Prepare & Present Appetisers, Salads & Sandwiches – Lesson One

Posted on May 22, 2018 by kathryninthekitchen

Today we commenced a four week lesson block which will cover appetisers, salads & sandwiches. After this section there will be another assessment followed by semester break…I can’t believe how quickly this semester has gone. There are a lot of ingredients, preparation and assembly, along with some basic cooking, which is involved in these ‘simple’ dishes, so next time you look at that salad or wrap, know it was time consuming to prepare! The recipes for today are, Potato, Green Bean & Caper Salad with Walnut Dressing, Open Steak Sandwich, Deconstructed BLT, Caesar Salad & Chicken Caesar Wrap.

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Lesson Plan – Prepare & Present Appetisers, Salads & Sandwiches – Lesson 1

The ingreients for today’s class are beautifully colourful and as usual Ronald manages to get in my picture! Most of us are very friendly with one another, have a good laugh and work well together.

Ronald prepping
Colourful Trays today
All set up

After washing and spin drying the various lettuces and herbs for todays dishes, the walnuts are dry pan roasted, the tomatoes are prepped and placed in the oven to roast, the bread is cut into croutons for baking, the dressings are made & the beans are blanched and refreshed (see… lots and lots of prep!). We make two types of dressing today; an emulsified dressing and a temporary emulsified dressing. An emulsified dressing will stay together once made (mayonnaise) and a temporary emulsified dressing will separate (vinaigrette).

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The first dish we prepare is the Potato, Green Bean & Caper Salad. Chef had already steamed the baby potatoes (Chats) in the combination oven so it was simply a matter of assembling the salad. When preparing the salad greens ensure you dry them well otherwise the dressing will ‘slip off’ the leaves. This salad is a lovely and healthier alternative to the more heavily dressed potato salads and has a good contrast of textures, the soft potato, the crunch of the walnuts and beans (recipe below).

Chesf’s Plate
My Green Bean & Potatoes Salad with Walnut Dressing

The second dish of the day was the Open Steak Sandwich.  The minute steak was marinated in oil, a little crushed garlic and fresh marjoram. The sourdough baguette was rubbed with garlic and brushed with olive oil before toasting on the preheated hot French grill. The minute steak was also cooked on the French grill and took…well… minutes! I like mine medium rare…how do you like yours? Chef made a large batch of caramelised onions to serve with the steak sandwich. I love caramelised onions…watching them change from their crunchy natural state into a delicious slippery dark brown tangle….mmmmm! At assembly time, I spread the heated baguette liberally with mayo, pile on some dressed rocquet and radicchio (these go so well together, the peppery taste of the rocquet complementing the slightly bitter radicchio), add the quartered roasted tomato (sliced into smaller pieces), a layer of caramelised onions and the sliced minute steak. This is topped with a little more caramelised onion and green leaves and the bread top is placed off centre. It was 11.45 am and this (well half of this) was my lunch. It was delicious.

Minute Steak
Chefs Steak Sandwich

Now for the deconstructed BLT. I have one question….WHY? I am not a fan of the ‘deconstructed’ dish…no doubt others like it but to me it looks like someone ruined a perfectly good dish for no sound reason. In this presentation this dish is a salad …still, I would have preferred it as a sandwich!  This dish had an unusual but tasty dressing made with roasted cherry tomatoes, a raw egg yolk, dijon mustard, garlic paste, a dash of olive oil and seasoning. The raw egg put a few people off…I wasn’t put off by it, but having just eaten a steak sandwich I was unable to follow up with the BLT. A second baguette was smeared with mayo, toasted on the French grill and cut into pieces at angles. The bread went onto the plate and the trimmed cos lettuce was added along with the roasted cherry toms. This was topped with the cooked bacon (cut into large pieces) and the controversial dressing. My bacon was a little bit over done but apart from that it was good. Across this we piped a mixture of mayo and bbq sauce …thank goodness I wasn’t hungry…it was a heart attack on a plate!

