In addition to stocks, in my second day of my cooking class, we also made two basic sauces. The first being a basic white sauce known as Sauce Bechamel, and the second being a white gravy known as Sauce Veloute.
To make either sauce, you start off by making a roux. A roux (pronounced 'ru') is a mixture of melted butter and flower, to which you add milk for a Bachamel, or white stock for a Veloute.
The ratio of flower and butter to liquid is 1/2 an ounce of each to 1 cup of liquid, and of course, salt and pepper to taste. Additionally, for a Sauce Bachamel you will also add 1/4 of a bay leaf and freshly grated nutmeg (a micro-plane grater will be your best bet).
When making the roux, you want it to get to a "wet sand" consistency before adding the liquid. Once the milk or stock is added, keep mixing it until the roux is completely mixed into the liquid.
In our cooking class, to know when our sauces were almost done, we learned that if you scoop some of the sauce up and pour it back into the sauce and it doesn't make any noise, it is almost done.
If there are lumps in your sauce, which there most likely will be when you make it for the first time, do not worry. Simply pour the sauce through a strainer and you are good to go.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
five types of stocks
A stock is an extract from cooking meat bones and/ or fish bones and/ or vegetables in water. There are many different uses for a stock, such as sauces, soups, braises, consommé’s and aspics.There are five different types of stocks
A white stock - made with blanched veal or beef bones, along with a mirepoix (a mirepoix is a rough chop of stewing vegetables, such as onions, carrots, celery, and sometimes leek.
A chicken (white) stoke - made with chicken bones, along with a mirepoix.
A brown stock - made with chicken or beef bones and vegetables. The different between a brown stock and a white stock is for a brown stock, you first brown the bones and mirepoix in the oven, and then tomato paste is added and cooked longer.
A fish stock - made with fish bones, along with a mirepoix.
And lastly, a vegetable stock - a vegetable stock is made when meat is not desired. Although, a vegetable stock is quick and easy, it is, however, the lightest of stocks and therefore generally not used for sauces.
A white stock - made with blanched veal or beef bones, along with a mirepoix (a mirepoix is a rough chop of stewing vegetables, such as onions, carrots, celery, and sometimes leek.
A chicken (white) stoke - made with chicken bones, along with a mirepoix.
A brown stock - made with chicken or beef bones and vegetables. The different between a brown stock and a white stock is for a brown stock, you first brown the bones and mirepoix in the oven, and then tomato paste is added and cooked longer.
A fish stock - made with fish bones, along with a mirepoix.
And lastly, a vegetable stock - a vegetable stock is made when meat is not desired. Although, a vegetable stock is quick and easy, it is, however, the lightest of stocks and therefore generally not used for sauces.
my first days in cooking school
On August 8th I started my first day of the 20 week, Pro 1 cooking class at New School of Cooking.
The first class was our introduction day, getting to know our teacher Laura Weinman, getting to know our way around the kitchen, kitchen and food safety, and lastly, some chopping.
My second day was much more interesting. We covered stocks and and the beginning of sauces.
A stock is an extract from cooking meat bones and/ or fish bones and/ or vegetables in water. There are many different uses for a stock, such as sauces, soups, braises, consumme's and aspics.
To my surprise there are actually five different type of sauces, a white stock, a chicken stock, a brown stock, a fish stock and a vegetable sauce.
The first class was our introduction day, getting to know our teacher Laura Weinman, getting to know our way around the kitchen, kitchen and food safety, and lastly, some chopping.
My second day was much more interesting. We covered stocks and and the beginning of sauces.
A stock is an extract from cooking meat bones and/ or fish bones and/ or vegetables in water. There are many different uses for a stock, such as sauces, soups, braises, consumme's and aspics.
To my surprise there are actually five different type of sauces, a white stock, a chicken stock, a brown stock, a fish stock and a vegetable sauce.
Monday, August 16, 2010
grilled veggies
For the past few weeks, I've been making grilled zucchini and eggplants. They are just so good and so easy.
As with any time you are cutting vegetables, or anything else for that matter, you want to try to cut things into roughly the same sized pieces so that they take the same amount of time to cook.
I sliced the zucchinis and eggplants, cutting them the long way.
I, also, intentionally keep the skin on otherwise everything would completely fall apart and you will end up with a bit pile of mush.
Next, I coat them in a mixture of olive oil, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, dries basil, dried oregano, and paprika.
