Lesson 7: Lessons Learned

I had this post all written up and ready to go many weeks ago; however I have been preoccupied with work, family, and all sorts of stuff that has kept me away from both posting anything and working through the next meal.

I hope to get back on track with the next meal quickly.

Here is my list of Lessons Learned from Menu 7:

1. Chicken is a family-friendly, budget conscious, and in for this menu, an excellent substitute for Guinea Hen.

2. Don't buy cheap pastry bags, they aren't worth the price.

3. When cooking puff pastry, use your own oven.

4. I should let my nephew do all of the technical work (pastry work) so that I don't mess it up.

5. Cooking in an unfamiliar kitchen wasn't as bad as I expected, the oven may be a different temperature, but I didn't have to clean up! (sometimes there are trade-offs that are worth it!)

6. Cook with family, it is a good thing!

7. Cook this main dish again for a family meal! I suggest you do the same!

Lesson 6: Lessons Learned

Pate Brisee for the Onion Tart

The two lessons for this menu are Pate Brisee (and Pate Brisee Sucree), pg. 38, and Bavarian Creams, pg. 41. 

I will start with the easy one--Bavarian Creams. Because the first step of making Bavarian Cream is to make a Creme Anglaise, I knew this wouldn't be too difficult (see Lesson 5). Having already been successful, I made the Creme Anglaise and then added the gelatin, folding in the whipping cream prior to it setting. I felt confident with this, and like that the teaching and learning aspects of the book are illustrated through this progression of desserts. I will again build on these skills in Lesson 7 by making a Bavarian Cream and flavoring it with strawberries, something to look forward to!

Now on to the more complicated and less successful of the lessons. I didn't have too high expectations because I have previously tried to make pie crust and found it better to just buy the frozen packages and go from there. I took this as an opportunity to try again and improve my skills.

As explained in the last post, I was concerned that I was overmixing the dough as it didn't seem to be getting smooth. The pictures of evidence of this, however it seemed to work out fine. I just need to remember to roll the dough out thinner next time.

I wouldn't consider myself much of a baker, as I always associate this with precise measurements and knowing exactly what happens to specific ingredients when you add them, mix them and all around work with them. My guess is it has a lot to do with experience, of which I am lacking in this area. I would definitely like to master some of these easier types of doughs, because I would rather make a pie crust than buy it. With more practice, I could see this happening.

Lesson 5: Lessons Learned

The lessons from menu 5 are Mayonnaise and Creme Anglaise.

As the instructions on pg. 31 note "Mayonnaise is very easy to make if you follow a few rules." I would agree that mayonnaise was easy to make if you follow the rules and have a third hand. So I would suggest, don't make mayonnaise alone. Instead find someone to pour the oil for you while you whisk. If you are so inclined, they could also give you a whisk break when your arm is tired.

The rules that are so helpful would be to bring everything to room temperature before beginning and adding the oil drop by drop until the sauce begins to emmulsify. Then adding the rest more quickly is just fine.

As for the Creme Anglaise, I wrote about my failed first attempt in the previous post. I would say the lessons that I took from making this are that the temperature tollerance of creme anglaise is much lower than a boil and the best judge for me on being done was that the frothy top caused by whisking the milk into the egg yolks dissapeared. This will be extremely helpful as through menu 8 there will be a need to make creme anglaise for various desserts.

The additional lessons that were pretty evident to me are:

1. Cleaning whole fish is not my strength.

2. I am improving my skills in some of the following ways:

-I feel better at finding fresh ingredients at a variety of stores, most notably having success this time at Trader Joe's.

-My knife skills are improving as evidence in the salad.

-My ability to plan and execute a more complex meal has improved.

3. I am continually excited and impressed with the flavor of the dishes and my desire for French cuisine continues to increase. This was a close second, to the leg of lamb, in terms of a flavor and a really well made meal.

I still need to work on a few things, in particular cleaning fish. I would also like to increase my speed in the kitchen without having the quality of my work suffer. My photographic skills need to be worked on. However overall I continue to be very excited about all of the things that I am learning. 