It’s Caesar salad time! I have heard many stories of the origins of Caesar Salad but it is generally accepted that it’s creator was Caesar Cardini, an Italian immigrant who lived in San Diego and had a restaurant in Tijuana Mexico, (to get around prohibition laws!).  The story goes that the salad was invented out of necessity. Due to an unexpected rush in his restaurant, Caesar was left short of ingredients and to cover up it was said he prepared the salad in a flourish in front of the guests at their table (style over substance?). The restaurant is apparently still operating today in Tijuana under the name ‘Avenida Revolucion’. Due to food safety regulations a lot of restaurants use commercial mayonnaise bought in bulk… at home I make my own and Chef did a demonstration as to how easy it is to make it by hand. There really is no comparison …freshly made IS best! The pancetta was cooked in one batch by chef …I think I prefer bacon. The dressed Cos lettuce was topped with a poached egg, croutons, and cooked bacon (or prosciutto). I would be happy to to provide the recipe we used if asked, but feel that most interested home cooks would have their own favourite (mine has Worcestershire sauce added).

Chef demonstrating how to make Mayonnaise
Chefs Caesar salad
My Caesar Salad

Caesar salad made, we added the poached chicken and assembled the wraps. They were rolled in kitchen paper and secured with kitchen string….it made a nice presentation.

Presentation of Caesar Wraps
Chef’s Caesar Wrap
My Chicken Caesar Wrap

Bon Appetit!

Kathryn 👩‍🍳💙

Potato, Green Bean & Caper Salad with Walnut Dressing (Serves 2)

Boil or steam 190g Chat potatoes. Dry pan roast 15g of walnuts. Top, tail, blanch and refresh in ice water 125g green beans. Slice 1 spring onion (scallion), pick the leaves off 50g of flat leaf parsley and set aside 12g capers.

Make the dressing: Whisk 2g dijon mustard with 30mls sherry vinegar and 1 crushed garlic clove. Whisk in 15mls of walnut oil and 15 mls of Extra virgin olive oil. Season to taste.

Assemble salad: Add beans, walnuts, capers, spring onions and parsley to the quartered potatoes. Toss to combine and drizzle with the dressing ensuring good coverage.

 

 

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Assessment week…Basic Methods of Cookery – Penne Puttanesca, Grilled Steak with Sautéed Potatoes & Apple Crumble Tart

Posted on May 15, 2018 by kathryninthekitchen

Today there is no lesson but rather the first assessment of our cooking skills which will run over six hours. There is no assistance provided by Chef throughout the assessment period, everything is up to us to appropriately time our preparation and cooking so as to have a completed dish at the required time. As a team we prepare the trays of the ingredients we will need for the three dishes. Chef brings us together to ensure we are clear on the expectations of task and timings; Penne Puttanesca, at 12 noon, Steak, Sautéed Potatoes and Buttered Beans, at 12.30 pm and Apple Crumble Tarts with Creme Anglaise and Chantilly Cream at 1pm. Chef will taste and assess every dish and will also observe how individuals work during their preparation & service.

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Plan for the day

 

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Final words from chef

Preparation for today’s assessment started prior to walking into the kitchen. We knew what the three assessment dishes would be and we’d made them previously, we needed to have a copy of the recipes and also prepared run/work flow sheet. If this was done ahead of time everyone should know what equipment and utensils were required and what tasks were to be done in what order to ensure each dish was plated at the right time. In addition to this, I also had given some thought to how I would like to plate each dish & had reviewed photos of the dishes cooked in prior weeks.

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Workflow

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Ready to go

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Equipment – tick!

Even though the tart was the last dish to be served today, the pastry needed to be rested for at least an hour before rolling, so that was where I started. This is the second time I have made this pastry and again I was impressed with how it came together (recipe below). I mentioned last week that when I rest pastry I ensure it is in a flattened ball shape as it makes it much easier to roll.

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Pastry – tick!

Pastry in the fridge, I put the water on for the tomatoes, and whilst coming to the boil chopped the ingredients for the Puttanesca sauce (recipe below). When making tomato concasse, ensure you don’t over cook the tomatoes; remove the core, mark an x with your knife on the base of the fruit & lower them into boiling water. Watch closely and remove & place into an ice bath when you notice the skin lifting at the base. If you overcook them they will collapse and not hold any shape in the finished dish. Using the same water, I cooked the beans & then refreshed them in an ice bath whilst also cooking the potato (skin on) in preparation for later sautéing. I then moved on to make the apple and the crumble mixtures. Before the break I also made the Creme Anglaise, using the double boiler method, rolled the pastry, lined the pastry cases and assembled the tarts ready for baking. Finally my mis en place was done.

