Well it seems like I took a little break. Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t. The fact of the matter is YES, I took a little break from writing, BUT we’ve had Nutrition classes for the first half of the last 3 classes and for the second half we made only 1 recipe. So you haven't missed much. It has been a full meal of a recipe, but still just one recipe. They did, however, go along with the theme of a more nutritious style of cooking and eating. I do not believe we used an ounce of butter in the last 3 recipes, and we barely used a little bacon.
What we’re learning is that the use of butter is not necessarily a bad thing at all. Nor is the use of any other red meat, or fatty substances. But instead the entire picture, for instance, the amount of this food we eat, what else we eat during the day, the number of calories, etc.
Our bodies store pretty much everything we eat as fat. So any amount of calories that we don’t burn during the day goes straight to the thighs (or tummy or butt). (For the record, I’m not a teacher. I’m just regurgitating what we were told; at least what I got out of it.) Our bodies prefer to use carbohydrates as immediate energy, particularly glucose, the only type of sugar our bodies can use, and proteins for pretty much everything else. Proteins are made of amino acids and we need 20 different ones, and 9 of them we cannot produce ourselves, so we need to eat proteins to get this.
I’m not sure if you really care about all this. So I will make it super brief.
Saturated fats are bad, unsaturated fats are better for you. As a chef, which we will be at some point, it will be important to be able to include some of the better fats along with the not so good fats. Corn is the bane of our existence. High Fructose corn syrup is the reason why we are obese. The US consumes more corn and potatoes (and products made from these vegetables) than pretty much any other country in the world. The French eat butter and drink and smoke, and are thin as rails. Why? Their food is fresher, with less chemicals, and they eat less of it.
Alcohol is even a good thing they say. A drink or two a night is not only acceptable but SUGGESTED by our government. Go figure.
So rule(s) of thumb: Eat more green leafy vegetables, preferably raw. Eat less food in general, particularly portions-wise. Eat fresher food. Vary it up.
That’s all I really need to say on nutrition.
So we tasted a few alternative oils, that are healthier and better for you than corn oil, and a little better than olive oil. Oils higher in omega 3 fatty acids, which are better than the omega-6 fatty acids found in corn. We tried Pumpkin seed oil, walnut oil and one other which is slipping my mind. My favorite was by far the walnut seed oil. I went out and bought some, and it’s absolutely delicious.
Oh, we should also eat more fish to get some of these omega-3’s. The Japanese eat lots of fish and are doing great. Pretty much all of the diets that consisted of better ratios of omega-3’s to omega-6’s have proven to be better for you.
What does this half-ass post means? Moderation. Think about what you put in your pie-hole, and basically, if your great grandmother would recognize it as food, then its worthy to put in your mouth (that is, leave out the Oreo Cakesters, and foods that come in bar form, or tubes and certain bright packages – not that they’re all bad, but it's just a general notion).
The recipes we made included striped bass, which was delish, and which I took a bunch of filets home. We also made a bunch of different grains for side dishes, including quinoa, which was surprisingly delicious. Last night’s recipe was semi-fresh sardines, which were pretty nasty. The taste was alright, but all in all it was not a wonderful experience. They weren’t even fresh looking, and chef admitted this. So why did we even cook and eat it?
Some other interesting tidbits... Chef Tim taught the nutrition classes. Man that guy looks coked up. The salmon we eat is naturally white fleshed but they add necessary nutrients and coloring through the pellets they feed them on the farms. Good and bad cholesterol is strictly relative, but some of it is essential. One of the Steve’s seemed to have left our class, and left his job, he works in reception at the FCI. And we’re going out Thursday, I believe.
Til next time.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
“You’re Gonna Get Hurt”
I bet you’re wondering what’s that supposed to mean?
I’ll tell you in a few. It was pretty funny though, and I had a hard time disguising my laughter. In fact I don’t think I was even trying to disguise anything.
This class was not too shabby. We made ICE CREAM! I must say, I was not a fan of it. I didn’t like the taste of the cream. I’m not sure what it is but it didn’t cut it for me. We also made a tart with pastry cream and the layered dough we made the other day (the one for napoleons). That was pretty cool because we got to design them with fruits, and it was gorgeous.
I worked with Scott, the new guy, though he’s not very new anymore, is he? It was pretty cool working with him, but I think I liked working with Sofonie the best so far. She is super friendly and we just got along well and communicated well. But you gotta be versatile right?
One ice cream we made was a mixture of whipped cream and whipped egg whites (meringue) with strawberry puree. It was pretty tasty, but again, not my fave. Oh, we also made meringue cookies which look liked they could be awesome, but we didn’t see the finished product since Chef took them to be dried overnight somewhere.