I also feel that by sharing with others (and everyone sharing their thoughts and comments with me) has been an invaluable experience as well. I guess what I am trying to say, is that by blogging I have found an additional learning experience that so far has exceed my expectations. So thanks for reading, and thank you even more to those who have shared their suggestions and comments.

Treating Myself to an Classic French Lunch

Today was a cool clear day, just two days before Christmas and three work days into my two week winter vacation. It was the perfect day to treat myself to an authentic French lunch.

You may wonder..."but Mark, aren't you cooking from LCBAH?"..."Well of course, but other than following the recipe, how do I know how authentic my techniques and flavors are if I have never remembered eating a real French meal?"

I have qualified this because I have, in fact, been to Paris, spending 4 days there with a school group the summer I turned 16. I have therefore eaten real French food; however I struggle to remember much of the food experiences from that time with the exception that our restaurant being located above an adult movie theatre. I also seem to remember most in my group really dreading the food that was served, although most didn't like a mushroom crepe, I seem to remember enjoying it. I also remember getting a banana and nutella crepe from a street vendor outside the hotel, and also another vendor selling baquets and the worlds longest hotdogs. From what English he spoke, we could tell he wasn't really fond of Americans.

Paris was an experience for me...a couple of us enjoyed the walk from the Louvre to the Arc de Triumph one day, and I am so glad I happened to go to the Musee D'Orsay as I think that impressionistic art is so amazing in person. I did find the streets to be rather dirty, compared to some of the other places we visited, and I did not feel as safe and secure on Bastille Day (at least in the evening) as I was used to at home.

Twelve years have past since my visit to Paris, and another 10 may be likely to pass before returning. I don't recall in the years since every going to a restaurant or to a home that was specifically serving a French meal. I may totally be mistaken, however we typically seek out Italian and Mexican restaurants as our staples.

Since beginning this project, I have been searching for a French restaurant to enjoy...I found one listed online that had been shut down, and a few others that didn't really cross me as being authentically French. I had heard about another restaurant, and had been checking it out online, finally I had the time to go today.

El Voila! is a small French Restaurant and Catering Service located in a small storefront on a main road in San Luis Obispo. They have 4 lunch services a week and 2 dinner services. The menu changes weekly, or possibly even more frequently than that. When arriving early, I was greated by the server and the Chef himself, finding that I was the first guest to arrive, I selected a seat where I could see most of the open kitchen as well as the rest of the dinning room (at tops 20 tables in all, but I think more like 15).

The Chef let me know that he did not have any printed menus (fine by me, as this would mean I wouldn't have to make any choices other than the recommendations by him) and that he was offering 2 choices for a first course (an Orzo salad and a Corn, Carrot and Ginger Soup). I selected the soup, both on his recommendation as well as the fact that I was happy to have a warm starter on a cool day. Next he let me know that he was preparing a seared duck breast with apples and cranberries as a main course. He said he could tell me some other options, but I knew that would be fantastic! He selected a Pinot Noir to go with the duck, which was served right before the main course. I thanked him for the selections and he was off to begin the meal.

My three course meal began with some bread, water and the Corn, Carrot and Ginger Soup. The soup was very smooth, a soft orange color ( I could have mistaken the color with a butternut squash), drizzled with a slight bit of cream on top. It was very tasty, in which I could distinguish the corn flavor, however the combination of the carrots and ginger were subtle and unique. I thought the soup was a great way to start and I made sure there was nothing left in the bowl when it returned to the kitchen.

As each guest arrived, they were seated by the waitress who took their drink orders and then the Chef came to welcome each guest (about half of which were regulars) and let them know what was on the menu. I enjoyed hearing the other offerings, as he was willing to customize different entrees for those who wished. A regular customer sat close to me and he knew what the couple enjoys, so he made some Beef Tenderloin for the gentleman. 