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Knife work

Preparing to skin the tomatoes
Half way
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Mis en place finished.

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Starting on the Creme Anglaise

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Pastry cases ready

Back from break I took my Sirloin out of the fridge so it could come up room temperature. The Penne Puttanesca was due in 30 mins so I started the sauce. I reheated some of the pasta water which I’d retained when I cooked the pasta earlier… a little pasta water added to the sauce when you add the pasta to warm through makes a more ‘silky’ sauce.  One by one we presented our completed plates to Chef. I enjoyed the way everyone wanted good comments for everyone else. I was happy with mine; the pasta was al dente, and the garnish of fried basil, shaved parmesan and anchovy looked good. I got a pleasing ‘very nice’ from Chef.

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Eagerly awaiting chef’s verdict on each dish!

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Assessment day – Penne Puttanesca

The French grill was heating and the peeled, sliced potatoes were sautéing. I melted the butter for the beans. It was 12.10pm and where as chef had set the ovens for baking the tarts earlier, he hadn’t mentioned anything about putting them in the oven. As they take around 45 mins I put our tray (shared between a few students) in the oven….others followed suit. One of the teachers aides mentioned that, ‘warm food needed to be served on a warm plate’…. I put my serving plate into the oven set on low to warm. The oiled and seasoned steaks cooked whilst being carefully watched and were taken off to rest after 2 mins on either side. The potatoes were cooked, seasoned and herbed & placed in the oven and the beans were added to the heated butter. It was time to plate. Earlier in the day I went to the TAFE kitchen garden and picked some thyme for the main dish and some herb flowers (rosemary and tarragon) for the desert. I was worried by the time Chef got to taste test my steak, which was meant to be medium rare, it may be over done…. it wasn’t, it was medium rare as per the brief.

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Plated Main – Sirloin with compound butter, sautéed potatoes & buttered green beans

Finally it was desert time. The tarts were not browning as much as needed so we turned the oven up from 185 C to 210 C for 10 mins. Whilst waiting for the tarts to finish baking I made the Chantilly Cream and got ready to plate. In preparation for the plating of the desert I had brought with me a small white sake cup… I didn’t know how long my tart would be sitting waiting to be tasted and if it sat a pool of Creme Anglaise the results would be a ‘soggy bottom’, so I put the Creme Anglaise in the cup. I was very pleased with the finished plate; the herb flowers gave it a colourful lift. I was doubly pleased when Chef stated that Bree and I had the best pastry and tarts of the day.

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Which tart to select for assessment?

 

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My plated desert

Overall Chef was very pleased with all of us, which says as much about his skill as a teacher as it does about the class and how engaged and driven we are to learn. I am passionate about learning and moving on but will be sad to move on from Chef at the end of the 1st semester which is quickly approaching. Next week we start on preparation and presentation of appetisers, salads and sandwiches…stay tuned!

Bon Appetit

Kathryn 👩‍🍳 💙

Recipes

Penne Puttanesca (2 servings)

Penne – 200g, Olive oil -40 ml, Garlic – 2 cloves chopped, Bird’s eye Chilli – 1 chopped (seeds removed if you want to reduce the heat), Tomatoes – 2 skin and seeds removed and chopped to 1cm dice, Kalamata Olives – 100g seeded and roughly chopped, Anchovies – 20g chopped, Capers – 30g, Flat leaf Parsley – 5 sprigs stem removed and roughly chopped, Basil – 3 sprigs stem removed and roughly chopped.

Cook pasta, retain approximately 40mls of the cooking water and set aside. Heat the oil and add the garlic, chilli, tomato, olives, capers, anchovies and herbs. Add the retained pasta water to the sauce and then the cooked pasta – warm through and serve with shaving of parmesan.

