Saturday, February 23, 2008

Dinner with DMD - Belated Valentines Day

Valentines day has come and gone, and this year I didn't have anyone to share it with. My current schooling got me thinking what I would make that special someone had I been given the opportunity. I started planning a menu and I came up with an asian based theme accented with orange that I wanted to follow. As an appetizer, I started with a vegetarian sushi-roll of avacado and orange. For the main course, I made an orange-marinated grilled chicken in teriyaki glaze, with tempura sweet potato, broccoli, mushrooms, and zucchini, and the requisite rice side. For desert I planned on an orange sorbet, but I wasn't able to put together tonight as I was lacking some of the tools to accomplish it properly. I'll do this again in the near future and will have everything then.

Anyway, I was very pleased with the end result. The sushi roll was very tasty, I was worried it might be too bland but it turned out very well. Unfortunately my rolling skills aren't up to par yet and I passed on taking a picture of this flavourful yet visually not-quite-so-appealing dish. The main plate however turned out perfectly and I was very happy with it. Here you go:






So that's it, Valentine's has come and gone... maybe somebody is out there reading this thinking "I sure would have enjoyed that" ... maybe not, but I sure enjoyed making it.

Soon on Dining with DMD, "Zoli's b-day dinner that he missed out on!"

Bon appétit,

Mark

Thursday, February 7, 2008

Introduction to Baking Week 5 - Baguette, Pecan Pie, Bird's Nest Cookies

Introduction

This week we are preparing the classic French Baguette, along with Pecan Pie, and Bird's Nest cookies. We were also supposed to be doing a Lemon Meringue pie, although due to a meeting happening at the school, time constraints prevented this.

Practical

Chef demonstrated the correct method for rolling out our baguette after our dough had enough time on the bench. He commented that this dough should be benched at room temperature so that the yeast will have enough strength to help "burst" the dough once it goes in the oven. He explained how the size of a baguette is regulated by the government in France, and that the hardest part in preparing it is rolling it out properly.

For the Bird's Nest cookies, Chef demonstrated how we should roll these out as well, along with holding the sides of the cookies in when making the indentation for the "nest."

Observations

While the baguette was the simplest recipe of the day in terms of ingredients, it turned out to be the most complex in preparation, ensuring appropriate quality standards were met along the way.

Our pecan pie turned out quite well, although I felt the texture was slightly too gelatinous, although this may have changed had it sat longer to cool.

Our bird's nest cookies turned out quite well, retaining the appropriate shape and not having any of the jam filling overflow during cooking. The texture and flavour were quite good.

Unfortunately due to the time constraints this week we were unable to get much feedback from the Chef regarding out work, although I was generally happy with the outcome.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

World Cuisine - France

Introduction

The French cooking style is considered to be one of the most refined, modern and elegant manners found in cuisines all over the world. Food is part of their culture, and famous French chefs make most exquisite dishes after original French recipes that have made France famous since centuries ago. However, the diversity and changes that characterize this cuisine are what makes it interesting. By the early eighteen century, bread and cereals were the basic ingredients in the daily diet. French fries have been introduced to this country in the XVIII century and gained so much popularity that they have been kept as part of the traditional French cuisine. Only with the beginning of the XIX century food has become a social etiquette and more sophisticated dishes emerged, mainly served in high societies. The improvement of transportation, especially the introduction of train, marked the culinary revolution, since every peasant had access to more elaborated meals, ingredients and condiments. Vegetables that grow on fertile French lands include potatoes, green beans, carrots, turnips, aubergines, courgettes, famous French mushrooms, like champignons, oyster mushrooms, porcinis and truffles. As a tradition kept along the course of history, wineries are spread all over the country, producing most refined French wines, served daily by locals.

From: http://www.cookbookwiki.com/France

Recipes

Soup a l'ognion

Servings: 4-6

6 large onions (about 5 pounds), sliced thin
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 quarts beef broth
twelve 1/2-inch-thick slices of French bread, toasted
3/4 pound coarsely grated Gruyère

Preparation

1. In a large pot cook the onions in the butter over moderate heat, stirring frequently, for 40 minutes, or until they are golden brown and well caramelized.
2. Sprinkle the onions with the flour and cook the mixture, stirring, for 3 minutes.
3. Add the broth slowly, stir the soup constantly until it comes to a boil, and simmer it, covered, for 20 minutes.
4. Season the soup with salt and pepper.
5. Serve soup in warmed bowls. Top with toasted bread to cover surface, cover with cheese and broil to melt and slightly brown cheese.