My main course arrived in a large white plate that was almost like a bowl. It was Seared Duck Breast that was sliced and fanned over a bed of Sautéed Apples, Onions, and Cranberries with a dark rich sauce. There were two potato triangles that were almost like Latkes that added some starch and a little crunch on the outside. The texture of the duck was so tender, and all of the pieces both individually and together were very flavorful. The wine did not overpower the meal, as the meal also didn't overpower the wine, they worked in great balance.

Although the soup and duck were plenty of food and very satisfying, I couldn't leave without dessert. I was served an Apple Tart with Vanilla Ice Cream and a Caramel Sauce. The pastry was light and flaky, while the apples and ice cream were great.

I am glad that I took the opportunity to go for lunch, as I feel that I was able to not only enjoy a good meal, but also learn a few things that will help me along the way. I think the plating of each dish was really important, something I am not terribly good at. This starts with warm plates, something I don't do at home, or at least haven't. It was also something that was mentioned several times in The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry. Next, it has to be thoughtful in how each item is placed on the dish. This will take some practice and patients, but something I can take with me to work on. The final thing was the soup broth. Even thought the soup was pureed and was orange in color, I could tell that the stock used as the base had been extremely clear. My stocks have not been that clear, and I could tell the broth had been created with great care. I am running low on stock at the moment, so hope to improve my stocks, as I know how much they make a difference in the final product.

I really enjoyed my meal, and am hoping to return again.

Lesson 4: Lessons Learned

Here is my own picture of the Pineapple Sorbet

The lessons from menu 4 are Crepes and Sugar Syrup, or rather I should qualify that these are the two NEW lessons. Skills learned through previous lessons in Roasting, Deglazing and Roux and Flour-Bound Sauces were also needed.

This illustrates clearly how the progression of skills from one lesson to the next is really critical. Having practiced making Bechamel for the Oeufs a la Tripe I was better prepared for what to expect, as well as more experienced and therefore much more comfortable with whipping up the Bechamel sauce for the Gratin de Blettes.

I appreciate this progression as a teaching and learning tool, as well as confirmation of one of my reasons for choosing Le Cordon Bleu AT HOME. I do have a bit of concern that making each dish in order will be a challenge when selecting fresh ingredients, of which I have not had too much difficulty up to this point. However, I am going to go to check out the current fish selection today in order to do a little reconnaissance for Lesson 5 and Lesson 6. I am worried about the timing of these two dishes, as they both contain seafood, of which scallops and mussels would be best fresh. My guess is that scallops could be found frozen, however not ideal I am sure, and mussels will only be available if fresh. I hope that the timing will work out just fine, but I have no idea. As for other fresh ingredients, I feel fortunate to live in an area with a very moderate climate year-round, as well as a place fairly rich with agriculture. Therefore I can usually find most of the vegetables and other related items (with the exception of pearl onions when I need them) pretty easily.

Maybe I should get back to the main event...lessons learned through menu 4!?!

Crepes--As explained in the lesson, crepes can be "served hot or cold, rolled into cylinders, folded into triangle shapes, or even stacked one on top of another" (23). I followed the directions, making the batter, which by the way is very simple, and letting it rest. I used an old crepe cooking contraption my mother let me borrow that consisted of a round electric heating element and a pan that you place upside down on top of the heater. You are supposed to heat the pan up and then dip the bottom of the pan into the batter, flipping the pan upside down back onto the heater to cook. This definitely helped keeps the crepes very thin, and was much easier than using an omelet pan. The ones I cooked in the omelet pan were much thicker. The crepes were easy to roll up and I had great results with the dish. Overall, something I found pretty easy, although I would buy two crepe pans (as instructed) for next time as well as give myself more time to cook the crepes.

Sugar Syrups--Another lesson that I thought was pretty straight forward and easy, requiring some patients to allow the liquid to heat up on low heat so that all sugar is dissolved prior to boiling. Nothing to exciting here, until the simple syrup was combined with the pinneapple and frozen in the ice cream maker...then...magic!

