The week began with a disappointing destruction of practically perfect puff pastry. In an effort to prep, produce, and plate with newfound punctuality, I neglected to double check our oven temperature, entrusting the speed demons of our class with this most important responsibility. Result? Ablaze Allumettes.
This is proof that even 20 degrees can make a major impact on the food at bake. To make matters worse, the too high heat caused the Sauce Mornay (the white cheese roux filling the puff pastry) to boil and break the delicate layers that surrounded it giving the smoking savory a lovely lava oozing effect as I ripped it from the molten oven.
A sauce-less, scorched, smoking, and slightly undercooked pair of allumettes was all I had to show for 2 practicals worth of steam and study. But wait, the worse was far from over.
The lovely pate a choux Gougere dough that I seemed to cook to a pungent perfection and pipe in precise puddles for a stint in the oven never even saw the light of the day’s plating. The traumatizing trickiness of pate a choux: uninterrupted baking time for the first 20min. Early Birds don’t always get the worm it seems: I produced parmesan pitas instead of the desired Gruyere Gougeres.
Fresh From Scratch Fettuccini
Much to my surprise, by the next day I was back in the game. I have renamed this lesson Fun with Fettuccini because it was truly enjoyable. Channeling my imaginary Italian grandmother, I decided to choose the road less traveled and make every strand of pasta by hand. That is NO pasta rolling or cutting machine used, just a sharp knife and my two hands.
What a satisfying success: simple, subtle strands coated in a sauce of seasoned crème fraiche with fresh basil and tomatoes. The power of knowing how to make a personal pasta from scratch has sparked so much creativity that multiple flavor combinations of homemade pasta are currently hanging up to dry across my crowded kitchen. London’s very own Linguini Laundromat.
A Too-Tart-Tart
A Bramley Apple Butter Ball maybe the best way to describe this pucker inducing patisserie production. I admit that this has been the only recipe we have faced that I have taken serious issue with on the account that frankly it is just no good. A way-too-tart selection of apples breeds is broken down into unseasoned crunch-less compote, making the filling into nothing more than a Bradenburn baby puree.
Given the pre-existing wreck of a recipe, I somehow (and after going over it several times ex-post-factum still have no idea how) ended up with an exorbitant amount of butter in my pate sucree. So much so that a mid-blind-bake check up uncovered a butter-bubbling blistered mess. And from this Surface of the Sun Sucree followed a lack-luster layer of compote filling, and a rather anemic apple sliced topping. I truly pale at the thought of it.
TGIF: Thank God It’s French-Trim!
Friday was fraught with fun. Upon entering the demonstration room that morning, I saw nothing but a full frontal lamb and a cleaver besides our head chef.
This was the Lesson of the Lamb: learn it or leave.
It was absolutely amazing. To see our chef reduce an entire lamb into delectable portions with almost no waste was by all accounts brilliant. What a satisfying sight to see three hours worth of work turn a carcass into Carre d’Agneau.
Baby steps for us basic cuisine chefs though. We began with a split best end, from which we had to carve and cook a parsley-encrusted rack of lamb. The carving, or French Trimming task involves removing a particular amount of fat from the bones and eye of the meat, so that the meat retains as much flavor from searing and roasting as possible. The goal here is a palatable and practical presentation.
If you have ever had UK lamb, you will know that very little needs to be done to improve upon its taste, so this classic preparation is both respectful to and rich with natural flavor.
A Jalousie to be, well, Jealous of
More than just a midnight snack, this took the cake this week, or I should say took place of the cake.
Perfect cinnamon sugar syrup poach pears fan out atop fresh almond cream, encased in a lattice puff pastry dough glistening with the sugary shimmer of the sweet syrup nappage.
It is temptation at a taste, sin in a slice, and gluttony by the gram.
But let me tell you, it feels good to be this bad…
Darcy Jones
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