Stocks, Soups and Sauces.... and so many Knife Cuts

So days 2-4 of Skills were interesting to say the least. Day 2 was mainly a day of some simple knife cuts again and learning how to make stock. The actual definition of stock is a flavorful liquid that has been cooked from aromatics (veg, spices etc) and bones from an animal. We make stock every single day. Usually 2 kettles of Chicken and 1 of something else, lately White Beef Stock but eventually Fish Stock, Veg Stock and Brown Veal Stock.

Anyway at the end of Day 2 we get our Vegetable Beef Soup recipe and notes. We turned our stock into broth by cooking it with the beef meat and doing everything all over again with meat and an aromatic blend. We walked into class on Day 3 and immediately the kitchen was bustling, everyone is running around trying to get mirepoix (for those who don't remember a combo of onion/leek, celery, and carrot/parsnip for stock flavoring) done for the day. 240 pounds of bones = 30 pounds of mirepoix, so 15 pounds of onions and 7.5 pounds of celery and carrot. Each day, each team is responsible for one of them. So we had celery which needed to be cleaned, peeled and chopped as well as the excess cleaned and bagged. All this is done while getting the things for our knife trays set-up (3 potatoes, 4 onions, 4 garlic cloves, 2 tomatoes, 1 shallot, a bunch of parsley and the stuff for a satchet). Finally, setting up our water bath's (basically a large pan with water to hold stock and butter and what not to keep it warm). A lot of running around.

Now the fun starts, at 7:30 whether your team is done or not, knife trays begin... 60 minutes. 2 onions sliced 1/8 in, 2 onions small diced, 1 shallot minced, 3 garlic cloves minced, 1 bunch parsley minced, 2 tomato concasse (peeled, seeded and rough chopped), 1 potato medium diced (1/2 x 1/2 x 1/2 in cubes), 1 potato batonnets (1/4 x 1/4 x 2 in sticks), and 1 potato half julienne (1/8 x 1/8 x 1 in sticks), half brunoise ( 1/8 x 1/8 x 1/8 in cubes). Let me tell you that cutting something to 1/8 of an inch is hard. All this must be done in 60 minutes with increasing speed so by the final we have 45 min. You go up, show Chef your tray and he tells you and if they look off will take out a ruler or his model of cuts and compare. So far I've done great on everything except the potatoes. My battonets and medium dice are pretty good but my brunoise and julienne need work, that 1/8 in is getting me.

After knife trays, it's on to demo time. Chef prepares Veg Beef Soup for us as we watch, he gives us a sample of his to compare for seasoning and says... GO! We run away and begin. 1 oz Clarified Butter heated to sweat the onions, carrots, turnips, celery, leeks, parsnip all that had to be medium dice before we could begin. After that, add the garlic for about 1 minute. Add 1 quart of beef broth and the satchet (parsley stem, thyme, cracked peppercorn, 1 garlic clove and a bay leaf or 2 all wrapped in cheesecloth). Simmer 25 minutes. When its ready, add the tomato, beef, and cabbage for 5 more minutes and then remove satchet and season. When I brought it for tasting he said veg were cooked perfectly, seasoned very well, the only complaint was a bit less butter next time. Not bad. Clean-up, lunch, lecture and then we were free.

Friday... Day 4. What Chef calls, "the easiest day of the class." It was. We went in and did stocks and knife trays until about 8:30-9. Then it was time for us to make Onion Soup! Easily my favorite soup of all time and decently easy to make. We took 1 oz of butter and heated over med-high heat and then dropped in 1 pound of onions and just let them sit and caramelize. After a few minutes, that brown stuff starts to form at the bottom (we call that "fond") and you take it off the heat and stir so that the steam from the onions deglaze's the pan the onions scoop up that brown, sugary delicious. After you do this a few times and your onions and nice and brown we add the chicken broth, and satchet and then wait. 30 minutes. Add 2 oz sherry wine and simmer 5 more minutes before removing the satchet and seasoning. Oh and we also toasted sliced french bread with butter and cheese to make croutons as a garnish. Well let me say Chef loved mine. "Excellent color, seasoned perfectly... Right on." Exact words so I certainly felt accomplished. And then for the last time that week, clean-up, lunch and lecture.

I'm excited for Tuesday (we have off Monday), because it's Consomme day which is basically the clearest and most flavorful soup you'll ever eat. But more to come on that.

This weekend I finally got to play frisbee at a tournament with a pick-up team about 45 minutes from here so even though my body hurts, it was great. The rest of the weekend is just me being lazy.

Chef Werblin

ps. I'd venture to say that in the last 4 days, I have said "Yes Chef" and "No Chef" at least 500 times... at least.