Breakfast

Most of the food we've done in class is lunch or dinner or dessert or snacks -- nothing particularly aimed at the first meal of the day. I purposefully excluded eggs because of two reasons: one, the many methods and techniques of cooking eggs can be a class to themselves and two, I absolutely despise eggs as a dish. Probably because my mom made me eat really poorly cooked eggs, but that's a rant for a different kind of blog.

My lecture was short and sweet and about sausage. By taking "off" cuts of meat, cuts of the tougher, less palatable cuts and grinding them up and added spices, the sausage method made previously unusable parts of the animal not only usable, but quite delicious. I showed them the meat grinder and took it apart and explained how it worked, and discussed why it's important to cube the meat into small pieces -- the connective tissue between muscles, or "silver skin", will get caught in the blade and create friction and heat, which will cause the fat in the chilled meat to warm up and run out, creating dry, crumbly sausage.

BREAKFAST SAUSAGE

Yield: 6 servings

Sage 1 tbsp
Salt 1 tbsp
Pepper 1 ½ tsp
Marjoram ½ tsp
Brown sugar 1 tbsp
Red pepper flakes 1/8 tsp
Cloves, ground 1 pinch
Pork butt, chilled 3 lbs
Fatback 1 lb

1. Combine all ingredients except meat in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
2. Cut meat & fat into 1” cubes, then run through grinder twice – first through the big dye, then through the small dye. Keep meat on iced bowl to keep fat emulsified.
3. Combine spice mix with meat with hands, quickly. Form into equal sized patties. Sauté patties in a large skillet over medium high heat for 5 minutes per side, or until internal pork temperature reaches 160 degrees.

We had a "pork butt", which is actually the shoulder, and the students watched while I broke it down, removing the skin and the center bone. When the ground meat came out of the machine, they were surprised that it looked just like the stuff they bought in the shop.

Toward the end of class we cooked off the sausage in small heaping-tablespoon patties in peanut oil, and the students were impressed how delicious they were -- like real breakfast sausage. I told them they COULD just buy ground pork and mix in spices and make the sausage very simply that way -- and it would be hella more healthful than the Jimmy Dean crap you buy in a freezer case.

Speaking of healthful, the next recipe is probably the healthiest thing I've cooked with this class. This is my riff on the Olive Oil Granola that was made popular by the NY Times.

GRANOLA

Yield: 4 servings

Old-fashioned rolled oats 3 cups
Raw pistachios, hulled 1 ½ cup
Raw pumpkin seeds, hulled 1 cup
Shredded dried coconut 1 cup
Maple syrup ¼ cup
Light brown sugar ½ cup
Extra virgin olive oil ½ cup
Salt 1 tsp
Cinnamon, ground ½ tsp
Cardamom, ground ½ tsp
Vanilla, 1 tbsp
Dried apple, chopped ½ cup
Dried cherries, chopped ½ cup

1. Preheat oven to 300˚. In a bowl, combine all ingredients except the two dried fruits. Spread on a rimmed baking sheet in an even layer and bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until golden brown and well toasted.
2. Transfer granola to a large bowl and add dried fruit, tossing to combine.

One student was moaning about how she didn't like coconut, but when it came out and she tried it, she loved it -- the coconut was very subtle and was nice and crispy. Staff from the whole building visited the kitchen, as the aromas of the granola got everywhere. Which makes me wonder about ventilation....

The next two recipes were done at the same time, as they both involved frying in a pan. The students had only ever made pancakes from a mix, and the french toast they had made at home was always disappointing because it was leaden and hard, probably due to the kind of bread they were using.

FRENCH TOAST

Yield: 4 servings

Milk 1 quart
Eggs 8 each
Sugar 2 oz
Cinnamon, ground pinch
Nutmeg, ground pinch
Salt pinch
Clarified butter, for frying as needed
Challah bread, sliced 12 slices

1. Combine the milk, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt, and mix them into a smooth batter. Keep this batter refrigerated until ready to use.
2. Heat a sauté pan over moderate heat, add the butter.
3. Dip the slices of bread into the batter, coating the slices evenly. Fry the slices on one side until evenly browned. Turn them and brown the other side.

PANCAKES

Yield: 4 servings

AP flour 24 oz
Sugar 3 oz
Baking powder 1 tbsp
Salt 2 tsp
Baking soda ½ tsp
Milk 24 floz
Eggs, lightly beaten 3 each
Butter, melted 2 oz
Canola oil as needed

1. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and baking soda into a large mixing bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs and melted butter.
3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the milk and egg mixture.
4. Lightly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet, stirring until just combines.
5. Heat a large sauté pan or the flat side of a griddle over medium heat.
6. Brush lightly with the canola oil.
7. Ladle the batter into the center of the pan using a 4 ounce ladle
8. Cook the pancake until the underside is brown, the edges begin to dray and bubbles begin to break the surface of the batter.
9. Turn the pancake and cook until the second side is brown.

