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!