Thanksgiving Part 2

Since we went to Beaucoup on Thanksgiving night, we chose to do Thanksgiving Dinner on Friday night. It was beautiful. We made:

Turkey (stuffed with sausage and wrapped in bacon, which was new to me, but ended up very nicely)
gravy of course
Mashed Potatoes (that we pushed through a drum sieve, so we are talking supah fine potatoes)
Byron Potatoes (mashed potato discs with a béchamel sauce inside)
green beans rolled in garlic and olive oil
brussels sprouts with cashews and raisins soaked in calvados
stuffing with sauteed onion/green pepper/celery, brioche, and raisins soaked in calvados
sweet potato casserole with marshmallows
sweet potato casserole with pecans
rutabaga
cranberry sauce
jalapeno corn muffins

For dessert:
pumpkin pie
Pommes Meringues (or poached apples on brioche covered in italian meringue)

BUT for our entree (or appetizer in America) I made for the first time ever, my Thanksgiving Terrine!

See, since moving to Paris, I have started a minor obsession with terrine. Terrine is similar to pate but less finely ground. It is basically a french meat loaf, but with more fat, served cold and usually has some form of stuffing down the middle.

For my thanksgiving terrine, I would have preferred the use of turkey, but turkey is INCREDIBLY expensive here (like $100 for an 11lbs turkey), so I chose to use duck breast from a foie gras duck and chicken thighs instead. You match that amount of meat with the same about of pork shoulder. Grind that all up. Grind in some lard and sauteed chicken livers, add salt and pepper and some Grand Marnier (orange liqueur- my choice, you can use any type of liqueur) and stuff it.

Here's where most of my innovation came into play. For the stuffing down the middle of the terrine, I made my mother's cranberry sauce (which has orange peel in it) and candied some orange peels. I laid  those down the center, put some more terrine meat stuffing on top. And wrapped it in bacon (because we ran out of lard...whoops! It actually ended up working for the better.)

Then into a water bath and oven for 2 hours.

After you take it out of the oven, it has to sit for a day in the refrigerator with a weight on top of it to compact the loaf into a terrine.

At the final unveiling, I was pretty nervous about how it would turn out. But it did perfectly! And it was delicious! (If anyone wants the exact recipe, send me a message and I will get it to you). But like me, you will have to limit yourself to how often you eat it, otherwise, your arteries may block prematurely.)

Can't wait for Christmas Terrine! I'm thinking goose, chestnuts, poached pears or prunes soaked in armagnac...or something like that!

(Happy Thanksgiving Terrine!)

Beaucoup

 

(The Beaucoup Cocktail to start the night)

One of my good friends from class is from Perth, Australia. Her and her husband both used to be lawyers, he still is- just getting an MBA here in Paris to add to his scope of practice. Before moving here, they made a connection at the local lawyer's bar with another woman who was moving to Paris as well. This friend dates a French chef who had been working in some of the best restaurants in Australia before deciding to return to his home, Paris. She was joining him.

Well, flash forward a couple of months and we are all now good friends. Yay! How fun is that?

The chef's name is Yann and he just opened a new restaurant after being asked by some investors to do so. It is called "Beaucoup".

Here are some links:
http://www.parisbouge.com/mag/articles/beaucoup-le-bistronomique-version-hip-1040
http://beaucoup-resto.com/

On Thanksgiving, we went to the opening. And it was fantastic! Look at the pictures in the first link and you'll see how cool the interior is. Of course, for us, the kitchen was much more exciting and Yann even gave us a tour. The equipment he has in there is state of the art and easily drooled on if you're not careful. Yann got basically full control over how the kitchen was designed and what equipment would go into it.

(two of my friends split this 1.2kg of beef tenderloin- there was talk of some serious beef sweats)

He also gave us a tour of the refrigerators where he keeps some amazing charcuteries, cheeses, and produce, etc. Beaucoup also has a tapas menu/bar (which you can also order with your meal), but it is not just any tapas menu as Yann has imported rare prosciuttos and hams- stuff that only a few thousand of are made each year. So, that was a particular treat to try. We even had some salmon eggs that had been compressed until they looked almost like a piece of prosciutto (without the fat). It was a pretty interesting way to eat fish eggs that you can cut with a knife and layer on a piece of bread.

For dinner, I had the terrine (because I love terrine) and the waygu beef burger. Both were delicious, but I also ordered a side of macaroni gratin (mac 'n cheese) and it was fantastic. You know how mac 'n cheese is so easy to make, but so hard to perfect? This mac is perfected. I have only had two great portions of mac 'n cheese ever and this was one of them.

 

(the burger and mac)

We finished the night with popping a bottle of champagne for all of us to toast. Including the bar, tapas, meal, and champagne, we enjoyed a 5 hour meal.

If you ever find yourself in Paris, I would definitely recommend this restaurant. Not just because my friend is the head chef, but because its affordable (for Paris) at about 50euros a person including wine, plate, and either entree or dessert. The food is also superb- classically French, but with Yann's twist and respect for quality ingredients. I can promise you that your meal was made with care and dedication to the dish/flavor/ingredients/structure. Because that's just how Yann does it.

Graduation

I HAVE MY OWN INTERNET! And it's amazing. So let's get some posts going!

First off- Graduation.

Now, there has been some confusion over which graduation I am talking about as I have, no, not finished my diploma yet. See, the diploma is divided into 3 courses: Basic, Intermediate, and Superior. I have merely passed Basic. For which, I get a diploma.

