Term 2 - Week 9 & 10 @ Tante Marie and Exam Results

Well I liked the idea of the last recap post that I thought I would do it again... and this one is going to be a real humdinger what with all the pictures (some good, some not so good!).  So lets get on with it!

Week 9 saw us introduced to the wonder that is a rump of lamb.  Having never eaten this cut before I was blown away by how much flavour it contained and how tender it was... truly Dyl-icious and one to try sooner rather than later if you haven't already!  The rump was followed by a fromage blanc mousse with red fruits which were quite tasty and all turned out well apart from one which had spilt in the un-moulding process.... so we had a little fun with him!

This week also saw us complete the Indonesian class hosted by Vera, Tante Maries very own Indonesian teacher.  We utilised her very own recipes and its fair to say that everyone loved the food... as it was all amazing!

My HUUUGE pan of Nasi Goreng!

Things like the satay sauce were unlike any I have ever had as it was made without peanut butter and included a whole host of lovely aromatics suck as kaffir lime leaves and lemon grass.

Crystallised ginger cake... amazing!

The oxtail soup sounded boring, but the addition of nutmeg, cloves and star anise to name but a few turned it into a soup that has relegated the canned Heinz variety to being a distant, distasteful memory.

It may not be a looker but the Oxtail soup was divine.

We were introduced into the world of savory custards this week, however it did not take the usual "quiche" form that we in teh UK would usually go for.  This time it was more of a Spanish style baked custard flavoured with caramelised shallots and bread sticks.  It split the class 50/50, I liked it but would have liked something sweet and sharp to cut through the richness. 

Something I really enjoyed was messing about with some rabbit.  We saw a technique detailing how to remove and wrap the rabbit loins in pancetta using a farce to hold it together while poaching... and serving it with a pearl barley risotto....and we were then allowed to alter the flavour however we liked.  Myself and my partener for the day decided to go for a "Lapin au vin" using a mushroom farce and very rich red wine jus.  It was nice... though maybe a bit wintry for the time of year.  We were going to add nettles to the pearl barley to add colour, but since they don't add much flavour we decided not to go for style over substance.  Cauliflower puree and roasted shallots and garlic finished it off.

Dressing a crab was also on the and quite good fun... not sure if I would say the same if I had to pick 50 of the little bastards,  but one was definitely manageable.  I never understood why people cover up the brown meat completely when adding the egg white, yolk and parsley garnish so I decided to try and show it a little.  In teh process the class believed I created a South African themed crab for the world cup.... you decide...

Two forms of chocolate fondant were also made... however I have to say that how the "cold chocolate fondant" can be named as anything but a dense chocolate mousse is beyond me.  Both tasted great... some issues with the baked ones what with one collapsing completely and the others just being a bit ghetto.  The "mousse fondants" came out well and we decided to present all six in a slightly different manner with the chocolate dentelles.... I know which is my fave!

Another desert was a poached peach with almond ice cream that had been rolled in powdered croquante and served with strawberry coulis.  Quite nice but melted very quickly as it was a SCORCHER at Tante Marie that day... however it was just what was needed on such a  day.

Oh and I nearly forgot... here is a picture of Lulu and Johnny 5 picking nettles for there pearl barley risotto... look how Johnny 5 needs no gloves to protect him from stings... thats what being a cold hearted banker does to you.  Take heed!

Before I go... there are just two day until graduation... the time seems to have flow by.  On Friday I received my marks for my project (90%) and my celebration lunch exam (80%) both of which I was happy with.  Today however I get my final exam and theory exam marks... the 1st I completely ****ed up... trust me... when I write the blog post you won't believe some of the things I did... SERIOUSLY!  The latter I did no reviosion for until the night before, and then I found out I had got a job at a 2* restaurant and opend a couple of bottle of Rioja to celebrate... hungover was an understatement.

So today will be VERY interesting and no doubt bring me back to earth with a solid thud which I am sure is a healthy thing.  Especially as when I get home this, my little rambling blog that no one in their right mind should be reading will have recieved over 15,000 hits since I started in January... even I didnt expect that!

