Mother sauces

When I decided to have the Diva class on sauces I had no idea of people's preconceived notions of what the class would be like. I knew that what I would be teaching would be technically as good as it gets outside of a culinary school.

But when the Diva's (and one Divo) came to the class-I realized they got something completely different from what they were expecting.

I did not teach a class which showed how to make a specific sauce. Instead-I went the "teach a man to fish" route and taught the basics of sauces.

It is my plan to educate so that you can create. The sauce theory is no different.

Here's how it works. There are five mother sauces:

Bechamel

Espangole

Veloute

Hollandaise

Vinaigrette

From these most sauces emanate. We made all but the Espangnole which takes a day to make so limited time did not permit this sauce. Espangnole is the basis for all brown sauces (Bordalaise, any steak sauce, etc).

We did a bourbon Creme Anglaise to show a custard based sweet sauce-which is somewhat like a Bechamel-but without the cheese and flour. But I digress...

The class proceedure:

We started with the Creme Anglaise which was used to top a Panetonne bread pudding I had already made.

Then we moved on to a Bechemal which we embellished with Gruyere and Jarlsberg cheese. Bechamel's are roux based so we first learned how to make a simple roux to which we added milk and cheese. Then we made scrumptious scallop potatoes-for which I will give the "how to" in the next post.

Having made a standard roux for the bechamel, a roux with celery and leeks and cilantro showed how you can vary a roux. Instead of using milk for a Bechamel, we used chicken stock to make a Veloute. The Veloute sauced a lovely piece of thick pan roasted cod.

Next was an onion vinaigrette which we used to top an avocado and roasted beet salad.

And lastly we made the Hollandaise which finished some pan seared asparagus.

Then we ate. Yum.

She's BAAAAACK

Ok Ok-I've been gone for a while. So sorry to all my Diva followers.

But Hong Kong really knocked the stuffin' out of me. Just couldn't get into a good sleep routine and then there was so much work to do so 20 hour work days perpetuated for the whole week.

And of course it would have been wise to simply relax all weekend-but no, I had two diva classes on-- of all things-- SAUCES! who does that to themselves?? Me who else. Insanity runs in my family. What can I say. I was in the shallow end of the Gene pool.

We will have many postings now I hope. Although skiing was unbelievable this weekend so all of my spare time will go into ensuring that I can leave Friday afternoon to get on that mountain!

In the meantime-hope you enjoy the following post on the diva sauce class.

congee-gation

Another day of food oddities. The picture is my breakfast from today. That porridge looking stuff is something called Congee. I wouldn't recommend it. I suspect it is an acquired taste-sort of like vegemite is in England. Unless you grew up on the stuff its tough to stomach. but I tried it.

SO the funny looking green stuff on the big plate is salted egg and it was quite yummy. There was a gelatin paste mixed in with it. Not sure why its green-but it is egg all right.

Then there was the little tiny bit of spinach on the little square plate. Wasn't sure why they gave such a small portion till I tasted it. This stuff is salty! as a matter of fact-I never realized just how salty Asian food is. Very very salty-almost everything.

More Pork dumplings (superior to the shrimp dumplings of yesterday), and another couple peeled lychee fruit rounded out the first sitting.

I then went back and got two pouched eggs, a little ham, some toasted bread and butter and made myself a very yummy egg sandwich. that was the Amercian part of the meal. Can't get too carried away with this food venture. the stomach needs some recognizable food.

I also had a lovely couple of ounces of fresh smoothy they make there. Raspberry and banana. very good.

Tried a little of the Indian dal. It is basically yellow lentils. I've had better. it was a little gummy and too salty.

that's it for today.

Still full from breakfast 5 hours later....which is a good thing because I have lots of work to do to keep me busy and I wouldn't want to need to go get more food!

The boat was passing by with a freighter in tow-seemed to be a juxtaposition of old and new china-one colorful one utilitarian. So I took the picture.

Super Funny

I'm in Hong Kong for two weeks and thought it would be fun to post some foodie type things.

SO I took a picture of my breakfast and settled in to post. Brought up the blog and guess what? It was in Chinese!!

Good thing I kind of know where things are on the page and was able to figure out sign tab and all the sign in information. How funny is that?

so on to breakfast. They had peeled lychee's. I love lychee's. I only ate two as even though they are a fruit they are pretty rich.

I also had two pork and two shrimp Dim Sum dumplings-Yummy! And yes, i had soy sauce with ginger and hot chili sauce with them at 7:00am.

The breakfast was somewhat Americanized I am sure since i am staying at the Sheraton. the picture of the city is from my room (which I have not ventured from yet-more on shopping later). It is always hazy here from the smog--but today and tomorrow are supposed to be cloudy as well.