So, graduation morning, I made my way down to the school for the ceremony. Many of the chefs were there, up at the front. It was a nice change from my last two graduations (under-grad and high school) because there were less of us (about 80 including cuisine and pastry), so everyone got his/her moment with the chef instead of feeling like a cattle call. PLUS, there were no stupid speeches.

"One day I was walking with a PEP! in my STEP!" (That's for my Elliot School GW friends out there)

Instead, the chefs in charge of our course just gave a nice summary of us as a group and how we had done the past few months.

In fact, two of my kitchen group friends turned out to be 4th and 5th in our whole class! (And my grade is only .3 less, so I think I probably did pretty well too!)

(The two chefs in charge of Basic Cuisine, the translator, and the Director is in the suit)

It was a lovely time.

Then they poured us champagne. I had not yet eaten breakfast (we had to be there before 9am!), so I drank my breakfast of champions!

(my diploma)

(With the two chefs in charge of Basic cuisine)

But, we could not stay too long because then me and two of my friends had to head over to Le Meurice Hotel in Paris for lunch.

So, here's the Le Meurice website: http://www.lemeurice.com/restaurants-bars (the first picture is the dining room that we sat in)

It's a 5 star hotel in Paris and it just so happens that we have a good friend and LCB graduate who is one of the chefs de partie. He got us rezzies. Pretty awesome.

The meal was incredible. We did the fall tasting menu. If you find yourself in the next few weeks in Paris and with a couple hundred extra euro, I would highly recommend. My favorite dishes: the beeftail cooked for 24hours and topped with a mushroom duxelle and the blood sausage with beet root. Incredible.

There are no pictures, because well, it's just no the type of place where you whip out your iphone in between courses.

Our friend came out to the dining room to say hi in his chef's whites and then joined us at the bar afterwards for some lovely drinks.

We stayed at that bar for about 6 hours. But it was worth it and no one really felt the need to leave. In fact, while we were there, Julianne Moore walked in and sat down at the table next to us (there are only about 10 tables at that bar) while she waited for her table.

Now there are two versions of what happened next. I'll let you decide which one happened.

1. She saw us and noticed how funny and quite frankly awesome we were and came over and asked if it would be rude to join us. We of course said not at all and had someone pull up a chair for her. Then we joked about how great Sauvignon Blanc is and her opinions on all things. In the end, she promised to get us a white lion before we had to leave to celebrate a friend's birthday.

2. We awkwardly gawked at her and she gave us a feigned smile before we continued to act like she was just a regular person because we are SO above acting like paparazzi groupies. And she sent over a note with the promise of getting us a white lion.

So there you have it. Two stories. I'll let you pick the one that suits your mind the best. I know what happened.

Anyways, congrats to everyone and I can't wait to be back in January! However, now that I have internet consistently, be expecting more posts again. I apologize for the hiatus!

And as Julianne Moore would say, "Laters, white lion lovers."

Final: Cuisine de Base

Andddddddddd we're back!

At least for tonight. But all is well because this week has been the MOST productive in the history of Elyssa living in Paris. Because this week (the week after the final) my dear friend S (who is up for Sainthood- I'm discussing her accession with the Pope as we speak) who is also fluent in French has helped me do more errands in two days than I have done in two months. One of those super fun tasks was talking to the internet company on the phone for hours...(yeah, she's the best) but now I should have my own internet working within the next two weeks! At least that's what they are promising...

ANYWAYS- I finished my final for Basic Cuisine! It was such a whirlwind. We were given a list of 10 possible recipes of which we had to learn the complete ingredients list as well as the methods and techniques of cooking those dishes because when we walked into the kitchen to perform our final practical, we would be picking one of those recipes out of a hat.

We also had to poach one egg and cook one hard-boiled egg to be plated next to our final dish.

The week before was filled with quizzing, studying, and memorizing because this one dish was worth 45% of our grade.

Last Friday morning (yes, I know it's been a week...) I woke up at 6:30am, was at school by 7:30am and in the kitchen by 7:50am ready to go. Our group would be cooking in a kitchen that we had never cooked in before; I would be working on a stove and with an oven that I had never touched and didn't know the feel or idiosyncrasies of heating, etc. I walked in, was assigned to a spot, and picked a recipe out of a hat.

I had chosen the chicken tarragon with a side of roasted vegetables. It was a relatively easy recipe- one of the easier ones in my opinion. Except, the day that we had cooked it in practical, it was under the supervision of a substitute chef who I detest. In fact, I have made numerous efforts to complain to the administration about this substitute. That day, he made us do the recipe differently than we had been taught by our wonderful chef and when we were confused about his new way he yelled at us that he would give us all zeros for the day if we asked "any more f**cking questions". Excuse me, I am in cooking school. What kind of teacher does not allow anyone to ask questions? And curses like that? Not okay.

So, while I had been lucky to choose a relatively easy recipe, I could only see red when I thought about it. Again, luckily for me though, my friends had made me repeat it from memory multiple times so that I could think of the lovely and flavorful dish without the thought of that horrid man.

ANYWAYS, I just started going. I cut the chicken, I emondee-d my tomatoes, ciselee-d the shallots, sauteed the chicken, started the braising liquid, cooked my first egg (hard boiled), started the vegetables and put them in, cooked the second egg (poach), decanted the chicken, reduced my sauce, pulled out the vegetables and stopped.

It was 9:50am and all I had left to do was add the final butter to my jus. We started cooking at 8:15 and had until 11:15 to finish. And I was finished with my dish over an hour early.

