For starters there are a few main goals for production. The first and foremost is to prepare the proteins that the restaurant will be using. That is, breaking down a few chickens and a few fish. However, opposed to the chickens we broke down for family, these chickens require more care and attention. Since it is for the restaurant, it is imperative that the skin remain intact and you get the oysters, remove the wishbone and manchonner the legs. It’s rolling back to the basics again, and doing it right and fast.
We weren’t told that we needed to get this done by 6:30! We got in at 5:45 and we took a mini tour around the production area, counted stocks, etc. But no one mentioned that we needed to break down these meats for the restaurant by 6:30. With that said, one of the restaurant chefs came in and yelled at Carlos because he didn’t have the chickens ready in time. It was a bit of a rude awakening, but at least we know that it needs to be done earlier. The fish, I assume since they take less time to cook, were not pressured, but Steve and I took our time, and were no earlier than Carlos. There’s a lot of pressure to make sure we do not mess up these fillets, and to make sure we get all the skin off, and get all the pin bones. Whenever you’re doing something for someone else, you want to do a great job so it reflects nicely on you, and they know you’re trustworthy (which may be a downfall!! Sometimes you do a menial task so well you get asked to do it again and again!)
Actually, what’s pretty gross is the cod have WORMS in them. And this is NATURAL! But DISGUSTING. Steve was pulling worms out of the cod!! It was sick. But it had to be done. I just had some cod at a restaurant the other day, and it looked good, and I didn’t see any worms, not that I was looking, but the thought of it now is kind of nasty. Even though I am the type of person who will justify that if the worm is cooked, it’s probably okay to eat, but it’s still gross seeing the worms in the fish.
Something interesting was that we were told to use our butchering knife instead of our fillet knife for breaking down the fish. I can’t say that I was impressed with it. It’s so rigid that I couldn’t ride the knife along the bones, but instead I would start at the bones and end up just cutting into the flesh slightly. The fillet Looked fine, but I would have preferred the fillet knife with perfect smooth lines. It’s a mixed blessing that we only have 6 classes of breaking down these proteins. The pressure will be off, but at the same time, this is what being a chef is all about. Being able to take a whole fish, chicken, etc., and transform it from raw to beautiful and cooked.
Along those lines, we prepared a dry spice cure for some fresh pastrami, which smelled fantastic. We had to vacu-sealed beef briskets. Chef Janet had some pictures that showed us where the brisket on the cow was. Imagine a cow, and imagine that hump they have in their chest. That is the brisket. It is a Category 2, borderline 3 meat. So you don’t grill it, you need to break down the fibers with some low and slow method of cooking. Anyhow, I opened one pack and Carlos opened the other. Immediately a smell hit us in the face. My brisket was absolutely rank. I was sure of this, but we confirmed it with a couple of chefs to make sure it wasn’t salvageable. We tossed it. We’ll get another from the purveyors.
Since I could no longer help with breaking down the brisket (trimming the fat), I started closing up shop. We had to strain stocks, skim fat from our marmite, and cool down the stocks. A lot goes into all these things to produce stocks and meat for the school/restaurant. But what’s cool is that everyone benefits from it. It’s a team game.
Oh we also prepared a mixture for Boudin Blanc. Not 100% sure what it is, but I know it’s a sausage with rice, pig butt, and pig liver! We cut all this up, mixed in a bunch of veggies, and simmered for a while until everything was tender. To be honest, I don’t know how I feel about the liver. The pot smelled like liver, though Carlos said it didn’t have an overwhelmingly livery taste. We’ll see.
We didn’t have time to fill the sausages, but we cooled it down and will handle it today. We also have on the itinerary a few other deli meats, including cracked pepper turkey breast, maple ham, some fresh bacon, and other sausages, I’m sure. It’s fun, and very hands on.
Showing posts with label stocks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label stocks. Show all posts
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Friday, August 31, 2007
Potages
So what exactly is the difference between soup and potages? Well as Chef Tom would put it, about 10 dollars, but nothing more. Its just the French way of saying soup and the way we'll probably put it on our menus since we want to make those extra $10.
