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)!

Preservation of Seasonal Foods

Man has been preserving food since the beginning of time. Curing and drying were the most common ways to preserve fruits, vegetables and meats. In the Medieval days they used a method called dry-salting where the meat or fish was buried in salt and they also did brine-curing where meat was soaked in salt water. Today we have more hi-tech methods of food preservation such, as vacuum packing, and irradiation, which is exposing food to ionizing radiation. Yesterday in my Garde Manager class Chef England brought in a load of vegetables from his garden, there were three types of tomatoes and some peppers. We had the opportunity to preserve these vegetables using three different preservation methods. The preservation processes we used were drying, pickling, and canning. I helped with pickling the peppers; I can’t wait to taste them. Since I have been a student at Ivy Tech I have been introduced to the new movement of” buy local” and grow your own food. I have never grown any thing in my and I find this exciting and I would like to start my own small garden. I have also started buying from local farmers personally and I have encouraged my employer to add local products to our menu.

            I think that the reason for a lot of the health issues and obesity in this country is due to the fact that when America became industrialized we became a country that needed convenience. As technology has grown the quality of our food has decreased, we need to get back to the basics. I want to get down on my knees and get my hands dirty growing and preserving my own food and teaching others to do likewise, instead of eating at fast food restaurants and grabbing the prepackaged meal.

It was a busy night, discussing making cheese, preserving seasonal foods, and trying to catch up on everything left over from our charcuterie. I learned quite a bit and am really looking forward to putting it all into use in my career and at home.

                        The first part of last night dealt with the discussion of making cheese. This was my responsibility. I gave a short PowerPoint presentation on the history of cheese, the history of rennet – a  crucial ingredient in making cheese – and briefly covered the production process. I would have discussed that more, but I had arranged with a professional cheese maker to come in and discuss the actual methods they use in production. According to Chef, their company – Swissland Cheese – is one of the largest privately owned cheese makers in Indiana. I was very impressed with their operation, and also with the level of interest shown by most of my classmates. (I have to admit I was also very impressed with their “chedda feta blue” cheese!It was funny to me, when I walked them out afterwards, how impressed they were with my presentation. They were also very impressed with the other presenter, and her presentation on preserving seasonal foods.

            The other person's presentation covered the different methods used in preservation, such as canning, pickling, drying and jellying to name a few. It was very interesting to learn just how easy it was to do many of these. I knew about jellying, as I make jams and jellies at home nearly every year, but I learned a lot about canning other foods, like the use of a pressure cooker being necessary for the canning of low acid foods. Now, I know what to ask for at Christmas!

            I would love to say the most important lesson I learned was related to any of these subjects, but unfortunately that was not the case. The most important lesson I learned had to do with people. I learned that one negative attitude can ruin the pleasure of learning.  As a leader, it is a true challenge to harness peoples positive energy.  However, on a more positive note, I also learned that most of my classmates are supportive, encouraging, truly friendly, and that they honestly enjoyed our discussions yesterday.

Smoking...Food

I learned that the white smoke is a suspension of water droplets. Once a meat forms a pellicle the water droplets then have something to cling to. After I sat and thought about the research I had done on smoking and the use of liquid smoke, it really made a lot of since to me as far as the smoke being water droplets which contains the smokey smell and flavors in them that adhere to the product being smoked. This is the same process they use to manufacture liquid smoke. I also learned that there has to be two openings or flutes when smoking. The purpose of this is to have a continuous air flow and to prevents standing smoke which would cause carcinogen that are harmful to us. I did not know that machine smokers also use liquid smoke. I was surprised to find out that most of the smoked foods that I had eaten was the product of liquid smoke. I also learned that the pellicle is actually a good bacteria that forms around the meat. The purpose of the pellicle is to give the smoke something to stick to, drys the outside and keeps inside moisture and to prevent the fat from reaching the outside, which can cause spoilage.

When doing a platter for presentation I learned that it is very important to use gelatin. The gelatin will provide a nice glossy look to the platter and it will help to hold the foods shape. I personally have never used gelatin before so I am looking forward to learning how to use them correctly to help with my platter presentation. As far as the platter its self, I believe most of the class is still having a little difficulty determining the difference between some vegetables and starches. I think the class is finally starting to catch on to having a theme as well as a flow to the platter presentations. To me it's a little difficult sometimes because it's all about how each person views and interprets the setup.

Smoking and Curing

News flash, finally the sausages got stuffed in class. It was a trying night with burst sausages and a girder not working right, but in the end the sausages got stuffed and the brining got done. There was a lot of different size sausages, I thought the smell of the Cajun Andouille sausage was amazing I got to try it earlier when I was taste testing. As you see in the picture some of the sausages had problems while stuffing the sausages. I had some trouble as Manager of the Day (MOD) I have not been a MOD for a long time. It was interesting to say the least; I have never done stuffed sausage before. We learned a lot about stuffing sausages and curing meats. We learn about different kinds salts like curing salts, such as Tinted Cure Mix (TCM) and the dangers of using too much of the TCM. We learn about dry salt curing and brining which is wet salt curing process.  We also learned about smoking, and the benefits of cold smoking and hot smoking, like how cold smoking makes meats store longer, where as hot smoking makes the meat ready to eat.  We learned how smoked items and some salted have to be air dried and aged for periods of time. I learned a lot about hams and how to make pancetta, Duck Confit, Gyro Meat, and Prosciutto. It’s been a lot of fun to learn as much as I have and I look forward to learning more.

