All Up in my Grille

I've realized today that the point of this blog is to do a little more than discuss how I make food. I feel like I give a pretty good look into what's going on class, but quite frankly, I think I'm too broke to have drinks after class with classmates, and its late by the time we get out of class, and most of the people live outside NY, except the two I already had drinks with. Somehow we decided to get drinks again after Thursday's class (the next class after this post, which is actually tonight), so maybe I'll have something else to say about that kind of stuff. If you're reading this and are interested in anything, please drop me a comment. Like what types of pans we use?, what color nail polish I used to differentiate my utensils?, etc...

Anyhow, we fired up the grill for this class. It was a pretty easy class, to be honest. And I took a very hands on approach, which is what I want/have to do. I did all the grilling for our team, and prepared the chicken. I'll get into it in a second.

The beef we used was a very fresh cut, located right below/behind the ribs. It was a 182, I believe. What the hell does that mean? Apparently, every piece of the cow has a corresponding number. So if you tell a butcher that you'd like a 182, with a 1x1 tail, then you're telling him/her that that you want a certain cut that has been designated as #182, and the tail end of that cut should be approximately an inch thick and an inch long (from the base of the primary cut of meat). At least that's how I understood Chef Tom's narrative. Apparently there's an $80 guide to these cuts. Pretty pricey!

Anyways, the beef was vacuum-packed and looked pretty damn fresh. it had a thick layer of fat on one end, which chef trimmed completely off. He also removed the sinewy silver skin that was between the fat and meat. This is a tough layer that doesn't quite break down without a long duration on the heat.

But because the meat we had was classified as a first category, it lends itself better to a quick cooking style, cooked to medium rare. The categories are First, Second and Third. The second and third are progressively tougher meats, and are usually braised or roasted for longer periods of time so the meat gets tender.

So, what are aged meats? I'll tell you what isn't an aged meat, and that was the piece we had. Ours was fresh out of the package. Aged meats allow the natural enzymes of decaying meat to begin breaking down the meat and therefore making it a bit more tender. Italians can age meat in a cool basement for a while, some put it in high tech "aging rooms." What's better? beats me.

With that said, an aged meat is usually more tender and delicious. Ours was not as tender as butter, but still delicious. We grilled it and put on beautiful quadrillage (diamond shaped grill pattern). Mine was rare/medium rare and very delicious. Before you serve/cut the piece you should always let it rest for a couple of minutes. This allows the blood/juice to recirculate throughout the piece, so it doesn't bleed all over when you cut it, and it makes the more cooked parts juicier.

We served our steak with pommes frites and sauce choron. Sauce choron is a derivative from hollandaise sauce (egg yolks beat over simmering water, then with clarified butter whisked in). into that we put a bernaise reduction (vinegar, crushed pepper, some herbs, then strained) and a little fondue de tomates. It was really perfect on the steak. But that stuff is BAD for you.

We ate this for dinner, and it was fantastic.

Next we did the chicken. I prepared the chicken almost entirely. My partner was more than eager to let me do this. I took the wish bone out this time. Good habits are important. I then cut down both sides of the backbone, through the ribs to remove the back bone and tail. Then I cut out the rib bones and the hip bones. We also cut the drumstick and the thigh at the joint to expose it, and exposed the thigh bone, since that part usually takes the longest to cook. It was pretty easy. I took my time (not my sweet time, but I didn't rush) just to get a grasp on what I was doing. Chef walked by and said "beautiful." Haste makes waste. I brushed the almost boneless chicken with a little olive oil, and we sprinkled a little thyme on it. We let it marinate in the fridge while we prepared the rest of the dish. The rest of the dish was basically a veal stock reduction as the sauce, and pommes pailles (fried haystack of potatoes).

So when it was time to grill the chicken, you put it skin down, and after a few minutes, you give it a 30 degree turn to get the quadrillage going. It looked beautiful! Flip it for a minute or two to get the flesh side going then take it off and bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, you take it out, slightly under cooked, and coat the flesh with a layer of dijon mustard, then bread crumbs (which have been mixed with a touch of oil and chicken jous. Pop them back in the oven for another 10 minutes and hopefully by then, the meat is cooked through (140 degrees or so, and let carry over cooking bring it to 145)

This dish was PHENOMENAL. Better than the steak. I didn't actually taste it until I got home, but it was great.

We had another great class. My partner and I took care of business. The proteins seem easier to cook and prepare than the sauces. I don't enjoy making the sauces since they're easier to mess up and require all types of reducing and ingredients. But you can always add more stock or water if you've reduced it too much.

One guy was upset that his chicken wasn't fully cooked on the grill, and we had to remind him that he was finishing it in the oven. This was after he mangled it. But it was ok, because we cut the pieces apart for service anyways. You just got to pay attention, and read ahead in the recipe.

As I was walking to the train station I ran into Grace, my old partner, and Bret (probably the one who is at the top of the class right now). We decided on drinks for Thursday. I guess I have to take some money out of the bank. I'll let you know how it goes (without disclosing anything too private).

Well let's see...

... there's Fried potatoes, baked potatoes, potato gumbo, barbequed potatoes, roasted potatoes, potato stew, potato soup, potato salad, mashed potatoes... that's.. that's about it.

Ok, so perhaps that was an unsuccessful twist on the Forrest Gump line by Bubba, but you get my point. You can pretty much do anything with a potato (even shoot them out of guns). We certainly did fry them (our first introduction to the deep fryer in class), and slice and dice them. We also used a mandoline for the first time, which proved quite the foe to some in the class (including my partner).

