Commercial Baking

Yet another failure in baking for me! I was assigned a chocolate round cookie recipe which did not take long to execute, so chef gave me a macaroon recipe to do. The batter ended up being too thin and would not do what we wanted it to do. I was so pissed off that I refused to even touch it again. Chef wanted me to fix it by adding more almond paste to thicken it up. I told her I needed to stay away from it for a while for my sanity. I really hate baking, but I despise baking with almond paste. That stuff is disgusting. So she eventually asked if she could have someone else fix it...of course I said yes! That's what I wanted to hear from her mouth the whole time! Anyways, my chocolate cookies came out really well, so that made me happy. They are essentially a shortbread cookie and I don't like that texture, but Derek really did.

We didn't really do much other than bake in mass quantities. It was a really short class. The fun really began during seminar which was garnishing. We had the cutest little Asian chef to teach us how to make roses out of radishes and things like that. The best part of the night was making the 3 fish in the mushroom. I totally mastered that and will use in on my practicum plate on Tuesday!

Today's Recipes:Ham and Cheese Scones, Jalapeno Cheddar Biscuits, Sour Cream Coffee Cake, Congo Bars, Peanut Butter Brownies, Molasses Ginger Crisps, Double Chocolate Round Cookies, Muffins of all kinds!

Sauces

Today's class was a review class for us. We focused on the Mother Sauces that we would have to know for the practicum. We didn't have any set recipes in our binder, we would just cook whatever they had in purchasing and that went with the sauces we were making. We pulled some salmon, t-bones, and made french fries. Everyone made every sauce for practice. I am more than comfortable making a mayonnaise, so I hope I get a dish with that for the practicum.

The highlight of the day was that purchasing had FIDDLEHEAD FERNS!!! Talk about back in the day! They weren't nearly as big as the ones dad and I used to pick and they aren't as good with out the marinade and the Townhouse Cracker underneath! Still nice to see them though.

We discussed our Practicum a lot. We will have half our cards as savory and half our cards will be sweet (pray for me to pull a savory! Preferably a braise). They will have the name of the dish and the ingredients and their measurements. When we pull our card, we sit down and write our our method for cooking the dish. We then bring that to the proctor so they can inspect it and make sure we will not make a fool of ourselves when we start cooking. Once we have their approval, we make the dish for 1 serving. The proctor will bring it up to 2 'judges'. Most of our grade comes from the dish we serve and how it tastes, however, our proctor will be watching us and our kitchen performance and we will be graded on that too. I am a little nervous, but not too bad. I think Saturday I may practice, but on Monday we have free range to practice whatever we want, so that will really help me out a lot.

Gelatin/Bavarian

We were warned that this would be a pain in the ass class. For me, it was, but not because of the gelatin or Bavarian, but because of a damn genoise. A simple stinking cake. I had to make a genoise as the base to my Bavarian. You whip the eggs over a double boiler just until the increase in volume and turn to a pale yellow. Well, I cooked mine way too long. It was so thick after I mixed in the flour. I had to split it in between 2 cake pans. Normally you have 2 cakes that are about 2 inches high...I had 2 cakes that equalled half an inch. Needless to say, I did the recipe again. The time I was more successful and I ended up being glad that I did it again, so I know the technique. To make the gelatin for the top of the cake, you can use 1 of 2 types of gelatin. There is the powder kind, which you add water too until it's the consistency of applesauce, then apply heat to make it a smooth liquid when you are ready to use or you can use the gelatin sheets which you just add to water to soften them, then they dissolve in whatever you put them in. I used the powder. The flavor of my gelatin was peach. The peaches they gave us, from the can, were not sweet at all. My final product was pretty boring. I should have added another fruit to bump up the flavor. Oh well, it's only baking!

We also had a quiz, which I got a 100 on. I needed that since I got an 88 on the Food Basics quiz the week before. Since this was suppose to be a 'hard' class, I think we did well seeing as there were no major disasters.

