it- either on its own or in combination with other things to create entirely new delicacies and desserts.
Using a baked custard base is how we made Flan, B&B and Crème Brule. The caramel on Monday night was for Flan, in the end, cooked into little individual cups that we lined with our caramel. Fun fact: Crème Caramel is just like Flan and sometimes Chef uses the terms interchangeably. Pour the custard base into the molds, bake, and unmold when cool. Voila! Flan.
B&B is Bread and Butter pudding. Here, the base is poured over pieces of cut bread and studded with raisins. The ones my partner and I made lacked some of the raisins due to the fact that I ate half of them. But that’s neither here nor there. These smelled heavenly and were described as the best French toast my classmates had ever had. This seemed like a long process to make something that tastes like French toast, but I’ll still try to make it. They smelled so good.
Finally, Crème Brule. These are made by baking the custard base in special dishes (a thin layer only!) in a hot water bath. Once cooled, coarsely granulated sugar is sprinkled over the top and torched. Repeat the sugar/torch process three times until a nice hard shell has formed at the top. Let cool and dig in! Or, let cool and watch others dig in!
Finally, Chef had us make Chantilly Cream. What, you haven’t heard of Chantilly Cream? Well, you’ve eaten it. It is just sweetened and flavored whipped cream. When you make whipped cream by hand (I’m not sure why any of you would) always beat with cold cream, over a bowl of ice. This helps the cream whip up faster and prevents it from separating into butter. Interesting to note that my partner confused vanilla extract for Rum and used that instead. Also note that it worked well, if you like rum flavor, and that i'm not entirely sure that it was a mistake. It was a nice accompaniment spooned on top of raisin studded bread pudding in any case.
-Custard-Crazed Sarah
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Confection, not Perfection
Good Morning!
Class was hectic and busy last night, so I will jump right into the action. And believe me, nothing is more action intensive than a pastry chef’s kitchen. Especially when you are dealing with making candy. Or as we like to call it in the biz, confections. This week we are concentrating on sticky confections, it seems, and we made Torrone (Italian nougat), Divinities (a nougat like candy/cookie), peanut brittle (a teeth shatteringly delicious treat) and a diluted caramel in preparation for tonight’s dessert (a custardy treat!).
All of these things, like Sunday night’s fudge, have a boiled sugar base. The higher temperature you cook the sugar to, the harder the end result. For example, the peanut brittle is cooked to the hard crack stage- about 300 degrees. It is crunchy and, well, brittle. The nougat and fudge, in comparison, are cooked to lower degrees and are pleasantly chewy. Or at least they should be. If you remember from yesterday’s post, my partner and I scorched out fudge, bringing it over the specified heat. Our fudge, after sitting overnight, was not fudge like at all. It was crumbly. Let this be a lesson learned for all of you. If you are going to listen to your classmate read your horoscope, do so with one eye on your fudge.
In all seriousness, when cooking/baking/candlestick making, you really need to use your eyes, ears, hands and nose just as much as your mouth. Take it from someone who isn’t tasting anything- the other senses are very important. You can see when sugar is boiling too ferociously (I wouldn’t recommend touching this, though Chef does it). You can train your nose to pick up the lightest burning smell, and hear when your confection is crunching when it should be smooth. I did learn a thing or two about being a Leo though, so the whole fudge process wasn’t a total waste.
An important thing to note about class this week is that I’m on sink duty, along with two of my classmates. Normally this isn’t a big deal; every week we switch jobs, from garbage to floors to countertops. But sink duty is normally the worst, and when you mix in boiled sugar and nuts you get a real hard knock of a job. You ordinarily need to stop your work every once in a while to check that things aren’t piling up and quickly wash a pot or two. But boiled sugar hardens in an instant and takes an extreme amount of scrubbing and soaking and very very very hot water. Because everything needs to soak, the sink and its surrounding area becomes covered with dirty pots and equipment. Standing there, washing, is like Sisyphean feat. The load is never ending. After helping my partner prep, I run to the sink and wash a bit. I don’t actually know how to make Divinities, but I know how annoying it is to clean nougat. I would liken it to scrubbing melted laffy taffies.
You might have noticed that I demurely resisted from telling you exactly what we were using the caramel for- I didn’t name tonight’s dessert. This is because I didn’t catch what Chef was saying about the different types of custards (starch-bound, stirred and baked) and what we were to do tonight, over the nuts/boiling water geyser going on in the sink in from of me.
The sink water, which slowly boiled my hands, had pasticcios, almonds and peanuts floating all over. It was a murky brown color for the caramel. It smelled weird. But my classmates and I carried on..and on and on. Unfortunately, we also overflowed the sink, getting water all over the floor. I would like to blame the nuts which clogged it and wouldn’t allow for proper drainage. Others blame the thick nougat which didn’t dissolve in time. Others still blame us for attempting to drain the sink as we were re –filling it with more water.
The last thing we made, dry caramel which we later diluted, burned a finger or two, but soaking it in the very hot dish water helped a bit. I know, this was a whiny post. Rest assured- I’m chipper about the dishes in class. In comparison to my Chef cursing, caramel lamenting, grumbling teammates I seem like I love nothing more than scalding my hands while chipping solidified caramel off of the sides of pans.
- Sob-Story Sarah
Class was hectic and busy last night, so I will jump right into the action. And believe me, nothing is more action intensive than a pastry chef’s kitchen. Especially when you are dealing with making candy. Or as we like to call it in the biz, confections. This week we are concentrating on sticky confections, it seems, and we made Torrone (Italian nougat), Divinities (a nougat like candy/cookie), peanut brittle (a teeth shatteringly delicious treat) and a diluted caramel in preparation for tonight’s dessert (a custardy treat!).
