Salad Deconstructed

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I’ve never done a blog in my life. I know I’m supposed to write my ideas and thoughts of the class; so here I go…  The Garde Manger class started off with its usually small talk, conversations and discussions. I was the MOD for the day. Tiffany and I had presented our topics. They flowed together, which generated interesting conversation about the affordability of eating organic and seasonally. I have to admit doing this research and the discussion in class made me want to try to started eating organic or and seasonal foods. I’ll see how that goes…Anyway, the discussion went on longer then I expected; leaving the 3 team with only two hours to complete the task for the day. I thought we were going to have to present a show platter with food for 4 people and a show plate with a gelatin requirement with 2 proteins, 1 cold soup, 1 Salad and a sauce, but Chef changed it the day before. The task entailed make one salad break it down and reconstruct it into a hors d'oeuvre; gelatin must be use in some way shape or form and a dressing. Each group came up with totally different salad. Team #1 had a goat cheese salad with a citrus dressing. Team#2 had an Italian potato salad with and gelatinized dressing. Team #3 had a chicken less Cobb salad with bleu cheese dressing topped with whipped duck fat. During the presenting process there were a few things that needed to be changed; but overall we made big improvements. We have started to experiment more. During my whole culinary experience has worried about the flavor and taste and here in show plate we focus more on looks of everything. It is just amazing how we have grasped the concept so fast. It’s crazy, but move on…..  In previous classes dishes were back up and we had to stay late. So as the class went on, I focused on making sure the class cleaned the dishes. This was not a normal class for us, there was no mystery basket; we did not have to present 2 proteins a starch and a veg. We even had to empty out three stock pots and a reduction during the cleanup at the end of class. With all the changes and extra things popping up we did really well. For the most part, things went smoothly, we presented, cleaned up and we got out on time.

Soups Return

Today seemed like a return to our past class Soups, Stocks, and Sauces, similar classmates and same teacher. Class started with a little review of soups and sauces. We talked mostly about how soups will thicken when becoming colder and lose their flavor so season heavier than usual. After that came my presentation, while practiced at home I had it at 5 minutes in class we went way beyond that because of the discussion we had about food thickeners. So the requirement was the usual 2 protein, starch, veg, sauce, and a soup but the catch was to not use any starches and to use an alt thickener in the soup. All four groups too some risk using unusual foods as their thickeners like mayonnaise, whipped cream, agar agar. The groups continued to used gelatin, ?I was most happy to see it used in teams 3 dish, the gelatin was placed onto apple that sat onto the plate and although it did not turn out it was nice to see them trying new things with the gelatin. Every team had a game plan, and every team had an issue throughout their days that they overcame. Cleaning wise, everyone was good up till about an hour before we were due to have everything ready, dishes sort of fell apart by this part. Props to Mark though, because I say home knocking out not only his own dishes but others dishes as well whenever needed and cleaning as he went. By presentation time everyone gathered and put in their two cents for looks, we decided on like to dark and tried to space out the dishes a little more, but another table may have been helpful. Presentation wise, team one really had a popping dish with their orange color. Team two had a nice curve that pointed to the highest point of their dish. Team three had their gelatin on their plate. The only thing id change would  have been to back off on the teams a little, seemed like i was on them constantly, have more room of the platters. End of the day smoothly, very happy to see everyone cleaning even with dishes being backed up. Good jobs guys, and continue to play with that gelatin.

Galantines

Welcome to my Garde Manger blog post for the summer session week 9 MOD.  Today in class we covered galantines, terrines and pate en croutes.  Terrines and pate en croutes are forced meat products that are made in molds of different shapes, covered, then cooked.  Galantines differ from the previous two because it is usually rolled into the skin of poultry instead of a mold, then placed into a simmering bath of water to cook.