I'm not sure how it happened; how I did it. But, I just went and it was FUN!

So, with nothing to do and not wanting to finish my sauce until the end, I cleaned and packed up my knives. I cleaned my station 3 times. Then the chef walked in and heard that one of us was finished.

"Who is finished?" he asked.

"Me."

"Meez Kah-plahn, l'americaine. So plate!"

And I did. I plated my dish at 10:10am. I finished cleaning and I left. As I was leaving, the second/assistant chef in the kitchen whispered to me, "Don't worry- You're good."

Words can not describe my happiness at that moment. I was finished at a chef had told me not to worry about passing! Apparently, my friends in the kitchen could hear my whoop as I threw my hat down the stairs. I changed, cleared out my locker, and went to the bar to wait for everyone to join me for a night of celebration.

And, the assistant chef was right. I had nothing to worry about, because I never received that call from school asking me to come in so they could tell me I failed. And yesterday, I graduated.

That post will come soon :)

Internet Problems

I need to stop writing, "I will post tomorrow" because I keep losing my internet connection afterwards making me unable to post.

I am currently working on the issue and if I can not resolve it, I will try and make a Starbucks trip soon. 

Thanks for your patience!

e

Last Day of Class

Thursday morning I woke up at 7am, got dressed, caught the metro and made it to school by 8am for the last time in a long time. It was our last demonstration of basic cuisine and of course, we were scheduled for the 8:30am time slot.

But, this time, we could just watch and take notes as we pleased because there was no accompanying practical. We would not be re-creating any of these dishes in the kitchen later. The menu was "Gala Dinner" and it was pretty much that exciting:

Herb Crusted Rack of Lamb served with Potatoes Dauphinois, roasted tomatoes filled with a mushroom duxelle, braised gems, honey-glazed carrots, and red currant glazed baby turnips

and for dessert, Baked Alaska

(the chef served it flaming, but the alcohol burned up before we could take pictures)

After class, we tasted (as we do everyday) but today was especially good as everything served was delicious and not coated in an egg yolk/butter emulsion. Plus, the chef popped some bottles of champagne, so the food went down even easier!

It was a little sad in the end because this would be our last demonstration with the Chef. He is the chef in charge of Basic Cuisine and when we return to class in January as Intermediate students, he will be welcoming a new group of eager young chefs instead of teaching us. But, I'm sure we'll still see him around school and every once in a while, maybe he'll be the chef in our practical kitchens.

Most exciting for me though is that when I raised my hand to ask a question at the beginning about a confusion I was having over whether he would be making the potatoes dauphinois (they are my favorite and I would hate it if we didn't get any!) he kind of rolled his eyes and smiled and said in English, "Don't worry Meez El-ee-za, we will make the potatoes." It impressed me that he remembered my name! (Especially since the day before he had yelled at me in the kitchen that I would fail out of school after I burned my béchamel...) There are a lot of us and we rotate through pretty quickly, so often the chefs can't remember our names unless they are looking at our name tags. I can't really blame them.

So, we celebrated and then we left to go our own ways to study more for the upcoming final the next morning. I will right about that experience tomorrow. Good night!

(beautiful, but very tired friends after class)

(toasting champagne at 11am...!)

(my notes and recipes for the day)

(bye basic cuisine! It's been a good ride)

#tbt guacamole

As promised, here is the #tbt with the guacamole recipe. I know, I know, it's a week late. But see, here's what happened. True story.

After a super awesome and fun Halloween night, I returned to my apartment to find that the internet that I have been using while the internet line that I pay for is still inactive (two months later...but I finally after two months got a bank account and phone. In France, beggars can't be choosers...) leaving me with only internet on my phone. And I do not have an unlimited data plan here, so sorry- no posts.

But for now, we're back! Also, tomorrow morning at 8am (so 2am EST), I will be entering the kitchen to perform for my final, one last time in Basic cuisine. We have been given a list of ten dishes. We will walk in there and choose one of them from a hat and proceed to write out the ingredients list, turn that in, be given the actual ingredients list, and then prep, cook, and serve the dish in less than 2.5 hours. We also have to hard-boil and poach an egg, the correct way during that time. This is 45% of my grade, so if I fail, I fail.

So, I also have not had a lot of free time this week to deal with my internet problems.

With that being said, I am back and posting on this lovely Thursday with my tried and true guacamole recipe. It's really easy and I usually, at least, double it.

2 avocados

3 Tbl lemon or lime juice (half a lime)

2 Tbl minced cilantro

1/3 c diced onion

3 Tbl chopped tomatoes

½ tsp salt

pepper

½ tsp cumin

2 cloves garlic

hot sauce

Actually, being in cooking school has not changed much about how I make this recipe. My dad found it a long time ago on line or in a magazine and then he finagled with it to get to this ratio. It's been finagled well and good.

Of course, start with the avocados- I mash with a fork. Then acidity immediately on to them to keep them from turning. From there, it's diced onion and chopped tomatoes. The quantities on those two are not exact- for a doubled recipe, I'd use 3 tomatoes (but I really like tomato), 2 onions. Mince the garlic. If you're one of those soapy cilantro people, then leave it out.

It's better if it sits in the refridgerator, so make it ahead of time, film over the top, touching the guac to keep from oxidizing or forming a skin. If you're serving immediately, it will need more salt- just a warning.

That's about it and see you on the other side of my basic final!

Game Day- Paris Style

I spent the first four years of my life growing up in Gainesville, FL.

