Frangipane!

Bonjour mes amis!!

Baking and Pastry has begun and we are in the full swing of class! In fact, hard to believe, but we are half way through already! This experience is flying by much too quickly. There are so many things still to learn!!!

FRANGIPANE (fraun-gee-pawn) is an almond and rum flavored cream. It is used in tarts & pithiviers (pit-tiv-ee-a). You make it by mixing butter, almond flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, eggs, rum & pastry cream together. It can then be piped into the above listed items and baked off. It has a wonderfully rich flavor!

The biggest thing about baking and pastry is that you have to scale the ingredients correctly. Different from hot food, if you make a mistake with your sauce you can quickly add some roux or a cornstarch slurry to tighten it up. Or if the vegetables need more salt you can add it at the end. This is not a luxury in the Bakeshop!! If it goes into the oven wrong, it comes out wrong. There is a TON of science in baking. I believe that is why it is very intimidating and somewhat discouraging for those of us who have had some baking disasters!!! If you add the wrong amount of salt to your French bread dough it won't be as crisp and it will not brown as it should. No fixing that after you spent HOURS preparing it!!! So, again, scaling.... by weight is critical!!! This is a lesson my team learned in our first practical. Now we are like a carpentry shop.... measure twice.... mix once!

Up until now, any major grades for my classes have been based on individual work. This class we are in teams.... the same team for the entire rotation. No choosing of partners, no chance for change. Sarge, Chick-fil-a & Bride2B are no longer working with me. Darn!! The good news is that we are all in the same general area. Bride2B is on the bench across from me and the others next to us and across from each other. Shouting distance for sure!!

This rotation we added 6 new students who transferred from an evening class. We also lost 5-6 students for various reasons. That being said, there are still MANY students in the class and the groups are 3-man teams. At first I was concerned that 3 to a team would be too many. I have found that it is likely a good thing. So, meet my team mates. DoughBoy & All American.

I have referred to DoughBoy in previous posts but not given him a name. He sat at the end of the row in my first class and did not understand the concept of pushing in a chair or moving in so you could step behind. He also had a verbal altercation with Sarge in my second class and dropped the F-bomb several times. He strikes me as an individual who doesn't understand the concept of observation. If it is not happening in front of his face he is unaware. To this end he is solely focused on only what he is doing and lacks the perceptive capabilities to realize (when working in limited space) you MUST be aware of others. Sarge experienced it last rotation with the scalding hot water spilled down his front from a hot pan and I just recently ended up wearing 200g of bread flour rather than having it end up in the bowl on the bench!

Perhaps he is an only child. I say this because he really doesn't get the whole sharing concept. I am the ONLY one every morning who gets out the needed tools of the bake shoppe. My spatula, my bench scraper, my whisk, my pastry tips, my scissors..... All American will get them out as he needs them or when he realizes they are needed. Not Dough Boy, he has to be TOLD. "Hey, I am in the weeds here, could use a clean spatula"!! Then we wait for him to dig out his tools. Last Friday we were working with Pastry Cream and Frangipane and we needed to use a certain pastry tip, a 824 star to be exact. For some reason, the tips in my kit are different than those of my classmates.... again with the different kit because I am a Certificate Student? Anyway, we had to use DoughBoy's tip. We complete the task and I ask if I can work with it a bit longer to get the technique down and that I'll wash it with the balance of the dishes and return it in short order. Reluctantly he agrees. I finish up my practice, gather up all the tools to be washed (my whisk, my spatula, my bench knife, one of my tips, his 824 star tip, the mixer paddle) into the mixing bowl & head back to the dish pit. Just as I get there Chef is hollering for us to come to the front of the class for a Demo. So, I bring the dirty bowl full of "stuff" back to our bench and head up front for the Demo. After Chef finishes I return to the bench to grab the dirty bowl of items and see that DoughBoy is in the pit washing ONE item. Yep! You guessed it, he took the time to DIG his 824 star tip out of the bowl and simply left the other dirty items there. OMG!!! By this time I am seeing RED! I head over there and side right up to him and say "are you kidding me? you took the time to dig that out and left the rest? what's wrong with you?" His answer.... "I didn't want it to get lost." I finish washing the rest of the items and return to the bench. When I get there I look at him and ask him if he understands what being a team means? Blank stare.... I quickly share that being a team means we help each other, we don't just take care of ourselves. If we are going to get through this we have to work together. I am not going to take his stuff and that in the time he took to dig that specific item out of the bowl he could have washed 2-3 of the other items in there. But again... those were MY tools, not his responsibility. UGH!!

