culinary school — week #2
When I saw that week 2 was about eggs and dough, I might have done a little happy dance — allergies aside, who doesn’t love quiche, pasta, or puff pastry. With all due respect to soups and salads, making a Quiche Lorraine, eggs florentine, allumettes and fresh pasta was not only tastier, but significantly more fun to prepare.
These days walking into the kitchen is about anticipating the deliciousness you’re about to wolf down in a couple of hours. And when you read on to see what we’ve eaten, you’ll understand why.
Eggs — In the last 7 days I’ve poached and hard-boiled eggs for the first time in my life and realized that I should be doing that more. Poached eggs on a bed of spinach coated in brown butter with a sauce mornay over it — yes, please. Folding an omelet on a poorly seasoned pan is a nightmare waiting to happen (I talked myself out of throwing the pan) but if you’re using non-stick give it a go and you’ll be very pleased with yourself with it folds just nice. And if you like a stuffed omelet, try filling it with nduja.
Sauces — When I thought you couldn’t make a bechamel more indulgent, just add a couple of yolks, a boatload of gruyere, and your preferred seasoning (some like mustard, I like a little paprika) to make your customized sauce mornay and feel super fancy when you have your own Sunday brunch party at home. Just remember to add the yolks off the heat so you don’t scramble your eggs.
Pâte Brisée — Shortcrust doughs are so much fun to put together as long as you keep your butter, your hands, and your surfaces cold. Easier said than done, especially if you’ve got hot hands. Treat the dough gently while rolling and draping over your pan and she’ll do wonders for you. Bake it blind (that means to bake it without any filling) and then fill it with egg custard and bacon and bake it — you won’t want to share it, I speak from experience. Or don’t fill it and eat plain shortcrust.
Pâte Feuilletée — Puff pastry on the other hand is unforgiving if done wrong. Keep the butter cold and rest the pastry with each book fold and take care of her. Be careful though, she will dazzle you with spectacular layers but one wrong move and she’ll crack and the butter will seep. You’ll still have delicious pastry but she won’t be able to show you all she’s capable of being. That said — fill her up with a creamy mushroom or cheese sauce and even problematic pastry will taste phenomenal.
Fresh Pasta — Something as simple as eggs, flour, oil, and (if necessary) water can create a beautiful dish. Mix the dough in a bowl to avoid a mess on your table and work it till nice and shiny before giving it a rest. Then cook down a mirepoix, smoked bacon, add garlic, bouquet garni, flour, tomato paste, tomatoes, and some chicken stock and throw it in the oven for 30 mins, pass it, reduce and season for an intensely rich tomato sauce. If you don’t fancy the sauce, the rolled and cut pasta doesn’t need more than good olive oil and some chopped basil.
Key Learnings from week #2:
Understand why things are done — why do we season the pan (to make it nonstick), why does the pastry need to rest (so that you can roll it out without shrinking), why does the butter need to be cold (if warm, there won’t be layers in the pastry), why do we chop the flour (to incorporate the butter slowly and not work the dough), why do we use lemon juice on mushrooms (to preserve the color).
Double egg-wash your pastries and it’ll get to the beautiful brown sheen that you see on all the pastries at your favorite bakery. Egg wash once, let it dry, and then coat your pastry with one more layer.
Stay calm and have fun and the results translate to the cooking and the final product — that doesn’t mean take your time but have the confidence in yourself to see improvements and they will come.
When the butter stops sizzling it’s done browning and you have your brown butter.
I’m getting more comfortable in a kitchen that’s well equipped with almost everything you’ll need to cook delicious dishes. Despite four 9-hour days of absorbing new information and hustling around the kitchen, the chefs, the demonstrations, and the dishes are getting more involved and exciting.
New techniques, tighter timelines in the kitchen, and the need to be continuously multitasking are all the things I came to school to learn. Despite getting my ass kicked a few times, I’m learning loads and I’ve already added eggs florentine, onion tarts, and allumettes au fromage to my next favorite foods.