#garde manger

[midwestmisadventures]

Hey friends! I’ve been super busy. And sleepy. But also busy. (In a good way!) The garden is an 80% bust atm but the watermelons are hanging on after replanting 🫡💪🏻 and the grape trellis is THRIVING. Trying to balance work and my social life is difficult but getting better. I miss my friends and hobbies 😭 Also work has me rethinking my entire career path. Pastry chef Gal in the future perhaps?

Photo catch up:

[graedari]

Another little update of school from Grace :)

This month starts my Garde Manger class, which is pretty much the art of preserving food in safe manners.

So yesterday our class put on a Grand Buffet for the others, presenting 5 platters!

First we have the Sausage platter that is offering Breakfast Sausage, Chorizo, and Sweet Italian Fennel Sausage (from left to right)

Then we have the salmon platter, featuring a smoke salmon dip, salmon canápes, and a Cajun Smoke Salmon Tail.

After that, we have my pride and joy, the Smoked Turkey Platter, which we made into a sandwich platter that has fresh made Bread and Butter Pickles, Creole Honey Mustard, and Fresh Mayonnaise.

Next is the Breakfast Burritos, which we made with some Green Chiles Sausage that we made from scratch.

And finally we have the Smoked Duck Breast Platter that we served some Candied Pecans, Dried Apricots, and a Fresh Apricot Jam

[orihara-infobroker]

The second class, Garde Manger, focuses on the cold kitchen: salads, appetizers, canapes and the like. Once again, buffet service is where our student projects are presented. The first week we were required to make a terrine and a canape. I did a lentil and carrot terrine and a seared ahi tuna on cucumber canape. The second week I did a citrus and seaweed salad (which went over about as well as one would expect from a customer base of rednecks but was received very well by my chef). The third week we had to produce two hot appetizers, a sausage and a cured salmon, and an amuse bouche (a palate exciter). I chose to do karaage (Japanese style fried chicken) and watermelon gazpacho for the amuse bouche. The fourth week was another terrine and has a bit of a story to it. If you are a fan of Shokugeki no Souma (Food Wars) you will recognize this terrine. If you have not watched this anime I highly recommend it. It’s hilarious but also has accuracy to it when it comes to culinary things. One of my group mates is also an anime fan and we decided to have a bit of a shokugeki. He was going to make Megumi’s Rainbow Terrine while I was to make Shinomiya’s 9 Vegetable Terrine. I didn’t get a picture of his sadly and it definitely didn’t look at all like it was portrayed in the anime. Mine, however, turned out spot on. The only variation is that I was unable to get white asparagus (it’s a special order item) but otherwise used the same ingredients. I also had to use a slightly different mold as we didn’t have any square ones. I served it with a salmon sashimi and mango canape, garnished with pomegranate seeds. The last photo is my student project for this class, which was to produce an appetizer of our own design. I chose to take the idea of chakin sushi and refine it for presentation in a restaurant. Each of the three bundles is made up of a sushi rice mixture wrapped in a thin sweet egg omelette - similar to the tamagoyaki (rolled egg). One uses soy-marinated shiitake, the second is pickled plum and the third is a mint and basil mixture, with the goal being to experience a range of flavour profiles in the dish: savoury, sweet/sour, and a fresh palate cleanser to finish with. The flavours were spot on but I learned that working with the omelette was extremely tedious. XD

[where-lies-the-strangling-fruit]

I got to make a special salad! It's micro bibb with fennel, rainbow radish, scallions, orange zest, and a orange-thyme vinaigrette. We sold a few and I'm really proud of it.

[where-lies-the-strangling-fruit]

Part of being garde manger is making some nice looking salads!

[ariebeetumbling]

happy christmas?