In this class we made split-pea soup, potato and leek soup (not creamy), French onion soup (go figure, but the chef primarily made it), and a consomme (a very clear broth, which you wouldn't expect to be clear with all the ground beef, veggies and egg whites you put in there).
Where to start? I guess I'll start with the one I messed up on. Apparently the consomme is a very complicated soup to get right. Its not that its that much more difficult than other soups, but it involves a delicate balance between the amount of stock or broth, amount of meat and amount of egg whites used. I messed up on the egg whites part. As I was running around looking for the egg whites (which came out of a milk carton - did not feel gourmet), I asked a fellow student how much to use. I thought they said 90 grams. I had a recipe card that said 4 egg whites (120g), but at times the Chef will adjust certain things for certain reasons. I also thought I heard the chef say we were only using 90 grams of egg whites (approximately 3 egg whites). The general rule is 3 egg whites per liter. We were using 1.5 liters of beef marmite. I only used 3. My consomme did not form the legendary raft that consommes form. I was embarrassed.
The consomme is NOT supposed to come to a boil, and after stirring and bringing the temperature up to 160-165 degrees, you're NOT supposed to stir anymore. At this point, you should be able to sit back and watch as the eggs start to foam at the top and form a raft. All the julienned veggies and cooked ground beef fuse with the raft. Its quite impressive, and quite disgusting. You wouldn't think that the clearest consomme come from such a murky chopped beef infused soup. For the ones that worked, it look quite amazing. It did not taste like anything special. Just broth. but it looked really nice. Mine never quite left the murky stage. There weren't enough egg whites to form the life saving raft. A little bit like Noah's ark. But none of the boards were nailed in place...
Chef Tom came over to me. I think he respects me, as I respect him. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it was our discussion about me going to Vassar college. I'm not just a knucklehead who wants to learn how to cook good. But he didn't lay in on me or ask me "don't you know how to follow a recipe?!" But he explained it the way I rationalized - when you muck up, you learn. I didn't by chance get it right, I got it very wrong. We figured out why, and I'll be damned if I forget that 1 egg white = 30g, and 1L of stock gets 90g or 3 egg whites, when making consomme. I might, perhaps forget about the potato leek soup because I did not do as much work as my partner on it, but I won't forget the consomme.
So I guess the next logical soup to discuss is the potato and leek soup. It was a clear soup, made from chicken stock, with leeks and potatoes. It was surprisingly simple, and as I mentioned, I can't recall exactly what it entailed, as my partner did most of the work. But for some reason I took some home. As I put it in my fridge I was asking, why did I take this soup home? I probably won't like it as much as the pea soup. It just looks like broth with leeks and potatoes. Well I decided to take it for lunch today.. and you know.. it was quite delicious. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will definitely make it again one day.
I think I have an infatuation with leeks. From the moment I set eyes on them, I knew that I would love them. First off, cleaning them is a b*tch! You need to wash and rewash and rewash until all the sandy dirt that it grows in, comes out. I thought I washed my leek until it was free of sand, but Chef Tom said he felt a little grit. I was unpleasantly surprised. I Really inspected it well for sand and grit. Well, I guess I have to clean it better.
We made a split-pea soup, which was phenomenal. Peas, bacon, herbs... mmmm. I wonder if anyone ground up their cheesecloth of garnish. I was considering it, because the recipe never told us to remove it, but common sense prevailed. I feel like the split-pea soup, which we have come to believe should be a thick soup, is frequently too thick. Chef Tom believes it should be a thinner soup, and I think I agree. It just makes for a more velvety feel. I look forward to eating the leftovers.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, I felt a sense of ease in the kitchen. I felt like I was in more control, despite my consomme follies, and I felt more comfortable. I was confident in my julienned veggies, in my ability to sweat and brown the veggies and bacon, taste and season the soups, confident in how thick I wanted the soups. I was happy with my measuring of ingredients, preparing my station, the soft simmer, the heavy simmer, the boiling of the stocks. Pretty much everything felt better. Am I a pro yet? No way. But am I on my way? Inevitably.
In this class we made split-pea soup, potato and leek soup (not creamy), French onion soup (go figure, but the chef primarily made it), and a consomme (a very clear broth, which you wouldn't expect to be clear with all the ground beef, veggies and egg whites you put in there).
