scallops meunière

In Sauces class we had the choice of doing Steak Diane, filet of sole or Scallops Meunière and I chose the scallops because I'd never really cooked scallops before.

Meunière is a classic French sauce of brown butter and lemon, most often used with fish or seafood. In our version it started with searing the scallops in a pan with oil, a few minutes on each side until golden brown.



Like the chicken dish from before, this was another pan sauce. After searing the scallops, I dumped out the excess oil, then sauteed butter until it started turning brown. Then I added the capers, raisins and almonds.



The sauce was seasoned with Worchestershire and lemon, then chopped parsley was added at the end.



For the plating, we seared off a wedge of onion and some cauliflower florets. Since there were five pieces of scallop it occurred to me to make it a flower pattern, with the florets at the center and the onions fanning out.



We poured the sauce over it, hot. Another savory and rich sauce with just the right amount of tang, with the added bonus of sweetness from raisins and crunch from slivered almonds. Yum.

food & fitness: grains and legumes

In Food & Fitness class most everybody is non-culinary, and cooking with them has been a different experience, in a good way. Everybody is really eager to work together and learn, and even pitch in with menial tasks like dishes. Definitely didn't expect everybody to be so on top of it, but maybe my team just rocks :)



We were assigned to do a hummus-like garbanzo spread. There was no tahini involved, but we made two versions of the spread and put sesame seeds in one. I like hummus better though.



I think the main point being made was that grains + legumes together give us the entire set of proteins that our body needs. Common grains are rice and wheat, with whole grains being vastly better for us because they contain the germ (essential nutrients) and bran layer (fiber). Common legumes are peas, beans and lentils.

It really amazes me that so many cultures have the grain + legume foundation to fulfill people's protein needs so that meat becomes secondary. Think about it, Latin America has rice and beans, East Asia has rice and soy, South Asia has rice and lentils, etc.



Perhaps inspired by the grain/legume theme in class, I made quinoa at home. I've only made it once before, to eat cold as a salad, but this time I made it hot. Quinoa is unbelievably easy to cook, and it's surprising that more people don't know about it since it's a complete protein in itself!

I put quinoa (with some dried cranberries) in chicken broth, 1 part quinoa to 1.5 parts broth. You basically bring the mixture to a boil, then turn the heat off and keep the lid on for about 20 minutes while the quinoa cooks.



Here what it looks like cooked.



Then I fluffed it with a fork, and added some chopped parsley (other good additions would have been caramelized onions or orange zest).



I garnished the top with some crushed almonds, although other nuts would work as well. And to make it a complete dinner, I included some stir-fried veggies. Very satisfying, and no meat necessary!

pan-sauce chicken

For this portion of the semester, our advanced class is focused on sauces, both classic and modern. We started out with a pan-sauce for chicken.

First you take some oil and sear the chicken breast (salt & peppered, presentation side down) until it's golden.



Turn over and sear the other side, then throw the chicken in the oven so the inside can cook.



While the chicken is roasting, take the pan you just used for searing and pour any excess oil out, leaving just the chicken fond (bits left over from searing). Throw in a little butter, then sautee mushrooms and shallots.



After they've cooked for a bit, deglaze with white wine and sherry vinegar (preferably this kind if you can get your hands on it), then add demiglace (or reduced/thickened brown stock).



Let the sauce simmer for a bit, then add some roasted garlic puree and a little more butter if needed.



Lastly, turn the heat off and stir in some chopped chives.



By the time your sauce is done, the chicken should be done too. Cut into the non-presentation side and check to see if the juices run clear. If not, put it back into the oven for another few minutes. Otherwise, pour the sauce over and serve!



The sauce is rich but savory with a tang, and even better with creamy mashed potatoes. Mmm.

tarte tatin

One of the food blogs I follow, Gilt Taste, recently put out a recipe for Tarte Tatin. I'd never heard of it before, but it's like an upside down apple pie (and plus it's French) so I jumped at the chance to make it for a dinner party.

The hardest part was finding an oven-safe pan. There are hundreds of them at school, but at home all the pans had plastic handles. And the cast iron was too big, so I resorted to unscrewing the handle off of one of the existing pans.



After that was the dilemma of making dough without a food processor (well, I have one but it's tiny). Thankfully, at one of my summer stages I'd learned to cut butter into dough by using a cheese grater, because they didn't have a food processor either.



Between the cheese grater and breaking up the butter curls by hand, I got the butter mixed in pretty well.



With some cold water and kneading, the dough was shaped into a round, wrapped in plastic and put in the fridge to chill.



Next came the apples. Golden delicious from the farmer's market by work.



Once cut and quartered, I was able to fit five in the 9" pan.



Then I cooked the combination of butter, sugar and cinnamon stick.



Took it off the heat once it started turning brown.



On top I repositioned the apple quarters, now cored (but not peeled, since I didn't have a good peeler at home).



While the apples were cooking I took the dough out and rolled it to the dimensions of the pan. I don't own a rolling pin so I used a bottle of PAM. It works pretty well (although in my previous post you'll see PVC pipe, that works even better).



The apples cooking in the cinnamon caramel is one of the best smells that can fill your kitchen. I turned rotated each slice 180º for even cooking, but you don't have to.



Once the apples were done I covered the pan and put it in the oven. When it finished baking I wrapped it in towels and took it to the dinner party.



There, I had to pop the tarte back into the oven, so the caramel could soften a bit in order for the all-important flipping of the tarte to happen.



I was nervous, but with the plate on the pan, I flipped in one motion and the tarte came out. It would probably have been prettier with the apples peeled, but it tasted pretty good (with vanilla ice cream!).



Not a bad way to make use of some apples (or other fruit) you have lying around. Although I'd still prefer apple pie :)

pastillage

In my culinary program, everyone has to do an 240-hour internship in their last (typically 4th) semester. I decided to do my internship in a hotel pastry department, since I've never had experience in a hotel environment.

So far it's been quite different from working at local or even chain bakeries. Although I've been making doughs, batters, shaping/piping product, occasionally I get to help out with sculptural pieces that a small bakery would simply not have the resources to do.

One piece I've been working on requires a lot of pastillage, which is similar to gum paste and fondant. Made out of sugar, gelatin, water and vinegar, it hardens as it dries, making it very useful for sculptural pieces.



Before the dough can be used it has to be kneaded until smooth (on a cornstarch-covered surface) and then rolled out flat to the approximate size of the surface it is meant to cover. In this case, it's castle gates made of foam-core board that I had a great time cutting because it utilized some long-lost drafting skills.



Once the pastillage has covered the piece and is trimmed to the exact dimensions, designs can be etched on it. In this case I used the triangle tool to indent parallel lines for bricks.



Then I took this handy plastic tool and indented individual bricks. A very hands-on process. I think there are brick stencils/rollers made for this exact purpose, but Chef likes the inexactness of this.



To actually adhere the pastillage to the foam-core board, I used royal icing (meringue + powdered sugar). It's literally like edible glue.



Then there's some more trimming and detail cut-outs like the crenellations and windows.



After that Chef demonstrated using the airbrush machine to spray food-grade airbrush coloring onto the pieces.



Here are all the pieces I cut, airbrushed with color.



Once the spray color has dried, we dabbed a side towel with water and wiped the surfaces, blending the colors together.



I hope that these things I learned will one day come in handy, like the drafting skills I had from the one architecture studio class I took in college. I guess you just never know.