Ok, so let’s get to it. At one point during the class, one of the guys (the one from Staten Island) burned his finger. Just the week before Grace burned her hand with sugar. It was pretty bad. She has blisters all over her hand. His seemed not so bad, but he kept it in ice water for a while just to be on the safe side. While he was doing so he asked the young guy (just turned 21) in our class to please carry his table mixer back to where it belongs. The kid said flat out, “No.” I thought he was joking, so did the guy who asked him. But when he said “you’re joking, right” the kid said “no, maybe if you didn’t come around poking your nose into everybody’s station, saying stupid shit, then I’d help out.” And I was in disbelief, as was everyone else. (This was during our dinner break so Chef stepped out for a minute). And then the guy from Staten Island was like, “you’re a real fucking dick, you know that? I asked you for a favor, nicely, and you’re just being a dick.” And there were a few exchanges, and then he says “you fucked with the wrong guy, you better be careful or you’re gonna get hurt.” It got all ghetto. The kid was like, whatever, but it was funny.
At that point a few other people in the class were glancing at each other with smirks, and I was just very quiet but with a shit eating grin on my face. I don’t need to hide it, I didn’t do anything wrong. If both of those kids were out of the class we’d be ok. But now there will just be a little tension in the class. But I guess it was funny. I never thought it would come down to those two. In fact, I thought they were friends, but I guess not, or at least not anymore. I thought someone else who worked with the Staten Island guy would have beef first. His current partner, a construction business owner, is a really nice guy but has expressed his dislike for him, and currently works with him as partners, and there is occasional tension between the two, and I thought they’d exchange words first, but I was wrong.
In all, it was a good class as far as our preparation of the food went, but a can of worms was opened up. Maybe a can of whoop ass will be cracked open next.
I’ll tell you in a few. It was pretty funny though, and I had a hard time disguising my laughter. In fact I don’t think I was even trying to disguise anything.
This class was not too shabby. We made ICE CREAM! I must say, I was not a fan of it. I didn’t like the taste of the cream. I’m not sure what it is but it didn’t cut it for me. We also made a tart with pastry cream and the layered dough we made the other day (the one for napoleons). That was pretty cool because we got to design them with fruits, and it was gorgeous.
I worked with Scott, the new guy, though he’s not very new anymore, is he? It was pretty cool working with him, but I think I liked working with Sofonie the best so far. She is super friendly and we just got along well and communicated well. But you gotta be versatile right?
One ice cream we made was a mixture of whipped cream and whipped egg whites (meringue) with strawberry puree. It was pretty tasty, but again, not my fave. Oh, we also made meringue cookies which look liked they could be awesome, but we didn’t see the finished product since Chef took them to be dried overnight somewhere.
Ok, so let’s get to it. At one point during the class, one of the guys (the one from Staten Island) burned his finger. Just the week before Grace burned her hand with sugar. It was pretty bad. She has blisters all over her hand. His seemed not so bad, but he kept it in ice water for a while just to be on the safe side. While he was doing so he asked the young guy (just turned 21) in our class to please carry his table mixer back to where it belongs. The kid said flat out, “No.” I thought he was joking, so did the guy who asked him. But when he said “you’re joking, right” the kid said “no, maybe if you didn’t come around poking your nose into everybody’s station, saying stupid shit, then I’d help out.” And I was in disbelief, as was everyone else. (This was during our dinner break so Chef stepped out for a minute). And then the guy from Staten Island was like, “you’re a real fucking dick, you know that? I asked you for a favor, nicely, and you’re just being a dick.” And there were a few exchanges, and then he says “you fucked with the wrong guy, you better be careful or you’re gonna get hurt.” It got all ghetto. The kid was like, whatever, but it was funny.
At that point a few other people in the class were glancing at each other with smirks, and I was just very quiet but with a shit eating grin on my face. I don’t need to hide it, I didn’t do anything wrong. If both of those kids were out of the class we’d be ok. But now there will just be a little tension in the class. But I guess it was funny. I never thought it would come down to those two. In fact, I thought they were friends, but I guess not, or at least not anymore. I thought someone else who worked with the Staten Island guy would have beef first. His current partner, a construction business owner, is a really nice guy but has expressed his dislike for him, and currently works with him as partners, and there is occasional tension between the two, and I thought they’d exchange words first, but I was wrong.
In all, it was a good class as far as our preparation of the food went, but a can of worms was opened up. Maybe a can of whoop ass will be cracked open next.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Cream.. Shaboogy Bop
Anybody, no? Prince? Now? Forget it.
I’m not sure if I mentioned this in my previous posts but the other day, about 4 classes ago, chef decided to reorganize the class a little. He did this once before. I was working with Grace, then I was working with Sofonie, and now I’m working with numero uno, MYSELF!