Today's Recipes:Tangerine and Vanilla Bavarian, Hazelnut Chocolate Mocha Torte Brunelleschi, Chocolate Bavarian with Bitter Orange Sauce, Bavaroise Rubane, Blanc Mange, Apple and Calvados Bavarian, Creme Fraise Bavarian, Coffee Mousse, Cherry 'Jell-o'

Game

Today we discussed small or 'furred' game and large game. We did not cook any 'furred' game. We had rabbit last week and no one was willing to go kill a squirrel so we could eat it. The recipes we made today were all large game. Lecture was quite short today seeing there isn't much to learn about game that most people don't already know. Class was small today as 3 of our 8 students were out because of the marathon. It's nice when it's a smaller class as you don't run into anyone as much, but the dishes suck when the numbers are that low!

The recipes I was in charge of today were the Roasted Pheasant with Apricots and Prunes and the Cranberry Swirl Cheesecake. I started with the cheesecake because I knew I could make it, put it in the fridge and forget about it until after we ate. I have never made cheesecake before. It's pretty easy. Still nothing I will willingly start doing though. It had a traditional graham cracker crust, the cheesecake itself had orange zest in it and then it was topped with a thick cranberry sauce that I swirled on top. I made 6 individual servings and then one larger one just to use up the rest of the filling. They all cracked, but I didn't really care because it's baking and you know how I feel about that.

After that, I started the pheasant. The cool part about that is they still had their feet on (see close-up picture). I roasted them for about 45 minutes. They are so very lean and have little meat to them and I thought that seemed like a long time, but chef said it was ok and that pheasant is not really known to be juicy anyways since there is hardly any fat. While they were roasting I made a thin veloute with flour, butter, and chicken stock. While this simmered, I added the juices from the roasted pheasants and a syrup that had wine and grand marnier in it. I also had the apricots and prunes soaking in this syrup too. I cut up one of the pheasants for service and kept the other one whole for presentation and covered it all with the veloute. It was pretty good. Most of the game was dry and somewhat tough since it's so lean and hard to keep moist. That is why we all had a sauce or two to go with our game meat.

Overall the day was pretty good. Don't look at how ugly the cheesecake looks, my thumb went into it on the side and I had already put a spoon through the center to see how cooked it was before I thought of taking the picture! We also got our quizzes back from last week. I got an 88. That kind of sucks, so I have to ace the baking quiz tomorrow. We also are presenting our restuarant topics tomorrow night in seminar. I'm really excited about it!

Today's Recipes:Braised Wild Boar with Braised Leeks and Mustard Sauce with Rice Pilaf, Duck Ragu with Cashews, Raisins and Pineapple with a Lime Scallion Custard, Venison Noisettes with Cumberland Sauce, Roasted Shallot Potato Cake, Date, Walnut and Goat Cheese Salad, Spiced Strawberry Sorbet with Black Pepper

Pasta/Meringue

Sorry, I have no pictures of my Pasta class...I forgot my camera again. At least the meringue is there!

For Food Basics, we made homemade pasta. It's quite easy, it just takes a little time. We did the method where you make a well of flour and add the eggs in the center then slowly start mixing in the flour. Once you got in as much flour as you need, you start kneading the pasta dough. To tell it's done, you make it into a tight ball and cut it with a knife. The inside should have practically no air bubbles and should be smooth and dry. You then put it into the fridge to relax for at least 30 minutes. The recipe I received was Pasta with Feta, Red Onion, Arugula, and Pine Nuts. It was a really basic recipe. Pretty much you would just make the pasta and toss all of the other ingredients in. Instead, I made an arugula pesto so the pasta was coated in some sort of sauce. Once the pasta was out of the fridge, we cut it into quarters and started passing it through the pasta machine on the Kitchen Aid (I have to get one!) Once the sheets were thin, we put them on an instrument that resembled a guitar. It was time consuming and the dough stuck together no matter how much semolina we put down. It was a very thin pasta that resulted. The pasta cooked in no time and my dish was ready with the rest of the appetizers that were going out. Because I finished so quickly, I made another dish with leftover dough. I rolled the dough out on the machine then I rolled it onto itself and hand cut a thick pasta. I sauteed some leftover onions and cooked the pasta, then dressed it with a little veal sauce that was being made for another recipe. Even though this pasta was rolled out as thin as my other pasta, it was cut thicker and that made it so much better.