Sweet Pastry (makes 4 x 9cm or 3.5 inch mini tart cases)

Plain flour – 100g sifted, Salt – 1g, Caster sugar – 5g, Unsalted butter – 50g, Water -10ml chilled, Vanilla extract – 2ml

Add salt and sugar to the sifted flour. Rub in the butter using your finger tips (see last lesson for tips) until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water and vanilla. Slowly bring the mixture together and knead gently only until it is a cohesive ball. Wrap in plastic and rest in the fridge for at least an hour before rolling out between bakers paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Lesson 9….Basic Methods of Cookery – Steaming, Sous Vide & Pastry Baking

Posted on May 8, 2018 by kathryninthekitchen

Today’s lesson was the final in ‘Basic Methods of Cookery, next week will be a six hour practical assessment in which I will need to reproduce several of the dishes taught over the last six weeks. The methods we covered today were steaming, where we made Mussels in White Wine Cream, Sous Vide, where we made Salmon with Citrus Salad, and pastry baking, of which the end product was Mini Apple Crumbles in sweet pastry cases & Chantilly cream.

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Lesson Board

We started on the sweet pastry to ensure it would have enough time to rest in the fridge before use. All pastry is rested and chilled before being rolled to ensure the glutens relax; this makes the pastry not only easier to roll out but it also reduces shrinkage during baking (don’t you just hate shrinkage?!). There are so many different types of pastry and many methods of making it. Today we made an unenriched sweet pastry (one without egg) by hand. The ingredients were plain flour, unsalted butter, caster sugar, salt, water and vanilla. When making pastry always add the butter to the flour and other dry ingredients before adding any wet ingredients. When making by hand use your fingertips to rub the butter through the dry ingeridients until you have achieved a mixture similar to breadcrumbs. Try to avoid using the palms of your hands as being warmer than your fingertips you may over heat the butter. Add the wet ingredients and work quickly to bring the dough into a ball, wrap and chill for later use. Tip…I always flatten my pastry ball into a disk as this makes it easier to roll once chilled.

Rather than being told what to do next there now seems to be an expectation that we just move along with our preparation without instruction. It is important to read the recipe in full and determine what needs to be prepared to make each dish…I think this is the equivalent of being ‘pushed out of the nest’. I tell myself to slow down and take care and break my terrible habit of not reading through the whole recipe before I launch into action. One of the more challenging tasks for me today was segmenting the citrus fruit (lime, orange and grapefruit) for the citrus salad which accompanied the salmon. Where as I have done this many times in the past, I have always started with a whole piece of fruit., having only half a piece made this more difficult – especially the lime. Good lesson though….learn to adapt and go with what you have! That done I prepared the tomatoes for the salad (seeded and sliced into strips) and for the mussels (small dice), the fennel and onion for the citrus salad and parsley and garlic for the garlic bread and mussels.

Ready to prepare
Segmenting citrus
Ready to go!

Next was the sous vide salmon. Sous vide is a relatively new way of cooking in which food is vacuum sealed in plastic pouches (with various added flavours) and cooked at a constant temperature for a set period. It is not only energy efficient but food cooked in this manner is moist, tender and retains most of the natural flavours. The sous vide salmon was cooked in the sealed bags for 40 mins at 43 celsius (low and slow). Chef prepared these in bulk, adding oil, seasoning and some fennel fronds to the bag before vacuum sealing. I was introduced to sous vide cooking by a lovely friend of mine who shares my love of cooking and is an amazing chocolatier. Below is a cookbook she recommended to me when I bought a sous vide machine, it is a fantastic guide for anyone interested in exploring this style of cooking – Dale Prentice is a master. I have now made several sous vide dishes, including salmon, 72 hour beef short rib and lamb rack to name a few. The meat is always melt in the mouth tender and pink. Some cuts benefit from a quick pan fry after being cooked in the sous vide & to my taste this offers the best result  – tenderness and a nice crust.