Have a great week,

Dylan

Term 2 - Week 7 & 8 @ Tante Marie

So we have double whammy coming at you this week, a BOGOF, a 2 for 1 or however you want to put it.... it's basically a way for me to almost catch up to where I should be.  No excuses... I have been enjoying the life of a man with only one exam left, which basically means watching series 4 of the Sopranos and catching up on searching the world wide interweb for amusing videos... such as this one...


Girl Slams Face Into Her Massive Chest - Watch more Funny Videos

Onto the usual subject matter...

Week 7 at Tante Marie was a short week what with Monday and Tuesday being half-term so on our return Wednesday we had a full day of cooking to get through.  Orange and kiwi profiteroles with orange sabayon were preceeded by a delightfil mushroom risotto and a not so delightful pancetta and blue cheese risotto.  I am a huge fan of blue cheese, but not when used in a dish and completely over powers everything else, I found myself searching for a crack to spoon it onto!  We also got to eat the rabbit rillettes made the previous week on some country bread toast... deeeeelish!

 Canterbury Tart

The afternoon saw English breakfast muffins being made to accompany eggs Benedict in week 8.  A Canterbury tart and creme fraiche ice cream where also conjured up, the highlight being the tart despite me being a MASSIVE ice cream fan.

 English muffins in the making.

A total of three demonstrations took place, including one from Nathan Green a former young chef of the year and has worked in many great restaurants including Gidleigh Park in Devon... where I am going!

On Friday we cooked something I have wanted to try for a long time, namely sweetbreads.  Although not the hugely sought after and expensive veal sweetbreads the recipe (ris de veau) called for, the lamb sweetbreads were very nice and tatsted pretty much as I had expected them to.  Served with French style peas and followed by pannacotta with raspberries and muscat jelly it made for a delightful lunch.





Week 8 started with my celebration lunch exam I have previoulsy posted about and included some rather tasty bits and bobs along the way.  The highlight for me were the boudain blanc we made, and although not being very blanc at all, the flavour was very simliar to the one my mother purchases whenever she goes to France... although the schools recipe didn't call for black truffles to be utilised in the white sausages.

Caramel ice-cream was always going to be a winner, and considering it was a no-churn recipe I was quite impressed at the resultant texture and lack of ice crystals.  Rum babas, an old school donut-like-cakey thing were quite nice and are apparently coming back into fashion in posh restaurants across the capital, as were the warm chocolate fondants.

Confit duck legs were prepared from scratch, lovingly salted over night, gently cooked in duck fat, allowed to cool in the fat and then crisped in the oven the next day.... delightful.... a word I would not choose to describe the grapefruit risotto (yes thats not a typo) that was to accompany it.

  Kiwi profiteroles and rather deflated sabayon.

No I have a thing for profiteroles, wherther they are filled with cream or custard I dont care, so imagine my delight when we had to make a Gateau St. Honore.  The gateau is basically big choux pastry balls sat on a big disk of choux pastry which in is sat on a ginat sweet pastry disc.  The choux balls and ring are filled with a light and creamy, yet quite rich cream filling before being securred to each other with lots of caramel.  The hole in teh centre was then filled with strawberrys and covered with more cream filling piped using a special nozzle and then covered in chopped pistachios.  Dyl-icious.

Well that is about that.  Only one full week of the course left.  I have my final exam on Tuesday and Wednesday and we start getting results for our other exams on Friday in theory.... not looking forward to the theory mark!

Dylan 

p.s. here are some crazy Japanese guys making some sort of dough....


Crazy Japanese Dough Pounding - Watch more Funny Videos

Brioche heaven for rich men (or women)

Well this morning I awoke with the usual spring in my step that occurs when I have to bake my sourdough loaves only. The problem was that after skipping into my kitchen in the manner of a 8yr old girl with pig tails in her hair, I was confronted by the sight of my loaves to be decorating the kitchen surface! So in a fit of baking depression I launched the massively over-proved dough in the bin and ran... well briskly walked, to the local shot to pick up eggs and butter... not for a fry up as you may expect but to start some Brioche.

For those of you that don't know, brioche is an enriched French loaf. You may wonder how indeed it is enriched... well try making it with almost an equal weight of butter to flour then throw in 5 eggs and some vanilla sugar... yep that should do it.

