I am not completly incompotent in a kitchen. I can use a George Forman and steam some rice, but I am no Bobby Flay and I am certainly not ready for a throw down. Over the second half of the semester here in Rome, I have been able to attend four cooking session and put it all together for an exam. Our teacher is Cristina Bowerman, and amazing chef who owns the restaurant "Glass" in the neighborhood of Trastevere in Rome. I hope to eat there with some friends next week.
Our first class was on the traditional Roman Dish of Carbonara, which I ate at my first dinner here in Italy. While the thought of eggs and bacon with pasta did sound too appealing to me at first, I really loved the dish when I tried it. I plan on making this for my family when I return home next month. My first try at this dish turned out pretty well and I was proud of myself for not completly messing it up.
- 7 oz spaghetti or rigatoni
- 3 oz guanciale cut in small pieces
- 2egg yolks
- 2 oz grated parmesan cheese and pecorino cheese
- black pepper
Cook the pasta. Once ready, mix it very quickly with pasta and in the end, pour the guanciale and mix one more time. Serve immediately.
In our first class we also made a risotto starting with creating our own vegatable brooth. I have a rice steamer at home, so adding the liquid slowly was new to me. The texture of my risotto turned out almost perfect on this first attempt- much better than the exam.
5 cups vegetable broth (2 parts onion, 1 carrot, 1 celery, 1L water. Bring to a simmer for 45 minutes)
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/2 cups Carnaroli Rice
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon saffron
1 tablespoon butter
1/3 cup freshly-grated parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly-ground pepper to taste
Parmesan Cheese
Heating the broth or liquid: All the flavors that the cooking liquid starts out with become more concentrated and intense as it evaporates.
In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the broth to a slow, steady simmer (the liquid should stay hot but not simmer).
Place this pot on a burner, over low heat, next to the burner you will be using to make the risotto. Keep the broth simmering slowly.
Toasting the rice: Cooking the rice in hot butter or oil before adding liquid helps the rice to absorb the liquids slowly with becoming soggy. This is called "Toasting the Rice."
In a large heavy 4-quart pan over medium heat, melt the butter; add onion and sauté for 1 to 2 minutes or until soft (be careful not to brown the onions).
Add the rice. Using a wooden spoon, stir for about 2 to 3 minutes, making sure all the grains are well coated (toasting the rice in melted butter keeps it from getting mushy). Toasting the rice quickly heats up the grain's exterior (toast until the rice is hot to the touch and the color should remain pearly white, not turn brown.
Add the wine and stir until completely absorbed, 2 to 3 minutes.
Add liquid in increments: The quantity of liquid suggested in the recipes is always approximate. In actual cooking, you should be prepared to use more, or sometimes less, as the risotto itself requires. All the flavors that the cooking liquid starts out with become more concentrated and intense as it evaporates.
Add the hot chicken broth (1/2 cup at a time), stirring frequently. Add liquid slowly and stirring frequently are the keys to making perfect risotto.
Run your wooden spoon across the bottom of the pot to determine when each addition of broth is almost completely absorbed. Wait until each addition is almost completely absorbed before adding the next 1/2 cup, reserving about 1/4 cup to add at the end. Stir frequently to prevent sticking.
Risotto doesn't need constant attention during its 18 minute cooking time. You'll just need to check on the pan every few minutes, give the rice a stir to keep it from sticking, and add more stock.
Adding saffron:
When the rice has cooked for 15 minutes, add saffron.
Finishing the risotto:
After approximately 18 minutes, when the rice is tender but still firm, add the 1/4 cup reserved hot broth.
When cooking with broth, if you have used up the broth before the rice is fully cooked, continue with simmering water.
The rice is done when it is tender, but firm to the bite. The total amount of cooking time may vary within 2 to 3 minutes. To test the risotto for proper consistency, spoon a little into a bowl and shake it lightly from side to side. The risotto should spread out very gently of its own accord. If the rice just stands still, it's too dry, so add a little more stock. If a puddle of liquid forms around the rice, you've added too much stock. Spoon some liquid off, or just let the risotto sit for a few more seconds off the heat to absorb the excess stock.
