cauliflower, tomato, mushroom, and spinach

My two vegetarian sisters would have been pleased with today's class because it was the first day we did not use meat or any form of it (i.e. bones for stock). We made Bechamel sauce, Mornay sauce, creamed spinach, cauliflower gratin, and stuffed tomatoes. It was a bit of challenge after having days where we only made one dish, but it was fun as always.

The bechamel sauce is one of the Grand Sauces-- Espagnole, Veloute, Hollandaise, and Bechamel. We made veloute yesterday which is just white stock thickend with a pale roux. Bechamel sauce is milk thickened with a white roux. The creamed spinach was fresh baby spinach that was cooked in boiling, VERY salty water (imagine the ocean) and then tossed in a pan with butter and shallots, and then finished with heavy cream and bechamel sauce. The cauliflower gratin which means "brown on top" was cooked cauliflower (in salty acidic water...lemon juice was added to retain the whiteness of the cauliflower), Mornay Sauce (bechamel+Gruyere and Parmesan cheese), and grated Gruyere and Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top and then browned in the oven, or salamander. The stuffed tomatoes were filled with Duxelle which is the name for really any variation of chopped mushrooms filling. We sauteed shallots in butter, added the mushrooms and white wine, and cooked it until all the liquid had evaporated and we were left with a dry Duxelle. We took halved, peeled and seeded tomatoes, stuffed them with Duxelle and topped them with Persillade. Persillade is fresh bread crumbs (white bread pulsed in the food processor), minced garlic, chopped parsley, and clarified butter. Everything was very delicious.

In total I ate: 1 tomato, 1 pint of spinach, and 8 mushrooms. I would have eaten a 1/4 head of cauliflower but I ran out of time because it was so darn hot I decided burning my tongue once was enough.