France - Week 1

Ok so after this week I am making a conscientious effort to get my posts in sooner; so you can see everything up to the minute (so to speak). This week we made cuisine traditional to the country of France...I know we have done a lot of French cuisine. Then again they are considered the fore-fathers of the modern kitchen/cuisine.

The menu consisted of: Soupe de Legumes aux Petits Coquillages (Vegetable Soup with Shellfish); Le Blanc de Poisson Belle Mouginoise (Fillet of Fish Bell Mouginoise); Filet de Porc Farci Lyonnaise (Stuffed Pork Tenderloin); Ratatouille; Salade de Poire (Pear Salad); and Mousse au Chocolat (Chocolate Mousse). Peggy made the vegetable shellfish soup and chocolate mousse, Kelsey (sp) made the pear salad and ratatouille, Maria made the white fish (fillet of fish), and I made the stuffed pork tenderloin.

The vegetable shellfish soup was really good; it included clams, mussels and scallops (which were added in at the last minute; just before serving so they do not get tough). The clams and mussels are steamed open in some clam juice and placed aside. You then sweat some vegetables, add some diced tomato, place the mussels back in bring to a boil with the clam juice, and then add the clams and scallops at the end. Viola, a great cup of shellfish soup; of course remember to taste and add salt and pepper to your liking. The fish was prepared by Maria and it was perfect...

Maria began by thinly slicing tomatoes, cucumbers and white mushrooms; she then arranged them nicely on top of the lightly seasoned fish fillets (any skinless, boneless, firm white fish will do in this recipe). You can see the pattern in the picture shown here. You then add the layered fish onto a buttered pan; large enough to hold the fillets. Almost forgot...make sure to also spread some minced shallots to the buttered pan; then place the fish on top of the shallots. Add some vermouth and white wine to the pan (approximately 4 1/2 oz)...place in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F; the cooking should not take more than 4 -6 minutes or until cooked (do not overcook). Remove the fish from the cooking liquid and set aside to keep moist and warm. Add some fish stock (fume) and a little heavy cream to the cooking liquid, reduce the liquids to sauce consistency (coating the back of the spoon). After it is reduced you whisk in butter and chives vigorously; until shiny and creamy. Correct the seasoning in the sauce and then pour over the top of the finished fish layed out on a serving platter.

The stuffed pork tenderloin is made by the same method I have spoken about a few times now in this blog. Start by butterflying a pork tenderloin; pound it out with a meat clever; lightly season with salt, pepper and olive oil; then stuff with a prepared stuffing. In this case the stuffing consisted of sauteed onions and garlic, raw ground pork, salt, pepper, chopped herbs (oregano, chervil, sage, and parsley), breadcrumbs and one egg. Of course roll up the stuffed tenderloin tightly and secure closed by trussing it in twine. Pan sear the roll ups in a small amount of oil; place aside and drain off the fat. Deglaze the pan with red wine; add in a bay leaf or two, some herbs (sage, oregano, parsley stems, chervil); place back in the pork and fill halfway up the meat with brown stock and diced tomatoes. Bring to a boil and braise in the oven at 350 degrees for about 35 - 45 minutes. When finished take out the pork and keep warm in a covered plate...reduce the sauce and take out the leaves, stems, etc. Add a little dissolved arrowroot (or cornstarch) and finish off with a little melted butter. Slice the pork on the bias, thinly, and serve on a plate topped with the reduced sauce. This meal goes great with Ratatouille; which Kelsey made and it turned out great! Kelsey's ratatouille was also served by itself in a small bowl; accompanied with toasted french bread brushed with olive oil.

The chocolate mousse is made using the same recipe I have outlined before in past posts (use the search bar above to find recipe). The difference in this mousse was the presentation; I got creative and split an orange. I then carved out the fruit from the skin from half; and used a melon-baller to scoop out the rest of the fibers stuck to the rind. The other half of the orange I segmented and julienned some of the skin. Peggy piped the finished mousse into the empty half of orange and I topped it with julienned orange zest. We then surrounded the finished product with the segmented orange slices. Again a night of great food and awesome photos...

Attack of the Giant Eggplant!

It was a humid evening in South Florida and the AI campus was buzzing with students eager to get to the next class; and of course the overly crowded parking garage doesn't help the situation...

Down stairs in the Fundamentals kitchen the groups of infantile chefs await their fate for the next two days...

Chef Bill saunters across the room and opens his attendance book; as he begins to call everyones name out and they flash their recipe cards...Bill selectively finds his next victim...!

Bill says today & tomorrow you will swim in vegetables...we will make Cauliflower Au Gratin, Grilled vegetables, tempura vegetables...
Vegetables! yes folks not shrimp or lobster but VEGETABLES!
Bill continues...we'll make Rata-ta-ta-ta-ta-touille (not the movie folks; no rats in this recipe), steamed broccoli & green beans, glazed carrots and (lightning/thunder sound) glazed beets...

Little did we know we'd be making one more thing...
THE GIANT EGGPLANT...(lightning/thunder sound)! muahahahahah ahahahha hahaha!

Ok enough of the scary crazy sound effect although they were a great change of direction. This week was all about veggies...and yes the Eggplants we used for the eggplant parm were HUGE!

We made all the above dishes...the cauliflower au gratin was basically blanched cauliflower with bechamel sauce, topped with parmesean cheese. The tempura batter was ice water, egg yolk and flour mixed well...it's light (internal joke of a video on our eclassonline).

Grilling the vegetables were awesome...I helped make the marinade which consisted of minced garlic, minced ginger, soy sauce, olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, red pepper flakes and (shhhh) honey...we tossed cherry tomatoes, summer squash, zuchinni, onion, and mushrooms in the marinade and Delmig made perfect grill marks. I of course practiced this at home last Thursday and grilled them up the same way...but I added green onion and Eggplant.

Steaming the broccoli and green beans were easy...blanch them in boiling salted water and then shock them in ice water...in case any of you wanted to make perfect steamed veggies...

As for the Rata ta ta tat at at at ta touille it was yummy! We basically let some yummy veggetables meld together with some tomato and added herbs...a slow cooking process but yummy none the less.

I almost forgot...I made AWESOME collard greens...my mother thought I bought them from a soul food restaurant...lol
In a pot a made the "liquor" by simmering a ham hock with red pepper flakes...added the sliced collard greens into the liquor and added onion, brown sugar...the collards simmered until very soft and I added salt, white pepper to taste...

The Eggplant parm was not intimidating at all...lol...the Eggplants were big...we filled a whole sheet pan (lined with paper towels) with them and sprinkled salt on them to drain the water.
We then did standard breading procedure and pan fried them. Served them with some Rata ta ta ta ta ta touille and of course I can't forget we made tostones too (twice fried green plantains).

Good week overall and the next week we are working with grains, potatoes and STARCHES...muhahahahahh ahaha hhahahaha...!