Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Lesson 7: The Menu

Lesson 7 from page 42 gives me an opportunity to continue to improve my pastry skills with the Choux Puffs, extend my learning of Bavarian Creams, and try ingredients that I wouldn't normal cook in Guinea Hen.

I really liked Gruyere cheese from the Swiss Chard Gratin in Lesson 4 and look forward to using it again. The cheese melts so well I could see it making great grilled cheese sandwiches or macaroni and cheese. If you put it on a pizza you might never be able to get your slice pulled away from the rest of the pizza because of the long string of cheese hanging off!
 Here is the menu:

 

Lesson 7

 

 

Profiteroles au Gruyere

CHOUX PUFFS WITH GRUYERE CHEESE

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Pintadeaux au Chou

GUINEA HEN WITH CABBAGE

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Creme Fraisalia

STRAWBERRY BAVARIAN CREAM

 

I am interested in the Guinea Hen dish because it seems pretty hearty, having cabbage, polish sausage, and plenty of vegetables. It is interesting to me that each of the parts of the main dish are cooked separately and then combined at the end instead of being cooked all together. The book explains that "the result is a dish in which complementary tastes are juxtaposed, rather than blended together as in stews or one-pot meals" (44).

Again the ingredients for this menu seem pretty straight forward and should be easy to find. I hope to focus on finding the best, freshest, and most local ingredients. The produce will be important for this as well as for the Polish sausage. I am curious about the guinea hen, if I can't find them then I will use a substitute of Cornish Game Hens or Free-Range Chickens.

I have waited some additional time to get ready to cook this meal because I have wanted to cook with my nephew who helped a little bit with one of the previous menus. With schedules, it is just coming to the weekend when everyone is available.

Lesson 7...here I(we) come!

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