All of these things, like Sunday night’s fudge, have a boiled sugar base. The higher temperature you cook the sugar to, the harder the end result. For example, the peanut brittle is cooked to the hard crack stage- about 300 degrees. It is crunchy and, well, brittle. The nougat and fudge, in comparison, are cooked to lower degrees and are pleasantly chewy. Or at least they should be. If you remember from yesterday’s post, my partner and I scorched out fudge, bringing it over the specified heat. Our fudge, after sitting overnight, was not fudge like at all. It was crumbly. Let this be a lesson learned for all of you. If you are going to listen to your classmate read your horoscope, do so with one eye on your fudge.
In all seriousness, when cooking/baking/candlestick making, you really need to use your eyes, ears, hands and nose just as much as your mouth. Take it from someone who isn’t tasting anything- the other senses are very important. You can see when sugar is boiling too ferociously (I wouldn’t recommend touching this, though Chef does it). You can train your nose to pick up the lightest burning smell, and hear when your confection is crunching when it should be smooth. I did learn a thing or two about being a Leo though, so the whole fudge process wasn’t a total waste.
An important thing to note about class this week is that I’m on sink duty, along with two of my classmates. Normally this isn’t a big deal; every week we switch jobs, from garbage to floors to countertops. But sink duty is normally the worst, and when you mix in boiled sugar and nuts you get a real hard knock of a job. You ordinarily need to stop your work every once in a while to check that things aren’t piling up and quickly wash a pot or two. But boiled sugar hardens in an instant and takes an extreme amount of scrubbing and soaking and very very very hot water. Because everything needs to soak, the sink and its surrounding area becomes covered with dirty pots and equipment. Standing there, washing, is like Sisyphean feat. The load is never ending. After helping my partner prep, I run to the sink and wash a bit. I don’t actually know how to make Divinities, but I know how annoying it is to clean nougat. I would liken it to scrubbing melted laffy taffies.
You might have noticed that I demurely resisted from telling you exactly what we were using the caramel for- I didn’t name tonight’s dessert. This is because I didn’t catch what Chef was saying about the different types of custards (starch-bound, stirred and baked) and what we were to do tonight, over the nuts/boiling water geyser going on in the sink in from of me.
The sink water, which slowly boiled my hands, had pasticcios, almonds and peanuts floating all over. It was a murky brown color for the caramel. It smelled weird. But my classmates and I carried on..and on and on. Unfortunately, we also overflowed the sink, getting water all over the floor. I would like to blame the nuts which clogged it and wouldn’t allow for proper drainage. Others blame the thick nougat which didn’t dissolve in time. Others still blame us for attempting to drain the sink as we were re –filling it with more water.
The last thing we made, dry caramel which we later diluted, burned a finger or two, but soaking it in the very hot dish water helped a bit. I know, this was a whiny post. Rest assured- I’m chipper about the dishes in class. In comparison to my Chef cursing, caramel lamenting, grumbling teammates I seem like I love nothing more than scalding my hands while chipping solidified caramel off of the sides of pans.
- Sob-Story Sarah
Monday, July 25, 2011
Playing Soft Ball
Hi!
Before I regale you with the life lessons learned in Sunday night’s class, I would like to share that on Saturday night I finally put my spatula where my mouth is and baked lemon soufflés for my family. They were…rustic. That might be an oxymoronic idea- a rustic soufflé- but these were uneven at the top and not quite folded enough. They were light, airy, fluffy, gooey, tart, sweet-but not good enough. I could blame it on the lack of professional equipment and ingredients, but if one can’t make darn good soufflés at home for her family, what good is culinary school? I will keep working on it until I can whip up restaurant grade soufflés anywhere, using any ingredients- as long as I have some ramekins.
Back to class. I walked in last night at six o’clock on the dot to find my classmates already bustling. I called out to see if anyone was partner-less, and jumped right in, gathering ingredients before I actually knew what we were making. As it turned out, we were making glucose for lemonade. I shudder to imagine making lemonade with something so banal as granulated sugar, so this process- which lengthens lemonade making considerably, sits well with me. Sugar is boiled with water and either a bit of corn syrup or cream of tartar (to prevent re-crystallization of the sugar) until it reaches the soft ball stage. It is then cooled into something with the look of glass which is, as it turns out, very hard to mix with water and lemon juice. We microwaved it to allow for better incorporation. From start to finish, this took over an hour.
While our molten glass was cooling, however, we began the process of making fudge. Sugar, half and half and a dash of salt are brought to a boil. Chopped chocolate (unsweetened) is added and then the whole thing is boiled until it reaches…soft ball stage. I keep mentioning this “soft ball stage” but maybe I should elaborate. On a candy thermometer this is anywhere between 232 and 238 degrees Fahrenheit. For those poor cavemen who lack candy thermometers, this is the stage where, if you plunge your hand into the boiling sugar and grab some then submerge into ice water, you can form a soft, flexible ball with the sugar you pulled out of the pot. Once this consistency is achieved, (not once the bottom begins to scorch as mine did) take the pot off of the heat and let cool until it reaches a balmy 110 degrees. Then add chopped walnuts (optional) butter and vanilla. Attempt to stir these ingredients into the now nearly solid fudge. When you fail at mixing in the last ingredients, call Chef over to do it for you. When Chef fails, heat over a low flame (or induction burner, like we use) until the fudge becomes more mobile, allowing you to finally stir in the nuts, butter and vanilla. Pour into buttered tray and wait a day. I will clue you all in on the results after class tonight, when we cut and sample our fudge.
In between the fudge’s 236 degrees and 110 degrees, Chef sat us down for a chat about the Facts of Flour. For what seemed like forty five minutes (because it was), he taught us about the differences between hard flours and soft flours, the physical properties of each, non grain flours (buckwheat, corn, soy, etc.), what allows for glutton to form and what prevents it, the horrors of over kneading, the triumph of mixing flours to create the ultimate in flavor and gluten making abilities. I doodled lovely images of breads and cakes and cookies in the margins of my notebook, applying the theoretical ideas of flour into my everyday life in a practical, tangible way.
