BUBBLE BUBBLE, TOIL AND TROUBLE

Monday's gnocchi massacre was a disaster and we didn't get to do the extra dish. Tonight we face a dish which can be tempermental, the consommé, and we suspect that it may be on the final so we're looking forward to getting some practice with it. In addition we'll be doing an avocado mousse which was tasty last week when another group made it. Hopefully we'll be able to also squeeze in the extra dish we wanted to do last class.

More after class on the jump...

DISH: Clarified Beef Broth With Essence of Celery and Mushrooms, Consommé À L'Essence De Céleri Et Cèpes

RECIPE:

The Clarification
400 G Lean Ground Beef or Turkey, Optional
80 G Leek Greens
40 G Celery, With Leaves
80 G Carrots
200 G Tomatoes
3 Sprigs Chervil
60 G Dried Cèpes, Soaked in Water for 1 Hour & Chopped
Black Peppercorns
8 Egg Whites
Kosher Salt

The Garnish
Celery Root, Cut in Small Macédoine
80 G Fresh or Flash-Frozen Cèpes, Émincés
Celery Stalk, Cut in Small Macédoine
Tender Inner Celery Leaves

Procedure:

If there is no marmite on hand in the kitchens, prepare the marmite the day before and refrigerate overnight. The next day, remove the fat from the surface and bring the marmite to a boil. Taste the marmite. If the flavor is not rich enough, use the optional ground meat in the recipe. Run the vegetables, herbs, and optional meat through the meat grinder, using the medium die, or place it into the buffalo chopper. The final product should have a coarse texture; be careful not to purée it. Place this mixture into a bowl, add the peppercorns and enough egg whites to coat, and mix very well. Temper the mixture with some warm stock, and then add all of it to the stock and mix well. Place the mixture over a medium-high heat and bring to a simmer. Immediately lower to a gentle simmer. During the simmering a raft will form. Be sure no part of the raft sticks to the bottom of the pot. Poke a hole in the center and moisten the raft to help it set. The clarification is just about complete at this point, but the consommé will need to be cooked for 45 minutes to 1 hour for two reasons: to be sure all egg whites are cooked and no foam rises to the surface, and to enrich the flavor of the consommé with meat and aromatic elements.

Strain the liquid carefully through a fine chinois lined with cheesecloth or a damp napkin. Let it stand for 30 minutes, and then remove any remaining fat from the surface by sliding a damp paper towel over the surface. Taste and season with salt. Cook the celery root in lightly salted water. Remove and refresh. Émincez the cèpes, and simmer in the same water. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Place a portion of the consommé in a small russe and poach the macédoine of celery root in it. Strain it out and refresh. Set aside. Simmer the cèpes in the same liquid and remove them and set aside with the two celeries. Return the small portion of consommé to the main consommé. reheat the garnish to order and arrange it attractively in a warm soup bowl, topped with a celery leaf. The hot consommé will be poured over the garnish tableside by the server.

DISH: Sauteed Shrimp With Avocado Mousse And Tomato Coulis, Mousse D'Avocats Aux crevettes Et Coulis De Tomates

RECIPE:

The Tomato Coulis
40 G Shallots, Chopped
1 Garlic CLove
40 ML Olive Oil
400 G Tomatoes, Mondées
1 Bouquet Garni

The Shrimp
Twenty-four 16/20 Shrimp
50 ML Blended Olive Oil

The Avocado Mousse
3 Ripe Avocados
2 Lemons 40 G Shallots
2 Garlic Cloves
300 ML Heavy Cream
Salt & Freshly Ground Pepper
Pinch of Cayenne Pepper, or 1 Tablespoon Tabasco Sauce

Procedure:

TOMATO COULIS Peel and chop the shallots and the clove of garlic and sweat in the olive oil. Cut the tomatoes in half horizontally, squeeze out the seeds, and chop the flesh coarsely. Add the tomato halves to the shallots and garlic. Add the bouquet garni and stew the mixture until the moisture from the tomatoes has evaporated. Strain the mixture through a coarse chinois. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

SHRIMP Peel the shrimp and remove the veins with a skewer. Heat a sauté pan and add the olive oil. Season the shrimp. Add them to the pan and cook, tossing them, until they turn orange, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Spread the cooked shrimp out on a hotel pan to cool to room temperature.

AVOCADO MOUSSE Peel the avocados, remove the pits, and cut the avocado into small chunks. Put the chunks in a bowl with the avocado pits. (Keeping the flesh of the avocado in contact with the pit prevents it from borwning.) Squeeze the lemons and pour the juice over the avocados. Mince the shallots and garlic and add them to the bowl. Toss the mixture so that avocado chunks are well coated with tlemon juice, garlic, and shallots. Whip the heavy cream over a bowl of ice to medium-stiff peaks. Whip the heavy cream over a bowl of ice to medium-stiff peaks. Press the avodado mixture through a drum sieve into a large stainless steel bowl and fold in the whipped cream. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Return the avocado pits to the mousse, cover the mousse with plastic wrap, and chill it in the refrigerator over a bowl of ice.

FOR SERVICE Coat the bottom of a cold plate with the tomato coulis. Using two tablespoons dipped in cold water, shape the avocado mousse into quenelles. Place the quenelles on a serving plate of coulis and surround them with three shrimp.