This kind of ratio of butter/flour is usually referred to something along the lines of Rich Mans Brioche as you can imagine all that butter and good eggs ain't cheap... well in comparison to the ratios used in Poor Mans Brioche at least!

The last time I made brioche was on board this...

M/Y Slipstream

It was my very first attempt and with the left over dough I had, I made some mini brioche loaves in these tiny little moulds.  The chef though they were so good they ended up on this dish for the guests.....

Term 2 - Week 6 @ Tante Marie

Finally, Lobster time!

So the first of some catch up posts has arrived, and it concerns week 6 at Tante Marie.

The monkfish... not a fan.

One of my favourite dishes of the week was the tomato and caraway bavarois that tasted very much like Heinz Tomato soup... only set with gelatin and served cold. You gotta love a bit of Heinz tommy soup!!! In contrast the very same class we made my least favourite dish of the week, monkfish skewers with sweet vanilla chilli dressing. Not sure what it was, maybe the sweet chilli sauce, maybe the combo of mango and fish but I couldn't eat it, although I must say some classmates enjoyed it. Strange strange strange people!

Photos - Celebration Lunch Exam

So the celebration lunch was done and dusted last Monday at Tante Marie and all in all I was fairly happy with how it went. There were a few little issues but nothing that caused too much impact on the final dishes... except for the jelly! But more on that later.

The actual menu I choose was a little more complex than I may have let on in the initial post on the subject:

Terrine of goat's cheese

served with marinated raisins, cox apple batons, toasted walnuts and a selection of lettuce leaves with a light walnut oil dressing.

o0o

Ballotine of tarragon chicken

accompanied by confit chicken leg, fresh peas, sautéed wild mushrooms, purple asparagus, leek fondue and a white wine sauce.

o0o

Lemon meringue

choux balls filled with creamy Italian meringue and served with lemon curd, raspberry jelly*, crispy meringue peaks and candied lemon peel with a dusting of raspberry powder.

So the starter was a young goats cheese blended in a food processor with some Greek yoghurt. I then added diced apple and celery before adding some hot whipping cream with a little gelatin to help hold it all together so I could turn it out of the ring mould easily. Nice and simple and absolutely Dyl-icious when combined with the white wine marinated raisins, crisp cox apples, toasted walnuts and dressing... even if I do say so myself.

The Celebration Lunch Exam

This morning I have my “Celebration Lunch Exam” at Tante Marie and as you can see I am all packed and ready to go... I feel almost like a chef on The Great British Menu with my box of goodies!

The premise is simple, a seasonal 3 course meal for 4 people costing exactly £23.50. Some of you may remember my “Budget Lunch Exam” where the premise was the same just with a total budget of just £8.... well this really does feel like a celebration with all that cash money to play with!

The menu:

Goats Cheese Salad

o0o

Chicken in White Wine Sauce with Summer Vegetables

o0o

Lemon Meringue

Those of you have endured these blog posts for a while may also remember my waffle about “under promising and over delivering”.... something which I haven't done in this case.... much.

A big thank you to Sarah @BrockhallFarm over on Twitter for sending me the beautiful goats cheese she makes for the starter... I just hope I do you, and the goat's justice!... now click on the link to follow her!

On a final note, I am 2 weeks behind with the Tante Marie updates but will have a little time this week to catch up I hope. They will come, promise.


Dylan

Growing your own micro leaves - UPDATE 1

Speed salad mix on the left hand side colum taking Woking by storm... Garlic chives on the right are drunk and sprouting upside down. The wild rocket 2nd from right making a noteworthy worthy effort, and 2nd from the left, red veined sorrel is a non starter so far!

The leaves are taking a little longer to grow than I originally anticpiated. Although we have had some lovely 

weather over the last 6 days it has been a little on the cool side which I believe will inhibit the growth rate.  I have also moved the tray onto a window sill on the staircase where I won't forget about them.

Nonetheless there are signs of life with the “speedy salad mix” seeds living upto there name having pulled off a fantastic first leg. Not a huge distance behind is the wild rocket which is growing steadily and evenly across the two jobbies of soil. The garlic chives have just sprouted, however a few seem to be growing upside down at the moment... pissheads.