            In class today, we did several different types of these products. Each group was given a two types of terrines, galantines or pate en croutes to do.  Every group was assigned to do a chicken galantine.  This is made with the skin of a chicken, chicken breasts pounded out and a forced meat center with pistachios, ham and truffles.  For many of us, this was the first time having to skin a chicken.  To make sure people were able to get a chance at doing this, Chef Anderson had each group break down 2 chickens.  The hard part is not puncturing the skin while doing this.  Any holes had to be folded over to make a kind of patch.  Several group were able to finish theirs including poaching them.  I was really surprised with the flavor and taste of this.  It is on my to do list at home for my next family gathering.

            Now each group was also assigned to a terrine or pate en croute.  These were Turkey Pate en Croute, Pate de Champagne, Roasted Vegetarian with Goat cheese, and Carolina Barbecue terrine.  This day only the vegetarian was cooked and ready to taste by the end of the day.  The pate de champagne and the caroline barbecue were completed and cooked but with the cooling required for service, they were not able to be tasted that day.  Only the turkey pate en croute was not finished and placed in molds.  On a side note, we did taste the vegetarian

ACF accreditation

On day one of Garde Manger I looked at the Syllabus , I had purchased my text book and looked at some of the chapters. This is going to be an interesting class. I have had this desire to have the food I prepared be presentable. “No problem”, I thought with making the food pleasing to the palate. But it must be presented on the plate as well, after all the rim on the plate is the picture frame. No food should be touching the rim. This other chefs instructs us culinary students about plate presentation.

My peers in Garde Manger have given their presentations which I have enjoyed and learned some new things. Now my presentation was assigned for week fourteen- ACF Accreditation. WOW. I would have rather had Preserving the harvest or Smoking Competition. Something I am more familiar with. Being that I am a “country girl”, I grew up on a farm in Tennessee. My grandparents grew their on vegetables, we had fruit trees, I helped with the canning and preserving. That was real organic food that we had then, no pesticides. We also raised our own farm animals, chickens, cows and hogs, that we grain feed from the corn we harvested. We killed, (slaughtered) the hogs, cut, grinded the meat into hams, sausages, made our own lard. Cured and smoked hams and sausages in the smoke house during the winter months. If hogs were killed in the warm months it was for roasting or barbecueing right away. Some cuts of the meat was wrapped and frozen. We milked (by hand) the cows, churned the butter and had milk and buttermilk (non-pasteurized). This I am more knowledgeable. Not ACF Accreditation. In some previous classes I recall being advised by other classmates and instructors telling Culinary students to get involved, become members, and go to meetings. I procrastinated. I went online to gather information about the ACF Accreditation, that site is ACFCHEFS.ORG. It was established in 1929 (before I was born). It has over 20,000 members and many chapters and regions in America. ACF is the organization that certifies chefs. Once a chef passes both written and practical exams they become certified. This certification comes at a cost, not so much monetary as the time and effort involved in the preparation. Study, practical work, much practice and patience, and competition are parts of the process. Certified chefs are highly recognized in the industry. Some may not have attended a school but have the work experience and has a desire to become certified. They may apply for the exam, pay the fee, and take a 30-hour course in Sanitation, Nutrition and Supervisory Management. Recertifications are every 5 years. All previous work experience, educational, transcripts, diplomas are submitted as part of the pre-approval process. Letters from current or past employers documenting  the applicants experience must be submitted on business letterhead to the committee.  ACFCHEFS.org. This has been an interesting topic to research.      

A Good Day in Garde Manger

            Being the MOD is always a daunting task. For me it usually means going to bed late to finish my paper and ready my presentation, then rising way too early for the two hour drive to my morning class. Today was no different.

            Chef Anderson started class with a lecture on the importance of plate and platter presentation for buffets, the use of a grosse piece as a focal point and using different shapes and heights of hors d'œuvres and platters to enhance the visual flavor of the buffet.

            I gave my presentation on gelatin. While doing research for this topic, I was amazed at how much gelatin touches our daily lives.

