Sugar High

Some people are  excited about pastry week. I’m cautious. I love to eat pastry, but I know absolutely nothing about pastry other than it tastes really good.

The basics about being a good chef, as I learned last week, is take everyday ingredients and elevate them. How does one elevate flour to a higher level? Pile it on ten pounds of butter. Now if you were a culinarian you would be laughing your face off. Key ingredients this week- flour, butter, sugar and if you can’t enough butter into it you may use cream (butter’s pale cousin with a little less fat content). Sugar is available in all sorts of forms so that people don’t even see it coming. That leaves poor flour.  I have no sympathy for flour it spends its days wrapped around and blended in sugar and butter. Flour realizes that it’s not the most popular kid in junior high school, so flours invites all the cool kids over like butter, chocolate and the sugar triplets.

Here’s what happens when you play with these things.

Don’t Let the Fruit Fool You

Really Good for Breakfast

Can be Used as a Palate Cleanser

Started the next day loathing sweets saying I never do that again and then came the next day. It started out quietly and somewhat low calorie with the slicing of fruits and I think butter wasn’t mentioned until mid morning. Then with military precision and over 25 individual ingredients, this platter had to be tested before anybody went home.  I was hoping for good old fashion detention like in high school. I have almost become fearful of the french word gustation, which has come to mean you should eat this and it doesn’t matter if it hurts. Check out the word gustation in your french english dictionary because I think that I’ve loosely translated it.

A Buffet to End the Day

These glass are ab.out 3 inches tall and contain about 1000 calories per inch. But it’s ok there is fruit on some of them. Nothing to worry abut, you can always have you prescription for Lipitor increased.

There are many classic desserts in France and you don’t mess with the classics. Our pastry chef did give us the talk the other day. It’s something best done between mentor and mentee in the privacy of a classroom, where the large convection ovens drown out the awkward  conversation and hide the shock of the true. He actually said Italian  meringue is better than French meringue. It’s true. Why because Italian meringue has a preboiled simple syrup made from about ten pounds of sugar. Wait until this hits the internet.

Here’s another ordinary day in pastry.

Can you Identify all of These Classics?

Relax and Enjoy

I am starting to get adjusted to the quietness of Sunday. Most everything is closed except for the tourist areas and even there, groceries stores are closed. So if you want a baguette on a Sunday, the gas station is an option. Not the premiere location for gastronomic experiences, but they bake baguettes fresh every half hour and croissant and pain chocolat three times a day.

Sunday afternoon in the city. What do those city folks do? Go to the park and Lyon does parks well.

Beautiful Entrance ….Notice Gold Leaf

Parc de la Tête d’Or (“Park of the Golden Head”), in Lyon, is an urban park in France, with 117 hectares (290 acres) it is 8.5 times smaller than bois de Vincennes in Paris. Located in the 6th arrondissement, it features a large lake on which boating takes place during the summer months. Due to the relatively small number of other parks in Lyon, it receives a huge number of visitors over summer, and is a frequent destination for joggers and cyclists.

At the northern end of the park, there is a small zoo, with giraffes, elephants, tigers and other animals. There are also sports facilities, such as a velodrome, boules court, mini-golf, horse riding, and even a miniature train. They let me on the train, but park authorities wouldn’t let me on the free kiddie rides. Here’s a few pictures of the new menu offerings.

Best Served Barbeque with a. Side of White Sauce

Best Served with a Very Tall Beverage of Your Choice

This Little Fella is called Petit Foie Gras

The park is a fantastic place to relax especially this month as the roses are in full bloom. It is true that you should stop and smell the roses. Then you should take pictures and upload them to you blog.

Close to an Acre of Roses

Every Color and the Smell

We are Still in the Park

You Can Even Rent a Boat
No Water Skiing

On my way out of the park, I had another one of those I could live here moments. So I started to scope out real estate. OK truth is I wanted to stare into the really ritzy apartments/ flats overlooking the park. I am guessing that they are more than $500 a month including utilities. I looked on one balcony and somebody in a uniform was serving tea to an elderly woman. The apartments must be a good deal because they come with staff.

