Contemporary Sauces (Two UFOs landed on my grill pan!!)

I took the train to school today because my commuter bike is in the shop, but the long ride yesterday made me not miss it. Being a bit spacey is not a good thing when working in a team, not to mention the heat of the stove and the fire licking the sides of all your pots.

Contemporary sauces are basically updates versions of the Mother Sauces. Typically, they are quick to make, require no simmering, are not thickened by roux and are more delicate and lighter than the older sauces. Definitions: Coulis is a thick puree of fruit or vegetable; chutney is a combination of sweet, sour, and spicy; relish is sweet; and salsa, defined in Spanish as "sauce", is actually a mixture of raw vegetables.

One sauce made today was jus de Veau lie, which means "Juice of Veal, Thickened" -- mmmmm, thick veal juice! It is essential veal- stock thickened by arrowroot slurry. We made two simple infused oils. One was cold infused -- blanched and shocked a large amount of basil, pureed it in a blender with olive oil, added more oil then let it sit to steep. Once strained, it had the most incredible emerald color, and smelled like you'd want a bouquet to. The other was heat-infused -- cooked briefly on the stove top, then left to cool. Involving orange zest and hot spices, it was no one's idea of tasty in our group.

LK was early to class today, and 2LG spoke up a little more. She has two daughters (one is 20 years old!) and lives in Jamaica. We made our way through the three recipes above, as well as Mango Chutney, Corn, and Red Pepper Relish, a Citrus Juice reduction (yuck! Is that what yuppies ate in the 80s?), Roasted Tomato Coulis, and Tomatillo Salsa.

The last two turned me on. The Coulis was deseeded plum tomatoes, olive oil, whole garlic cloves, thyme sprigs, and a little sugar baked in a gratin dish until soft, then passed through a food mill. The final product looked like smooth tomato sauce, but had a much broader, open flavor profile, like a big friendly American grin. The Tomatillos salsa found us grilling the tomatillos, onion, and jalapenos (see pic), before chopping them up and throwing them together with olive oil, cider vinegar, and a little sugar and salt. Weird, I'd never had it but loved it from the first properly salted bite.

LK and 2LG work well together, today they interacted a little bit more with each other and not just me. It's weird being a team leader, and near the end of the day, LK called me "Captain". I think he was being affectionate, maybe a little obnoxious, but it made me wonder if I'm acting like a putz in keeping our ship on the straight and narrow. Ah, the insecurities I could divulge here, but will spare you all the psychobabble. I'm tired from yesterday.

Tomorrow, into the soup.

ADDENDA:
When the scale read 226 this morning, my first thought was, "Oh, it's just lost water weight due to the ride yesterday," and my second thought was, "Damn, Ilsa, HVS and B are all going to yell at me for being so dismissive." If I'm still at this weight next week, I'll admit it's not just water weight. But right now, I'm gonna bakes some brownies, cookies, lard-pie, and a bucket of this...

Woke up surprisingly un-sore, just tired from not enough sleep. Since I road with a friend, I kept at his slower pace for most of the trip. It was a good ride, but looking forward to the next century where I can really blow myself out.

Looking forward to volunteer orientation at God's Love this Thursday, and I may have a training/orientation for teaching about cooking and nutrition at City Harvest this Friday. I suspect these opportunities are going to help me decide what I want to do after school more than school itself...

BREAKFAST: 6:30am, good yogurt with honey, vanilla and raw nuts, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5

PM WATERING: Noon, Quart of Water
So thirsty from class, a little dehydrated from yesterday.

LUNCH: Pizza with prociutto, eggplant, olives, shitakes and fresh moz, a handful of chips with roasted tomato couil, basil oil and tomatillo salsa, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Went out to Williamsburg to Fornino to have some excellent high-end pizza, where you can taste the coal char on the bottom of the pie. Before that, I sat outside with my friend E and tasted the day's creations with some corn chips.

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, lemon muffin with good butter, pint of water, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5
If I accept the lemon muffin not as a muffin at all, but call it a scone....than it's great! I melted a bit of the good butter on it in the microwave and it tasted pretty good.

DINNER: 7:30pm, broiled shrimp with herbs de provence over tomatillo salsa and tortilla chips, spinach salad with homemade vinaigrette, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
Wetted the defrosted-by-sink shrimp with olive oil and put them under the high broiler for 3 minutes, came out surprisingly good.