Advanced Cooking Day 5: Meat Mystery Basket + Break Up Food

Oh hi. My life has been EXTREMELY hectic for the past two days which has led me to not keeping up with my daily posts. I feel terrible for not posting, therefore I have woken up extra early to bid you all a glorious morning and tell ya'll about my Advanced Cooking class that was on Monday.

The mystery baskets this week were: Uncommon Meats

Whole Duck, Foie Gras, Whole Rabbits, Sweetbreads(cow intestine), Lobster, Yellow Tail and Clams

I sure hope you are okay viewing these pictures.

I posted the picture below on instagram and it caused quite the conversation between my followers and myself.

Some followers were unhappy with the photo. They commented that "this is why they are vegetarian" etc. While others commented on the fact that we should all be aware of where our meat comes from.

My comment on the issue: If you're a meat eater, you should do the research and make the effort to know where your meat comes from, how it is raised and how it is killed. Try to support your local farmers by using their meat and be INFORMED!

Okay back to work.

My team was given a basket filled with:

Ramps, Foie Gras, Whole Duck, Dried Figs and Morel Mushrooms

I immediately walked into class with the urge to make bread. So when I saw the duck and our ingredients I hopped on the idea to make my Duck Fat Focaccia. From there we came up with the idea to make a tartine (open faced sandwich) using the focaccia

Ducks: Chris would break it down to use the legs and the skin. We would cook the legs, pull the meat off and let it cook further in a red wine and fig sauce. With the skin, we would make cracklings!

Ramps: Max would pickle half the ramps and grill the rest. We would use the grilled ramps in an aioli and put the pickled ramp on the plate

Figs: The figs would be sliced in half and reduced with red wine to make a spread for the tartine

Morels: Chris would saute them in butter and a little duck fat to create another spread for the tartine

Foie Gras: We would slice the foie and quickly sear both sides of it to top the tartine

The other team in action plating up their dishes.

Our final product:

Duck + Fig Tartine with a Grilled Ramp Aoili 

We clearly felt like killing our classmates and chef with a rich decadent plate. 

My favorite part of the whole night was when my classmate said "This is break up food. Every bite comforts me so much."

The rest of the class did a fantastic job with their mystery baskets too. 

Watercress Infused Hamachi, Watercress Salad, Clam Stew

Roasted Rabbit Loin, Ruby Sipper Sauce, Braised Rabbit and Polenta with Butternut Puree and Chantrelle Mushrooms

Sweetbread Ravioli, Butter Poached Lobster

Photo Credit: Daniel Castro

My favorite part about this class is sneaking away the leftovers. I snagged a cup of the butternut squash puree and ate it by the spoonful for dinner last night. It was literally roasted squash and salt. 

My classmates comment about the breakup food leads me to my question to you.

What has been or would be your break up food? 

I remember in high school after a break up I ate two chocolate chip cookies from Starbucks. As I ate them I felt better and better and then worse. I laughed at myself for turning to sweets to ease the break up pain and then quickly realized food is not the key, but sometimes you just want to eat something. 

What kind of food is the most comforting to you?

My number one comfort food would probably be a huge bowl of granola or a big pb+j sandwich. However, a mean chicken pot pie could sooth any heartache.