Hors D'Oeuvres 2 (Blinibonanza!)

Today was the second day of hors d'oeuvres with Chef Al. I took on the Buckwheat Blini with American Caviar alone, and though I intended to do the Goat Cheese Mousse with Beet Quenelles with Squarehead, I ended up doing it myself as well. The blini was straightforward: activated yeast in warm milk with a pinch of sugar, then mixed it into equal portions of buckwheat flour and AP flour and a pinch of salt. After it doubled in an hour, I gently mixed in an egg yolk and a small amount of beer. Separately, I whisked the egg white to soft peaks and folded it in to the batter. On a hot griddle, I ladled on hot clarified butter and squirted batter onto the grill through a pastry bag. As both came off the griddle, 2LG helped me top them with little bits of crème fraiche, black caviar, and a sprinkling of minced chives.

Upon presentation to Chef Al, he said that if he were presenting, he would have placed a hot plate on a cold plate for heating the blini (while keeping the hand cool).

The Goat Cheese Mousse involved simply melting some gelatin sheets in hot cream. Blend goat cheese in a blender with boiled milk, throw in some roasted garlic, crème fraiche, olive oil, cumin, and walnut oil with the melted gelatin. Poul over a mess of freshly-ground walnuts and minced chives, put into an ice bath to set. Roundhead cooked some beets and peeled them, I minced them fine then mixed them with a little olive oil, sherry vinegar and salt. After about 30 minutes to set the mousse, I poured it into shot glasses via a spouted pitcher. I spooned beets over the top with a 1/4 teaspoon measure. Chef Al said it was delicious.

After we cleaned up, Chef Al got into the mechanics of the graduation grand buffet for which we'll be cooking for one week. Everyone is responsible for 2 hors d'oeuveres, which we must decide on tomorrow morning (so we can arrange for placing an order for whatever ingredients we need. Later this week we'll be making terrines and pates, which take a week to ferment or something, so those will be served at the buffet, too. We'll roast some meats for a carving station as well. I think I know what I'll be choosing, but tomorrow we'll be going over the mechanics -- if we end up with 28 deep-fried items, that would cause a jam-up....so we'll see.

When I was a graphic designer, sometimes I would refer to a boring job as 'making sausage'. Tomorrow, I'm making actual sausage.


ADDENDA:
Yesterday's ride was relaxing, but not particularly challenging because I just didn't push it. After class, went to yoga with my favorite teacher. Was hoping to snickle-snack with the HVS, but when she was a no-show, just went home to do the Monday chores. Kinda forgot to eat enough, which is very not me. Guess the end of school coming up has made me feel a little odd.

BREAKFAST: 6:30am, banana, hunger 2/5
Didn't feel hungry, but when I take my dirtpill (mulitvitamin) without food, I get a bit nauseous.

AM TASTINGS: 10-11am, blinis with cream fraiche, chicken skewer, beef skewer, veggie fried thing, salmon crepe, shrimp mush on little tarte thing, water, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
I put Dora's thing in my mouth, turned, and spit it out.

DINNER: 5:45pm, pasta with shrimp and homemade sauce, Ben & Jerry's Half-Baked ice cream, water 2.5 bowls, hunger 4/5
Made the pasta from the weekend again because it was so damn good. Used a better quality of dry pasta, added cubed fresh moz and again it was pretty damn good, except maybe again I made too much. Despite being really hungry, wasn't able to finish. After 30 minutes, found space for ice cream!

EVENING WATER: 7:30pm, quart

Hors D'Oeuvres (Frittermania!)

Chef Al got all up in our faces and sassy about hors d'oeuvres today -- they're a lot of work, hard to get out at the right temperature, and if they're preceding a catered meal, God help you, because moron waiters won't. There is a whole set of rules -- always keep a tray 2/3 full, always have a second tray ready to go when there is one out, you should make about 2.5 pieces per person per party, a tray should always have garnish except if the tray itself is something stunning, like sterling silver or antique crystal, then just let the plate shine through. And he insisted the best book for recipes and rules is Martha Stewart's book!

Our graduation's cooking will be mostly hors d'oeuvres. Each pair of students will do one stationary item (like a roast, which needs to be carved to order), two to three hors d'oeuvres and one dessert. Oddly enough, the pakoras I made today were vegan, one of the few items in my many months at school.

Chef ran through the recipes, and off we went. I blinked, and all of a sudden I was grouped with Squarehead, 2nd Language Girl and Dora the Explorer, -sigh-, whatayagonnado. We divied up the recipes, and I ended up with Spicy Shrimp Fritters and Vegetable Pakora Fritters with Tamarind Chutney.

The shrimp fritter was pretty straight forward. Take a bunchof shrimp, peel and devein. Half of it turn into a smooth paste in a food processor, the other half dice finely. Steep some rice vermicelli in hot water to soft, cut into short bits. Through it all together with minced scallion, bit of dark icky shrimp paste (a brackish stinky fermented product) and a singular tiny bird's-eye chili, minced carefully with gloves on. Separately, mix up some egg, water and fish sauce togehter, then slowly add some AP flour to form a batter. The dry goes into wet, then into the fridge to come together. When fried off in one-tablespoon lumps, salt when hot.

The vegetable pakora was a little bit more involved. All the dry get sifted together: mostly chickpea flour, with turmeric, chili powder, garam masala and salt. Whisked with water, set aside to set for 30 minutes. Vegetables get diced: zucchini, sweet potato, cauliflower, peas, onion, Herbs get minced: cilantro, purple Thai basil and parsley. Once the batter was set, veg and herbs folded in, then spooned into the hot fat. (2LG made the delicious chutney.)

ADDENDA:
My number one choice of pizza place to extern at finally got back to me today -- I trail on Wednesday! Wish me luck...

BREAKFAST: 6:30am, banana, .25 bowl, hunger 2/5

AM TASTINGS: 10-12pm, mushroom phylo triangle, shrimp toast, crispy duck wonton, chorizo and tomato phylo triangle, cod fritter, risotto ball, coconut shrimp, curried lamb triangle, spicy shrimp fritter, vegetable pakora fritter, 1.5 bowl, hunger 4/5
Today's food was definitely delicious, but by no means light or particularly healthy.

PM WATERING: 2pm, 1 quart

PM SNACK: 4pm, small amount of bittersweet chocolate, .25 bowl, hunger 4/5

DINNER: 8pm, hors d'oervres including pigs in blankets, lame vegetable dumplings, sea bass skewers, mushroom and goat cheese on toast, mini burgers, coconut shrimp, chicken torta, dinner including bbq pork, pulled chicken, potato salad, corn bread, grilled veg, cheese ravioli, half glass of champagne, water, 2 bowls, hunger 4/5
At a wedding of a friend of B's. The hor d'oerves were eatable and appealing, but I could hear Chef Al in the back of my mind getting into a hissyfit about the crassness of pigs in blankets.

EVENING WATERING: Midnight, quart of water