Over in the egg tray the Japanese Mizuna leaves are the only ones making

You can see me... but now I can see you! YES YOU!!!

I mentioned in an earlier post that I use statcounter.com to keep tabs on how many vistors I get to my blog. It is for no other reason than to see if its actually a worthwhile task, if no one is reading it then there is no real reason for me to continue with it.

As fate would have it there are a few strange people out there who actually seem to enjoy my musings (I'm looking at you!), and it is astonishing to look at the maps statcounter.com provides to see where are you strange people are from.

The website only provides info about the last 500 visitors to the site, with a subscription needed to have a greater record size... 500 however is more than enough for my ego stroking... I mean my research into this being a worthwhile endeavour.

Click map for larger version

I Need Your Family Secrets!

In late May or early June I will have an exam at Tante Marie... the “Celebration Lunch” exam to be precise. It is a similar vein to the budget lunch exam I did a few weeks ago, except this time I have a larger budget to play with.

The mission should you choose to divulge your family secrets.... is to tell me what your favourite recipes are for a cheesecake biscuit base and/or your favourite crumble topping recipe. I have my own recipes for both, but to be honest they are fairly bog standard, tasty but lack that little something. I am looking for a few little quirks that could help elevate these dishes to something a little more special. Maybe you like to put toasted oats in your crumble mix, or maybe you have a favourite biscuit that you like to use for your cheesecake base.

Whatever it is, I would like to know about it. There is absolutely no kind of reward for your family secrets other than a smile and a thank you from yours truly. At this stage I don't want to go into any detail about my plans for the desert, all I will say is that it is fruit based, so maybe that will have some impact on your recipes? Maybe not though!

So “help a bruva out” and dish up those recipes, all weird and wonderful ideas will be considered.... and who knows, I may decide to use your idea and then publish the pics of the final dish here, making you so very very nearly famous as a result!

Find the little link below this post that says 'comment' and spill thoses beans... do it now!

Thanks in advance,

Dylan

p.s. Mother – don't bother posting your recipes, I have endured them on enough occasions to know they don't coupé le moutard. You will just be wasting everybody's time. ;-p

Budget Lunch Exam... and one pic!

Just got in from Tante Marie.

Today I had my “Budget Lunch Exam”... you can read about the criteria in my last post here.

Just a quick post to say that all went well, a couple of issues but most were ironed out to my satisfaction, such as forgetting to add a teaspoon of flour to my browned meat to thicken the gravy-like juices... so I had to make a buerre manie. My soup was slightly over seasoned to my taste, although other students said they liked it and a few others like the soup being too smooth.... anyway... unfortunatley my memory card is showing an error and I cant get many of my pics off at the moment, will update if I sort it out

In my previous post I gave you the menu but undersold it somewhat, so I thought I would oversell it now so you can see the additions you would have got but did not expect.

Undersold Menu -

Pea Soup

with bread rolls

Shepherds Shepherd Pie

Mango Rice Pudding

Oversold? Menu - 

Garden Pea Soup

with a smoked bacon infused cream and

pain d'epi

Shepherds Shepherds Pie

with freshly minced lambs breast, heart, sauteed kidneys,

caramelised onions and a veal and lamb jus.  

Served wth garden fresh green beans and carrots vichy.

Kaffir Lime Leaf Rice Pudding,

served with caramelised mango on puff pastry arlettes

and a mango sauce.

Fortunately I have a picture of the desert with is the only 'looker' on the menu.  Baring in mind it was supposed to be a family meal I didn't want to go crazy on the presentation front.  The soup was served in a soup terrine with a jug of the smoked bacon cream on the side, allowing for guests to make it as bacon like as they chose... or not!  The Shepherds Pie was sever in individual ramekins with the potato piped on top, the carrots and green beans were served in mini rectangular Le Creusets dishes and the desert yo can see below.  The rice pudding is in the glass, topped with a little mango sauce and a sprinkle of the arlettes that had broken up (they are sooo delicate), the caramelised mango is sat on the arlette biscuit and there is a little dribble of mango sauce on the plate... because that's what you do to make it pretty is it not?  ;-)

All in I was fairly happy with how it went, my bread was a let down again, I think I will stick to making it home rather than in exams where I can take all the time in the world to knead it!

