Whisk: a food blog: 2009

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Pavlova Cupcakes

Pavlova. It's like a cloud, with a few sweet calories, but gluten free! Which is exactly the type of dessert I was looking for when preparing for a Christmas dinner catering event that had to be gluten-free, lactose-free and include a vegetarian option! This dessert was a sweet ending that could be served with lactaid-laced cream or on its own with fruit.

Pomegranate Cosmopolitan—Merry Christmas!

Popularized in New York City, the Cosmopolitan has been called the quintessential New York cocktail. Now trendy everywhere, it is not only delicious, but classy, pretty, pink, easy to make and fun to serve (especially at Christmas).

The traditional cosmopolitan is made with vodka, cointreau or Triple Sec, cranberry juice, and freshly squeezed lime juice.

Chocolate Kahlua Shortbread

The first step in making shortbread, and many baked goods for that matter, is creaming the butter and sugar. I thought it was funny when someone next to me in the kitchen at Le Cordon Bleu asked me where the cream was when she heard that we had to "cream the butter and sugar" for the tuiles we were making that day. We all have to start somewhere: some watch a master Michelin-starred chef in a famous cooking school, some hold onto their grandmother's apron stirring batter alongside, and some watch endless hours of the Food Network and are forever scarred by the perfectionism of Martha.

Sponge Cake

This Biscuit de Savoie cake was one of my favorite recipes at Le Cordon Bleu. In fact, after the demo, I helped polish off many hunks (pulling off pieces with my fingers since there were no knives, only dull, plastic spoons). I dipped my pieces into the fresh, sweet crème anglaise the chef had made. I'd made this cake once before, and it was popular then too.

When you take a bite, it makes a squishy, bubbly sound. With its hint of vanilla, it adapts well to dipping into chocolate or fruit coulis, but stands on its own as a mid-morning grumble-stopper.

Kitchen Christmas Wishes

One of the perks of going to Le Cordon Bleu is the $1000 knife kit, supplied as part of the tuition (so really you're paying $9000 for it!). Now I'm the kind of girl who prefers kitchen gadgets over jewellery, so having the knife kit in my possession is pretty cool. In fact, I'm considering bringing it along with me at Christmas since my mom's knives are circa 1960 and dull as my Grandma's knees!

These two blogs list the contents of the knife kit thoroughly, so I won't re-list them here. But I thought I'd list some kitchen tools from the kit along with other items I found useful during my practical classes at Le Cordon Bleu.

Time for Champagne!

I passed!

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Exams are Over

Today, exams are over. I feel raw, going over every detail of what I could have done differently. My shaking hands at the end telling me this is tough. Taking a deep breath. Remembering the charms and good wishes in my pocket from my children...the wishbone that I was too scared to pull in case I didn't get the right end, the rock, the butterfly eraser. Wishes to help me get through a difficult event, to help me remember what's important, to help me be happy.

I learned a lot these past three months. About me, about life, but mostly about food.

Peanut Vermicelli

I once worked beside a little-known, but top-notch take-out café called The Five Senses. Many times a week, I'd wander over at noon to see what the chef was cooking in his kitchen. Even though he worked the kitchen alone, he was able to create delicious food, but he was often stressed and voiced his frustration at being "in the weeds" to his customers (which wasn't good for business).

Beef Dip

Here is one of our family favorite meals both because it's tasty and easy to prepare. The secret ingredient is a package of onion soup mix! Shh...don't tell the chefs at Le Cordon Bleu! They would want you to make French Onion Soup from scratch and dehydrate it yourself!

Week 5 at Le Cordon Bleu (Basic Cuisine)

Time is flying by so fast here at Le Cordon Bleu. Week 5 seems long ago and was all about soups and compound butters. Well, "soup" is not the right term; "potage" is more accurate. Soup, a type of potage, is derived from the word souper, which means to absorb. To be called a soup, it must contain bread (such as French Onion Soup or Fish Soup). A potage is either thickened (called a lié) or unthickened (clair), such as consommé.

