Vegetables, Vegetables and more Vegetables!

I know you have all been waiting all WEEK for this! Well its finally here VEGETABLES! If you are not a vegetable eater then this is the best week for you to read because I am going to go over some EXCELLENT ways to have your veggies. We did a lot so here it goes:

· Tempura (Dashi)

· Steamed Broccoli

· Blanched green beans

· Grilled summer zucchini

· Roasted winter vegetables

· Braised Lettuce

· Glazed Carrots

· Squash stir fry

· Ratatouille

· Cauliflower au Gratin

· Pasta

TEMPURA

There are many steps that go into making tempura, there is the dipping sauce which includes the traditional Japanese stock DASHI, then there is the Batter which can be done many different ways (we did two in class), last but not least there is prepping your vegetables.

Dashi (1qt)

· 1 qt water

· 1” x 4” Kelp

· ½ C (packed) bonito flakes

1. Place Kelp in water, simmer then turn off the heat.

2. Take the kelp out, put the bonito flakes in water, when they sink to the bottom strain, and you are done!

USEFUL FACT:

· The white stuff on the kelp is MSG… wipe it off if you don’t want that flavor enhancement (many people are allergic, and also tends to cause head aches... no good!)

· Dashi is also the base for miso soup... yummm

Tempura Batter

· 9 oz (wt) AP flour

· 4 tbs potato starch (or sub cornstarch)

· 14 oz very cold club soda

· 1 cup ice cubes

· 1 egg yolk

1. Sieve together the tempura and potato starch

2. In a medium bowl, beat the egg yolk until smooth .Add ice cubes and the cold water and whisk together (ice cubes are there to ensure the icy cold temp that you want)

3. Lightly mix the flour and starch mixture into this liquid. The flour should not be beaten so that the batter is smooth. You want a LUMPY batter. – Use the batter immediately.

2^nd option for batter:

· Equal parts AP flour and pastry flour

· Club soda

This batter is much lighter, doesn’t need to be as lumpy – but not soupy. It also creates a much more flakier coating.

Vegetables: You can use whatever veggies you wish: here is what we used in class:

· Sweet potato

· Broccoli florets

· Mushrooms

· Zucchini

Once you have your vegetables cut and your batter made:

4. Coast vegetables in flour; shake off excess, before placing them in the batter.

5. Drop the vegetables in the batter a few at a time. Remove them from the batter one at a time and drop them into the deep fryer.

(If you are doing this at home you will most likely not be using a deep fryer – so a deep-sided pan or wok will suffice. Make sure there is enough oil in the pan that the vegetables have enough to be covered.

6. After they rise to the top (a few min) scatter some more batter on top of the tempura floating in the oil. This will make the finished product crispier

7. Listen to the sound of, and look at the size of, the bubbles in the oil to judge when the food has been cooked to perfection. The bubbles become smaller and the pitch of the bubbles gets higher when the tempura is cooked.

8. Cook until done. Remove and drain. Skim any bits of batter from the oil

9. Arrange the tempura vegetables on a serving platter. Serve the dipping sauce on the side.

NOTES/OBSERVATIONS

· The oil is ready when the batter sinks and returns to the surface within 3 seconds.

· If using sweet potato or mushrooms, they may take longer to cook.

· Keep your tongs out of oil.

· They shouldn’t brown – light and crispy!

· The best oil to use is canola oil, peanut oil, or sunflower oil because they all have a smoke point.

STEAMED BROCCOLI/BLANCHED GREEN BEANS

Both of these veggie dishes are pretty simple. To steam put the broccoli put it in a pot with boiling water – steam until tender.

Blanching is done by putting the green beans or any other vegetable you are using in pot of boiling water. Leave for a minute or two, then immediately put those vegetables in an ice bath. This leaves the veggies a tad crispier then if you were to steam.

TIP - when cooking broccoli (really any veggie) they cook best when they are all the same size, so if after cutting they are different sizes like these were either cook one bath or the other or cook them separately so that everything finishes at the same time.

FUN FACT: If you add baking soda to the water this helps green beans retain their color.

GRILLED SUMMER ZUCCHINI

· one or two zucchinis

· 5 oz extra virgin olive oil

· minced basil, thyme, rosemary

· ¼ tsp granulated garlic

· salt and ground black pepper

1. Mix the together the oil and herbs. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Remove a small bit of both ends of the zucchini

3. Cut the zucchini lengthwise into ½ “ thick slices

4. Brush the oil onto the sliced zucchini – both sides

5. Grill the slices on grill at an angle, switching angles to get cross marks. Repeat on other side.

Be careful not to burn or overcook zucchini!

ROASTED WINTER VEGETABLES

These vegetables were delicious and had such simple seasonings!