Sous Vide at home
Sous Vide at home
Sous Vide machine
Sous Vide Lamb Rack – ready to go
Sous Vide Rack of lamb
Sous Vide 72hr Beef Short Rib

I love mussels and there are so many flavour combinations you can use with them. Chef mentioned one which I will definitely be trying; to the onion & garlic (and dried crushed chilli) add lemon grass and ginger and instead of cream use coconut milk…sounds good huh? I think a sprinkling of coriander leaves would be a nice touch to this version. However, without any doubt I have to say that Mussels in white wine and cream sauce is my favourite and it’s how I make my favourite mussel dish, Moules and Frites. I usually add a little crushed chilli to mine so that is what I did today. Before starting, debeard the mussels and ensure all are closed and none are broken. Sauté the onion & garlic until translucent & add the chilli flakes (if using). Add the white wine and cream and tip in the mussels, cover the pan and cook for several minutes (3 – 5) until open and infused with the winey liquid. Remove the mussels from the cooking liquid and add a small amount of beurre manie (‘kneaded butter’ in French). This dough, made of equal parts soft butter and flour, is used in French cooking to thicken soups and sauces and results in a thick creamy sauce with a silky texture (don’t you just love butter!). Return the mussels to the thickened sauce and add some parsley leaves. Plate with a liberal coating of the liquid, sprinkle a small amount of diced deseeded tomato and serve with a piece of garlic bread (and a glass of chilled white wine). Hearty and delicious I assure you!

Chefs Plate – Mussels
My plate of Mussels with Wine & Cream sauce
Mussels at home
Moules & Frites

Whilst the salmon was cooking, we rolled out the pastry and assembled the tarts. We didn’t blind bake the tarts which seemed to cause some concern amongst the students. Chef assured the class that the tarts would be cooked low and slow (seems to be a theme) & the bottoms would be crispy – and indeed they were!.  He did mention that toward the end of the bake he turned up … maybe a tip!

In quick succession we plated the salmon and the tart. The salmon went on the salad, surrounded with the citrus segments. A frisee lettuce garnish topped the salmon and a whole-grain mustard and olive oil dressing (with a dash of white wine vinegar) was spooned on top.  The tart had a filling of cooked diced apple, sultanas, cinnamon and lemon zest and was topped with a crumble mixture of sugar, flour butter, rolled oats and desiccated coconut. It was served hot, sprinkled with icing sugar with Chantilly Cream (cream whisked with icing sugar) on the side.  A fabulous tip from our lovely teachers assistant Stella was use a warm spoon to make a quenelle shape with the cream… it took me a few goes but I got close!

My sous vide Salmon & Citrus Salad
Chefs Salmon
My Mini Apple Crumble tart
Chef’s Apple Crumble Tart

So there we are – the final lesson in ‘Basic Methods of Cookery’…. I hope you tune in next week for the highs and lows of the assessment practical after which I move onto a block of lessons covering ‘Appetisers and Salads’.

Bon Appetit

Kathryn 💙

 

 

 

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Lesson 8….Basic Methods of Cookery – Deep Frying, Poaching & Birthdays

Posted on May 1, 2018 by kathryninthekitchen

I am glad to be back in Kitchen 9 today after a two week break, I really missed being here and missed my two young friends Bree and Bellinda. It’s the first of May and also Bellinda’s 18th birthday!  I remember my 18th Birthday as though it were yesterday, which it obviously wasn’t! I celebrated with my mother and brothers, one of whom is no longer with us and who I miss every day. Birthdays are for celebrating so cake there must be… one of the other students asked if I made this lovely Hazelnut and Raspberry Mocha cake (hahahah)…….thanks for the compliment I think 😊.  Chef also made Bellinda the centre of attention today which is just as it should be when you turn 18.

These two!!
Bellinda’s Birthday cake
Bellinda was 18 today – celebration in class

The lesson today seemed lighter than others, but there were three elements requiring deep frying which takes time when there are 13 or so students & only 4 deep fryers. The class has definitely found a rhythm & there seems to be more concentration as we approach the looming practical assessment in a few weeks. The recipes today are Salt and Pepper Squid with Asian dressing, Hoke fillet in a crispy batter with Aioli and Poached Pear with Anglaise Sauce.

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Todays Lesson

Trays ready

We start with the Salt and Pepper squid, first preparing the coating and dry frying the Szechuan peppercorns. As with all seeds, dry frying releases the oils and intensifies the flavour. Szechuan peppercorn (also spelled Sichuan) is very fragrant and creates a slight numbing mouth sensation. The aroma is not unlike lavender and it is one of the ingredients in Chinese five spice. It is a delicious deep flavour.

