I don't do breakfast.
When I make eggs they are neither incredible nor edible. It's a prerequisite for my roommates or anyone I am dating to be well-versed in breakfast cookery.
That's why half of me was looking forward to today's class on eggs....the other half of me was...well... shaking in my boots that I'd end the day with egg on my face.
Techniques learned:Compound Salads, Basic Theory and Techniques of Egg Cookery, Perfect Poached Eggs, Beurre Manie, Croutes, Scrambled Eggs, Omelets, Whipping Egg Whites, Souffles
Menu:
Omelet with Fine Herbs
Salad Nicoise
Poached Eggs in Red Wine Sauce
Souffle (4 types - chocolate, banana, orange and lemon)
Lexicon:
poach- to fully submerge in a simmering bath
composed salad- A simple salad is simply, greens with a vinegarette. A composed salad has artfully arranged ingredients and is not tossed.
salad nicoise- common French composed salad, typically made with tuna (in oil), potato salad, haricot vert (green beans), black olives, anchovies and hard boiled eggs
souffle- literally "to rise" - typical French light and airy cake made with egg yolks and beaten egg whites combined with various other ingredients. Can be sweet or savory.
sauce meurette- red wine sauce typically served with poached eggs (also with beef, fish and..ew.. brains). Starts with a red wine base then flavored with vegetables (a mirepoix) and herbs (a bouquet garnis)
nappe- "to coat" - when a liquid is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (the consistency most sauces should be)
Cooking SAT Question of the Day:
ROUX : START ::
a) poach : middle
b) nappe : begin
c) beurre blanc : end
d) beurre manie : finish
Answer: DA
roux is a
starting agent when cooking most French soups, stews and sauces. Usually a roux is made of flour and clarified butter.
A
beurre manie is a
finishing agent to thicken soups, stews and sauces, also made of flour and butter.
Quote of the Day:
"When cooking eggs, remember...
hot and fast or
slow and cold."
(For example, an omelette cooks fast
and hot, a poached egg cooks slow and cold.)
Top 5 Lessons I Learned Today:
1. Eggs really are incredible! An egg has every nutrient you need to sustain life except Vitamin C! The average egg in a NY grocery store is two weeks old. The freshest eggs are in the back of the fridge. (Now that I know this, when grocery shopping for eggs I pull out every carton to reach the cartons in the back. This results in fresh eggs but also extremely dirty looks from fellow shoppers.)
2. When making an omelette never add dairy (oops I've been adding milk all these years.) Dairy makes the eggs to dense. Instead use approximately a teaspoon of water for every three eggs. If you are making all eggs whites, use 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil for every three eggs.
3. In French cooking when something is folded into a triangle that means it's going to be sweet. When something is folded into thirds, that means its going to be savory. Americans fold their omelettes in half. The French fold theirs in to thirds.
4. How to make perfect hard boiled eggs:
-Put eggs into a pot of cold water
-Bring to a boil
-Shut off burner and remove from heat
-Put on lid, let eggs sit 13-14 minutes.
-Don't peel the eggs until you are going to use them
5. Souffles are a huge pain! Totally random analogy I know...but I couldn't help but think how much souffles are like cats. They both need to be coddled, stroked and stirred in an extremely particular way, in a very certain order... one wrong move can send them careening over (souffles) or running for the hills (cats). When you do it right the reward is fulfilling, fantastic and blissful. When you do it wrong you end up with a disappointing heap of mush (souffles) or a scratched arm (cats).
Day 4 in Photos:
When making an omelette place your filling in a line perpendicular with the handle of the pan. (This is the French way... Americans mix the filling with the eggs.)
Hold the pan like this.. Then fold the side of the omelette nearest to the handle over in thirds like a letter (Sorry! You will have to use your imagination...didn't take a picture of this part!)
Then flip! Voila! Omelette perfection!
When poaching eggs...these nifty rings are great to have... They help keep the eggs shape (so does adding a tablespoon or so of distilled white vinegar). If you don't have rings like this, you can use a cleaned tuna can with the top, bottom and label taken off.
Once the water comes to a simmer, delicately "slide" the eggs into the rings.
If you did it right it should look like this. After 3 minutes simmering in water your eggs are done!
The final product... poached eggs with red wine (oeufs en sauce meurette)!
Beautiful broken yolk!
Cutting tuna for the nicoise salad
More cutting tuna...
Tuna steaks in a row
Searing the tuna...
Almost all seared...
Getting ready to compose the salad...
And more...
My group's banana souffles.
A duo of souffles - chocolate and banana.
banana
chocolate
lemon souffles.... These rose quite well... "Textbook example" according to Richard.