Today's Recipes:Tortelli di Zucca, Papparedelle with a Rabbit Ragu, Trenette con Pesto Genovese, Rotolo Ripieno alla Bandiera, Ravioli Al Forno con Funghi e Vitello, Mezze Pennette alle Vongole, Apple Ravioli with Walnut Cream Sauce

For Baking Basics we focused on meringue. The recipe I got was an Almond Dacquoise (this refers to the fact that there are ground nuts in the meringue). To make the meringue, my method included beating egg whites in a stand mixer until foamy. Once foamy, I added acid in the form of cream of tartar, then beat everything to a soft peak. Once there, I added sugar tablespoon by tablespoon. Once all is added, let the mixture beat together until it's shiny and stiff. After that, I folded in the ground almonds then spread the mixture on 6 pre-traced circles. They baked for 30 minutes until they were dry, but still soft. While those cooled, I made the whipped cream filling that would go in between the layers. I whipped up about 2 cups of cream and on the stove I made a syrup out of mandarin puree, lime juice, sugar and lemon and lime zest. Once that cooled, I folded it into the whipped cream and layered it in between the circles of meringue.

Today's Recipes:Apples Meringue Tartlets, Baked Alaska, Oeufs a la Neige, Lemon Pistachio Praline Dacquoise, Torte Ludmilla, Orange Almond Marshmallows, Chewy Chocolate Pecan Macaroons, Irish Coffe Meringues, Walnut Almond Chocolate Dacquoise with Almond Rum Buttercream

In seminar, we discussed the role of the front of the house. It was a pretty neutral class. We were all thinking about our group projects that are due on Tuesday. My group and I have everything done, now we just need to get in on paper and assembled. I think we are procrastinating because we haven't sent any emails to each other about it. I know I am because I haven't done anything yet. It should be quick to get everything knocked out, it's just starting it that's the hard part! I'm excited to present to the class because I think our concept is really cool!

Chocolate and Buttercream

Today's lecture was about chocolate and buttercream. We were able to do a taste test with about 6 types of chocolate. Chef Lisa also started talking about where they harvest the cocoa pods. The only way it grows is in hot climates that have a lot of shade. They grow quite well at placed near the equator. The whole time she was talking about it, it made me think of the honeymoon because we went to a cocoa plantation and saw everything from the trees to the cocoa pods out fermenting in the sun (see pic above). The chocolate lecture was fairly quick and then we moved onto buttercream. There are 2 types of buttercream. One is made with egg yolks, sugar, and butter and the other is made with whipped egg whites, simple syrup and butter. The lecture's demo was of the buttercream made with whipped egg whites. It's a pretty quick process, but it doesn't taste as good and the one with the yolks or the really quick recipe I usually use which is loaded with butter and confectioner's sugar.

The recipe I received was Pistachio and Strawberry Cake with Pistachio Buttercream. Once we were in the kitchen, it was a fight for the stand mixers as we all had to make buttercream and our cake batters. Once that was squared away, I started putting together my batter. It was a normal batter with the addition of crushed pistachio. Once that was in the oven baking, I started making my buttercream. The uniqueness of my buttercream was that it was actually a pastry cream with the butter whipped in. I had to steep the pistachio in cream for an hour. Once that is done, I whisk together the yolks and sugar and then incorporate the cream along with the pistachio and cook it until it thickens. Once it's thickened, it went into the food processor to pulverize the nuts which made the pastry cream a cool green color. Once the pastry cream cooled, I had to put it in the stand mixer and start putting in the 1.5 cups of butter a tablespoon at a time. When it was done, I had to taste it of course. It was very, very good! To assemble my cake, I took one of the two baked cakes and layered the top with buttercream, sliced strawberries, buttercream, strawberries, buttercream. Then I put the second piece of cake on top and covered the top of that with a smooth, thin layer of the pistachio buttercream. To decorate it, I whipped cream quite stiff and piped it up the side and made rosettes on the top with a large star tip. I am really proud of the way it came out!