-Le’ Artist Baer
Before I regale you with the life lessons learned in Sunday night’s class, I would like to share that on Saturday night I finally put my spatula where my mouth is and baked lemon soufflés for my family. They were…rustic. That might be an oxymoronic idea- a rustic soufflé- but these were uneven at the top and not quite folded enough. They were light, airy, fluffy, gooey, tart, sweet-but not good enough. I could blame it on the lack of professional equipment and ingredients, but if one can’t make darn good soufflés at home for her family, what good is culinary school? I will keep working on it until I can whip up restaurant grade soufflés anywhere, using any ingredients- as long as I have some ramekins.
Back to class. I walked in last night at six o’clock on the dot to find my classmates already bustling. I called out to see if anyone was partner-less, and jumped right in, gathering ingredients before I actually knew what we were making. As it turned out, we were making glucose for lemonade. I shudder to imagine making lemonade with something so banal as granulated sugar, so this process- which lengthens lemonade making considerably, sits well with me. Sugar is boiled with water and either a bit of corn syrup or cream of tartar (to prevent re-crystallization of the sugar) until it reaches the soft ball stage. It is then cooled into something with the look of glass which is, as it turns out, very hard to mix with water and lemon juice. We microwaved it to allow for better incorporation. From start to finish, this took over an hour.
While our molten glass was cooling, however, we began the process of making fudge. Sugar, half and half and a dash of salt are brought to a boil. Chopped chocolate (unsweetened) is added and then the whole thing is boiled until it reaches…soft ball stage. I keep mentioning this “soft ball stage” but maybe I should elaborate. On a candy thermometer this is anywhere between 232 and 238 degrees Fahrenheit. For those poor cavemen who lack candy thermometers, this is the stage where, if you plunge your hand into the boiling sugar and grab some then submerge into ice water, you can form a soft, flexible ball with the sugar you pulled out of the pot. Once this consistency is achieved, (not once the bottom begins to scorch as mine did) take the pot off of the heat and let cool until it reaches a balmy 110 degrees. Then add chopped walnuts (optional) butter and vanilla. Attempt to stir these ingredients into the now nearly solid fudge. When you fail at mixing in the last ingredients, call Chef over to do it for you. When Chef fails, heat over a low flame (or induction burner, like we use) until the fudge becomes more mobile, allowing you to finally stir in the nuts, butter and vanilla. Pour into buttered tray and wait a day. I will clue you all in on the results after class tonight, when we cut and sample our fudge.
In between the fudge’s 236 degrees and 110 degrees, Chef sat us down for a chat about the Facts of Flour. For what seemed like forty five minutes (because it was), he taught us about the differences between hard flours and soft flours, the physical properties of each, non grain flours (buckwheat, corn, soy, etc.), what allows for glutton to form and what prevents it, the horrors of over kneading, the triumph of mixing flours to create the ultimate in flavor and gluten making abilities. I doodled lovely images of breads and cakes and cookies in the margins of my notebook, applying the theoretical ideas of flour into my everyday life in a practical, tangible way.
-Le’ Artist Baer
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Piping and Griping
Good Morning!
When we got to class last night, first thing we did was rehash Monday night’s field trip- I love debriefing. We discussed the staff working at each place, the inflated prices, and, of course, the product. Oh, the euphoria of describing the chocolate brioche from Amy’s Bread and the macarons from La Maison Du Chocolat. I nodded earnestly to all comments-even the contradicting ones, wanting to fit in. Also, I didn’t have enough energy to speak for most of last night’s class, so I generally just nodded a lot.
In fact, on three separate occasions classmates called me out on this and called me a Zombie, or just stared at me quizzically waiting for me to notice (which took a good fifteen minutes. This elicited even more good natured teasing. ) During our debriefing, we sampled the gelees and panna cotta from Sunday’s class. The gelee didn’t look like anything special (and my classmates told me I want missing much). They are like fancy flavored Jellos. The panna cotta, however, looked fantastic. Like a mix between jello, pudding and mousse. A trifecta of textures. The milk chocolate flavor in particular looked amazing- note to self, figure out how to kosher-fy panna cotta.
Chef showed us how to quickly ID three different types of flour- all purpose, cake flour and whole wheat. The two fast ways to tell are color and how easily they cake when you squeeze a handful in your palm. Cake flour binds easily into a single clump under the pressure of your fist. Regular is a bit less uniform and breaks easily and whole wheat barely forms a clump at all. Next week we are going to go more in depth with the different types of flour, but Chef rushed the lesson a bit so that we could move on to Nut identifications and Italian butter cream making. And one and a half hours of piping said butter cream. I’ll get to that.
Much like our dairy product and fruit IDs, Chef laid out dozens of types of nuts (whole, ground, cooked and raw) into unmarked and unlabeled cups and had us all sample them and then describe them. Boiled chestnuts were described as “putting an old man in my mouth” and raw tapioca pearls as “chewing on plastic beads”. I kno, we use such specialized culinary terms. If you want me to decode these terms later, let me know.
We then made our Italian butter cream for the second time. Remember, this starts with an Italian meringue base (Hot sugar at the soft ball stage slowly added to beaten egg whites at the soft peak stage) that has been cooled. Pounds (literally) of butter are added until everything is combined into a smooth, fluffy, artery clogging butter cream. Then Chef gave us a demo on how to fill a pastry bag and pipe out simple shells, roses, hearts and fleur de lis. He makes it look so easy, with a flick of the wrist and a quick squeeze he pipes out so many roses I nearly ask him to do the flowers for my wedding. Then we try. From eight untill 9:45 we pipe. After the first hour, my classmates are feeling mutinous. It is hot in the kitchen and the butter cream is melting and our hands are cramping and we feel greasy and there is FOURTY FIVE MINUTES MORE OF DOING THE SAME THING.