At the end of that class, Chef was saying, you know, I think its time for a change again. You guys are getting too comfortable. “You, here… you, stay there... you, there...” And then he stopped and I realized… wait a second, I didn’t have a partner. And I said, “hey Chef, you forgot to give me a partner.” And he looked at me and smiled, and said, well that’s just the way it goes. And I realized it was my time to step it up a bit.
For two of the three following classes that I was to work alone, a few students were absent and I was able to join someone else. For the crepes class, this was very useful because we needed to make a few batters and let them rest for a few hours and then cook them all, and make fillings and so forth. It would have been really tough. We’ve been fortunate to not have to cut too many vegetables in the past few classes, because, quite honestly, that’s what takes the most time, especially if we need perfectly julienned cuts, or a bunch of mirepoix and bouquet garni’s.
ANYWAYS, today we were making a few different kinds of custard creams, including an ice cream and crème anglaise.
Okay, another side… It just hit me. The very first class we had, they taught us a few things about hygiene. Some of these things included the obvious, washing your hands, no nail polish, shower, shave, hair in a hat or net, and so forth. They also included some less obvious ones like don’t travel in your uniform and don’t sneeze and cough into your hands, but instead into your elbow.
So, as we’re standing in front at the chef demo, naturally there are a couple of people who always have a cough or a sneeze, or something. A few people turn away and sneeze into a garbage bin or onto the ground, away from surfaces and so forth. That’s great. However, some people still cough into their hands, wipe their noses into their hands, and so forth. (I even saw a guy use a side towel to wipe his nose and then used the same rag to clean down his station) But anyways, this is the case for one of the guys in our class (coughing into his hands, wiping his nose…). I stand next to him sometimes for the demos and I watch as he coughs and sneezes directly into his hands (which, outside of the kitchen is normal practice). But inside the kitchen we’re told to cough into our sleeves. I also watched as he wiped his runny nose and left a glistening streak along his finger. He then rubbed it in with his thumb to evaporate it. Again, sometimes when you’re outside the kitchen this is common practice and its necessary so you don’t drip all over the place. Its still gross, but it is what it is.
What I DID NOT notice was him immediately washing his hands after the demo and before touching his tools or food. And I just get sick thinking about that nastinest. In fact, I decided to email my chef, asking to remain anonymous, and not mentioning names, but I asked him to just readdress proper hygiene. Oh, this is my blog, I can include the letter!
“Hi Chef Tom,
I hope all is well. I just wanted to drop you a quick request. As we stand up for some of the demos you give us, I take note of some people who have the sniffles, or a cough or sneeze. I notice some people properly cough/sneeze into their elbows, or towards the floor or into a garbage, while others cough/sneeze directly into their hands, and wipe their noses with their hands (without mentioning names, I witnessed some nasty stuff in the last class, you can figure out who by just glancing around, and you probably wouldn't be surprised). What I did not notice was them washing their hands before they resumed cooking. I don't have a partner right now, so it doesn't gross me out as much as if it were my partner, but I find it to be foul, and just bad practice and a terrible habit to get into. If possible, please re-address the proper procedure for coughing and sneezing, and hand washing if someone happens to use their hands to cover their mouth.
Thanks,
Edwin
(I'd like to remain somewhat anonymous in this request if possible. Thanks.)”
Does it make sense to sign my name and then request anonymity? Funny.
Anyways, we made custard creams!! Basically you take eggs or just egg yolks, you beat it with sugar, and then temper in some boiling milk, and cook it all until nappant. NO MORE than that!! I had to redo one because the eggs started to curdle (or scramble). And that was a major waste of time. That was the only set back I had working alone. Otherwise my timing wasn’t too bad. It really helps to have a partner, but it’s not so bad, and I get to take full responsibility for my creations. Oh, I did need a little help from Sofonie to help sift in my flour as I folded together the egg whites and yolks for a biscuit cake ("bisquee", not round flaky biscuits).
So we made a flan, with fresh caramel, which adds a little bitterness to sweetness (though it wasn’t that sweet in the first place). I never really cared for flan, and I still don’t. But this was better than the one that comes out of the box. I know that much. We also made an ice cream and we filled in these molds with a layer of biscuit and then filled the rest with ice cream. The best part was when we garnished them with fruits, mint and some raspberry sauce. I enjoyed that, more so than the cakes. Oh, we also used a torch to loosen the ice cream from the mold which was pretty cool.
However, I miss making real food. And I look forward to it, but we've still got another few classes of sweets.
