Mistral Cooking Class

[Schielke]

Great pics! Thanks!

Ben

[Schielke]

I just found the note for the red wine we had.

Nuits St Georges 1996

1er Cru

Domaine Lucien Boillot and Fils

Somebody with a better wine vocab can comment on the tasting. All I know is that it was delicious.

Ben

[nightscotsman]

I just wanted to chime in that I had a great time and actually learned something - sort of like "Restaurant Kitchen Rock". Chef William was a good teacher with lots of colorful stories of life on the hot side. It was fascinating seeing all the prep and separately cooked compontents that went into making his dishes - and they were really, really tasty dishes too. Definitely made me want to eat dinner at Mistral.

My favorite moment? discovering "Desserts for Dummies" on the kitchen bookshelf.

[tighe]

OK fellow class participants and others learned in the cooking arts...

I tried to cook some bass last night in the manner that Chef William did for our lunch, but instead of a nice crisp skin, I had serious sticking problems and lost all of the skin. I didn't use a non-stick pan, but did have a fair amount of oil in the pan and it was really hot. Thoughts and suggestions on where I went wrong? Thanks....

[col klink]

What type of pan did you use?

Chef Williams was using carbon steel pans that are seasoned like cast iron pans and I'm guessing perform similarly to cast iron without all of the weight. But a well seasoned cast-iron or carbon steel pan is pretty close to being non-stick. Actually, I've never cooked with carbon-steel pans so I may be talking out of my tukhes. If you were using stainless steel I'm afraid I can't help you.

How long did you keep the bass on high heat? After a couple of minutes I believe Chef Williams reduced the heat and did the tilty thing with the pan so the fish wasn't swimming in beautiful drippings.

[tighe]

I was using a stainless All-Clad pan, could be a big part of the problem I suspect. I also didn't catch that he turned the heat down after searing the fish, which might give it time to release....

[Schielke]

I have the same problem with probably the same all clad pan. I think that the seasoned pans he has are part of the trick. Frankly I have always had a problem with fish sticking in a stainless pan.

Try it out with a nonstick or a seasoned cast iron or one like Chef William's.

I also hear that you really have to dry your fish well. Thomas Keller runs the back of a knife along the skin to squeedge the last bit of moisture from it.

Ben

[trillium]

I use a matte enamel Le Creuset pan and never have a problem with sticking. I heat the pan until I see little wisps of smoke rising, add the cooking fat of choice and then put the fish in. The matte enamel finish acts a lot like cast iron, but is less reactive and it doesn't turn tomatoes funny tasting. Not to be a trouble maker or anything, but the Le Creuset factory stores are having their bi-annual sale right now...

regards,

trillium

[Schielke]

I love le creuset.

Does anybody remember what kind of pans those Carbon Steel ones were? Are they a restaurant supply item? I dig their utilitarian nature.

Ben

[MsRamsey]

Does anybody remember what kind of pans those Carbon Steel ones were?  Are they a restaurant supply item?  I dig their utilitarian nature.

I think he said they were from Dick's Restaurant Supply.