Where to start? I guess I'll start with the one I messed up on. Apparently the consomme is a very complicated soup to get right. Its not that its that much more difficult than other soups, but it involves a delicate balance between the amount of stock or broth, amount of meat and amount of egg whites used. I messed up on the egg whites part. As I was running around looking for the egg whites (which came out of a milk carton - did not feel gourmet), I asked a fellow student how much to use. I thought they said 90 grams. I had a recipe card that said 4 egg whites (120g), but at times the Chef will adjust certain things for certain reasons. I also thought I heard the chef say we were only using 90 grams of egg whites (approximately 3 egg whites). The general rule is 3 egg whites per liter. We were using 1.5 liters of beef marmite. I only used 3. My consomme did not form the legendary raft that consommes form. I was embarrassed.
The consomme is NOT supposed to come to a boil, and after stirring and bringing the temperature up to 160-165 degrees, you're NOT supposed to stir anymore. At this point, you should be able to sit back and watch as the eggs start to foam at the top and form a raft. All the julienned veggies and cooked ground beef fuse with the raft. Its quite impressive, and quite disgusting. You wouldn't think that the clearest consomme come from such a murky chopped beef infused soup. For the ones that worked, it look quite amazing. It did not taste like anything special. Just broth. but it looked really nice. Mine never quite left the murky stage. There weren't enough egg whites to form the life saving raft. A little bit like Noah's ark. But none of the boards were nailed in place...
Chef Tom came over to me. I think he respects me, as I respect him. I'm not exactly sure why. Maybe it was our discussion about me going to Vassar college. I'm not just a knucklehead who wants to learn how to cook good. But he didn't lay in on me or ask me "don't you know how to follow a recipe?!" But he explained it the way I rationalized - when you muck up, you learn. I didn't by chance get it right, I got it very wrong. We figured out why, and I'll be damned if I forget that 1 egg white = 30g, and 1L of stock gets 90g or 3 egg whites, when making consomme. I might, perhaps forget about the potato leek soup because I did not do as much work as my partner on it, but I won't forget the consomme.
So I guess the next logical soup to discuss is the potato and leek soup. It was a clear soup, made from chicken stock, with leeks and potatoes. It was surprisingly simple, and as I mentioned, I can't recall exactly what it entailed, as my partner did most of the work. But for some reason I took some home. As I put it in my fridge I was asking, why did I take this soup home? I probably won't like it as much as the pea soup. It just looks like broth with leeks and potatoes. Well I decided to take it for lunch today.. and you know.. it was quite delicious. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will definitely make it again one day.
I think I have an infatuation with leeks. From the moment I set eyes on them, I knew that I would love them. First off, cleaning them is a b*tch! You need to wash and rewash and rewash until all the sandy dirt that it grows in, comes out. I thought I washed my leek until it was free of sand, but Chef Tom said he felt a little grit. I was unpleasantly surprised. I Really inspected it well for sand and grit. Well, I guess I have to clean it better.
We made a split-pea soup, which was phenomenal. Peas, bacon, herbs... mmmm. I wonder if anyone ground up their cheesecloth of garnish. I was considering it, because the recipe never told us to remove it, but common sense prevailed. I feel like the split-pea soup, which we have come to believe should be a thick soup, is frequently too thick. Chef Tom believes it should be a thinner soup, and I think I agree. It just makes for a more velvety feel. I look forward to eating the leftovers.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, I felt a sense of ease in the kitchen. I felt like I was in more control, despite my consomme follies, and I felt more comfortable. I was confident in my julienned veggies, in my ability to sweat and brown the veggies and bacon, taste and season the soups, confident in how thick I wanted the soups. I was happy with my measuring of ingredients, preparing my station, the soft simmer, the heavy simmer, the boiling of the stocks. Pretty much everything felt better. Am I a pro yet? No way. But am I on my way? Inevitably.
Monday, August 27, 2007
The Building Blocks...
The basis of every sauce, every soup, basically every dish, is stock. And that's what we learned today. Now I'm not exactly sure if you care so much about what went into these stocks, or if you care more about what went on in class... So I'll try to give you the scoop on both.
