Final Exams and Chef-At-Home

Well now! The semester has lurched to an end and we all survived our own cooking!

How did THAT happen?

Remember five months ago, and that first class which always starts the semester ... "Make Me Cookies"? Everyone had their own take on what should happen, and almost nothing happened in over two hours ... we had a few burnt cookies, lots and lots of raw cookie dough (because no one came to turn on the ovens) ... and no real coordination between anyone.

Remember the second class, with the first demonstration (how to really make cookies), then the challenge to, again, "Make Me Cookies", and you were only given 40 minutes from cold start to finished product, and EVERYONE succeeded? I certainly do. It was the start of your success.

You have all come such a long way! Over the Christmas holidays and in early January each of you has successfully completed the "Chef-At-Home" project, cooking for your family for three days. Now every one of you has demonstrated your skills in our 5-hour Final Exam, creating at least 3 dishes from scratch. You have your menus, you have your memories, you have shown us all how wonderful, confident and skill-filled each of you now is. You have learnt a huge amount, and you have learnt it very well.

Now, here is my final challenge to each of you: Take your skills of strong focus, getting rid of distractions (which is why a professional kitchen does not have radio or music on), the ability to start AND finish something, and to receive encouraging compliments and accept them with both acknowledgement and gratitude, and apply all this to every other class you are going to take.

Apply these skills to your whole life. They will keep you honest, sharp, clear and determined. You will earn a wonderful reputation because you will have consistent and wonderful character.

Reputation is on the outside, character is on the inside. Guard your reputation with every good thing you can do, dear students ... in the end, it is all you will have to offer: Your personal qualities of honesty, integrity, knowledge, skill and honour.

Good Luck to each of you.

A HUGE thanks to our co-op student, Emmerson (a graduate of this program), and Chefs Ruby and Susan. You all make my work SO much better and smoother. Thank you!

Please do stay in touch!

Chef

Roast That Bird, and How to Make Fabulous Gravy

Well, it is THAT time of year, students and friends ... a variety of fowl will show up in our kitchens over the next few months and we'll be asked to do something with them.

A few months ago my partner (whom some students have just called "Mrs Chef") was reading through the autumn edition of Canadian House and Home. This magazine is frequently full of wonderful ideas for cooking, serving and generally creating a good home without going bust dong so. Each edition features a variety of excellent recipes. This recipe for roast turkey (or chicken, or duck) featured a cheesecloth veil with a hard cider infusion. Mrs Chef was interested! So, I tried it a few times at home, and decided to share it with my students just before Christmas holidays. It is simple, cost-conscious and a lovely no-fail recipe.

Here is the technique and rough go-through:

Fire up your oven, prepare your bird, hold it in the frig, create the cider infusion, measure and cut the cheesecloth veil, haul the bird out of the frig, drape the veil, fire the roasting pan into the oven and just let it roast for you! The details are in the recipe.

I have to be honest with students and tell them that I am NOT in favour of stuffing a bird (any sort) with anything and roasting it. My sense is that it is safer to make a separate dish (call it 'stuffing' if you want to) and co-roast it using some pan drippings or previously-made chicken stock. All I do with most birds is rinse the inside well with cold, cold water, then pour in quite a bit of salt and push it around with my fingers into all the cavity crevices. The bird is then put onto a rack in the roasting pan and about 4 - 8 slices of fresh lemon are put into the bird's cavity, and sometimes a few onion slices, too, but nothing else. These are not designed to be eaten. The lemon and onion are quite loose; the cavity should not be packed tightly at all. Then the veil goes on (or however I choose to do my bird) and into the oven it goes!

At the end of the roasting time, test the bird by trying to wriggle the drumsticks up and down a bit.

If they resist movement, leave the bird to roast more. If the movement is pretty free and easy, that bird is done. (And as Sean observed, if the drumstick comes off in your hands she is probably overdone! Quite right.)

Remove the veil carefully, not pulling hard at all. It will come off as one piece of cheesecloth and leave you with a tender, succulent bird. Let it rest on the counter for 15 minutes or so while you make gravy.

First, make a bit of a rue by melting some butter and whisking some flour to make a sloppy sort of ball you can push around in the pot. Add some of the roasting juices to this rue and thin it out, a bit at a time, whisking until the right consistency is achieved. Your hand-whisk is your friend for making a good gravy! Correct the taste with S/P. A dear friend sometimes adds a tiny bit of sherry. Serve this and mmm ... mmm ... good!