Both turned out great. The french toast was light, fluffy, creamy, crunchy, all at once. The pancakes will rich and pillowy. We had real maple syrup on hand, but one student insisted on going into the school supplies to get some "pancake syrup", and insisted that it tasted better. Both my supervisor (pictured above) and myself were a bit horrified and amazed, and had to take a picture. You can lead a horse to water....

Not sure what we're cooking next week, but I'm leaning to Italian...

Breakfast -- Batters and Cereals (Team Fumble)

The lecture portion felt a little bit silly, with Chef C reading from rote about how to fry a pancake, then as an aside defending teflon pans as fine to use, and how he doesn't like brain-washing. I'm pretty certain teflon-coated pans have been shown to leave toxic residue when treated improperly, and I'm quite certain if you get 30 students on a teflon pan, more than one will beat it up a bit.

We had a long menu of foods today: pancakes, crepes, waffles, french toast, one hot cereal and one cold cereal per group, granola, dry or fresh fruit compote. With Norbit on board, Speedy asked me if I wanted to be team leader. Want? No. My ego said I was the only one to hold this motley crew together, but unless I'm asked nicely by all, why stick my neck out for the frustration? Norbit jumped into the gap, and chaos immediately ensued.

After waiting a few minutes for some direction, I spoke up and said that indeed, the Muesili had to get started first, as it had to soak for 2 hours, so I got it done. Soak oats in milk, sugar and lemon juice. Chaos, but by this point Chef C stepped in and made Roundhead team leader, so I told RH I was on the Muesili and starting our hot cereal, cheese grits. RH, N, and Sp were working at cross purposes to get together 5 portions of dry and wet parts of the three batters, while Dora the Explorer was off chopping apples for the crepe topping for Crepes Normandy, despite the apples already being on the fire.

I kept my head down and made some kick-ass cheese grits, ending up using 2x the milk that the recipe called for. The Muesili had to be mixed with various chopped fruit right before service, I had to tell RH several times that we had to wait for the oats to soak before mixing, or the fruit would be unappetizingly brown.

The apples Normandy on the fire was wrong -- someone had plopped the mise into the pan without thought. Apples had to be flambed in calvados (apple brandy), carmelized with sugar, brought to sec, and finished with cream -- yet here was a pot of all the ingredients together, cold. I asked RH what the hell was this, he knew nothing. "Toss it, start over!," I said, more than a little annoyed -- all other groups were way ahead of us, and here we were with thumbs planted firmly in butts. (After class, I apologized to RH for yelling at him, he said it was no big deal but I think he respected that I wasn't a dick about it.) If I was Chef in a restaurant and not a fellow student, I'd simply say, "You're fired. Get out." DtE never would of gotten through the door.

Assembling batter from the prepped mise was silly easy, and because someone else prepared it, you had no control. The pancakes were fine, but my personal mix at home is 10x better. The waffles were kinda silly, just plop the batter in the waffle iron and off you go.

The crepes and the french toast presented more of a challenge. French toast is deceptively simple, but you have to be careful not to absorb too much egg mixture. I guess if we were using older staler bread, it would of prevented it from being so spongy. The temp of the pan needs to be regulated to both cook the eggs and toast the bread at the right consistency. Chef C demo'd on a cast-iron griddle, but I lazily tried to knock them out on a steel pan, which proved difficult to get a steady and correct temp. With so much chaos around me, I just didn't want to move and shake up the station with so many people who didn't quite know what they were doing around me. I got one good french toast out, but 5 went into the garbage as too much egg, too little, burnt, etc.

The crepes were challenging and delicious. Using a small cast iron flat round skillet, coated with Pam (yuck!! silicon dioxide!) then poured a small amount of the thin batter on the center of the pan and swirled it to cover. Once pleasantly browned, flip and cook for about 1/4 the time. It took me several tries to get the temp right, but once I got cranking, it got easier. The apples normandy was an amazing sweet complement, the herbed goat-cheese, a savory filling that was not so amazing.

While people mukkled about with frying, I chopped some fruit for the Muesili and hit it with fresh whipped cream, a squeeze of lemon and topped with some slivered almonds I toasted quick on the crepe pan. Chef C said it was great, and even some team members of other teams took it home because it was better than what they made themselves. That didn't quite make up for the motley team, but it was nice.

