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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Culinary School - Q5 Week 8 Garde Manger

Garde Manger

May 23-24, 2011

Objectives: Deli Trays, Fruit and Veggie Trays, Sauces

Recipes: Meat tray, Cheese tray, Veggie tray, Fruit tray, Sauces

Summary: This week we are making trays of food. This couldn’t be at a better time because our BEO project is due this week. It is giving us practice at setting up a buffet which is what the BEO project is.

Food: We all worked on different things for this week’s food. April made the fruit roses. I think they are beautiful. Pretty much everything else is standard buffet trays. I made a bunch of different sauces. David Prince made the snake tray of rye bread, and the other David made dinner rolls. Brie and I also worked on mini apple pies. It’s hard to have too much to say about deli trays.
Chef with Mini Pie

Buffet

Buffet

Buffet

Meat Tray

Melon Trays

Mini Apple Pies

Rye Bread Snake

Obscene Horseradish

My Team

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Culinary School - Week 7 Vocabulary

Vocabulary


acidification: when the acid from the culture begins to coagulate and curdle
aging (of cheese): the term for when the cheese is stored to gain flavor
annatto: a yellow colored powder from plants
artisan butter: butter with lower water content and higher milk fat
bloom: what you do to gelatin before you use it.
cheese vault: a special room that has the right conditions for aging cheese
cheese: made from combining all the curds together.
chèvre*: goats milk cheese
clabber: a mass of soft curds like a custard
coagulation: when the ingredients come together
compound/composed butter: a whipped butter with fresh herbs and other seasonings
culture: bacteria added to food
culturing: the process of added bacteria to food
curdle: to separate the curds and whey
curdling: part of the coagulation process
curds: the solids left from separating the milk fat and solids
curing (of cheese): the process of aging cheese
fermentation: the changes that occur in food after adding bacteria
fermented dairy product: milk or cream that has been changed by adding bacteria
fresh cheese: fromage frais
fromage*: curds shaped in a mold to make cheese
interior ripening: culture that is injected into the cheese after it is formed
lactose intolerant: not able to digest milk sugars
mature cheese: cheese that has reached the mature stage after aging for a time
pasta filata: cheese made from heating the curds and stretching them like taffy
rennet: a curdling agent made from the lining of cloven hooved animals
rennin: an enzyme found in rennet
ripening (of cheese): changes that occur in cheese as it ages
salted butter: butter that is processed with salt
surface ripening: spraying a culture on the outside of cheese that will make an edible rind
unsalted/sweet butter: butter that is made from just cream with no salt added
whey: what is left after you take the milk solids and milk fats out
whipped butter: butter that has been softened and then whipped with a mixer
young cheese: cheese that has just started changing

Culinary School - Week 6 Vocabulary

Vocabulary Week 6


attelet*: a decorative skewer
ballottine*: similar to a galantine only not covered in aspic.
caul fat/lace fat: a fatty membrane from pig or sheep stomach used to wrap terrines
en terrine presentation*: presented in the terrine.
forcemeat: a mixture of types of meat and fat, seasonings, and binders
galantine*: chicken skin filled with chicken mousse, rolled and poached then coated in aspic
gratin forcemeat: forcemeat that has part of it pre-cooked to give it a roasted flavor
gratin garnish: garnish inside a gratin forcemeat that has been pre-cooked
grosse pièce*: a large piece of a roast or other meat that is used on the tray
inlay garnish: something you put inside the terrine or galantine
internal garnish: things used inside of a sandwich, like lettuce and tomatoes
liner: used to hold forcemeat
mousseline pâté*: a smooth mixture of raw forcemeat that is cooked and then chilled before serving
panade/panada*: s soft or smooth filler used to bind forcemeat
pâte à pâté*: dough used to wrap pate in before cooking
pâté en croûte*: pate that is wrapped in dough and cooked before serving
pâté roulade*:similar to a galantine only its not wrapped in poultry skin
pâté*: forcemeat served cold
primary fowl: skin from a large bird like a roasting chicken used to wrap forcemeat
primary meat: meat that accounts for more than half a pate forcemeats weight
quatre épices*: four spices, white pepper, ginger, allspice, and nutmeg
random garnish: garnish that is mixed into forcemeat that is not inside in a specific order
sealer: usually fat or aspic
secondary meat: an additional meat added to a forcemeat
secondary poultry: additional poultry meat used to make a forcemeat
terrine*: a forcemeat that is baked in a mold without a crust
wrapper: like caul fat, used to contain the forcemeat