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To give, someone once said, is more blessed than to receive. Our students had the opportunity to be wonderful givers just before their Christmas holidays ... the photo above shows a couple of large birds and two (of three) students who came out to work with Chef to make and feed Christmas dinner to the clients of H.O.T.T. (Housing Opening Today, Toronto).

On Saturday morning of 06 December Chef Susan Plummer met in the Monarch Park Kitchens with Chef Aller-Stead at 09h00 and together they got 4 huge turkeys (see photo again) into ovens, along with 5 smaller halal chickens, all with a delicious cider glaze set over them in a cheesecloth veil. Then the roasted vegetables were organized, then the potatoes. The cranberry sauce was made and when Chef Plummer left at just before noon everything was done. The delicious gravy was made with pan-drippings, per; tradition. Students had made the required creme anglaise the day before, and the dessert cookies (to be dipped into the creme anglaise). The salads were made on site at the last minute and all the equipment was lined up on counters to be stacked into Chef's creaking Subaru.

Tayson came in at 15h00 and helped with all the loading and the removal of the birds from the ovens and lifting of the veils. By 16h00 everything was loaded and Tayson scooted over to the event site on his own, to meet with Crystal and Steven there.

Chef's fabulous-smelling car rolled into the parking lot and backed into the loading dock, and in about 20 minutes everything was taken up into the kitchens for the HOTT family and community dinner!

All the HOTT staff and volunteers decorated the room with festive garlands and lights, and the guests started to drift in W-A-Y before the appointed time. This always happens, though, so we are ready for them. The music was on and the punch was made.

Almost 70 people finally came to table. Erin, a former student in the kitchen with Chef, kindy volunteered her time. It was just lovely to see Erin so well launched into her own career helping young people. We got the serving tables set up, plugged in our hotplates ... and ... blew all the fuses.

Oops.

After a few bits of electrical juggling, the serving line-up started and everyone came to the groaning banquet tables. The chatterboxes talked a blue streak, the very quiet people came and nodded to our inquiries about more turkey, and did they wish gravy? For quite a few, home-made cranberry sauce (made with cranberries, oranges and a little sherry) was something they'd never had, ever, and a few were reluctant to try. Chef said "Just try it! If you don't like it, bring it back and you'll get a refund." A few young kids tried it and then dragged their parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles and cousins over to have some. We ran out of 12 litres of home-made cranberry sauce in about 30 minutes! Kids tore around, and music filled the air. It was a huge, riotous family doing what families do ... making memories together and lengthening the story of their days. It was tender, unruly, loud and quietly reflective.

It was, truly, the merriest of Christmasses.

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Epilogue (written in January 2015): One of the senior HOTT staff came into the kitchen today with personal, hand-written thank-you cards for the students who had so generously given their time to HOTT (Tayson, Crystal and Steven), and Chef Plummer (who was honouring us again with a visit). There was even a card for Chef! In addition, a $100 donation was made by HOTT to our program.

Thank you, HOTT ! Your kind and generous support for our students and program is VERY appreciated. Happy Christmas and New Year to each of you, Bernadette, Lisa and Erin.

Christmas ... A Time To Give

In the last few days before the annual Christmas break we spent much time working with, and for, others. "Who are we working with today, Chef?", my students would ask me.

They never asked what they would get out of it.

Just two days before the holiday began we hosted some of our school's students from the Independent Living Program.

These students are simply wonderful for us and to us ... they willingly take all our laundry of tea-towels, chef hats and aprons and wash them and fold it all two or three times a week every week. Then they deliver it back to us, neatly stacked in a shabby old IKEA bag! This is part of their job-readiness preparation. We could never thank them enough for doing this every week for us, year after year, but as a small 'thank you' we welcomed these kids and their teaching aide (Karen Brant)

and teacher (Rachel Kaufman) and the co-op students who work with the class into the kitchen for a morning of cookie-making.

Cheerful chaos!

Too many people!

CHEF !!!

But, in the end everything worked out well. We all had a great time, the place was (mostly) cleaned up and cookies were made by the dozens.

That was Thursday before the holidays.

