More Yummies

Again, I'm playing catch-up!

So, I did promise a couple of things in my last post didn't I? I think I will address the "Chef Uniform Secrets" as I wait for my hard boiled eggs to cook for my son's Easter Egg project in school tomorrow. So, I don't know if I really should be writing about this, but I figure that my 2 faithful readers may actually find it interesting, if they don't know this already. I hope that I am not breaking some chef code of honor by divulging this information!!! If I'm not in class on Thursday, you'll know why!!! I was taken by the Chef Uniform Police! =) Okay, so a few posts back, I was saying how I liked my uniform sans the checkered pants... Well, it turns out that this particular pattern on the pants hides stains very well. Basically the way the uniform was designed was to hide stains since as we all know (or may not know), things can get quite messy in the kitchen. The goal is always to keep it clean, but if you happen to get swiped by someone carrying a bowl of chocolate ganache, it won't be easy to take that off without throwing it in the washing machine!

As for the double breasted chef coats, well, it turns out that they are double breasted for a reason! If you happen to get a stain on your coat and then a customer wants to meet you to pay you their compliments, of course you don't want to go out to the dining room with a dirty chef coat! You just switch over to the "clean" side and voila, nice and clean!

And so, there it is my friends... chef uniform secrets revealed! =)

Now, for some "yummy" business!

First up - the Blueberry Clafoutis (I think it is pronounced KLA-FOO-TI). Traditionally, it is made with black cherries, but here we used blueberries. My son LOVED it because he absolutely LOVES blueberries! It is basically blueberries in a baked custard.













Here are some cookies we worked on. In the front we have fig newtons. No, not like the ones you can buy mass-produced. The shell is more "pastry-like" and well, the figs we cooked up ourselves. My husband usually doesn't go for fig newtons, but after he tried these, he changed his mind! Well, I still don't think he will eat the ones from the grocery, but if I make these again, I'm sure there is a good chance he will eat it! =)

In the back are the Spritskakor (Scandinavian Butter Cookies or they are also know as Thumb Print Cookies) with some raspberry jam. I personally liked these a lot! Maybe because I love almond paste and there was lots of almond paste in this recipe! I was thinking about making these for the bakery also, but haven't decided on what jam to put in the middle. We'll see... I guess that may just be another "Coming soon" product.













Here is a French Nut Tart or the name in our text book is "Tarte Aux Noix". Don't ask me how to pronounce this one! I know a little French, but truthfully, I'm extremely rusty. I tend to blend Spanish, Italian and French altogether... *sigh* Anyway, I also found this one to be quite tasty, though I think I put too much raspberry jam in mine. This was made with the Raspberry jam on the bottom with a thin layer of Almond. On top of that was a batter made with almond cream mixed with almond and hazelnut flours. A definite must for nut lovers!













The next 2 pictures are the little Lemon Tarts we made! We even made the lemon curd ourselves! Yes, that was our first "stirred" custard. We also learned how to make Swiss Meringue to finish them off and how to torch them. Yes, you read that correctly - TORCH them! I used a blow torch for the first time! I was quite nervous about it, especially when I started a small fire on one of my tarts, but I got over it once I saw that the mini-flame burned itself out rather quickly and you can't even tell that this happened. Apparently, the blow torch is a something we will be using a lot, so I really do have to get over it!
















Okay dear readers, the eggs are finally ready and I'm thinking I'm going to make me some deviled eggs with the extras! 'til next time (hopefully this weekend)!

Still working on it...

Okay, so I've been experimenting with our Egg Custard Pie at the bakery... I tried a few different recipes and after some modifications, I have finally settled on the one I like best. So now it is a matter of technique... I think I have it somewhat down pat, though my main problem at the moment is figuring out when to take it out of the oven! I always think it is not finished baking yet, so I keep adding a few minutes, but then I just completely miss it and it turns out over baked! *sigh* Anyway, I think I have finally come close to figuring out the approximate bake time ~ 53 minutes. We'll see at the next trial!

So, let me tell you about the new things I learned at the French Culinary Institute I was able to apply to my Egg Custard Pie experiments! Luckily, we are currently learning about custards so, my timing was perfect! So, let us start with burning eggs with sugar... Yes, you read that right, burning eggs with sugar! The first time I made the custard pie, part of the recipe says to scald the milk. In order to save time, I went ahead and started mixing the eggs with the sugar to get that ready to go before adding the milk part. Well, by the time the milk was ready, the egg/sugar mix had turned a dark color. Apparently, I had burned the eggs... =( Because of the hygroscopic nature of sugar, it absorbed all the liquid from the egg, thus burning it! Another thing I applied to my method is adding some of the sugar to the warming milk so that it doesn't burn. And finally, the third method I used was tempering the egg mixture with some of the scalded milk before complete integration.