I am happy to report that I am a natural at shells, but my roses leave much to be desired. To an untrained eye, they look great. This is why I triumphantly called Chef over to see after a half hour of practice. Unfortunately, Chef has a very well trained eye, and pointed out three things wrong with my roses. After a lot more(pipe onto parchment paper until bag runs out, scrape your lovely work back into bowl and refill your bag. Repeat endlessly) my roses were marginally better. Chef came over again and told me I had the hand motions right, but I am not consistent. “You will have to pipe a thousand or so more until you have perfected it and can make a perfect rosette every time”. I actually smiled and started to laugh at his obvious exaggeration. He wasn’t joking.
- "I wanna panna cotta" Baer
When we got to class last night, first thing we did was rehash Monday night’s field trip- I love debriefing. We discussed the staff working at each place, the inflated prices, and, of course, the product. Oh, the euphoria of describing the chocolate brioche from Amy’s Bread and the macarons from La Maison Du Chocolat. I nodded earnestly to all comments-even the contradicting ones, wanting to fit in. Also, I didn’t have enough energy to speak for most of last night’s class, so I generally just nodded a lot.
In fact, on three separate occasions classmates called me out on this and called me a Zombie, or just stared at me quizzically waiting for me to notice (which took a good fifteen minutes. This elicited even more good natured teasing. ) During our debriefing, we sampled the gelees and panna cotta from Sunday’s class. The gelee didn’t look like anything special (and my classmates told me I want missing much). They are like fancy flavored Jellos. The panna cotta, however, looked fantastic. Like a mix between jello, pudding and mousse. A trifecta of textures. The milk chocolate flavor in particular looked amazing- note to self, figure out how to kosher-fy panna cotta.
Chef showed us how to quickly ID three different types of flour- all purpose, cake flour and whole wheat. The two fast ways to tell are color and how easily they cake when you squeeze a handful in your palm. Cake flour binds easily into a single clump under the pressure of your fist. Regular is a bit less uniform and breaks easily and whole wheat barely forms a clump at all. Next week we are going to go more in depth with the different types of flour, but Chef rushed the lesson a bit so that we could move on to Nut identifications and Italian butter cream making. And one and a half hours of piping said butter cream. I’ll get to that.
Much like our dairy product and fruit IDs, Chef laid out dozens of types of nuts (whole, ground, cooked and raw) into unmarked and unlabeled cups and had us all sample them and then describe them. Boiled chestnuts were described as “putting an old man in my mouth” and raw tapioca pearls as “chewing on plastic beads”. I kno, we use such specialized culinary terms. If you want me to decode these terms later, let me know.
We then made our Italian butter cream for the second time. Remember, this starts with an Italian meringue base (Hot sugar at the soft ball stage slowly added to beaten egg whites at the soft peak stage) that has been cooled. Pounds (literally) of butter are added until everything is combined into a smooth, fluffy, artery clogging butter cream. Then Chef gave us a demo on how to fill a pastry bag and pipe out simple shells, roses, hearts and fleur de lis. He makes it look so easy, with a flick of the wrist and a quick squeeze he pipes out so many roses I nearly ask him to do the flowers for my wedding. Then we try. From eight untill 9:45 we pipe. After the first hour, my classmates are feeling mutinous. It is hot in the kitchen and the butter cream is melting and our hands are cramping and we feel greasy and there is FOURTY FIVE MINUTES MORE OF DOING THE SAME THING.
I am happy to report that I am a natural at shells, but my roses leave much to be desired. To an untrained eye, they look great. This is why I triumphantly called Chef over to see after a half hour of practice. Unfortunately, Chef has a very well trained eye, and pointed out three things wrong with my roses. After a lot more(pipe onto parchment paper until bag runs out, scrape your lovely work back into bowl and refill your bag. Repeat endlessly) my roses were marginally better. Chef came over again and told me I had the hand motions right, but I am not consistent. “You will have to pipe a thousand or so more until you have perfected it and can make a perfect rosette every time”. I actually smiled and started to laugh at his obvious exaggeration. He wasn’t joking.
- "I wanna panna cotta" Baer
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
The Return of the Pate De Fruit
Hi!
As promised, last night we had our field trip. Not wanting to blend in even without his tall Chef’s hat, Chef showed up in a Hawaiian shirt. This made him easily spottable on the subway and crowded streets of New York (though I don’t think that was his reasoning behind wearing said shirt). We were all in street clothes- a true test of whether or not we knew each other’s names. I hope I passed this one, though I can’t be sure. I made a mental note (and now a written one I suppose) to make sure to memorize everyone’s names tonight, aided with our monogrammed Chefs jackets.
Our first stop was La Maison Du Chocolat, an upscale chocolate shop with “Haut Couture” chocolates. This place makes Godiva look like a bargain basement store. The prices were high, the pieces of chocolate small, and the temperature freezing. Everything looked fabulous and I wanted one of each. Truffles in dozens of flavors, chocolate bark, bonbons and yes, even Pate De Fruit (remember our lovely Fruit Gels that no one liked?) were all sold there, by the pound. There was also pastries- cakes, cookies (macarons, obviously) their famous chocolate éclairs, and a new line of ice cream. Chef bought some macarons for everyone to share, though he did laugh at their price, and told us they cost nothing to make. My classmates were, however, really impressed with their products and gushed over every piece of chocolate and macaron they ate. Apparently, it’s worth every penny. Even if you don’t buy/eat anything on the shop, it is fun to go and just take a look around.
Our next stop was Financier Pastry Shop.