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On the Friday my chef students came in and we just sat around and chatted and drank coffee ... they have worked hard every single day since September, and it was time to just 'chillax'. so we watched a few Jamie Oliver videos, an Epic Chef video and bade our farewells.

A few of them were asking me just before the class went out, "Chef, what do you think I can give people this year? I don't have much money."

Good question.

I said to my students "Look, most of you don't have much money. Some of you don't have a job yet. If you want to make your family and friends simply happy and delighted, offer them your time and talent. You are all good young cooks. Go and cook for your family and friends. Invite your friends over for a sit-down dinner party! Amaze them with your skills. It does not need to cost much, and your gift of time is more valuable than anything you can buy someone with money. Give your family and friends YOU! And you'll find you have a great appreciation of others, and the time that they have to give you. It will make you more human. The more you empty yourself out by giving, the less you will actually need to receive to feel filled-up and greatly appreciated. Give more, need less. Good luck. Happy Christmas. Away you go."

In about 3 minutes, and a few hugs later, the kitchen was quiet and the lights were all out except the little ones twinkling on our counter-top tree, reflected in the old stainless steel cupboards and countertops, bringing back memories of years of wonderful students. A little twinkle for each student, each memory, each hard-earned success.

Yes, dear friends, there IS a Santa Claus. You and me.

Thank you, parents, for always sending me only your very best kids. They are simply a delight to work with, and for.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to each of you.

Challah ... Or Else ... and a great bread-making tip.

A few days ago one of my excellent students came to me with a request. "Chef", my student said, "In my family we celebrate Hannukah. I'd really like to make challah bread for this holiday, but I don't know how. Can you teach me?"

No easier asked, gentle student, than done.

Let's start with a recipe. We searched the internet and books for a recipe that looked as though it would work right off, and that my student had the skills to make and do at home. Allrecipes, (a wonderful website for cooks ... so is Epicurious), came through perfectly. We took a look at the recipe and I adjusted it a little to make it more approachable for a beginner. We went over the recipe together and I clarified what techniques were needed, what mis-en-place would be required and what the time structure was. With all this in place, the process began.

The dough was made and risen, then punched down, divided and rolled into long cigars. These were braided three per loaf, and set onto baking sheets on silpats. They were covered correctly for a proof, then topped off with a quick egg-wash and one was top-garnished with sesame seeds. Care was taken to gently tuck the flattened ends under the larger mass of the braid at each end of the loaf, to give a neat appearance.

The ovens were pre-heated and settled and set up for steam (to ensure a delicious crust).

Then, after 45 minutes of proofing, into the ovens, a fast blast of heat and steam and the dough rose up like a great imagination and baked off perfectly!

The results spoke for themselves.

Congratulations, Chef Rebecca! You did it ... and now you can share this at home with your family over Hannukah. Thanks for asking.

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Here is a wonderful baking tip I had shared with me by a woman who is a simply fabulous cook. I use it all the time when I make bread and it never fails.

For many years Monarch Park was blessed with wonderful Greek cafeteria Chefs. Koula, Yasmina, Angela and Maria were all from small Greek villages around or part of Sparta. Their traditions included an enormous amount of folk-knowledge about making food and using ingredients. Each of these wonderful women has been a mentor to my students, a wonderful example of excellence and an awfully nice person to work with in the kitchen. Thank you, Chefs!

Yasmina taught me, REALLY taught me, how to proof bread. She taught me that dough, when proofing, was usually trying to get the very best and last out of the yeast. What she taught me was to have my ovens ready and settled, and use steam for most breads. Then she would knock about 10 - 15 minutes off any proofing-time, and bake in a searing, steamy oven. Yasmina taught me that when she did this she was giving the yeast one great chance to show its stuff ... one last gasp, so to speak ... and the steamy heat would get the dough going all at once in a sort of yeasty "Hail Mary" final effort. I tried it on the day she taught me, and I have never looked back. This technique works beautifully on focaccia, ciabatta, challah, baguette, brioche. I can honestly say that I make wonderful bread, in part because of the skill I learnt from Yasmina and the other great Greek chefs we have been fortunate to have.

Christmas Fruitcake -- Or Else!

Christmas, it is said, comes but once a year. What's that, you say? Once a year? Why not more often? Because, my tinies, we would have to make more fruitcake!