            Gelatin has unique functional properties. It acts as a gel, emulsifier, stabilizer, thickener, texture enhancer and adhesive. Because it melts at body temperature it can replace the fat in many food products while providing a smooth, creamy taste in the mouth. It is used in everything from gummy bears, jelly beans, baked goods, low fat and low fat sugar products, margarines, canned hams, hot dogs and of course terrines, pates and jellies. Gelatin is the only natural protein used for commercial use. It is used in countless products from photography, shampoo, pharmaceutical products, sunscreen, paintballs, cosmetics, book and painting restoration and to clarify wines and juices, to name just a few.

            Our mystery basket proteins turned out to be sweetbreads, calves liver and frog legs. I think the lab tech was playing a sick joke on us.

            Sweetbreads need to be soaked in cold water for several hours or overnight to remove impurities and it also helps to firm them up. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to soak them long, so we just cleaned them up and poached them in a court bouillon. When they were done, we sliced them and sautéed them quickly in butter. They didn’t taste too bad but the texture was a bit gritty and mushy.     

            All in all, it was a good day in Garde Manger class today. My presentation went well and the class had the opportunity to work with unfamiliar ingredients. Chef Anderson treats us with respect and allows us to use our imagination and creativity, which has made this class a tremendous learning experience for me.

Garde Manger Mad Science

Of all the things that I have learned already this semester, Molecular Gastronomy is by far the most interesting.  It is the mad scientist version of the culinary world.  It pushes the boundary of what is commonplace and uses the most innovative method of cooking at the forefront of cuisine.  What started as a desire to apply scientific methods to the common cooking experience, ended in the development of new and cutting edge cooking techniques?  Whether one is making some desert foam that is to be dipped in liquid nitrogen, or a pseudo- caviar out of some sort of fruit juice, this type of cuisine isn’t for everyone, from a cooks perspective…  The better the cooks knowledge of the scientific processes that are happening, the better the chances of success.  Most culinary students would be able to use agar-agar to congeal a tomato reduction into a solid noodle form.  However, I doubt that the average culinary student would   be able to operate a rotary distiller to extract the essence of a chili pepper.  Beyond that, if you understand the nature of what you are trying to do, you should most likely succeed.  This method takes what we know scientifically and pushes as far as it can.  Conferences for molecular gastronomy have included acts such as cooking a sausage by bridging it across a battery pack and whipping a meringue within the confines of a vacuum.  The discipline that was supposed to tell us something knowledgeable about cooking and its methods has proven to develop methods, in and of themselves, which each have their own science.  The cooks seek to know something about their food and the future of cuisine is born.   If the culinary community continues to be curious, who can imagine what method will arise next, and what effects it may bring.

Sausage

Today in Garde Manger class was a day of chilling, mixing, curing, grinding, and stuffing. Yes you guessed right today was sausage making. What an art this is, taking those casing and stuffing them with all types of delicious flavors. I truly have a fond appreciation for this. Not only did I reinforce skills that I haved learned in meat fabrication class, but now able to have a much deeper understanding of flavors and what mesh's well with various flavor profiles. I must say I enjoy Garde Manger class, it is my favorite class this semester, although it is the only lab class on my schedule, which might have something to do with why I enjoy it so much. It has and continues to be extremly rewarding with new information.

Seasonality

 Today is session 3 and I have a presentation today of Seasonality. I will also be the manager (M.O.D.) for today.

            Today started off with Chef Anderson lecturing the class over vinaigrettes. This is the start of Chapter 2 titled “Cold sauces and cold soups”. Sauces and soups are among the first true tests of a chef’s skill. For the garde manger, the ability to produce perfectly balanced vinaigrettes, subtly flavored and creamy mayonnaise sauces, and cold soups of all varieties is a skill that should be constantly honed throughout a career.

             That is food for thought, but today my presentation went really well. I informed the class about the importance of knowing your menu items so that come time to order you will know what is in season and where it is in season (part of the country and world). I showed a map that had all the states titled along with what is in season. This map is a great tool because it provides you with the ability to go month to month so that you can effectively have a menu in line with the availability of food items.

  Seasonality Chart - Vegetables

Click on the name of a vegetable to see which farms grow it and what varieties are sold at the market. Please remember that harvest season is never exact. We have done our best to give a general idea of when certain crops can be found in the market, but every year is different, and different varieties have different harvest times!

