Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Weekly Reflection, February 18, 2010
Weekly Reflection: Fundamentals of Cookery
February 18, 2010
by Mark Enomoto
Goals:
With the final coming around my goal is to use every opportunity to practice for the final, whether it’s in class or at home. The final is going to have a completely different flow from a regular class. There will not be any breaks for a demo, time to use the restroom, a chance to look too long at my final plan notes, or possibly breath. The mentality I’m taking is: the tour bus drops the guests off at 7am, and the breakfast rush is going to last four and a half hours until 11:30am. Better be ready.
I’m hoping to make some money this weekend at work so that I can go to the market and buy some practice materials to work with – luckily Jodi’s willing to help out as well. Using my “Final Draft” outline, I’ll take a series of tasks and do a run through, so that I have a better idea of where I’m really weak.
In class I want to remain focused, organized and clean during the production portion of class. I need to work on hustling and getting my work done ahead of time, and move forward onto the next task at hand. Besides competing with myself, I could try to have my own personal competition with my classmates; who’s doing great work, and getting done first? This could be a way to push myself to another level. Competition to me is more about personal development, but the competition with others shouldn’t be disregarded because, that too, has it’s developmental benefits.
Expectations:
I have two expectations for next week. The first is that next weeks breakfast cookery module will be extremely challenging. However, I still look forward to breakfast cookery, despite the fear that’s been instilled in us. Eggs are one of those seemingly harmless items, but from this week’s experience with rice, I know not to discount it. I look forward to learning some of the classical skill that Escoffier mentions in his chapter on eggs in his book “Le Guide Culinaire”.
My second expectation is that next week will fly by and hit me like me right hook. Each week has picked up in pace faster than the previous week. With school, work, and homework I’ve been getting more and more exhausted. I think it probably looks like school gave me two black eyes some days when I get home. But, it’ll all be over soon before I know it.
Despite the challenges I have no regrets or complaints about where I am, what I’m doing, and what I’m trying to accomplish in life. And I still believe, like Chef Lance Nitahara, that I am an accumulation of all the people that have affected me, and of all of my past experiences.
Reflection of Experiences:
The experience that left the biggest impression on me is my three stike brown rice. It showed me that even the seemingly easy most recognizable tasks can be challenging. The learning experience that was presented to me is, among other things, this: never underestimate simplicity. My other learning experience is that I can’t cook brown rice in a pan – but I do know how.
“Never underestimating simplicity” is not a new thing to me, but its being revealed to me in a different context. This idea definitely has place when it comes to the culinary world. Everything that we think is new has already been done before. It’s just being presented differently because someone knew the basics of something simple.
If I learn to make a decent quarter cup of brown rice in a small sauté pan one day, maybe I’ll be able to serve it as something special as well.
Positive Experiences:
Teamwork and camaraderie were necessary for my personal development this week. I experienced really great camaraderie this week when I met up with Reid to discuss our final drafts. Before meeting up with Reid, I just couldn’t figure out where to start. I don’t know why, but it was as if I was standing in front of a brick wall. But with a little discussion and referring back to our notes, I was able to get a little kick start in a decent direction and I could go on my own from there.
In many aspects our industry is at it’s best when teamwork is involved, as well, whether it’s two people who work side by side, or two industries that work with each other to generate business. Ultimately, we want to be able to work independently, but it’s a great investment to have a school, work, or personal relationship that is reciprocal when it comes to sincere teamwork.
Humbling Moments:
My humbling moment for the week was mismeasuring, burning, and not being able to cook a decent ¼ cup of brown rice. This reminded me that everything I’m doing should be looked at as something new, and I should receive all this information as though I’ve never done it before. This is probably why, some students who may not have made risotto before may have scored higher than me – they came to the task as an empty vessel and received the information without any preconceived ideas.
