Saturday, December 4, 2010

Playing catch up!

So we learned in class the way to make perfect rice. Well rice that can be reheated without becoming soggy! Yay right? So now I am going to share this secret with everyone else. It's really simple!

First take 4-5 quarts of water, and bring to a boil. Season with salt. Add 3/4 cup of rice and stir. Keep the boiling going and cook for exactly 15 mins. No longer no shorter! Once it has boiled for 15 mins, take off heat and rinse in cold water until the rice is cold! And there you have it!

So what we did the first day after we made the rice we added yummy veggies (onions and carrots)

First you melt the butter! Yummy butter! haha, anywho once the butter is melted and the veggies and sweat. Once they are tender season and then add the rice. Cook until heated! The eat! I love rice! haha!

Chasseur Sauce 
 3oz Mushrooms sliced finely 
1/2 Tomato  skinned and de-seeded 
1oz Shallots  Minced
1 oz butter
1/2 quart Demi-glace
1/2cup White wine
 Salt 
Pepper 
Chopped Parsley

Melt the butter, sweat the shallots, add the mushrooms and season with salt. add the white wine and reduce by 3/4, add the demi-glace and tomatoes and simmer until it is able to coat the back of a spoon but not too thick. Take off the heat and taste. Season if needed and add the parsley. 

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Math

This is the conversion Chart. In order it goes Gallons, Quarts, Pints,Cups, Ounces, Tablespoons and Teaspoons.

If you have questions please ask.

Recipies this week

Fish Fumet- Yeilds 1/2 gallon


1/2oz butter 
2oz onions
1oz celery 
1oz carrots
1oz mushrooms
4oz dry white wine
2 1/2 quarts cold water 
4lbs fish bones
Shacet: 1 Bay Leaf, 1/4 tsp black peppercorn, 6 Parsley Stems, 1 Clove.

Melt the butter in a sauce pan, add the mirepoix(onions, celery, carrots, mushrooms) and sweat the veggies over low heat careful not to add color. After sweating the veggies  add the fish bones on top of the veggies and add the wine, place a round piece of parchment paper over and let simmer. Once the wine is reduced by half add the water and sachet and simmer, never boil. let simmer for 30-45 minutes skimming the foam that floats on the top of the water. After simmering for 30-45 mins, strain through a china cap lined with layers of cheese cloth. 

Espagnol- Yields 2 quarts

8oz Onions 
4oz Carrots
4oz Celery 
4oz Butter
4oz Flour
2oz Tomato Paste
3qt Brown Stock 
1cup Red Wine 
Sachet: Cheese cloth, Clove, Parsley Stem, Thyme

In a large sauce pan melt the butter, then add the Mirepoix(onions, carrots and celery) until colored, add the tomato paste then add red wine and turn up the heat until the red wine is reduced by half, turn off the heat and add the flour, stir until mixed in, then add the brown stock and turn on the heat again, bring to a simmer,  Add the sachet, and simmer for 2 hours.

Chicken Stock- Yields 2 gallons

10-12lbs Chicken Bones
10-12lbs qt Water
MirePoix:
  1lb Onion 
  8oz Carrot(optional) 
  8oz Celery 
Sachet:  
 1 Bay Leaf
 6-8 Stems Fresh Thyme
 1/4tsp Peppercorn
 6-8 Parsley Stems
2 Whole Cloves

Blanch the bones by placing them in cold water and bring to a boil, drain and wash the bones. Place the bones in another Stockpot and cover again with cold water, Bring to a boil reduce to a simmer, and skim the skum that gathers on the top, Add the Mirepoix and the Sachet. Simmer for 3-4 hours skimming when skum gathers on top. Strain through a china cap and cheese cloth.

Roux and Demi Glaces

So basically there are three different types of roux. They are White, Brown and Blond. A roux for those who don't know is a cooked mixture of equal amounts by weight of  flour and butter that is used to thicken sauces. The difference is how long you cook them, usually for a white roux you only cook it for a minute or so. A Blond roux is cooked for 3-4 mins and a Brown roux is cooked until you have the color you are after. Be careful not to over cook the roux. It is easy to go from a brown roux to a black one. 
The best way to know how much roux to make is to use 2oz of flour and 2oz of butter per 1quart of liquid. 

Now to talk about Demi Glace a little bit. This is made by half brown stock and half brown sauce reduced by half. This is generally used to make sauces like Chasseur sauce. It is common now days for people to not make the Demi Glace like they used to. A Modern Demi is made from just reduced brown stock until it is thickened. This is still a bit runny and not nearly as sauce like. 

One thing to remember is a Demi Galce is not like a Glace De Viande. A Glace De Viande is just for flavor and doesn't make sauces.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Stocks

So here are my notes from class this week. Fyi I will not say that my spelling is correct. I tried my best while taking notes! lol


So first off is Fonds Brun aka Brown stock.

It takes 6-8 hours to cook this stock, and both veal and beef bones can be used to make this stock.
For every gallon of stock you use 4-6lbs of bones, 1lb of mirepoix(its a mixture that adds up to be 50% onions, 25% carrots and 25% celery) A basic sachet includes: Peppercorn, Bay Leaves, Cloves and Parsley Stems this is all wrapped up in cheesecloth and tied with butchers twine. Oh ya you also roast the bones for this stock!

Different things that can be made from Fonds Brun are: Espagnole sauce, Jus Lie(brown stock thickened with a slurry. A slurry is cornstarch and water), Soups and Glace De Viande(meat glaze)

Fonds De Volaille- Poultry stock or pretty much Chicken stock

This one takes 3-4 hours to cook. You use chicken bones  and just like the Fonds Brun you need 4-6lbs of bones per gallon as well as 1lb of mirepoix . Unlike the brown stock you do not roast these bones. You blanch them, skim the foam that is floating on the water, wash the bones and add more water a long with the mirepoix and sachet.

Different things that can be made from this stock: Veloute, Soup, Glace De Voaille

Fonds De Veau Blanc- White Veal Stock

This one takes 5-6 hours, just like the idea of  chicken stock blanch the bones. and add a Basic White Mirepoix. This consists of Onions, Parsnips and celery. A classic white mirepoix is Onions, Celery, Parsnips, Leeks and mushrooms.

Fonds De Legumes- Veggie Stock

Cook time is 30-45 mins. Basically this stock can have any veggies in there. There can't be startchy veggies like potatoes. Things like Tomatoes, or squash should not be added either.

From this stock you can make Soup or Veloute.

Fumet De Poisson- Fish Stock

Cook time 30-45mins. This stock is not something to be boiled. You bring this to a slow simmer. The goal is to try to keep the stock as clear as possible. The bones from a white fish is the best. Like Halibut it the best.

This can make Soups, Glaces or Veloute.

I think this is enough for tonight. I will post the recipes later on. Maybe tomorrow. We will see how much time I have.  

Why?

So basically people have been asking me "So what did you learn in school today?" and instead of making it hard for the person to understand exactly what I have been doing I have decided to post my notes from class here. I will be posting stuff from my lecture as well as the recipes that we used. This also makes it easier for me because I get to save my voice and not half to tell the same story every time :) hehe. Not that I mind saying all that I learned but hey it does get repetitive. Anywho, now I won't be able to post every day so this will be more of a weekly thing or whenever I have some down time. Yay! This is also going to help me study! Yay for studying! So this is basically what is going on and what will happen from now on.