Blanquette de Veau

Servings: 8

10 ounces pearl onions
4 1/2 pounds veal shoulder, boned, trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces
9 cups (or more) chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth
3 fresh thyme sprigs
2 bay leaves
5 tablespoons butter
1 1/2 pounds celery root (celeriac), peeled, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
4 large carrots, peeled, cut into 1 1/2-inch lengths
3 medium turnips, peeled, each cut into 6 pieces
8 ounces button mushrooms
6 ounces haricots verts or other green beans, ends trimmed

3 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/2 cup whipping cream

1/2 tablespoon (about) fresh lemon juice

1/2 bunch fresh chives, cut into 2-inch pieces (optional)

Preparation

1. Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Add pearl onions and cook 1 minute. remove onions from pot. Trim ends and peel.
2. Add veal to pot and cook 4 minutes. Drain veal; rinse with cold water.
3. Rinse pot and return veal to pot. Add 8 cups chicken stock and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
4. Add thyme and bay leaves and simmer until veal is tender, stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes longer.
5. Meanwhile, melt 2 tablespoons butter in another heavy large pot over medium heat. Add pearl onions, celery root, carrots, turnips, mushrooms and 1 cup chicken stock. Cover and cook until vegetables are tender and almost all liquid has evaporated, about 15 minutes.
6. Add haricots verts and cook until just tender, about 2 minutes.
7. Drain veal, reserving 2 cups liquid (if less than 2 cups cooking liquid remains, add enough stock to measure 2 cups). Mix veal into vegetables.
8. Melt remaining 3 tablespoons butter in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Mix in 3 tablespoons flour. Cook until butter mixture turns golden brown, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes.
9. Whisk in 2 cups reserved cooking liquid. Cook until thickened, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Stir in whipping cream. Season sauce to taste with fresh lemon juice, salt and pepper.
10. Pour cream sauce over cooked veal and vegetables. Garnish with fresh chives, if desired, and serve immediately.

Practical

Our full menu for French cuisine was:
  • Duck liver pâté
  • Soup a l'oignon
  • Blanquette de Veau
  • Nouilles au beurre
  • Poivrons Rôtis, Courgettes farcie
  • Orange chocolate mousse
Duck liver pâté (or paste) and soup a l'oignon (onion soup) are self explanatory. Blanquette de Veau is veal served with vegetables in a white sauce. Nouilles au beurre is pasta tossed in butter. Poivrons Rôtis is roasted pepper, similar to the peperonata prepared during Italian week, although the french dish is usually quartered peppers rather than thinly sliced. Courgette farcie is zucchini cored out and stuffed with it's own flesh mixed with other vegetables or perhaps a protein or cheese. The orange chocolate mousse is simply that, a chocolate mousse with orange flavoring.

Observations

The foods cooked this week all had excellent flavour and richness. Unfortunately the duck livers were not available at the start of our class, so the finished product had not chilled enough by the end of class. While still flavourful, the pâté having some warmth left to it meant it had not acquired the proper texture. I got started on the onion soup right away and ensured we caramelized the onions slowly and very well. The end result was an incredibly flavourful soup which I quite enjoyed, and Chef commented on the excellent flavour as well. The blanquette de veau was quite good, although our timing was slightly off on the side dishes, so we ended up serving only the zucchini with the blanquette, which Chef commented was appropriately cooked and flavoured. We then served the noodles and peppers together, which were both cooked well, but Chef mentioned that it would have been nice to have everything plated at once. Lastly, our mousse was very light and flavourful, and there was a good balance between the chocolate and orange flavours, which Chef was happy with. Apart from some timing issues, a good day of cooking.

World Cuisine - Italy

Introduction

When contemplating the history of Italian cuisine, it is important to remember that Italy did not exist as a unified country before 1870; prior to that, it was a diverse collection of kingdoms and principalities. Indeed, as Kyle Phillips notes in the introduction to his translation of The Art of Eating Well, only a small percentage of “Italians” actually spoke Italian prior to the 20th century. This political (and cultural) diversity is mirrored by the wide variety of climatic and topographic regions that the Italian peninsula spans. Because of these conditions, there exist a great variety of dishes in the Italian repertoire.

Similarly, one needs to remember that most recipes in the Italian repertoire have come down to us from generations of poor, hard-working people. While the feasts provided by the Medici, Estes and Lombardi are the stuff of legend, court fare was more closely identified with French and Austrian cuisine and subject to changes in fashion and taste. This has little to do with what we now identify as Italian cooking, which was largely dependent on locally and seasonally available products and which probably evolved very slowly over the centuries.