Of the things that I learned this week, I am best prepared to demonstrate to someone else? (list in bullet form)
• White Rice
• Wild Rice
• Navarin of Lamb
• Pasta
• Risotto
• Polenta
• Baked potato
• Whipped potato
• Blue cheese dressing
• Filleting a roundfish
• Buerre noisette
• Shuck clams and oysters
• Clean shrimp and squid
• Ciopinno
What feedback did I receive from my instructor and how did I use the information to improve my performance?
On my disastrous Tuesday rice day, the feedback I received from Chef wasn’t any particular words, but facial expressions. I never want to cook food that causes people to convulse from over salted food, nor do I want a guest to pick through their food with a “what’s going on here?” expression. Of course Chef gave me constructive feed back, but sometimes nothing stings more than a facial expression. But this is how I learn. The next time I made chicken stock, I tasted it. And the next time I measured vinegar and it didn’t look right, I double checked and triple checked.
February 18, 2010
by Mark Enomoto
Goals:
With the final coming around my goal is to use every opportunity to practice for the final, whether it’s in class or at home. The final is going to have a completely different flow from a regular class. There will not be any breaks for a demo, time to use the restroom, a chance to look too long at my final plan notes, or possibly breath. The mentality I’m taking is: the tour bus drops the guests off at 7am, and the breakfast rush is going to last four and a half hours until 11:30am. Better be ready.
I’m hoping to make some money this weekend at work so that I can go to the market and buy some practice materials to work with – luckily Jodi’s willing to help out as well. Using my “Final Draft” outline, I’ll take a series of tasks and do a run through, so that I have a better idea of where I’m really weak.
In class I want to remain focused, organized and clean during the production portion of class. I need to work on hustling and getting my work done ahead of time, and move forward onto the next task at hand. Besides competing with myself, I could try to have my own personal competition with my classmates; who’s doing great work, and getting done first? This could be a way to push myself to another level. Competition to me is more about personal development, but the competition with others shouldn’t be disregarded because, that too, has it’s developmental benefits.
Expectations:
I have two expectations for next week. The first is that next weeks breakfast cookery module will be extremely challenging. However, I still look forward to breakfast cookery, despite the fear that’s been instilled in us. Eggs are one of those seemingly harmless items, but from this week’s experience with rice, I know not to discount it. I look forward to learning some of the classical skill that Escoffier mentions in his chapter on eggs in his book “Le Guide Culinaire”.
My second expectation is that next week will fly by and hit me like me right hook. Each week has picked up in pace faster than the previous week. With school, work, and homework I’ve been getting more and more exhausted. I think it probably looks like school gave me two black eyes some days when I get home. But, it’ll all be over soon before I know it.
Despite the challenges I have no regrets or complaints about where I am, what I’m doing, and what I’m trying to accomplish in life. And I still believe, like Chef Lance Nitahara, that I am an accumulation of all the people that have affected me, and of all of my past experiences.
Reflection of Experiences:
The experience that left the biggest impression on me is my three stike brown rice. It showed me that even the seemingly easy most recognizable tasks can be challenging. The learning experience that was presented to me is, among other things, this: never underestimate simplicity. My other learning experience is that I can’t cook brown rice in a pan – but I do know how.
“Never underestimating simplicity” is not a new thing to me, but its being revealed to me in a different context. This idea definitely has place when it comes to the culinary world. Everything that we think is new has already been done before. It’s just being presented differently because someone knew the basics of something simple.
If I learn to make a decent quarter cup of brown rice in a small sauté pan one day, maybe I’ll be able to serve it as something special as well.
Positive Experiences:
Teamwork and camaraderie were necessary for my personal development this week. I experienced really great camaraderie this week when I met up with Reid to discuss our final drafts. Before meeting up with Reid, I just couldn’t figure out where to start. I don’t know why, but it was as if I was standing in front of a brick wall. But with a little discussion and referring back to our notes, I was able to get a little kick start in a decent direction and I could go on my own from there.
