My poor neglected blog. It has been entirely too long. I take complete responsibility for our lack of communication.

Here is a brief update on where I’ve been for the last 4 ( yikes! 4?) months.

• Turned 27 and got stuffed on deliciousness from Publican. This resulted in a pork hangover that lasted days. I can’t wait to go back.
• Celebrated 8 years with the love of my life.
• Forgot to go somewhere warm this winter.  But did go to Colorado. Twice.  (note to future self – I need me some sun and sand during those long cold months)
• Finished my last quarter of culinary school (yay!).
• Almost immediately upon completing my Personal Chef and Catering Certificate things picked up at my day job that have sent me to the following cities in the last 4 weeks: Washington D.C, New York, Baltimore,  Houston, Corpus Christi. Oh and Lake Geneva and Grand Rapids for life’s ups and downs (a wedding and a funeral respectively).

I am now happy to be in one place for what looks like will be multiple days (a full week if I’m lucky).  I’m planning to get some spring cleaning done, both here and at home. So this site should be spruced up a bit. Oh and there’s that husband of mine to spend some time with…

A couple weeks ago, The Chicago Reader’s front page article  The Charcuterie Underground, by Mike Sula,  featured the burgeoning trend of less than legal home businesses centered around cured meat. The article mentioned that one of the companies, E & P Meats, shared a vendor with such high scale restaurants as Frontera Grill, and North Pond. No where was it stated or even implied that these restaurants ordered from the home sausage makers. Nevertheless, yesterday Frontera Grill was raided by the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDA) and forced to throw out an 80 lb box of meat that lacked a sign of  IDA, or USDA inspection (but was inspected by the Wisconsin Agriculture Department). It is possible North Pond will face an inspection as well.

What saddens me is that this raid also caused the owners of E &P Meats to announce they will voluntarily cease operation.  I would rather purchase meat from guys who will willingly tell anyone who buys their sausage what goes in it, and use a farmer who raises and slaughters his pigs naturally, than take a chance on commercially produced meat raised in a Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) that has God knows what in it (MSG anyone?).

I may get a little rant-y from here on out.

I understand they operated outside the law, but really with all the costs and hurdles the USDA imposes on getting approved it can be nearly impossible for a small business to cut through the red tape.  The bottom line is the inspections are meant to save people from food borne illnesses, as without a system to track food sources it would be impossible to determine the origin of an outbreak thanks to our industrial agriculture system. BUT IF YOU KNOW THE FARMER, YOU KNOW THE SOURCE.  Any department that doesn’t understand the value in safety of a local food economy  not to mention the economic value of a local food economy is beyond me.

I hope one day the door to E & P meats opens again, and that I can figure out a way to get on their email ordering list.

Flourless Chocolate Cake with  chocolate ganache

Chocolate Mousse on a chocolate meringue

Chocolate Semifreddo with a fruit coulis

Flourless Chololate Cake

1 lb Chocolate

1 lb Butter

8 oz Coffee

8 oz light brown sugar

8 Eggs

Method

Heat butter, coffee, and brown sugar until sugar dissolves completely. Pour mixture over chocolate, stir to melt.

Cool down to 100 degrees. Temper in eggs.

Pour into 1/2 sheet pan lined with parchment paper.

Bake @ 350

Chocolate Mousse

1 lb dark chocolate

9 oz butter

5 oz egg yolk

12 oz egg white

2.5 oz sugar

3 oz fruit puree (add into yolks)

Method:

On a double boiler add chocolate and butter, don’t melt chocolate completely. Cool to 100 before tempering in egg yolk.

Whip egg whites and sugar to stiff peaks, and fold into chocolate mixture. Cover with plastic wrap and cool.

Semifreddo

6 oz yolk

8 oz Bombe syprup (Pate a Bombe)

1.35 parts sugar : 1 part water

= 4.6 oz sugar: 3.4 oz water

12 oz cream–whip to soft peaks

2 oz unsweetened chocolate

Method

Whip yolks

Meanwhile heat Bomb syrup to boil

Add chocolate to syrup and continue to whip until it becomes a lighter color and a fluffy consistency.

Fold in whipped cream

Pipe into molds and freeze.

Chocolate Meringue

4 oz egg white

4 oz sugar

4 oz confectioners sugar

————————————> Sift together

2 oz cocoa powder

Method

Whip egg white at speed 3

Once frothy add sugar and whip to stiff peaks.

Sprinkle  half of sugar/cocoa powder mixture and fold in. Add second batch and then transfer to piping bag with 802 tip.

Blood Orange Coulis

3.5 oz fruit puree

1. 75 oz sugar

.75 oz water

.25 oz lemon juice

Cornstarch slurry

Combine ingredients over stove and boil. While boiling add cornstarch slurry until thickened to desired consistency.

Source: Gisslen, Wayne. Professional Baking. Fifth Ed. John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Print.

