Lambsickles (a.k.a.Lamb, Modena Style)

Lamb ... lamb ... what is not to love about lamb?

This delicious dish does not require huge amounts of lead time, but does take patience to be able to do well. Take heart, have fun and work carefully with the knives, especially when Frenching the bones!

To start ... go and buy a whole rack of lamb ... figure two or three bones per person, and racks come in at 8, sometimes 9, bones. (The racks available at Costco are a very good deal, and are worth buying one or two of. I always have a whole rack on hand in case someone shows up for dinner. They are halal as well, so go over very well in our kitchens at MPC!) Once you gain confidence working with lamb and racks, I encourage everyone to go to a local butcher and get fresh lamb from one of their local farmers. I buy my fresh Ontario lamb at either The Brickworks Farmers' market or at my favourite food store, Fiesta Farms.

Learn how to 'French' bones using the back of a knife, (not the working blade ... you'll wreck the edge), and patience. Be sure to cut the chops (we call them 'Lambsickles" because in class we eat them with our fingers) evenly thick so the cooking time is consistent.

Our 'dredge' (coating) is made with 'Italian' breadcrumbs, and we add the following: salt and pepper, a goodly amount of powdered parmegiano and make a chiffonade of fresh herbs (if we can get them) -- usually rosemary, thyme, oregano and basil (the Mediterranean Quadrivium). Others may prefer a sightly 'darker' mix, using sage, perhaps, and marjoram or tarragon.

Make your balsamic reduction from good product, not cheap stuff. You will always be able to taste the difference! Get good vinegar from Modena. Reduce, then let it thicken for you as it cools.

The final cooking is done quickly ... takes about 14 minutes from start to served. Our single biggest problem this semester was remembering to pre-heat the ovens beforehand AND pre-position the oven racks so the saute pans can fit in with their handles! (Note to the adventurous at home ... be sure your pans AND handles can go into the oven! Your sauté pan must go from stovetop to 375 degree oven in about 3 seconds.)

The photos presented are in order (top to bottom) of the lambsickles in the pan fresh from the oven, the preparation of the presentation plate and the final presented product of a pair of lambsickles and a pair of lamb poppers. The plates are prepared with balsamic reduction, and a little more is drizzled over the finished lambsickles. They were absolutely delicious!

Finally, we have VERY satisfied suctomers (so to speak). Today, we ate what we made. Congratulations, all!

(And just for the curious, this recipe is called 'Modena Style' because it uses a reduction of real Balsamic vinegar from Modena, Italy!)

Chef Herbst Comes To Visit: Profiteroles & Black Forest Cake!

Again this semester Chef Walter Herbst is spending almost a week with us in the Monarch Park Kitchens. Thank you, Chef Herbst!

Learning to make Choux Paste is ... unsettling. It has to be done precisely, and the half-way point of making it renders a MOST un-appetising mess rolling around in a pot. Eeeuch! Who wants THAT stuff?

Well, add a few eggs, fill a piping bag and ... PRESTO! SHAZAM! Something magical can happen ... all you need next is heat.

Turns out EVERYBODY wants 'that stuff'.

Chef Herbst demonstrated (perfectly, of course) how to make choux paste.

Then the students tried ... almost a first-time home-run for every group! Congratulations, students. You didn't lose your nerve, and the final results were simply delicious, visually decadent and smelled grand!

Here is Leshaunda showing how it is done.

Everyone needed to practice with a piping bag, and although final results varied slightly, every group, every student, did a wonderful job. And some student tried making swans!

Our biggest problem was with the Chantilly Cream ... everyone argued about how much should be put into each profiterole ... and a little nutella was added (just for medicinal purposes, as one student earnestly assured me ... medicinal purposes ONLY, Chef!)

Thank you for everything, Chef Herbst. Now students are saying that they can do this at home! See what you've started?

For tomorrow ... we begin Black Forest Cake!

Cheese ... Cheese ... Cheese ... at The Cheese Boutique in Swansea

The Cheese Boutique in Swansea is not particularly easy to get to. For our MPC Culinary Arts students it meant either a train ride out to Runnymeade and a bus trip south, or a streetcar ride out along The Queensway to South Kingsway and a walk up. Either way, the destination is just SO worth the effort!

Afrim Pristine, like his Dad before him, is a member of the Cheese Knights: Order of the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Taste Fromage de France. This may sound utterly weird and foreign to most people in north america ... but keep reading and learn. You, too, may choose to learn and learn enough to be welcomed into this particular Honourable Order. For details, read more here. Afrim is an 'affineur' of cheese ... a keeper, ager, ripener and cheese guide. He is a 'Cheese Sommelier'. The Cheese Boutique offers over 1,100 kinds of cheese for sale, along with a huge range of other products, from the mundane-but-necessary to the wildly-exotic.