He does have some redeeming qualities, he is a good student. I believe his grades are good and he is a perfectionist. This part if funny because if he makes a mistake, no matter how large or small, "shit" is the automatic response. It's not quite to the level of Tourette Syndrome but close & very funny!

All American transferred to our rotation from the night class. He is very quiet and very polite. I think that he gets bored sometime with this class. It can move slowly but that is also indicative of the bake shoppe. You can't be in a rush, patience is the key to good and proper results. During our down time his is often weighing things, mixing bowls, spatulas, his notebook.... I suppose in life knowing that your spiral notebook weighs 300 grams is important!!! In preparation for our first practical exam he indicated his reluctance to being in our group. I asked why and he said because DB & I were older and both in the Honor Society (we wear pins). I laughed and agreed that I was older but the Honor Society thing... not since High School so not to be too thrown by that one!! He's a good kid and I am enjoying him as a team member.

Have I shared that the only text book I kept from my under-grad experience at Purdue was called "Professional Cooking" by Wayne Gisslen (first edition). Low and behold, I arrive to Le Cordon Bleu and pick up my books and discover "Professional Cooking" by Wayne Gisslen (sixth edition) is my main resource for this educational event. For some reason I am finding that really ironic. Returning to where I started.... The funny thing is that I don't remember that there were SO many kinds of flour in the 1980's! So, I pulled that book out and well, there they were, all the same ones I am learning about now. For some reason I think I'll remember them this time!

There is Bread Flour, Cake Flour, Pastry Flour, All Purpose, Whole Wheat & Rye. Other things can be milled into "flour" too. Like the Almond Flour mentioned earlier.... finely ground almonds. Nearly any of the nuts can be ground into a flour or meal to use in baking. It is critical to use the flour called for in a recipe. The textures and properties of a baked item are indicative of the gluten content in the flours. Too strong or too weak a gluten content and the end result will not be as anticipated. Also, be sure to work the doughs only as long as they need to be or are directed to be. Overworking gluten will tighten the strands and make the end result tougher than planned. Biscuits are a perfect example of this. I have made biscuits before and have turned out like hockey pucks! Mixed too long and worked too much flour into the dough during the roll-out process. Below is a great basic biscuit recipe. I have converted it to cups/tablespoons but also list the grams of each item. As mentioned earlier, weighing is the preferred method!

Hearty Biscuits

2 1/3 Cup (550 grams) All Purpose Flour

3 T (34 grams) Baking Powder

1/4 Cup (46 grams) Granulated Sugar

1 T + 2 t (23 grams) Salt

3/4 Cup (183 grams) Shortening

2 large (101 grams) Whole eggs

1 5/8 Cup (380 grams) Buttermilk

5/8 Cup (129 grams) Shredded Cheddar Cheese (or choose another!)

1 1/2 T (12 grams) Jalapeno (or herbs)

Sift the flour, baking powder, salt & sugar together. Using a pie dough whisk or bench knife cut in the shortening into the dry ingredients. You want to ultimately end with a mealy mix the size of peas.

Whisk the eggs together in a small bowl. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the mixed eggs and buttermilk in. Start combining all the ingredients, just until combined. Do this by hand, if you use a mixer you will over mix the dough!!!