I’m not sure if I mentioned this in my previous posts but the other day, about 4 classes ago, chef decided to reorganize the class a little. He did this once before. I was working with Grace, then I was working with Sofonie, and now I’m working with numero uno, MYSELF!
At the end of that class, Chef was saying, you know, I think its time for a change again. You guys are getting too comfortable. “You, here… you, stay there... you, there...” And then he stopped and I realized… wait a second, I didn’t have a partner. And I said, “hey Chef, you forgot to give me a partner.” And he looked at me and smiled, and said, well that’s just the way it goes. And I realized it was my time to step it up a bit.
For two of the three following classes that I was to work alone, a few students were absent and I was able to join someone else. For the crepes class, this was very useful because we needed to make a few batters and let them rest for a few hours and then cook them all, and make fillings and so forth. It would have been really tough. We’ve been fortunate to not have to cut too many vegetables in the past few classes, because, quite honestly, that’s what takes the most time, especially if we need perfectly julienned cuts, or a bunch of mirepoix and bouquet garni’s.
ANYWAYS, today we were making a few different kinds of custard creams, including an ice cream and crème anglaise.
Okay, another side… It just hit me. The very first class we had, they taught us a few things about hygiene. Some of these things included the obvious, washing your hands, no nail polish, shower, shave, hair in a hat or net, and so forth. They also included some less obvious ones like don’t travel in your uniform and don’t sneeze and cough into your hands, but instead into your elbow.
So, as we’re standing in front at the chef demo, naturally there are a couple of people who always have a cough or a sneeze, or something. A few people turn away and sneeze into a garbage bin or onto the ground, away from surfaces and so forth. That’s great. However, some people still cough into their hands, wipe their noses into their hands, and so forth. (I even saw a guy use a side towel to wipe his nose and then used the same rag to clean down his station) But anyways, this is the case for one of the guys in our class (coughing into his hands, wiping his nose…). I stand next to him sometimes for the demos and I watch as he coughs and sneezes directly into his hands (which, outside of the kitchen is normal practice). But inside the kitchen we’re told to cough into our sleeves. I also watched as he wiped his runny nose and left a glistening streak along his finger. He then rubbed it in with his thumb to evaporate it. Again, sometimes when you’re outside the kitchen this is common practice and its necessary so you don’t drip all over the place. Its still gross, but it is what it is.
What I DID NOT notice was him immediately washing his hands after the demo and before touching his tools or food. And I just get sick thinking about that nastinest. In fact, I decided to email my chef, asking to remain anonymous, and not mentioning names, but I asked him to just readdress proper hygiene. Oh, this is my blog, I can include the letter!
“Hi Chef Tom,
I hope all is well. I just wanted to drop you a quick request. As we stand up for some of the demos you give us, I take note of some people who have the sniffles, or a cough or sneeze. I notice some people properly cough/sneeze into their elbows, or towards the floor or into a garbage, while others cough/sneeze directly into their hands, and wipe their noses with their hands (without mentioning names, I witnessed some nasty stuff in the last class, you can figure out who by just glancing around, and you probably wouldn't be surprised). What I did not notice was them washing their hands before they resumed cooking. I don't have a partner right now, so it doesn't gross me out as much as if it were my partner, but I find it to be foul, and just bad practice and a terrible habit to get into. If possible, please re-address the proper procedure for coughing and sneezing, and hand washing if someone happens to use their hands to cover their mouth.
Thanks,
Edwin
(I'd like to remain somewhat anonymous in this request if possible. Thanks.)”
Does it make sense to sign my name and then request anonymity? Funny.
Anyways, we made custard creams!! Basically you take eggs or just egg yolks, you beat it with sugar, and then temper in some boiling milk, and cook it all until nappant. NO MORE than that!! I had to redo one because the eggs started to curdle (or scramble). And that was a major waste of time. That was the only set back I had working alone. Otherwise my timing wasn’t too bad. It really helps to have a partner, but it’s not so bad, and I get to take full responsibility for my creations. Oh, I did need a little help from Sofonie to help sift in my flour as I folded together the egg whites and yolks for a biscuit cake ("bisquee", not round flaky biscuits).
So we made a flan, with fresh caramel, which adds a little bitterness to sweetness (though it wasn’t that sweet in the first place). I never really cared for flan, and I still don’t. But this was better than the one that comes out of the box. I know that much. We also made an ice cream and we filled in these molds with a layer of biscuit and then filled the rest with ice cream. The best part was when we garnished them with fruits, mint and some raspberry sauce. I enjoyed that, more so than the cakes. Oh, we also used a torch to loosen the ice cream from the mold which was pretty cool.
