C’est comme ça, qu’est ce que j’y peux? C’est comme ça, qu’est ce que j’y peux?

Faudrait savoir ce que tu veux. Faudrait savoir ce que tu veux!
(Christophe Willem - Double Je)

Lesson 24 -Preparing meat medallions

Today's dish is Pork Medallion in Charcutière Sauce served with Pommes Dauphine. We had Chef Stril (AKA Grandpa Bear) for both demo and practical. Yay, he's awesome!

Boom!

The pork was sautéed, but had to be cooked to between à point and bien cuit (Medium well/well done). I thought the French don't acknowledge anything other than their 4 levels of doneness? Anyways, it was tricky to cook this pork to the level necessary since it was so thick, but I managed to get it done right. Trick is to keep feeling the toughness of the pork at its center.

Charcutière sauce is a sauce made with a pork base (from the sautéing of the pork medallion) with onions, dry white wine and veal stock combined with mustard and pickles. We also added some chopped herbs.

Pomme Dauphine is a type of fried potatoes that is similar to tater-tots but oh so much better. You combine mashed-up potatoes with choux pastry to create cork-shaped gooey pastes that you deep fry at 180C. The result is a delicious fried potato with a fantastic texture.

When I fried my first batch of potatoes, the corks all unraveled in the oil and disintegrated. WTF?? Chef Stril looked at me sternly and said "I guess the Harvard boy can't figure out the potatoes." Yo chef, I followed the recipe to the T. You can't blame me for how it turned out!

Then he added:"You'll have to serve your dish without the potatoes."

"NO!" I barked back, adding "chef" a second later. "I can redo my potatoes!"

Chef Stril looked at the clock and said "Okay, you have 45 to redo everything, allez-y!"

For the rest of the class I was in a zone, racing to redo my Pomme Dauphine while keeping an eye on my pork and sauce. I was able to race to the finish line, though 5 minutes later than the deadline, and present my dish to Chef Stril, who praised my dish but marked off points for having finger marks at the edge of my plate. C’est comme ça, qu’est ce que j’y peux?


Quote of the class:

"If you want to, you can put in less sugar than what is stated in the recipe. It'll make the dessert dish healthier."

- Demo Chef Stril on how to make a dessert dish "healthier."

The dish also called for 6 egg yolk, 50 grams cream and is served with 

homemade ice-cream (250ml whole milk, 3 egg yolks, and 65 grams of sugar).

Too bad we didn't make this in practical. It was delious.

Chef Stril: Un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit..... nuef, dix. I count 10 finger marks at the edge of your plate, Ou-ard.

Me: Oui chef, that's because I have 10 fingers.

Chef Stril: This is not good. You need to serve your plate with no finger mark.

Me: Oui chef.