As for Top Gun and there being no points for second place, I think I will have to make do with no points.  It was good but it was not flawless so I am expecting a good grade.... just not the spectacular one I would have liked... oh well, will just have to wait for the Celebration Lunch next term and do it all over again!!!

Dylan

The Budget Lunch Exam

Your idea of a budget lunch???

Its exam time again at Tante Marie and this time we, the students, get to choose what to cook for it. The task is designed to test our budgeting skills, and how we need plenty of that skill when trying to cook a three course family meal for four people, total budget being £8 and not a penny more or a penny less. Yes you read it correctly, eight pounds sterling, and to make sure it is a test we have 2hrs 45mins in which to serve it all... sounds like a challenge more than a test to me though... and boy do I love a good challenge!

So its a 'family meal' meaning a starter of “Free-range 'Woking' Escargots à la Bourguignonne” which I collected from the car lot behind where I am staying, is off the menu as those picky kids would probably find snails a little 'out there'. A condition of the the task is that we have to pay a fair price for everything we use, so if I were to go and 'collect' a couple of Pheasants or a Pig for free, I would still have to cost it at a price I could reasonably purchase it for from a butcher or supermarket.... hmmmm that's that idea out the window then!

I had to fight every bone in my body to stick with the 'family' theme, a task made easier a few weeks ago when briefly speaking with 'Al' one of the teachers at Tante Marie. He advised me not to try and go all fancy, but to make sure it was tasty, “remember its a family meal” he said. He went on to say that if he was doing the task he would make a Cottage Pie, and that with the budget we had he could make the best version in the world... a tall claim methinks! But forget whether his claim is full of hubris or not... the important thing here is that his statement sounds very much like a challenge to me.... and boy do I love a good challenge! (déjà vu anyone...?)

Going back to a previous post on “Underselling and Over-delivering” my menu is as follows;

Pea Soup

with bread rolls

Shepherds Shepherd Pie

Mango Rice Pudding

There was a prime example on Masterchef last week of doing the opposite of what I like, and am trying to do with the above menu. This particular gent “oversold and under-delivered” by producing dishes for the judges which were visually amazing, yet failed to live up to the expectation in the flavour department... the MOST crucial department surely!.

So.... my selection is a very family friendly in my opinion, comes in at £8 exactly, all that remains is for me to execute it as well as I can. I maybe pushing myself a little as there are a few little extras not mentioned above that will be appearing on the dish... you will have to come back another time and see how I got on and what they are! One mistake will throw me off my time plan so it needs to be a faultless performance... a tall order but I know I can do it, whether the occasion gets the best of me remains to be seen, I just hope the gas ovens treat me well and that the bread comes out well!  What could possibly go wrong....

What do you think of my menu, over unsimplified? Mango in the winter? Let me know any thoughts below in the comments section.

Dylan

Exam results are in - Intermediate exam

Earlier in the week we received our grades for the 'Intermediate Exam' we undertook last week at Tante Marie, you may remember the 'issues' I had with my bread and my attempt at piping a pretty design on a chocolate cake... just in case you missed it you can read about that here, towards the end of the post.

Being extremely disappointed with how the bread rolls turned out, and making a couple of other school boy errors I had resigned myself to getting a mark a fair bit lower than what I know I could have achieved. The results were posted on the board in the entrance to Tante Marie for all to see, and low and behold I had somehow managed to score enough to be top of my group and second in the class comprised of the two groups. To say I was very surprised with my position in the class is an understatement, in fact I must admit to feeling slightly embarrassed after discussing with classmates all my mistakes at length and in great detail.

What I wasn't surprised by was my mark of 74% which is just a touch higher than I expected. Not having a clue how the various marking criteria were weighted I came to my expected score by simply imagining that if I had done as well as I knew I could, I would get 100%, then I deducted marks for the errors I made. Simples.

I had a 15 minute debrief on Thursday with 'Mrs A' about the exam, whom I have now started to refer to as 'The All Seeing Eye'. 'The All Seeing Eye' sits at the front of the exam kitchen, pen in hand, note pad on the counter, mini cafetiere no more than arms length away... and doesn't miss a thing... nothing, nada, nowt, **** all, NOTHING!   I had heard this was the case from other students but I guess one does not believe such things until it is witnessed first hand!

