Paris Brest

Today in the glorious class of patisserie, we made a French specialty called Paris Brest, which is made from pate a choux, one of the first pastry bases we learned.  It is then filled with praline cream.  Ain't nothing wrong with that! (and I usually hate the word ain't, but feel it is only fitting in this instance since we are using praline cream).

Things were low key in the pastry kitchen today, just how I like them.  So, there isn't much more to report other than the details of Paris Brest.  Enjoy.

Starting ingredients.

Melt the butter in some water.

When boiling, pull off heat, add the flour all at once and stir vigorously.

Until it becomes this.

Add some eggs.

Mix.

And then pipe onto the baking sheet.

Cover with almonds and bake.

Until golden brown.

Meanwhile, heat some milk or cream.

Whisk eggs and sugar.

Add custard powder.

Mix altogether and then pour onto a sheet to cool.

Once cool, pop into a mixer.

Add just the tiniest amount of butter :)

And an equally small amount of praline flavored filling - then mix.

Pipe onto the bottom half of the pastry dough.

Add the inner circle.

Pipe with more filling.

Finish by placing the tops of the pastry dough onto the filling.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar and voila - the baby Paris Brests are finished!

And so is the Big Mama.

Peter Cottontail

I've always loved bunny rabbits; they are just so darn cute.  For that reason, I was dreading the day that we took on rabbit as a subject in culinary school.  The mere thought of having to "break down" a rabbit and cook it's cute little body made me a bit uneasy, I must admit.  That is, until I saw how creepy they looked without their fur, ears, and tail and I got over it faster than the dear species can mate. 

See what I mean?

Doesn't exactly invoke images of the Easter Bunny or Peter Cottontail, now does it?

So, the chopping commenced.

Chef demo-ing how to correctly portion a rabbit.

Apparently, from the looks of this rabbit's lungs, he was a Marlboro fan.

All the pieces to be used in our recipes that day.  We didn't waste much, that's for sure.

Taking the saddle off the bone.

The saddle is ready to be stuffed.

First, we had to chop the liver.

And saute it with shallots and butter.

We tossed the sauteed liver in with some ground turkey, herbs and seasoning and mixed.

And then piped it onto the saddle and topped it with the kidneys.  As someone in my group pointed out, there is a reason why kidney beans got their name.  They bear an uncanny resemblence to these kidneys.

The saddle is wrapped around the stuffing and kidneys and then it is surrounded by caulfat.

And quickly browned in a skillet.

And finished in the oven.

The rest of the rabbit is sauteed in a copper pan.

Then shallots are cooked and brandy is used to deglaze the pan followed by white wine.

Flour is sprinkled on top and then roasts in the oven before adding stock and finishing the meat in the oven.

Throw in some mushrooms, pearl onions and, yes, even turned potatoes and the dish is finished.

Turning Torture

While all you Americans were enjoying a lazy holiday this past Thursday (you know who you are), I was in a kitchen in Paris making Pot au Feu and Blanquette de Veau.  Both are simple recipes, but take a lot of time.  What takes even more time, though, is turning every root vegetable known to man, which is what Chef had us do as a garnish for the Pot au Feu. 

Sidenote: I find the timing of this vegetable turning extravaganza interesting since the day before we had a test (along with Group A) for which we had to turn potatoes.  I have a sneaking suspicion that our less than stellar performance on the potatoes was the catalyst for what I can only deem the "turning torture" that ensued not just on Thursday, but on Friday as well.  I think we all now have it down pat and my arthritic hands would appreciate not having to practice the act of turning three days in a row again.  Thank you. 

Now, moving on to the food...

You need a big pot for Pot au Feu.  Once you have that, throw in some big pieces of "veg", the meat, and some bones for flavor. 

Then, start turning the root "veg" without going out of your mind.

And Voila!  4-5 hours later, the meat is done and (hopefully) the turned "veg" is finished too.

Next, cut veal into 65 gram pieces.  I know, I know - there I go again acting like I'm a pro at the metric system.  Please don't be fooled.  It is still my nemesis.

Make a roux while the meat cooks.

Add the roux to make a delicious sauce and cook the veal in it for a few minutes.

And Voila again!  Blanquette de Veau. 

It was so good, I decided to take it home to my hungry husband.  So, I put it in a sous vide vacuum bag.

And the machine did its magic.  I had a perfect spill free way to transport my veal home.