Buttery goodness.

Week 3 at college was delicious. The morning started out by collecting our goodies on a large gastronome for boiled rice, Tomato Concasse and Mushroom Duxelle which we used then in a rich pasta sauce. No one in the class needed lunch after this which worked out quite well since my egg and salad sandwich had gone soggy in my bag.

Tomato Concasse is diced tomatoes which have been blanched, refreshed, skinned and deseeded. First I cored my tomatoes and made a cross at the other end with my paring knife. The tomatoes were submerged in boiling water, I counted to 15 seconds (obviously less for the more squishy tomatoes) then refreshed them in a bowl of ice water. The skins slipped of as if the tomatoes couldn't wait to get naked and ready to become a concasse. I chopped each tomato into quarters then deseeded each quarter. The quarters were then diced about 1cm. What can you use these minx of tomatoes for you ask? Brushetta, salads, garnish, pasta sauce, pizza base sauce... the list can be endless.

Mushroom Duxelle is finely chopped onion and mushrooms cooked in until there is no liquid left. First I sautéed the onion in butter (you know this is already going to be delicious because it starts with butter) then added the finely chopped mushrooms which I sweated off until there was no liquid left. This was seasoned to taste and left to cool ready to be used in our pasta.

I mentioned cooking rice above. If you have read my other blog and my rice post you will know that I cannot cook rice unless it is with a rice cooker. I have sort of gotten the hang of boiling the rice and then letting it steam in a colander when I am desperate but today we were required to cook rice using the absorption method and not using cup measurements for the water but your finger. The water must come up to your first knuckle when you stick your finger in the pot and touch the rice. Terrible explanation and I can tell you this, I need to practice cooking rice. Mine was gluggly. At least cooking rice is better to practice then tourne potatoes, and yes to answer your question- I am still avoiding potatoes.

Now to the delicious pasta we made. Delicious but terribly rich I must warn you.
The sauce was very quick because we'd done all the prep to start with so first things first the pasta needed to be cooking for at least 5 min before I start the sauce. I gently sautéed a clove of finely shopped garlic in butter then stirred in some of our mushroom duxelles. Added cream and a tsp of french mustard and brought it to the boil and reduced the sauce a little. Tasted and seasoned with S&P then finish off with some tomato concasse, parsley and parmesan cheese. The spaghetti was folded through and served in a hot clean bowl. Sprinkled with extra cheese, tomato and parsley for garnish.
Delicious buttery, creamy mouthfuls! mm yum.

After lunch and our food coma we zested and segmented oranges. Zest is the outside coloured part of citrus fruits such as lemon, lime and orange. Segments are the fillets of the fruit. We also learnt different techniques to use lemon as a garnish on a variety dishes.

Theory consisted of us getting our assignment and learning that we have an assessment on the 30th of March for Food Hygiene. All this talk about food poisoning is going to make me scared to leave the house or eat anything. Ok maybe not the later of the two because that would never happen, food and I get on too well.

Thanks for reading! Watch this space for shallow poached chicken, grilled sirloin steak, buttered beans, sauce a l'anglaise plus more next week. Until then. Happy eating! 

Potato hate.

Week 2 for college and the job search. College is going a lot better then the job search is which is good in one aspect but the funds are running low and tea and cookies at college don't help the ever decreasing bank account.

Today I can confidently and modestly say I did not look lost standing outside my kitchen, wandering around the stairwells or hovering trying to open lockers that clearly didn't work like last week.

Our  lesson today was precision cuts. Lovely little things these are...tricky and specific as they require a ruler as a kitchen tool. There is Brunoise which is a 1-3mm dice, Julienne which is 2mm x2mm x40mm (also known as match sticks), Jardiniere which is a chunkier cut 5mm x5mm x25mm (also known as Batons), Paysanne can be cut into different shapes eg triangle, circle, half moon, square & diamond but has to be 10mm x10mm x2mm and finally Macedoine which is a 5mm dice. We chopped carrots, leeks, onions, celery and turnip. Raw turnips are a stinky vegetable that is for sure.

