Moulding Chocolate

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Full Course: Roast Chicken

I want there to be no peasant in my kingdom so poor that he cannot have a chicken in his pot every Sunday.
- Henry IV

A fond reminiscent memory of my previous foods class includes a Thanksgiving dinner with roast turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and bread stuffing. The roast comes full circle where we now prepare a full course of roast chicken, stuffing, gravy and cranberry sauce. Beyond the amazing meal itself, the experience of making such a meal will forever be a bookmarked page in the tome of my food memories.

The roast of chicken:

 

Our roasting vessel and basting tool.

 

 

Our gracious bird, secured on its path to deliciousness.

 

 

Our seasonings of choice: onions, garlic, sage, rosemary and thyme.

 

 

Ready for roasting.

 

 

85ºC/187ºF is our thermal target.

 

The carved chicken, courtesy of Ms. Moon and Wendy.

 

 

The whole collection, seconds away from disappearing.

 

 

Wendy's portion, with freshly ground pepper.

 

 

A plate fit for any king.

Chocolate Souffle

All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt.
- Charles M. Schulz

How a chef treats chocolate is like how a connoisseur treats wine, he judges the quality of the work by examining the handling of the product, and then decides the best environment where it can be enjoyed to the fullest. Quite different from our previous light encounter with chocolate, we work with dark chocolate in creating a dark chocolate souffle.

Enter the dark side:

 

The crux of our dish, 70% dark chocolate.

 

 

Mine and Joon's chocolate souffles.

Note the distance from the top of the souffles to the edge of the ramekin.

 

 

 

Simon's and Wendy's souffles.

The difference was due to the work of the Force.



Restaurant Review: Thomas Haas

On Valentines day, our teacher sent us to Thomas Haas to experience a higher level of culinary art and reflect our thoughts in a review. Here is a link to my review:

http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowUserReviews-g154943-d2471599-r152999217-Thomas_Haas_Kitsilano-Vancouver_British_Columbia.html

Carrot Ginger Soup

Soup is a lot like a family. Each ingredient enhances the others; each batch has its own characteristics; and it needs time to simmer to reach full flavor.
- Marge Kennedy

This week, we attempt making our teacher's favorite carrot ginger soup. Rather than explain with words, the process is better captured in pictures:

 

The simmered soup, ready for pureeing.

 

 

Here, we strain the soup through a sieve, to make as smooth a product as possible.

 

 

Preparation practice for the sour cream garnish montage.

 

 

Ms. Moon's lovely heart garnish.

 

 

My Triforce symbol design.

 

 

Simon's artistic mark.

 

 

Wendy's bright star.

Sauce Series - Gnocchi

Sauces are the splendor and the glory of French cooking.
- Julia Child

Our sauce adventure continues as we explore another strain of mother sauces: tomato sauce. A large array of variations of tomato sauces can be made by adding herbs, seasonings and other vegetables to the basic recipe. Tomato sauce is predominantly used in pastas, hence alongside our sauce we made a potato gnocchi. There is indeed a very unique and worthwhile experience to be found in handmade pasta.

Our lab in the pictures:

 

We had boiled potatoes, pressed them through a colandar as a makeshift ricer, and mixed flour with them to create a dough out of them to be cut and molded into gnocchi.

 

 

Our simmering sauce, en route to deliciousness.

 

 

Final destination: gnocchi.