Warming the Szechuan pepper to release flavour
Salt and Szechuan pepper coating

Squid is related to the cuttlefish… it has ten tentacles and takes some preparation, however the squid we worked with was already cleaned with no heads and beaks to remove or tentacles to cut off. The squid hoods were frozen rather than fresh, and where as they were perfectly fine and the end product tasted good, Chef commented he preferred fresh squid. There was a demonstration on how to score the squid (always score the outer side and ensure only to score lightly) and how to cut them into pieces. We had the option of making rings or ‘fingers’ … I chose the latter. The Asian dressing which accompanied the squid was a simple mixture of sweet chilli sauce, fish sauce, lime juice & garlic paste. Where as the recipe didn’t call for it, I also added some mirin to mine.  Chef encourages us to explore and make small changes to the recipe as we choose, I think this builds confidence. We all need to work on our knowledge of flavour profiles and practising in this way is a good opportunity to build that knowledge. When something doesn’t work Chef explains why and we simply move on…no drama… one persons mistake is everyone’s lesson. When done I was happy with my finished plate.

Cleaned Squid hood
Squid ready to deep fry
Deep frying the squid
Chefs plate
My Salt & Pepper squid with Asian dressing

The next dish was the Hoke fillet with ailoi. The garlic was roasted, blended and added to the mayonnaise with a dash of lemon. The Hoke, which was already filleted, was cut into portions. We then made the the marinade and the batter. The batter which was made from cornflour, self raising flour and soda water, turned out to be very light and puffed beautifully when deep fried. The fish was marinated in the lemon based marinade for around 15 minutes before coating and deep frying. The scientific action of cooking fish with heat is the same as cooking with acid (ceviche) & you can see how the texture of the fish altered from the lemon juice marinade. The trick with deep frying, as with everything in cooking, is to be gentle & take care. Once floured and battered, gently place the fish in the heated oil, moving it to and fro for a minute before gently releasing it…. in this way it won’t sink to the bottom and stick to the basket!

Roasted garlic for the aioli
Deep Frying the fish
Quick marinade

Chef decided to make some chips. I think the best chips are the ones cooked 3 times…which Chef did. Steam the chips, place them in the freezer for an hour to dry out, then cook them at 130C (265F) until a crust forms. Put them back in the freezer ( the chips can sit in the fridge for three days at this stage) and when ready, deep fry at 180C (355F) for around 7 minutes…..these will be the best chips you have ever tasted!  True to form (his no waste in my kitchen approach), Chef also made potato skins…I was so engrossed in what I was doing & I missed trying them, but did manage to snap a photo. The fish was delicious as were the chips 😊

Potato skins
Chefs plate
Crispy Hoke Fillet with Aioli & chips

Thank goodness I am not on a diet as next was the poached pears with anglaise sauce. To the prepared sugar syrup we added the peeled and cored pears. I also added a cinnamon quill, a sprig of lavender and a few strips of lemon rind to my syrup. I was concerned that there were too many flavours but the end result was lovely! The pears were poached slow and low under a paper cartouche (a circle of grease proof paper) and whilst the pears were being transformed into soft delicious sweet treats, I started on the anglaise sauce. Creme Anglaise…English Cream 💙 is a light pouring custard of eggs, sugar, milk and vanilla…trust me…it’s to die for! Chef picked a variety of herb flowers from the garden, these proved to be delicate and delicious as well as pretty & added to the flavour of the finished plate.

Sugar Syrup with cinnamon quill, lavender and lemon rind
Pears under cartouche – gently poaching
Lovely sugar syrup
Poached Pear with Sauce Anglaise

Finally, here is a recent photo of poached pears my lovely mother made at Easter… Saffron poached pears with cream.. absolutely delicious. Just goes to show the many flavours you can play with….and yes, she also stitched the beautiful tablecloth in this photo…she is a legend 🧡

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Mum’s Poached Pear in Saffron Syrup

I couldn’t be happier that I am back doing what feels so so right. I hope something of my journey and learning resonate with you.

Bon Appétit and happy cooking.

