A Chocolate Pistachio Macaroon Cake and Lamb Tenderloin

After being here in Paris since August, I am burnt out on eating macaroons, but still love making them.  In Wednesday's pastry class, we got to make a giant macaroon cake, filled with chocolate mousse and pistachio pastry cream.  I may be sick of eating macaroons, but I don't think I will ever tire of chocolate mousse.  It was delicious.  After assembling and decorating our cakes, we got to spray them with the chocolate gun, which is pretty much a paint gun, but filled with chocolate instead of paint.  I thought the cakes looked nicer before, but using the chocolate spray gun is always fun.  

Yesterday in cuisine, we made lamb tenderloin, covered in an herb paste, then wrapped in warka dough, which is a lot like filo dough.  We breaded and deep fried garlic, and made a vegetable tian that looked exactly like the dish at the end of the movie Ratatouille.  

After class, Katherine and I walked 2 miles from Concorde to the Marais so we could treat ourselves to Myberry, the most wonderful frozen yogurt in Paris, although not as great as NYC's Yogurtland.  Imagine our disappointment when it was closed!  Our only consolation was the gelato from Amorino, the Parisian chain of  tasty gelaterias.  

Mango Cakes, Lobsters, "Pac Man" Meat Pie

Yesterday in cuisine practical, we made a puff pastry pie stuffed with shredded guinea fowl meat, hearts and lamb sweetbreads.  Not at all my cup of tea, but very French.  Instead of making a huge loaf, I made a mini pie, then cut out a wedge so that the layers would show.  What I meant to have look like a cake ended up bearing a striking resemblance to PacMan.  They must not have the game here, because Chef didn't say anything negative about it.

This morning in pastry, we made mango raspberry log cakes.  They were pretty easy to make and put together and we had a wonderfully relaxing class.

Later in the afternoon, I had another cuisine practical, this time with a lobster dish.  The chef made terrines with lobster and vegetables and I got in a very creative mood and did a deconstructed dish.  I made a carrot puree instead of slices, then I made a burnt sugar crust on top of it.  After that, I julienned leeks and daikon radish.  I presented the vegetables in varying sized ring molds, and put them next to a few lobster medallions.  I was very proud of my plate, but Chef thought I went a little too crazy, completely abandoning the recipe.  I guess I will have to find a happy medium in the next cuisine practical.

The weather has been so nice that Katherine and I have being going on walks AND sitting outside in a park during some of our school breaks.  Hopefully it will keep up so I can finally get rid of my pasty Parisian complexion.  

First Few Classes Of Superior!!!

This week was my first week in Superior, the top level at Le Cordon Bleu.  There is no longer a translator and my French is still horrible, so I was very nervous about following the chefs' demonstrations.  

During the first demo on Monday, the chef lectured a bit about how serious we need to be, etc.  I understood very little and panicked that I was making a huge mistake taking classes I would never be able to understand.  After I calmed down and the chef began the lesson, I realized I understood a lot more than I thought I would.  The demos also run a lot faster and more seamlessly when there isn't a translator slowing down the chef. 

I was amazed at the differences is the dishes we are making.  Goodbye rustic stews and meat stuffed with more meat, hello fusion cuisine.  On Monday we experimented with Indian-French fusion and made John Dory fillets with tandoori , wild rice and a tropical fruit salsa.  In our next cuisine class, we made lamb chops with a truffled bechamel coating and we used purple potatoes to make crisps.  For pastry classes, we have made the more traditional Baba Rhum.  It is a simple cake soaked for a long time in rum syrup, then garnished with a rum-flavored custard.  The assemble is tricky since the soaking cake is heavy and can crumble easily.  

In our practicals, we are getting a lot more freedom to be creative with our plating and presentation.  I have been loving it and trying a lot of new things.  I make an effort to present at least one extra sauce or garnish with every dish.  Chef was very pleased when I made a mango-papaya-cilantro smoothie to accompany the tandoori fish.  Unfortunately, I have forgotten my camera for the past few days, but I am trying to remember tomorrow, and for my class Saturday morning.  

Sweet Dreams!

Trying Harder at Presentation

Today was a challenging day for presentation.  Recently, my presentation has been lacking.  I have either made it sloppy and uninteresting or tried too hard and created something to corny.  Today we had 2 back to back practicals; the first being raspberry anise macaroons in pastry class.  This was one of the first desserts we have plated.  I thought about it ahead of time, something I've learned is very necessary with plating.  We were to make medium sized macaroons and I made a few minis to plate along with it.  I think the chef really appreciated my efforts, although he said that I needed to add more sauce to the plate.  

In cuisine, we made duck leg pot-a-feu, a stew like creation that is very tough to plate well.  Not only were we presenting a stew like, monotonous dish on a plate (rather than a bowl) but we also boiled marrow bones that we were supposed to plate AND making a tartar sauce to go along with it.  I plotted ahead of time with my friend and she lent me a small porcelain dish to hold the tartar sauce.  We also decided to run out to the delicious local bakery and get a baguette.  With that, I made wonderfully buttery croutons and spread the marrow onto those; MUCH prettier than plating a clunky bone.  Chef Thivet didn't have much to say, but I was definitely pleased with myself.  I also talked to the new chef about ways to improve my plating.  He mentioned making sure that the main part of the dish (usually the meat) is on the lower right hand side, making easier to eat.  He also said to look at cookbooks for inspiration and then to try to find my own personal style.  

Off to oooh and aahhh over some Thomas Keller cookbook photos...