Add the cheese and chopped jalapeno. Once the dough is combined, on a lightly floured surface, gently fold the dough over. Pat the dough down and fold again, Fold and pat two more times. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Once the dough has rested the 30 minutes, gently roll it out on a dusted surface to 1/2" thick. Using a dusted biscuit cutter cut out your biscuits. Don't twist the cutter, just punch it into the dough and remove it. Place the biscuits on an UN-greased pan or piece of parchment paper. Let them touch each other, this helps the biscuits rise.

Brush them with an egg wash to promote color and sheen.

Bake at 425 degrees until golden brown & spring back in the middle. Approximately 20-25 minutes.

Yield is 18-24 biscuits.

I have also divided the dough BEFORE adding the flavorings and made two different kinds of biscuits. Roughly a dozen of each. If you do this then use 1/2 cup of cheese and 1 T of herbs for each batch. Optional flavor combinations are below...

Swiss Cheese & Chive

Swiss Cheese & Sun-dried tomatoes

Cheddar & Pimento

ENJOY!!!

Time to play Catch-up!

Hello dear Friends & Readers! I am so very sorry for being absent for so long. Wish I could say that it was something groovy like writers block but honestly... the fall funk held on longer than normal and I have simply been lazy about communicating. Please forgive me. I have heard from many of you who are missing the antics of the class and the laughs that the knucklehead brigade can provide. Let me try to bring you up to speed!



Foundations III ended just before Holiday break. The class focused on proteins and plate presentation. Our chef was a character and very knowledgeable about meat and butchering techniques. We learned the complete structure of each of the main animals, Beef, Veal, Lamb & Pork. Additionally, we fabricated chicken (fancy term for "cut-up") and also had the opportunity to reduce the primal cuts of the other animals into secondary cuts such as steaks, tenderloins, chops, etc. We also learned how to make sausage and other charcuterie techniques.



Charcuterie (sar ku teri): French from chair 'flesh' and cuit 'cooked'. Is the branch of cooking devoted to the prepared meats such as sausages, bacon, ham, pates, terrines & confit, primarily from pork. Charcuterie is part of the garde manager chef's repertoire. Originally intended as a way to preserve meat before the advent of refrigeration. Prepared today for their flavors. .... Thank you Wikipedia!





A new character introduction.....an individual called "Mittens". Now, I have spoken of Mittens in the past, he just didn't have a name. He sat next to me in the first class and had difficulty understanding the concept of pushing in his chair & or moving it to the side of the room for knife skills practice. Why "Mittens" you might ask? I can't take credit for coming up with this name... Chef did. See, this young man is afraid of burning his hands or cutting himself (both known hazards of this profession!). So, he wore this large mittens (think hot pad mitten with fingers) to in class one day. Chef nearly came unglued! Coined the name and told him to take the damn things off! And Mittens was born! Now, Mittens has a difficult time being on time to class. He also eats as if the food we prepare is his only meal of the day (who knows, it might be?). And it seems he needed to have more sleep one day during class. Buckhead Beef, located here in Atlanta, is part of Sysco Food company and one of the largest purveyors of meat in North America. The week before Thanksgiving we viewed a video by them on Meat Fabrication. Chef turned down the lights so that the TV Screens were easier to view. The movie is unfolding and Manny the Butcher is skillfully fabricating a side of beef into the main primal cuts and smaller secondary cuts. He is able to do this in an amazing 45 minutes! All of the sudden.... a ruckus comes from the back right-hand corner of the room. The metal legs of chairs are banging together, the sound of the plastic trash can hits the floor, quickly followed by a large THUD. It seems Mittens fell asleep! He slid off the chair into the trash can and onto the floor. The fun never stops!