Kathryn 💙

 

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Lesson 7…Basic Methods of Cookery – Stewing, Sauté & Braising

Posted on April 10, 2018 by kathryninthekitchen

I can’t believe that I have been at Culinary School for 10 weeks and have had 7 practical cooking lessons. I couldn’t be happier with my decision to enrol in Commercial Cookery at TAFE, particularly Ryde TAFE which is so well appointed. It has been a thorougly great experience and I look forward to every lesson. Today is lesson 4 of the 7 lesson subject,  ‘Preparing dishes using basic methods of cookery’, and the last class before a two week break. In today’s class we will produce three dishes; Braised Spiced Ratatouille with Mozzarella, Lamb Tagine with Cous Cous and Minted Yoghurt & Lemon Curd Crepes.

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Lesson 7 – Stewing, Braising & Sautéing

Preparing the trays
Always quality produce

We start with the Tagine as it will take approximately 2 hours to cook. The Tagine is a classic dish from the North African region called Magherb which includes Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. The dish is named after the pottery vessel in which it is cooked and is a taste sensation – spicy aromatic and fragrant. Think of tender meats and aromatic vegetables with dried and/or preserved fruit, chick peas, herbs, honey and dried spices such as cinnamon, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cassia and cardamon (to name just a few). I was lucky to be given a Tagine a few years ago as a gift, after which I sought out a few cook books on Moroccan food, my favourite being, ‘Tagine – Spicy stews from Morocco’ by Ghille Bascan. Where as the authentic way of cooking these dishes is in a Tagine on the stove top, you can use a casserole pot on a low heat in the oven and produce an equally lovely dish, as we did in class.

Tagine

If using meat, it is important to flour & sauté it before adding it to the vegetables and adding the liquid. This will ensure the meat retains it’s juices & will provide some body to the finished sauce. The perfume in Kitchen 9 was delightful and the finished dish served with cous cous and minted yoghurt was delicious. Where as it passes the test of ‘a good dish is eaten with the eyes first’, I have to say my nose was saying “yes” before it came out of the oven….

Browning the shanks
Sautéing the vegetables
Adding the spice and stock
Almost done
Chef Troy’s dish
My finished dish

Next we turn our attention to preparing the ingredients for the Ratatouille, a vegetable stew which is typical of Provencal cookery. The dish originated in Nice and the name comes from the French word touiller, which means to ‘stir’. You can serve Ratatouille as an accompaniment/side dish to a main or as a vegetarian entree.  Today we baked it in two versions, one with mozzarella cheese on to a slice of crusty bread, and the other in a small foil dish topped with the same cheese. Being a French Mediterranean dish, I fancy it paired with a soft goats cheese and crusty bread….mmmmm 😊.

Ready for the pot
Ready for Baking
Ready for eating – Chef’s
Ready for eating – mine

The last dish of the day was Crepes with lemon curd. Crepe batter, like most other batters, needs to be rested for at least 30 minutes before use, so we make this first, then the curd before cooking the crepes.

When making curd you need to take the lemon juice, sugar, butter and cornflour far enough that it emulsifies, continuously mixing over a moderate heat until it is almost clear. Once done it is taken it off the heat and cooled to no more than 80c before adding the eggs. If you add the eggs when the mixture is too hot the eggs will scramble and the mixture will be ruined, as one of the students discovered. If not using the curd immediately, ensure the cured is covered and the cling wrap is touching the surface of the curd – this stops a skin forming.

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Curd under wrap

I love a sharp lemon curd, I use it in between layers in layer cakes, in cup cakes, on pavlovas and on toast (yum)! I haven’t had it in crepes before and am glad to have yet another use for it. For cooking the crepes we used small crepe pans which Chef borrowed from one of the pastry classes. They were lent on the proviso that they were well oiled and water did not touch them… I am not sure everyone adhered to that requirement 😱

Chef demonstrates wrapping the curd
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My plating of Crepes with Lemon curd and lavender

Time absolutely flies when I am in class and I will miss being here for a few weeks. I will also miss these two lovely young ladies whose company I really enjoy, both of them already happily working in the industry.

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My lovely friends Bellinda and Bree 💙

Bon Appetit & Happy Cooking

Kathryn 💙

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