I spent ages 8-18 living in and around Athens, GA.

The GA/FL game is not just any old college game day in the Kaplan household. It is a massive battle between two of our three favorite college teams (the other being the VT Hokies for Dad). There is one team which we always root for ahead of the other, but I'll refrain from saying as it can cause a lot of heartache and arguments!

Being in Paris was NOT going to stop me from watching this Holiest of Holy Games. Furthermore, my friend from Oklahoma wanted to watch the OK/Notre Dame game.

So, we got a bunch of people together who enjoy a good time and settled in for the day. Unfortunately for my friend, ESPN America was not broadcasting the OK/ND game. However, she is good friends with Sam Bradford, the quarterback of the Rams who were playing the Patriots in London. So, we watched that game instead after the GA/FL game. Sadly for both of us, the Rams lost. (I hate no team more than the Patriots).

Now, for the Food!

We decided on a game day menu of: Buffalo wings, guacamole, and queso!

Guacamole was my task and it was pretty easy to find all of the ingredients here in Paris. I will post the recipe tomorrow as part of #tbt.

For the buffalo wings, we substituted thigh meet for the wings as no one was able to find enough wings for sale. We also bought Franks Hot Sauce from the store that specializes in American goodies, so it was an easy mix of butter and hot sauce to make the delicious buffalo sauce after we deep fried the chicken. For the Bleu Cheese dip, we used Roquefort cheese!

It was with the queso, that we ran into the most difficulty. Turns out, the French just do not do Velveeta.

Right?? Who'd have thought the French wouldn't like super processed cheese product? Crazy.

But we are culinary students, so a lack of velveeta was not going to keep us from queso. Instead, my friend sauteed some peppers in butter until soft, and then added flour to make a roux. Then, we added cream for a spicy Bechamel sauce. From there it was just a matter of grated, mild cheeses. Once melted, in the oven for a bit and Voila!

All of our dishes were a success! However, one of our guests is a French Chef who has worked at some of the best restaurants in Paris and Australia. Now, he is opening up his own place. Try making game day food with a very talented French Chef watching you. We were a little rattled! But, we should not have been because he was just as impressed with everything as everyone else was. Or he's a good lier. Either way, we were happy.

So, despite how awfully that game was played (seriously HOW many turnovers?) and then the ugliness of the next game, we had a great game day here in Paris.

Next time, we'll probably head back to the Moose aka the Canadian Sports Bar down the street that plays ESPN America too. But, for these special games, we needed a special game day.

(Buffalo Wings!)

(My guac. With sliced baguette because no one could find regular tostito-type chips!)

(The queso! Also eaten with the baguette...)

(Delicious food on the table, good friends around, and the game on in the back. What more could a girl ask for?)

Le Maroc

Earlier this week, while we were in the kitchen making the rice and vegetables that accompanies Beef Stroganoff, the chef walked around and looked at everyone's vegetable cuts.

We were cutting carrot, zucchini, and green beans into a petit brunoise or very small EVEN/UNIFORM squares. They should be about a quarter/half a centimeter squared. So, pretty small. But more important than size is that they are uniform.

Which is very hard to do. Often, I set up my pre-cuts, so that I am set to get those perfect squares. But when I look at them all together, they are not quite even. As the chef likes to point out to me.

However, this is the way of French cuisine. This is why I am here and not at a different culinary school. Because successfully cutting carrots into tiny perfect squares means that I can go anywhere and cut anything with precision, ease, and grace.

Not yet of course, but I'm getting there.

As the chef passed around the table looking at everyone's cuts he emphasized that sloppy cuts means sloppy cooking and to be served sloppy cuts at a French restaurant will tell you a lot about what's going on in the kitchen.

"It's not for your family," he reminded us, "It's not Moroccan."

Yeah, I thought so too, Moroccan? But turns out Chef was born in Morocco and is a big fan, while understanding that their cuisine does not rely on precise cuts. This conversation led to him recommending the "Best Moroccan Restaurant in all of Paris" to us.

Well, this sparked an idea and a bunch of us ended up going there for lunch...because we always do what the chefs tell us! Oui, Chef!

But Le Maroc, as the restaurant on 9 Rue Danielle Casanova calls itself, did not fail to impress. The chef was correct. We ordered family style: sharing a tomato salad, one plate of couscous with chickpeas and raisins, a tajine of lamb with prunes and almonds, a tajine of chicken with candied lemon and carrot, and a tajine of vegetables. Then we finished with the desert platter and mint tea. Oh, and of course the wine. We ordered the Rose because according to my friend enrolled in the school's wine course, Rose is the best choice of wine with Moroccan food.

So, if you find yourself in Paris and craving some melt in your mouth lamb, go listen to some free music around Opera and eat at Le Maroc!

(inside the restaurant. It's not too big!)

(I thought the ceiling looked pretty cool)

#tbt Fish and butter sauces

As you may have guessed, learning French cuisine means that I have been focusing a LOT on sauces. Despite the fact that sauces of all kinds and I have been in a serious relationship for years, we've decided now is the right time to take it to the next level. I mean, I was the kid who ordered the "Cool Caesar Chicken Wrap" from Chick'fil'a because it was healthier but then put not one, but two large packets of the accompanying caesar dressing with it. That was until, like all whirlwind romances, it came to a screeching halt and dead end. My father asked me if I had looked at the calorie content on that magical caesar sauce. If I remember correctly, after two packets, I was ingesting about 800 calories in my dressing alone (Damn you and your logic Dad!)