However, I miss making real food. And I look forward to it, but we've still got another few classes of sweets.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Puff the Magic Swan
Pate a Choux, or puff pastry as some like to call it (is that the proper term, I suppose so), is the ONLY twice cooked pastry dough, so we were told. Its basically boiled water and butter with flour added, and then mixed with eggs. To be perfectly honest with you, it took more time getting it into a pastry bag than it did to prepare. Well… almost, but you get my point. It’s SUPER easy to prepare, and very rewarding!!
In brief, we made the pate a choux, we made a layered dough, which is worthy of some explanation, and we made a simple Chantilly cream (whipped cream with a touch of vanilla extract and sugar – it was delightful)
The layered dough, commonly used for desserts such as napoleons, is a pretty time consuming dough. The process entails encasing a beurrage within a detrempe (forming a paton) and rolling and folding multiple time. What the heck are those?! A Beurrage is, as its name suggests, BUTTER! We simply shape the butter into a flat square. The detrempe is the flour dough portion. We combine flour, water and butter to make a dough and let it relax for a while. Then when they’re both nice and cold, and well rested, we make a plus sign out of the detrempe, and put the beurrage in it. Fold the arms of the plus sign over, flatten and roll out (only in one direction).
You have to repeat this step, two rollings at a time, and then refrigerate. Take out, two rollings (we called turns, because we do a 90 degree turn between rolls), and back in the fridge. This process layers the butter, which started between two layers of dough, and flattens it out so that ultimately there are about 730 layers. If we folded it once more and rolled, we’d have about 2200 layers!! That’s pretty impressive. It results in layers of dough and butter, that when cooked, puff up. We haven’t gotten to the cooking part yet. They’re all sitting in the freezer as of now. I believe we’re making the filling for it in the next class so we will probably use it then.
Anyhow, the pate a choux was incredible. It batter dough we made puffs up to almost triple the size, and stays pretty hollow. We then take them out of the oven, and put them in a much lower temperature oven to dry out. Then we fill or…
WE MAKE SWANS! Chef showed us how to makes swans. They’re ridiculously easy, and look so amazing. You make a tear drop shape with the dough and you make these “S” shapes with the dough (very thin). There’s more to it, but this is the basic idea. After they’ve puffed and dried (the “S” pieces are the neck so must be thin) you cut the top half of the “tear drop” off. Then split the top half down the middle. It leaves you with two “D” shaped wings. Fill the bottom half with cream, stick a neck on, and stick the wings in. That’s it!! Obviously there’s much more you can do, particularly with the tips you use on the dough and cream, and sticking an almond sliver in the head as a beak, and putting a chocolate dot for the eye, etc. etc.
But even when I made them at home and burned the bottoms a bit, they were FANTASTIC! We also used the pate a choux to make éclairs, profiteroles and other random puffs. I will be sure to show off this newly learned skill next time I have a chance (Thanks giving?)
In brief, we made the pate a choux, we made a layered dough, which is worthy of some explanation, and we made a simple Chantilly cream (whipped cream with a touch of vanilla extract and sugar – it was delightful)
The layered dough, commonly used for desserts such as napoleons, is a pretty time consuming dough. The process entails encasing a beurrage within a detrempe (forming a paton) and rolling and folding multiple time. What the heck are those?! A Beurrage is, as its name suggests, BUTTER! We simply shape the butter into a flat square. The detrempe is the flour dough portion. We combine flour, water and butter to make a dough and let it relax for a while. Then when they’re both nice and cold, and well rested, we make a plus sign out of the detrempe, and put the beurrage in it. Fold the arms of the plus sign over, flatten and roll out (only in one direction).
You have to repeat this step, two rollings at a time, and then refrigerate. Take out, two rollings (we called turns, because we do a 90 degree turn between rolls), and back in the fridge. This process layers the butter, which started between two layers of dough, and flattens it out so that ultimately there are about 730 layers. If we folded it once more and rolled, we’d have about 2200 layers!! That’s pretty impressive. It results in layers of dough and butter, that when cooked, puff up. We haven’t gotten to the cooking part yet. They’re all sitting in the freezer as of now. I believe we’re making the filling for it in the next class so we will probably use it then.
Anyhow, the pate a choux was incredible. It batter dough we made puffs up to almost triple the size, and stays pretty hollow. We then take them out of the oven, and put them in a much lower temperature oven to dry out. Then we fill or…
WE MAKE SWANS! Chef showed us how to makes swans. They’re ridiculously easy, and look so amazing. You make a tear drop shape with the dough and you make these “S” shapes with the dough (very thin). There’s more to it, but this is the basic idea. After they’ve puffed and dried (the “S” pieces are the neck so must be thin) you cut the top half of the “tear drop” off. Then split the top half down the middle. It leaves you with two “D” shaped wings. Fill the bottom half with cream, stick a neck on, and stick the wings in. That’s it!! Obviously there’s much more you can do, particularly with the tips you use on the dough and cream, and sticking an almond sliver in the head as a beak, and putting a chocolate dot for the eye, etc. etc.