When we got into class there were 50 lbs of veal bones, 40 lbs of beef bones, a bunch of meatless chicken carcasses, and a stack of fleshy fish skeletons waiting for us.
In a 5 hour class it would have been impossible to boil down the veal and beef stocks (the beef stock we were making was called "marmite" (mar-meet), which is also the name of the big stock pot). So we prepared the marmite and veal stock as far as we could without boiling them down. We browned vegetables, blackened some onions (literally burnt the cut half of onions on the flat top), and combined the ingredients as if we were going to boil/simmer them, but did not.
The veal bones needed to be roasted and browned in a little oil for a few minutes in the convection oven. There was a little meat still left on the bones, and the smell coming out of that oven was unbearably delicious.
Moving right along to the juicy stuff... there were only 8 of us in class that day. So by class three, 1 person has missed two classes, another has missed only one. After two missed classes, you need to make up a bunch of stuff. I am under the impression that the one guy who has missed two of the first three classes has given up on it. I have no commentary on the girl who missed one... though its not a good start.
Also, by this time, everyone is opening up a bit, communicating with one another, taking cigarette breaks after dinner type of stuff. The other day I accompanied one of the guys on a cigarette break. I didn't have a cigarette but I figured I'd join for the conversation, considering he did invite me. It was pretty much "guy" talk, but by no means intellectual or school/cooking related. On some levels it was interesting because it was a peek at some behind the scenes info on these guys' lives, but on the other hand it was just bullshit. I smiled and chimed in where necessary, but lets face it, I didn't have anything to contribute.
In my humble opinion, a cigarette break is a personal, intimate session between you, your cigarette and the surrounding atmosphere that you normally don't take a minute to observe. As a non-smoker, I can appreciate the value of having something to do while you're waiting for someone. Rather than standing there awkwardly, looking sketchy, you're instead standing there having a cigarette and just relaxing. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be taking many more cigarette breaks with my classmates.
Further, by now one can also start to develop their prejudices/likings against/for some of their fellow classmates. For instance, the girl (woman?) who was on the receiving end of splattered fish guts probably won't openly dislike the girl who sprayed her, but more than likely will have something against her from now on. I, too, have my own thoughts developing. This one guy, who I think is a couple of years younger than I am, just runs his mouth about things that really don't matter to anyone but him. One of these topics being how some ex-girlfriend of his called him 30+ times and left 15+ messages, until finally he gave the phone to a girl who was visiting his roommates, and she started making sex noises and said "he's busy f*cking me right now." Not classroom appropriate, and, well, quite immature and uninteresting. I know a thing or two about immature... but I usually like to infuse humor into my immature behavior.
Oh, so as we were getting started on one of our first stocks, we were in a group of 4 and immediately people were cutting and peeling and browning. No one took a moment to step back and measure anything. It was incredible! I was in awe over how 4 people went off independently without a plan. I took a moment to gather our thoughts and let everyone know that we need to measure things. After we put together a plan, everything went fairly smoothly.
We only made fish stock, chicken stock and vegetable stock entirely. These stocks take less time to cook due to the size of the bones. You can only extract so much flavor from these smaller bones. However, in the heat of making everything, I only managed to taste the vegetable stock, and I barely caught it before we threw it out. Apparently vegetable stock, as delicious as it smelled, is the least used stock. Veal/beef and chicken being the most used. And considering we don't add too much spice, including zero salt, the vegetable stock wasn't very good. But I can see how it could be good if reduced and spiced better.
It is noteworthy to mention that none of the stocks we prepared included salt. Stocks should be relatively clear, fat and grease free liquids. These stocks are the foundations of sauces that we will be making, which are usually reduced, and adding salt in the stock phase would concentrate that salty flavor for the sauce, which could be bad.
Another no-no, which I realized Friday night is salting meats that are braising or reducing in a liquid (in my case, wine). I was making some improvised beef bergundy and salted the beef and wine pretty well. Besides the slightly over salty taste in the end, I successfully sucked out all of the liquid from the beef. Rooky mistake. I learned my lesson. Salt is perhaps the most important seasonings in the culinary world, but it is also quite dangerous, and should be utilized carefully.