But, here in French culinary school- we literally eat, breath, and live on our sauces. A good sauce can mask a badly cooked dish. However, nothing can save a plate with a bad sauce. Being a saucier (sauce-man in the kitchen) is a sadistic job where you must basically sew the chinois as an extension of your arm. Oh and never mess up of course as well.

Unfortunately for me, I have one of my weakest scores on sauce. And it drives me to drink (well only sometimes) because I focus so much on it. But I always reduce too much or not enough. Not enough salt, too much salt.

"Did you taste your sauce?" the chef will ask me.

"Oui, Chef!" I'll respond.

Then he gives me a look and says, "Underseasoned. Not enough salt." Well, shucks.

But sometimes I get it right and those are the best moments. Like today's recipe: Beef Strogenoff (Yes, it is a Russian dish, but was apparently created by a French chef working for an aristocratic family in Russia so they claim it here too). I cooked a perfect sauce. Boo-freakin-ya!

Another time that I cooked a perfect sauce was for the Lemon Sole (a fish) day. This was the second class ever and I was so proud of myself.

So, for today's throw-back, let's look at the (White- Sole or Tilapia) fish in lemon-butter sauce that I used to make, but with a few new, super-sauce-making powered differences.

------------------------------------------------------

½ cup all-purpose flour

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 fresh sole fillets, 3 to 4 ounces each (I would now suggest buying the fish whole and fileting them yourself, but this is too difficult to explain how to do by writing right now)

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

6 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (3 lemons)

1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley

(I would also add two shallots-finely chopped to this as well)

(potentially white wine as well)

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. 

Combine the flour, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a large shallow plate. Pat the sole fillets dry with paper towels and sprinkle one side with salt.

Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large (12-inch) sauté pan over medium heat until it starts to brown. Dredge 2 sole fillets in the seasoned flour on both sides and place them in the hot butter. Lower the heat to medium-low and cook for 2 minutes. ( I would just start at the medium-low temp instead of changing) Turn carefully with a metal spatula (DEFINITE MUST or you'll break the fish) and cook for 2 minutes on the other side. While the second side cooks, add ½ teaspoon of lemon zest and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice to the pan.

Carefully put the fish fillets on the ovenproof plates and pour the sauce over them. Keep the cooked fillets warm in the oven while you repeat the process with the remaining 2 fillets. When they’re done, add the cooked fillets to the plates in the oven. (I would then add more butter back to the pan, melt it, then sweat the finely chopped shallots. Once they had given up their water, I would deglaze the pan with more lemon juice/a little white wine. Whisk in any more butter to give it the right consistency. The right consistency is when your sauce coats the back of a spoon. Once there, pass through a chinois right on to those fish!) Sprinkle with the parsley, salt, and pepper and serve immediately.

Other changes:

This first way is easier, but if you are looking for a tender-er fish and not breaded, then I would do the sauce step I wrote at the end of the last paragraph of directions FIRST in the recipe,  but add fish stock or water after the while wine/lemon juice deglaze. Then fold the fish onto itself, placedit in this braising liquid and into the oven at 350 fahrenheit  for about 5 mins only. Take it out, remove the fish in the same way. Then place the sauce on the burner, whisk in extra butter to get to the right consistency, pass through the chinois, over the fish, parsley, season, plate.

Good luck with your sauces!

Prepping at the New Zealand Embassy

This weekend, we had four days off! It is the longest break that we get during the whole course. I hadn't done much this weekend besides being sick, buying my halloween costume, running a few errands, meeting people for lunch/dinner, and watching the Gator and LSU games. However, today, I joined 9 of my classmates and one of the LCB chefs at the New Zealand Embassy to prep for a dinner they are having, I believe, tomorrow.

I had signed up a couple of weeks ago when the chef had come into our demo to ask for volunteers. Every few weeks or so, one of our chefs gets the opportunity/is hired to cook for an event or do a demo, etc. Then they ask the students to volunteer to help prep/make the food. I had not signed up for the first opportunity, which had ended up being something to do with Slow Food and one of my classmates ended up meeting and talking with the president of Slow Food France while volunteering! She reported that it was a great learning experience volunteering and working that day.

So, I did not want to miss another chance, especially when I realized it was on a 4 day weekend for which I had no real plans.

So, this morning I got myself out of bed at 7am to make my way over to the 16arr and the New Zealand Embassy. Since, we are just Basic Course students, we only got to do the prep work today. Tomorrow, the more experienced students will get to go in and actually cook most of the food.

My American friend and I volunteered to work the day together and we were given the job of prepping the mini-mixed colored salad meant to serve 150 people. This meant a lot of chopping of vegetables.

We started with the carrots. Have you ever ordered a house salad and it comes with little match-sticks of carrot? Cut those match-sticks in half, long-ways, and you'll have what we were chopping today. All pieces- exactly even and matching.

Then we did the same thing with celery.

Then fennel.

Then bell pepper. (All of these vegetables must be peeled before being chopped)

We peeled baby tomatoes and pitted black olives from Nice which were about the size of your index-finger nail and the pit just did not want to come out. I have pitted a lot of olives in my day and these were by far the hardest!

This salad will be mixed with an assortment of herbs and thinly sliced radishes (some one else cut those today!).

Then we cut some sole (type of fish) into fish-stick-like size.

Everyone had a different task: someone made 150 shortbread crackers. Someone else broke into and separated 150 clams. Someone else prepped the Wagyu beef. Someone rolled salmon escalopes. Someone else started a slow roast of beef. There was something going on everywhere all day long!