As for the other lessons, roasting the leg of lamb will take some additional practice to get the proper doneness all dialed in (although who knows the next time I will buy a leg of lamb and roast it again?), but deglazing the pan with water was a breeze and produced my favorite sauce so far!

I am not so sure that I learned it through this lesson, but I confirmed that entertaining is definitely more complicated than cooking for family at home. I do enjoy entertaining, as I enjoy sharing good food with others at least as much, or even more, as I enjoy eating good food myself. Having extra people around was helpful as I used the extra helping hands around the kitchen to help with grating cheese and making crepes, both required more time than I had budgeted.

All in all, I have to say again that this was my favorite meal so far. I am sure glad to have the confidence from making all of these dishes pretty much failure free the first time around so as not to embarrass myself too badly in front of my guests.

Lessons Learned: Thanksgiving

The family is gone now, the dishes cleaned, the oven still a bit dirty, and leftovers are ready to make paninis or whatever other leftover goodies you could imagine!

I felt like this year was a bit anti-climactic, as I was hoping everything would be perfect, or rather that every year I could see a noticeable improvement in my cooking.  This year, even after having practiced much of the cooking techniques, I felt that some of the food was rather hit or miss.  Below I will review, using the four things I have been learning through LCB as a reference:

1. Roasting--I am going to roast the turkey, as I always do, however I hope the practice will continue to improve the end results. The turkey was pretty darn big (26lbs) and barely fit in the oven.  Because of this, it was very easy for parts of it to dry out as it was cooking.  The flavor was excellent, I think one of the best I have cooked, however I have done a better job in the past with a better cooked turkey.  It is pretty obvious that the way you carve also has a big impact.  My grandfather usually carves the turkey (and I found out this was so he has an excuse to not make gravy).  He sliced one side of the breast really thin, like a traditional way, then he and I worked together to carve the second breast in one piece.  He liked how easy that was, and I liked seeing how much better the breast meat held its moisture and didn't fall apart.

2. I am going to cook the dish Petits Pois a la Francaise--SPRING PEAS WITH LETTUCE, CHERVIL, AND ONIONS from Lesson 1. I think this will make an excellent dish to go with the Thanksgiving meal. I will not bother with pearl onions because I liked my white onion substitute and know they are easy to find and easy to work with. I overestimated the amount of peas, as I pretty much doubled the recipe and then overcooked the peas because there was so much going on. The peas tasted fine, just a bit overdone.  I still like this recipe a lot and will make it again.

3. I will be making stock use with a recipe I created for roasted butternut squash soup that I called "Thanksgiving Butternut Squash Soup". Last year I used chicken stock, but I may make vegetable stock so that I can have the flexibility to make it vegetarian if desired.  I made stock for everything, and am sure glad I did!  I didn't make the soup, as we had more than enough food and would have had way too much, as this soup could double as a meal on any normal eating day.

4. Successfully use a liaison to thicken a sauce--gravy. I tried to use corn starch as the liaison to thicken the gravy, and it had an interesting result. My grandmothers all use flour, and I worried it would get too lumpy. Their experience, however, is something that I am lacking, but will earn/learn with age. We had quite a discussion, and they let me sink or swim with the corn starch. If you have never used corn starch with kids to make Ooblek...corn starch and water that has properties of a liquid when no pressure is applied, but properties of a solid when pressure is applied...I'd recommend trying it out...it's lots of fun, and I think helps me think of the end results of the gravy.  I used the corn starch and water slury a little at a time.  What was interesting to me is that when added to the broth, the broth became cloudy, milky white, but once cooked for a bit, the gravy returned to its original color. This is the first difference that I found between using corn starch and flour. The second was the final consistency, as  I wasn't sure how much corn starch to use, I had to add a bit at a time until it was thickened. As it was thinkening, I could tell the consistency had a sort of gelatinous feel/look to it. This was clear when my dad took a bite of his mashed potatoes and the gravy just stayed in the middle without flowing out. The consistency was therefore a bit think, and a little jelly-like, but had a nice light color to it. More practice, much more practice needed.