3 oz carrots, peeled

2 oz celery root (aka celeriac), peeled

3 oz turnips, peeled

2 oz parsnips, peeled

3 oz yukon gold potatoes, peeled

2 oz golden beets, peeled

3 oz, butternut squash, peeled and seeded

3 ea shallots, peeled – LEAVE WHOLE

2 ea garlic cloves, peeled – LEAVE WHOLE

1 oz olive oil

¼ tsp. thyme, dried

½ kosher salt

¼ tsp very finely ground black pepper

1. cut all veggies into medium dice or large dice

2. place the veggies, the whole peeled shallots and whole peeled garlic cloves each on its own sheet of aluminum foil

3. pour the live oil over each square of foil with the veggies and sprinkle them with salt, pepper and tiny bit of thyme. Toss to coat well. Add oil as necessary

4. pull up the 4 corners of each piece of foil to make a slightly open pouch. DO NOT SEAL THE VEGGIES COMPLETELY IN THE FOIL!

5. Bake at 375 F. for about ½ hour and checking to see which veggies are tender and lightly browned. Turn the veggies several times during cooking to ensure even browning. Do not allow them to become to brown, they may taste bitter.

6. As each pouch is done, remove it and leave it out to cool. When all the pouches are properly cooked, combine all the veggies together, reheat, adjust the seasoning and serve.

NOTE- Some may take longer to cook then other vegetables. Make sure all veggies are DONE when you take them out.

While we were cooking our parsnips and shallots took longer then the other veggies. The beets, squash, and potato took the shortest amount of time.

BRAISED LETTUCE

· 4 Romaine Lettuce hearts, small and firm

· 2 mediume carrots, peeled and sliced into rondelles

· 1 medium onion, peeled and sliced

· 3 oz bacon, or bacon trimmings, cut into thing strips

· 1 oz clarified butter

· 1 bouqut garni- (2 thyme sprigs, 3 parsley stems or sprigs, 1 bay leaf, 2 garlic cloves, celery, carrot and leek – all tied together in a sting)

· 2 ½ c white stock

· 1-2 tsp. arrowroot and water to make a slurry

1. Preheat oven to 300 F

2. Remove and tough outer leave and wash the lettuce well

3. Blanch in boiling, salted water for 5 min. Drain and shock

4. Cut small lettuces into 2 halves lengthwise, larger lettuce can be cut in half.

5. In the meantime, brown the bacon gently in the butter, until golden. Remove bacon from pan, set it aside, & add the onions and carrots to the bacon drippings. Cook slowly until the onions are translucent

6. Return the bacon to the pan with the onions and carrots

7. Place the blanched lettuce on top of the other vegetables in the pan

8. Pour in the stock and add the bouquet garni

9. Season lightly and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover the pan with parchment and then foil

10. Let cook for 30 min in 300 F oven

11. Remove the lettuce with a slotted spoon, allowing each piece to drain well. KEEP ALL THE LIQUID!

12. Arrange the lettuce on a warm plate, cover with parchment paper. Keep warm.

13. Boil the remaining liquid in the pan to reduce it by one third. Let it cool slightly.

14. Mix arrowroot (or cornstarch) with a little bit of cold water. Whisk this into the warm liquid; bring to a boil again, whisking the whole time.

15. Adjust the seasoning in the sauce and pour it through a chinois onto the warm lettuce.

step #9 the reason you cover the pan with parchment and then foil, is so that you avoid steaming the vegetables. If you were to just cover with a lid the space between the top of the lid and the product would be dead air and would create steam – you don’t want this

· The reason you thicken the sauce with cornstarch or arrowhead instead of flour is because flour will make it cloudy and you want it to stay clear.

· We made one mistake while making this dish. We reduced our sauce too much and the onion started to caramelize – the result was that the sauce that was left was very sweet and tasted really good, but the dish did not turn out like it technically should have. At least our mistake resulted in a good outcome!

GLAZED CARROTS

· 1 pound carrots, peeled and roll cut

· 2 tbl sugar

· 2 tbl butter

1. Place carrots in sauté pan so that the carrots are in one thick layer

2. Add clod water to just cover

3. Add the butter and sugar

4. Cover the pan with a lid and bring to a simmer

5. Remove cover and simmer until the water evaporates, the sugar starts to caramelize and the carrots are fork tender.

SQUASH STIR FRY

· 1# zucchini

· 6 oz mushrooms, button, fresh

· 1 tbs canola oil

· 2 tsp garlic, chopped

· 1 tbs oyster sauce

· Red Chili Flakes, TT

· 1 tsp sesame oil

· salt and white pepper, TT

1. Wash the zucchini, trim the ends and slice into battonet. Leave the skin on!

2. Briefly wash the mushrooms. Pat dry. Trim off the stems.

3. Heat the canola oil to smoking, in a wok or sauté pan.

4. Add the garlic and stir fry for a few seconds

5. Add the zucchini and mushrooms and stir-fry for 1 minute

6. Add the oyster sauce and crushed red chilies and continue to stir fry until the zucchini is nearly tender, approximately 1 to 2 minutes

7. Drizzle on the sesame oil. Toss and serve

At the beginning of each class we prep our items for each recipe that we can move through the recipes more efficiently. SO this recipe called for zucchini sliced into battonet and the RATATOUILLE recipe called for zucchini to be diced. WELL I accidently put the diced zucchini in the stir-fry, which was fine for the stir-fry but not so good for the Ratatouille.

