The Mother Sauce Equations

White roux + Milk = Bechamel
Blond roux + White stock = Veloute
Brown roux + Brown stock = Espagnole
Egg yolks + Butter = Hollandaise
Roux (optional) + Tomato(s) = Tomato Sauce

Thank you George Clinton

What We've Made In Class So Far

Ratatouille - rustic style, not the confit byaldi Remy makes in the movie.
Deep-fried chicken breast strips
French fries
Clarified butter
Basic white stock
Basic brown stock
Minestrone
Fumet - fish fumet is redundant.
Puree of split pea soup
Cream of broccoli soup
Beef consomme
French onion soup gratinee
Shrimp bisque
Crab chowder with basil
Bechamel sauce
Macaroni & cheese
Chicken veloute
Cream of mushroom soup
Sauce Espagnole
Vegetarian tomato sauce
Eggplant Parmigiana

One Of The Great Things About Food...

there are no mistakes, only discoveries. And sometimes they're even edible!
While trying to make an apple foam, I accidentally use 4% methylcellulose and xanthan gum, instead of .4% as prescribed by Wylie Dufresne on the Next Iron Chef. So I just kept adding apple juice until I got a consistency that I liked, poured the mixture into a silicone demi-sphere mold and froze it. It had a texture similar to a granita, and tasted like apple sauce. Something I will definitely have to try again, maybe with the strawberries left over from Valentine's.

Valentine's Dinner

Sous-vide salmon, following the advice of Sean Brock, with orange-basil sauce, porcini rice with spinach.Coffee foam, chocolate-covered strawberries, champagne & strawberries. I tried to make chocolate cigarettes, but alas, that didn't work out so well.

New Food Science Column

The Washington Post has an exciting new column called The Gastronomer.