Orange Pumpkin Loaf

This is a recipe from the production kitchen (the kitchen that handles staff meals and prepares ingredients for all the demos and practicals) at Le Cordon Bleu. I was there to practice filleting a Dover Sole and turning mushrooms, and Chef shared a pumpkin loaf with me. It was so delicious, I asked for the recipe. It uses a whole orange, making it extra flavorful and perfect for this Fall season. Enjoy!

Week 4 at Le Cordon Bleu (Basic Cuisine)

Taste, turning, trussing, and tears.

Last week, we had a seminar on taste! Spending a morning talking about taste was pretty cool! In many little white tubs, lined up in rows, were a variety of different colored liquids. In groups, we were given a container and asked to think of a memory that went along with it. Unfortunately, many of the tubs contained slightly stale versions of the originals and too often Grandma's lace or even, in some cases, urinal pucks came to mind! Here's what we had to guess: white balsamic vinegar, lavender, truffle, shrimp paste, bergamot, lime, hazelnuts, sesame oil, anise-flavored alcohol, hoisin sauce, cognac, soya sauce, fish sauce, vanilla, port, rum calvados, pear alcohol, tobasco, chili paste. I found it challenging to deconstruct the aromas, but it was fun.

Whisk Wednesdays—Beignets aux Pommes, Sauce Abricot (Apple Fritters with Apricot Sauce)

This recipe completes my goal of working through the Basic Cuisine curriculum on my own, in my own kitchen. I started my blog as a way of documenting my progress working through this Le Cordon Bleu curriculum, not knowing that I'd actually be attending 20 months later!

Fresh Pasta

One of my favorite kitchen gadgets is my KitchenAid stand mixer. I’ve thrown some tough doughs its way and it has yet to fail me. Recently, I was pleased to receive the pasta attachment as a gift. The KitchenAid Companions Gourmet Pasta Kit came with the following items:

• a metal pasta roller
• a metal fettuccine cutter
• a pasta server and slotted spoon
• two boxes of Ecco La Pasta flour (egg and spinach)
• a cleaning brush

The timing of this gift was fantastic, since we had just covered fresh pasta dough in Lesson 6 at Le Cordon Bleu and practicing making pasta at home was the perfect way to test out this attachment.

Whisk Wednesdays—Carre d'Agneau (Rack of Lamb)

This rack of lamb is the second-last recipe as part of the Basic Cuisine curriculum that I've been following. The hardest part is preparing the rack. Watch this video to see how to "French" a rack of lamb. Then, it's just a matter of searing the meat and vegetables and finishing it in the oven. The sauce is made from the pan juices and water, seasoned with salt and pepper. Not too many dishes this time either!

Week 3 at Le Cordon Bleu (Basic Cuisine)

After last week, I was glad to leave the white pepper on the shelf for a bit. During week 3 at Le Cordon Bleu, we turned our attention to desserts. Crème anglaise and charlotte were the first tests of our dessert skills. These desserts are light, called "entremets", which translates to "between meals".

The first practical had us making old-fashioned apple charlotte. Fourteen students were cooking down the apples slowly, caramelizing them only after they were cooked, and the aroma was heavenly. We all lined the charlotte molds with bread, first cutting the bottom pieces into raindrop shapes to form a circle. Lastly, we made crème anglaise to a thickness called à la nappe. Everything was going along perfectly until the unmolding stage when I forgot to trim the excess length of my bread pieces, which in turn caused the apple compote inside to travel to meet the plate making the whole thing fall apart slightly. One miss-step in the kitchen, and everything is quickly ruined (except in this case it still tasted sweet)!

Whisk Wednesdays—Pets de Nonnes (Choux Pastry Fritters with Apricot Sauce)

This recipe, literally translated, means "nun's farts"! Choux pastry is deep-fried and sprinkled with confectioners' sugar much like a doughnut. The story is that a nun accidentally dropped a ball of choux paste into a kettle of hot oil. Instead of throwing it out, the nun watched the choux paste bubble and brown and upon tasting it named it Pets de Nonnes.