Culinary School - Week 5 vocabulary

Vocabulary


casing(s): animal intestine used for making sausages
caul fat: the membrain from the outside of the stomach from pigs and cows
certified pork: pork that has been frozen for a number of days to kill germs.
cured and cold-smoked sausage: cured using nitrates and nitrites, then smoked at a temp below 100°
cured and dried sausage: sausage like salami
cured and hot-smoked sausage: cured with nitrites and nitrates then smoked at a temp of 165°
cured emulsified sausage: forcemeat pureed for a smooth texture, then cured
dextrose: powdered sweetener
emulsified sausage: forcemeat pureed for a smooth texture
farce: French term for forcemeat
fatback/backfat: the fat under the skin on a pig’s back
fermented sausage: forcemeat processed with dairy to provide a tangy flavor
forcemeat: seasoned ground meat and fat
fresh sausage: sausage ready for eating within a few days of being made.
internal garnish(es): food placed inside the forcemeat for decoration, like olives in pimento loaf
jowl fat: the fat from inside the cheek of a pig
leaf lard: rendered suet
manufactured casings: manmade tubes for sausage making
natural casings: animal intestines for sausage making
pork rind: the skin of the pig from the fatback
salt fatback: fatback that has been salted as a means of preserving
sausage(s): a mixture of ground meat and fat that is seasoned.
secondary binder: something used to stabilize sausage or other forcemeat
standard-grind sausage: forcemeats run through a meat grinder
suet: fat from around an animal’s kidneys
synthetic souring agent: reproduces the flavors produced by the action of bacteria
trim fat: fat from between the muscles of an animal
unsmoked dried sausage: a type of unsmoked sausage that is dried
white or fresh emulsified sausage: smooth texture sausage without nitrites and nitrates

Culinary School - Q5 Week 7 Garde Manger

Garde Manger


May 16-17, 2011

Objectives: Terrines, Aspic, Chaud-Froid, and Cheese

Recipes: Confetti Vegetable Terrine, Terrine de Campagne, Classic White Chaud-Froid, Broccoli Mousse, Mozzarella, Insalata Capresse, Restaurant Style Presentation

Summary: Everyone in class seemed off this week. We all seemed tired and cranky. But we did produce some nice platters of food. We worked with Aspic for the first time. That stuff is disgusting. The Chaud-Froid was much better than the Aspic. I don’t understand why people will pay so much money for food that is so gross! I can’t believe how fast this quarter is going!

Food: I got to unmold my Vegetable Terrine from last week finally. I was so pleased with how it turned out! Apparently other classes have had problems with this recipe. Both Shari and I were able to get it to work. On Monday night I made the Broccoli Mousse. It turned out really well too. Diego was responsible for making the Confetti Vegetable Terrine. Unfortunately, he left it in the freezer overnight so it was frozen. We made Mozzarella from curds and it turned out AWESOME! I was really happy about that. Our insalata capresse was delicious.

Pate Humor

Ham Mousse on Crostini

Capresse Crostini

Snapper Mousse with
Black Pepper and
Parmesan Crackers

Culinary School - Q5 Week 6 Garde Manger

Garde Manger


May 9-10, 2011

Objectives: Forcemeats, Terrines, Galantine

Recipes: Chicken Galantine, Duck Terrine, Vegetable Terrine, Apple Cranberry Chutney

Summary: I am so proud of myself this week. After the fiasco of fundamentals in which I got sick after Chef butchered a chicken I deboned, and skinned a whole chicken in class and I was the first one done at my table! I can’t believe how quickly this quarter is going by. I am nervous about the final but Chef said I am doing fine in class and shouldn’t worry. I talked with Chef after class on Tuesday. Half the class had taken off their hats, neckerchiefs and had unbuttoned their coats. I find that so disrespectful to both Chef and the other members of the class. You wouldn’t do that in the kitchen of a restaurant you were working in and we should be treating the kitchens at school as if they were our jobs. I know that I seem intolerant sometimes, but the fact is, I am an adult and not my classmate’s mother, and they need to learn some respect.