'The All Seeing Eye' even reads this blog... I told you nothing is missed!  (Hi Mrs A.. I will bring you a coffee on Monday if you promise not to shout at me for your new nickname!)

So it turned out that my own observations of my short comings in the exam where the same as 'The All Seeing Eyes'... bread was crap, piping was “variable”, lamb jus under reduced etc etc etc. I must say that the positives were also pointed out, those I was most pleased with were my Lamb being cooked well, general level of seasoning being good, and the way in which I work (tidyness etc.) being very good.... so good in fact I received full marks in this area, something for which I have to thank 'Geoff the Chef' for beasting me about when I worked with him over the summer on a yacht.

So all in all I have no complaints, my mind is now focussed on the 'Budget Lunch' exam I have on Wednesday (post to follow shortly). The intermediate exam was a good warm up and introduction to how the practical exams will work here at Tante Marie, I just need to focus more and trust my own judgement, rather than worrying about what I think the examiner wants to see.... and lets be honest when it comes the result, to quote a classic movie...

"there are no points for second place"

Dylan

French onion soup the way you imagine it should be

My 'Onion Scale'

Having spent 6 months making French Onion Soup on a weekly basis during my ski season in Val d'Isere, I am fairly confident that I make a mean rendition of it. Now I know many of you out there make a 'mean' onion soup, but unfortunately I have the job today of telling you that you probably don't.

This is not me being an arse-hole, there will be no doubt in your mind when that is the case, its simply the truth. I have sampled many many attempts from Alpine restaurants and from friends alike, some are good, some are ok and some are shocking.... None have been as good as mine. This is not hubris, but fact.

This soup is a classic, and its a classic because its good. Its good because its simple, but because its so simple people get bored. When people get bored they start to meddle and unfortunately when people start to meddle things go off track. I should know... I have done more than my fair share of meddling over the years!

So the secret, the key, the holy elixir of onion soup greatness is...... the onions! Kicking yourself now for not getting that aren't you! Some people say that the secret lies in the stock that is used, and I would agree that a really well made and flavoursome stock is important, but its not the secret to the dish. The flavour that you know and love is not that of the stock, otherwise you would be ordering a beef consommé and not the onion soup... like I said the secret is in the onions and I'm going to show you what that secret looks like. Literally.

No additives, no preservatives, no balsamic, no sugar, no gravy browning... JUST ONIONS and patience

Before I move on I need to make something clear... I am not going to give you a recipe. Instead I am going to give you something far more dangerous than that hand crafted Japanese Santoku you are wielding, I am going to give you an idea. The idea I want to bestow upon you is the bare-bones of a French onion soup, its the DNA profile that makes it what it is, but it is not the worlds most refined and elaborate version. I am willing to bet that if you try this, do not meddle, and take care and time to do it properly you will be surprised and delighted and maybe even astounded at a soup that is probably better than most you have tried before.

So you will need, white onions, garlic, beef stock as well as some butter/oil and seasoning. Simples. All I will say regarding the quantity of onions you will need is that, you will require triple the amount of onions you think you will before you slice them, and double the amount you have after you have sliced them! Confused? Don't be, it will become very clear when you try it. For now try maybe 5 large onions. Also many recipes use balsamic vinegar, sugar, tomato paste and many other things. I don't necessarily disagree with using these, just not today please, trust me on this. We are going to get a pure flavour, you may tinkle with the recipe afterwards but this once do it my way, see what you would like to add then make it again. Things like sugar and balsamic will make you think your onions are at the right stage when they are not.

Take a look at this great bloggers onion soup he was doing well until he added the balsamic vinegar. Look at the colour of the onions, they have started to caramelise but haven't had a chance to develop serious flavour and the balsamic makes them look like they have. (I do love a little balsamic in my soup, the acid cuts the sweetness nicely, but I add it to onions that have been taken to the limit). His post was the inspiration behind this blog... bookmark his site, it makes for good reading!

