Whisk: a food blog

Peanut Vermicelli

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:20:25 PST

I once worked beside a little-known, but top-notch take-out café called The Five Senses. Many times a week, I'd wander over at noon to see what the chef was cooking in his kitchen. Even though he worked the kitchen alone, he was able to create delicious food, but he was often stressed and voiced his frustration at being "in the weeds" to his customers (which wasn't good for business). The one thing I ordered anytime it was on the lunch menu was this Peanut Vermicelli. I'd buy extra at noon just to take it home to have for supper. One day, I boldly asked him for the recipe, which he scribbled on a scrap piece of paper for me, without measurements for some of the ingredients. After some tweaking, I've come up with the quantities that I like. It remains a favorite side dish or even a main dish when I add cooked chicken. Recipe Serves...

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Beef Dip

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 05:26:58 PDT

Here is one of our family favorite meals both because it's tasty and easy to prepare. The secret ingredient is a package of onion soup mix! Shh...don't tell the chefs at Le Cordon Bleu! They would want you to make French Onion Soup from scratch and dehydrate it yourself! Recipe from Auntie Joyce Serves 8 4 pound beef roast 1 teaspoon dry mustard ½ teaspoon dried oregano Salt and freshly ground black pepper 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 2 yellow onions, cut in slices or rings 5 cups water ½ cup soya sauce 1 package onion soup mix 1 garlic clove, minced To Prepare and Eat Now: Preheat the oven to 325°F. Dry the roast with paper towels. Rub or sprinkle with dry mustard, oregano, salt and pepper. In a large roasting pan, heat the vegetable oil over medium high heat. Brown roast on all sides. Set aside. Add the onions to the roasting pan...

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Week 5 at Le Cordon Bleu (Basic Cuisine)

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:18:59 PDT

Time is flying by so fast here at Le Cordon Bleu. Week 5 seems long ago and was all about soups and compound butters. Well, "soup" is not the right term; "potage" is more accurate. Soup, a type of potage, is derived from the word souper, which means to absorb. To be called a soup, it must contain bread (such as French Onion Soup or Fish Soup). A potage is either thickened (called a lié) or unthickened (clair), such as consommé. The other potages we covered included: • Potages Passé (using either fresh or dry ingredients) where the soup is passed through a food mill or blender • Potages Tailles where the soup has a specific cut of vegetable in it (such as paysanne in the Potage Cultivateur) • Potages Crèmes and Veloutés (such as Cream of Chicken garnished with pickled beef tongue, which I can now say I've tasted!) • Bisques where the...

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Orange Pumpkin Loaf

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:41:22 PDT

This is a recipe from the production kitchen (the kitchen that handles staff meals and prepares ingredients for all the demos and practicals) at Le Cordon Bleu. I was there to practice filleting a Dover Sole and turning mushrooms, and Chef shared a pumpkin loaf with me. It was so delicious, I asked for the recipe. It uses a whole orange, making it extra flavorful and perfect for this Fall season. Enjoy! Recipe Makes 1 9x5 inch loaf pan 1 large orange 125 grams butter 445 grams white sugar 3 eggs 410 grams canned pumpkin 130 ml water 415 grams all-purpose flour 8 grams baking soda 4 grams baking powder 8 grams salt 2 grams cinnamon 2 grams cloves 100 grams walnuts 140 grams raisins Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Cut a whole orange into wedges and remove seeds. In a food processor, pulse the orange (peel and...

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Week 4 at Le Cordon Bleu (Basic Cuisine)

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:48:59 PDT

Taste, turning, trussing, and tears. Last week, we had a seminar on taste! Spending a morning talking about taste was pretty cool! In many little white tubs, lined up in rows, were a variety of different colored liquids. In groups, we were given a container and asked to think of a memory that went along with it. Unfortunately, many of the tubs contained slightly stale versions of the originals and too often Grandma's lace or even, in some cases, urinal pucks came to mind! Here's what we had to guess: white balsamic vinegar, lavender, truffle, shrimp paste, bergamot, lime, hazelnuts, sesame oil, anise-flavored alcohol, hoisin sauce, cognac, soya sauce, fish sauce, vanilla, port, rum calvados, pear alcohol, tobasco, chili paste. I found it challenging to deconstruct the aromas, but it was fun. The next demo was all about Les Fonds Blanc...

