Rustic French Desserts

This Saturday, my almond-flour-friend and I took a class on Rustic French Desserts by Clemence, who owns and runs Gourmandise Desserts. My friend had taken a class with her before, and told me she liked Clemence's style. I think we signed up for Rustric French Desserts because I wanted to take the Business of Baking class (which she had no need for), and my friend wanted to take a Cake Decorating class (to which I responded, when are you ever going to decorate a cake?), so we agreed on something useful and interesting to the both of us.

I have actually never taken a cooking class, which was a surprising realization for me. It made me start to think about how people learn how to cook, especially in light of the cooking class I taught a few weeks ago. There's always the opportunity to watch parents cook, as well as watching chefs on the Food Network cook. But you never really learn unless you do.

During the cooking class I taught, I tried to get all of my "students" (aka friends from work) to participate in the various tasks. Some came in with a lot of experience, having been cooking for their entire lives. Others came in with a few things under their belts and wanting to learn more. I think one friend had never used a hand-held mixer before. Another had trouble with making pasta and asked how to get pasta that wasn't either super al dente or much too mushy. Everyone participated, and I think (I hope) everyone left feeling confident that they could reproduce the dishes we made.

Clemence took the same approach in our class. There were eleven students, ranging from a 7th grade girl to her grandma, to a few other young people, to a couple of middle-aged women. Some came in with a good amount of experience baking at home, and others were starting from scratch. Clemence got everyone involved, and we made five different desserts in three hours.

We started out with a Tarte Tatin, making caramel in a cake pan, and placing sliced apples into the hot caramel to melt down before we covered the apples with puff pastry. I was in charge of slicing the apples and got started slicing them very thin...until Clemence told me to slice larger slices...and my friend told me to just slice the apples in eighths like Clemence asked. I got so caught up in wanting to do a good job that I just didn't pay attention! I was a little embarrassed, but Clemence had a very "let's move on" attitude, and so I did. But I took that little lesson to heart - in culinary school, I need to pay attention and do things the way I'm told - not the way I think would be prettiest or most impressive!

After the Tarte Tatin, we made mini-tarts with pastry cream and almond cream. I was impressed with Clemence's way of handling the materials. I tend to be extra careful with everything I bake, partly because I'm still learning techniques, but also because I think I have this idea that everything needs to be perfect to be delicious. She was rough with the tart dough, pressing it into the tart pans instead of carefully rolling it out with a pin on a lightly floured surface. She also just laughed when eggs were dropped instead of being properly separated and had us grab another egg and keep going. I think a great deal of that attitude comes with getting really comfortable with how things go with baking - it's not always going to be perfect, and (as she said) if things come out a little messy, you can always just call it "rustic".

We also made flourless chocolate cake and Honey Almond Chocolate Mousse (to which I've provided the recipe) which were both extremely easy. I ended up with chocolate on my shirt and under my nails, the leftover tart dough (which Clemence wasn't going to use so I took it) and with a box full of the desserts we made.

As we were packing up, I asked Clemence if she teaches full-time, or if she runs a bakery somewhere. She said she teaches and consults with chefs and restaurants that want to incoporate seasonal ingredients in their desserts. She said it was the best job in the world.

Inspiration

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, and the oven has been calling out to me while I've been racing all over town trying to do everything and see everyone. I've had blackberries, blueberries, peaches, and plums making sad eyes at me everytime I open the fridge and don't take them out to be used. It's been too hot, even in our cool quasi-beach town, to think about turning on the oven, and MM and I have been spending our free time swimming. Better for our waistlines, but not so good for the aspiring bakery owner.

But then, a friend came over to spend the night so she didn't have to drive her 1 1/2 hour commute during this crazy work week, and she brought me almond flour as a gift. We'd been talking about grocery stores and how you can never be sure which store will have which item, (gourmet, organic, or international) and I had mentioned that I wanted to try baking with almond flour but wasn't sure where to find it. She was in a health food store looking for ice cream (which is just plain wrong) and found almond flour and graciously bought the $11 bag for me.

This desire didn't come out of left field. I was recently at Saddlepeak Lodge with some colleagues, and got the waiter to let me try the deconstructed lemon pie (which was on the chef's tasting menu, but which I wanted without the rest of the items). It showed up as little drops of lemon curd, a pile of graham crackers, a scoop of meringue ice cream (which was amazing), and a long squiggle of something doughy. I thought it tasted smoky and nutty, but couldn't place the flavors. I asked the waiter to check with the chef, and he let me know that it was an almond flour and sesame sablé cookie.

