Developing and Refining One's Sense of Taste - week 18

Pastry night part  II. Chef had cut donuts on trays when the students entered in the classroom. He remembered!
Chef lectured and demonstrated how to prepare
puff pastry
donuts
quiche lorraine
souffle
decorated la genoise
and he  provided the recipe for 1-2-3-4 cake

The class was asked to
decorate the genoise cake from last week's class
make quiche lorraine
make souffle









What I learned

• 350-375 degree us a good temperature for oil to brown and crisp food
• Puff pastry is leavened by steam
• laminated dough =many layers dough. When laminated dough is heated, the moisture changes to steam and pushes the layers of dough apart
• deep fry cooking is dry heat cooking (no water is present)
• The most fundamental dough for quiche and pie at home is pate frise
• Quiche is composed of three parts: shell, custard, filling
• Popover rely on chemical leavening

Observations

• Chef mentioned to the class several times that this was the last official class because next week was Market Basket and the following week was really a send off party for the class. Was I hearing sadness? I asked Chef was he sad about our departure. He said he was.
• We were reminded of the rules for next week's  Market Basket. People listened, but the level of angst that was present 9 week ago wasn't present during this discussion
• Chef shared with the class that quiche Lorraine is typically made with Gruyere cheese, ham or bacon, or both. The ingredients should be cooked beforehand.
• Watching Chef decorate the genoise cake was a show in itself. Many in the class sat mesmerized as he held the cake in one hand and decorated it. 

Self realization

• I realized I knew more about pastry and baking than I realized. When I was growing up I baked often and used recipes from my mother's cookbook - popovers, 1-2-3-4 cake. Sometimes I was told to make one layer of cake and my mother would cut the layer in half and stack the half layers to make a 1/2 of a two layer cake. I'd make frosting, icing or be instructed to use jam as the filling between the two layers. I cringed when I had to make the single layer cake with jelly filling. It wasn't until I lived on my own that I began experimenting with 3 + layer cakes. 
• Before we entered the kitchen Marl told me he wanted to make the quiche. This was fine with me because I was very interested in decorating the cake. 
• After last week's success with the fruit tart, Marl was compelled to do equally well with the quiche. 
• I'm not feeling the stomach knots I had prior to the first Market Basket class. Marl and I have already agreed that if fish is the chosen protein for our dish that he will fillet it. 
• Table mates made the buttercream frosting
• I'm very grateful for the eggshells I'm receiving in class. I'm using them to make an eggshell water that I pour on my plants. It smells foul, but the plants love it. 
• Marl took the cake home to his family; it would have only gone to waste in my household. When I asked what design he wanted on the top of the cake he requested a heart or a smiley face .

 Tonight: Market Basket


Be well,
Technicolor girl