In many aspects our industry is at it’s best when teamwork is involved, as well, whether it’s two people who work side by side, or two industries that work with each other to generate business. Ultimately, we want to be able to work independently, but it’s a great investment to have a school, work, or personal relationship that is reciprocal when it comes to sincere teamwork.
Humbling Moments:
My humbling moment for the week was mismeasuring, burning, and not being able to cook a decent ¼ cup of brown rice. This reminded me that everything I’m doing should be looked at as something new, and I should receive all this information as though I’ve never done it before. This is probably why, some students who may not have made risotto before may have scored higher than me – they came to the task as an empty vessel and received the information without any preconceived ideas.
Of the things that I learned this week, I am best prepared to demonstrate to someone else? (list in bullet form)
• White Rice
• Wild Rice
• Navarin of Lamb
• Pasta
• Risotto
• Polenta
• Baked potato
• Whipped potato
• Blue cheese dressing
• Filleting a roundfish
• Buerre noisette
• Shuck clams and oysters
• Clean shrimp and squid
• Ciopinno
What feedback did I receive from my instructor and how did I use the information to improve my performance?
On my disastrous Tuesday rice day, the feedback I received from Chef wasn’t any particular words, but facial expressions. I never want to cook food that causes people to convulse from over salted food, nor do I want a guest to pick through their food with a “what’s going on here?” expression. Of course Chef gave me constructive feed back, but sometimes nothing stings more than a facial expression. But this is how I learn. The next time I made chicken stock, I tasted it. And the next time I measured vinegar and it didn’t look right, I double checked and triple checked.
Daily Reflection, February 12, 2010 - Boeuf Bourguignon
Learning Outcome: Boeuf Bourguignon (adapted from Julie Child)
MISE EN PLACE:
General Mise en Place
• Soapy water bucket
• Santitizer bucket
• Sanitizer spray
• Rubber mat & cutting board
• Terry kitchen towels
• Pie tins
• Tasting spoons
• Plastic ramekins
• Styrofoam pints
Specific Mise en Place
• Chef knife
• Kitchen twine
• Cheese cloth, about 8x8 4 ply
• Aluminum foil, 2-3 ply
• Paper towels
• Tong’s
• Wooden spoon or rubber spatula
• Fine mesh sieve
• Small aluminum mixing bowl
• Medium aluminum mixing bowl
• Small sauté pan
• Medium sauce pot
INGREDIENTS:
1½# Beef Bottom Round, 2” cube
3 oz Bacon, sticks (1 ½” x 1/4 “)
1 ea Carrot, medium oblique
½ # Onion, large dice
½# Mushrooms
24 Pearl Onions,
½ T Extra virgin Olive oil
TT Salt & pepper
1 T Flour
1½ c Red wine
½ T Beef stock
½ T Tomato paste
1 ea Garlic
1/8 t Thyme
1 ea Bay leaf
METHOD:
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 450°F
Step 2:
Collect the mise en place. Pat the cubed meat with paper towels, and keep in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use.
Step 3:
Sear the mushrooms.
First, wash the mushrooms under cold water in a mixing bowl with salt. Once the mushrooms are clean and dried, add them to a hot pan to sear. When done, season with salt and white pepper, and leave the mushrooms on the side for later use.
Step 4:
Fry the bacon until “breakfast brown”.
First, blanch the bacon in boiling water for a few minutes, until they’re slightly firm. Next, in the large sauce pot, sauté the bacon until crispy and brown, or “breakfast brown”. When the desired doneness has been achieved, hold the bacon on the side for later use, and keep the fat for the next step.
Step 5:
Using the same sauce pot with the bacon fat, add the onions and carrots and begin to caramelize. A few minute before the carrots and onions are done, add the garlic and sweat. Remove the caramelized vegetables from the pot, and clean the pot.
Step 6:
Sear the meat.