If I have disappeared for any reason I am living on the apartment on the right. That’s top right as in the penthouse. Zzzzzzzzzzz. Have I been sleep blogging again?

My New Address

I Did a Bad Thing

Not sure if this has ever happened to you. You eat world class cuisine all week then the weekend comes and you find yourself standing in line trying to decide between combo number 1 or combo number 2. You can pass all the judgements you want, but sometimes you just got to go to the dark side of town. This was the worst meal ever in a famous franchise. You would think that Lyon being the gastronomical capital of the planet that some chef somewhere would have a pimple faced child with a little culinary genetics and the ability to follow instructions who would take pride on the production of  a burger, fries and a super sized beverage.  I checked with some people in my course and apparently the best burger from Golden Arches can be found in either the Czech Republic or Switzerland.

I redeemed myself by living on leftovers for the remainder of the weekend featuring such favorites as a Chicken Supreme Sandwich with ratatouille.  Best ratatouille ever except I forgot the appropriate garnish. Thank goodness I was eating alone otherwise my dinner would have rated a 3 on 5.

Dirty Plate, No Garnish, No Points

Best Ever!

What do the local folks do on a weekend. In the suburbs, there are two choices. Retail malls packed with people or markets packed with people.  The malls are the loudest malls in the world especially between 6:30 pond 7:30 pm because the frenzy has started with the realization that not many places are open on Sunday  and stores are going to close at 8pm so everyone can make it to their 8:30 Bouchon reservation.

Looks Like Everywhere

Over 400 Vendors

here’s some more flea market shots. The flea were expensive. Nice pieces for thousands of euro. I got a used kitchen knife and a potato twister.

This was Jacques Cousteau Original. Really!

Remember Hippies, Years Later, Moved to Lyon

Even Oil Paintings

Recycling at Its Best

Look like Anyone You Know?

First Timed Evaluation

So you think you can cook. You’ve done it a million times. You have friends over, they compliment you on your style and ability. But then again, they just got a free meal and didn’t have to leave a tip. So you you cook for your family and they tell you how much they love your lumpy gravy. Here’s a nouveau way to spend a Friday Morning. Take ten highly motivated individuals from around the world, give them a deadline  and a big pantry.  Fabulous looking and mouthwatering food. Oh I forgot to mention it’s a evaluation day. Not a test because test is not good. An Evaluation because evaluations are a  learning experience. So here’s my plat du jour delivered withoute,  10 seconds of the 12 o’clock deadline. Impressive huh?

Yummy or so I thought

Just before you download this photo, print it and give it to my elderly mother to put on her fridge. Let me tell you about my evaluation.

Nous vous presenton specialement pour vous Filet of Lamb with a hunter sauce reduction on a bed of roasted garlic with wild mushroom garnished with a melange of mint and citrus , buttery mint baby carrots with new potatoes cooked in  a lemon thyme water and pan finished with lemon and orange infused olive oil.

So with my identical plates in hand, I proudly walk into the hallway away from the ever maddening kitchen that looked like a kitchen gadget party gone bad. There is mon chef, the evaluation chef and 30 people  in dark suits, who were very interested in my creation. I guess with my grey hair and my initial look of pride, I think they believed they were experiencing international gastronomic history.

All 30 of them gathered around the table with great interest as the evaluation chef went thru every centimeter of my dish.  He cut my filet, Cinq en Cinq. Five on Five. I am brilliant. Those 30 people should ask me for a photo. Sauce Cinq en Cinq. Five on Five. Perhaps those 30 people are from the Michelin guide and they are here to give me a well deserved star.