This place was…less snobby. They had wonderful looking French pastries, mainly single serving sizes (packed with calories for two!) of beautiful looking tartlets, little cream cakes, chocolate bomb cakes, macarons (obviously) and…Pate De Fruits (surprisingly). Everyone got a pastry and dug in. I went from person to person sniffing appreciatively and asking prying questions, such as mouth feel, flavor and “is it worth it?” Classmates, in return, asked me many questions about Kashrut. Only, they didn’t say “Kashrut” and instead asked “wait, what cant you eat?” “why can’t you try this napoleon? You’ve never eaten a napoleon?!” Don’t worry, I quickly rectified this blasphemous thought and reassured my classmates that I can (and have eaten) most of the pastries they were all sampling. Albeit, never from some fancy pastry shop in the middle of Rockefeller Center.
After Financier, we went to Bouchon Bakery, located (among other places) in the Time Warner Center. At this point, I was craving some dessert, and knew (who doesn’t?) of the Godiva located in the Time Warner Center. I asked Chef if I could make a detour and meet them in Bouchon. He agreed and I ran. Literally, I couldn’t get there fast enough. Once there, I whipped out my Godiva Club Card (you should all get one ASAP) and got myself a free truffle of the month. Key Lime. Refreshing, sweet but not cloying and rich. It helped ease my jealousy and stave of pangs of pastry deprivation. Thank you, Godiva (bargain basement or not, you have my allegiance). Of course, once I got to Bouchon and told Chef about my truffle, he asked the obvious question. Why could I eat Godiva chocolate but not Maison Du Chocolat chocolate? Quick as a whistle, that Chef. I explained. Then he explained why Bouchon was fabulous and praised their raspberry almond croissants. Now, Bouchon is French in heritage (Chef would only take us to French places- a true Frenchman) but they seem to be catering to an American crowd. Among their French pastries (including macarons and Pate de Fruit!) were HoHos, Fuhgetaboutits (like 100 Grand Bars) and Nutter Butters. Somehow, I don’t see French Pastry Chefs toiling over Nutter Butters.
The rest of the class went on to Amy’s Bread in Chelsea Market. By this time, however, I was hungry, tired, and had a fast the next day to consider (and no promise of freshly baked bread to bolster my spirits). Also, I had a nine o’clock showing of Harry Potter I needed to catch. NEEDED. And so I bowed out, Chef not putting up a fuss because of how guilty he felt for taking me to such unpalatable establishments. I wonder what allowances he would make tonight if I told him I was fasting?
-Sarah “I Have My Priorities Straight” Baer
Note I did NOT take any of the photos seen here. I did, howeveer, search for them on Google images.
As promised, last night we had our field trip. Not wanting to blend in even without his tall Chef’s hat, Chef showed up in a Hawaiian shirt. This made him easily spottable on the subway and crowded streets of New York (though I don’t think that was his reasoning behind wearing said shirt). We were all in street clothes- a true test of whether or not we knew each other’s names. I hope I passed this one, though I can’t be sure. I made a mental note (and now a written one I suppose) to make sure to memorize everyone’s names tonight, aided with our monogrammed Chefs jackets.
Our first stop was La Maison Du Chocolat, an upscale chocolate shop with “Haut Couture” chocolates. This place makes Godiva look like a bargain basement store. The prices were high, the pieces of chocolate small, and the temperature freezing. Everything looked fabulous and I wanted one of each. Truffles in dozens of flavors, chocolate bark, bonbons and yes, even Pate De Fruit (remember our lovely Fruit Gels that no one liked?) were all sold there, by the pound. There was also pastries- cakes, cookies (macarons, obviously) their famous chocolate éclairs, and a new line of ice cream. Chef bought some macarons for everyone to share, though he did laugh at their price, and told us they cost nothing to make. My classmates were, however, really impressed with their products and gushed over every piece of chocolate and macaron they ate. Apparently, it’s worth every penny. Even if you don’t buy/eat anything on the shop, it is fun to go and just take a look around.
Our next stop was Financier Pastry Shop.
This place was…less snobby. They had wonderful looking French pastries, mainly single serving sizes (packed with calories for two!) of beautiful looking tartlets, little cream cakes, chocolate bomb cakes, macarons (obviously) and…Pate De Fruits (surprisingly). Everyone got a pastry and dug in. I went from person to person sniffing appreciatively and asking prying questions, such as mouth feel, flavor and “is it worth it?” Classmates, in return, asked me many questions about Kashrut. Only, they didn’t say “Kashrut” and instead asked “wait, what cant you eat?” “why can’t you try this napoleon? You’ve never eaten a napoleon?!” Don’t worry, I quickly rectified this blasphemous thought and reassured my classmates that I can (and have eaten) most of the pastries they were all sampling. Albeit, never from some fancy pastry shop in the middle of Rockefeller Center.
After Financier, we went to Bouchon Bakery, located (among other places) in the Time Warner Center. At this point, I was craving some dessert, and knew (who doesn’t?) of the Godiva located in the Time Warner Center. I asked Chef if I could make a detour and meet them in Bouchon. He agreed and I ran. Literally, I couldn’t get there fast enough. Once there, I whipped out my Godiva Club Card (you should all get one ASAP) and got myself a free truffle of the month. Key Lime. Refreshing, sweet but not cloying and rich. It helped ease my jealousy and stave of pangs of pastry deprivation. Thank you, Godiva (bargain basement or not, you have my allegiance). Of course, once I got to Bouchon and told Chef about my truffle, he asked the obvious question. Why could I eat Godiva chocolate but not Maison Du Chocolat chocolate? Quick as a whistle, that Chef. I explained. Then he explained why Bouchon was fabulous and praised their raspberry almond croissants. Now, Bouchon is French in heritage (Chef would only take us to French places- a true Frenchman) but they seem to be catering to an American crowd. Among their French pastries (including macarons and Pate de Fruit!) were HoHos, Fuhgetaboutits (like 100 Grand Bars) and Nutter Butters. Somehow, I don’t see French Pastry Chefs toiling over Nutter Butters.