After that, I placed them on a cookie sheet, make sure not to pile up the veggies too high or the ones at the bottom won't cook as fast as the ones on top.
Stick them in a preheated over set to 375 degrees, and let them cook for about 30 minutes or so, maybe more depending on how much you cook.
You can, also, cook them on the BBQ, but for that you want to cut them a little bit thicker.
As with any time you are cutting vegetables, or anything else for that matter, you want to try to cut things into roughly the same sized pieces so that they take the same amount of time to cook.
I sliced the zucchinis and eggplants, cutting them the long way.
I, also, intentionally keep the skin on otherwise everything would completely fall apart and you will end up with a bit pile of mush.
Next, I coat them in a mixture of olive oil, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, dries basil, dried oregano, and paprika.
After that, I placed them on a cookie sheet, make sure not to pile up the veggies too high or the ones at the bottom won't cook as fast as the ones on top.
Stick them in a preheated over set to 375 degrees, and let them cook for about 30 minutes or so, maybe more depending on how much you cook.
You can, also, cook them on the BBQ, but for that you want to cut them a little bit thicker.
Monday, August 9, 2010
simple roasted potatoes
Roasted potatoes are one of the simplest and one of my favorite side dishes.
I like to use fingerling potatoes, like new potatoes, the skin is very delicate and doesn't need to be peeled before cooking, but the flavor is closer to the regular, mature potatoes that we're used to. They, also, have a firm texture that holds up well to cooking.
I usually cut them length wise and once or twice width wise, depending on how big the potato is.
I add about 3 to 4 tablespoons of oil, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, basil, and thyme to a bowl with the cut up potatoes in it.
Then I mix it all together, and throw it on a cookie sheet, stick it in the oven at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes and then about 5 minutes on broil.
And that's it!
I like to use fingerling potatoes, like new potatoes, the skin is very delicate and doesn't need to be peeled before cooking, but the flavor is closer to the regular, mature potatoes that we're used to. They, also, have a firm texture that holds up well to cooking.
I usually cut them length wise and once or twice width wise, depending on how big the potato is.
I add about 3 to 4 tablespoons of oil, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, basil, and thyme to a bowl with the cut up potatoes in it.
Then I mix it all together, and throw it on a cookie sheet, stick it in the oven at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes and then about 5 minutes on broil.
And that's it!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
cauliflower tomato soup
The greatest part about making soup is that you don’t have to use the freshest products to get good results.
This is probably my favorite vegetable I’ve made in a long time.
I started off by blanching 3 tomatoes. As they were cooking, I chopped up 2 medium zucchinis, a head of cauliflower, 2 cloves of garlic, and an onion.
After I got the tomatoes in the ice bath, I heated up a pot with a carton of vegetable broth in it.
Once the tomatoes were cool enough to cut, I chopped them up and added them to the broth, along with the rest of the veggies.
Then I added about 3 cups of water, and my spices. I used salt, pepper, thyme, and basil.
Now, when I eat soup, it needs to be hardy or it’s just not worth it. So I decided to make mini turkey patties to add some “umph” to the soup.
I started by dicing up some garlic and shallots super finely. No one wants to bite into a big chunk of garlic when eating soup, or a burger for that matter. Then, I mixed that with about a pound of ground turkey, bread crumbs, and an egg.
I knew that if I tried to cook the patties in the soup, they would completely fall apart. So I first seared them in a frying pan.
This does two things, first it almost forms a crust on the patties to that they hold their shape better. And second, it holds in all the moist “juices” from the turkey.
Once those were done, I added them to the soup, and let it sit on low heat for about an hour.
It was surprisingly good, I ate like 3 bowls back to back.
This is probably my favorite vegetable I’ve made in a long time.
I started off by blanching 3 tomatoes. As they were cooking, I chopped up 2 medium zucchinis, a head of cauliflower, 2 cloves of garlic, and an onion.
After I got the tomatoes in the ice bath, I heated up a pot with a carton of vegetable broth in it.
Once the tomatoes were cool enough to cut, I chopped them up and added them to the broth, along with the rest of the veggies.
Then I added about 3 cups of water, and my spices. I used salt, pepper, thyme, and basil.
Now, when I eat soup, it needs to be hardy or it’s just not worth it. So I decided to make mini turkey patties to add some “umph” to the soup.
I started by dicing up some garlic and shallots super finely. No one wants to bite into a big chunk of garlic when eating soup, or a burger for that matter. Then, I mixed that with about a pound of ground turkey, bread crumbs, and an egg.