Science says stars burn brightest just before they die.  The potatoes were amusing. The carrots were horrible, not cooked. Another note to self- cook carrots and then cook more and then when you think they are cooked, cook them more. Alway put any soft texture like roasted garlic on the top of your hard surfaced meat. Don’t be so cheap with potatoes. My dish ended up in the middle. My 30 fans dispersed with a look of happiness that they were visiting and not cooking.

I Could have been a Contender!

I like meat. I shouldn’t like that much, but I do. Breakfast, lunch or supper or even midnight snack, meat is always the appropriate choice. We’ve eaten a lot of meat and I mean a lot of meat this week. After the whole chicken thing and I mean I almost ate a whole chicken in a 12 hour period with all the sampling and leftovers. You can’t put it in the classroom fridge for later or  4am snack. You have to eat it or it goes in the garbage. I could hear the voices of my grand mothers and mother talking about starving children somewhere.  But that’s right they were using that line for vegetables, not meat.

We did learn how to fancy up cheap vegetables so that they are worthy of being on the same plate as the really expensive meat. Take the price you pay for meat and then triple it. Meat is expensive. I can understand  why I don’t see that many pigeons and I have seen a few worried looking horses.  Had the pigeon this week, not it didn’t taste like chicken. It tasted like pigeon, with a hint of deer liver. My palate is starting to develop.

What did you cook this week is question I get the most so here’s the meat buffet a la Las Vegas.

This is Our Mid Morning Snack

Yes that’s Beef  Wellington with hand made puff pastry. BTW after we labored over the fear and anxiety of making puff pastry, Chef say easier to buy and if you have been following the program- Rule # 1 Chef is always right. Rule #2 Chef is always right and Rule # 3 for those who don’t catch on so quick or who like complexity- take rule one add to rule two and add a liberal amount of dish washing and floor moping and you will never forget rule #1 or you will work in a very shiny kitchen forever.

A Little Something Before 3 Course Lunch

I think it was beef lightly over foie gras, a lovely jus de voillaile with potato ring (forgot fancy way of saying it) with fancy $10 carrots. Note to self – always overcook carrots when having French Chef for Dinner.

Ah Comforting Stew

More Stew

Tuesday Night Meat & Potatoes

N Where’s the Make Up Artist?

Chicken needs a press agent. Nobody says , “Hey I just can’t wait to sink my teeth into a properly roasted chicken.” That exclamation is reserved for steak or redefined steak a.k.a. Hamburger. The healthy folks of the world  eat chicken breast poached in mediocrity. The party people get together and have wings. Not sure who eats the leg and thigh except customers of KFC. Last but not least chicken organs, ok – guts. We’ve run into a media imaging issue. Even if I said try some sauté chicken livers in vodka with toasted walnuts, you would probably opt for day old KFC.

Looks Better than Dead Chicken

Chicken is just like you and me. A lot of us don’t look so great naked and without a certain amount of trimmings and little cooking like tanning, nobody would have us for dinner.

So after a few ingredients later and some quality time under a heat source, you look a lot better than when you woke up.

One of My Creations
Skinless Chicken

A Little More Classic Roast

Once you get though the basics there are a million things that you can do with chicken. Every culture has a chicken recipe. We should celebrate the lowly chicken with a world wide movement. Perhaps international day of the chicken we could all do eh chicken dance at 11:30 and then take a chicken to lunch. The celebration would end approximately one hour and 350 degrees later with only one person coming back from lunch.

Chicken 10 Ways

More Chicken!

Should be Combo 3 at KFC

Photos are a Tease

There’s Old Lyon and there Tres Nouveau Lyon. Enjoy the Post card from the weekend.

This is what you see up the hill in Lyon.

Gone fishing

New Lyon

Cutting Edge Architecture

Yes Frogs on Buildings

Wondered What Happened to Millennium Falcon from Star Wars?

Ever ride by a castle on your horse or  in my case, a donkey and wonder what the people and /or the giant is having for dinner? Me, never. But it’s a romantic vision.