Stacked

In class today we studied the making if sausages and we also looked at the final product from session three terrines. As a whole we learned several things about our terrines. In two of the groups the terrines where baked in a route. We learned that if the stack hole was not large enough or if there is not a stack hole at all there will be separation of the terrine and the croute. This was the case in one of our terrines as the stack hole was not large enough and the steam could not escape causing the terrine to rise and leave a gap at the bottom of the terrine dish. We also learned as we where cutting and tasting our terrines that if you use vegetable you should put them in the oven to draw out some of the moisture. This would help make the terrine a little dryer and make it more stable. One of the best things that I learned is if your terrine is under seasoned or over seasoned it cannot be used. This I learned because one of my group’s terrines was over salted, even though it had a very good flavor this item could not have been served on a platter for a buffet. When doing terrines we learned that there are several steps that must be taken even though it is not in the recipe if these steps are followed you will have a much better product turn out of your hard work.

To continue with session four we prepped sausage to grind and stuff. Even though only one group managed to stuff a sausage, I think the biggest thing we learned as a class is that time management is very crucial during our production. I think we did however learn some very useful information in this session. We did learn that the making of sausage is not a one day job, because most of the sausage will have to cure for several weeks if not months. We learned that sausage can be made from several different animals and can be stuffed in many different ways as well as different products with the natural animal casings being the best.  In closing I would have to say the one thing I learned the most was on my buffet presentation, this meaning the flow of my food from the ladder to its overall presentation cannot just be thrown together at the last minute it really needs some thought put in to it to make it more appealing to the eye especially for you potential customers.

Temptation

Day 3 of the two by eight Garde Manger class for the Fall Semester, and we’re already off and running. Without even missing a beat from two mystery basket tests, we tear (and puree and even grind) into what I consider the “meat” of Garde Manger, the Pate d’Terrine. When I saw the listings on day 1, I knew that I had to have this as my day, just for how important I view the use of forcemeats in my culinary life.

As soon as we got settled into class, and the presentation had ended, the entire class just kicked into high gear, immediately moving to the cart and working on getting their pates and terrines (and even moussalines, depending on what was going on) ready for placement in the ovens and to sit overnight. While this was the core of today’s class, we still had to prepare the family meal for ourselves and our comrades-in-arms, the Baking Science students in the adjoining lab.

Unfortunately, that’s where we had our little hiccup. With such focused determination on not wanting our pates to break, to get them in the oven on time, the concept of family meal fell a little on the back burner. Even still, after a 15 minute extension, and a little cajoling, we got that plated up, with all pates in the oven. The threat of staying till midnight averted. Once again, we prove ourselves to be the stuff of the upper-level culinary students, cleaning our stations as we went, and making sure that our dishes weren’t piled up. Even with a little hiccup, we’re able to be clean at all times.

Overall, the class performed admirably, and as the forcemeats went into the ovens, and later the blast chiller, I’m left thinking, why do I have to wait until tomorrow to taste the final product? What’s the old saying? Good things come to those who wait. I can already taste it.

For me, pates are always worth the wait.

Amuse

AH! Amuse, like a crayon to a child or paint to an artist, food comes to the crafty chef with many elements to “ Amuse’ or tickle the fancy of the culinist foodie.

Yes let’s feast our senses with sight and smells and to tantalize our taste buds with the fabulous colors and textures that do delight the eye as well as the palate. It’s also very challenging because it has no real boundaries besides being a bit or two. Where as a meal contains the same elements but the amounts are larger and follow a theme. The chef can keep from being bogged down because it’s a tiny morsel to please and is really so simple. As well as all that it’s very economical to work with. A pound of protein and a hand full of idea’s we can be on our way to pleasures we can share with each other.

Amuse also causes a reset of how we think of food. Forget heavy and know that light is king.

In thinking what we do with leftovers, let’s make Amuse. Besides how many uses of leftovers are there?

I can’t stress enough that the freshest ingredients are the most important but still allows us to raid the refrigerator for goodies and ideas.

One problem I discovered was experience goes a long way so it’s time to open our imagination.

Amuse, the Magic Lamp of the creative chef. 

Reggie Osbourne

Garde Manger

The students of Ivy Tech Community college take a 16 session class studying Garde Manger.  Classically the Garde Manger person in a kitchen would be somene that takes care of all cold food, charcuterie and butchery. 
The students were asked to write a statement about what they learned in class so that it could be posted to this site.

Enjoy