Food: This week there wasn’t much food to taste. Only the Galantine and the chutney. I tried the Galantine. I thought it was disgusting. I know that people will pay a lot of money for things like that but it tasted like vomit. Chef did say that the flavor was right, so I am happy about that. I am not looking forward to the aspic training this week. I think it’s kind of gross.

Cranberry Apple Bacon Chutney


Chicken Gallentine

Gallantine Tray

Gallentine close up

Culinary School - Q5 Week 5 Research Paper

History of Garde Manger


In the brigade system that was created by Auguste Escoffier, Garde Manger is Cold Pantry.


The literal translation of GardeManger is “Keep to Eat” and refers to the process of preparing foods for storage by Brining, Smoking, Drying, Curing, or Canning. In today’s restaurants, Garde Manger also refers to the station that makes salads, dressings, hors d’oeuvres and forcemeats. Since there was no refrigeration, people had to come up with ways to keep and preserve food so that they would have it when foods were in short supply due to the seasons. In medieval times, castles and manors had cold rooms or larders where food was stored. On French estates, these larders were called “Garde Manger”; henceforth, the culinary term for Garde Manger became “a place where cold food is prepared and stored”. Another way for the term Garde Manger to be used is to identify the person that is in charge of preparation and storage of cold foods.

Garde Manger can also be used as a term to describe the craft of preservation. The first dependable form of preservation was the drying of food. This was usually done by laying the food out in the sun to dry. Similar results could also be achieved by adding salt to the food. Adding salt aided the drawing out of moisture so that the food could be stored. While the foods were drying, they were often hung from rafters over a smoky fire. The smoke had a dual purpose. Originally it was used to keep insects off the food. Later, people discovered that the smoke actually made the food taste more flavorful.

Families that lived on secluded farms were among the first people to practice garde manger. They started adding herbs, spices, and sometimes beer or wine to flavor the foods. They also discovered that chopping or grinding the food into little pieces and adding lots of fat gave the meats more flavor and helped them last longer. These same people also developed and refined the art of cheese making.

As civilization advanced, cooking methods and food preferences changed too. In the early renaissance, food was heavily spiced and sauced. In the mid-1600’s the food and style of service began to change.


Francoise La Varenne began to move away from the Italian influenced style to foods with lighter sauces, and fresh vegetables. The addition of new foods and spices from Asia, the Middle East and even America were added to the larder. Soon, lighter foods and fresh ingredients gave way to new methods. The addition of leafy greens led to salads and vinaigrettes being served in addition to the heavier cooked foods. Refined cold dishes were now served that combined meat, fish or poultry with vegetables. The practice of garde manger expanded from preservation to preparation of all cold foods for the table. It was then that the garde manger staff moved out of the basement and into the kitchen.

In the late 1800’s, the grand hotels from New York to San Francisco were bringing French Chefs into their kitchens. Their new style of cooking was called “Continental Cuisine”. This new style combined classical French techniques with the fresh lighter style of North America.

One of the most prominent features of Continental Cuisine were the lavish cold buffets that were prepared and presented by the garde manger department. Formal cold buffets presented opportunities to garde mange chefs to show off their skills. By 1935, when Escoffier died, the profession of garde mange chef had evolved to its present form.

Just as Francoise La Varenne is considered the father of classical French cooking, Fernand Point is considered to be the godfather of Nouvelle Cuisine.


Nouvelle Cuisine was a radically different style of French cooking that emerged in the 1960’s. The culinary philosophy of nouvelle cuisine was simplicity and perfection in all dishes by exploring new ideas, techniques and sharing information. Chefs developed lighter, fresher methods of cooking. One new practice was the process of plating food in the kitchen instead of having the servers serve from platters that they carried around the dining room. Garde Mange chefs began creating intricate plate designs that included food in individual portions.

As chefs began traveling the world, they found new ingredients and flavors to incorporate into their foods. The addition of these new flavors is often called “Fusion Cuisine”.

By the end of the twentieth century the garde mange profession had seen several important advances. Meat and poultry fabrication had been moved to the processing facilities. Today the meat and poultry arrives at the restaurant ready to go straight to the hot line. This advancement frees up the garde manger area to do more creative work.

The 1980’s brought a change in the way Americans were eating. More and more people were becoming health conscious and the salad became more than a side dish. We began to see more main dish salads, and more charcuterie products such as pâtés and terrines as main dishes and appetizers.