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Whisk Wednesdays—Beignets aux Pommes, Sauce Abricot (Apple Fritters with Apricot Sauce)

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 19:12:05 PDT

This recipe completes my goal of working through the Basic Cuisine curriculum on my own, in my own kitchen. I started my blog as a way of documenting my progress working through this Le Cordon Bleu curriculum, not knowing that I'd actually be attending 20 months later! Along the way, I've made many friends and learned new techniques from people who are just as passionate about food. Specifically, I have the following food bloggers to thank for their dedication and friendship: • Kayte from Grandma’s Kitchen Table in Indiana (who helped launch this group) is a kind, supportive friend, the heart of our group, and an inexhaustible food blogger who keeps up with all sorts of cooking groups without a sweat. • Michelle from Big Black Dog in Illinois is a font of knowledge about kitchen tools and techniques and a prolific food blogger. •...

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Fresh Pasta

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:21:24 PDT

One of my favorite kitchen gadgets is my KitchenAid stand mixer. I’ve thrown some tough doughs its way and it has yet to fail me. Recently, I was pleased to receive the pasta attachment as a gift. The KitchenAid Companions Gourmet Pasta Kit came with the following items: • a metal pasta roller • a metal fettuccine cutter • a pasta server and slotted spoon • two boxes of Ecco La Pasta flour (egg and spinach) • a cleaning brush The timing of this gift was fantastic, since we had just covered fresh pasta dough in Lesson 6 at Le Cordon Bleu and practicing making pasta at home was the perfect way to test out this attachment. Now, in the Basic Cuisine course no kitchen machinery is allowed and all work must be done by hand to develop a sense for the feel of the dough at various stages. So I decided it would be fun to do a "bake off" so to...

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Whisk Wednesdays—Carre d'Agneau (Rack of Lamb)

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:51:39 PDT

This rack of lamb is the second-last recipe as part of the Basic Cuisine curriculum that I've been following. The hardest part is preparing the rack. Watch this video to see how to "French" a rack of lamb. Then, it's just a matter of searing the meat and vegetables and finishing it in the oven. The sauce is made from the pan juices and water, seasoned with salt and pepper. Not too many dishes this time either! Recipe Serves 6 (I halved the recipe.) 2 racks of lamb with 6 ribs each Salt and freshly ground pepper 3 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 medium carrot, cut into chunks 1 medium onion, quartered Bunch of watercress for garnish You can find the recipe for Carre d'Agneau (Rack of Lamb) in the Le Cordon Bleu at Home. To see how the rest of the Whisk Wednesdays group fared with their recipe, click here (or check out the sidebar) and...

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Week 3 at Le Cordon Bleu (Basic Cuisine)

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 20:27:16 PDT

After last week, I was glad to leave the white pepper on the shelf for a bit. During week 3 at Le Cordon Bleu, we turned our attention to desserts. Crème anglaise and charlotte were the first tests of our dessert skills. These desserts are light, called "entremets", which translates to "between meals". The first practical had us making old-fashioned apple charlotte. Fourteen students were cooking down the apples slowly, caramelizing them only after they were cooked, and the aroma was heavenly. We all lined the charlotte molds with bread, first cutting the bottom pieces into raindrop shapes to form a circle. Lastly, we made crème anglaise to a thickness called à la nappe. Everything was going along perfectly until the unmolding stage when I forgot to trim the excess length of my bread pieces, which in turn caused the apple compote inside...

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Whisk Wednesdays—Pets de Nonnes (Choux Pastry Fritters with Apricot Sauce)

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:32:55 PDT

This recipe, literally translated, means "nun's farts"! Choux pastry is deep-fried and sprinkled with confectioners' sugar much like a doughnut. The story is that a nun accidentally dropped a ball of choux paste into a kettle of hot oil. Instead of throwing it out, the nun watched the choux paste bubble and brown and upon tasting it named it Pets de Nonnes. Choux Pastry Choux pastry is difficult to make, but once you know the texture you're looking for, the technique isn't hard. For this recipe, since it's a dessert, the choux paste is sweetened with milk and sugar and flavored with vanilla. After melting the milk, butter, sugar, salt and vanilla and bringing it to a boil, remove the mixture from the heat and add the flour all at once. Return it to the heat to remove any excess humidity from the flour. Depending on the flour you use and...

