The Little Mermaid Sequal: Bisque du Crabe a la Cordon Bleu
Bonjour mes amis!
It's been a couple days since last time I "blogged". In that time I've learned about and made crab bisque and consommé, and went to Les Halles with Brian. I also forgot to write about my french family birthday party so I'll fill you in on that too.
French Family Birthday Lunch...
Last Sunday my french grandparents had a birthday lunch at our apartment for their grandson who turned 13. I may or may not have returned home that same morning from being out late at night and wearing the same clothes I went out in... oops. The party was really great though! There were 10 of us there, the entire french family. Luigi made little cheese bread sticks and we had champagne (which was difficult for me to get down after the night before). We had a nice lunch with salad, green beans, endive, and what I think was veal? They had a grown ups table and a kid table which I thought was hilarious.. and of course I sat at the kids. The french children spoke pretty good English so we had some conversations. Luigi also made a giant macaroon for the boy's birthday cake and it was delicious. Afterward I was exhausted and spent the rest of the night in my bed... facebooking.
Kid Table
Lunch
Parent Table
Luigi's Macaroon Cake
Grandparents with the birthday boy (Such a French picture)
The Little Mermaid, Part II
Monday we made Crab Bisque at school.
Watch the video and you'll see exactly what it was like at Le Cordon Bleu that day.
To make the crab bisque we had to take the baby crabs that were still alive and chop them in half with our chef knife. Needless to say they were all sprinting away from our cutting boards like Sebastian which made it semi-difficult to achieve this. Most of the girls in my group had small freak outs but I actually really loved this part.. I know, I'm heartless. I didn't really love the bisque when Chef made it in the demo because it had a brownish color and it tasted gritty but mine actually turned out pretty decent and I brought it home to my french family. The people in the metro hated me.
Chef was having fun with my camera and kept repositioning my hat and posing me for the picture. The Chef's think they're really funny.
Clear Consommé on a Cloudy Day
We never see the sun here in Paris. I've been here 19 days and have only seen it once. It makes me kinda sad but making this consommé made me really happy. A consommé is when you take a stock and clarify it using lean meat, mirapoix, tomatoes and egg yolks to turn the stock from cloudy to crystal clear. The meat, vegetables, and egg yolk coagulate on top of the stock forming a "raft" which is really just where all the solids come together and sit on top of the liquid. When you bring the stock from a boil down to a simmer a small hole forms in the raft and the stock is circulated through this and eventually becomes completely clear. Then you gently strain it through a chinois so you are left with a very rich tasting clear liquid that can be used to make things such as French Onion Soup or a broth soup with vegetables like in the picture. It's really an amazing process and I love watching it happen.
Chef making his consommé. It's the pot on the right.
The cocktail glasses in the top of the picture are the consommé at two different stages. The one of the right is about 5 minutes into clarifying and the one on the left is when the consommé is complete. Isn't the difference amazing?
I love this picture. Yes this boy had a red curly rat tail and yes he is eying the girl next to him in class and I captured it.
French Onion Soup made from the Consommé
Soupe de Poisson Facon Marseilleaise
Sometimes the days at school run very long and I fall asleep mid-note taking...
Les Halles
Les Halles is an area of Paris named for the central market that used to exist there. Merchants from all over France would come to sell their food. It's very historic to the food world and was magical to see.
The individual stalls where merchants sold their food.
This isn't a great picture but standing there I could almost imagine and feel what it used to be like.
Besides the market, the area of Les Halles has amazing kitchen appliance stores, specialty food stores, and bargain shopping (at least during the sales right now). It's one of my favorite areas in Paris. Although I've been told I say that about every area I go to...
Cute new shoes for 40% off!
A skirt I bought at a vintage store.
La Bovida
Dehillerin
Dehillerin
In demonstration class we can ask questions if we don't understand what the Chef is doing. This usually is a helpful tool for students but in the case of my class... the questions just get ridiculous. Each class period we have at least 5 dumb questions asked and they can be pretty funny so I'm dedicating a section of my blog to them to share with you. We're gonna call it "Question du Jour".. kinda like soup du jour. I know, I'm hilarious and witty. Enjoy!
Question du Jour
"Chef, at what temperature should the stove be on when you boil water?"
Alright, that's all for today. I'll be back soon with more pictures to make you drool and more idiotic questions.
To make the crab bisque we had to take the baby crabs that were still alive and chop them in half with our chef knife. Needless to say they were all sprinting away from our cutting boards like Sebastian which made it semi-difficult to achieve this. Most of the girls in my group had small freak outs but I actually really loved this part.. I know, I'm heartless. I didn't really love the bisque when Chef made it in the demo because it had a brownish color and it tasted gritty but mine actually turned out pretty decent and I brought it home to my french family. The people in the metro hated me.
We never see the sun here in Paris. I've been here 19 days and have only seen it once. It makes me kinda sad but making this consommé made me really happy. A consommé is when you take a stock and clarify it using lean meat, mirapoix, tomatoes and egg yolks to turn the stock from cloudy to crystal clear. The meat, vegetables, and egg yolk coagulate on top of the stock forming a "raft" which is really just where all the solids come together and sit on top of the liquid. When you bring the stock from a boil down to a simmer a small hole forms in the raft and the stock is circulated through this and eventually becomes completely clear. Then you gently strain it through a chinois so you are left with a very rich tasting clear liquid that can be used to make things such as French Onion Soup or a broth soup with vegetables like in the picture. It's really an amazing process and I love watching it happen. 
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