I didn't really take pictures, mostly because I didn't take the time to do so, but also because my mom usually has her big camera out.  For some reason she didn't have her camera shooting pictures, so I don't have that much to share this time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lesson 3: Lessons Learned

There are two lessons to be learned through the menu for Lesson 3: Roux and Flour-Bound Sauces, and Liaisons. I can confirm, as stated in the last post, that I had my first failure.

First the positive. Roux and Flour-Bound Sauces were used during this meal to create the bechamel sauce for the Gratin of Hard-Boiled Eggs. I felt successful completing this, taking care to whisk so that the sauce would not burn to the pan. It surprises me that the sauce turns out with a sweet flavor at the end.

Now for the big failure. As you have read from the previous post, my first attempt at using a liaison to thicken a sauce resulted in a thin sauce with chunks of floating egg whites. I know exactly what I did wrong, and it mostly had to do with being lazy. Instead of scooping out a little warm sauce to pour in the bowl with the egg whites, I instead used the bowl with the egg whites to scoop up a little warm sauce. By doing this, I didn't get enough sauce to actually warm up the egg whites enough so they wouldn't boil when I poured them into the pan.

I have to admit, that this failure has increased my concern over my ability to learn to thicken sauce using a liaison. My concerns are magnified by both the importance of sauces in French cooking and the fast approaching Thanksgiving holiday. The first being that I understand the importance of sauces to French cooking. The veal was great on its own, but it could have been spectacular with the sauce. The second being Thanksgiving, a day I have hosted and cooked for my family for the past few years, and for two years before that in my college apartment for my roommates and friends. At each Thanksgiving I have yet to make gravy, this being the my most notable use of using a liaison to thicken a sauce. I typically leave this to my grandmother or mother who both use corn starch as the liaison. The last two years I have been trying to observe and learn, but mostly just watched from afar. Knowing that I have failed with the egg yoke, this year I feel more determined to attempt the same technique to make gravy, hopefully learning more for the next time I will need to thicken a sauce.

In addition to the lessons outline in the book, I was also able to learn to hard-boil eggs properly, and enjoyed picking up the Les Halles cookbook to read some more. I think Bourdain does a good job of teaching his way through the recipes in that book as well. When the eggs are properly hard-boiled, they spin way better than hard-boiled eggs that are overcooked...it's kind of fun to see them spin like a top!

My final thought is that I have been amazed at the desserts, with the exception of the caramel custard, the desserts have been the highlight. The Chocolate Mousse was easy to make and a real wife pleaser!

Lesson 2: Lessons Learned

The four lessons to be learned (or rather practiced, as I think learned means some level of mastery and I am sure not there with most of these) are stocks, sautéing and deglazing (two separate techniques, but they are listed together on pg. 13), and cooking in a water bath.

Working my way through each one, I made the stock after Lesson 1 with the leftover chicken carcass, and used half the stock for this lesson and half for another soup.  Excellent stock, a technique that I have used before, and if I can keep others in my house from getting upset with using up freezer space and/or not enjoying the house smelling during the stock making process, I should be able to continue to make my own stock.

Sautéing and deglazing are listed together, however are two different techniques...one followed the other in this case.  My honest opinion is that the doneness of the sautéed veal was totally lucky, and not based upon any proficiencies on my part of knowing the right temperature, time and techniques of sautéing. More practice will help.

Deglazing with alcohol though, now that's something that gets the crowd going!  My wife knew exactly what was going on when I went for the bbq lighter, a single match just wouldn't do...plus the lighter is much longer, therefore I would argue safer.  When deglazing next time, I will for sure make sure the alcohol is all over the pan before lighting it.  I had a large pan, one I bought a few years back for cooking the thanksgiving vegetables for stuffing, and the I didn't get the brandy all over before the fire hit.

Cooking in a water bath (I like the words bain marie) seems simple enough...pan with not quite boiling water is placed in the oven with the charlotte pan for the custard is inside.  Making sure the custard cooks in an even, low and moist heat.  I am sure this helped the custard, which turned out fine...just took longer than expected, which I attribute to not knowing exactly what to expect. Now I know, or at least think I have a better idea.