Today's Recipes:Chocolate Orange Dobos Torte, Chocolate Kahlua Fantasy Cake, Chocolate Angel Food Cake, Checkerboard Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream, Devil's Food Cake with Caramelized Bananas, Gianduia Mousse Cake

In between baking and lecture my team, for the restaurant project, went out to find our menu cover and paper. While we were there, we found a postcard that was perfect for our name, Spring Chicken, and the concept. It's a watercolor picture of a baby chick in one of those soft-boiled egg cups, on a dining table with a spoon in front and a salt shaker in the back. It is PERFECT for our concept. That will be our cover page.

During lecture we talked about menu engineering. We looked at an example menu that was from Newport. It was clearly geared towards tourists. It was all crammed onto one page and had lots of nautical clip art. We discussed how to make the design better. Derek and I went out to dinner to a new restaurant the other night and I was noticing that their menu sucked as far as appearance. I think it has ruined me now, because I am focusing on their menu setup, not the food! We also talked about how you can keep track of the dishes that are ordered each night and how to rate them based on the price it costs you to make them minus how much you charge and the percentage rate at which they are ordered. Once you get that information over a period of time, you can see what items can be taken off the menu or what items can be adjusted to make them more popular. We only have 1 more lecture before we have to have our group projects in and do a presentation on our new restaurant. I have a lot of work to do because it's coming up fast. I think we have a good idea, now we just need to get it all down in a menu form!

Shellfish Pt. 2

Today was the completion of our shellfish class. Lecture focused on crustaceans and cephlopods. Lecture seemed relatively short compared to the last few. We discussed crab, lobster and squid. The best part of lecture was when chef said we are very lucky to be living so close to Maine since they have great lobster there. It made me think of dad...I was so close to telling everyone how my father hates Maine because the don't have lobsters!! I bit my tongue on that one though.

Once in the kitchen I got right to work. I think this was the quickest I have even done my mise en place. The recipe I was in charge of was Gratin of Seafood. For seafood, it had tilapia, swordfish, king crab, and scallops. The sauce that went over the top was a bechemel that had a lot of paprika, mushrooms and cream in it. It was a very rich dish. I would have been done well in time for lunch, but the seafood people the school deals with was delayed in their delivery and did not arrive until the late morning, so I had to wait until that arrived. This also happened to most people in my class. While we waited, we made some 'optional' dishes. My classmate and I focused on the Coconut Dessert. It was a really quick coconut 'mousse' that was topped with Mango Coulis, toasted coconut and toasted macadamia nuts. Once the rest of the seafood arrived I assembled my food in 6 individuals bowls normally used for French Onion Soup. We were still a while off from having the main course, but this recipe could be put together and sit in the fridge until ready to fire. While I had down time, I made the mayonnaise for the fried apps we were having. This was squid, mussels and veggies all fried. Chef demonstrated how to clean the squid. As a defense mechanism, cephlopods have ink that they release. While you are cleaning the squid, you have to be careful not to puncture that sac or you would be stained with black ink for quite a while. In the culinary world, people will use the ink to dye food. You can have something like black pasta...very handy to remember for next Halloween!

We munched on the apps then got to cooking the entrees. Mine took about 30 minute to cook and turned out great. Again, it was very rich, so we also had a Papaya and Avocado Salad with Lime Dressing that helped to cut the richness during the meal. I don't think there was too much I was thrilled about this week as far as recipes. I think I may have been seafooded-out after last week!

Today's Recipes:Warm Salad of Soft Cooked Eggs and Smoked Fish, Mixed Fry with Sage, Gratin of Seafood, Roulade of Swordfish, Scallop Shell of Puff Pastry Filled with Salmon and Vegetable Pearls, Lobster Risotto, Papaya, Avocado and Jerusalem Artichoke Salad, Coconut Blanc Mange with a Coulis of Mango and Macadamia Nuts

