Monday, September 27, 2010
I just love it here
Here at the CIA, they teach you the methods. We are not learning how to make Lentil Soup or Cream of Broccoli soup so that we can make Lentil Soup and Cream of Broccoli soup for the rest of our lives, but so that we can make puree soup and cream soups the emphasis is on learning the technique. I love that. I like being given the tools and then letting me decide how I want to use them. Constantly, we are being told the sky is limit and you can do anything you want in the Food Industry because there are so many opportunities. Teach, farm, cook, write, photograph, travel, sell, etc. You can do anything you want, I like that attitude.
Friday, September 24, 2010
a good day for a bad day
I have never wished I was having a bad day but today when I was whacking fish skeletons into manageable pieces for fish stock, I knew this would be a great way to relieve the tension of a stressful/bad day. We received a big black bag full of fish skeletons with lots of smelly fish juice dripping off the sides from the Fish Room (where I was in class two weeks ago) that we turned into a wonderfully flavored liquid called fumet. The difference between fumet and fish stock is that you sweat the bones and mirepoix first in hot butter and then you add the water, whereas with fish stock you just add bones and mirepoix straight to cold water.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
bacon and onion, mmmmmm.....
I knew the lentil soup was going to be good the instant the bacon hit the pan. Not even a second later, sweet smokiness filled my nose and I fell in love with bacon all over again. It happens to me every single time I fry bacon, without fail. Then I added the onions and let those release their incredible fragrance. I took a deep breath as I leaned over the pan, "mmmmmmmm," I sighed. I thought of my room mate tonight because one day she told me that she was "firmly convinced that the presence of God smells like that of fresh cut cilantro". However, I am firmly convinced that the presence of God smells like bacon and onions sizzling gently in a pan.
About a year ago I read an article by my favorite chef, Grant Achatz. He talked about how people taste food differently and the difficulty that poses to us as cooks. I thought it was a fascinating piece and one that I thought about for days after reading it, and still think about a year later. This particular article also made me really insecure because how was I ever supposed to be able to season food properly if everyone tasted it differently? So last week we did an exercise that has dispelled my fear of seasoning and made me a more confident cook. Chef took equal amounts of chicken stock, and lined them up with ascending amounts of salt (none, 1/4 tsp, 1/2 tsp, 1 tsp, etc.) and we tasted them all and told him what we thought was perfect. On the chart of saltiness I fell into the lower half (meaning I like less salt) but very close to the middle. However, Chef was above me on the salty scale. I now know that when I am seasoning my food in class, which he tastes and grades me on, I need to salt it to where I think is appropriate and then salt a little more in order to get to his preference. Tonight, I thought my lentil soup was perfectly seasoned and like clockwork, Chef thought it needed salt. I got so excited because it tasted wonderful to me that I forgot I should add that extra little pinch.
About a year ago I read an article by my favorite chef, Grant Achatz. He talked about how people taste food differently and the difficulty that poses to us as cooks. I thought it was a fascinating piece and one that I thought about for days after reading it, and still think about a year later. This particular article also made me really insecure because how was I ever supposed to be able to season food properly if everyone tasted it differently? So last week we did an exercise that has dispelled my fear of seasoning and made me a more confident cook. Chef took equal amounts of chicken stock, and lined them up with ascending amounts of salt (none, 1/4 tsp, 1/2 tsp, 1 tsp, etc.) and we tasted them all and told him what we thought was perfect. On the chart of saltiness I fell into the lower half (meaning I like less salt) but very close to the middle. However, Chef was above me on the salty scale. I now know that when I am seasoning my food in class, which he tastes and grades me on, I need to salt it to where I think is appropriate and then salt a little more in order to get to his preference. Tonight, I thought my lentil soup was perfectly seasoned and like clockwork, Chef thought it needed salt. I got so excited because it tasted wonderful to me that I forgot I should add that extra little pinch.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
daddy's girl
My dad and I share several common loves: driving around on back country roads, my mom, sleeping, and potatoes. Fried, mashed, baked, or in chip form, my dad loves potatoes. So I was thinking about him today while I was cooking Potato and Leek soup and making mashed potatoes. We were also visiting my dad's family in California when I first had Potato and Leek soup and we made mashed potatoes the same way his mom did by using a food mill or ricer.