We worked from 9am until 4pm, so it was a decent day. I wasn't too tired when I got home, but I did pick up a falafel pita instead of making dinner. We all just wished we could see what the finished products/plates will look like tomorrow.

But, I guess we will have to wait until we are in Intermediate or Superior Course for that. Tomorrow it is back to school!

Hugh Acheson wants to meet me!

So, I have a confession to make:

I kinda follow chefs like other people follow celebrities. On my twitter feed, all the pops up are tweets about food, chefs, the food industry, farming, ingredients, restaurants, tasting menus, food markets, and my sorority (I follow a lot of sorority sisters too).

So, a few weeks ago when the Executive Chef of Five and Ten Restaurant (in Athens! And one of Hugh Acheson's restuarants), Chef Dean Neff followed me back on twitter, I got super excited. Some girls hope for Justin Bieber to retweet their tweets, I die when Andy Rappaport (Editor in Chief of Bon Appetite Magazine) replies to one of my tweets.

Once, the James Beard Foundation retweeted one of my tweets and I had to sit down.

So, when I saw on Friday that Chef Hugh Acheson was going to be doing a demo at the Athens Farmers Market (of which my family attends weekly without fail), I told my parents they just HAD to go. Now, I don't know what they said to him, but apparently-

HE SAID HE WANTS TO MEET ME! Me, a lowly culinary student and my favorite chef of all time wants to meet me.

Seriously, Mom and Dad, you are the best networking, promoting team I could ask for!

Chef Acheson is my favorite chef of all time because, well 1. He's an amazing chef 2. He is a James Beard winner and lives in Athens, so the publicity he has brought to Athens' cuisine has been amazing.

See, the thing about Athens is that there are a lot of really great restaurants. I live in Paris and I can tell you that Athens has amazing dining options.

The best Pad Thai that I have ever eaten is at Siri Thai.

The Pork Shoulder at The National (Another Acheson restaurant, Executive Chef: Peter Dale) is life changing.

When I crave Fried Green Tomatoes, I'm remembering The Last Resort's appetizer

Seafood? Square One's got your fished cooked to perfection. Their low country boil requires a loaf of bread because you just can't leave any sauce not sopped-up.

La Dolce Vita and Etienne Brasserie provide the Italian and French flavor with great spaghetti and steak frites, respectively. (They also have much more interesting dishes as well, but I highly admire a place that can present a perfected basic)

Then we have places like Weaver D's and his Automatic for the People made famous by REM that are not high dining, but still absolutely delicious and a must-go if you are in Athens.

I had sorority sisters in DC asking me about Mama's Boy's Peach Stuffed French Toast (not my favorite of their breakfasts, give me that biscuit with that raspberry sauce!)

There are so many other places and so many places that I haven't even been to yet, but Athens has great options cuisine wise. The other thing that makes me love restaurants in Athens, the great atmospheres. All of the restaurants mentioned above are different, but all of them feel comfortable, warm, and a nice place to eat. I hate eating dinner in what feels more like a nightclub than a restaurant. Those places don't exist in Athens.

So, thank you Chef Hugh for bringing the national attention it deserves to our little Athens. I've always felt like he is "our" chef. Just like we as a city claim REM, I've always claimed Chef Hugh as "my chef" when discussing chefs with friends (yes, I discuss chef's with people, they just pretend to care and listen while I talk).

Therefore, he is my favorite chef. AND HE SAID HE WANTS TO MEET ME!
Did I mention that yet??

(Chef Hugh making steak and porcini mushroom)

Sick

I am sick and heading to bed. No #tbt this week. See you next week!

La Rotisserie du Beaujolais

I have a new favorite restaurant in Paris. True, I have yet to have a bad meal in Paris whether it has been at the Brasserie down the street, a cafe around the corner, the famous Cafe Marly across from the Louvre, or the little Chinese traiteurs that sprinkle the city with cheap Chinese food to go.

This past Sunday, me and three of my friends (and one husband!) met up at the famous Shakespeare and Co. bookstore to hear David Simon, the creator of The Wire and Treme as well as other famous shows, speak. I am a big fan of The Wire and have just started watching Treme (one of the main characters is a woman chef who I think looks a lot like Helene Darroze, so with New Orleans and the music and the female chef, I am drawn into the show), so I was pumped to go see David Simon.

Coincidentally, there was also a video of him speaking in 2008 that a Facebook-friend posted last week and I had watched. So, I was all in David Simon mode.

(Shakespeare and Co is too small for everyone to fit inside, so we had to stand outside and listen to the speakers)

Afterwards, we went to dinner. Except for the past two days (Monday and Tuesday) it has been non-stop raining and cold in Paris this past week. So, we were ready for a dinner that was warm and comforting. One of my friends has been talking nearly incessantly about one of her favorite restaurants, La Rotisserie du Beaujolais, so we all agreed it was time for the rest of us to go.

Now, I know why. You walk in to the restaurant out of the cold, windy weather and are immediately comforted by the warm rotisserie in the back and the open kitchen. We all ordered half a chicken which comes with mashed potatoes that are just perfect- most likely in Joel Robuchon style (aka 1:1 ratio of potato and butter). I also ordered the Terrine du Chef (I have become a big terrine fan- and will recommend it to anyone traveling through France to order) as an appetizer while others ordered creamed leeks or the escargot. Everyone was beyond impressed. The accompanying wine also turned out to be delicious.