Week 2 at Le Cordon Bleu (Basic Cuisine)

Clockwise from top: Chef’s Flamiche aux maroilles et poireaux (Leek tart from northern France),
Pâté Pantin (Pork pie without use of mould),
Getting Ready to Taste
Week 2 at Le Cordon Bleu was full of flour, fraisage, and finger injuries.

I’m thoroughly enjoying the demos. It’s almost as if the secrets of the culinary world are being whispered in our ears, passed down to the next generation as grandparents would for their grandchildren. The demos are full of helpful tips that are best shown live: watching the chef make pâte brisée, showing us how to flour our tables (fleurer), how to gently work in the flour without over-mixing the dough, and demonstrating the technique of fraisage where you take just a bit of dough and rub it between your palm and the marble countertop to form a dough, repeating this for all the dough. Although I’d read about fraisage before, to watch it makes more sense. And I was surprised by the texture of the quiche that the chef served us. It was more like custard with salt, cheese and lardons (we’re not allowed to use the word bacon!) and less like scrambled eggs.

Feast of Fields—Ballotin of Ferme aux Saveurs des Monts Organic Chicken

Feast of Fields was an Ottawa event held this past weekend that brought together the talents of organic farmers and chefs and allowed hungry guests to sample all their tasty treats. Chefs were paired with area farmers to showcase this season's harvest. And what a feast it was!

There were 25 teams set up with tables along each side of a huge tent. The weather was perfect, with a slight cool breeze, and the diners were clamoring to get their plate and sample the local organic food. As we walked around tasting, we were amazed by the variety of options. From mini bites of cornbread and smoked pork and apple sausage to goose terrine garnished with a delicate edible flower and gingersnap cookies, I soon realized my eyes were bigger than my stomach.

Whisk Wednesdays—Grenadins de Veau au Coulis de Celeri-Rave (Veal with Celery Root Cream Sauce)

It seems these last recipes in the curriculum are strictly a review of techniques already learned. They don't contain much history or interest but are good practice for the impending exam. Grenadins de veau are thick veal fillet steaks laced with pork fat. After sprinkling the meat with salt and pepper and searing them on the stove in a bit of butter, I placed (I should have larded!) the pork fat on top of the veal and set it aside while I worked on the vegetables.

Week 1 at Le Cordon Bleu (Basic Cuisine)

The anticipation of the students waiting before the first demo was tangible. A little nervous chatter here and there, but mostly silence.

At last, we were invited into the elegant yellow and white room with high-tech flat panel screens on either side. Everyone tried to score a front row seat.

The chef explained many things including the kitchen brigade, all the different knives and tools in the kit (worth about $1000 Canadian but is included in the tuition), safety and hygiene tips, and French terms for all the pots, pans and tools.

Then he launched into vegetable cuts, including émincer, ciseler, hasher, julienne, brunoise, paysanne and chiffonade. Finally, he made Potage cultivateur (Cut vegetable soup).

In the kitchen, we had a chance to practice our precision cuts with carrots, turnips, potatoes, onions, leeks and cabbage. Lot of practice is required for the precision required at Le Cordon Bleu. I have a long way to go (and wondering if I'm on the right path)!

Chef's Potage cultivateur

Lesson three was all about garnitures (not garnishes!), which are side dishes. It was fun to see the master chef work on so many dishes (six of them) at once without breaking a sweat while we kept flipping pages to keep up with which recipe he was working on.

Knowing we had to make three dishes during the practical was daunting enough for me: Bouquetière (a hot garniture of turned vegetables and artichoke), Jardinière (another hot garniture of vegetables cut as batonnets), and finally Macédoine (a cold vegetable medley cut into small cubes or pieces). In addition to these recipes, chef made Tomates
concassées, Portugaise, Duxelle sêche de champignons, Blanc de cuisson, Grandmère and showed us the different cuts for Pommes de terre pour frire.

