Wednesday, January 9, 2008

The beginning of Skills 2



Hello everyone! I'm back. I hope everyone had a nice holiday time.

I'm back at school, and two days have already passed, and they have been crazy!







So, Skills 2 has begun. Two days have passed, and we have already done so much.

On day 1 we had to produce a Bouquet Garni, a Sachet, and small dice of turnip.

Bouquet Garni:
-A batonnet of celery (1/4" x 1/4" x2 1/2")
-Sprig of fresh thyme
-Fresh bay leaf
-8-10 parsley stems
All wrapped up in a leek.

Sachet:
-8-10 whole peppercorns
-sprig of fresh thyme
-fresh bay leaf
-5-6 parsley stems

On day 1 we also had to prepare our stocks. My group was assigned Fish Fumet

Fish Fumet
Yield: 1 gallon

Quantity Ingredients
1 oz Butter
Mirepoix:
4 oz Onion, chopped fine
2 oz Celery, chopped fine
2 oz Carrot, chopped fine (optional)
2 oz Mushroom trimmings (optional)
4-6 lb Bones from lean fish
8 fl oz White wine (dry)
Sachet:
1 Bay leaf
¼ tsp Peppercorns
6-8 Parsley stems
1 Whole Clove
1 gal Water, cold

Procedure:

1. Butter the bottom of a heavy stockpot or saucepot. Place the mirepoix in the bottom of the pot and the bones over the top of it. Cover the bones loosely with a round of brown paper or parchment.
2. Set the pot over low heat and cook slowly for about 5 minutes, until the bones are opaque and begin to exude juices.
3. Add the wine, bring to a simmer, and then add the sachet and water to cover.
4. Bring to a simmer again, skim, and let simmer for 30-45 minutes.
5. Strain through a china cap lines with several layers of cheesecloth.
6. Cool, vented, in a cold-water bath, and refrigerate.

So, we had to prepare the mirepoix, because day 2 we cooked it.

Here's a few pictures I took in the open lab after class.


Here's Chris and Doug in the walk-in.















Doug honing his knife.


















Josh practicing his egg-flipping.

















1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I just noticed what an awesome picture that is of you. Love the facial expression.

What do you guys do with all of the food you make in class?