Today was the second day in the kitchen this week. I was worried about this day, as our production was huge. We had team production: devil eggs, eggs benedict, warm goat cheese custard, hollandaise sauce. Individual production was: hard cooked eggs, poached eggs, scrambled eggs, fried eggs (over-easy, ever-medium, and over hard), and mushrooms duxelle.
So before today I was quite confident about eggs. What can you tell me about cooking eggs? Do you think I have never cooked them? Today
I am confident how to cook them, thanks to our instructor. The great things about today was that we did not present dishes at tasting table, but as soon as you finish it. So all the day was like this: this is demo guys, now you have 5 minutes to make me eggs this style. Time varied style as well, but we roll this and great thing is that accomplished the task.
Simple thing - hard cooked eggs. Sounds easy - just drop them in the water and boil. But, do you need put them in cold water, or hot? (Better cold, less risk to damage shell. When you start from hot water shell is not tempered and can crack easily). What is the indicator that they were cooked properly? (No greening around yolk. Greening is a chemical reaction or iron, which is naturally presented in yolk. Can also be a result of high heat during cooking).
For all fried eggs we used small pan 7''. Now I understand why. It has to be non stick to flip eggs with ease. The most important in egg cookery is to control your heat (sounds familiar).
Poached eggs are my favorite. Quite easy to cook. And quite versatile in servings (Eggs Benedict, eggs Florentine and so on). So...
Makes 10 servings
1 gal/3.84 L water
1 tbsp/10 g salt
2 fl oz/60 mL distilled white vinegar
20 eggs
Method:
Combine the water, salt, and vinegar in a deep sautoir or rondeau and bring it to a bare simmer (160° to 180°F/71° to 82°C).
Break each egg into a clean cup, and then slide the egg carefully into the poaching water.
Cook until the whites are set and opaque, 3 to 5 minutes.
Remove the eggs from the water with a slotted spoon, blot them on paper towels, and trim the edges, if desired. The eggs are ready to serve now on heated plates.
Another wonderful dish we prepared today was Warm Goat Cheese Custard. I like that dish for the combination of flavor. Goat cheese is not so pronounced here. Custard is quite delicate, with creamy sauce...
Makes 10 servings
6 oz/170 g cream cheese, room temperature
9 oz/255 g soft goat cheese, room temperature
½ tsp/1 g ground black pepper, plus as needed
9 eggs
24 fl oz/720 mL heavy cream
1 oz/28 g minced chives
1 tbsp/10 g salt, plus as needed
40 seedless green grapes slised
Method:
Combine the cream cheese with 6 oz/170 g of the goat cheese (reserve the remainder for garnish) in a food processor. Season with the pepper and process until very smooth.
Add the eggs, 8 fl oz/240 mL of the cream, half of the chives, and the salt. Pulse the processor on and off until the ingredients are just blended.
Divide the mixture among 10 buttered 2-fl oz/60-mL timbale molds and cover the molds with buttered parchment paper.
Place the timbale molds in a bain-marie and bake in a 325°F/163°C oven until a knife inserted near the center of a timbale comes away clean.
Reduce the remaining cream by half and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add the remaining chives and the grapes to the cream immediately before service.
Unmold the timbales and coat with the sauce. Garnish with the reserved goat cheese and serve immediately
No comments:
Post a Comment