Shellfish/Genoise

Sorry for the delay. I also don't have pictures for this week as I forgot my camera. For Food Basics, we focus on shellfish, specifically mollusks. There wasn't much to the lecture, but talking about raw oysters got me hungry! Once we were in the kitchen, we started our mise en place and waiting for the oysters and clams to arrive. I have never shucked an oyster before and was awaiting my time to do this! Once they arrived chef demonstrated how to shuck the oyster. The oyster has a 'soft spot' at the narrower end. You take a tool that looks like a thick, dull knife without the pointed end and wedge it into that soft spot. You need to have the oyster wrapped with a towel and have the towel wrap around your hand as well. If not, say 'hello' to a huge gash in your hand. That kind of scared me because Chef kept telling me I have to wedge the knife in more. I was afraid that if would slip and go right into my hand if I pushed any harder. Once I got over that fear and popped open my first oyster, the rest were pretty simple.

We then moved onto cracking open raw clams. A lot of us failed miserably at this, thankfully, it wasn't my dish and I could walk away. I think it is almost impossible to open them. You have to line up the tool where the to shells meet, however, you are trying to fit a tool that is twice as thick as the little opening into the clam. The result ends in you shaving the side of the clam. I can honestly say that I quit that attempt in opening even one. It's not worth the time. Just smash them with a hammer or cook them so they steam open, it will save you a lot of time!

The recipe I focused on was Oysters Rockefeller. This is a classic recipe for oysters. It had a lot of steps, but is and easy recipe. By then end of class, we only had 4 students as the rest of the class went home because they weren't feeling well (this was before we ate, so it wasn't the oysters). Because of that, we were able to eat a couple of raw oysters. I have to say that I would prefer a raw oyster over a cooked oyster any day.

Today's Recipes:Oysters Rockefeller, Oysters Casino, Garlic Clam Pizza with Thyme (gag me!), Clams with Dill Cream and Roasted Red Pepper Butter, Chunky Shrimp Gazpacho with Basil Croutons, Steamed Mussels with Orange, Fennel and Garlic, Sauteed Scallops with Leek Fondue, Mixed Greens with Creamy Lime Fig Dressing and Armenian String Cheese, Pear Mousse

In Baking, we are in our 2nd of 5 weeks of cakes. This week is Genoise, which is a sponge cake. The lecture was about cakes in general and very boring. The recipe I received was not for a genoise, but for something completely off of the radar. It was Apple-Walnut Upside Down Cake with Calvados Caramel Sauce. Chef said this was a quick recipe and that when I am done, I should still make a Genoise as Genoise are notorious for showing up on our practicums. The apple recipe was good, but my favorite part was the caramel sauce. I have always wanted to make caramel sauce and now that I know how easy it is, I may be making a lot of things covered in caramel. I did make the Genoise and found it to be an easy recipe to master. I had pictured using the Genoise to make a cake that tasted the the samoas girl scout cookies, but I didn't have time. Maybe someday I will make that when there is a big party going on. Instead, I took the baked genoise and dumped the rest of my caramel sauce on it and brought it home to Derek. He was quite excited to get a whole cake when he knows not to expect anything from the baking courses.

Today's Recipes:Apricot Almond Genoise, Chocolate Genoise with Chocolate Ganache Filling (the best one since it had chocolate covered espresso beans on the outside), Chocolate Citrus Bang, Cream Cheese Pound Cake with Poppy Seeds, Praline Nut Roll, Spice Cake with Mocha Butter cream and Caramelized Pecans

For seminar, we focused on food cost. I really am enjoying this Food Management Seminar more than I thought. I like to know all of the details of things and this seems to be what it's about. We broke down how much a recipe costs per serving and how to figure those numbers out. We talked about building relationships with suppliers and how to deal with them if things don't go as they should or you get a bad product. This may be where I am headed with my career. It's still early though, so don't hold me to that.

Before seminar, my team met and we decided on the name of the restaurant we are opening. We are calling it The Spring Chicken and only serving 'baby' products, whether they are baby because of their age or size. We've done a really good job so far of creating our menu. I think we will do really well because we are having fun with it, but we are taking it seriously and are making wise decisions. For those of you that don't know what a 'spring chicken' is, it's a chicken that is killed at 6-8 weeks after birth. So there you have why we are serving baby animals!!