The Potato and Leek soup was simple and absolutely delicious. First, the onions and leeks were sweated (the moisture drawn out over a med/low heat) in clarified butter. Then diced potatoes, chicken stock, and a sachet d'epice ( "bag of spices":a little pocket of cloth with thyme, parsley stems, crushed black pepper, bay leaf, and a clove of garlic... all for flavor) were added to the pot and cooked until the potatoes were tender. I forgot to add my sachet d'epice when I added my stock and I didn't realize it until I was ready to puree my soup and remembered it was important to remove my sachet from the soup---when oops! I couldn't find it because I had never put it in. Luckily, I had 50 more minutes until my soup had to be ready, so I added the sachet and turned the heat way down to low and let the flavors infuse. After pureeing the soup in a blender, I added hot cream and chopped chives. It was smooth, full flavored, and so, so easy. The next time you are looking to make something wonderful, look no further than this soup. Here is the recipe:
1 oz clarified butter
6 oz leeks
1.5 oz onion
10 oz chef's potato
1 qt chicken stock
1 sachet d'epice (1 bay leaf, 5-6 crushed black peppercorns, 1 clove garlic, 2-3 parsley stems, and 1 good sprig of thyme)
6 oz cream (hot)
few chives chopped
salt and white pepper to taste
Heat the butter, then add the onions and leeks. Let the onions and leeks sweat for a few minutes, being careful not brown them, and keeping the heat about med/low. Add the potatoes, stock, and sachet. Simmer gently until the potatoes are tender. Blend in a blender or food processor until smooth. Transfer blended soup back to cooking pot, and add hot cream. Season. Stir in chives immediately before serving.
It is important that the cream is hot because when the hot starchy potato molecules are exposed to cold, they'll seize up and get very gluey. It is part of a process called gelation.
Also, when making mashed potatoes, we dried out the potatoes after cooking them to remove excess moisture. We did this by draining the potatoes from their cooking water and returning the potatoes back to their pot and then letting them sit a hot oven (400°F) until they get little white spots all over them and are very dry. Chef said this makes them fluffier.
p.s. Day 6 is a good day for food-- Banh Mi sandwich for lunch and fried pork cutlet with spaetzle for dinner.
The Potato and Leek soup was simple and absolutely delicious. First, the onions and leeks were sweated (the moisture drawn out over a med/low heat) in clarified butter. Then diced potatoes, chicken stock, and a sachet d'epice ( "bag of spices":a little pocket of cloth with thyme, parsley stems, crushed black pepper, bay leaf, and a clove of garlic... all for flavor) were added to the pot and cooked until the potatoes were tender. I forgot to add my sachet d'epice when I added my stock and I didn't realize it until I was ready to puree my soup and remembered it was important to remove my sachet from the soup---when oops! I couldn't find it because I had never put it in. Luckily, I had 50 more minutes until my soup had to be ready, so I added the sachet and turned the heat way down to low and let the flavors infuse. After pureeing the soup in a blender, I added hot cream and chopped chives. It was smooth, full flavored, and so, so easy. The next time you are looking to make something wonderful, look no further than this soup. Here is the recipe:
1 oz clarified butter
6 oz leeks
1.5 oz onion
10 oz chef's potato
1 qt chicken stock
1 sachet d'epice (1 bay leaf, 5-6 crushed black peppercorns, 1 clove garlic, 2-3 parsley stems, and 1 good sprig of thyme)
6 oz cream (hot)
few chives chopped
salt and white pepper to taste
Heat the butter, then add the onions and leeks. Let the onions and leeks sweat for a few minutes, being careful not brown them, and keeping the heat about med/low. Add the potatoes, stock, and sachet. Simmer gently until the potatoes are tender. Blend in a blender or food processor until smooth. Transfer blended soup back to cooking pot, and add hot cream. Season. Stir in chives immediately before serving.
It is important that the cream is hot because when the hot starchy potato molecules are exposed to cold, they'll seize up and get very gluey. It is part of a process called gelation.
Also, when making mashed potatoes, we dried out the potatoes after cooking them to remove excess moisture. We did this by draining the potatoes from their cooking water and returning the potatoes back to their pot and then letting them sit a hot oven (400°F) until they get little white spots all over them and are very dry. Chef said this makes them fluffier.
p.s. Day 6 is a good day for food-- Banh Mi sandwich for lunch and fried pork cutlet with spaetzle for dinner.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
things aren't always what they seem
I love surprises. And I love the unexpected. I love when you think something is going to be horrible and then its wonderful. I love when you meet someone who think you're not going to like and then you end up being their best friend. I love when soup looks like the equivalent of a big, thick, gloopy, eggy, raw ground chicken, floating vegetable mess, and then it turns out to be the clearest soup you've ever seen. Hello, consomme.
It might be one of the coolest things I've ever done in a kitchen and I can't even take all the credit for it because its just too cool, too beyond me. Consomme is an extremely clear soup that has a really rich flavor. Chefs say you should be able to read the date on a dime that is sitting on the bottom of a pot of consomme. We're not talking clear here, we're talking exquisitely clear. Like nothing you've ever seen before. It's similar to the first time you see a diamond, but you can eat this and it tastes awesome. So basically what you do is mix egg whites, raw ground meat (corresponding to whatever kind of stock you are going to use), tomato (acid), mirepoix (finely chopped mixture 50% onion, 25% carrot, 25% celery), salt, and stock together. You gently heat everything up and the egg/meat/vegetable mixture cooks and slowly forms a raft, which is just a mass of the above mixture and any impurities in the liquid, and then you are left with a brilliantly clear liquid that is so full of flavor you wouldn't believe it. It also happens to be beautiful.