Since there are 30 students in Basic Cuisine, we've been broken up into two groups of 15 for the kitchen part of our class. Our group has already experienced its share of drama.

In the third practical (our second one where we actually had to use the stoves), one student sliced her finger and while the chef was cleaning her cut, she fainted. We were all asked to leave the room, and wait in the lounge while they helped her. Meanwhile, an ambulance was called to ensure she was ok. She came back to class shortly after that and was ready to resume her station. However, we still had to serve the chef our dishes at the same time agreed upon at the beginning of class. That was stressful, but the show must go on!

Artichokes have always confounded me. I've never known how to prepare them. Well, now I've prepared them twice in the last week, and I've learned that I like them! The day before we were shown how to turn artichokes and cook them in a Blanc de Cuisson (a mixture of water, flour, lemon and salt). We practiced this again in the third practical. Although I failed to remove the entire choke for serving, I now know that I can buy an artichoke at the grocery store, and I finally understand what to do with it.

I also learned that it's important to keep the stove from being idle. While turning turnips, I had to cook carrots. While cooking turnips, I had to prepare green beans. It's about making the most of the time you have and multitasking. It's also about having the skill to turn vegetables quickly. Even after spending hours on a Saturday night practicing turning vegetables with my husband (who was much better at it than me, by the way!), I'm still impossibly slow and awkward shaping turnips and carrots into pretty footballs (if footballs can be pretty!).

But during this practical, I started to feel like I can actually do this. In someone else's kitchen. With someone watching over every move looking for ways to help us improve. There's chaos all around with students asking which is the parsley, others asking where to find the cutting boards, all while the clock ticks down to our deadline. I felt like we were a team. I can learn. I want to learn more. I've already learned a lot. But I wish I didn't have to learn how to turn vegetables.

Counter-clockwise from top: Chef's Jardinière, Bouquetière, Macédoine & me

When my girls saw me in my uniform for the first time, I heard "interesting" from one, "you're going to wear that!?" from another, an incredulous look from my third followed up with "it looks professional, Mom!" from all three. Yes, I'm going to wear that, and feel proud!

. . . . . . . . . .

Here is a link back to the recipes as I did them last year (although they aren't exactly the same as what we did in class):

Class 1: Cut Vegetable Soup
Part 1 - Mise en place, Mirepoix and Knife skills
Part 2 - Potage cultivateur (Cut vegetable soup)

Class 2: Turned Vegetables Cooked in a Court Bouillon
Part 1 - Légumes à la grèque (Turned vegetables)
Part 2 - Légumes à la grèque (Court bouillon)

Class 3: Garnitures
Part 1 - Laitues braises (Braised lettuce)
Part 2 - Tomates concassées (Crushed tomatoes)
Part 3 - Portugaise (Tomatoes, crushed and cooked)
Part 4 - Duxelle sêche de champignons (Mushroom, chopped and cooked with shallots)
Part 5 - Grand-Mère (Garnish of bacon, onions, mushrooms, and potatoes)
Part 6 - Pommes de terre pour frire (Different cuts for deep-fried potatoes)
Part 7 - Bouquetière (Vegetables served in a bunch)
Part 8 - Jardinière et macédoine de legumes (Vegetables cut into sticks and cubes)

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Ottawa Urban Foodie—Ottawa Metro

As of today, I have a byline! And a way to indulge my love of eating at restaurants. I'm the new restaurant reviewer for the Ottawa Metro newpaper, and I'll be providing a review every Thursday along with food events. (If you know of any upcoming events or restaurants you would like to see reviewed, email OttawaUrbanFoodie[at]gmail[dot]com.)

My first review is for a wonderful little Italian restaurant in the suburbs called La Porto a Casa.