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Week 2 at Le Cordon Bleu (Basic Cuisine)

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:50:36 PDT

Clockwise from top: Chef’s Flamiche aux maroilles et poireaux (Leek tart from northern France), Pâté Pantin (Pork pie without use of mould), Getting Ready to Taste Week 2 at Le Cordon Bleu was full of flour, fraisage, and finger injuries. I’m thoroughly enjoying the demos. It’s almost as if the secrets of the culinary world are being whispered in our ears, passed down to the next generation as grandparents would for their grandchildren. The demos are full of helpful tips that are best shown live: watching the chef make pâte brisée, showing us how to flour our tables (fleurer), how to gently work in the flour without over-mixing the dough, and demonstrating the technique of fraisage where you take just a bit of dough and rub it between your palm and the marble countertop to form a dough, repeating this for all the dough. Although I’d...

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Feast of Fields—Ballotin of Ferme aux Saveurs des Monts Organic Chicken

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 17:21:46 PDT

Feast of Fields was an Ottawa event held this past weekend that brought together the talents of organic farmers and chefs and allowed hungry guests to sample all their tasty treats. Chefs were paired with area farmers to showcase this season's harvest. And what a feast it was! There were 25 teams set up with tables along each side of a huge tent. The weather was perfect, with a slight cool breeze, and the diners were clamoring to get their plate and sample the local organic food. As we walked around tasting, we were amazed by the variety of options. From mini bites of cornbread and smoked pork and apple sausage to goose terrine garnished with a delicate edible flower and gingersnap cookies, I soon realized my eyes were bigger than my stomach. The winner of the Best Farmer-Chef Team was Sylvain Bertrand of Ferme aux Saveurs des Monts...

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Whisk Wednesdays—Grenadins de Veau au Coulis de Celeri-Rave (Veal with Celery Root Cream Sauce)

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 05:42:27 PDT

It seems these last recipes in the curriculum are strictly a review of techniques already learned. They don't contain much history or interest but are good practice for the impending exam. Grenadins de veau are thick veal fillet steaks laced with pork fat. After sprinkling the meat with salt and pepper and searing them on the stove in a bit of butter, I placed (I should have larded!) the pork fat on top of the veal and set it aside while I worked on the vegetables. Next, I sautéed the carrots, onions and garlic, threw in the thyme and bay, and let this mixture cook a bit. After adding the stock and wine (and a bit more salt and pepper), I returned the veal to the pan and finished it in the oven set at 425°F for about 25 minutes. As for the sauce, I just chopped up celery root (or celeriac as it can be called) and boiled it as I would...

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Week 1 at Le Cordon Bleu (Basic Cuisine)

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:53:29 PDT

Lesson three was all about garnitures (not garnishes!), which are side dishes. It was fun to see the master chef work on so many dishes (six of them) at once without breaking a sweat while we kept flipping pages to keep up with which recipe he was working on. Knowing we had to make three dishes during the practical was daunting enough for me: Bouquetière (a hot garniture of turned vegetables and artichoke), Jardinière (another hot garniture of vegetables cut as batonnets), and finally Macédoine (a cold vegetable medley cut into small cubes or pieces). In addition to these recipes, chef made Tomates concassées, Portugaise, Duxelle sêche de champignons, Blanc de cuisson, Grandmère and showed us the different cuts for Pommes de terre pour frire. Since there are 30 students in Basic Cuisine, we've been broken up into two groups of 15 for...

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Ottawa Urban Foodie—Ottawa Metro

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 20:08:42 PDT

As of today, I have a byline! And a way to indulge my love of eating at restaurants. I'm the new restaurant reviewer for the Ottawa Metro newpaper, and I'll be providing a review every Thursday along with food events. (If you know of any upcoming events or restaurants you would like to see reviewed, email OttawaUrbanFoodie[at]gmail[dot]com.) My first review is for a wonderful little Italian restaurant in the suburbs called La Porto a Casa. Today at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa "To everything (turn, turn, turn)." Turning carrots, zucchini, artichoke and mushrooms is the wrath of culinary school and best summed up in this humorous article! Would love to write more about today, but it's late, and I still have to iron my uniform for tomorrow. G'nite! Chef's Légumes à la grèque (Turned vegetables cooked in a court bouillon with coriander) ...

