If it's September we must be in France

*tap*

*tap tap*

Is this thing on?

Yes, I know I have really been neglecting you over here.  I could offer up excuses like spending the summer redoing my house or fishing at our camp in Maine with my Mom and S.D. but I know that you really don't want to hear about that do you?  You dear reader are here for the food so shall we get back to it?

School started again this week on Monday.  We slowly drifted in to class around 8:00 all bright and shiny and ready to go. There were hugs and stories and lots of things to catch up on.  Everyone went down to see the unbelievable remodel in kitchen 'C'.  The room we formerly called the dungeon is pretty F'in amazing now!  Beautiful all new and shiny reach in fridge, freezer, double stack convection ovens, 10 burner range, deep fryer and on and on.  Damn it's beautiful.  Sadly though the newbies in baking get to play in the new sandbox.  We just get to gloat about being seniors and work up in the fishbowl of 'B' kitchen. I don't mind so much, it really is my favourite kitchen.

Every Monday this semester will be Provincial French with Chef Deb S. and Tuesday will be Classical French with Chef Jan.

Today we'll chat about Provincial.  So grab your cider and a seat and we'll head off to Brittany and Normandy.

My only experience with Chef Deb as an instructor was when she filled in two afternoons for the other Chef Deb so I really wasn't sure what to expect for her class.
She began by laying down the new rules like restocking the kitchen with basic supplies in the beginning of class instead of the end.  Two people would be assigned to that task, two people would be getting the 'red box' or our supplies to make our recipes for that class and two would be assigned to sink set up and clean up at the end of class. We started out that way as newbies but soon we all fell into our own routines anyway as some people would rather do dishes and others would rather sweep up, but we shall see if the list of assignments sticks this time.
She gave us the overview of the provinces and outlined which regions we would be hitting for each class.
Provincial French won't be about new techniques, instead it will be much more like our semester in Italy. Each lecture will outline what is important about each region from agriculture and landscape to the terrain and the animals that are prevalent in that region.
Are the people peasants and farmers or well off and urban?
What are the wines or liqueurs that define each region?
What cheeses are made?
What grains and produce are grown and most important what are the dishes that represent each region?
Each of these needs to be committed to memory for our final French exam. We have been assured that France will be much easier to remember regionally than Italy.
The tough thing about Italy is that many of the regions had pasta, many grew tomatoes, some cheeses could be primarily made in one region, but since the terrain overlapped that could also be made in a different region but your task was to remember the primary region.  In the end it was all to much for many of us.  Since we hadn't seen each other since the day we took the exam there was some talk about the test went and how difficult is was for some of us. I had been getting straight A's up until this exam and I pissed and moaned about getting an 82 but from the conversations I heard others had a tougher time of it than I did.

Lesson learned? 
Start studying NOW.

Brittany and Normandy can be summed up in a few simple ways;
The 3 C's: Camembert, Cider and Calvados
or
The A-B-C's: Apples, Butter and Cheese

I like them all so I really can't complain.

When we headed to the kitchens after the lecture we dove in to the following dishes;
Coeur a la Creme which is a bit like a quickly made version of a Boursin.  It's made in the adorable little heart Coeur a la creme molds and studded with fresh herbs. Sure to impress if you made them for a dinner party.

A delicious oyster dish, Huitres aux Amandes. Oysters baked quickly with butter, almonds, breadcrumbs, garlic, brandy and some herbs and spices. Wow were they good.

La Cotriade which at first glance looked like a boring fish stew made with only water and a bouquet garni to season it.  The stew is poured in a dish over a crouton of stale bread. The thing that transforms this dish is the mix of crushed peppercorns and vinegar that are spooned on to each bowl as a garnish. We each tasted the dish before adding the condiment and after and it was a world of difference.

Another thing that the region is noted for is the use of beans or bean puree. Any dish that is A la Bretonne means it uses either whole white beans or white bean puree. Brian made the Potage au deux haricots. This dish uses both salt pork as well as crumbled bacon on top and for a girl who loves her pork this just did not do it for me. Everything is pureed in the end and I think I just like my beans whole not as mush.  Ah well.

Peter made a gorgeous bread, Le floron bread.  Each load has flour dusted on top over a fleur de lis stencil and after it has baked the excess is brushed off.  The final appearance is this beautiful pale recessed area with the pattern.  The bread had a very hard crust and a nice soft dense crumb inside.  Very, very good.

Lynn made the filled buckwheat crepes.  Buckwheat is a staple grain for these regions.  They were filled with a 'stew' of apples cooked with onions and seasoned with cider vinegar (apples again) and a bit of sugar.  The 'stew' tasted a bit like a saurkraut which I love, but many don't so they were not a big hit either.  They were plated with the dish that I made.

In typical fashion I chose the main course.  I really need to FORCE myself to make more desserts this semester.  Really.  Must. 
I chose the Roti de Porc au Pruneaux.
Spear the center of a pork roast and make a cavity large enough to stuff it with prunes that have been soaked in wine.  Tie it and season with salt and pepper and dust it with flour.  It's browned in a dutch oven and then the pan is deglazed with Calvados (more apples).  Wine and veal stock are added and it is covered and roasted for about an hour to an hour and a half.  The juices are reduced and cream and more Calvados is added to make a gravy. More prunes stewed in wine are served on the side.  The roast looks beautiful when carved and this dish is great to pull out for holidays.

And then the desserts

Rob made the most unbelievably good apples, Pommes Caramele.  What you say could possibly be bad about apples and brown sugar?  Well, nothing would be the answer. 
Apples are peeled and cored and rubbed in lemon juice to prevent browning.  A dish is buttered, the apples are laid face down and then a cooked mixture of corn syrup, brown sugar, vanilla is poured over them.  They are covered and baked and basted until tender. The apples are removed, the sauce reduced and cream is added.  This is poured over the apples and some soft plop cream with a bit of Calvados is poured over or served on the side. O-M-G.

Fall is here, apple picking season will begin any day now.  I implore you.  Make this.

He also made a dessert called Kouigh Amann.  It's basically a puff pastry dough with yeast added that you roll sugar into at each turn.  It is sprinkled in sugar and baked.  Think Fried dough without the frying.

 

Since we are only 8 in this class we didn't make all 5 desserts but Heather did make the Gateau Breton aux Abricots.  It's a think batter filled with apricots cooked in cider. I love cider but wasn't a fan of the taste of the filling.  Her cake though was lovely.

All in all a really great first day back.  Tomorrow Classical French I.

It's really good to be back.

Comments

[Brian]

So tell me, have any of them learned to EAT while they were away?

[jo]

Sadly the same no egg eating, no fish eating continues. We also had duck on Tuesday, I'll relay that tale when I get there.

[obgyn gilbert]

Yummy! I could have this on a sunday breakfast.

[esseroSpuri]

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