Day 5: French Onion Soup and Beet Salad
French onion soup is a little bit controversial. I’ve never actually had it before (or if I have, it was so long ago that it doesn’t really count). The flavor is really intensely aromatic from the sherry and white wine.
We made it with both chicken stock and beef stock, and it was fascinating to see the impact the stock had on the soup itself. The soup with the chicken stock (which I preferred) had a slightly milder flavor but was really luxurious - the flavor lasted on your tongue for a long time.
The soup with the beef stock was less rich, but very flavorful. It was basically white stock (think velvety and gelatinous from the collagen) duelling brown stock (think flavorful from those roasty beef bones).
We also made some veal stock that we’re going to use later. Of all the stocks we’ ve made so far, this one takes the longest because the bones are the least mature and have the most collagen to release.
We also spent a good chunk of the class “tournee-ing” potatoes - carving them similarly to the oranges from the week before.
I’m still a little unclear about *why* you would use this method - it doesn’t seem like its for any particular reason, or has any extra benefits. But, if you want to work in a fancy French kitchen, turns out they’ll test you by giving you 40 lbs of potatoes to carve! So best if you know how to do this.
I’ve also been promised fried potatoes (and better yet, fried potato skins, from the leftover carvings) next week - with that held over my head, I’ll carve anything you want me to.
We also grilled little gem lettuces, and had them in a salad with roasted beets that was fantastic and beautiful
To grill lettuce :
- Cut baby gems in half, keeping the core so the lettuce stays together
- Wash thoroughly, and then place cut side down on a sheet tray to drain
- When dry, get the grill hot
- Lightly coat the lettuce with olive oil, salt and pepper
- When grilling, keep the lettuces stable so you get good grill marks! You want to grill just so the lettuce is lightly cooked, but not wilty.
Daily Tips:
- Chickpeas are the only legume you should buy in a can! All other beans you should ideally buy dry, and soak yourself. Canning the beans changes the flavor (saltier, more of that “tin” flavor) and the texture (softer and sadder).
- Stock lasts about a week. At this point you should either use it, freeze it, or if you want to give it some extra legs, you can reboil it. Once its boiling, get it cold quickly through an ice bath (don’t want bacteria to grow) and then it’s good to live in your fridge for another 4-5 days