After all the tiny chopping and shredding we learnt how to tourne potatoes. These will be the bane of my existence. Tourne potatoes for those like me who did not know what this was until today is turning a dirty, great big potato into uniform egg/football shapes which have seven sides using a turning knife. Mine turned out like wonky, lopsided french fries. I was told that I need to practice at home every time we have potatoes. I have now made a conscious effort to try and not have dinner at home purely so I don't feel guilty for not practicing this tedious task. Turning potatoes is quite difficult to explain how to do so check out this youtube clip I found which makes it look so much easier then it really is. Trust me when I saw the teacher do it I thought that this was going to be a breeze and very therapeutic. No. Not the story at all.

I don't want to look at another potato ever again.

This afternoon was also full of theory. We learnt about food presentation and had a sneak peek of what is to come in the course. We get to cook at the college restaurant where everything is made to order. The food looked delicious; pumpkin soup with homemade gnocchi, panfried fish which precision cut vegetable, goats cheese ravioli in a cream sauce, panna-cotta, tarts with spun sugar on top and profiter rolls. AND that was only a few things we saw. Woop we get to do more then chop throughout the semester. I think Chef showed us this to keep our hopes up... all we've done so far is chop, chop and CHOP.

I also learnt today that you can get sued for manslaughter if you give someone food poisoning in your restaurant and they die. Not a nice thought to finish on but theory was boring and we were all hoping for an early mark which didn't happen.

Cooking next week WOOP!!!

Thanks for reading & watch this space for cooking astonishments and catastrophes. Until next time. Happy eating!

First day of school.

First's of anything are always daunting. I had my first day at college for Commercial Cookery Cert III yesterday. After a practice run driving there the day before I had the transport down packed. Finding my classroom and the lockers was another story completely.

I found the washrooms and changed into black and white checked pants, my old school shoes (which are in surprisingly good nik considering I was at school four years ago) and a double breasted white chef's top with black buttons and headed to my kitchen to stand looking like a lost puppy. Okay maybe puppy is too cute and the wrong word to use here... like a someone waiting outside their home for someone else to come home because they've forgotten their keys and looking around looking slightly nervous because they need to pee and are considering the front bushes. 

After finding the lockers on the level below I dumped my bags, grabbed my kit and text books and walked back to my kitchen to find others also looking lost and standing aimlessly. Ooo you should see my kit... fancy stuff! 

I met my teacher and other class mates after we filed in the class room in drips and drabs. It seems I was not the only one who got a little lost and walked around the different levels going up and down three different types of stair cases. The day started off by being the first to jump in and writing the wrong date on all the forms and making most of my class also write the wrong date. Our teacher which we are instructed to call 'Chef' walked us around the kitchen which we'll be in every Wednesday and gave us the grand tour.

I set up my work station with a chopping board, a gastronome full of soapy water and a dishcloth and my chefs knife which looks huge for me. We grabbed our tray of goodies (carrots, leeks, celery, herbs, peppercorns, string, gauze and onions) and watched Chef show us how to chop. I have to break a bad habit after watching Chef show us the 'proper' way. I almost chop my fingers off the way I chop and now have to hold the vegetable with my left hand like a claw but having the knife touch my knuckle each cut. Hard to explain and even more difficult to do and not just do what I've been doing for the past 4 years. It just shows I should have done it right through school and not just when the teacher walked over to my station.

First we made a bouquet garni which is used to flavour soups, stocks and sauces. Yep! listened and learnt. We made two types; one using gauze and the other using an outer layer of a leek which I had never done before. For readers out their who want to know what is in a bouquet garni it contains celery, parsley stalks, peppercorns, bay leaf, thyme and it is all tightly tied together (my sewing skills from textiles came in handy here) like a large tea bag.

We stopped for lunch (ham, cheese and gherkin relish sandwich... not really gourmet but delish) then headed back to the kitchen for more chopping. After giving precision cuts a quick go we got dressed out of our uniform and headed to class for theory.

Theory. The dreaded word.
Talk about throwing us in the deep end, first day of theory was a literacy and numeracy assessment. I have not used my brain in four years and now they want me to take a maths and english test!? you have to be joking. But no they weren't... they said it is so dumb arses can't float through the course. Okay so not in so many words but summing it up thats what it was for.

They asked us what job we wanted and why. A chef. Because I love everything about food, cooking and being part of the most important part of peoples day. 

All in all I still have all my fingers and didn't need the first aid kit on my first day at cooking school.
A successful day.

Thanks for reading.