We got an invite to have dinner at Saisons, which is part of the Paul Bocuse family of restaurants. It is wonderfully over staffed with  students (real ones- that have three years in)

And staffed by real chefs , who have been systematically trained (yelled at since age of 15 by an old guy with a big knife). (more…)

I know potatoes are a noble root. Their hearty nature has saved nations from starvation and their profit margin has helped build business empires. But I just made a decision that when I left home as young man with a taste for the bizarre, that I would never follow the daily ritual of eating another friggin spud. It worked until I married Mrs. Potato head.  My wife loves, no L-O-V-E-S, potatoes. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack time or just about any time is a good time for potatoes. I do not share this love of spud, but to keep my wife happy and avoid expensive legal fees, I do begrudgingly, eat the occasional potato.

I wish I had a shot of when I stupidly said to The Chef that I didn’t like potatoes because it was a look of sadness, bewilderment and disgust all at the same time.

As I mentioned in my last post it’s starch week at the institut.

Potatoes….. Potato

I never realized that there were about 2 dozen ways to serve potatoes. This day we are doing karma sutra type things to potatoes. I suppose I should explain before I start getting email. You think you are most creative individual with let’s say an act. In this case it’s a potato. You boil em, bake me, fry em and you put stuff either in them or on them. I thus came the food orgy known as poutine. Fries with gravy and cheese curds. I thought this was the highest level of potatoism that anyone could get. Then came potato day.

Couple of Ways to Spice Up Your Potato Life

Even More Ways to Skin a Potato

My Contribution to Potato Day.

Now I feel like Bubba from Forest Gump, there is one more style of potato I will speak about briefly because to speak any longer a curse or a potato blithe would fall across the nation. Had to give it some drama, it’s a potato, just a potato.

Here a description of very famous potatoes – do not speak these words unless amongst friends.

Robuchon potatoes are the creme de la creme of potatoes. There are many recipes on the net claiming to be the correct recipe. But I was there and a saw what happened and saw what happened with the milk and the butter (oh the butter). But I am forbidden to tell the tale of Robuchon Potatoes.

But if you want so good cheap entertainment here are a couple of entertaining videos that contain half of the truth. And Robuchon is acting nicely in both videos because apparently if you messed up his potatoes, you would be “shunned” as the “Chef du Purée”. No that’s not a typo, it’s a position with Robuchon’s restaurant.

The Chinese invented pasta. The Italians perfected the red sauce that goes on top of it. The French redesigned it thinner and more colorful with a food cost of 20%. It makes you believe that it’s ok to pay $30 for four pieces of pasta. Sorry that’s three or five pieces of pasta, NEVER, four or Chef says your friends or customers will feel bad that you gave them an ugly plate and not want to eat your food. I wonder how they will feel on the drive home when they realize they got the equivalent of a half can of Chef Boyardee for the price of a dozen roses. Art of the plate- the price of beauty.

100 g of Flour, One Egg, add Color Equals $$$$$

This is a cautionary noted regarding the colorization of pasta. Some places use pastry color and a little dab will do you.  Tip #1 don’t use very much. This stuff is very Exxon Valdese like in it’s spread. Tip # 2 wear gloves as instructed. This stuff is really hard to explain when you stain your fingers green. Tip # 3 don’t touch any part of your personage especially when working with rainbow pasta. It just really hard to explain when you get home.

No Animals Were Harmed in the Production of this Pasta

This was one of few times that we were allowed to use machinery. As Chef says, “If you use machine all the time you don’t learn, you are just a donkey”. I have been meditating on that phrase. Now sure if I was just insulted or I am having a “wax on/ wax off” Karate Kid experience. I did wonder during night before pasta fest, how we were going to cut spaghetti. Perhaps a French technique.

Apparently You Can’t Eat It Raw.

Here’s what the final product looked like. Nicely dressed plate and very profitable. Hey Butta Bing Butta Bo.

Colors of The World