I've been thinking about that cookie ever since and wondering how to recreate it. Now that the almond flour has arrived, I'm going to figure it out. Things should slow down enough after this weekend that I'll have the time to experiment. In the meantime, the almond flour will stay on the counter to remind me. I'm planning a plum cake (made in my cast-iron skillet) to use up the plums with the sad eyes, and I'll figure something out for those peaches. And we ate the blueberries and blackberries over ice cream last night, which was just fine for a summer evening.

Windows

At the PubCo office, I sit opposite a bank of windows that look out onto some trees and the mountain range that blocks us from the ocean. I'm almost happy that I don't sit directly at the window, because I know I would spend all day staring out the window dreaming up recipes and bakery decor ideas and the ads I would place in local newspapers and magazines. As it is now, I have to turn my head to look out the window and if I do it for too long, I get a crick in my neck.


Today, after dealing with a morning of flickering fluorescent light bulbs, two of the three bulbs in the unit above my desk burnt out. It is, all of a sudden, very dark and cave-like in my cubicle. I feel a little like Milton from Office Space, when he was told to move into the basement. The two desk laps I already have on my desk aren't helping, and neither is the light from the windows.

It's made me think about some ideas for what I want my bakery to look like. Definitely bright, with a lot of windows. Maybe some plants in pots around the interior and leading the way inside. Photos and art on the walls, and old bells on the front door to let me know that people have arrived and need serving. Natural colors - blues, greens, with white accents. No gray - it will make me think of the cubicle world I currently live in and am looking forward to leaving!

Teaching Cooking

I'll be teaching a cooking class tonight for some friends and thought I'd post the recipe for the main dish they'll be learning. This is a recipe I created based on a pasta dish I like at the Cheesecake Factory. If you try it, let me know how you like it!

Spicy Chicken Pasta
(Cooking Class #1)

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

1 package fettuccine
2 Tbsp (Tablespoon) olive oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders, cut into bite-sized chunks
3-4 cups chopped vegetables (I like red peppers, sweet peas, and asparagus and they should be chopped in bite-size chunks – not too small)
1 pint heavy cream
Up to 1 tsp. (teaspoon) of red chili pepper flakes (less if you like things a little less spicy)
½ tsp salt


Directions:

Cook and drain the pasta according to the package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, heat 1 Tbsp of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add in the chicken and cook until the outside of the pieces is brown, and the inside is no longer pink (you can slice open one or two to check). Once the chicken is cooked, remove to a plate and cover to keep warm.

Add the remaining 1 Tbsp to the skillet, and then add the vegetables. Sauté until the veggies are cooked, but not wilted (they will start to look a little brighter colored). Mix the chicken back into the skillet, then cover and turn the heat off.

Pour the heavy cream into a small saucepan and turn the heat to medium-low. Add in the chili pepper flakes and the salt and stir until the sauce begins to bubble against the side of the pan. Once it bubbles, turn the heat off.

Combine the ingredients in the pot you cooked the pasta in. Mix the vegetables and chicken into the pasta, and then turn the heat on low underneath the pasta as you add in the sauce (you’ll want to keep it warm, and try to evaporate any extra liquid). Once everything’s mixed through, serve, with additional red chili pepper flakes on hand if needed.


Substitution:
If you’re feeling courageous and need more heat, omit the chili pepper flakes and instead, include one chopped chipotle pepper (or a portion of it, if you’re only feeling a little courageous). These usually come in small cans (in adobo sauce) that you can find in the Mexican food aisle of most grocery stores. Rinse off the sauce, and just add in the chopped pepper when you would have added the flakes. The remaining chipotle peppers can be individually wrapped in plastic wrap and frozen for the future.

Culinary School, Redux

I played a bit of hooky this morning to be able to take a tour of the culinary school I'm hoping to attend in January. Well actually, I woke up at 6:45 to get some work done, experienced a power outage at about 7:15, worked a little more, and then played a bit of hooky. I drove out to Santa Barbara and met the coordinator for the culinary arts department at SBCC.

She took me around the various kitchens and lab rooms and walked me through what happened in each space. One room for learning techniques, one kitchen for serving the faculty members, another kitchen for the gourmet meals that culinary students get to develop themselves and serve in the Thursday and Friday night "restaurant" on campus, another kitchen for the student cafeteria, and an entire kitchen devoted to baking, where all the baked goods for the entire campus get made!

She also walked me through the uniform ("Buy two, so you can wash one while you're wearing the other - bringing in the previous day's food is a sanitation violation."), the knife set ("Make sure you carry your knives in a case - do not walk around campus with knives out, because security will come and tackle you and the psychology students will have a field day analyzing you, even though you are very obviously a culinary student."), and some special classes they have on campus, including butchering ("I prefer my food already cooked, but the students had a field day and made sausage, ragu, and I don't know what else out of one pig.")