I am quite the oddity here because I am dressed in summer clothes and dying of heat. It is winter here and everyone has coats on! Just so you don't think I'm the fruitcake-it is 70 degrees and the humidity is 85% today. yet they all have their coats on. hysterical.

Ok-more food facts from china later.

enjoy!'

jb

Asian Flair

This is Fred the attack cat-guarding my house while I am gone. Don't even THINK about coming near the house-he is-as you can see--vicious. Actually, he may be stuffed, we aren't sure but he doesn't move enough to dispel the theory so it might be true.


I'm headed to Hong Kong Wednesday so I will post from there on some of the foods I experience. I promise pictures. Maybe even some recipes!


It takes a day to get there and they are a day ahead so I will land during our night Thursday-so probably no posts till Saturday when I finally emerge from my two day ordeal and 13 hour time difference.

Haven't been cooking much these days because I haven't been home. I counted-eleven days since December 14th. Anyone want to sublet a house? :). just kidding.

My friends have started a new game "where in the world is Judy". I say "catch me if you can". My cat looks at me like an intruding stranger and I forgot the combination on the house lock (of course I also forgot where the ! key was on my computer the other day so this may have more to do with old age than anything else!)

So sorry the posting has been so slow-just in a travel cycle that hopefully will slow down when I get back from HK.

We will have lots of recipes to post after the diva classes on Feb 20th and 21st.

In the meantime-happy cooking and eating!!

(I refuse to say Bon appetite after I read the magazine that claimed that name)

blog blocked

Well, sorry I haven't posted in a while-but it took a huge effort to be able to get back on the blog. for some reason, unknown to technically challenged me, I was not able to access the blog. it kept telling me my username was wrong-but then when I asked for help-it sent the same name! so go figure.

Having limited time these days due to ridiculous travel schedule-I was unable to cope. I'm not sure I was really able to cope this evening-but I did.

Of course now I have nothing to say. Too exhausted from technical trials to get anything of relevance out.

Hope to post more regularly again soon. Sorry for the interruption. Life gets in the way....but a new Diva Class is in the works.

Orange Roll recipe request

I have had numerous requests for the orange roll recipe. I will gladly give it out. However if you are untrained in yeast it may not come out as you like the first time. I would wait and post with pictures-but the requests have been too many to wait and I am traveling so much i will not get to making them again for a while.

This roll will linger in your mind and you won't be able to let them sit on the counter. If you make the recipe and you don't have a big family gathering and you don't want to gain five pounds-immediately put the leftovers in Ziploc bags and freeze them. they freeze very well and will then be just out of range of your "oh those rolls are in the kitchen" mindset. Trust me on this one-willpower has no chance.

So here is the recipe:

Dough:
1 cup milk
½ cup sugar
3 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon salt
3 eggs, slightly beaten
2 ¼ teaspoon yeast
4 cups flour

Warm milk to just about boiling; add sugar, butter and salt. Remove from heat and let cool a bit. Add eggs once cooled.

While mixture is cooling, start yeast in ¼ cup of water and a teaspoon of sugar brought to between 105 and 115 on a candy thermometer.

Add to egg/milk mixture.

Place mixture in a mixing bowl of an electric mixer fitted with dough hook attachment. Add flour one cup at a time. Process dough until it climbs the dough hook-about three to four minutes.

Remove dough from bowl and drop into a bowl that has been buttered and is large enough to accommodate two to three times the current volume. Dough will be sticky and soft

Cover with plastic wrap that has been buttered.
Let Rise till doubled in a warm spot (85 degrees is ideal-but 70 will do). About one hour.

In the meantime, make the filling:
1 cup very soft butter
1 cup sugar
Rind from two oranges

Mix all ingredients by hand in a bowl. set aside till ready to use.

Once dough has doubled, drop it onto a lightly floured counter and separate it into three pieces.

Take each piece and roll it into a rectangle about 8” x 20”.
Spread the dough with 1/3 of the filling mixture.
Roll the dough so that it is 20” long when rolled. Cut into approximately 1 1/2 “ pieces and place cut side up into well greased muffin tins (grease even if non stick). Each log should make about 12 rolls. You can make them bigger if you like-you’ll just have fewer rolls. I personally like them larger.

Brush JUST BEFORE PLACING IN OVEN with egg diluted with 1 teaspoon water.

Bake in 400 degree oven for 10 minutes or until golden.

Cool in pans. If you can, tip them on their sides to cool (individually in each muffin cup take the roll and tip it sideways).

These rolls are best warm. If you make them in advance simply reheat them in the oven for ten minutes (covered) or in the microwave a couple at a time for 8-10 SECONDS.