But even when I made them at home and burned the bottoms a bit, they were FANTASTIC! We also used the pate a choux to make éclairs, profiteroles and other random puffs. I will be sure to show off this newly learned skill next time I have a chance (Thanks giving?)
The Crepe
Ok… So a little something more than the recipe. I live in Park Slope Brooklyn. The neighborhood is pretty magnificent. Its very safe, very beautiful, and oozing young parents, young professionals, teens and recent grads. One of my friends who I went to college with (this is a shout out to Miha) has been extremely entrepreneurial as of late and had this pretty genius idea of opening up a small creperie in the neighborhood. I’ve been thinking that there are truly a number of things that you can do with a crepe (I’m not sure if I listed that Forrest Gump shrimp list already in a previous post, but its pretty much infinite… looking back I spit off that list referencing potatoes… same deal)
Have I totally lost you? Too long of a tangent?
Anyhow, I’ve put a lot of thought into it. A Creperie would work pretty much anywhere in Brooklyn provided you’re on a main avenue (5th or 7th). But I think it would work even better if it was next to a bar. Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to sweet or savory, but can you imagine stumbling out of a bar, and for less than the price of a beer you can get a delicious stuffed crepe. For those with a sweet tooth, how about a traditional Crepe Suzette (which is what we made today), or for the salty side, how about a crepe stuffed with ham mushrooms and gruyere, topped with melted gruyere (We also made this recipe)
It would be open for brunch on the weekend, but rather than paying 15 bucks for eggs, you can get a couple of gourmet egg stuffed crepes. The prices would be down to earth and the options would be endless.
Well, Maybe its Miha’s dream that I have formulated to be my own. Either way it is a wonderful idea. The best part is, it wouldn’t just be a flip a crepe and fill, I’d be able to put to use the expertise that I am developing. There would be special crepes for special occasions. I DON’T KNOW?! It’s just a thought. Have to start somewhere, right?
Well, the crepe suzette was a plain crepe prepared normally. However, we prepared a compound butter for it consisting of some orange zest, orange liqueur and some juice from the orange, mixed all together. I actually forgot to put it in the fridge for a while, but it really didn’t make a difference. After we had a bunch of crepes made, we melted some of this butter, poured a little juice in the pan and then threw a crepe in, folded it once, got some of this butter juice on it, and folded it again. After we did this with a few crepes and had them in the pan, we threw a little brandy in there and flambéed it (to be fair, we forgot to flambee it, but it doesn’t really make too much of a difference since the butter is so tasty). The best part, in my opinion was we took an orange and peeled the zest, then julienned the zest. After blanching it for a minute, we put it in a pan with some grenadine and a touch of water and reduced it until the zest took on a red candied coating. It looked awesome, and it tasted pretty nice. We then layered a couple of the folded crepes, drizzled some of the butter sauce it cooked in, and topped with a couple of orange supremes and the candied zest, and it was beautiful, and unbearably delicious. (how could it not be?)
That was the highlight for me.
I guess as a pointer, which we’re taught in class, we’re supposed to let the batter rest in the fridge for an ENTIRE HOUR before we use it. It rests the gluten, and makes it smoother, so they say.
We also made fried apple fritters, which were really delicious. The batter had some beer and orange zest in it, and it was just delicious as well.
Have I totally lost you? Too long of a tangent?
Anyhow, I’ve put a lot of thought into it. A Creperie would work pretty much anywhere in Brooklyn provided you’re on a main avenue (5th or 7th). But I think it would work even better if it was next to a bar. Everyone has their own preferences when it comes to sweet or savory, but can you imagine stumbling out of a bar, and for less than the price of a beer you can get a delicious stuffed crepe. For those with a sweet tooth, how about a traditional Crepe Suzette (which is what we made today), or for the salty side, how about a crepe stuffed with ham mushrooms and gruyere, topped with melted gruyere (We also made this recipe)
It would be open for brunch on the weekend, but rather than paying 15 bucks for eggs, you can get a couple of gourmet egg stuffed crepes. The prices would be down to earth and the options would be endless.
Well, Maybe its Miha’s dream that I have formulated to be my own. Either way it is a wonderful idea. The best part is, it wouldn’t just be a flip a crepe and fill, I’d be able to put to use the expertise that I am developing. There would be special crepes for special occasions. I DON’T KNOW?! It’s just a thought. Have to start somewhere, right?
