Vegging out, perfectly starched

I know, I know. It's already Tuesday today and I am two days late with my post for this week. I apologize for that. I've been cooking  a lot and time is flying when I am having fun in the kitchen. It was pizza party on Sunday night which unfortunately meant I wasn't able to write this post.

But back to my school curriculum; we have finally moved on to solid foods, vegetables, legumes, grains, potatoes and other starches. It's been a very rich learning experience cooking all those different foods last week and we are continuing with the theme this week.

The first couple of days last week was all about vegetables and legumes. So, we prepared dishes such as Cranberry beans and Asparagus salad with Parmesan shavings; Frijoles Refritos (re-fried beans) with cheese and deep fried tortillas; Green Bean Sauté; Carrots Vichy; Hummus; etc. The purpose of preparing all those different dishes is that we learn the technique of properly cooking legumes, of how to correctly blanch vegetables, of how to prepare individual ingredients and then putting them together as a dish. So, for example, in order to keep the vivid green color of green beans and asparagus, the vegetables have to be blanched in rapidly boiling water and then they are 'shocked' in an ice bath to stop them from further cooking, while the Cranberry beans are getting their final seasoning or the lardons (French beacon pieces) are being sautéed in the pan. Carrots Vichy are carrots that are steamed in their own juices and with the help of a dollop of butter, since very little is done without butter in French cooking. But, of course, they taste really great. Frijoles Refritos (re-fried beans) are actually cooked twice; that means first they are simmered to soften them, then they are mashed up with seasoning and fried in a pan with some oil. To be honest that was news to me. Okay, I am not a big fan of re-fried beans, and now I think I may know why. Most of the Mexican restaurants at which I have eaten  seem to have omitted the last (re-fry) step and serve the beans at a consistency that is more comparable to mashed potatoes. The ones we made at culinary school, were much better in taste and texture and, since my husband likes the dish I will continue to experiment with it at home.

Rice Pilaf & Green Bean Sauté

Okay, lets move on to grains, that is rice, wheat berries, cracked wheat, Italian cornmeal, etc. Since I already cook a lot of different grains at home and none of the grains we discussed at school were new to me, the most interesting thing I learned about grains last week, was cooking rice in the oven, i.e. braising rice. It's called rice pilaf, and although the rice used in the dish is basmati rice, it has none of the seasoning I know and would have expected from the rice pilaf served in Indian restaurant. However, it is an interesting change to the way I usually cook rice (boiled) and the rice itself had a great flavor and texture to it. As you can see at the picture to the right, for our practical we served the rice with the green bean sauté.

Roesti Potatoes

Pommes Anna

The grains were followed with two days cooking potatoes, which everybody thought I would very much like because Germans like potatoes. Guess what, I am the exception to the rule. I am not a great fan of the potato and I prefer to cook grains if I can. So I didn't get excited about the Gratin Dauphinoise, Pommes Anna or Pommes Duchesse. The only one I really liked preparing, were the Roesti Potatoes. My dad used to make them and, although I never asked him for the recipe, I think they were very much just like we made them at home. Mine may have looked a little too 'rugged' around the edges for my french trained chef instructor, but I didn't care. That's how my dad used to prepared them and that's how I prepared them that day.
By the way, did you know that potatoes should not be stored in the refrigerator? Temperatures below 45F turn the potato starch into sugar. Ideal storage temperature is between 55F and 60F.

Ravioli with egg yolk and ricotta filling

Fresh Pasta

 Now, I left the most fun for last. Monday was pasta day. We had kneaded the dough on Friday and stored it vacuum packed in the refrigerator over the weekend. So, Monday morning, we were ready to go. We experimented with different shapes and sizes but in the end I settled on Ravioli with a ricotta filling and Tagliatelle to go with a Sauce Alfredo. Yummy. The pasta was absolutely delicious and the shapes were really fun to make. You might be able to see the hand-cranked pasta maker in the back of the picture. Basic, but very effective. It's professional restaurant size. I think I'll have to put one of those on my next birthday wishlist. Good times to come. :-)


With that thought, have a good week and happy eating.