Today at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa
"To everything (turn, turn, turn)." Turning carrots, zucchini, artichoke and mushrooms is the wrath of culinary school and best summed up in this humorous article! Would love to write more about today, but it's late, and I still have to iron my uniform for tomorrow. G'nite!

Chef's Légumes à la grèque (Turned vegetables cooked in a court bouillon with coriander)

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Whisk Wednesdays—Spiced Shrimp Balls

Sweetbread fritters were supposed to be on the menu today. However, they weren't something I wanted to taste, but may have to if they're on the list of recipes at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa. Instead, the Whisk Wednesdays group decided Spiced Shrimp Balls sounded tastier and found it in one of Le Cordon Bleu cookbooks called Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cook Home Collection.

Moving away from typical French cuisine and into something a little more Asian-inspired was a nice change. Practicing deep-frying technique is always helpful and usually renders something crunchy and tender at the same time.

This is a simple recipe. I used my food processor to mince the shrimp into a purée. Then, I stirred in the remaining ingredients. After whipping the egg whites, I folded them into the mixture. Finally, I formed the shrimp mixture into balls and rolled them into sesame seeds.

I followed the same technique for deep frying that I learned when frying potatoes.

Recipe

Serves 6

1½ pounds large uncooked shrimp
1 tablespoon oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
½-inch piece fresh ginger, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon cornstarch

½ egg white, whipped

2/3 cup sesame seeds

Oil, for deep frying
You can find the recipe for Spiced Shrimp Balls in the book Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cook Home Collection. To see how the rest of the Whisk Wednesdays group fared with their recipe, click here (or check out the sidebar) and then click on each blogger!

Tasting Notes
Crunchy and yummy.

Next Class
• Grenadins de Veau au Coulis de Celeri-Rave (Veal with Celery Root Cream Sauce) pages 330-331 in Le Cordon Bleu at Home cookbook

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $1,521.17 + $19.04 = $1,540.21
($3.17 per serving)

Butter used so far: 12 pounds, 31 tablespoons

93% complete Basic Cuisine (on blog) / 3% in real life

. . . . . . . . . .

::Whisk Wednesdays::
We're cooking our way through a cooking school curriculum using the Le Cordon Bleu at Home cookbook. The "classes" are based on the Le Cordon Bleu curriculum found online and used as a guideline. Not all the items in the curriculum are in the cookbook, but most are. Where the items are not in the book, we try to find a suitable substitution. Find out more here.

. . . . . . . . . .

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Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Le Cordon Bleu—A Dream Come True

"Choose Life
only that and always
and at whatever risk.
To let life leak out, to let it wear away by
the mere passage of time, to withhold
giving it and spreading it
is to choose
nothing."
— Sister Helen Keller

Some of you already know this, but I thought I should let everyone know that today was my first day of school at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa! A few weeks ago, I decided to follow my dream of attending culinary school, and with the help of my supportive family (especially my husband) I signed up for Basic Cuisine with the hopes of working towards the Grand Diplôme.

Today was orientation for all Basic Cuisine and Pastry students, of which 30 are in Cuisine and 45 in Pastry. We learned a bit about the history of Le Cordon Bleu. It was actually started by a woman named Marthe Distel in 1895 who was the publisher of a magazine called La Cuisinière Cordon Bleu. To thank her subscribers, she invited chefs to demonstrate to readers some of the recipes published in the magazine. The demonstrations launched the cooking school.

We were introduced to the chefs and staff, and then we walked through several policies and procedures (with attendance and promptness being stressed over and over).

All the parts of the uniform were explained, including why the jacket is double-breasted (so that you can re-button it to show the clean side if you want to visit the restaurant patrons). Houndstooth pants hide any stains. Aprons are done up on the front so that they're easy to take off in case it catches on fire. Steel-toed shoes protect feet from falling knives and hats collect the sweat. (Hairnets are worn at all times.)

After some more presentations about the schedule and other administrative details, we were given a tour, our equipment and uniforms.