It was very obvious that she was used to starry-eyed kids who dream of being a chef one day and wanted to help get their heads on straight. At the end of our meeting, when I asked if I needed to come back for the interview mentioned on the website, she said "Oh, no - this is the interview. We just like to talk to anyone considering this program so we can be sure they're aware that this is hard work. It's not like being Rachel Ray." She went on to tell me that about half of the students who enroll each semester end up leaving the program because they really don't seem to understand that they need to follow the rules and show up to class and labs and wear a clean uniform every day. The "interview" is really them trying to get a sense of the level of starry-eyedness they're dealing with.

I think I did a good job of seeming reasonable and showing that I understood the amount of work that a program like this means. Although, after seeing an entire kitchen devoted to baking and hearing that I would get to make, like, 400 croissants every day (to which I thought, "I've always wanted to know how to make croissants!"), I can't help but feel a little starry-eyed.

Flavor Combinations

At work a couple of days ago, I was thinking about pie (because that's what I do) and I thought a peach/blueberry pie that had fresh mint and lime as its "spices" (instead of the more traditional cinnamon/nutmeg combo) would be nice and refreshing. I jotted my idea down on a post-it and stuck it to a friend's computer for her opinion. She suggested also adding ginger, which I don't generally cook with, but which she thought was a good flavor to match with lime and mint. So I gave it a try.

Since this was something I was just experimenting with, I had no clue how much of anything to put in - and since I don't cook with ginger but am generally turned off by too much of it in a dish, I erred on the side of a lot of mint and lime, and not so much ginger.

I took the pie to work the next day and asked for constructive criticism. I received a few suggestions to lessen the amount of mint (apparently not everyone loves it as much as I do), and a suggestion to perhaps add the ginger to the crust so it stood out a bit more, but everyone generally liked it and thought it was such an interesting and refreshing combination. I felt so proud!

Later that day, I had a nice long phone call with my oldest friend - we've been friends since the 7th grade, and although she lives far away and we only see each other every other year or so, we do a pretty good job of keeping in touch. She and I have been playing phone tag for the last three months, until finally I emailed her and asked if she would be available at 8pm her time for a chat. She was, and we talked for more than two hours. I told her all about my thoughts for the bakery, and was very grateful for her advice and suggestions, as she's a small business owner herself.

As we were winding down, we started talking about lunches we had when we were in high school together. She laughed as she reminded me how I used to take my sandwiches apart, so I could taste each individual ingredient - and then laughed harder as she remembered how I once created an interesting flavor combination during one of our lunches.

My dad made my lunch every day when I was in school, and he would generally make this sandwich that included the thickest slice of sharp cheddar cheese I have ever seen in a sandwich. Take out a ruler and measure half an inch - that's how thick these cheese slices were! On this particular day, I had taken apart my sandwich and just couldn't get through the cheese. I also had a Caramello chocolate bar (it's the one that's four squares of gooey caramel). We don't remember who suggested it or why I did it, but I took a hunk of cheese and a square of Caramello and popped them both into my mouth to see how they would taste together. And, surprisingly, the combination worked! The sweetness of the chocolate and carmel was perfectly matched by the sharp saltiness of the cheese, and I believe I ate the rest of the chocolate and cheese together.

All of this got me wondering - what are your favorite, perhaps unusual, flavor combinations?

Cafés

Been doing some research on local cafés ...here are a couple in the area that are doing something akin to what I want to do. Anyone want to go do research in-person with me?

Zzyzx Cafe
Fresh and Fabulous

Culinary School

Just a little note to share with you that I've just submitted an application to start culinary school in January. I've been thinking about it as a possible first-step in this whole corporate-worker-to-bakery-owner process and have decided that it's a very reasonable next step. I'd be able to imrpove on my cooking/baking/knife skills, and doing it at a local community college would be cost-efficient.

When I brought it up to my mom, she said "but you already know how to cook!" Valid point, but it's the restaurant management, sanitation, and how to keep a stocked pantry courses that would be most useful for the future.

And starting in January? I've decided that I'd rather not wait to get started on this next phase of my career and life. My chiropractor recently had a mini-stroke, and she's making some changes in her life because she's realized that life is short and could end at any time. I need to do this for me now - so I don't get stuck in a rut just because it's comfortable.

Culinary school would be a full-time endeavor...which would mean my term at PubCo would need to end, at least on a daily basis. My dad suggested what I had already been thinking - that there may be an opportunity to freelance for PubCo, especially since everyone could use the support and I already know the systems and procedures. If I'm allowed, and management doesn't hold a grudge, I'm on board.

I'll be sure to let you know once I'm officially accepted - I submitted the application, but I also need to go through the interview process they require. When that's all done, you'll all be among the first to know!