During the course of the meal, as four culinary students dining in front of an open kitchen, we were constantly drawn to what was going on in that kitchen. We were even comparing the burns we noticed on the chefs hands and arms to our own!

Finally, the husband and only non-culinary student, almost in exasperation of our constant kitchen and chef chatter asked the waiter if we, culinary students could all go into the kitchen and take a picture with the chef. They said of course!

(the waiter also jumped in though we couldn't get him to look at the camera! Our smiles are so big because instead of saying "Cheese!" we say "Oui, Chef!")

So, with the combination of the amazing service, the great food, and the cozy atmosphere, I am sold on La Rotisserie du Beaujolais. If you find yourself in Paris, especially in the winter, I am telling you now- you must go!

http://www.larotisseriedubeaujolais.com/

http://www.zagat.com/r/rotisserie-du-beaujolais-la-paris-france

Turning and tiny kitchens

As mentioned in my last post, about Boeuf Bourgiugnon, I have been practicing "turning" vegetables for class. The idea behind the turned vegetable is that, once turned, it can cook evenly and is attractive. The other reasons being that it is extra work, somewhat wasteful, and traditional and this is French cuisine.

This past Thursday, we even held a "turning party." Yes, we wild culinary students know how to get down. We all six of us met up at a friends apartment (she has the largest apartment, so it makes the most sense to go to her) and practiced turning carrots, zucchini, potatoes, and mushrooms while drinking wine, eating pastries, and chatting/gossiping. Some ladies knit, others scrapbook. We use our knives.

We decided that turning artichokes and trussing chicken would be the theme of our next party.

We took pictures of us sitting there with our mounds of vegetables and knives, but not on my phone, so I do not have any of them with me.

The end result looked liked this:

(I did not rub them in lemon immediately, so they have "grayed"- This is about 1/5 of what I have in my refrigerator)

Potato:

Zucchini:

Mushroom:

I ate all of my turned carrots before I even left the party, so no pictures, but they essentially look the same as the potatoes and zucchini.

However fun this has all been, I now have one large tupperware and two ziplock bags full of turned vegetables in my refrigerator. So, I made a veggie pasta tonight for dinner!

It's a super simple recipe, the basis of which I made up forever ago, but using my kitchen in general is a work of art. It is just too tiny. So, easy recipes like pasta or reheating what I make at school is generally all I attempt. Otherwise, I just get too frustrated. 

So, I cut up some of my vegetables and made this pasta! It turned out to be a really good use of my leftovers. Though, I had to laugh at the irony of cutting up the vegetables that I spent hours turning...oh, well. C'est la vie!

(My tiny kitchen in the middle of cooking!)

(My pasta!)

#tbt Boeuf Bourguignon

Nothing quite says French cuisine in such an iconic way as Boeuf Bourguignon. Julia Child's recipe has become a famous go-to for anyone attempting to cook a "fancy" French dish. I admit, that I was once one of them. And I encourage anyone else to give it a try.

However, there really is nothing fancy about boeuf bourguignon. It is a simple stew. The first time I made it, I would have disagreed with myself. But, today we made the beef stew in the kitchen and it was actually quite easy.

You can find a boeuf bourguignon recipe very quickly on line or in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. 

Here is a link of Julia's show where she actually makes the stew: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA2ys8C-lNk (and no, it's not actually Dan Aykroyd. That can be found here: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7tnc9_the-french-chef_fun)

Making boeuf bourguignon today, in the professional way, I learned a few things that are not in the recipe books and that I did not know the first time I attempted the stew.

First: It is served with potatoes that MUST be turned. A "turned" potato is a potato that has been peeled into a cylinder-like shape but with 5-7 sides. These potatoes are then just boiled and washed in butter for a shine right serving.

(turned potatoes! This looks easy, but it has taken about 75 potatoes for me to finally get it perfectly.)

Second: You MUST marinate your meat for 5-24 hours in a red wine sauce with mirepoix, garlic, and spices before starting to cook it. Choose recipes that include this marinading process

Third: When the stew comes out of the oven, you must strain it then REDUCE your sauce before adding it back to the beef, mushrooms, glazed onions, and lardon. It should be thick, but not as thick as most sauces. It is still a stew.

Four: Serve your stew with croutons. But these croutons should be cut fairly large- not the little ones that we are used to eating in our salads. To make them, cut large strips (or shapes!) into stale bread. Then, heat up an iron skillet with either clarified butter or oil with butter (add the butter right before-hand). The oil keeps the heat without burning, but the butter gives the flavor. It takes about 15 seconds per side.

Other tips:
-Cook the Boeuf Bourguignon longer for more tender, typical braised meat (2-2.5 hours)
-Always blanch your lardon (bacon) to rid it of impurities
-Make sure to boil and then strain out all impurities from your marinading liquid before adding it back into your meat mixture
-Add a little bit of coarse salt right before you put the stew in the oven- not for taste, but to encourage infusion of flavors while it cooks

Good luck, happy Thursday, and hopefully yours will turn out just like the chef's!

Grades

So, today, I got my grades for the first time since I have been in cooking school. Needless to say, I've been freaking out the past week. Or two weeks...but who's counting??

See, the thing is that I am a nerd who only got one B in high school and it was an 89.3 in Trigonometry and my teacher did not particularly care for me. So, take that B with a grain of salt. And while I have calmed down in grade obsession since high school (and have more friends now too...coincidence?), I was still an Honors Student in college and therefore mildly grade obsessed.