I knew that if I tried to cook the patties in the soup, they would completely fall apart. So I first seared them in a frying pan.
This does two things, first it almost forms a crust on the patties to that they hold their shape better. And second, it holds in all the moist “juices” from the turkey.
Once those were done, I added them to the soup, and let it sit on low heat for about an hour.
It was surprisingly good, I ate like 3 bowls back to back.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
onion mushroom soup
So today I found myself looking into a bag of mushrooms that were on the edge of going bad. I always seem to be doing this; buying produce, using some of it, and then throwing the rest of it in the fridge for it to go bad. But not today, I decided to make onion mushroom soup.
I knew I had to sauté the onions first, and that’s what I did. I sliced up 1 and a half red and yellow onions and 3 shallots and threw it all into a sauté pan with a nice big handful of salt. I recently heard salt referred to as foods magnifying glass, you use it to make flavors bigger and better. And I let them cook until I got a nice creamy texture and a golden brown color.
At the same time I brought a pot of water up to a boil, with some S and P (that’s salt and pepper) and a touch of olive oil.
As I looked at my pot and pan on the stove, I realized I had no plan for what I was going to do next. I never made this soup before and I had nothing to reference for an idea. So I asked myself, what am I cooking? Soup. Ok what kind of soup? Onion mushroom. Ok so I got the onions cooking and I have to cook the mushrooms, and in they went into the pot of water. Then I threw in the onions and let that come back to a boil.
Ok now what? Um….spices, I didn’t want anything to strong, so I added some chicken consume, oregano, basil, and of course garlic, who could forget garlic, I put in about 6 cloves sliced up nice and thin.
After that, I realized the soup was too liquidy, I wanted it to be thicker but boiling the water out just wasn’t cutting it, so I added some flour, I’d say probably about 1/3 of a cup.
Once it got to the consistence I wanted, I gave it another taste. It was still missing something, but what? It had the onions and mushrooms, spices, garlic, chicken consume. And that’s when it hit me; there was no fat in the soup. And there in lied my problem, I had no chicken or meat to put in it. So I pulled out my trusty package of beef hot dogs.
Now, I know hot dogs are on the bottom of the culinary food chain, but every college student should always have tuna, beer, and hot dogs on hand in case of an emergency.
So I cut 3 dogs up into chunks and threw them in.
I let the soup sit for about an hour and a half, then put it in the fridge. We’ll see how it turns out tomorrow. To me, the best soup is day old soup; soup needs time to sit to let the flavors blend.
I knew I had to sauté the onions first, and that’s what I did. I sliced up 1 and a half red and yellow onions and 3 shallots and threw it all into a sauté pan with a nice big handful of salt. I recently heard salt referred to as foods magnifying glass, you use it to make flavors bigger and better. And I let them cook until I got a nice creamy texture and a golden brown color.
At the same time I brought a pot of water up to a boil, with some S and P (that’s salt and pepper) and a touch of olive oil.
As I looked at my pot and pan on the stove, I realized I had no plan for what I was going to do next. I never made this soup before and I had nothing to reference for an idea. So I asked myself, what am I cooking? Soup. Ok what kind of soup? Onion mushroom. Ok so I got the onions cooking and I have to cook the mushrooms, and in they went into the pot of water. Then I threw in the onions and let that come back to a boil.
Ok now what? Um….spices, I didn’t want anything to strong, so I added some chicken consume, oregano, basil, and of course garlic, who could forget garlic, I put in about 6 cloves sliced up nice and thin.
After that, I realized the soup was too liquidy, I wanted it to be thicker but boiling the water out just wasn’t cutting it, so I added some flour, I’d say probably about 1/3 of a cup.
Once it got to the consistence I wanted, I gave it another taste. It was still missing something, but what? It had the onions and mushrooms, spices, garlic, chicken consume. And that’s when it hit me; there was no fat in the soup. And there in lied my problem, I had no chicken or meat to put in it. So I pulled out my trusty package of beef hot dogs.
Now, I know hot dogs are on the bottom of the culinary food chain, but every college student should always have tuna, beer, and hot dogs on hand in case of an emergency.
So I cut 3 dogs up into chunks and threw them in.
I let the soup sit for about an hour and a half, then put it in the fridge. We’ll see how it turns out tomorrow. To me, the best soup is day old soup; soup needs time to sit to let the flavors blend.
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