The key to developing 'that' flavour is looooong slow controlled cooking. This soup is a labour of love, no answering the phone, now watching your favourite soap, no nothing other than the soup.

So lets do it.

You will melt some fat, a touch of oil and a wedge of butter is my choice , add the onions and some salt and sweat in a covered pan for 5-10mins to soften and start to draw some moisture out of the onions. Once softened remove the lid and allow moisture to start evaporating.

You will soon notice that the huge amount of onions you thought you had is no more as they sweat down and reduce hugely in size. It will get worse... or is that better?  Keep stirring and maintain a medium to high heat at this stage until the moisture in the pan from the sweating stage has evaporated then lower it.

After 20 minutes the onions will start to caramelise. This does not mean they brown due to the heat searing the onion, it means as the water in the onion is being removed the natural sugars are concentrating and very slowly caramelising. You may add a whole clove of garlic, un-chopped and un-crushed.... whole.

Make sure you stir the onions every 2-3 mins. As the volume of onions reduces try and make sure the entire base of the pan is always covered in onions. This will speed up channelisation process a little and make for a more uniform colouration and flavour.

Monitor the heat carefully and be vigilant, it only takes a few seconds for the onions to catch and burn turning your soon to be soup acrid. If this happens try and spoon off the onions from the top leaving the burnt ones behind... and start again in a clean pan, using fresh onions if you dont have enough part cooked ones.

Keep going.... be brave, but be careful!

Finally, an hour later we are there! Look at those onions, fudge-like, gooey, deliciously sweet. Just some of the ways that I can think of to describe them. From all those onions we now have maybe two heaped tablespoons of onions... enough for 2 bowls of soup... and if you are me, you will eat them both yourself.

So to finish add you beef stock and simmer very very gently for a couple of minutes, season to taste et voila! You could add a large croûton cut from a baguette, topped with a heart stopping amount of good Gruyère, I'd go for Beaufort personally, but being a very very poor student I couldn't afford the bread let alone the 'King of the Gruyères”... truth be told I couldn't afford the onions, but that's the kind of guy I am, getting into debt to make sure you guys have good soup!

To recap... don't mess with this idea, you only have to do it like this one time so you understand the process and the flavour it develops. You will then understand the heart and soul of this soup and are then free to go wild and add some wine, tomato paste, lychees whatever! Your onions will be the same but you will build a greater depth of flavour around them, hell you may go completely crazy and even add some flour to thicken it slightly... but not this time!

Let me know your opinions in the comments below... I wont bite I promise... oh yeah... HAVE FUN!

Dylan

My Ultimate Focaccia Recipe

(Beautiful, expensive and exclusive Portofino, Italy)

So having failed so massively at making the little bread rolls in my exam last week at Tante Marie, I decided today to get back on the bread wagon and make one of my favourites breads – The Focaccia.

Garlic and herb Focaccia

Focaccia is as popular as it is badly made, and believe me I have had some badly made ones!  Whilst working on-board large motor-yachts I tried numerous recipes for this fabulous bread, non of which came close to encapsulating the goodness of the version found in a tiny little bakery in the heart of Portofino, Italy. This tiny little bakery that has been going for over 100yrs, serves up what can only be described as the best Focaccia in the world* and may also rate as being some of the most expensive. One day I had to run ashore to pick up some provisions and was asked by the chef to stop by this particular bakery and pick up a few varieties for the guests, and was warned that the old women that serves in there will try and feed me till I burst with various bits of baked goodness... she didn't disappoint. I bought four varieties, each portion being the size of a dinner plate... price... 65 euros! That's some expensive water, flour and oil let me tell ya! But oh yeah it was definitely worth it!

After this experience my focaccia making stepped up a gear trying to recreate that perfect texture and flavour I had experienced, the crispness of the herb variety, or the goey stickiness that came with the onion topped version. After many an hour trawling the internet I stumbled across a recipe that looked as if it may posses the correct texture, and that has to be half the battle right?? So the next day I set about making it. Not bad.. I made it again a few days later tweaking it a little... better... and so on and so forth until I reached this my recipe. I would love to mention the place I first found the base recipe as it was the blueprint for this, just with a little tweak here and there, but I cant for the life of me remember... so if you recognise this being close to your recipe, let me know who you are so I can thank you and attribute it to you!