Once a year, also, Chef Ann Aller joins the brigade at Monarch Park and helps us make her fabulous fruitcake. (She is Chef Aller-Stead's Mother-In-Law.) It is her recipe we use, and Chef Aller enjoys helping and guiding us all to make perfect, traditional fruitcake for our home enjoyment and for sales to the lucky staff who are connoisseurs of such delightful comestibles.

So ... to start with, here is the recipe Take a careful look at it ... there is a large amount of detail in here, both for the shopping as well as for the technique. Remember, as you read, you need to remember that the BEST fruitcake is old fruitcake. (OK, not as old as Chef, but at least 1 month old ... 3 months if you get organized sufficiently.) You will need to spend quite a bit of time doing the shopping to support this fruitcake-making, including getting some brandy and rum (speak to your parents).

Follow the recipe carefully and slowly. Here are a few shots of how we did it in class. We make TEN TIMES this recipe!

First, we mixed all the fruit, raisins and nuts together in our largest bowls.

Here is Chef Aller with Ciara and Rebecca, all hands into the gooey mess of fruit, pineapple juice and a bottle of brandy.

This was followed by making the dough ... here is Jack preparing butter for the largest stand-mixer, to be blended with butter to make a smooth beginning.

We 'encourage' this by using Chef's blowtorch. Doesn't every home kitchen have a blowtorch? No? OK, students, Christmas is coming, and they're $25 at Nella! Now Jack is getting the torch onto the bowl of the stand mixer to ensure the butter and sugars blend quickly and smoothly.

(Notice that no one looks nervous. We have done this before and know how ... Chef is a safety freak!)

Jack is very careful to have just the correct portion of the flame touch the bowl ... we are not welding, neither are we just lighting a candle. It is important to get this just right, and Jack knows how to be a perfectionist in this area. The heat will help the butter smooth out with the sugar. We remove the torch when the sugar does not feel granulated at all, and the mixture is silky-smooth. Then the eggs go in one at a time, then the extract. This will be followed by the huge amounts of dry ingredients (remember, we are making ten times the original recipe) and finally we have made a lovely, warm, light-brown almond batter. The batter is worked into the huge pans of marinated fruit and nuts by hand. Using our hands is very important, as our fingers will not cut up any fruit or damage any part of the filling we are so carefully preparing. It is very hard work, though, and takes a lot of patience.

We have produced about 90 pounds of fruitcake batter, all ready for the prepared pans. Pans are made ready with two layers each of parchment paper, with Crisco shortening thinly smeared on every surface.

Liia and Leshaunda took on the boring task of making the pan-liners for 30 fruitcake pans ... here they are making stripes of paper for the sides of the springforms, and the bottoms were covered with two circles of parchment.

After the springforms were prepared, we filled them up to within about 2 cm of the top of each. Prior to baking, the tops were decorated. Here is one being beautifully worked on by Glenn.

At this point all the cake needs is a top of parchment paper to gently rest on top of the batter (so the top of the cake does not form much of a crust or brown a lot).

We readied our ovens with steam, then baked for between 2.5 and 4.5 hours (depending on the thickness and diameter).

After the cakes came out of the ovens, we let them cool on the counters overnight on racks, then we doused them with a goodly shot of rum or brandy before tightly wrapping them up in two layers of waxed paper with an outside shell of tinfoil.

These are tightly closed, and the cakes are kept at cool room temperature for a fortnight. Next week we will bring them out and give them a second dose with brandy, then deliver them.

Interesting side-note to our cakes ... the evening they were cooling on the counter, Monarch Park held an open-house event for parents of prospective grade 9 students next September. Many, many parents came through the kitchen, drawn (no doubt) by the delicious smells and proud display of Chef's photos of his students all over the outside walls (and ceilings) of the Culinary Arts area. Several parents asked for the fruitcake recipe, and one offered to buy a small $20 cake on the spot (Chef sold it immediately).

Chef Aller came in one more time the next day, to ensure that the topping-off of the cakes (their first dousing) and wrapping was done according to her high standard.
Now the cakes are nestled in their wrappings, swaddled against undue evaporation or drying, and after the next dousing will rest for another fortnight, then will be ready for proud display and delicious snacking over the Christmas holiday.

Thank you, Chef Aller, for all your time, patience and care! We couldn't do it as well without you. See you next year!

And that's a wrap.

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!