Friday, October 15, 2010

Day 38: Puree, Souffles, Timbales

The next class we learned about advanced vegetable preparation. We learned how to take basic vegetables and turn them into presentable side dishes that compliment a dish.

Carrot timbales: These are pureed carrots placed into a mold. They look kind of silly but on a plated meal they will look good next to a fancy piece of protein.

Broccoli Souffle: A very light, fluffy side dish. Souffles need to be cooked at the perfect temperature, for the perfect amount of time to work. At that point they pop up and look like they do below!

Potato Gratin-This was by far my favorite and I had to walk away before eating the whole tray. It is sliced potatoes mixed with heavy cream and milk then topped with Parmesan cheese and Gruyere cheese. They are cooked in the oven and then placed under a broiler to give it a crispy final touch. 

In addition to these three dishes we made regular mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, and glazed carrot and turnip torne. A torne is a special shape that you cut the vegetable into. It is extremely difficult and needs a lot of practice. So much practice that I have had to cut up tournes on the couch while my friends were over hanging out. It is an 8ish sided, oval shape that you cut into things such as potatoes and carrots. It seems like we are on a break from practicing tournes so I can finally give my hands a rest, phew. 

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