The rest of the class went on to Amy’s Bread in Chelsea Market. By this time, however, I was hungry, tired, and had a fast the next day to consider (and no promise of freshly baked bread to bolster my spirits). Also, I had a nine o’clock showing of Harry Potter I needed to catch. NEEDED. And so I bowed out, Chef not putting up a fuss because of how guilty he felt for taking me to such unpalatable establishments. I wonder what allowances he would make tonight if I told him I was fasting?
-Sarah “I Have My Priorities Straight” Baer
Note I did NOT take any of the photos seen here. I did, howeveer, search for them on Google images.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Two Fat Ladies on a Saturday Night
Hi Everyone,
Last night we had our first written quiz. I walk into the locker room only to find my classmates with pages of written notes, spewing terms I hadn’t ever heard of. Apparently they took they review sheet Chef had given us and ran with it, viewing it as a bare bones analysis of what we needed to know. I took it as gospel. As it turns out, I was safe with my limited knowledge and the quiz went well enough. Chef gave us 45 minutes to complete it, but it only took us about a half hour. As of yet, laziness hasn’t defeated me.
We dove into the world of Gelatin last night, making Marshmallows, Panna cotta and Gelee. Gelatin comes in two forms, powdered and sheets. Powdered gelatin is stronger and more commonly used in pastry kitchens. Leaf gelatin is just weird- thin, translucent rectangular sheets that need to be soaked in ice water before using. How do you know when your gelatin is ready for use? “When it looks and feels like what you would wear on a Saturday night” says Chef, referring to Lycra or spandex. I can’t make this stuff up.
As we were watching Chef do his demo, we picked his brain for what cooking shows he likes to watch. He thinks everything is crap, basically, and says they are just doing it for drama, not teaching anything. I beg to differ. Ina, Anthony, Alton and Bobby have taught me much. But, the show he says, that used to be really good? TWO FAT LADIES (yes, that’s actually the title). I don’t know of many of you are familiar with Two Fat Ladies, but you should acquaint yourselves if you’re not (now it’s on the Cooking Network, not the Food Channel). The show follows two middle aged/older fat English women as they cook in their English Country kitchen and drive around in their motor bike visiting different sites on the English countryside. So English. So wonderful.
Back to gelatin. First we made marshmallows. My teammate and I made vanilla flavored ones, others made rosewater or orange. They are a mixture of egg whites, sugar, corn syrup, flavoring, gelatin and water, heated and then beaten until impossibly fluffy and sticky. Spread onto a baking sheet and let stand for two hours. At the end of the class, we sliced them and coated them with corn starch (to prevent sticking and moisture) and decorated some with chocolate. The texture- springy, light, chewy-looked marvelous, though I can’t swear by the flavor- I was told they tasted a wee bit “off”, but that they were “extremely marshmallow-ey.” I’ll take what I can get.
The Panna Cotta (think of milky, thin Jello) and Gelee (kind of like Jello- we made Caramel flavor) need to set up over night, so I can’t report on those as finished products. The marshmallows and panna cotta used powdered gelatin, the Gelee used leaves/sheets, which don’t set up as quickly.
Tonight we have our field trip to fancy patisseries and chocolate shops in lower Manhattan. Sure, it’s supposed to pour and be really hot, but I won’t let my lack of umbrella, frizzy hair or inability to sample any of the baked goods stop me from having a great, educational field trip. That and the fact that I will have to write a paper about the experience- otherwise I would cut.
- Food Network Lover and Proud
Last night we had our first written quiz. I walk into the locker room only to find my classmates with pages of written notes, spewing terms I hadn’t ever heard of. Apparently they took they review sheet Chef had given us and ran with it, viewing it as a bare bones analysis of what we needed to know. I took it as gospel. As it turns out, I was safe with my limited knowledge and the quiz went well enough. Chef gave us 45 minutes to complete it, but it only took us about a half hour. As of yet, laziness hasn’t defeated me.
We dove into the world of Gelatin last night, making Marshmallows, Panna cotta and Gelee. Gelatin comes in two forms, powdered and sheets. Powdered gelatin is stronger and more commonly used in pastry kitchens. Leaf gelatin is just weird- thin, translucent rectangular sheets that need to be soaked in ice water before using. How do you know when your gelatin is ready for use? “When it looks and feels like what you would wear on a Saturday night” says Chef, referring to Lycra or spandex. I can’t make this stuff up.
As we were watching Chef do his demo, we picked his brain for what cooking shows he likes to watch. He thinks everything is crap, basically, and says they are just doing it for drama, not teaching anything. I beg to differ. Ina, Anthony, Alton and Bobby have taught me much. But, the show he says, that used to be really good? TWO FAT LADIES (yes, that’s actually the title). I don’t know of many of you are familiar with Two Fat Ladies, but you should acquaint yourselves if you’re not (now it’s on the Cooking Network, not the Food Channel). The show follows two middle aged/older fat English women as they cook in their English Country kitchen and drive around in their motor bike visiting different sites on the English countryside. So English. So wonderful.
Back to gelatin. First we made marshmallows. My teammate and I made vanilla flavored ones, others made rosewater or orange. They are a mixture of egg whites, sugar, corn syrup, flavoring, gelatin and water, heated and then beaten until impossibly fluffy and sticky. Spread onto a baking sheet and let stand for two hours. At the end of the class, we sliced them and coated them with corn starch (to prevent sticking and moisture) and decorated some with chocolate. The texture- springy, light, chewy-looked marvelous, though I can’t swear by the flavor- I was told they tasted a wee bit “off”, but that they were “extremely marshmallow-ey.” I’ll take what I can get.