Afrim and the Cheese Boutique staff welcomed us at about 09h30, and each student received a scavenger hunt sheet, and was given 30 minutes to go and explore, observe, ask questions and learn. The staff were fore-warned, and made our students very welcome indeed! Everyone was offered a morning tea and croissant, just to welcome them into the atmosphere of one of Toronto's most sophisticated food shops. Throughout the course our students will be introduced to several of these destinations, and offered the chance to try and develop a palate of exceptional quality, discernment and refinement (which does NOT have to cost a large amount!).

After discovering the warmer parts of the store, our MPC Culinary Arts students were welcomed into one of the three cheese caves of the Boutique, and with Afrim as our guide were introduced to the work of the affineur.

There is nothing else like what Afrim does, anywhere. He spends about 1/3 of his working day making sure the caves are working correctly, and ripening, ageing and preparing his cheeses for final presentation to clients, or looking after cheese which has already been sold to clients and is being held for them under ideal conditions. We saw an enormous cheese, one of the largest in the world, owned by MLSE, which is being held for the company (they have already bought it) until they have something decent to celebrate (like make it past the quarter-finals of the play-offs).

Finally, our students had a chance to step up and buy a bit of cheese for themselves, and Chef bought some for a tasting which will take place on Tuesday in class, with fresh baguettes.

The cheeses we will be enjoying during our formal, guided tasting are: Vento D'Estate, Comfort Cream, Picobello, Chevre Noir, Gruyere, Valencay, Taleggio, Niagara Gold, Morbier, Epoisses, Blue Juliette and Tiger Blue.

These have all been personally selected and cut for us by Afrim and his staff of cheese specialists.

And ... one extra, EXTRA-special treat ...

Just before leaving, Afrim took a whole small triple-cream Brie and split it sideways (into two thin wheels). Then, after explaining what a truffle is, he shaved two whole white truffles into the open top of the split cheese. The top was then repositioned, making a 'truffle sandwich' of the Brie. This beauty is sealed and locked up in Chef's frig, and we will enjoy it tomorrow at the end of our class.

For anyone in Toronto who does not know The Cheese Boutique, please find their website here.

Our 50th Anniversary Sell-Out. Hail ! Monarch Park

Wow!

Wasn't THAT a party?!

Yesterday almost 800 of Monarch Park alumni and former staff visited their school again ... Michelle Duncan did a wonderful job of organization ... and every face had delight written all over it. Mary Card, who taught math (and other subjects) at Monarch for 40 years, returned and thrilled many people. Former and present staff gathered at the "North Staff Room" (a.k.a. Sarah's) for a pint and sharing of favourite stories about teaching, students and administration.

Monarch Park Collegiate ... home of simply fabulous students and teachers.

Somehow, in all this, our wonderful MPC Culinary Arts students managed to feed almost 170 people with our special lunch offerings and through our cappuccino bar service. We offered a special plate of our home-made coq-au-vin, freshly-roasted sweet potatoes and Wala Wala onions with a rosemary dressing, and fresh, steamed asparagus. We have a few left-overs, but mainly great memories. Our alumni were VERY generous, and all the Culinary Arts students each took home almost $5 in tips!

Kareem, one of our extra-special Culinary Arts alumni, returned to both help out in the kitchen with preparation AND do tours of the entire Culinary Arts program and process. His pride showed through with every group he spoke to. Thanks, Kareem!

So, for Auld Lang Syne, here is the crew who came in on Saturday at 08h00 to prepare, cook, set-up, present and knock down for the 50th Anniversary of Monarch Park Collegiate.

Thanks, Team!

Hail! Monarch Park (our school song)

Hail! Monarch Park
Where victory shall resound;

Green, White and Gold
With honour ever found.

Out teams will fight to crush our foes
And always will we reach our goals;

We strive, Monarch Park
Your glory to secure

Coq-Au-Vin and flavour-layering skills

Well, 200 or so of our closest friends are coming for lunch on Saturday to celebrate Monarch Park Collegiate's 50th Anniversary. What to do? What to do? Pizza? K-fry?

NO!

We will make and offer one of the great classical dishes of French cuisine: Coq-Au-Vin (translated, roughly, as chicken in wine). It is simply delicious ... the tasting I did with you in class 2 days ago was sensational ... you all loved it ... and now I am teaching you to make this wonderful dish that can be one of your go-tos if someone asks you to make a good meal.

Coq-Au-Vin can be made on the day of service, or the day before and just refrigerated. You can even freeze it! Here are a few hints so you can do it well.

First, make sure you have all the necessary ingredients ... the main ones are the chicken, the thick bacon or pancetta for lardons, the pearl onions and the mushrooms. As well, try to use the most lovely fresh Thyme you can find ... it is best to grow your own ... and fresh, whole Bay Laurel leaves.

