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.

Practice, practice, practice...

I’m doing the dishes for my exam at the moment; As you know it’s turbot, a very nice flat-fish. So, yesterday evening I practiced my fake turbot. I went to the Sunday market at Dupleix, but they only sold HUGE turbot fish (at least 35-40 euro per fish). So I decided to buy a turbot look-a-like: Brill. Same texture, smaller and cheaper (yes Mark, cheaper!)

Cheap... I'm not like him, but Paris is soooooo expensive...

I tried two different cooking styles for the fish. Cooking it ‘on the bone’ and filleting first and then cook it with a special forcemeat/topping. Interesting results... I’ll explain in another blog-post.

I also tried two different garnishes, the simple ones; something with lettuce and something with the (mini) calamari.

Mon Calamari, different style (from Star Wars)

I still have to decide which one I’m going to use;

Tonight: practice evening for the Verrine in a shot-glass and two garnishes. The shot-glass has to be filled with a (drinkable, as in ‘liquid’) soup, served either cold or warm. I’m working on  asparagus soup at the moment. It’s asparagus soup because it is the season for it, but also because many people in class will do some kind of pea/lettuce soup, which is very French. And I want to do something else.... Regarding the garnishes, I’ll try to make some descent purees and combine the two (or maybe not).

A puree made from... little green 'pea kids'...

Tomorrow we have a double practical to practice our exam. I’ll try to aim for a 4 hour project to make two plates (different styles) and two shot-glasses with soup. I’ll also try to make some extra garnishes; just to see if it works with the fish. and it’s hot in Paris....and it's worse in ze kitchen..

Until tomorrow, Sjoerd

Update: My first attempt of the soup wasn’t that bad, but I’m not completely happy with the final result. Too ‘milky’ and too salty. I’ll try again!