The Italian cuisine is characterized by some specific unique dishes, like pasta, risotto and pizza, which are served in all parts of the country. However, regional differences may occur in the cooking process of a meal, resulting in variations of the same recipe, or unique specific ones of a single area, like the Napoli pizza, specific to the Neapolitan region. Also, Peperoni Imbottiti is another specific Neapolitan dish, and consists of stuffed bell peppers with Eggplant and bread crumbs. In the Tuscan region, harty soups are a common thing, as well as fish stews. Cacciucco and scottiglia are some of the specific Tuscan stews. Other Tuscan specialties include “alla fiorentina” steak, ribollita, a thick vegetable soup and fagioli all'uccelletto, sautéed beans in garlic and sage with tomatoes. In the Piedmont region you can find a special dish called fonduta, containing melted cheese dip of milk, eggs and white truffles. Also, boiled Veal tongue and fish assortments like Anchovies, eels, Carp, Trout, and snails are available in all region. Lombardy is well known for Milan related dishes, such as spaghetti Milanese and minestrone alla Milanese, and for other specialties such as creamy Gorgonzola and polenta. rice and peas are specific for the Veneto region, where you can also find calf's liver fried with onions, shellfish, eels and dried Cod. In Genoa region pesto is the main ingredient, and in Norcia, the Italian cuisine capital, you can find Pork dishes, black truffles, and hand-made pasta like ‘strozzapreti’. Sicily is rich in fruits and seafood, as well as Sardinia, which is also known for sausages, sweet green olives, and Lamb steaks.

From: http://www.cookbookwiki.com/Italy

Recipes

Minestrone

Servings: 4

1 oz olive oil
2 oz bacon, diced
8 oz onions, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
4 oz celery, paysanne
4 oz carrots, paysanne
1.5 quarts chicken stock
4 oz zucchini paysanne
4 oz potatoes paysanne
10 oz tomato concasse
2 oz tomato paste
4 oz chickpeas, cooked
4 oz cannelini, cooked
2 oz parmesan cheese, grated
Thyme, fresh chopped
Salt and white pepper to taste
Optional: cooked pasta (generally small pieces, not long noodles)

Preparation

1. Place oil and bacon into saucepot and sweat, do not brown
2. Add onions, garlic, celery, carrots and sweat until onions are translucent.
3. Add chicken stock and bring to simmer over medium high heat and simmer for approximately 20 minutes.
4. Add zucchini, potatoes and tomato concasse, tomato paste and simmer for 10 more minutes until vegetables are tender. Do not overcook.
5. Add cooked chickpeas, cannellini (and pasta if desired), simmer until all ingredients are hot
6. Adjust seasonings, garnish soup with parmesan and chopped thyme just prior to serving.

Involtini di Pollo

Servings: 4

Stuffing
8 oz chicken thigh meat, ground
0.5 oz butter
0.5 oz shallot
1 egg white
Salt and pepper to taste

4 chicken breast pieces
2 oz stuffing
4 pieces fresh sage
4 thinly sliced bacon

Preparation

Stuffing
1. Bone and grind the chicken thigh meat
2. Dice and sauté shallots, cool, set aside.
3. Place meat, shallots, and egg white in robot-coupe and pulse.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Assembly
1. Cut each chicken breast in half and pound lightly, dip inside of breast in flour, shake of excess.
2. Place a small piece of fresh sage on top, add 2 oz of stuffing and roll the breast around stuffing, then wrap with bacon and hold together with toothpick.

Sauce
1. Prepare sauce from roasted chicken leg, bones, scraps, and mirepoix. Reduce to glaze consistency.

Cooking
1. Sauté each side lightly in whole butter and set aside until service.
2. Season with salt and pepper to taste, bake in oven at 350°F until done, serve with sauce.

Practical

Our full menu for our Italian menu was:
  • Minestrone
  • Gnocchi "Piedmontaise"
  • Involtini di Pollo
  • Spinach & Peperonata
  • Saffron Risotto
  • Zabaglione
Minestrone is a typical Italian soup, and while it is common it does not necessarily have a set recipe, normally being made from whatever fresh vegetables are available along with meat scraps. Gnocchi "Piedmontaise" are gnocchi made from potato, egg, and flour. Involtini di Pollo is chicken breast and sage wrapped around a ground or paste chicken filling with bacon wrap. Peperonata is grilled pepper sautéed, in this dish we added spinach as well. Risotto was made as our previous recipes, with the addition of saffron. Zabaglione is a desert of whipped egg whites and cream flavoured with brandy, combined with strawberries tossed in balsamic vinegar.

Observations

I was excited for this week's world cuisine class as I love Italian cooking. Our starter minestrone turned out quite well and was very flavourful, a good start to the day. Unfortunately we had some problems cooking our gnocchi, perhaps due to adding too many to the water at once, and they ended up clumping. Once we started again, they turned out fine, although Chef would have preferred slightly less colour from sautéing. Our Involtini di Pollo turned out well, although Chef mentioned it was done well and if it had been cooked much longer it would have easily become overcooked. The spinach and peperonata, along with the saffron risotto both turned out very well. Our zabaglione was also very good, with an appropriate blend of flavours while maintaining a light texture.