well, my dear readers... it has been a busy week...
and been jam packed with loads of fun and technical skills :)
but, first, lets back up..... because if i remember correctly, i have put up pics of my creme brule and creme caramel... but there has been no literature to back it up!
so here goes:
we had 2 days of demo classes... thurs and fri, about making all the varieties of custards... baked and stirred and all that jazz... and we did tuile batter and pretty decorations that one can make out of that, and we did sugar work with sugar syrup... and chocolate piping. all with the very kind and soft chef matthew. what a lovely chef he is!
then we had our back to back prac on saturday, first one was making the creme caramel and creme brule, and the second one was plating it and decorating... piping chocolate is not as easy as it looks, your hands have to be very stable, and it has to be done in a swift movement, otherwise it will not look neat and perfect! so once again, much practice needed!!!
the creme caramel was delicious... its amazing, such simple ingredients... egg, sugar, vanilla and milk ... and you have one of the worlds most delicious puddings! hmmm, all i can say is that i will most definitely be making that one again!
then on sunday... day off :) was a good chance to enjoy the lovely sunshine which we WERE having, and give my house a good little tidy! then, there was much excitement, as my lovely cousins and aunt came to london for the night for lily's birthday... so i thought i would use my decorative skills that i have recently acquired, and make some pretty decorated cup cakes... they looked amazing... in my head. but in reality, more practice needed!! oh well, thats the only way i guess...
Monday, now i am going away from the cooking a little bit... but i went to the most amazing concert with Jemma (bull) on monday. it was Jose Gonzales, accompanied by an orchestra. the gothenburg string theory... i have never been so moved by music. i could feel it vibrating through my veins. every musician on that stage was absolutely in love with music, you could see the passion radiating off them. the conductor was conducting with his hands, and feet, and hair... it was truly spectacular! i will attach a video i found on youtube.. for those of you who are interested in having a look!
well... this week during cuisine, we have covered all our veggie cuts... well for now anyway! we did turning. now, for those of you who dont know what that is, turning is cutting your potato or turnip (usually) into a barrel shape! dont ask why, but yes, it is nessisary. and it has to have seven equal sides. now, this is (well at this stage anyway) almost impossible. and apparently for our exam in june, we have to present 15 perfectly turned veggies... so hence again, MORE PRACTICE... and that is just what we did! on tuesday evening, some of the girls from class came over for turning practice! what a laugh that was... i think more pimms was consumed than turning done... but we did get a little of it done!
we have also covered stocks and basic sauces this week... a béchamel , which thanks to Mev De Villiars and Home ec at school, no practice needed there. Kels, i thought of you so much when making it! and all the laughs we had in our home ec classes. and then, we made the worlds most delicious sauce ever... namely a Sauce Tomate... or to those non frenchies, a tomato sauce! MY GOODNESS... Deliciousness! i want to make it every day of my life! it is basically, bacon, and mirepoix (which is, celery, carrot and onion, cut paysanne (roughly)) sweated in a little butter, some deseeded tomatoes added, and reduced with home made chicken stock... oh and a bouquet garni and garlic, then strained through a chinoisse... and eaten! and i was so chuffed... chef david said that mine was absolutely delicious, which i agree. so that gave me a nice boost!
Yesterday we moved onto meat! much excitement in that. as now we have learnt some of the basics, we are swiftly, very swiftly, moving along to become proper french trained, aspiring 3 michelin star chefs (as chef John calls us). so we did.... ROAST CHICKEN! and once again... deliciousness!
and so basic. cooked with nothing but butter! roasted in the oven for an hour.. but i shall not divulge the secret to it. i cant give away all my secrets, as then when the time comes to cook for you all, i would have given you my tricks, and you could have made it yourself, and then there will be no wow factor, as it will be old news for you.
i stupidly forgot to take a picture of it for you. but when i make it again, which i will be, as we have been told this is also one of our exam pieces, i will take a picture and you will be able to see the golden beauty of the wonderful bird.
today and tomorrow are patisserie days... we are going deeper in the the science of custard making, and furthering our egg skills into meringue making so i cant wait!
i will remember to take pictures for you!
hope all is well... and remember, please comment, and give me news, i love hearing from everybody.