Finally, I made sure to sample as many of the "viennoiseries" that I could, including two types of muffins, a sunny-side up apricot pastry, a croissant, a lemon poppy-seed loaf and some fruit. All were tasty, as expected.

Now, I must iron my uniform and get ready for tomorrow. Stay tuned...

"It is your soul's duty to be loyal to your desires."
— Rebecca West

Monday, September 7, 2009

Feast of Fields—Crispy Polenta with Fresh Corn and Aged Cheddar

It's harvest time, and for the fifth year in a row you can spend an afternoon feasting on the talents of organic farmers and chefs at Feast of Fields in Ottawa. Chefs are paired with area farmers to showcase this season's harvest.

When: Sunday, September 13, 2009, Noon to 4:00 p.m. (food served Noon to 2:00)
Where: Vincent Massey Park (near Riverside Drive and Heron Road)
Tickets: Available online and at listed retail outlets

I attended a pre-event to sample food made by the winners of the farmer/chef pairing from last year as well as preview food we can look forward to tasting at the event itself. We sampled a spicy orca bean quesadilla prepared by resident chef Candice Butler from Urban Element who is paired with Greta's Organic Farm this year. Greta owns an organic seed company that grows plants simply for their seeds with an eye for a plant's uniqueness in taste, appearance, color and shape. These seeds are the bread and butter of Greta's farm. In fact, when Carley visited to collect the ingredients for her dish, Greta removed the seeds from the peppers first!

Jennifer Heagle and Jo-Ann Laverty from The Red Apron, winners from last year's event, prepared a mild, tasty lamb from Aartje den Boer's farm called The Pickle Patch along with a vegetable medley of heirloom tomatoes, garlic and white beans. The organic crispy corn polenta with aged cheddar served on the side was particularly tasty and happily the chefs shared the recipe.

Crispy Polenta with Fresh Corn and Aged Cheddar

I'm looking forward to attending this event next week and sampling more dishes from all the creative chefs who are paired with the hard-working organic farmers in the area. Until then, I'll be enjoying this comforting cheesy corn polenta.

Recipe for Crispy Polenta with Fresh Corn and Aged Cheddar

from The Red Apron

Makes 1 9x9 pan

Crispy Polenta with Fresh Corn and Aged Cheddar ingredients

4 cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Fresh corn niblets from 1 cob of corn
2 tablespoons white wine, for deglazing
1¼ cup yellow cornmeal
1½ cups old cheddar, grated
¼ cup fresh thyme and rosemary, chopped
1 teaspoon salt
Line a 9x9 pan with parchment paper.

In a pot, bring stock and cream to a simmer and set aside.

In a 2-quart saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft but not colored. Add garlic and corn niblets and sauté until corn is tender, about 3 minutes. Deglaze with white wine.

Add the stock and cream mixture to the saucepan and bring to a simmer.

In a slow, steady stream, add the cornmeal and cook over medium heat for 1 minute, whisking constantly to avoid lumps.

Remove from heat and stir in the grated cheddar and fresh herbs. Season with salt, to taste.

Pour mixture into pan. Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours. Turn out the polenta and cut into desired shapes.

Pan fry the pieces in olive oil and a little butter until lightly browned on both sides or broil in the oven until browned.

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Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Whisk Wednesdays—Biscuit de Savoie (Sponge Cake)

Savoy (pronounced Savwa) Cake, or Sponge Cake, dates back to the 18th century and is a simple cake using five pantry ingredients. The only odd ingredient is potato flour, which helps produce a more tender cake. Although similar to a pound cake, it's often baked in a mold that looks like a turban.

After combining the yolks, sugar and vanilla, fold in the flours. Then, after whipping the egg whites, fold them into the yolk mixture. Bake at 350°F until the center comes out clean. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve with crème anglaise or fresh whipped cream and berries. Très simple.