Here is a picture I snapped with my phone of the final result from today. Of course, it is the nicest of the bunch... Hopefully I will get it perfect the next time!

A few more goodies!

I'm trying to catch up on the things we have made, but of course (just like in case), I'm falling behind! =)

Okay, so last Saturday, we made some Fresh Fruit Tartlettes. I didn't have enough time to garnish my 4 little tarts so I brought the fruits home. I let John decorate one of them and I did the other 3. Unfortunately, I didn't get to take a picture of John's tart before he started eating it, but it's quite easy to imagine - he put 2 slices of oranges and then proclaimed that he was finished and wanted to eat it. He actually took the oranges off when he ate them too!!! He's so silly... Anyway, here is a picture of the other 3 that I was able to garnish sans the apricot glaze. It was a pate sucree shell with yummy creme legere (yes, I may just be spelling these wrong again!!!) with the fresh fruits on top! I loved them! I'm thinking about making them this summer at the bakery but using mangoes as the fresh fruit. I'm not sure which other fresh fruit would match well with the mango, so if you have any suggestions, please send them my way!















These next 2 cookies are Chocolate Dream Cookies (and yes, they are quite dreamy) and Vanilla Kipferl Cookies (Viennese Vanilla Crescents). My teacher very accurately described the Chocolate Dream Cookies as a cross between a Chocolate Cookie and a Brownie. I thought they were divine! Lots-o-chocolate and a sprinkling of pecan nuts throughout made these cookies irresistible to me! And the Vanilla cookies - made with Hazelnut flour - need I say more?














Last Tuesday (3/31/09), we did a savory tart - Tarte A L'Oignon (Rustic Onion Tart). I loved, loved, loved this one, though my poor husband... He didn't hear me explain that it was a savory tart with caramelized onions, bleu cheese, walnuts and plum tomatoes and he was totally expecting to eat something sweet like all the other tarts we have been making up to this point... Well, needless to say, he took 1 bite and put it back in the fridge (at least he didn't throw it out!!) wondering what it was that he had just eaten. The good news of that is - I had the rest of that bitten piece for my dinner tonight! YUM!














We did get to bring home some cool stuff tonight, but I will make another posting probably this weekend. Mike took some pics for me but I can't get the files yet because he's a little pre-occupied at the moment (sleeping)...

Oh, before I go, I have a couple more things... First off, we had our ServSafe test today and I really hope that I passed. Second, I wanted to say that I felt like a celebrity at school today with paparazzi taking our picture - during our fire drill today. Yes, I know, it was totally unglamorous, but it must have been quite a site seeing a small sea of pastry and culinary students (in full uniform) on the corner of Broadway and Grand. Of course, there were people all over taking our picture... As we were going back into the school, a guy with a big camera (sorry Mike and photographer friends - I didn't see what kind of camera or lens he was using) came running up to us and taking our picture in quickfire mode! I turned away, thus I did not see what camera it was, but it did kind of sound like a canon... maybe... Anywho - I'm signing off for now. Some things to look forward to in my posts - of course, more goodies, but I want to give my teacher a plug because she is uber talented and she also happens to be a great teacher! Oh, and some chef wardrobe secrets! =)

So far...

So today we had class #5! I haven't had a chance to blog because I've just been SO busy! And since I've been busy, I keep falling asleep so I don't get to finish all of my goals for the day - blogging included.

Since it is rather late and I still have some other things I need to take care of, I'm just going to post pics and a short description of all the things we have done so far. Unfortunately, there is 1 thing I didn't get to take a picture of - the Banana Cream Tart (which was scrumptious). I put my tool bag next to it in the locker room and sadly, my bag tipped over and squashed the tart... *sigh* I did learn an important lesson from that though - take a picture before you leave class!!!

At the moment, we are learning about tarts and cookies, so most of the things you will see are just that! BTW, everything I tried so far was pretty good. I haven't tried the last 2 yet, but I have to admit that they smell really good! Tomorrow I'm going to dig in.

First up - the Apple Tart! Of course, I kind of messed up the design when I was applying my apricot nappage (or apricot glaze), but it was still pretty good. It is a sugar crust with apple compote (that we made from scratch) and then the apples on top.














Next up is the Tarte Bourdaloue. This one is a poached pear and almond tart. It has almond cream on the bottom. I really like the almond cream!!! We poached the pears using a mix of water and white wine (and all the other necessities of poaching). This is really yummy!















Here we have a fresh fruit tart. Apparently there are many different ways to make a fresh fruit tart. For this one we used a flaky crust with a thin layer of the almond cream, then some creme leggere with the fresh fruits on top. We got to learn some knife skills on this one - learning to do a supreme cut on the oranges. Our chef-instructor told us to make sure there was no white on the oranges (the pith) because that was the difference between a 5 star meal and a 3 star meal. Of course, then I just had to make sure that I got rid of all the pith!