RATATOUILLE

· 6 oz onion, peeled, medium dice

· 2 tsp Garlis, minced

· 3 fl oz olive oil

· 3 oz green bell pepper, medium dice

· 3 oz red bell pepper, medium dice

· ½ # eggplant, medium dice

· ¼ # zucchini, medium dice

· 3 oz tomato puree

· ½ # tomato concasse, medium dice

· 3 tbs fresh basil leaves, chiffonade

· salt and black pepper TT

1. Sweat the onion and garlic in the oil until the onion is translucent

2. Add the eggplant and cook on medium heat 5 min, at least until the eggplant no longer tastes raw and bitter

3. Add the bell pepper, and zucchini and sauté 5 more min. try not let it get to brown

4. stir in tomato puree, cover with a parchment round, lower flame and let stew until each vegetable is tender

5. Add the tomato concasse, basil and seasonings. Sauté for 3 min adjust the seasonings and serve.

So the mix up with the zucchini resulted in the zucchini getting way over cooked and kind of lost in the mix.

OTHER PROBLEMS: we had a few other problems with our Ratatouille. It ended up being too oily, and our peppers were a little undercooked. To SOLVE these problems obviously we should have used less oil to begin with and add more if needed. Next time I would add the peppers sooner so that they have more time to cook. That way everything would be done approximately at the same time , also managing the temperature better will also help with this problem.

CAULIFLOWER au GRATIN

· ½ head cauliflower

· 1 ¼ c Bechamel sauce

· 3 oz Gruyere cheese, grated finely

· mornay sauce is the small sauce made from béchamel and Gruyere in step# 4

1. Blanch the cauliflower until al dente. Shock

2. Drain EXTREMELY well, so that the liquid will not thin your mornay sauce, arrange in an oven-proof pan or serving dish.

3. The sauce must be warm and smooth when you are arranging the hot cauliflower in the dish

4. Take the warm béchamel sauce and whisk in half the grated cheese. Do not cook the cheese sauce over a high flame, as too much cooking might harden the cheese and make it granular

5. Pour the cheese sauce evenly over the cauliflower to coat it. This is not soup. Don’t use too much

6. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the top

7. Brown in a 425 F oven for 12-15 minutes, or briefly under a broiler.

To avoid your cauliflower au gratin being watery after you blanch and shock the cauliflower dry it on a towel for at least 30 min if not over night. Pat drying it with just a paper towel isn’t enough!

FRESH MADE PASTA

We used two different recipes for making the pasta – one is by Thomas Keller a famous self taught chef.

· ½ # AP flour

· 6 yolks

· 1 whole egg

· 1 ½ tsp olive oil

· 1 tbs milk

1. Combine ingredients, mix well, knead dough. Roll out to 1 ½ for long pasta, and 1 for filled.

The second recipe is classic Italian recipe using Semolina flour

· 1 cup semolina flour

· 2 egg yolks

· 1 tsp olive oil

· ¼ to ½ c warm water - start with less then add more as needed

1. Put everything in center of the flour and gradually add water.

2. Knead for min 5 min

The Italian pasta dough should feel similar to piecrust when mixing it.

STEPS TO ROLLING OUT PASTA DOUGH

1. Place your pasta-rolling machine on a solid table that the clamp can easily fit in.

2. Start with 8 inch diameter circle (approximately)

3. Roll through (at dial 1, then fold to make a square, either in half or thirds

4. Roll through again

5. Go through each dial – never skipping on. GO in order!

6. Knead throughout, cut off ends about halfway through to make them straight

7. If it breaks apart go back a dial and re run it through

8. Stretch a little bit while running it through

9. Once it is desired length and thickness, put on the cutting component and pick which one you want (i.e. spaghetti, fettuccini)

10. If you want to make ravioli once you have the long strip place your filling on one half about an inch a part from each other, then fold over the other side and cut into squares- flash freeze ravioli before cooking to ensure them staying together

11. If you do not have a pasta roller – you can still make it! Make shapes like orecchiette, rigatoni, really what ever you want!

12. If you do not want to use all your pasta that day, let it dry and save it for tomorrow!

MORE FUN FACTS

· Basil chiffionade- makes a ribbon like cut, roll up 3-4 leaves into a cigar like shape and cut from there. – Good for garnishes!

· Basil is tender and bruises easily- if chopped to much you might end up with oxidized basil

· Basil should be kept at a 50 degree temp- don’t put in the fridge, let it hang out with the tomato on the counter!

· To make your own brown sugar – granulated sugar plus molasses.

We also made mayo again- one of my table mates Karyna's turned out great!

That’s all for this week – next week EGGS and BREAKFAST!