Whisk Wednesdays—Coquelets sur Canapés (Roast Squab Chickens with Chicken Liver Canapés and Mushrooms)

Squab, a euphemism for a 4-week old, tender nestling pigeon is on the menu this week. I've only fed pigeons, never eaten one so it was a new adventure for me! Along with the squab, I prepared a partridge and a regular chicken for comparison.

The birds were sprinkled with salt, shallots and tarragon, then rubbed all over with butter. Finally strips of bacon (that had been simmered in water for 10 minutes to remove some of its smokiness) were placed on top to add flavor. The poultry were roasted in a 400°F oven until the juices ran clear (about 30-40 minutes).

The mushrooms, canapé and sauce make this roast poultry so much more delectable! The mushrooms are easily sautéed in butter and oil and then set aside. For the canapé, I chopped up some fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes and made a bruschetta using the recipe's ingredients instead of the requested chicken-liver version. Frying the bread slices in clarified butter added extra richness. To deglaze the roasting pan, I used the pan juices, homemade chicken stock, a dash of leftover veal stock and a splash of port and let this mixture simmer until reduced by half. Finished with butter, this sauce was perfect ladled over the meat.

Recipe

Serves 6 (I halved the recipe.)

Coquelets sur Canapés (Roast Squab Chickens with Chicken Liver Canapés and Mushrooms) mise en place

Partridge, Squab, Chicken

For the Mushrooms:
¾ pound fresh mushrooms
½ tablespoon butter
½ tablespoon oil
½ tablespoons shallots, minced
¼ clove garlic, mashed

For the Canapés:
3 slices homemade-type white bread
¼ cup clarified butter
3 poultry or game livers
1½ tablespoons bacon fat
1/8 teaspoon salt
Big pinch of pepper
½ tablespoon Madeira, port or cognac

For the Squab:
3 10- to 12-ounce, ready-to-cook squab chickens
¾ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon shallots, minced
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
2 tablespoons butter
3 strips of bacon simmered in water for 10 minutes, rinsed and dried
1½ tablespoon butter, melted with ½ tablespoon good cooking oil
¾ teaspoon salt

For the Sauce:
½ tablespoon shallots, minced
¾ cup brown chicken stock or brown stock
1/8 cup Madeira or port
½ to 1 tablespoon butter, softened

For Reheating the Mushrooms:
½ tablespoon butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
Pinch of pepper

For Final Assembly:
Handful of parsley (or sage) for garnish
You can find the recipe for Coquelets sur Canapés (Roast Squab Chickens with Chicken Liver Canapés and Mushrooms) in the book Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume I. To see how the rest of the Whisk Wednesdays group fared with their recipe, click here (or check out the sidebar) and then click on each blogger!

Statue just outside the entrance to Central Park in NYC
Tasting Notes
The squab had a meatiness similar to dark chicken meat, but it wasn't gamey as I had expected. It was moist and had a good chew to it. Getting all the meat off the bones of the squab was more work for each bite, but worth it. Surprisingly, the taste of the partridge was not discernible from the chicken. Overall, though, I'd rather eat chicken and feed pigeons!

"Toward a better world I contribute my modest smidgin;
I eat the squab, lest it become a pigeon."
— Ogden Nash

Links
• Squab.com
• The Julie/Julia Project

Next Class
• Biscuit de Savoie (Sponge Cake) on pages 33-34

. . . . . . . . . .

Running total: $1,497.55 + $19.76 = $1,517.31
($3.29 per serving)

Butter used so far: 12 pounds, 31 tablespoons

91% complete Basic Cuisine

. . . . . . . . . .

::Whisk Wednesdays::
We're cooking our way through a cooking school curriculum using the Le Cordon Bleu at Home cookbook. The "classes" are based on the Le Cordon Bleu curriculum found online and used as a guideline. Not all the items in the curriculum are in the cookbook, but most are. Where the items are not in the book, we try to find a suitable substitution. Find out more here.

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If you like this blog, you can subscribe and get updates automatically.

Click here to learn about subscribing.

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