2 days of cooling and class foto

Monday and Tuesday were 2 very similar days for group C, from 8.30h until 12.00h practical and from 12.30h until 15.00h demonstration. So besides doing my homework, i washed (again), ironed and did little else.
On thurday we had our class picture taken. Paolo, thanks for making the same pictures with my camera. It was a pity that 7 of our class did not show up, so the group seems smaller as it actually is. Here some pictures of the last 2 days

Monday: We made a pigeon salad, duck again this time with a horrible gnocchi paste and a nice swiss roll with ricotta and mandarins.
They actually found a way to get rid of the pigeons in Paris at Le Cordon Bleu: Cook them and eat them. In fact it was not as bad as you may think.
For those who want to get of pigeons in the rest of the world: here is the recipe:

4 persons

·         Ingredients

o    4 pigeons, taken directly from the Champ de Mars (that is where the Eiffeltower is). The tourists feed them so much that here you find the biggest and fattest samples, they are so tame, you can just take them by hand. Kill them by stangeling them to keep the blood in the meat.

o    5 ml oil or goose fat

·         Pigeon jus for the vinaigrette

o    50 g shallots

o    50 g onions

o    80 g carrots

o    1 Bouquet Garni

·         Garnish

o    200 g lambs lettuce (veldsla in dutch)

o    200 g cultivated mushrooms

o    ½ bunch watercress

o    40 g pine nuts

·         Vinaigrette

o    50 ml wine vinegar

o    10 ml truffle juice

o    100 ml hazelnut oil’

o    100 ml pigeon jus

o    S&P

1.     Prepare the pigeon

a.    Cut the feet & wings, keep wings for jus

b.    Cut the back open

c.    Make incision in throat, take spine with fingers, cut at end of neck

d.    Take out intestines with fingers from the back, keep the liver and the heart

e.    Take out pockets in the neck that contain grain, do not open or damage them, they stink

f.     Remove fat pockets in the back

g.    Remove lungs

h.    Cut off the tail, (croupion in french)

i.      Take off the glants (located at the back side of the pigeons back, smells horrible)

j.     Cut excess neck skin

k.    Remove the wish bone and make a wish

2.     Put veal stock in a casserole to reduce by ½

3.     Brown the pigeon in sauté pan with duck fat

a.    Season inside with salt & pepper

b.    Put in oven 180 °C for 10 minutes

c.    Let it rest, keep the pan

4.     Cut up the pigeon in 4 parts, 2 legs and 2 breast/wing parts

a.    Put cutted carcasses and trimmings in sauté pan (3)

b.    Debone legs, take out upper bone, cut around joint, french upper part of lower bone, cut with cleaver.  French under side of lower bone

c.    Add bones to sauté pan with trimmings

d.    Add legs and breasts, skin side down, put on high heat

e.    Turn, add liver, put on low heat

f.     Take out breasts and legs, put on warm place under alu foil, covered with butter, should become pink

5.     Make the sauce

a.    Cut shallot, onions and carrot mirepoix

b.    Add to sauté pan with trimmings, cook

c.    Strain the fat

d.    Deglaze pan with vinegar

e.    Out back garnisch & trimmings

f.     Add some veal stock (not in recipe) or water

g.    Let it cook as long as possible under paper lid on low heat

h.    Strain the sauce

i.      Add vinegar to deglaze, scrape

j.     Add hazelnut oil

k.    Add truffeljus

l.      Strain through same chinois, press well

m.  Reduce to right consistancy

n.    Add fluid from resting pigeons    

6.     Roast pine nuts

7.     Cut white part of mushroom in cubes

a.    sweat in peanut oil

b.    keep until use on warm place

8.     Wash watercress & lamb lettuce, put in bowl

a.    add vinegar 1/3, add olive oil 2/3

b.    season S&P

Plating:

·         Put watercress salads in pastry ring

·         Put pigeon legs on side

·         Cut pigeon breast in slices and put on top of salad

·         Add mushrooms on side

·         Cover mushroom with vinaigrette sauce

·         Put pine nuts around

·         Cut liver in 2, put on plate

Salade de pigeon parisienne

Salmis de canard et cabouillade

Biscuit roulé, ricotta et mandarins

Thomas, Victoria and Jennifer enjoying Pigeon

Tuesday we made a roulade from goats cheese, a pie filled with guinea fowl (parelhoen) and ravioli made from pineapple. Excellent dish if you would make it without cilantro (koriander).

11.00h out class foto was taken:

Goat cheese roulade

Guinea Fowl Pie

Pineapple raviolis

Intermediate cuisine Nov-Dec 2011