Before I continue, I am having some mixed feeling about Chef Tom. Yes, he is very skillful, and all of his demos come out pretty much perfect, but I think he secretly wants ours to come out not quite as good as his. We all do things at slightly different paces. But he constantly calls us up to the front of the class (mid-preparation/cooking) and makes us watch as he prepares a dish.. from slicing entire potatoes on a mandoline, to laying the slices out, to S&P (salt and pepper, as I write it in my recipes), etc. I agree its helpful to see the process, but certain things can be skipped. More importantly, he calls us up as we're cooking, and inevitably the food is going to burn. It happens to almost all of us. Meanwhile we watch him prepare something from start to finish, and he'll lay it out on a dish and say, "oh wow, did you taste my salad, or my potato, or my_______ (insert name of food he demonstrated). Isn't that good?" Starting to get a little bothersome.

Anyhow, another aside before I get into potatoes. About an hour into class, after we watched him fry a bunch of different cuts of potatoes, I was having some terrible pains in my stomach. I felt like I was welling up with gas, but I wasn't sure why, nor could I do anything about it. With that said, my mind wasn't quite focused on the task at hand. I was more concerned with the clock hitting 10:45 than my potatoes being perfect. Further when my partner sliced her finger on the mandoline, I had no choice but to try and fully focus. It was difficult, and I would love to do it all over.

On to frying potatoes. Its not that difficult, we've all done it, probably without really thinking about it, and most likely without a thermometer (though, if Alton Brown always uses one, maybe I should too). For recipes that call for a one time fry (opposed to frying twice or thrice) the oil should be at approximmately 350F-375F. This provides a crispy outside and helps prevent the potato from adbsorbing too much oil. We made waffle fries (more like chips) using the mandoline (a number of people, including my partner, had a hard time with this cut because they did not realize that you must rotate the potato a little before each pass on the mandoline. Not rocket science). We cooked these in the oil until no more bubbles formed, that is, the moisture has been cooked out of the potato leaving a crisp waffle chip. You can't do this for thicker cuts or else you'll be left with a rock hard piece of fried potato.

We then made a bowl. How cute! ehm... I mean... it was really pretty easy, and its nice to know that we can easily make a bowl out of potatoes. Easily if you have the right tools for shaping the bowl and being able to submerge in oil (we used these two metal "baskets" one for inside the other, so the potatoes were pushed in between. We cut two round parchment paper circles to put between the bowls and the potatoes to prevent sticking. But yeah, it was cute.. and easy). A little tip, when you want to fry potatoes and ou want them to stick together (a hash, these baskets), it may be best that you don't rinse them before you fry them. That is, you can store them in water as you are cutting them, to prevent discoloration, but do not rinse before fying. We don't want to lose the starchy goodness. Also, for frying we use starchy potatoes, such as good ole Idaho's, and Russet potatoes. HOWEVER, it is in yours and your skins, eyes, hands... best interest if you dry the potato before you place in the oil. Again, you probably don't need to be told this, but we were, and I'm passing it along to you. For a regular french fry, it may be best if you rinse off the extra starch, though its not necessary.

Next we made a gratin dauphine. Layers of sliced potatoes, with cheese and cream. It was pretty darn good!! Chef Tom said we used a little too much cheese, but I disagree. It wasn't overcheesy at all. It was, if anything, a little undercheesy. We baked this one in the oven for about 30 minutes, and it got nice and browned on top, a little crispy, as well. Oh yeah, Chef Tom also said the potatoes may have been a little on the undercooked side, which I totally disgree with as well. They were not undercooked, nor al dente. They were fully cooked and delicious. But I suppose he knows best.

What was pretty humorous was for dinner break, they had the audacity to serve us mashed potatoes!! The last thing we needed was more potatoes. But they didn't know, so I forgive them, I suppose.

That new guy, (Lee, whose name is Dongchen, who is a very nice guy) was working alone. He made all the recipes by himself. These recipes weren't difficult, but it took time to gather the ingredients, slice potatoes, fry them, keep an eye on them, prepare supplementary ingredients (like boiling milk), or boiling the potatoes (PLUS having Chef Tom call us up every 5 minutes). He did a good job, considering, however, he lagged behind a bit. But I don't blame him. I helped him clean up his station, but I'd like to work whit him again one day. He was pretty cool, and my partner has been lagging behind a little (though she was super helpful on this dreadful stomach aching potato day).

We made a couple more potato dishes, which I will mention briefly. We made another layered and baked dish (pommes Anna), a hashed potato looking thing (pommes something), pommes puree (mashed), and pommes duchesse (a puree mixed with an egg yolk and usually squeezed through a pastry bag into shapes).

I'd love to give you details but they're a little fuzzy to me, and quite honestly, its easy to mess these up, but if you pay some attention to what you're doing, its easier to get right.

We have a quiz at the beginning of next class. We received the low down at the end of this past class. So we should all do well. I intend on getting it perfect (again). It's idiotic not to memorize the 10 things he takes the time to explain to us for the quiz. I'll let you know how it goes, and if I can stomach it, I'll prepare some potatoes for my friends. Also, by the way, you may have noticed that the blog is no longer white text on a black background. I received a few complaints that it was harsh on the eyes. I am still trying to find the right color scheme that captures the aura of this blog. I am open to suggestions. Feel free to leave a comment with ideas, and with anything else you'd like to say or hear more about.