So to be cooking blindly (in terms of grades) for the past month has been a little nerve-wracking. Sure, I can tell myself that I am just here to learn. Let Go, Let Flow. Absorb the knowledge like my veins absorbing the massive amounts of butter.

But, if you know me, then you also know that I rarely let go (unless wine is involved) and find over-analyzing more of a lifestyle than a practice.

Grades here work like this:

-Everything is out of 5 points
-No one ever scores a perfect 5, ever.
-You are graded on many aspects including your appearance, organization, technique. Not just how your food tastes
-you are graded every kitchen practical in all of those aspects
-average is usually about a 3.0

So, I walked into the conference room this afternoon. The chef sat on one side of the table, the translator across from him with me at the head of the table. There was a piece of paper with my name and grade on it placed on the table where I was meant to sit.

Elyssa Kaplan: 3.398

I didn't actually sit down. I just kind of squatted and stared at it open-mouth agape.

"Are you okay? It's out of 5, not 10 points." The translator mis-read my inability to sit.

I have the second highest grade in the class. Granted, because I missed a class on Monday, I will get a zero and that average will drop me down. But, without my stupid mistake, I rate at nearly a 3.4 out of 5.

The chef continued to talk about how I need to work on my trussing of chicken and sauce consistency. For everything else, I am good.

"Did you not know that you are doing a good job in the kitchen?"

"No, I guess, I mean...I thought so, but...you know, I just...wasn't really sure...you..." I mumbled in return to the very nice chef (pictured with me in Student Dinner) because even if things feel right, you could be totally wrong. I guess I've been pretty right.

Fact is, this is not a joke. I can do this.
And I will only get better. I am determined.

A Store of Only Cook Books

Here in Paris, they revel in smalls stores that only sell one thing. Like a store that only sells tape. Or a pharmacy that only sells medicine (seriously, what's up with that? Where's my lipbalm? What if I need shampoo? A pack of gum?) Or a store that only sells children's shoes.

The same goes for bookstores. They specialize.

So, of course, I made my way to Librairie Gourmande, the bookstore that only sells books about food and cooking.

They even have a decent English section! I went with two friends from school who just found ourselves in the area where the bookstore is located. An hour later, we left the shop. 

However, in the back of the store, they have an "old books" section. Many do not know this, but I collect old cookbooks. Yes, I know it's weird and don't make me explain why because it makes no logical sense. I just like them. I find them interesting.

So, of course that was where I headed immediately to peruse. And, of course, one of the shop workers had just *happened* to set up her laptop and move-able office in the middle of the shelf making me reach around her to try and find books.

But, it was worth the awkwardness because they were amazing. And seemed decently priced- all about 50-100 euros. Then I found one basically about the Treatment of Obese Foodies from 1907. It had essays and recipes and was just about the coolest thing ever. And only 32euros!

Perfect. And with my student discount of 10%, it would be even less.

I take my prize up to the cash register. First, the old books don't count for the student discount. Second, it's not 32 euros, its 320 euros!! 

Did the King of France write it?!? Did Escoffier himself bless it?!?

Never-mind, Librairie Gourmande. You can keep that one. But I can't wait to go back and more casually and comfortably sort through the old books. Hopefully, I'll find one that can tempt my interest and my wallet.

I'll let you know when I do.

(No pictures of the old book section, the laptop lady worker scared me off. But next time, I will win!)

#tbt Garlic Roasted Potatoes

This week, we had or Lapin à la moutarde Rabbit with Mustard Sauce. It is a classic French dish and required us to decapitate and gut a rabbit (which looks remarkably like a fur-less cat...). The butchering did not bother me, except when I had the eyes staring at me out of my trash/discard bowl. And the heart was especially bloody and difficult to clean.

However, we did have some students who just could not do it and someone even got sick. Rabbit is not quite the same as fish or chicken...

Mine turned out fine: the sauce was a little too liquidy (according to my judging chef, but I think the other chef would have approved...) and I did not cook my organs long enough, but everything else was well cooked and seasoned.

With the rabbit, we also cooked pan friend potatoes. The recipe's ingredients was the exact same as the Garlic Roasted Potatoes that I used to make except I used to roast them instead of pan frying.

So for this #tbt, I'm posting this easy side dish:

Garlic Roasted Potatoes

Ingredients

3 pounds small red or white potatoes

1/4 cup good olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons minced garlic (6 cloves)

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut the potatoes in half or quarters and place in a bowl with the olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic; toss until the potatoes are well coated. Transfer the potatoes to a sheet pan and spread out into 1 layer. Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour or until browned and crisp. Flip twice with a spatula during cooking in order to ensure even browning.

Remove the potatoes from the oven, toss with parsley, season to taste, and serve hot.

-----------

The other recipe that we did in class took basically the same recipe, but you must trim the potatoes into cylinders and then slice into 3mm chips (so that the potato "chips" are all even). Make sure to wash them to remove any excess starch.

 You put those potato chips in a iron skillet with peanut oil (not olive)- let it get REALLY hot (to the point of smoking). Then add the potatoes. Let them sit, flip them every once in a while until they are nicely browned.

Add butter. Season with salt. Let cook for a little. Then add garlic (not too much). DO NOT LET THE GARLIC BURN. Right before taking off the heat, add the parsley. Then run it through the chinois to lose any excess oil or butter and serve.

Both recipes are pretty easy and equally tasty to be served with any type of meat! (or correctly cooked rabbit heart...)

Bon chance!

e