PUTTING ON MY APRON AT APRON'S: Intermediate Techniques, Week 2

[Amy Warren, LMHC / WQ Mag Columnist]

In this my second week of the Intermediate Techniques class at Publix Apron’s Cooking School, I am suddenly aware of how today’s hectic schedules and busy lives have influenced our cooking habits. As we made a homemade consommé and filled and folded won tons for the Won Ton Soup, prepared and formed Sofrito Crab Cakes with a Roasted Red Pepper Beurre Blanc made from scratch, roasted vegetables for the Root Vegetable Hash, created a crumb topping to apply to our Roasted Garlic-Dijon Encrusted Rack of Lamb, and whipped up the layers of Tiramisu, it dawned on me how there must have been a time when people had time to spend hours or even a day in the kitchen. Today, we depend on restaurants and the products on the grocery store shelves to do the hard work more often than not. While on the one hand, it is wonderful to have these ready-made delicacies at our disposal; to me, it seems a bit tragic that we no longer have the time to do it ourselves. While I have always prided myself on cooking from scratch, when did I last bake my own bread? How many years has it been since I baked the cookies I used to sell or even a dessert when I wasn’t required to bring one to someone else’s home? And how often do I make my own stock rather than depend on the cartons in the store? And how long has it been since I treated myself to a meal at home that included one of the mother sauces that I love? As Apron’s Chefs Jim Hendry and Mike McClure guided us through the process of creating tonight’s extravagant (Publix doesn’t skimp) meal, this class made me yearn to be in the kitchen day after day creating delights to satiate my taste buds.

Read below for tips learned as we made this exceptional meal:

Making the Won Ton Soup

• Consommé is clarified broth.
• When making consommé, part of the broth will form a raft of chicken and veggies. It is like a foaming wave forming across the top of the soup (it's worth making just to see how cool this is). A hole should form; if not make a hole with a spoon.
• To use scallions for garnish, cut the green stem in sections across the bias (diagonally).
• Always garnish soup. Other garnishes to consider are croutons or crème fraiche.
• When making won tons or raviolis, wet the outer edges and fold to seal. With both hands, make a V with your pinky fingers to seal the pasta.
• Make sure to get all of the excess air out of the won ton.
• Don’t let the won tons or raviolis overlap in the pan or they may stick.

Making the Crab Cakes

• For crab cakes with less breadcrumbs, make a vegetable roux (sauté veggies then mix in flour) to use as a binder.
• Beurre blanc is a reduced butter sauce.
• Make sure to pick out the shells when buying crabmeat.
• Shape crab cakes with a scoop and use your thumb to perfect it.
• Cooling crab cakes in refrigerator will help to set them.
• Use the 2 Fish Spatula Technique to flip crab cakes or fish. Put one fish spatula (a spatula shaped to keep fish intact) on the bottom and lay the other one on top and flip.
• Begin by placing food in a fry pan on the side furthest from you to keep from splattering.

Making the Root Vegetable Hash
• When cutting potatoes ahead of time, put the slices in water so it won’t dry out.
• Instead of roasting garlic in the oven, you can roast it in oil on the stove. Use enough oil to cover. Cook at medium until golden.

Making the Rack of Lamb

• Take off the “silver skin” of lamb—the thin layer of fat on the surface—by sliding the knife underneath.
• Searing locks in the juices of the meat. Turn when meat starts to get a layer of color on the bottom. Then finish cooking in the oven.
• With fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme, hold the stem and strip the herbs.

Making the Tiramisu

• For the best mascarpone, buy Italian rather than American.
• Use wrist when whisking instead of your arm and shoulder. You’ll tire less easily.
• When folding ingredients, add gradually--one-fourth to one-third at a time.
• Always fold lighter mixture into the heavier mixture.
• Fold from back, under and over. Just fold enough to mix ingredients.

And at the end, we all dined on yet another decadent meal. As I sat down with my rather large piece of Tiramisu, the men at my table had to notice that I ate more than they did. While they had little to no room for dessert, my propensity to want it all meant I would find room no matter what. Just like today, I am inspired and I want it all. I want to spend hours in the kitchen, yet there are clients to see, a blog to write, articles to edit, a meeting to attend, therapists to train and errands to run. I love doing all these things (except the errands); I don’t want to give up any of it…. But, oh how I would love to be cooking!

[Brenda]

I think it's wonderful that you are learning all of this. You must be having a ball. I don't know how you find the time or energy to do it all.