Talking it over with Lady Wifey later that day, she reminded me that in real life I'll always be working with bumbling fools at some point. I reminded her in real life, if people get to work this unprepared and get it this wrong, they don't get a second shot.

ADDENDA:

I assisted Chef C in an "Essentials of Provencal Cuisine" recreational class along with Dirty Kim in the evening. It was a really fun experience, getting there an hour before the public, coordinating with Chef, setting up, then leading a team of 5 people of all ages (and equally absent skills) through 3 recipes, from easy peasy (tapenade that had all the ingredients stuffed in the robo coup then seasoned with lemon and pepper) to complex (crusted rack of lamb, frenched and served with simple pan sauce.) Unlike in class, not only was I leading the team but I was teaching everything, from how to hold a knife to why we brown and season. As the people were eating, chatted casually with a bunch, many who are in town for the fancy food show this week. Good vibes.

BREAKFAST: 6:30am, good granola with good milk, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5

AM TASTINGS: 10-11am, 2 pancakes, 3 crepes with apple normandy and whipped cream, spoonful of muesli parfait, small bowl of cheese grits, 2 bowls,hunger 4/5

PM SNACK: 1pm, 2 grilled shrimp, 1 piece bread, .5 bowl, hunger 3/5

Accompanied Wifey to lunch.

LUNCH: 4pm, seitan, hijiki, quinoa with tahini dressing, vegan chocolate chip cookie, 1.5 bowl, hunger 3/5

Had an underwhelming yoga class, grabbed some yummy HVS-approved food before heading out to assist on a rec class where meat will enter my tummy and have a rumble with the vegan. Who will win?

DINNER: 10pm, roast rack of lamb, french bread toast, beef stew, provencal vegetables, whipped potatoes, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5

Breakfast -- Eggs (I want Eggs, Cotton!!)

I don't think Chef C is reading this blog (I certainly hope not, as I'm talkin' a lot of smack), but he seemed to react to yesterday's class, as a number of people complained about Norbit during the class. He started off the class with an admonition to stop whining about other people in the class because in the real world you just have to deal -- but in the real world if one team member is dragging the whole team down, it's costing the chef cash-money to keep the cog that's messing with the machinery. Today he had us get into new random groups after a brief lecture on the techniques of cooking eggs in different styles.

The class had a big cardboard box of about 150 eggs, with a horrible cartoon of "Eggman" explaining how to keep eggs fresh. When I think of the Eggman, I think of John Water's film, Pink Flamingos. Nightmares in high school did this clip give me:



I've gone on at length about my aversion to eggs in earlier posts (click the "Scrambled Eggs" label at left to see); I won't rehash.

Our group consisted of Speedy, Roundhead, Dora the Explorer and Norbit, who was absent today.

I've never worked with DtE before, but her reputation is well-known. Not only is her spoken English not that great, she doesn't fully understand it, either. In previous classes, I've seen her do things like put her knives in a storage bucket point-down, which is extremely disrespectful of the tools. I tried to engage her a few times, once asking for a colander and getting coriander. I asked her to press the shredded potatoes in said colander which she started, but when I turned my back she wandered off to, I dunno, go exploring? While Chef C was clear about how the first half of the recipes were group efforts, she'd move on and start on the individual recipes without a comment or warning. Yes, I let Speedy be team leader on this mess.

Speedy put me on hashbrowns and breakfast meats, which were dead easy. Bacon and sausage were laid out on a rack and put in a 350-degree oven. The bacon came out first after about 10 minutes, sausage another 20 until the casings were brown and cracking. I departed from the school's simplistic hashbrown recipe and simply shredded the 'taters, seasoned and squeezed them through a colander, added back the starch and threw in some shredded onion. Fried in shallow clarified butter, they came out magically delicious. It was gratifying to taste another team's hashbrown and finding it a lot less magical.

While the rest of the team were getting the mise together for the fillings and garnishes for omelets and frittata, I got the hard and soft boiled eggs on. I remember my mother's hard boiled eggs --truly frightful. She'd toss the eggs into boiling water and after an hour or so, take them out and peel them when they fell to room temp. Why so long, I don't know, I guess raw egg was considered bad? Here is how you cook a perfect hard boiled egg, guaranteed:

1. Place egg in pot, pour cold water until it's covered at least by 2 inches. Salt water heavily (this will NOT season the egg, only make peeling easier later.)
   