The Panna Cotta (think of milky, thin Jello) and Gelee (kind of like Jello- we made Caramel flavor) need to set up over night, so I can’t report on those as finished products. The marshmallows and panna cotta used powdered gelatin, the Gelee used leaves/sheets, which don’t set up as quickly.
Tonight we have our field trip to fancy patisseries and chocolate shops in lower Manhattan. Sure, it’s supposed to pour and be really hot, but I won’t let my lack of umbrella, frizzy hair or inability to sample any of the baked goods stop me from having a great, educational field trip. That and the fact that I will have to write a paper about the experience- otherwise I would cut.
- Food Network Lover and Proud
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Falling for Souffles (having never tried one)
Hi All,
The Soufflés Craze continued last night with flour-based soufflés. But I’ll get to that soon.
First, we had a cornet drill, where we piped new stencils- ones for petite fours. I lost all skill in piping for some reason (the coffee I chugged while running to class might have unsteadied my hands) and the petite fours I piped were gloppy and sloppy (technical terms, you wouldn’t understand). This will need some at-home practice, as I have a practical piping quiz coming up.
Back to soufflés. Flour based soufflés are a tad sturdier than flourless. This means they have four minutes from the oven until falling time, not two (double the shelf life!) They also look yummier, the inside not as foamy, and a little creamier looking than the flourless. I am told that the consistency has a better mouth feel. I can’t wait to find out for myself!
The base of these soufflés is a pastry cream of sorts (add a rudimentary pastry cream to my repertoire). Everyone in the class made a chocolate soufflé first, and then each team made a different flavor. My partner and I made Mocha. Obviously, this was assigned to us and wasn’t what we would have chosen to make. There were lime, passion fruit, pistachio, praline, coconut, caramel and gruyere cheese soufflés coming out of the oven left and right. Here is the procedure for removing soufflés from the oven:
1) The student paces in front of the oven, wondering if she should have removed it thirty seconds ago or if it needs another fifteen seconds.
2) She opens the deck oven door- making all other students with soufflés in the oven worry that the open oven door is messing with their soufflés. It is.
3) She carefully removes the scalding hot baking sheet with the ramekins on it and puts it on one of two large steel work tables. Everyone converges on the soufflés, asking what flavor they are and grabbing plastic spoons.
4) The baker rushes to get her camera out, pleading with everyone to hold off digging in until they can snap some pictures, before the soufflés fall.
5) Just as the last picture is taken, spoons dig into the small, lovely ramekins and they are each oohed and ahhed over, everyone complimenting the baker. At least one student claims that This flavor is her favorite flavor
6) The fallen, half eaten soufflés are left, and eventually tossed. Sad, deflated, forgotten.
Repeat this process eight times in fifteen minutes. I am not above said procedure and am the worst offender, claiming that every flavor is my favorite, and getting away with it because I can’t taste any- who would contest the claim of the poor girl who can’t taste any soufflés?
After the soufflés are done, Chef teaches us how to chop an onion. Yes, this is odd considering that we are learning Pastry and Baking arts and onion are rarely, if ever, used in pastry kitchens. No, we do not bother to ask Chef why he is teaching us and instead grab our huge chef knifes and begin. This is a very useful skill and everyone should learn how to properly dice an onion. They can be used to make onion soufflés, after all.
Next class is my written quiz, covering all topics up until now, but none of the fun practical parts. Food safety, recipe conversions and chemistry. Maybe I’ll study piping skills instead.
- Sarah "onions-dont-make-me-cry-but-chemistry-does" Baer
The Soufflés Craze continued last night with flour-based soufflés. But I’ll get to that soon.
First, we had a cornet drill, where we piped new stencils- ones for petite fours. I lost all skill in piping for some reason (the coffee I chugged while running to class might have unsteadied my hands) and the petite fours I piped were gloppy and sloppy (technical terms, you wouldn’t understand). This will need some at-home practice, as I have a practical piping quiz coming up.
Back to soufflés. Flour based soufflés are a tad sturdier than flourless. This means they have four minutes from the oven until falling time, not two (double the shelf life!) They also look yummier, the inside not as foamy, and a little creamier looking than the flourless. I am told that the consistency has a better mouth feel. I can’t wait to find out for myself!
The base of these soufflés is a pastry cream of sorts (add a rudimentary pastry cream to my repertoire). Everyone in the class made a chocolate soufflé first, and then each team made a different flavor. My partner and I made Mocha. Obviously, this was assigned to us and wasn’t what we would have chosen to make. There were lime, passion fruit, pistachio, praline, coconut, caramel and gruyere cheese soufflés coming out of the oven left and right. Here is the procedure for removing soufflés from the oven:
1) The student paces in front of the oven, wondering if she should have removed it thirty seconds ago or if it needs another fifteen seconds.
2) She opens the deck oven door- making all other students with soufflés in the oven worry that the open oven door is messing with their soufflés. It is.
3) She carefully removes the scalding hot baking sheet with the ramekins on it and puts it on one of two large steel work tables. Everyone converges on the soufflés, asking what flavor they are and grabbing plastic spoons.
4) The baker rushes to get her camera out, pleading with everyone to hold off digging in until they can snap some pictures, before the soufflés fall.
5) Just as the last picture is taken, spoons dig into the small, lovely ramekins and they are each oohed and ahhed over, everyone complimenting the baker. At least one student claims that This flavor is her favorite flavor
6) The fallen, half eaten soufflés are left, and eventually tossed. Sad, deflated, forgotten.
Repeat this process eight times in fifteen minutes. I am not above said procedure and am the worst offender, claiming that every flavor is my favorite, and getting away with it because I can’t taste any- who would contest the claim of the poor girl who can’t taste any soufflés?