Start with a hot pot with enough olive oil to lightly cover the bottom. Without crowding the pot place the meat into the pot, and develop a nice sear on all sides of the meat. When the first batch is done, remove it from the pot, and repeat with the next batch until all the meat has been seared.
Step 7:
Return all the meat to the pot, add the crispy bacon, and flour. Fully incorporate to develop a dry roux. You may have to add more flour if there’s still a lot of moisture.
Step 8:
Place the pot into the 425°F oven for 4-5 minutes. After the first 5 minutes, toss, and return to the oven for an additional 4-5 minutes.
Step 9:
Remove the pot from the oven, and return to the range over medium heat. Add the tomato paste, red wine, and beef stock. Incorporate and bring to a boil.
Step 10:
Finally, add the root vegetables, fresh thyme, and sachet. Bring to a boil.
Step 11:
Using a 2-3 ply aluminum foil, create a tight lid. Be sure to crimp all around the edges, so that it’s air tight.
Step 12:
Place the pot into a 325°F oven for 21/2 to 3 hours.
Step 13:
In the meantime, trim the stem and root ends of the onion, and blanch the pearl onions. Once the skins begin to separate during the blanching process, remove it from the heat and shock with cold water. When the onions are cool give them a light squeeze and they’ll pop out of the skin.
Step 14:
Caramelize the pearl onions in a sauté pan with extra virgin olive oil. Add a light sprinkle of sugar to assist with it’s caramelization process. Once caramelization has been achieved season with salt and white pepper, combine with seared mushrooms on the side.
Step 15:
At about 2½ hours, check the beef for doneness using the end of a small serving utensil. The tip should easily sink in through the fibers of the meat. If more time is needed, replace the foil lid and return to the oven.
Step 16:
Once the bourguignonne is done, return it to the range over medium heat and incorporate the seared mushrooms and caramelized peal onions.
Step 17:
Strain out the meat and vegetables, and reduce the sauce until a medium nappe is achieve. Once achieved, return all the meat and vegetables, and carefully fold in.
STATEMENT :
According to Larousse Gastronomic, bourguignonne is the French name given to a dish that is made with red wine. It’s also the name given to dishes that are inspired by Burgundy which is known as the center of French cuisine. Dishes that are ala bourguigonne are generally made with a red wine from their region, and with of course, beef, but with chicken, fish, seafood, frogs, or vegetables as well. The classic accompanied vegetables are mushrooms, small onions, and bacon.
Today we made boeuf bourguignonne. The recipe we used was form Julia Child, but we added a few extra ingredients such as more carrots, mushrooms, and pearl onions. This was ironic since Jodi and I have been watching the movie Julie & Julia all week – short increments at a time while I took a dinner break from homework. We finally, finished the movie during dinner tonight after I got home from work. It was an excellent movie, and I’m proud to have experienced making a classic boeuf bourguinonne.
MISE EN PLACE:
General Mise en Place
• Soapy water bucket
• Santitizer bucket
• Sanitizer spray
• Rubber mat & cutting board
• Terry kitchen towels
• Pie tins
• Tasting spoons
• Plastic ramekins
• Styrofoam pints
Specific Mise en Place
• Chef knife
• Kitchen twine
• Cheese cloth, about 8x8 4 ply
• Aluminum foil, 2-3 ply
• Paper towels
• Tong’s
• Wooden spoon or rubber spatula
• Fine mesh sieve
• Small aluminum mixing bowl
• Medium aluminum mixing bowl
• Small sauté pan
• Medium sauce pot
INGREDIENTS:
1½# Beef Bottom Round, 2” cube
3 oz Bacon, sticks (1 ½” x 1/4 “)
1 ea Carrot, medium oblique
½ # Onion, large dice
½# Mushrooms
24 Pearl Onions,
½ T Extra virgin Olive oil
TT Salt & pepper
1 T Flour
1½ c Red wine
½ T Beef stock
½ T Tomato paste
1 ea Garlic
1/8 t Thyme
1 ea Bay leaf
METHOD:
Step 1:
Preheat the oven to 450°F
Step 2:
Collect the mise en place. Pat the cubed meat with paper towels, and keep in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use.