2. Bring to a boil, return to simmer
   
3. Simmer at a LOW, GENTLE simmer for 14-15 minutes.
   
4. Immediately shock in an ice bath for 30 seconds. Remove and peel (should peel easy).

Using this method, there was no green ring, and actually looked like a stereotypical hard boiled egg. Wish I could go over to my mom's house right now and cook her a perfect hard boiled egg, then tease her about the many times she forgot about the boiling eggs and ended up with burnt, exploded egg shards all over the kitchen ceiling.

Soft boiled eggs were a bit trickier, which I had RH assist on. Drop into boiling water, 3-4 minutes, shock, cut off the top of the egg shell with a special tool and serve in a small dish that allows the egg to stand up. Looks a bit like raw egg with a coating of solid egg white hugging the shell, but the heat has pasteurized it.

Next up was my ancient arch-nemesis, scrambled eggs. Chef C announced that if anyone had any trouble making scrambled eggs this morning, they would automatically get a full tuition refund and then be enrolled at Apex Tech. Mix a bit of milk in with the well-beaten and homogeneous egg, pour into a hot lightly oiled pan and immediately start stirring until it coagulates. While still a little wet-looking, plate. Carry-over cooking will cook it the rest of the way on the plate. Man, if my mom had these basic skills when I was a kid, I might actually....have little less to moan about now, he he.

The other teams had already presented their fritatta, but Speedy had not gotten his on the fire yet, due to fussing too long with the mise and getting confused over which pans to use. I prodded him a little bit, which clearly annoyed him, but a) it's a team thang, b) if there was a customer waiting, they'd be pissed, c) Chef C was not on it, d) Speedy is a much better cook than he gives himself credit for because he gets nervous and doubts his next move -- someone needs to yell at him to get him to focus over his nerves. The fritatta finally did get out, a full 30 minutes late.

Frying an egg as pretty easy, once I got a feel for the temp and the amount of oil - browning is a no-no, you want silky white whites. Basting a little with the oil to get the top fully cooked is sunny side up, flipping it once is over easy, no biggie.

However, I took four tries at making an omelet and failed miserably for a different reason each time. The method is: put your homogenized egg mixture in the pan, scramble until cooked halfway, let cook still for the other half, place garnish, then fold in thirds and plate fold-side down (French) or fold in half and brown (American). One time too much oil, another time too much heat, another time undercooked and tore, final time a little bit of all those errors. I think I was still a little bit frazzled from being so up and close to the scramble.

Poaching eggs is easy, just gently drop a whole raw egg into gently simmering vinegar-infused water, wait till it floats and looks solid enough so the yolks don't break, 3-6 minutes. We served it up on an English muffin, slice of Canadian Bacon and topped with Hollandaise sauce.

I don't mean to be vulgar, but poached eggs looks like boiled snot. There, I said it.

Cleanup was only a tight 30 minutes today, which was cool. At the end of class, Chef C announced we'd have new partners tomorrow, too. Will I ever get to work with the Media Ken and the Long Island Lolita?

ADDENDA:
I remember years ago I was out to brunch with my father and a friend, and I ordered a fritatta, thinking for some reason it was some version of pizza, judging by the menu description. I turned three shades of green when it was brought to the table, but I could not bring myself to send it back as I felt silly that I didn't know what it was. My dad was cool, but if my mom was there, she would have been pissed about the wasted money.

BREAKFAST: 6:30am, smoothie, 1 bowl, hunger 3/5
Blueberries, kiwi, cherries, grapes, banana, good yogurt and good milk, wheat germ, ice. This one was a littler on the unsweet side, maybe a half teaspoon of honey would of taken an edge off, maybe a pinch of salt would of brightened it.

AM TASTINGS 10-11am, 5 or so pieces of bacon, 1 or 2 links of sausage, 3 hash brown patties, one bite of fritata chased by bite of bread, one half of English muffin with Canadian Bacon and hollandaise, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Chef wasn't tasting the eggs, so I wasn't either. Dirty Kim asked me to taste her fritatta because she was proud of it, so I couldn't say no. It was actually pretty good, creamy with eggs, not too eggy tasting, though I still needed a bread chaser.

AM TASTING: 11:45am, pieces of angel cake, chocolate angel cake, spiced angel cake and weird coffee-pastry cream layer thing with thin layers of angel cake, 1 bowel, hunger 3/5

We sent out a lot of eggs and bacon and hash browns to the other floors, this is what we got back as thank you.

DINNER: 5:30pm, small portion of yesterday's pasta with chanterelles, large portion of green salad, water, 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5

EVENING SNACK: 7:15pm, homemade vanilla ice cream, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5