EXTRA DISH:Molded Vegetable Salad With Goat Cheese and Gomato-Watercress Sauce

RECIPE:

The Watercress Oil
350 G Watercress
20 G Shallot, Émincée
Blended Olive Oil
50 ML Vegetable Stock or Water
Salt & Freshly Ground Pepper

The Phyllo Rings
3 Sheets Phyllo Dough
Melted Butter

The Vegetables
35 G Red Onion, Cut in Macédoine
150 G Zucchini (Outer Flesh Only), Cut in Macédoine
100 G Yellow Squash (Outer Flesh Only), Cut in Macédoine
100 G Red Bell Pepper, Cut in Macédoine
150 ML Blended Olive Oil
2 Teaspoons Theyme Leaves
Salt & Freshly Ground Pepper

The Tomato Dressing
500 G Ripe Tomatoes, Mondée, Seeded, and Chopped
80 G Tomato Paste
30 G Kethup
Pinch Sugar
10 G Salt
Tabasco Sauce
60 ML Sherry Vinegar
Reserved Oil Plus Enough Blended Olive Oil to Make 200 ML

The Cheese, Garnishes, and Assembly
One 340 G Log Goat Cheese
16 Slices Baguette, Sautéed in Olive Oil

Procedure:

WATERCRESS OIL Blanch the watercress in lightly salted water for a few moments, drain, and refresh. Sweat the shallot in a bit of oil, without browning, until tender. When cool, place in a Pacojet container along with the watercress and stock. Cover and freeze overnight. On the following day, "pacotize" the mixture and adjust the consistency by whisking in some olive oil. Season.

PHYLLO RINGS Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Brush the phyllo sheets with the butter and stack them together. Cut them into strips as wide as the flan rings are tall. Place the rings on a sheet pan and wrap the phyllo strips insside the rings, allowing the strips to overlap by at least an inch. Bake the lined rings for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden. Remove the rings from the oven and set aside.

VEGETABLES Gently sauté each vegetable individually, without coloring, until tender. Season them with salt and pper. Drain the vegetables well and reserve the cooking oil for the tomato dressing. Mix the garlic paste with a bit of oil and stir it into the vegetalbes along with the thyme.

TOMATO DRESSING Place the tomatoes, tomato paste, ketchup, sugar, salt and a squirt of Tabasco sauce into the bowl of a food processor, and pulse the mixture while adding the vinegar. Start the machine again and pour in the oil in a steady stream, working as quickly as possible so as not to let the mixture whiten and foam. Pass the sauce through a fine chinois into a bowl. Taste and adjust the seasoning and acidity.

??? parchment paper, slightly larger than the diameter of the flan ring, and sprinkle the center liberally with the chives. Lay a cheese coin over this and season with a few turns of the pepper mill. Center a flan ring over the cheese. Gently reheat a portion of the vegetables and spoon them over and around the cheese, pcking them firmly with the back of a spoon into the sides of the ring. Invert the assembly onto the center of a warm 10-inch plate. Spoon an even layer of the tomato dressing around the ring, and then pipe a ring of herb oil around the perimeter of the dressing. Arrange 5 or 6 olive slices in a spoke fashion over the tomato dressing. Carefully slip off the ring and accompany the salad with the croutons.

BREAKDOWN: I wouldn't say that we won't be doing any extra recipes after tonight (I'm hoping to do a frogs' legs recipe and maybe a Mexican Chicken Soup) but as we gear up for the final it might start to make more sense to be practicing or going over the dishes we'll be tested on in October. It's just a lot of work.

I didn't work prepping the the avocado mousse because I was on consomme detail with Meg (we're betting it's one of the tougher and more tempermental dishes on the final) so I'll have to detail this recipe more the next time round. Suffice it to say we learned by making a mistake that the whipped cream gets folded into the avocado mousse after the avocado is pureed. I really liked this dish both taste and presentation-wise. The tomato coulis really makes the dish because of the color and flavor. The shrimps were best when they were slightly browned.

The consomme was served in a teapot and I forgot to get the picture so you can only see a mostly-empty bowl, save the celery-garnish, porcini mushrooms and celery heart sprigs. Trust me though when I say we did a masterful job! The rafts formed beautifully (we learned you don't really have to stand there stirring it as we thought as per Level One but that it's most important to make sure nothing is sticking on the bottom of the pot and the consomme was not oily at all.

It was a deep, lovely broth. We multiplied the recipe by two times for restaurant service. At right, at the beginning of the process we used the grinding machine to chop up the meat and cleaned and peeled vegetables before mixing it with the egg whites and making the broth on the stove-top.

There was a little intra-group friction during service but in the end everybody got to plate everything and the food went out and no one got killed so we can call it a successful night.

Then there was the extra dish. We had to rush it even though we'd prepped some ingredients at the end of our previous class. It was very tasty and the structure was valuable to learn for it's design and plating technique (now that I've had some experience with filo dough I may try to make Galaktoboureko as one of my desserts). The taste? Nice. Sometimes maybe it's best to leave well enough alone. That said, I might substitute other vegetables for the zucchini and squash but at the same time they absorb the flavors of the tomato and watercress oil very well.