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Whisk Wednesdays—Spiced Shrimp Balls

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:49:14 PDT

Sweetbread fritters were supposed to be on the menu today. However, they weren't something I wanted to taste, but may have to if they're on the list of recipes at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa. Instead, the Whisk Wednesdays group decided Spiced Shrimp Balls sounded tastier and found it in one of Le Cordon Bleu cookbooks called Le Cordon Bleu Complete Cook Home Collection. Moving away from typical French cuisine and into something a little more Asian-inspired was a nice change. Practicing deep-frying technique is always helpful and usually renders something crunchy and tender at the same time. This is a simple recipe. I used my food processor to mince the shrimp into a purée. Then, I stirred in the remaining ingredients. After whipping the egg whites, I folded them into the mixture. Finally, I formed the shrimp mixture into balls and rolled...

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Le Cordon Bleu—A Dream Come True

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 19:21:38 PDT

"Choose Life only that and always and at whatever risk. To let life leak out, to let it wear away by the mere passage of time, to withhold giving it and spreading it is to choose nothing." — Sister Helen KellerSome of you already know this, but I thought I should let everyone know that today was my first day of school at Le Cordon Bleu Ottawa! A few weeks ago, I decided to follow my dream of attending culinary school, and with the help of my supportive family (especially my husband) I signed up for Basic Cuisine with the hopes of working towards the Grand Diplôme. Today was orientation for all Basic Cuisine and Pastry students, of which 30 are in Cuisine and 45 in Pastry. We learned a bit about the history of Le Cordon Bleu. It was actually started by a woman named Marthe Distel in 1895 who was the publisher of a magazine called La...

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Feast of Fields—Crispy Polenta with Fresh Corn and Aged Cheddar

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:11:14 PDT

It's harvest time, and for the fifth year in a row you can spend an afternoon feasting on the talents of organic farmers and chefs at Feast of Fields in Ottawa. Chefs are paired with area farmers to showcase this season's harvest. When: Sunday, September 13, 2009, Noon to 4:00 p.m. (food served Noon to 2:00) Where: Vincent Massey Park (near Riverside Drive and Heron Road) Tickets: Available online and at listed retail outlets I attended a pre-event to sample food made by the winners of the farmer/chef pairing from last year as well as preview food we can look forward to tasting at the event itself. We sampled a spicy orca bean quesadilla prepared by resident chef Candice Butler from Urban Element who is paired with Greta's Organic Farm this year. Greta owns an organic seed company that grows plants simply for their seeds with an eye...

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Whisk Wednesdays—Biscuit de Savoie (Sponge Cake)

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 07:25:55 PDT

Savoy (pronounced Savwa) Cake, or Sponge Cake, dates back to the 18th century and is a simple cake using five pantry ingredients. The only odd ingredient is potato flour, which helps produce a more tender cake. Although similar to a pound cake, it's often baked in a mold that looks like a turban. After combining the yolks, sugar and vanilla, fold in the flours. Then, after whipping the egg whites, fold them into the yolk mixture. Bake at 350°F until the center comes out clean. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve with crème anglaise or fresh whipped cream and berries. Très simple. Recipe Serves 6 7 eggs, separated 1¼ cups sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ¾ cup sifted all-purpose flour ¾ cup sifted potato flour Confectioner's sugar for dusting Unsalted butter, softened, for cake pans All-purpose flour for cake pans You can find...

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Whisk Wednesdays—Coquelets sur Canapés (Roast Squab Chickens with Chicken Liver Canapés and Mushrooms)

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 17:07:24 PDT

Squab, a euphemism for a 4-week old, tender nestling pigeon is on the menu this week. I've only fed pigeons, never eaten one so it was a new adventure for me! Along with the squab, I prepared a partridge and a regular chicken for comparison. The birds were sprinkled with salt, shallots and tarragon, then rubbed all over with butter. Finally strips of bacon (that had been simmered in water for 10 minutes to remove some of its smokiness) were placed on top to add flavor. The poultry were roasted in a 400°F oven until the juices ran clear (about 30-40 minutes). The mushrooms, canapé and sauce make this roast poultry so much more delectable! The mushrooms are easily sautéed in butter and oil and then set aside. For the canapé, I chopped up some fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes and made a bruschetta using the recipe's ingredients instead of...