Second, the way I have taught you is to do all your mis-en-place and reserve everything in small bowls so all ingredients are at hand as you work your magic with the heat and your hands.

Third, use a good, deep pan and don't try to cook too fast ... remember the two words you never want to hear from anyone who is cooking, so SLOW DOWN and cook carefully.

Fourth, as soon as you have finished prepping your chicken, clean, clean, clean your equipment with lots of soap and hot water, then rinse well. You do not ever want to cross-contaminate, particularly with poultry. Slow and safe is good.

Last, measure your wine and stock so you have a pretty close 50/50 split. It tastes better that way. IF you have to add a little more later on, make a little more of the mix.

A couple of comments, then a warning:

If you can make your own stock, do so and freeze it. You will always enjoy working with ingredients you have made with your own hands and skills, and your guests will be VERY impressed with your breadth of skills and knowledge. Remember, most people run out of cooking imagination at the end of an egg or two. Don't be that person!

My other comment is about taking time to layer your flavours carefully ... rub the thyme, don't be afraid to use good pepper and salt ... and don't use cheap or 'off' wine. If you aren't much of a wine person (and why should you be as high school students?), ask a knowledgeable parent or parental friend for good advice and then follow it.

A little warning ... practice your flambe skills where you won't start a fire ... do it outside (in good weather) and practice, practice, practice. There is no substitute for developed skill, and none of it comes from luck.

So, go and be not afraid! Offer to make this for your family, practice on people who will be supportive and gently forgiving. If you have problems or questions, speak with me in class or write a comment below. You too can end up looking like these happy young chefs!

Good luck!

Chef.

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Pie -- The Winning Combination!

Here we are ... early October ... and Thanksgiving is upon us. You are all budding young cooks ... what will you make to impress your family, friends and the crankypants next door?

I'll tell you what ... you make THIS fabulous pumpkin pie and they'll be pounding your door off its hinges, and the orders will flood in. No fooling!

We have run these recipes in class ... I have demonstrated, and today you have followed along well. We made litres of filling and kilos of pastry and the results are cooling now as I write this blogpost for you.

Here is what you have made:

Nothing finer than a whole counter lined with your hard work on proud display, eh?

The recipes we have used are at the end of this post. Remember three important things that will help a lot with the pastry; cube the butter and shortening FIRST then re-freeze for at least 30 minutes; have the ice water and vinegar ready immediately, and work quickly with as little hand-touch as possible.

last tip ... use the food processor as little as you can, because if the fats in the butter and shortening heat up, they will start to build the glutens in the flour, and that is exactly what you do NOT want! You want your pastry to be as short (i.e., flaky) as possible. Here is the pastry recipe:

For the filling,

roast the pumpkin with a smear of maple syrup (as the recipe states) and be sure to let the pumpkin cool for a good, long time (I prefer overnight) or else the egg will cook from the heat retained in the pumpkin pulp. (This would NOT be good!) Prepare the filling per; the instructions, and be sure to combine all the dries (the sugars, the spices, the salt), in one large bowl to make the addition simpler. If you do not have a stand-mixer at home, the recipe can simply be donE with a friend (if you have one!) stirring a large bowl with all the stuff going in in proper order, and them stirring with a large French whip.

So go and have fun on our holiday week-end, make some fabulous pie for your family and friends, share the recipes around and to each of you and your supportive families,

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM CHEF!

Scottish Shortbread -- posted for Sean

Sean has asked for this recipe and some commentary on technique, so here it is, Sean, just for you.

Everyone else can join in!

Scottish shortbread requires only a few ingredients ... the basics of all shortbread (butter, flour and sugar), then adds in a little egg and vanilla and a hefty two pinches of baking soda. Here is the recipe:

To make your baking life easier making shortbread, here are a few tips:

1) Keep the work surfaces and everything cool

2) Work quickly so no gluten has a chance to develop. The 'short' in 'shortbread' means no gluten development.

3) Do full mis-en-place

4) Pre-heat the oven for 30 minutes before baking, and position the oven racks before turning on the oven! One of the secrets to good baking is clean temperature management ... once the oven is hot, don't have the door open for more than 2 seconds at any time (to reduce temperature fluctuation).

5) If using parchment paper on a baking sheet, make sure the paper only covers the bottom of the sheet, with no 'ears' sticking up to reduce heat movement.

6) Remember to cool your shortbread on a rack for at least 10 minutes before service, and cool to room temperature before packing or boxing for keeping or shipping.

** Final Note ** Remember to use a cutter with no sharp spiky shape-parts ... gently rounded, circular, oval or slightly-bulging rectangles work best. Do not use a wash on top of any sort. Prick for traditional look (see photo).