The garde manger field benefits from the multicultural nature of food service employees. Dishes often exhibit flavors from many different world cuisines.

To pursue a career in the garde manger kitchen, one should first have a solid set of skills in the other areas of the kitchen. A good foundation of skills will benefit one’s time in garde manger. A chef should never stop learning to stay at the top of his or her field. Trends come and go. Possessing current knowledge and updated skills will make any chef a vital part of any organization. 

Culinary School - Q5 Week 5 Garde Manger

Garde Manger
May 2-3, 2011
Objectives: Sausage

Recipes: Fresh Mexican Chorizo, Bratwurst, Kielbasa, German Potato Salad,
House Made Mustard, Chicken Apple Sausage, Sage Breakfast Sausage,
Scotch eggs with aioli, Fresh Italian sausage, Artisan Sausage platter.
Summary: It was sausage-palooza this week. We made six different types of sausage, as well as fresh mustard and German potato salad. I used to make sausage with my grandmother when I was a kid so I was familiar with the grinder and the process. We also made German potato salad. I grew up with this as well since I am half German. It’s important to follow the sanitation guidelines. The meat should not be in the temperature danger zone for long. You need to be sure that it stays cold while processing.

Food: I think my favorite sausage was the bratwurst. I really liked the flavor of it with the honey mustard that I made. I didn’t care for the chicken apple sausage at all. The Italian sausage was good. I liked it with the spinach and provolone. The chorizo was good, but it didn’t remind me of the chorizo I buy in the store. The German potato salad tasted so good and familiar to me. It tasted exactly like my grandmother used to make. The scotch eggs were kind of weird. It was like a breakfast sausage with a hardboiled egg.
Brie stuffing sausage

Sausage Casings

Sausage Coil

Platter 1

Platter 2

Platter 3

Sausage Palooza


Stuffed sausages


Stuffing sausage


Sunday, May 1, 2011

Culinary School - Q5 Week 4 Garde Manger

Garde Manger

April 25-26, 2011

Objectives: Hors d’oeuvres and Canapés

Recipes: Crostini of Bacon Wrapped Asparagus and Brie, Rillettes en Roulade, Ham and Cornichon Canapés

Summary Day 1: This week we are practicing hors d’oeuvres again. There are three types of service for things like cocktail parties. Russian Service is when a waiter carries a tray around to people that are seated and he places the food on the guest’s plate. French service is where the food is finished being prepared in front of the guest, it is usually wheeled out on a cart like a Gueridon. An American buffet is usually the type that has one long table with the food all placed at differing heights.

Russian Service

Gueridon Cart

American Style









Food: I really liked the Crostini of Bacon Wrapped Asparagus with Brie. But anything with bacon is good, right? I wasn’t crazy about the Rillettes en Roulade. It reminded me of deviled ham from a can. I would have liked the Ham and Cornichon Canapés better if they had dill pickles on them instead. I am not a fan of the Cornichon.
Day 1 Canapes
Day 2

Recipes: Curried Chicken Bouchées, Smoked Salmon Mousse Barquettes, Egg Salad Tea Sandwich, Cucumber Tea Sandwich, Beet and Tuna, Sweet Potato Shooter, Gougeres with Duck Confit

Summary Day 2: Today we are a bunch of people short in class so Chef divides us up into two groups. We all set to working on the food for today’s presentation. I am glad that I am in a different group than Diego, but being stuck with the David is almost as bad. He drives me crazy because he thinks he knows everything but he doesn’t know half of what he thinks he knows. I hope I don’t get stuck with him for the rest of the quarter because I might stab him (just kidding!). Anyway… onto the food.

Food: I liked the Curried Chicken Bouchees. The little puff pastry cups were cute. I didn’t care for the texture of the mousse. The Egg Salad sandwiches were good. But, I like egg salad. I liked David Prince’s take on the Cucumber Tea Sandwiches, but I ought to, since it was my recipe. The Beet and Tuna were interesting. You know I don’t like beets.  I think the Sweet Potato Shooter would make an interesting ice cream. I would have liked the Duck Confit of it had been in the correct pate choux dough.
Tray 1

Tray 2

Sweet Potato Shooters











Next week: Sausage!