After the soufflés are done, Chef teaches us how to chop an onion. Yes, this is odd considering that we are learning Pastry and Baking arts and onion are rarely, if ever, used in pastry kitchens. No, we do not bother to ask Chef why he is teaching us and instead grab our huge chef knifes and begin. This is a very useful skill and everyone should learn how to properly dice an onion. They can be used to make onion soufflés, after all.
Next class is my written quiz, covering all topics up until now, but none of the fun practical parts. Food safety, recipe conversions and chemistry. Maybe I’ll study piping skills instead.
- Sarah "onions-dont-make-me-cry-but-chemistry-does" Baer
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Souffles Craze!
Welcome Back!
After a week of break, classes resumed last night. I would like to say that after a week off, I was refreshed and ready to go, but this was not the case. I left my hat, recipe binder and a clean apron at home. Thankfully, I borrowed, camouflaged and faked my way through without comments from chef.
First thing that happened when we get into the kitchen is a surprise from Chef, a practical quiz on knife skills. Nothing crazy; we each have to peal, wedge and slice an apple and a pear. Characteristically, I cut myself within three minutes. I wait until Chef’s back is turned then casually saunter over to the first aid and grab a band aid (bloody fruit will not be given high marks) and resume the cutting. I finished the “quiz” first, but no one wants to be the one who calls out “done” - that girl is annoying. I decide to be Annoying anyway and raise my hand to admit that I am done first and Chef walks over to grade me. My slices are great, my wedges need a bit of work (they should be uniform- apparently Chef does not like the artistic license I took to my pear) and the very inside- where I had cored the fruit- had browned a bit due to lack of lemon juice. All in all pretty good though! Way to go, Annoying!
Once Chef grades everyone, we gather around for a demo on soufflés. Embarrassing Confession: I have never eaten a Soufflé. After last night, I still haven’t, but I know how to make one! First, let me give you some background. They are made in ramekins (you can still purchase mine from my registry!), small ceramic cups. There are two genres of Soufflé- starch based and flourless. Last night we made flourless, and tonight we will be making starch/custard based soufflés. Soufflés are light, airy and foamy desserts. They aren’t terribly hard to make once you have the technique down, but timing is imperative to a good soufflé’. You make the flavoring base (chocolate, fruit pure, even cheese) then fold in French Meringue. I hope you all know what characterizes a French Meringue by now. What’s that? You don’t? Don’t worry, neither did 70% of my class. Anyway, five minutes makes a huge difference between an undercooked or overcooked soufflé, and they should be eaten within minutes of coming out of the oven. They have a shelf life of five minutes. But wow, are they impressive coming out of the oven, rising one, two, three inches over the top of the ramekin. Pictures WILL come, I promise.
Chocolate soufflés were made first, then fruit soufflés. I am pleased to report that my partner and my strawberry soufflés were used as examples of a proper soufflé to the rest of the class. So much for not being Annoying.
A quick note for the un-initiated: The inside texture of a soufflé should be foamy, creamy, barely cooked. Chef used a French term to describe it (sounded like “bouvles” but goodness knows what he actually said). I won’t quite understand them until I bake some again, and more importantly, eat some. I will have to practice them a lot, as soufflés are part of my final practical exam. Soufflé party anyone?
- Chef Annoying
After a week of break, classes resumed last night. I would like to say that after a week off, I was refreshed and ready to go, but this was not the case. I left my hat, recipe binder and a clean apron at home. Thankfully, I borrowed, camouflaged and faked my way through without comments from chef.
First thing that happened when we get into the kitchen is a surprise from Chef, a practical quiz on knife skills. Nothing crazy; we each have to peal, wedge and slice an apple and a pear. Characteristically, I cut myself within three minutes. I wait until Chef’s back is turned then casually saunter over to the first aid and grab a band aid (bloody fruit will not be given high marks) and resume the cutting. I finished the “quiz” first, but no one wants to be the one who calls out “done” - that girl is annoying. I decide to be Annoying anyway and raise my hand to admit that I am done first and Chef walks over to grade me. My slices are great, my wedges need a bit of work (they should be uniform- apparently Chef does not like the artistic license I took to my pear) and the very inside- where I had cored the fruit- had browned a bit due to lack of lemon juice. All in all pretty good though! Way to go, Annoying!
Once Chef grades everyone, we gather around for a demo on soufflés. Embarrassing Confession: I have never eaten a Soufflé. After last night, I still haven’t, but I know how to make one! First, let me give you some background. They are made in ramekins (you can still purchase mine from my registry!), small ceramic cups. There are two genres of Soufflé- starch based and flourless. Last night we made flourless, and tonight we will be making starch/custard based soufflés. Soufflés are light, airy and foamy desserts. They aren’t terribly hard to make once you have the technique down, but timing is imperative to a good soufflé’. You make the flavoring base (chocolate, fruit pure, even cheese) then fold in French Meringue. I hope you all know what characterizes a French Meringue by now. What’s that? You don’t? Don’t worry, neither did 70% of my class. Anyway, five minutes makes a huge difference between an undercooked or overcooked soufflé, and they should be eaten within minutes of coming out of the oven. They have a shelf life of five minutes. But wow, are they impressive coming out of the oven, rising one, two, three inches over the top of the ramekin. Pictures WILL come, I promise.
Chocolate soufflés were made first, then fruit soufflés. I am pleased to report that my partner and my strawberry soufflés were used as examples of a proper soufflé to the rest of the class. So much for not being Annoying.
A quick note for the un-initiated: The inside texture of a soufflé should be foamy, creamy, barely cooked. Chef used a French term to describe it (sounded like “bouvles” but goodness knows what he actually said). I won’t quite understand them until I bake some again, and more importantly, eat some. I will have to practice them a lot, as soufflés are part of my final practical exam. Soufflé party anyone?
- Chef Annoying
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