MEAT, please!

You get desensitized to sweet after a while, working with it every day. I mean, today alone, I tasted (besides my own dishes) port custard, creme brulée, passion fruit mousse, lemon parfait, vanilla soufflé, the base mixture for raspberry/red wine sorbet, tangerine/green tea sorbet, and pineapple/mint/tequila ice cream. A student from another class brought in a large bowl of chocolate mousse, beautifully garnished, to the collective groans of the entire class. We need protein!

I submitted my two custards today. The first, the baked custard with the middle eastern flavors, was not particularly successful. The texture was somewhat grainy, almost like it was overcooked, but there was a softer layer at the bottom which appeared undercooked. We looked over the recipe, which I brought from a cookbook from home, to analyze the problem and posit some solutions. My recipe calls for honey rather than granulated sugar, and a greater proportion of whole eggs (versus egg yolks) than the baked custard recipe we're using in class. So Chef Judy suggested that I could decrease the honey (which has twice the sweeting power of sugar) and/or substitute egg yolks for one or more of the whole eggs, in order to achieve a smoother final product. I asked if I should remake it — I'll definitely have time before Friday — and she smiled her dazzling smile and said, "Oh, you so have an 'A' in this class. Do something more fun." Then she gave me eight points out of ten.

My vanilla panna cotta was far more successful. I accompanied it with "citrus-strawberry salad," diced oranges and strawberries in a simple orange syrup. Chef Judy practically swooned when she tasted it, and said that it always reminds her of junket, a rennet-gelled dessert that she used to eat as a child. It's just one of those creamy simple things.

We have a fancy ice cream machine that churns in six minutes. It took longer to clean it (so that Aaron could run pistachio, after my cinnamon) than it did to freeze my custard. It will sit in the freezer overnight, then I'll make some apple tartlets to go with it, to be served tomorrow.

Also tomorrow, we have our written final (open notes — ha!) and we have to turn in our "fantasy dessert menu." This is what I've come up with:

Desserts
Thursday, 8 March 2007

❀

Meyer Lemon Mousse with Coconut Macaroon Kisses

❀

Raspberry Frangipane Tart with Honeyed Crème Fraiche

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Valrhona Chocolate Truffles & Clementines

❀

Warm Gravenstein Apple Pie
with Myer’s Dark Rum Raisin Ice Cream
or
with Black Diamond Cheddar Cheese

❀

Peanut Butter Cookies & Grape Jellies

❀

Grilled Pineapple Upside Down Cake with Morello Cherry Sauce and Crème Anglaise

❀

Cheeses:
Pecorino Toscano with Honey & Pistachios
Saint André with Ginger Crisps & Asian Pear
Colston Bassett Stilton, Port-Infused Sultanas, Sesame Tuile

Would you care for dessert?