Escabėche de rouget, blancs de pintade et blancmange aux fruit de saison. oh, la,la, c'est bon!

Lesson 21;
LCB calls it 'modern cuisine'. The main course that is. I'll get back on that later.
Chef Lesourd was cooking for us today. That's the little one on the right hand-side in the picture ... he's a great chef, he has super dessert plating skills and he's always talking about little tricks of the trade, selling gadgets and it's just fun to work with him.

For a starter, chef made red mullet 'escabeche' with fennel cream. The fennel cream is easy: Just put some sweated fennel (cooked) with creme fraiche in the blender. An 'escabeche' is a cooked marinade we use for the fish that consists of a brunoise of carrot, fennel and onion, some garlic, vinegar, a bit of herbs (and a bonus: saffron!)
When still warm, pour over the fish fillets. It's best to do that 24 hrs in advance. I can't remember if the dish was served hot or cold - I'd say cold, but I'm not sure. The colourful marinade can be used as a garnish; served on top of a blanched fennel leaf.

Then our 'modern cuisine'..... Guinea fowl breast cooked on the bone with lemon grass 'fricandeau' of legs and a mushroom flan. Well, modern.... I don't think so... 

You start with the standard procedure: Take the fowl, burn the feathers off (it also kills all the bacteria!), cut off the wings, take the wishbone out, cut off the legs (watch the oyster). Debone the legs and take the skin off. Chop off the backside of the carcass for the jus. The supremes are left on the breast bone for further cooking. So far so good. This was easy!

Of course we use the leftover bones and carcass to make a jus.

The meatballs in this dish are made from chorizo, mascarpone, left-over leg meat, some basil leaves and breadcrumbs. Fry the little balls (oh yeah!) in oil/butter. Don't cremate the stuff, just light-brown please.

The little flan is made with duxelles and cream. When the breasts (still on the bone) are cooked in the oven at 170 degC, slice the supreme off the breast bone with the knife. Actually, I thought it was a tasty dish, certainly no modern cuisine (more like old fashioned to me). But it was nice. Thanks chef! My practical for this went really well.

Le dessert; A fruit mixture with a mojito sorbet and a jasmine tuile.

This very refreshing dish was really really nice. There's not much to say about chopping up fruit, making a mojito and cooking a tuile. The blancmange is made from milk, almond milk and agar-agar. To make a frothy foam, just use a 'giraffe' blender. Bon appetite !

Dishes during the course, 22-29 April; 3 demo's.

Part 2. Lesson 15, 16 and 17.
Let's start with a few pictures.

starter: baby calamari with chorizo, bell peppers and rocket pesto. A nice summer dish.

A creapy handicapped looking squab.... It just looks funny. Deboned and stuffed, cooked in a cocotte with pork belly (and lots of garlic!)

Dessert: bitter chocolate soft-centered cake with arabica sorbet. Very,very nice indeed!

(recipe on request....)

Lesson 16;

Then chef made something with (greasy) fish; Sole, a very nice fish. Easy to make, but I thought it was a bit of a waste of a good fish to 'let it swim like this in the sauce'. I know that it's all about the style and technique, but I didn't like the presentation of this this. I skipped the corresponding practical.....

starter; haddock, mackerel and potato terrine with dill and a horseradish sauce. The makerel is poached the night before. Haddock is always smoked in France, so please pay attention when you buy this.

It's best to make dishes like this well in advance, it's better to let it rest overnight in the fridge to get more flavour.

An avocado sorbet for dessert. A what?? Yes, and it was surprisingly good. Served with a mango and pineapple chutney (French style) and shortbread pastry sticks.

Lesson 17; Let's start with dessert!

Sauternes wine jelly with a marbled lemon sorbet and a balsamic jus. A very refreshing dessert. Presentation: one round piece of sorbet or two small(er) strips.

Pan-fried monkfish, a vegetable puree of parsnip, Jerusalem artichokes (and lots of beurre et creme) and potato crisps.
Crips are made with waxy potatoes, like BF15. Peal, cook well and dry out in the oven at 140degC. Puree the lot, pass through a drum sieve (and add butter when warm!) Lay a bit on a sylpat and roll out very thinly. Sprinkle with fleur de sel and sesame- or poppy seeds and put in the oven at 150degC. (option: mix a bit of parsnip puree with the potato puree for more flavour!)

Crisp langoustines with a citrus emulsion, olive oil and wasabi for the starter. Chef Terrien had a creative moment...

I liked this starter, very light and tasty (spicy!). The kadaif pastry we use here is Turkish and made from cornstarch, flour, water and salt. Presented with a herb salad; That's easy - mix chervil, flat leaf parsley, tarragon, lemon grass, mint and marjoraml. Add a bit of herb-vinaigrette (last minute) with a drizzle of olive oil and lemon juice.

tip: For a nice herb vinaigrette: reduce a bit of orange juice (strained!). Put basil leaves, coriander, few spinach leaves for extra colour (all herbs chopped up), wasabi and a pinch of salt in the blender. Blend with olive oil and the cold reduced orange juice.
(You can add a little bit of water if needed.) Check seasoning. Result: Green, spicy vinaigrette.

Next is our second atelier (lesson 18) with sea bream, veal tenderloin, sweetbreads, caul fat, artichoke, spinach, beetroot, cauliflower, pearl onions and asparagus.