Step 3:
Sear the mushrooms.
First, wash the mushrooms under cold water in a mixing bowl with salt. Once the mushrooms are clean and dried, add them to a hot pan to sear. When done, season with salt and white pepper, and leave the mushrooms on the side for later use.
Step 4:
Fry the bacon until “breakfast brown”.
First, blanch the bacon in boiling water for a few minutes, until they’re slightly firm. Next, in the large sauce pot, sauté the bacon until crispy and brown, or “breakfast brown”. When the desired doneness has been achieved, hold the bacon on the side for later use, and keep the fat for the next step.
Step 5:
Using the same sauce pot with the bacon fat, add the onions and carrots and begin to caramelize. A few minute before the carrots and onions are done, add the garlic and sweat. Remove the caramelized vegetables from the pot, and clean the pot.
Step 6:
Sear the meat.
Start with a hot pot with enough olive oil to lightly cover the bottom. Without crowding the pot place the meat into the pot, and develop a nice sear on all sides of the meat. When the first batch is done, remove it from the pot, and repeat with the next batch until all the meat has been seared.
Step 7:
Return all the meat to the pot, add the crispy bacon, and flour. Fully incorporate to develop a dry roux. You may have to add more flour if there’s still a lot of moisture.
Step 8:
Place the pot into the 425°F oven for 4-5 minutes. After the first 5 minutes, toss, and return to the oven for an additional 4-5 minutes.
Step 9:
Remove the pot from the oven, and return to the range over medium heat. Add the tomato paste, red wine, and beef stock. Incorporate and bring to a boil.
Step 10:
Finally, add the root vegetables, fresh thyme, and sachet. Bring to a boil.
Step 11:
Using a 2-3 ply aluminum foil, create a tight lid. Be sure to crimp all around the edges, so that it’s air tight.
Step 12:
Place the pot into a 325°F oven for 21/2 to 3 hours.
Step 13:
In the meantime, trim the stem and root ends of the onion, and blanch the pearl onions. Once the skins begin to separate during the blanching process, remove it from the heat and shock with cold water. When the onions are cool give them a light squeeze and they’ll pop out of the skin.
Step 14:
Caramelize the pearl onions in a sauté pan with extra virgin olive oil. Add a light sprinkle of sugar to assist with it’s caramelization process. Once caramelization has been achieved season with salt and white pepper, combine with seared mushrooms on the side.
Step 15:
At about 2½ hours, check the beef for doneness using the end of a small serving utensil. The tip should easily sink in through the fibers of the meat. If more time is needed, replace the foil lid and return to the oven.
Step 16:
Once the bourguignonne is done, return it to the range over medium heat and incorporate the seared mushrooms and caramelized peal onions.
Step 17:
Strain out the meat and vegetables, and reduce the sauce until a medium nappe is achieve. Once achieved, return all the meat and vegetables, and carefully fold in.
STATEMENT :
According to Larousse Gastronomic, bourguignonne is the French name given to a dish that is made with red wine. It’s also the name given to dishes that are inspired by Burgundy which is known as the center of French cuisine. Dishes that are ala bourguigonne are generally made with a red wine from their region, and with of course, beef, but with chicken, fish, seafood, frogs, or vegetables as well. The classic accompanied vegetables are mushrooms, small onions, and bacon.
Today we made boeuf bourguignonne. The recipe we used was form Julia Child, but we added a few extra ingredients such as more carrots, mushrooms, and pearl onions. This was ironic since Jodi and I have been watching the movie Julie & Julia all week – short increments at a time while I took a dinner break from homework. We finally, finished the movie during dinner tonight after I got home from work. It was an excellent movie, and I’m proud to have experienced making a classic boeuf bourguinonne.
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