Toward the middle of Foundations III, chef stopped forcing us into groups. We were able to find our own "team" and it remained that way through the balance of the class. Army Guy, Bride2B, Chick-fil-A & I grabbed our bench and created our little foursome. (Now, I must insert a slight wrinkle here.... Army Guy requested a name change. So, to honor that request I am now calling him "Sarge"). The four of us rotated into groups of two and for the most part worked very well together. We are all perfectionists and work hard for the grade. Three of us are "pleasers" and respectful of each others ideas. One of us is used to being in charge.... that dynamic created some stressful moments in our little group. Toward the end of the rotation the team began to crumble and we were all ready for the Holiday break. The old saying there is no "me" in team didn't always hold true.... there certainly was an "I". Sarge has made amends and has asked the three of us to work on a project with him this rotation. He purchased a fresh ham and we are working together to cure it. This is an extension of the ham-butt rather than the olive branch.... I must say that it is rather appropriate choice! :)





Bride2B and Chick-fil-A continue to give me such a boost! They are both so positive and genuine. I pray that the three of us will keep in touch and follow-up with each other when this process is complete. They are both twenty years younger than I and have a much longer career in this industry to look forward to. I'll be eager to watch how they progress. Bride2B has changed her program to the Certificate in Culinary Arts rather than the Associate of Occupational Studies (AOS) degree. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from a distinguished University & like me decided that the Certificate would deliver her what she needs to build this career. Actually, several other students have come over to my side since the program began in August. I was the only one and now there is a small band of 6 fellow certificate folks in this rotation. Just think if the VP of Admissions would have had to come up with 5 other cut guides and complete tool kits at the beginning?? At least I don't feel like such a step child these days!! Ha!





The final for Foundations III had four parts. A Mystery Basket, Knife cuts, Chicken Fabrication & a written final. Because there were so many students and so few ranges to cook with, chef divided the class into groups and we rotated days for the Mystery Basket & Knife/Chicken portion of the final. I cooked on Wednesday & cut on Thursday. My Mystery.... pork tenderloin! Unlike in Foundations II we were able to decide our own starch and vegetable to complete the plate. My creation.... Mustard encrusted Roast Pork tenderloin with a sherry mustard sauce, Risotto with spinach & sauteed asparagus with red peppers. We were to incorporate 3 cut techniques.... mine were chiffonade spinach, brunois & julienne peppers. I began my test at 7:10AM and was to present my plate to Chef at 9:10AM. My pork was a little over done but still moist and the sauce was DEELISH! All in all I earned the grade I was working toward and left that morning feeling pretty good.







Thursday, I get up, get ready, am feeling calm and prepared for the knife cut / chicken portion of the exam & head out the door. I arrive as school at 6:50AM WITHOUT my knife kit or my jacket! WTF??? I have NEVER done such a thing and it's pretty hard to cut up a chicken without a knife!! Now, I knew from the previous day that Chef did not begin that exam until 7:30AM. If I could get back to my apartment, grab my gear and get back to school by 7:30 I would be OK. It's a twenty minute drive one way..... I had JUST enough time. I got back home, ran in, got my stuff and returned. I walked into class at 7:32AM. They had just begun. Chef scowled at me and sent me to the back of the room. After several deep breaths and a settling of my nerves (so not to cut off a finger) I began. The exam.... cut 10 each of Julienne, Fine Julienne, Battonet, Brunois, Fine Brunois, Small dice, Medium dice, Paysanne, Lozenge & 4 tournes. Then, fabricate 1/2 a chicken into a boneless airline breast, tenderloin, bone in leg & thigh, wishbone, wing. Pulled out an "A" even with all the self induced stress. Upon completion I apologized to chef for my tardiness and he just shook his head and said... You? You are never late? What happened? He got a good giggle out of my bubble brunette behavior!

The class finished and off we all went for Christmas break. It was a much needed separation for me. I worked a little part time job during between Thanksgiving & Christmas so my holiday was a bit different. Was able to spend time with friends for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day here in Atlanta and that made the events special and the missing of family more bearable. On December 27th George, Olive & I hit I75 North and drove home to Indiana for a surprise visit to see Mom. Had to come clean about my surprise arrival as the weather was full on BLIZZARD mode by the time I got nearer to Northwest Indiana. In fact... the snow began as I crossed the Ohio river out of Louisville, KY. Welcome home!




I have started my new rotation.... Baking & Pastry. More to come!