Well, the crepe suzette was a plain crepe prepared normally. However, we prepared a compound butter for it consisting of some orange zest, orange liqueur and some juice from the orange, mixed all together. I actually forgot to put it in the fridge for a while, but it really didn’t make a difference. After we had a bunch of crepes made, we melted some of this butter, poured a little juice in the pan and then threw a crepe in, folded it once, got some of this butter juice on it, and folded it again. After we did this with a few crepes and had them in the pan, we threw a little brandy in there and flambéed it (to be fair, we forgot to flambee it, but it doesn’t really make too much of a difference since the butter is so tasty). The best part, in my opinion was we took an orange and peeled the zest, then julienned the zest. After blanching it for a minute, we put it in a pan with some grenadine and a touch of water and reduced it until the zest took on a red candied coating. It looked awesome, and it tasted pretty nice. We then layered a couple of the folded crepes, drizzled some of the butter sauce it cooked in, and topped with a couple of orange supremes and the candied zest, and it was beautiful, and unbearably delicious. (how could it not be?)
That was the highlight for me.
I guess as a pointer, which we’re taught in class, we’re supposed to let the batter rest in the fridge for an ENTIRE HOUR before we use it. It rests the gluten, and makes it smoother, so they say.
We also made fried apple fritters, which were really delicious. The batter had some beer and orange zest in it, and it was just delicious as well.
Cakes - a Chef Demo
Hmmm… I’m not sure where to begin. Well for starters, we’re clearly putting “food” cooking aside and turning toward classic French pastries or sweets. Today we’re supposed to make a cake, a buttercream frosting, and lady fingers.
I guess the next thing to say is Chef Tom is a pastry chef as well, and the cake class is his favorite class to teach. With this said, Chef Tom basically spent half of the class (2 and a half hours) demo-ing how he makes cakes, frostings, variations on the cakes and frostings, and a bunch of time on decorating the cakes. We barely had enough time to watch him demo the lady fingers (which we were supposed to make ourselves), and more importantly, odds are we will never have to make these cakes again. I guess it was good and bad that it was basically a demonstration class. I definitely lost interest in it because it was so hands off, and we were going to bring our cakes home wrapped in foil, so they were probably going to get destroyed. And I was more concerned with going out that night with my class mates, which was gonna be a fun time!
Also, Chef has a horrible habit of calling us up to his area to watch him do something when we’re in the middle of cooking. The demo he gives us take anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes and we usually have something on the stove. Then we’re rushing around like chimps, frantic, trying to clean up and get out in time. Sometimes its good to be frantic, it’s a little more similar to what we should expect, but other times, especially when we have extra time in class, there is no need to rush us.
For a taste of irony, I made a regular yellow cake, with white buttercream frosting and wrote “chocolate” with melted chocolate. I got a kick out of it, but no one else did. I tried giving it away to a homeless guy, and he didn’t even want it?! He said, thanks man, but I just ate. Well, I hope his next meal presents itself as easy as this cake did.
Anyways, we went out until around 4 in the morning that night. I paid my credit card bill already, but all in all it cost about as much as a 4AM night should cost. But I paid even more severely the next day at work. I was loopy and WAY out of it. But it was a lot of fun.
Our group has extended to 5 people. $ guys and one girl, and it’s a really good time.
I guess the next thing to say is Chef Tom is a pastry chef as well, and the cake class is his favorite class to teach. With this said, Chef Tom basically spent half of the class (2 and a half hours) demo-ing how he makes cakes, frostings, variations on the cakes and frostings, and a bunch of time on decorating the cakes. We barely had enough time to watch him demo the lady fingers (which we were supposed to make ourselves), and more importantly, odds are we will never have to make these cakes again. I guess it was good and bad that it was basically a demonstration class. I definitely lost interest in it because it was so hands off, and we were going to bring our cakes home wrapped in foil, so they were probably going to get destroyed. And I was more concerned with going out that night with my class mates, which was gonna be a fun time!
Also, Chef has a horrible habit of calling us up to his area to watch him do something when we’re in the middle of cooking. The demo he gives us take anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes and we usually have something on the stove. Then we’re rushing around like chimps, frantic, trying to clean up and get out in time. Sometimes its good to be frantic, it’s a little more similar to what we should expect, but other times, especially when we have extra time in class, there is no need to rush us.
For a taste of irony, I made a regular yellow cake, with white buttercream frosting and wrote “chocolate” with melted chocolate. I got a kick out of it, but no one else did. I tried giving it away to a homeless guy, and he didn’t even want it?! He said, thanks man, but I just ate. Well, I hope his next meal presents itself as easy as this cake did.