When we got into class there were 50 lbs of veal bones, 40 lbs of beef bones, a bunch of meatless chicken carcasses, and a stack of fleshy fish skeletons waiting for us.
In a 5 hour class it would have been impossible to boil down the veal and beef stocks (the beef stock we were making was called "marmite" (mar-meet), which is also the name of the big stock pot). So we prepared the marmite and veal stock as far as we could without boiling them down. We browned vegetables, blackened some onions (literally burnt the cut half of onions on the flat top), and combined the ingredients as if we were going to boil/simmer them, but did not.
The veal bones needed to be roasted and browned in a little oil for a few minutes in the convection oven. There was a little meat still left on the bones, and the smell coming out of that oven was unbearably delicious.
Moving right along to the juicy stuff... there were only 8 of us in class that day. So by class three, 1 person has missed two classes, another has missed only one. After two missed classes, you need to make up a bunch of stuff. I am under the impression that the one guy who has missed two of the first three classes has given up on it. I have no commentary on the girl who missed one... though its not a good start.
Also, by this time, everyone is opening up a bit, communicating with one another, taking cigarette breaks after dinner type of stuff. The other day I accompanied one of the guys on a cigarette break. I didn't have a cigarette but I figured I'd join for the conversation, considering he did invite me. It was pretty much "guy" talk, but by no means intellectual or school/cooking related. On some levels it was interesting because it was a peek at some behind the scenes info on these guys' lives, but on the other hand it was just bullshit. I smiled and chimed in where necessary, but lets face it, I didn't have anything to contribute.
In my humble opinion, a cigarette break is a personal, intimate session between you, your cigarette and the surrounding atmosphere that you normally don't take a minute to observe. As a non-smoker, I can appreciate the value of having something to do while you're waiting for someone. Rather than standing there awkwardly, looking sketchy, you're instead standing there having a cigarette and just relaxing. Needless to say, I don't think I'll be taking many more cigarette breaks with my classmates.
Further, by now one can also start to develop their prejudices/likings against/for some of their fellow classmates. For instance, the girl (woman?) who was on the receiving end of splattered fish guts probably won't openly dislike the girl who sprayed her, but more than likely will have something against her from now on. I, too, have my own thoughts developing. This one guy, who I think is a couple of years younger than I am, just runs his mouth about things that really don't matter to anyone but him. One of these topics being how some ex-girlfriend of his called him 30+ times and left 15+ messages, until finally he gave the phone to a girl who was visiting his roommates, and she started making sex noises and said "he's busy f*cking me right now." Not classroom appropriate, and, well, quite immature and uninteresting. I know a thing or two about immature... but I usually like to infuse humor into my immature behavior.
Oh, so as we were getting started on one of our first stocks, we were in a group of 4 and immediately people were cutting and peeling and browning. No one took a moment to step back and measure anything. It was incredible! I was in awe over how 4 people went off independently without a plan. I took a moment to gather our thoughts and let everyone know that we need to measure things. After we put together a plan, everything went fairly smoothly.
We only made fish stock, chicken stock and vegetable stock entirely. These stocks take less time to cook due to the size of the bones. You can only extract so much flavor from these smaller bones. However, in the heat of making everything, I only managed to taste the vegetable stock, and I barely caught it before we threw it out. Apparently vegetable stock, as delicious as it smelled, is the least used stock. Veal/beef and chicken being the most used. And considering we don't add too much spice, including zero salt, the vegetable stock wasn't very good. But I can see how it could be good if reduced and spiced better.
It is noteworthy to mention that none of the stocks we prepared included salt. Stocks should be relatively clear, fat and grease free liquids. These stocks are the foundations of sauces that we will be making, which are usually reduced, and adding salt in the stock phase would concentrate that salty flavor for the sauce, which could be bad.
Another no-no, which I realized Friday night is salting meats that are braising or reducing in a liquid (in my case, wine). I was making some improvised beef bergundy and salted the beef and wine pretty well. Besides the slightly over salty taste in the end, I successfully sucked out all of the liquid from the beef. Rooky mistake. I learned my lesson. Salt is perhaps the most important seasonings in the culinary world, but it is also quite dangerous, and should be utilized carefully.
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