Turn off the heat and immediately add the remaining 1 tablespoon butter and the parmesan cheese, stirring vigorously to combine with the rice. Add salt and pepper to taste
tOur Second class began with a trip to a fresh market to pick our the meat we would be working with. The process of buying meat is so much different than in the US. Fishermen bring their proucts fresh each day and some of the fish being laid out onto the ice blocks were still alive. This was a little to graphic for me and ruined any appetite I may have had. We bought some mackeral and some cuts of veal.
I feel that meat is best served simple because I like to enjoy the natural taste and texture of it which is why I was happy to know we only used a basic breading on the veal and mackerel. These dishes turned out pretty well although we had some issues deboning our fish. I will have to practice that task.
2 tbs flour
salt
pepper
olive oil
butter
- To insure tender scaloppine, you will want slices of veal about 1/4 inch thick (1/2 cm) thick. Thinner scaloppine will dry out and toughen as they cook. Thicker scaloppine will instead require a longer cooking time and become chewy.
- To keep scaloppine from curling in the pan, make 3 to 4 equally spaced nicks in the edges of the slices, and remove bits of gristle that will shrink as the meat cooks.
- To keep the drippings (which become the sauce) from becoming lumpy, after flouring the scaloppine shake off all excess flour.
1) flour meat with salt and pepper. Dust off excess
2) in a pan, place a little oil and butter
3) cook the scaloppine for few minutes
4) deglaze with marsala wine
5) take the meat off the pan and reduce sauce
6) place the meat on a plate and pour sauce on top.
1 slice of panbrioche, bread or white sliced bread
1 mackerel
1 tbs of stracciatella cheese
2 sundried tomatoes, cut julienne (long thin strips)
1 tbs oil
salt
Clean the fish and obtain two filets
In a hot pan, pour 1 tbs oil and place the file, skin side down, keeping it down with your finger to avoid curling.
Once the skin is crispy, flip it and take off the burner. Let it finish cooking.
In the meanwhile, toast the bread either in the oven, high temp or in a pan. Top it with stracciatella cheese, sundried tomatoes and then the mackerel, skin side up. Complete with some finishing salt. Serve with apple, possibly.
Our Third Session was based on deserts- a favorite of mine. I really think that both of these turned out well. Tirumisu is a favorite of mine and always has been so it was an interesting experience to make it myself. We also made pastry cream, and I somehow overwhipped my cream into butter.
In a medium-sized stainless steel bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolks together with a wooden spoon. (Never let the mixture sit too long or you will get pieces of egg forming.) Add the flour and then add to the egg mixture, mixing until you get a smooth paste. Set aside.
Meanwhile in a saucepan combine the milk on medium heat until boiling. (The milk will foam up to the top of pan when done, so watch carefully.) Remove from heat and add slowly to egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. (If you get a few pieces of egg (curdling) in the mixture, pour through a strainer.) Add the seeds to the egg mixture.
Place the egg mixture back into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly. When it boils, whisk mixture constantly for another 30 - 60 seconds until it becomes very thick and it is hard to stir.
Remove from heat and immediately whisk in the chocolate.
1 1/4 cups (300 ml) milk
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
3 large egg yolks
1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar
1/8 cup (30 grams) all-purpose flour
Our final instructional sessional was taught me a professional pizza making consultant. We gathered that the ingredients used and yeast present are very important tools for creating a great pizza- and apparently funny sound effects from the chef don't hurt either. Some of us even rolled our own dough. I hope to make my own pizza when I get home.THE EXAM...AHHHHHHH
Due to an illness there were an odd number of us for the exam and I ended up having to cook by myself, which can be a little scary since everything else was done in pairs throughout the semester. I man'ed up and did the best I could. I feel that my pastry cream turned out pretty well depsite my nagging fear that I was doing it wrong the entire time. I feel like I used to much egg yolk and may cut back on that aspect the next time I am being graded on homemade pastry cream...
The rissotto was a complete mess and I will fully admit that. It was really disappointing since it turned out so well the first time. I over cooked. I over cooked it to mush. I added too much broth close to end and had to wait for it cook off. I was in a rush to serve it before it got even more mushy and it was underseasoned as well :-(
No comments:
Post a Comment