Anyways, we went out until around 4 in the morning that night. I paid my credit card bill already, but all in all it cost about as much as a 4AM night should cost. But I paid even more severely the next day at work. I was loopy and WAY out of it. But it was a lot of fun.
Our group has extended to 5 people. $ guys and one girl, and it’s a really good time.
Hey Swee-Tart
I really need to keep a little more up to date.. I’m sure you guys don’t really mind. Anyhow, this class was pretty good. We made a couple of types of tarts. One was an egg tart, aka QUICHE!! This was pretty awesome. I never thought I would be making a quiche from scratch. Though I guess I knew I was going to when I saw the class in level 2 making them, when I was in level 1. Anyhow, the dough is the critical part. The dough is called Pâte Brisee. It is primarily flour, ice water (some call for an egg and less water), a pinch of salt, a touch of sugar, and lots of butter! It is important to keep in mind that this is a very fragile dough, and the ingredients, primarily the wet ones, must be kept VERY COLD! The butter is meant to stay cool and unmelted, which helps keep the tart nice and flaky.
The first step is to “sabler” the butter into the flour sugar and salt mixture. You take a pastry scraper and “cut” the butter into the flour so in the end you have pea sized pieces of butter in the flour. Next you make a well and incorporate the water (and egg) into the flour/butter mixture. You must work quickly, keeping everything cool. You try not to use your hands to keep the butter from melting, hence the pastry scraper. After the dough comes together a little, you need to take walnut sized pieces of dough that you just made, and using the scraper, flatten and scrape the piece to flatten the butter. But that piece aside and finish doing this to the rest of the dough. Again, time is of the essence. Gather it all back together, flatten into a disk and stick that puppy in the freezer for a few. The butter must stay COLD!
Anyhow, we made 3 batches of this dough; 1 with just water, 1 with egg and water, and the last with egg, water and sugar. After we flatten and fit the dough into a “flan ring” we have to blind bake it. This is basically pre-baking with weights on it to keep it from rising. Because the quiche is very delicate and cooks at such a low temp, we must make sure the crust fully cooks so its not raw when the filling cooks.
The quiche was absolutely delicious! It consisted of bacon bits, gruyere cheese and a delicious egg and cream custard. We baked it low and slow (around 300, to keep the eggs from scrambling), and it was superb.
With the sugar dough, we made an apple tart which was really tasty! Our apples on top didn’t look nearly as pretty as some other peoples apples, but that’s fine. They tasted just as delicious.
Since we made more dough than we needed, somehow I volunteered to take most of them home. So I have about 6 doughs sitting in my freezer. I already made a quiche which was great, and an apple tart, which, due to the apples I used on top, did not taste as good as the ones we made in class. Further, I do not know what the effect of freezing the dough has on the final product, but if there is none, then the fact that I was using other people’s dough that I did not make, I do not know how well they made it. I have lots of faith in my own, but I can only trust someone else to a certain extent.
The first step is to “sabler” the butter into the flour sugar and salt mixture. You take a pastry scraper and “cut” the butter into the flour so in the end you have pea sized pieces of butter in the flour. Next you make a well and incorporate the water (and egg) into the flour/butter mixture. You must work quickly, keeping everything cool. You try not to use your hands to keep the butter from melting, hence the pastry scraper. After the dough comes together a little, you need to take walnut sized pieces of dough that you just made, and using the scraper, flatten and scrape the piece to flatten the butter. But that piece aside and finish doing this to the rest of the dough. Again, time is of the essence. Gather it all back together, flatten into a disk and stick that puppy in the freezer for a few. The butter must stay COLD!
Anyhow, we made 3 batches of this dough; 1 with just water, 1 with egg and water, and the last with egg, water and sugar. After we flatten and fit the dough into a “flan ring” we have to blind bake it. This is basically pre-baking with weights on it to keep it from rising. Because the quiche is very delicate and cooks at such a low temp, we must make sure the crust fully cooks so its not raw when the filling cooks.
The quiche was absolutely delicious! It consisted of bacon bits, gruyere cheese and a delicious egg and cream custard. We baked it low and slow (around 300, to keep the eggs from scrambling), and it was superb.
With the sugar dough, we made an apple tart which was really tasty! Our apples on top didn’t look nearly as pretty as some other peoples apples, but that’s fine. They tasted just as delicious.
Since we made more dough than we needed, somehow I volunteered to take most of them home. So I have about 6 doughs sitting in my freezer. I already made a quiche which was great, and an apple tart, which, due to the apples I used on top, did not taste as good as the ones we made in class. Further, I do not know what the effect of freezing the dough has on the final product, but if there is none, then the fact that I was using other people’s dough that I did not make, I do not know how well they made it. I have lots of faith in my own, but I can only trust someone else to a certain extent.
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