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Whisk Wednesdays—Gaspacho (Gazpacho)

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 12:34:13 PDT

For such a simple recipe, Gazpacho has a lot of history dating back to the Middle Ages in Andalucia. An Iberian peasant woman in the Andalucian region in southern Spain, soaks her days-old homemade bread in some water in the earthenware mortar that her mother used. Pounding the sun-warmed tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, green bell peppers and garlic gathered from the garden earlier in the day with her pestle, she brings the mixture to a muddled, rather chunky consistency. Finally, she moistens her mixture with olive oil, vinegar and water.The name gazpacho means "soaked bread" and is essentially a cold liquid salad, says Clifford A. Wright in his book Mediterranean Vegetables. This rustic, simple dish is perfect when you don't want to cook. You can serve it as a soup or as a sauce over chicken or fish. Pull out your mortar and pestle (and...

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Whisk Wednesdays—Profiteroles au Chocolat (Profiteroles with Vanilla Ice Cream and Hot Chocolate Sauce)

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 07:37:47 PDT

A profiterole (pronounced pruh-FIHT-uh-rohl, but I like to say "olé" at the end for flair) has its own fairly strict definition that's not to be confused with cream puffs. You must scoop vanilla ice cream (not whipped or pastry cream) inside a delicate puff of choux pastry (pâte à choux to be French about it) and drizzle the concoction with chocolate sauce (not sprinkle it with icing sugar as I did because it looks so pretty!). And don't try to call a savory choux pastry a profiterole! Profiteroles are quite simple to make, if you know how to make choux pastry! Getting the consistency of the choux pastry just right is tricky. Choux be do be do Choux pastry is cooked twice, once on the stove and once in the oven. First, you cook the water, butter, sugar and salt on the stove until it comes to a boil. Then, add the flour all at once and...

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Whisked Away!

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:01:01 PDT

This week, Whisk is on vacation! No laptops allowed! Looking forward to seeing Julie & Julia! Whisk: a food blog

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Charlotte aux Pommes, Crème Anglaise au Rhum (Apple Charlotte with Rum-Flavored Crème Anglaise)

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:07:05 PDT

Paul Brent, a seasoned and well-respected reporter in the Ottawa area, called me on Wednesday to see if I would like to be interviewed for a segment about blogging, cookbooks and Julie and Julia. The next day, he came to my home to film me making a recipe, as well as discuss my role as a food blogger in this new era of blogging and books. What he filmed will be on CTV Ottawa Weekend News on his segment called Tech Now with Paul Brent Sunday, August 2nd at 6:00 p.m and here (and then click "Tech Now: August 2, 2009"). One of the questions Paul was exploring is this: Will blogging force cookbooks into extinction when you can click and cook from a laptop?I hope not. I still use a cookbook regularly. I love browsing the pages of beautiful and inspiring cookbooks before bed. I like to write notes in the margins. The stains on the pages of my...

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Crème Caramel

whiskfoodblog@gmail.com (Shari@Whisk: a food blog) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:12:54 PDT

There's a buzz in the food world around Julie and Julia, the movie coming to theatres Friday, August 7. I can't wait to see it. And thanks to Leanne Cusack from CTV News at Noon, I'll get to see a sneak preview. I met Leanne today to talk about my link to this movie as a featured blog on Sony Picture's official trailer website and to demonstrate a French recipe from the Le Cordon Bleu curriculum that I'm working through. Here is a link to my segment on CTV News at Noon. I was also on A Morning Ottawa with Angie Poirier this morning where I demonstrated both Leek and Potato soup (which will be another post another day) and Crème Caramel. Live TV is a bit of an adrenaline rush. All of a sudden, the lights are on, the camera is pointed towards you, a host is asking questions about you and your work, you're working through the key points...

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