Again, I still feel I have learned a lot from the process, and not necessarily from the stated learning objectives.  The most notable is the fact that I am so glad I have been posting everything to a blog. I feel there are so many unexpected learning opportunities by sharing with others.  Two are notable that I would like to share:

1. I had a nice email conversation with Kim at Easy French Food.  She first suggested looking at her info on Calvados, where I found plenty of great stuff to read as I move forward.  This led us to talking about where to find ingredients. As she said, "I think one of the most important things in cooking is to always use the freshest best quality ingredients you can find and afford.  If that means changing the recipe, so be it." I agree with the her statement, and am trying to find the freshest ingredients in my local area. It also confirms the fact that I used in the first lesson to use white onions instead of pearl onions (just wait for Lesson 3...I found some fresh pearl onions!)

2. Also the comment by the Mediocre Cook regarding plating, leaves me to wanting to learn more about taking good food photos.  I like checking out his food because I envy his pictures (they definitely make him look like much more than a mediocre cook).  I checked to see if he has done any posts about taking the best pictures, but I only find his bio of enjoying food photography.  Maybe he will post or email some suggestions on taking the best photos, that way I can learn to take pictures that do justice to my cooking (my wife said my plating, in person, far exceeded the picture I posted). 

I am glad that I have been posting, reading and sharing ideas, as this has been a great part of the learning process.  Thanks to those who are reading, and I appreciate the comments and help along the way!

Lesson 1: Lessons Learned

A big part of the draw to this book for me is the teaching/learning aspects of the book.  Here are my thoughts on what I have learned, or at least what I can take forward as I tackle the next 89 lessons:

In Lesson 1, the instructional pieces were Roasting and Preparing Fruits.  

As mentioned, I have roasted chicken, roasted turkey, and I think in college I roasted some game that one of my roommates brought from home.  My feelings are that the Thanksgiving turkey is so much easier than a chicken, and that roasting, like most things, can always be a learning experience.

After I initially wrote this post, I traveled away for the weekend to a friends summer cabin.  We were in charge of dinner and he ended up buying 2 whole chickens at the market.  I challenged him to cook one and I would cook the other and we would see how it turned out.  I used the same techniques I learned and practiced, and found it was much easier, even with limited supplies, and space in the kitchen and oven. My chicken turned out fantastic and my carving was seeing some improvements.  The eaters/judges wouldn't put one chicken over the other, as they said we were all winners with such good food!

The lessons in Preparing Fruits, the technique for peeling the orange known as peler a vif is something I have never bothered to do...probably like most people making a fruit salad--peel orange, slice orange, throw in salad is the norm.  The little bit of effort to eliminate the membrane, if that is what made the difference for this fruit salad, I am a believer. I will need to perfect the timing however on boiling the peach, dropping it in a cold water bath and peeling.  I will have many opportunities to see again how long is appropriate.

Being a teacher, myself, I realize much more can be learned from the experience that the instructors may not plan for, and that may not be learned anywhere else.  Here are those things that I think I can take forward.

Up first, the bad:

1.  Don’t assume that ingredients you are looking for will be at any of the local places I currently shop.

2.  My carving of a chicken needs some work (I am putting it lightly here).

3.  Communicating ideas in an orderly, coherent way, is a work in progress.

4. Who knows about photos?  I am still trying to figure this one out.

The good:

1.  The substitutions I made for this menu worked well.

   a.  The chicken was great, even if it wasn’t free range, "appellation controlee" french birds.  I would like to find one to eat to compare though.

b.  The peas were a great dish even with frozen peas (did I forget to mention this before?), parsley instead of Chervil, and white onions instead of pearl onions (Lesson 3 has pearl onions, so I better find them soon--someone recommended frozen or canned?).

Things to do:

1.  I need to find the best place to buy meat products.

2.  Practice my knife skills.