Hollandaise Work

The reason for the clarified butter. Making it wasn't bad. The recipe did contain a step that makes no sense to me. After reducing some champagne vinegar with salt and cracked peppercorns au sec, I'm supposed to remove from heat and add cold water. Then I pass the reduction through a fine strainer into a bowl. Makes sense so far. But then I'm suppose to use a spatula to make sure I transfer all the flavoring material into the bowl. If I do that, what was the point of straining? The sauce had the consistency of homemade mayonnaise, which makes sense given that hollandaise is essentially a warm mayonnaise. It looks good in the picture. It broke five minutes later. Ah well. Better luck tomorrow. Next time, I'll have to try this, or, you know, not screw it up.

Something Beautiful

The beginning...


and the end. Clarified butter is a beautiful thing.

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

I'm sorry

I feel the need to publicly apologize to the chickens that I butchered in order to make stock for the first time. The stock turned out well, but man, those poor chickens.

My Bread's Got Ass

I never realized the importance of proper loaf shaping until I made my own bread for the first time.