x
and been jam packed with loads of fun and technical skills :)
but, first, lets back up..... because if i remember correctly, i have put up pics of my creme brule and creme caramel... but there has been no literature to back it up!
so here goes:
we had 2 days of demo classes... thurs and fri, about making all the varieties of custards... baked and stirred and all that jazz... and we did tuile batter and pretty decorations that one can make out of that, and we did sugar work with sugar syrup... and chocolate piping. all with the very kind and soft chef matthew. what a lovely chef he is!
then we had our back to back prac on saturday, first one was making the creme caramel and creme brule, and the second one was plating it and decorating... piping chocolate is not as easy as it looks, your hands have to be very stable, and it has to be done in a swift movement, otherwise it will not look neat and perfect! so once again, much practice needed!!!
the creme caramel was delicious... its amazing, such simple ingredients... egg, sugar, vanilla and milk ... and you have one of the worlds most delicious puddings! hmmm, all i can say is that i will most definitely be making that one again!
then on sunday... day off :) was a good chance to enjoy the lovely sunshine which we WERE having, and give my house a good little tidy! then, there was much excitement, as my lovely cousins and aunt came to london for the night for lily's birthday... so i thought i would use my decorative skills that i have recently acquired, and make some pretty decorated cup cakes... they looked amazing... in my head. but in reality, more practice needed!! oh well, thats the only way i guess...
Monday, now i am going away from the cooking a little bit... but i went to the most amazing concert with Jemma (bull) on monday. it was Jose Gonzales, accompanied by an orchestra. the gothenburg string theory... i have never been so moved by music. i could feel it vibrating through my veins. every musician on that stage was absolutely in love with music, you could see the passion radiating off them. the conductor was conducting with his hands, and feet, and hair... it was truly spectacular! i will attach a video i found on youtube.. for those of you who are interested in having a look!
well... this week during cuisine, we have covered all our veggie cuts... well for now anyway! we did turning. now, for those of you who dont know what that is, turning is cutting your potato or turnip (usually) into a barrel shape! dont ask why, but yes, it is nessisary. and it has to have seven equal sides. now, this is (well at this stage anyway) almost impossible. and apparently for our exam in june, we have to present 15 perfectly turned veggies... so hence again, MORE PRACTICE... and that is just what we did! on tuesday evening, some of the girls from class came over for turning practice! what a laugh that was... i think more pimms was consumed than turning done... but we did get a little of it done!
we have also covered stocks and basic sauces this week... a béchamel , which thanks to Mev De Villiars and Home ec at school, no practice needed there. Kels, i thought of you so much when making it! and all the laughs we had in our home ec classes. and then, we made the worlds most delicious sauce ever... namely a Sauce Tomate... or to those non frenchies, a tomato sauce! MY GOODNESS... Deliciousness! i want to make it every day of my life! it is basically, bacon, and mirepoix (which is, celery, carrot and onion, cut paysanne (roughly)) sweated in a little butter, some deseeded tomatoes added, and reduced with home made chicken stock... oh and a bouquet garni and garlic, then strained through a chinoisse... and eaten! and i was so chuffed... chef david said that mine was absolutely delicious, which i agree. so that gave me a nice boost!
Yesterday we moved onto meat! much excitement in that. as now we have learnt some of the basics, we are swiftly, very swiftly, moving along to become proper french trained, aspiring 3 michelin star chefs (as chef John calls us). so we did.... ROAST CHICKEN! and once again... deliciousness!
and so basic. cooked with nothing but butter! roasted in the oven for an hour.. but i shall not divulge the secret to it. i cant give away all my secrets, as then when the time comes to cook for you all, i would have given you my tricks, and you could have made it yourself, and then there will be no wow factor, as it will be old news for you.
i stupidly forgot to take a picture of it for you. but when i make it again, which i will be, as we have been told this is also one of our exam pieces, i will take a picture and you will be able to see the golden beauty of the wonderful bird.
today and tomorrow are patisserie days... we are going deeper in the the science of custard making, and furthering our egg skills into meringue making so i cant wait!
i will remember to take pictures for you!
hope all is well... and remember, please comment, and give me news, i love hearing from everybody.
x
1 comment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UCkRVZVL10&feature=autoplay&list=PL8D3173EAB90E068C&index=10&playnext=2
the jose gonzales song... WATCH IT
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