Ok, enough with the waffle. Lets get baking!

Dylan' Perfect Focaccia

(makes two breads, or if you have a very large oven and baking tray.. one party size!)

For the Poolish:

340g White bread flour

350g Water at room temp

½ tsp Dried yeast. 

(is fine to use fresh yeast if you have it. If using dried just whisk it with the water to dissolve and reactivate it)

To finish the dough:

All the above poolish

330g White bread flour

90ml Olive oil

2 tsp salt plus some for sprinkling

170g lukewarm water

1½ tsp Dried yeast 

1. Night before making bread mix all poolish ingredients together with a wooden spoon and stir in the same direction 100 times to help develop the gluten (crucial), cover and leave somewhere cool or in the fridge overnight. This should be like a thick sticky paste so don't worry!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Add remaining ingredients and again mix 50 times with a wooden spoon ensuring everything is incorporated. It is still going to be a sticky mess... just go with it. I wouldn't lie to you.. would I?
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Remove dough from bowl and place in a greased basin, gently spread the dough into a rough rectangle and fold it into three. Oiling your hands a little will help. Cover and leave to prove for an hour or until doubled in size in a warm place. I used an oiled plastic basin to pour the dough into, you could the remainder on a greased work surface or baking tray.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4. Because the dough is so 'loose' it should have spread as it has risen and nearly filled the base of the basin, repeat the folding, cover and prove again for an hour or until doubled in size... repeat one more time after this.  The folding helps distribute the various size bubbles that are forming in the dough and is crucial for a good final texture.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Use a knife and try and cut the dough in two, it wont be easy but just get stuck in! Grease two trays with olive oil, or use a teflon baking sheet as I have, and place half the dough on each. Cover with oil (see end of post) and gently push your finger tips into the dough and ease it towards the edges of the tray. Don't worry if it doesn't fill the tray as it soon will. Leave to rest again covered in clingfilm until doubled in size.  Preheat the oven to 250c and place a baking sheet you won't be using for the bread in the bottom of the oven.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. The dough should now fill or nearly fill the tray. Carefully add more oil to the top of the dough and gently press it into the dough. Any any large bubbles that appear should be gently popped. The idea is to keep most of the gas in the dough so treat her gently. Rest for 15mins then place in a 250c oven, immediately turning down to 220c.  Just before shutting the door, toss a 1/4 cup of water or a few ice-cubes onto the tray you previously placed in the bottom of the oven, shut the door quickly to trap the steam.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
7. Vent the steam from the oven after 8-10mins and turn the tray around and bake for another 8-12mins until cooked through and nicely browned.
   
   
   
8. Let cool on a wire rack or the base will go soggy, brush with a little oil then sprinkle with sea salt! Don't touch it for at least 20mins to allow excess moisture to evaporate from the dough.... enjoy!

So that's basically that. A few things, I made a flavoured oil with rosemary, thyme and garlic heated cooked gently in good extra virgin olive oil for 6-7mins and then cooled. You don't have to do this as it tastes great with just the olive oil... I would recommend it though. 150-200ml should be about right, save leftovers to make salad dressing with... no measurements for the herbs as I didn't take note, just go with what feels right, taste and add more if necessary!

The second focaccia was a onion topped version, very authentic and my favourite! Finely slice an onion or two or three and place in a bowl with some salt and a little sugar. Mix well and taste a bit of onion, it should taste a little too salty. Leave for 30-60mins and gently squeeze the liquid out of the onions. Taste them again and they should be only a little salty now. Spread over the lightly oiled dough and bake. Sprinkle with a little salt while cooling.

I cooked the bread on a tray, and I placed the tray on a granite chopping board I use in the oven to replicate a real bakers oven.  As you can see it really helps cook the dough from beneath encouraging a browned and crisp base! (read more in my baguette post)

Any questions or comments feel free to ask below and I'll do my best in helping you recreate this AWESOME FOCACCIA!

My baguette post made it onto this weeks YeastSpotting ..... I wonder if this will be deemed worthy to appear next week?  check the site out for some awesome looking bread recipes!

Dylan

*my opinion, and you best believe it!