Lady Finger Sponge (1/2 recipe)

6 oz Egg yolks

3 oz Sugar

9 oz Egg whites

5 oz Sugar

1/4 tsp Lemon Juice

10 oz Pastry Flour, sifted

Procedure

To mixer add:

Egg Whites @ speed 2

Add Lemon juice (to stabilize the whites)

Once it bubbles move to speed 3

Add (2nd quantity of) sugar slowly

Whip to stiff peaks and pour into a bowl—set aside

Whip egg yolk on speed 3

Add sugar and whip to ribbon consistency

Cut and fold egg yolk mixture to egg whites

Sprinkle flour on top and fold in (2 or 3 batches)

Pipe with 806 tip onto a sheet pan

Bake @ 375

Mascarpone Filling

2 egg yolks

6 oz sugar

4 oz water

2 oz corn syrup

1 lb Mascarpone

1 lb 8 oz heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks

Method

In a pot add water and sugar

Add corn syrup

Heat to 220

Temper egg yolks and add to mixer. Beat at speed 3 until a sabayon (ribbon) consistency

Gently fold in cream

Layer Sponge

cut out 2 circles from sheet pan.

Cover 1st layer with coffee syrup

then add a layer of cream

add 2nd layer of sponge

cover with coffee syrup

add 2nd layer of creat

Cover with cocoa powder

Ingredients

12 Eggs yoks

8 oz Sugar

3 pt Cream, hot

.25 oz Vanilla Extract

3 g salt

Mix together egg yolk and sugar until well combined.  Gradually stir in the hot cream. Then add vanilla and salt.

Set 12 small ramekins on a sheet pan and load into oven. Add water to sheet pan so it comes up about halfway to the top of the ramekins.

Bake at 300°F about 20 min

Cool completely.

To finish.  Sprinkle an even thin layer of Sugar in the Raw on the tops of the custard. Using a blow torch heat until a hard carmelized layer has formed.

Recipe

Source: Gisslen, Wayne. Professional Baking. Fifth Ed. John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Print

3 lb apples, peeled, cored and quartered

3 oz butter

8 oz sugar

8 oz Blitz puff pastry

Method

Add 1/3 of the sugar to saute pan (dry caramel method). Don’t stir until carmel color begins to appear. Add 2nd 1/3rd of sugar, followed by the third once it is incorporated.

Add apples and butter and stir to coat.

Cook until the bottoms of apples are soft and the juices are syrupy.

Arrange apples in tart pan

Cut blitz pastry in circle the same size as tart pan (9 in circle) and place on top of apples

Bake at 425°F for 30-40 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown.

While tart is still warm (otherwise carmel will solidify), flip tart over onto pastry board.

Cut a circle of Blitz puff pastry

Dock blitz puff pastry

Line with a circle of Pate a Choux around the edge of the pastry circle. Then make a 2nd circle in the center of the blitz puff pastry

Make a second circle in the center

Bake at 400-425°F

Fill Center with Vanilla Diplomat Cream.

Coat eclairs with carmel (wet method) and use carmel as adhesive to stick around the edge of the tart.

Vanilla Diplomat Cream

Modified from source: Gisslen, Wayne. Professional Baking. Fifth Ed. John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Print.

8 oz milk

1/2 vanilla split

2 egg yolks

1 oz granulated sugar

.67 oz cake flour

.5 oz cornstarch

1 oz Orange Liquor (i.e. Grand Marnier)

6.5 oz Creme Chantilly

On stove: add Milk and vanilla bean

In stainless bowl mix:

egg yolk

cornstarch

a little milk

1/2 sugar

Over stove, add milk to pan w/ vanilla bean and 1/2 sugar.

Bring to boil (scorch).

Make a slurry with egg yolk and cornstarch and temper milk into mixture.

Put mixture back on stove and return to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in liqueur.

Chill cream completely.

Fold in the creme chantilly.

Wet Caramel

Water

Sugar

*more sugar than water, but no need to measure

Heat over stove. Don’t stir until slightly brown. When golden brown remove from heat.

Wear gloves!

Source: Gisslen, Wayne. Professional Baking. Fifth Ed. John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Print.

8 oz heavy cream

1.25 oz confectioners sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Whip together in mixer until soft peaks form

Source: Gisslen, Wayne. Professional Baking. Fifth Ed. John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Print.

Ingredients

1 lb water

8 oz butter

.18 oz salt

12 oz bread flour

1 lb 4 oz eggs

Method

In pan over stove, heat water w/ butter and salt.

Add flour and cook untill dough cleans the pan when stirring it.

Put in to mixer with paddle attachment on speed 1.

Slowly add eggs

Scoop into pastry bags to pipe eclairs, profiteroles, carolines, etc

Recipe

Source: Gisslen, Wayne. Professional Baking. Fifth Ed. John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Print

8 oz bread flour

8 oz pastry flour

1 lb butter, slightly softened

.25 oz  salt

8 oz water, cold

Cut butter into flour with hands, leaving large clumps

sprinkle water into flour

stir w/ bench scraper until incorporated

Chill for 15 min wraped in plastic

Make 4 book folds, chilling in between each fold