It might be one of the coolest things I've ever done in a kitchen and I can't even take all the credit for it because its just too cool, too beyond me. Consomme is an extremely clear soup that has a really rich flavor. Chefs say you should be able to read the date on a dime that is sitting on the bottom of a pot of consomme. We're not talking clear here, we're talking exquisitely clear. Like nothing you've ever seen before. It's similar to the first time you see a diamond, but you can eat this and it tastes awesome. So basically what you do is mix egg whites, raw ground meat (corresponding to whatever kind of stock you are going to use), tomato (acid), mirepoix (finely chopped mixture 50% onion, 25% carrot, 25% celery), salt, and stock together. You gently heat everything up and the egg/meat/vegetable mixture cooks and slowly forms a raft, which is just a mass of the above mixture and any impurities in the liquid, and then you are left with a brilliantly clear liquid that is so full of flavor you wouldn't believe it. It also happens to be beautiful.
French Onion Soup Day
I love slicing onions, I love the transformations that occur in cooking, I love getting things done on time, I love butter, I love cheese, and I love French Onion Soup.
In addition to all of the above happening, it was also a Friday. Last week was kind of a rough week and its easier to talk about now that things are getting better, but class last week was difficult. I have had both the blessing and the curse of being pretty successful in the kitchens I've worked and learned in. My kitchen at home is well worn with both sweet success and bitter failure, but as far as other kitchens go, they've known mostly success. So last week when I wasn't properly completing my knife trays (a plastic tray that has different requirements each day, for ex: 1 small diced potato 1/4x 1/4 x 1/4 in, 2 minced garlic, 2 minced shallot, 2 tbsp parsley chiffonade, etc.), or even completing them at all within the time limit given, I was not only under the stress of doing poorly but I was also under the stress of not knowing how to deal with doing poorly. You see, making mistakes is a very funny thing because when you make them you wish you hadn't, and when you don't you wish you had because then you would know how to deal with them. I was envious of the people I have witnessed make mistakes because they learned how to deal with them, now I'm learning too.
In addition to all of the above happening, it was also a Friday. Last week was kind of a rough week and its easier to talk about now that things are getting better, but class last week was difficult. I have had both the blessing and the curse of being pretty successful in the kitchens I've worked and learned in. My kitchen at home is well worn with both sweet success and bitter failure, but as far as other kitchens go, they've known mostly success. So last week when I wasn't properly completing my knife trays (a plastic tray that has different requirements each day, for ex: 1 small diced potato 1/4x 1/4 x 1/4 in, 2 minced garlic, 2 minced shallot, 2 tbsp parsley chiffonade, etc.), or even completing them at all within the time limit given, I was not only under the stress of doing poorly but I was also under the stress of not knowing how to deal with doing poorly. You see, making mistakes is a very funny thing because when you make them you wish you hadn't, and when you don't you wish you had because then you would know how to deal with them. I was envious of the people I have witnessed make mistakes because they learned how to deal with them, now I'm learning too.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Different soups in New Jersey and Washington State
Tonight we talked about seasoning because we made our first dish, Beef Vegetable Soup. In lecture, chef was talking about different populations liking different seasonings. For instance, in New Jersey canned soup is much saltier than soup in Washington state. People in different places have different seasoning preferences and companies will cater the same product to these individual preferences. I thought that was fascinating.
Today something crazy happened that I'm so glad I slowed down for. I have found my schedule very rushed lately. I rush to go running in the morning, I rush up the hill to get to dinner, I rush to get to class on time, I rush to finish my knife cuts, I'm just always rushing. Well today, I was rushing to get to class and someone I know stopped me and wanted me to go into a kitchen with them, I tried to brush them off and said I was late. They responded that I would probably never get to taste this again, so I reluctantly followed. I tasted tuna and home made wasabi that Masaharu Morimoto made. The wasabi sells for $180/lb. Only at the Culinary Institute of America would something like that happen, only at CIA. What an opportunity! I still can't believe I go here.
Today something crazy happened that I'm so glad I slowed down for. I have found my schedule very rushed lately. I rush to go running in the morning, I rush up the hill to get to dinner, I rush to get to class on time, I rush to finish my knife cuts, I'm just always rushing. Well today, I was rushing to get to class and someone I know stopped me and wanted me to go into a kitchen with them, I tried to brush them off and said I was late. They responded that I would probably never get to taste this again, so I reluctantly followed. I tasted tuna and home made wasabi that Masaharu Morimoto made. The wasabi sells for $180/lb. Only at the Culinary Institute of America would something like that happen, only at CIA. What an opportunity! I still can't believe I go here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)