Dark green indicates that a product can be found at the market, and is being harvested.
Light green indicates that it can be found in the market but is not within its natural harvest season (possible through storage or hot house production).

In the BUFF

Second day of class turned out to be a lot like the first. As acting Manager of the Day (MOD), I had a different view of the classroom as a whole, working individually with each group. Another mystery basket was assigned today, again with 2 proteins, 1 starch, 1 vegetable and 1 sauce. The proteins were venison loin, red drum, guinea fowl, and bay scallop. Throwing most of the dietary restrictions we had on day one out, we couldn’t produce anything with lactose (aka no dairy). This did not turn out to be a problem for most groups.

Following a brief class presentation on the American Culinary Federation (ACF) membership from the ACF student chapter President, Chef England gave a great presentation on B.U.F.F. (Balance, Unity, Focus, and Flow). The presentation encompassed the four different aspects of plating and creating show platters. The eye naturally follows a pattern known as the Fibonacci sequence. It is similar to the shape and structure of a conch shell, starting in the middle and spiraling out and around, forming a large circle. The four different aspects of plating all play a role in creating this natural design that makes something like a show platter look so beautiful and appealing to the human eye. As MOD, I had to work with all groups to help make sure they were achieving this in their plating.

As we started the mystery baskets, each team diverted in their own direction, all creating something completely different from the other. As the deadline approached, we had the room set up beautifully, with lined presentation tables and clean ranges and table tops. The outcome of today’s production was drastically different from the day before, with each team learning from their mistakes, focusing on the four components of B.U.F.F. 

If our production improves the same way each class, I cannot wait to see what we are able to produce at the end of the sixteen weeks!

First Day Twist

Garde Manger, a French term meaning “Keep to eat” originated in pre-revolutionary France, which was a time when controlling stock in food was like controlling stock in petroleum.  Day 1 in Garde Manger class started as most new classes start, everyone comes in, finds their seat, maybe talk to a friend, and then the professor comes in and its syllabus time. Unfortunately this is just how every class starts; there is just no better way to talk about rules, dates, and expectations. But this was the first time where the “get to know you” game was a two-hour mystery box activity. Each team had to produce a buffet/banquet style platter featuring two proteins, one vegetable, one starch, and one sauce. Easy enough, even considering it was all to be served cold.  But then we learned that no dish could contain any gluten, dairy, or sugar. Most of us had a tad bit of trouble with our palette reprogram. It was really interesting as to how all the students solved the problem. Weather it was sauces without starches, or creamy with no dairy, it was interesting to see each one. At the end of the day however, the general feeling is that this will be a good class.

Know your Farmer, Know your Food

Today in class I learned a lot about some of the different aspects of organic foods and more specifically organic farming. I thought I did a decent job with my research that I put into with the presentation but there were a couple of key elements that I left out. One specific part that Chef pointed out that does not really apply to the chain supermarkets selling organic produce. The “know your farmer” phrase can and still does play a major role in some of the most highly respected restaurants in the US and buying organic can mean that I am purchasing a superior product than that of a conventional item. I learned that through proper practices in organic farming the soil becomes rich in nutrients and will end up producing a better and more satisfying product.  And, the word "organic" on a label does not always mean that the farm is using proper practices to develop nutrient rich soils.

            Also in class today I learned a lot about the difference between composed salads and the regular salads that I would see served at a lot of the chain restaurants in Indianapolis. I was one of the people that took the practical final and had no idea about any of the base, body elements (probably because I never had Chef England) that any salad served at a restaurant is supposed to have. My thoughts before were always lettuce and then you throw some raw vegetables on top and overload with dressing. Appetizing? Absolutely not. So, producing these salads today gave me such a better perspective on how a true salad should be composed and how there should be thought and careful critique as an end result. I really enjoyed setting up the room today and I was very appreciative to see the time that all of us put into trying to make each plate look good.  At the very least, it was certainly better than any house salad I have forced myself to eat at our (insert chain restaurant name here)!