whew what a week! here goes. On Tuesday at school we boned ducks which were used in a variety of ways you'll see soon, and then we made Souffle:


I was not a big fan, it tasted like foamy eggs and cream. I would need some fillings i think. Anyways, next we made this:


(Stuffed Brined Pork Chop with Braised Red Cabbage, Mustard Spaetzle, Celeriac-Apple Sauce)
Spaetzle is kind of like Ruhrie (vree-eh i call it), but you push the batter through small holes (in a contraption like a flat cheese grater) into boiling water and they cook into little oblong pieces. They're pretty yummy. People have been asking for recipes, so here's the Spaetzle one (and don't ask me how to say it, i heard a lot of versions over the course of the day):

3/4 c AP flour
1 egg, beaten
1/4 c milk
1 T grainy mustard
salt, pepper, nutmeg

Mix egg and milk, then add mustard and finally flour and seasonings. Only add enough flour to make a paste consistency. Over a pot of salted boiling water, push dough (quickly!) through the large holes on a cheese grater (horizontal if you have one) into the water. Once the pieces float, they are done. Remove with a slotted spoon and allow to cool. coat them with a bit of oil so they don't stick together. *we did this ahead of time, so i'm not sure about the cooling part, or if you would just go on to the next bit* to reheat, or finish, fry in a frying pan in oil for a few minutes so they're hot, but not brown.

*you can take out the mustard and seasonings and add whatever flavors you would like!*

Wednesday: maybe i should explain about this week. It's charcuterie week, which is the production of pates, terrines, gallantines, sausages and similar foods, mostly served cold. In my definition, it's meat ground up with a bunch of yucky things wrapped in more meat and then sometimes wrapped in skin or more meat. yuck. So the first thing we made was Tourtiere, which is meat pie. The meat in this particular pie is pork, and it tasted alright. We added allspice to it though, which is traditional in Quebec via the Carribean (long story). And i didn't like the allspice in it.



OH and that is a relish that includes apple, celery onion and flavorings.
We also made sausage and piped it out of piping bags into pig intestines, which was fun :)




this is the preparation for a gallantine, which is a game hen (tiny bird) completely de-boned but skin and meat intact, pounded flat, then topped with layers of chicken mousse (which included gizzards and hearts, cranberries and spices), spinach, trotter meat (from pigs feet), then rolled up (as shown in all it's disgustingness), wrapped in cheesecloth and poached. then you cool it and slice it. i'll get to that later.

That same day we finished our Cassoule (stew) which we had started the previous day by making Duck Confit (duck poached in it's own fat). It includes some of the sausage we made, white beans, pork belly (bacon), onion, tomato paste, stock, etc.


Thursday: we got to make something normal!! Tarte Tatin made with apples. The name comes from the Tatin sisters who invented it. You make it with the apples on the bottom and - actually, you can have the recipe for this one too:

1/2 recipe for flaky dough (which is 1.5 c AP flour, 10 T butter, cubed, chilled, 1/2 t salt, and 5 T cold water; so half that)
2 1/2 apples peeled, cored, sliced (1/8ths)
1/4 c white sugar
1 T butter
*oven-safe frying pan*

Mix dough and roll out to about a twonie thickness, measure a circle using the top rim of the frying pan you're going to use. put dough in fridge.
Caramelize sugar over low heat in that same pan until it becomes liquid and a coppery color (don't stir until it has melted).
Add apples, squish as many as you can into the pan cuz they will lose moisture and get smaller.
drop the 1T butter by small pieces into the pan, don't worry about moving them around or anything.
Turn the apples once they have about a 1/4" soaking of caramel on one side.
Cook until apples are soft, but not mushy.
Remove from heat and cool until pan is cool.
Sprinkle with cinnamon and lay dough on top. you might have to fold the dough over a bit on the sides, just make sure that side isn't showing when you lay it on top of the apples. Cut an 'x' in the middle of the dough.
Bake at 400F until the dough is golden brown.


This is the tricky part. you can do this one of two ways:
1) within 10 seconds of taking the pan out of the oven, invert it onto a plate (place plate on top of the frying pan with one hand and flip quickly - it's not scary!)
2) take pan out of oven and reheat on stovetop until the filling loosens from the pan (when you shake it the filling moves). Immediately invert onto a plate.


Eat with ice cream!!

Friday: charcuterie buffet day. This is when everything we'd prepped during the week got sliced and put onto trays and we had a buffet lunch with the pastry people, who brought yummy desserts to share :D So here's the plate:


The brown circle is duck rillette, which is duck confit, then the meat is shredded, then pounded with more fat to make almost a paste consistency, and topped with the remaining fat. (um, gross) going clockwise from there: Salmon Roulade (salmon rolled around spinach, shrimp mousse, gravlax, and a scallop); Vegetable Terrine (layers of roasted pepper, zucchini, mushroom, and blue cheese wrapped in a crepe- YUM!); Duck and Pork Terrine (ground pork with layers of orange zest, truffles, pistachios and duck tenders - ew); Galantine of Game Hen (what i described earlier); and Ballotine of Game Hen (same thing, just baked instead of poached - OH and it's wrapped in cull fat, which is the fat that surrounds an animals kidneys. that does melt off, but still.) and those colorful bits are brined, turned vegetables. We also made whole wheat baguettes, a cranberry sauce, and grissini's (breadsticks). AND there was liver pate, which i tried and then thought about untrying if you get my drift.


In the evenings this week we went to an Arcade Fire concert, went out for Thai food with my cousin and uncle, went out for pub food with a different aunt and uncle, and went to a bible study. Yesterday i had to take a foodsafe course all day which is required for my school. It was boring but i got 94%. Which leaves today for getting my entire to-do list done :(