And here we have some gingersnap cookies! We didn't get to take too many home because the rest went to the restaurant L'Ecole for the little "goodie bag" that all the guests receive. I actually think that these taste better a couple days later because they are more chewy in the center.















This is a Pots de Creme Au Chocolat. Okay, so I didn't actually make this one, but I went ahead and ate mine before I remembered to take a picture! Luckily one of my classmates didn't want to eat hers, so I took a picture. This is a baked chocolate custard. To me, it tasted like a cross between a chocolate mousse and chocolate pudding.















This one is a picture of some little fruit tartlettes that we made today. These have apricot with pastry cream underneath. Yes, I ran out of apricots, so mine look a little sparse. Also, my wonderful partner - Brie gave me some of hers since she has no one to share with and I have a ton of people I can feed!!















Finally, here is the Tarte Alsacienne (Alsatian Apple Tart). It is basically flambe (yes, I flambed my own apples, I was quite terrified, but my chef-instructor was by my side to guide me) apples baked in custard. This one really smells GOOD! I can't wait to try this one!!! =)















And so, that is all we have made to date. Hopefully I will be able to update sooner, rather than later! Enjoy and don't let your mouth water too much! =)

A Bien Tot!

Going on Day 2!

Okay, so I didn't get a chance to update on my first day of class yesterday. It was great, though I must say that I feel like I totally have no right being there! I felt like such a klutz and totally awkward in my uniform. I'm hoping that it was just first day jitters and that tomorrow will be much better... Gosh, trying to figure out the complete uniform alone was a disaster (like, how the heck do you tie a neckerchief?) So, for our first class, we took a tour of our classroom and learned about a lot already! We even started our Apple Tart! I can't wait to finish it tomorrow - the apple compote alone was delish! Yes, I got to taste a little bit of it - I needed to check that it was tender. =)

We also got our tool kits. Our Chef Instructor told us to put different colored electrical tape on all our tools, so I spent the night doing that. I think my husband Mike thinks that I went a little overboard with that assignment and commented, "You know you have to wash that right?" I'm hoping that the electrical tape won't come off in the wash... Chef wouldn't ask us to do this if it hasn't been tested already, right? I suppose I'll find out tomorrow.

Anywho, I'd better get to sleep soon so I won't fall asleep in class! Hopefully my apple tart will come out nice enough for a snapshot appearance on my blog!

Tootles!

Orientation!

So yesterday I had my orientation! I'm so excited and nervous about starting class next week. The commute from Jersey was not too bad, however, coming home during rush hour on a Friday is definitely not fun, especially when you are lugging around the huge duffle bag containing the uniforms and text book! I'm actually a little sore today just from carrying that bag. Hopefully when I get everything organized into my backpack, it will be easier to carry.

Okay, on to the good stuff. So, I have been looking all over the internet trying to figure out which text book they use at the FCI. I searched and searched and searched, and did not find any answers. Well, if I had put 2 and 2 together in the first place, I probably would have figured out that they have their own book (binder bound) which they use as the text book! Duh!!!! Any idiot could have probably figured that out... Anyway, it really is quite thick and it seems like this is only for Pastry I! I wonder if the text books for Pastry II and Pastry III will be just as thick... Hmmm... If that's the case, I think I need to make more room on my bookshelf!

As for the uniforms, they are so cool, though I'm not really into the pants too much (small black and white check-ish design). My husband was teasing me saying that I look like a guido (or would that be guida?!). I don't care, the rest of it is pretty cool. I am in love with the chef jacket! And, it has my name on it!!!

Well, we already got our assignment for the first class, so I'd better get cracking on the reading and look at the recipes for the infamous Apple Tart! I hope mine comes out decent! Wish me luck!

Moist Chocolate Cake

So, I was at a party last night and someone asked me how she could make her chocolate cake more moist. My answer was, "I don't know". The only baking experience I have at the moment is what I have learned from my mother. I have done a little experimentation on my own, but nothing that would qualify my answering this question... And so, I told her the plain truth - I don't know. What I really should have answered is "I don't know - YET!" Hopefully after I'm finished with the French Culinary Institute, I will be able to answer her question. Actually, I have been doing a little research lately, yes, the nerd in me is coming out again... There's a book that I am thoroughly enjoying - The Cake Bible. I highly recommend it for those of you who want to know the science behind the baking. And from the reviews I have seen on Amazon, the recipes work. I haven't tried any yet since I've been so busy lately, but I am hoping to try some out in the near future. Will keep you posted when I do... =)