Developing and Refining One's Sense of Taste - week 12

I wasn't sure what to expect after the high energy of beef and pork nights.  Chef lectured and demonstrated how to prepare roasted leg of lamb with brown sauce , veal blanquette with glazed pearl onions and sauteed mushrooms, merguez with harissa mayo, moussaka, veal scallopini, and two mother sauces: Béchamel and Mornay. The class was asked to make moussaka and veal blanquette.


What I learned

• A leg of lamb may taste "off" or "gamey" because of a couple of glands in the leg. Remove them and the gamey taste diminishes
• Lamb shank is best braised for 5 to 6 hours. Add veal stock and mirepoix for a rich flavored sauce
• When cutting lamb remove as much connective tissue as possible, Also remove silver skin then remove excess far on the outside.
• Cumin and lamb go well together. Consider toasting cumin seed and grinding. 
• Veal blanquette is a white stew. It works equally well with chicken or pork (any white meat)
• Start veal blanquette cold so that blood and fat will rise up and can be skimmed off before adding aromatics (seasoning)
• Classically, blanquette is thickened with egg yolks and cream
  
  
  
• It s highly dangerous to heat a nonstick pan without oil in it. The chemical that bonds the teflon to the pan breaks down under high heat. The leeching chemical is lethal for songbirds. 
• Oxtail or short ribs are alternatives to beef bones
• Sausage  should be approximately 30% pork fat and 1/3 oz salt per pound of meat mixture.
• Pulled pork is cooked until it confits on the bne
• Béchamel sauce is roux with milk
• A Béchamel sauce with cheese (gruyere cheese traditionally) is Mornay sauce
• You can make roux in advance and store in the fridge
• Add hot liquid to cold roux; add cold liquid to hot roux.
• Remove silver skin from veal 
• In a breading station that seasoning is the in eggs. 
• Meguez can be served a number of ways, including: patties, in sausage casing (use lamb casing), or to stuff meats or vegetables

Observations

• One of my classmates does not eat veal for ethical reasons. She told the class early on that she would not attend class on veal night. She is a very thoughtful classmate - her presence was missed. 
• Chef stated that sheep (mutton) was not used much in the United States because it's not very palatable.  Most often haggis comes to mind.  I see haggis occasionally in specialty markets.
• Chef has a specific coffee grinder that he uses to grind seeds and nuts,
• A member of the class asked Chef is he turned the moussaka  upside down onto the plate (before presenting to eat) like a sand castle. Chef replied, "turn your ocean upside down". In other words, place the plate on top of the moussaka and then invert.

Self reflection

• Marl took the lead on making the veal blanquette. I assisted and assembled the moussaka 
• Marl remembered that I tested positive as a super taster and frequently asked me to taste each dish we prepared. Marl's taste buds are reliable as well - I asked him to taste the dishes too. He made the veal blanquette and it tasted just as good as the veal blanquette chef made. 
• I recall reading about official tasters in royal homes and similar settings. These individuals had the distinction of tasting the food first. Great if the food was without problem, horrible if the dish was poisoned or the food was rotten. 
• The veal blanquette in class tastes like another dish, but I don't recall what it is. 
• While I sometimes cook lamb, tonight was my first time cooking veal in decades. It was nice to to try it in class. I will most likely prepare chicken or turkey blanquette at home. When I shop in the markets veal is one of the most expensive meats.
• "Turn your ocean upside down" reminded me of baking - same rule applies - at least on the foundation layer. I suppose we'll learn more on  pastry night. 
• I've discovered that I'm fairly comfortable cutting up meat. For Easter I cut up a duck. I confited the legs and wings, the magret (breast) was  pan fried, and I used the bones to make a delicious duck stock using a recipe Michael (one of the class assistants) shared with me.  I tried the stock with sliced green onions and dumplings. It was tasty and flavorful.
• I was introduced to merguez while travelling abroad and enjoy it. Tonight's class has inspired me to try making merguez at home. 
• Marl heard my questions about sausage making and merguez. He graciously offered to let me borrow his KitchenAid mixer food grinder and sausage stuffer attachments. Wow! 

Next week: fish


Be well,
Technicolor girl

image created by Ink+ LLC

Range



red and golden beets

The Voltaggio brothers (Bryan and Michael)  hail originally from to  Frederick, Md (a city northwest of Washington, DC).  Chef Bryan has several established a number of restaurant's the DC area (i.e., Volt, Lunchbox, Family Meal). 

In February 2013  RANGE opened. I waited three months before making a reservation for a pal and I to visit. RANGE occupies more than 10,000 square on second floor of a retail space in the Friendship Heights section of Washington, DC.  There are stations throughout the restaurant dedicated to preparing aspects of RANGE's menu.                                                                                    

 
The menu features dishes to share and entrees. Our server suggested two to three small dishes per person. My pal and I thought that would be too much food. We ordered:


brussel sprouts

Red and golden beets with goat cheese
Lobster macaroni and cheese
Brussel sproutsLamb collar stuffed with merguez sausage

The red and golden beets were fresh tasty and a great starter, My pal was disappointed that the lobster mac and cheese only had two pieces of lobster. Our server informed us that the pasta was made on premises; it was tender and melted in our mouths.  We both enjoyed the savory, crunchy brussel sprouts. The merguez (merguez is a red, spicy mutton- or beef-based fresh sausage) stuffed lamb collar was a generous entrée served with well seasoned seasonal roasted vegetables. The entrée was full of flavor and color. Given the portion size we took part of the entrée home.





stuffed lamb collar



A group sat in a nearby glass enclosed private dining room. In his haste to exit the room one of the servers walked into the glass.  The glass didn't shatter, the server remained standing, but the room was silent as nearby diners looked at the glass and the server.  The server assigned to my table didn't move from her spot and continued to talk as if nothing had transpired. Moments later chatter resumed in the room.

RANGE's bathrooms were neat and orderly. The restaurant space can definitely accommodate large groups and has private dining areas. The restaurant is family friendly, but  the fast paced activity and noise level may be overwhelming to little ones.

 

It felt as if RANGE were trying to find its identity/niche  in a very fluid market. Friendship Heights draws a wide spectrum of shoppers (Bloomingdale's, Filene's Basement, Sephora , Saks Fifth Avenue, Tiffanys, and World Market are all within walking  distance), but the residents of the area aren't not necessarily the individuals shopping at these stores on a regular basis.

My pal determined that her curiosity about RANGE had been satisfied and that she didn't need to return in the future to explore more of what RANGE has to offer. I plan to visit RANGE again the future after a bit of time has passed and restaurant has found its niche.

 

RANGE is above the Friendship Heights metro. Metered street parking is available as well as several nearby parking garages.  Reservations can be made via opentable.

Be well,

Technicolor girl


image courtesy of InkPlus LLC