Garde Manger - Salads

One of the courses I have to take for the culinary program is "garde manger." It literally means "to keep to eat."

The goal of the class is to learn how to do:

• salads
• dressings, vinegars, oils
• appetizers, canapes, and hors d'oeuvres
• hot and cold, open and close sandwiches
• garnishes
• buffet presentation - color, height, focal point, and platter presentations

I really enjoy the class because you know me, I love me some sandwiches, buffets and appetizers. I often get frustrated because I feel like I am always behind and work at a slower pace than my classmates. Although, many of them have taken Basic Culinary (which I am in) and Advanced Culinary so they are very familiar with everything in the kitchen. Their arrogant attitudes grind on my nerves and I find myself struggling not to "accidentally" backhand them with a sauté pan. Anger management at its best. On a more positive note, I am learning how to make really delicious food and present them in an aesthetically pleasing manner. And then we get to devour everyone's dish at the end of class! How tragic right?

I took some pictures with my cell the other day (forgive the crappy quality) but thought I would share them on here because most were quite scrumptious.

• Someone did guacamole in little cucumber cups with a basic salad in the middle with blue cheese, bacon, tomato flowers and bell peppers.

• This was a pan seared tuna salad with hard boiled eggs, green bell peppers, cucumbers and tomatoes. Not sure how he cooked the tuna but it could have tasted better.

• This was the first salad my partner and I made with Roquefort cheese dressing. I was panicking because I was the last one done but it turned out prettier than I expected.

• White Bean Salad - I hate beans and this was delicious

• This is our buffet set up for the Mayonnaise/Emulsions/Salads section

If anyone is interested I will try to post the recipes for these - just leave a comment and I'll dig them up.

Sweet/Sour, Umami, Hanger Steak and Herbs

We had our herb/spices and tasting chapter in class today.

Got organic herbs donated from a local garden and had some dried ones as well - after smelling a few unfamiliar ones, I made a few notes.

• Star Anise- smells like licorice (which I do not like)
• Juniper Berry- smells like a nasty berry
• Cumin - holy damn don't take a big whiff
• Allspice - surprisingly pleasant, reminds me of Christmas and apple pie
• Pineapple Sage - smells like dirty gym socks
• Tumeric - spiced dirt
• Purple (sweet) Basil - much better when cooked, smells a little nasty fresh
• Lemon Basil - amazing delicious lemony basil aroma
• Texas Tarragon - another licorice smell
• Sweet Bay - the forest
• Mexican Oregano - peppery oregano
• Vietnamese Coriander - lemony musky air
• Thyme - ITALIA

After the assault on my nose (and accidentally exhaling into the dried oregano and sprayed it everywhere) - we switched to dill vs sweet pickles. Obviously I scarfed both down.

Then was the dreaded lemon tasting. Added salt to one slice, sugar to another slice, then salt + sugar to another. The salt + lemon was absolutely and utterly dreadful. Sugar and lemon was delicious - I generally do that with my lemon garnish in a restaurant anyway. Salt + sugar wasn't that bad - but the salt totally eff's up the taste.

Next was my favorite part! Cheesssseeeeeeeee tastingggg. I've never met a cheese I didn't like so I was especially excited about this part. We sampled...

• White Cheddar - delicious
• Smoked Gouda - delicious
• Gorgonzola - delicious (even the mold)
• Brie - creamy, pungent but delicious
• Feta - extremely strong by itself! much better with food
• Mozzarella - delicious, creamy, not overpowering
• Manchego - firm and buttery
• Swiss - delicious
• And others I forgot the name

We practiced our knife skills - I still suck at cutting a straight line. I have issues with my Julienne and Batonnet cuts. I had maybe 2 ~perfect cuts out of 2 potatoes and 2 carrots. Mostly plankish, and always one rectangle in with the other end perfectly square. My cubes made from these were rather cute tho! I even minced a potato for shits and giggles.

The class split up and made spinach ravioli on one side and calamari on the other. I, being a masochist, picked the calamari side. The steps to making calamari are much more... disgusting than I imagined but I manned up and did it. Here are step by step pictures in case you are curious.

A. Thaw frozen squid. Cut through arms near the eyes. With thumb and forefinger, squeeze out the inedible beak which will be located near the cut. Reserve tentacles.

B. Feel inside mantle for chitinous pen. Firmly grasp pen and attached viscera; remove from mantle. Wash mantle thoroughly and drain. It is now ready for stuffing. Make rings by cutting across mantle. Arms can be chopped, minced or left whole.

Procedure No. 2 -- Cutting Strips and Pieces

A. Thaw frozen squid. Cut through arms near the eyes. With thumb and forefinger, squeeze out the inedible beak which will be located near the cut. Reserve tentacles.

B. Feel inside mantle for chitinous pen. Firmly grasp pen and attached viscera; remove from mantle.

C. To cut strips or pieces, lay the mantle flat and cut down the center from top to tail. Spread open and wash thoroughly.

D. Cut mantle into size strips or pieces desired. Arms can be chopped, minced, or left whole. E. Soak the calamari in lemon juice until they turn pink. F. Make a batter of flour, salt, pepper and a bit of cayenne. Fry and nom! If that didn't get you in the mood for some seafood, nothing will. Paul (classmate) trimmed some hanger steak of the fat then pound the crap out of it to make it tender. Apparently a cow only has 2 pieces of hanger steak on it so they are rare and expensive. We seasoned the steak with kosher salt and pepper and then pan seared it. I have never in my life grilled/pan seared an entire steak (only strips for stir fry and quesadillas) so I was a little apprehensive. Heated up 1 Tbs of oil in pan (very important to heat oil first!) then seared the steak on both sides. We were supposed to do it medium rare, but 1) that makes me gag and 2) I accidentally overcooked it. Was very tasty but was so full from all the other food I had eaten that morning so I only ate a few pieces. I still prefer rib eyes. The last thing we made was fresh scrambled eggs (classmate has a farm with organic Araucuna chickens she plucked this morning from their bums). Seasoned the eggs with basil, oregano, chives, etc. The eggs were a little undercooked for my taste but the basil was delicious. Reminds me of the eggs I make with tomatoes and onions. Next class is dry/wet methods of cooking. Can't wait.