Serious Foodie Class in Vancouver

[fud]

Class #4

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Chicken Saltimbocca, Pizza with Proscuitto and white asparagus an Lemon Tart

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So first off! Make the dough for the pizza AND the tart!

Here our partner Nathan is making the pastry dough. I kneaded the pizza dough and passed it off to Brian to add some love.

You see, the thing about food lovers is that they do things like smoke meat and bring it to class! Here is Nathan's pulled pork and other fine meats. Mmmmm

We let the pizza dough rise and went on to roll our tarts out. Here's Joie putting her tart in the tart tin.

We then put the tarts in the fridge with some parchment paper and beans (yes beans! to weight it down)! Chef Tony showed us how to make tomato sauce the proper Italian way!

We went back to our stations and punched down our risen pizza dough and rolled it out into nice thin "amoebas". Circles are so passe! We then put a little sauce on each pizza and dressed them with proscuitto, white asparagus, combazola and a mozza like cheese but i forget the name!

The finished product?

We enjoyed our pizza and then got a quick intro to making saltimbocca. We used chicken instead of veal and it was realy simple. Take chicken, lay one sage leaf on top, then top it off with a slice of proscuitto. Then POUND!

We then seared the chicken proscuitto side down until it was nice and brown and left a lot of 'sucs' on the pan. Then deglaze with white wine sauce and add in some chicken sauce for volume. Finish with...butter! mmm!

Toss some blanched green beans with an almond butter/water/olive oil mixture. Simple but SO good.

And presto, Chicken Saltimbocca with green beans.

Finish off dinner with a nice Lemon tart!

Sit back and smile.

[Mooshmouse]

Wes has the cooking process all squared away, so I'll cut to the chase with my own photos.

Pizza before... (also shown in Wes's photo above)

I jumped on the chance to make the pizza dough for our group; the kneading therapy went a long way after I had spent most of Sunday unpacking and organizing my kitchen.

...and After

A bit of garlic in the pizza dough for flavour. Great texture on the crust. Toppings included freshly made tomato sauce (courtesy of Chef Tony), prosciutto, white asparagus, tomato, cambozola and fontina cheese. More than enough left over for me to bring home and share with Ian... he always feels so ripped off that he never gets to taste any of our Monday-night creations.

Chicken Saltimbocca with Green Beans in beurre noisette

Didn't get any notes on the white wine pairing for the first course, but the saltimbocca was served with a Mezzomondo 2003 Negoamaro Salento.

Lemon Tart

Tender, flaky pastry and smooth, creamy lemon curd that wasn't too tart. Delicious.

Edited to add a note on the wine.

Edited October 18, 2005 by Mooshmouse (log)

[Ling]

We then put a little sauce on each pizza and dressed them with proscuitto, white asparagus, combazola and a mozza like cheese but i forget the name!

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Provolone?

I like the shots of the class in action. Cute aprons! What are you using in the tart dough--butter? Is there vinegar in the recipe, or a bit of sugar to help with the browning? Egg or no egg beaten with your ice water? Did you cut in the fat with a pastry cutter, or use a food processor?

[Daddy-A]

We then put a little sauce on each pizza and dressed them with proscuitto, white asparagus, combazola and a mozza like cheese but i forget the name!

Provolone?

Cheeses on the pizza were fontina and cambozola.

I like the shots of the class in action. Cute aprons! What are you using in the tart dough--butter? Is there vinegar in the recipe, or a bit of sugar to help with the browning? Egg or no egg beaten with your ice water? Did you cut in the fat with a pastry cutter, or use a food processor?

Butter in the pastry. Sugar, no vinegar. Egg in the ice water? I assume you mean the pastry .. if so, then no egg. Definitely egg in the lemon curd. The butter was cut in using our own two hands!

Really fun class last night. I was surprised at how confident I felt cooking the chicken in a non-stick pan! Wasn't worried about sticking at all. And the sauce (wine to deglaze, chicken stock & butter) was so simple but so good!

Linguini next week! And I heard rumour of hangar steak if Chef Tony can possibly find a source. Hmmm ... wonder where he could find that ...

A.

editted to add: Still haven't eaten my lemon tart. Brought it home for J and with upcoming dinner commitments it looks like it'll be Wednesday before I gut a taste

[*Deborah*]

We had a smidge of orange juice in the pastry, Lorna, and a bit of cold water, as well. And there was sugar, yes.

I will be sampling mine later this morning, but I have to say, it looks gooood. Bob in my group did a great job with the pastry. I did a fairly good job with the pizza dough

It is SO COOL when you make a dough and it rises and looks just like it's supposed to! I've never really worked with yeast before this class, so this stuff is all magic for me.

[Mooshmouse]

A bit of garlic in the pizza dough for flavour.  Great texture on the crust.  Toppings included freshly made tomato sauce (courtesy of Chef Tony), prosciutto, white asparagus, tomato, cambozola and fontina cheese.

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We then put a little sauce on each pizza and dressed them with proscuitto, white asparagus, combazola and a mozza like cheese but i forget the name!

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Provolone?

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Cheeses on the pizza were fontina and cambozola.

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Dudes... I said that already! Read, people!

[fud]

Oh moosh, the cheeses were fontina and cambozola

I'm wondering when we get to learn how to flip stuff in them pans like the pro's do!

My lemon tart is at home in the fridge....must.go.home.eat.lemon.tart. mmmm

[Irishgirl]

^ If you want to learn how to flip stuff in pans "like the pros do", just take a standard saute pan and put a piece of bread in it. When you can flip it perfectly every time, you'll be able to flip like the pros.

Good luck, and it's been fun watching you guys.

[Mooshmouse]

It is SO COOL when you make a dough and it rises and looks just like it's supposed to! I've never really worked with yeast before this class, so this stuff is all magic for me.

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Amen to that sistah! I never thought I'd take such great pleasure in the first peek after lifting the bowl on a ball of dough to find that it has risen perfectly.

And great tip Irishgirl, especially for those of us who are small of hand and wrist. I'll have to try that at home.

[transfattyacid]

It is SO COOL when you make a dough and it rises and looks just like it's supposed to! ....

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Amen to that sistah! I never thought I'd take such great pleasure in the first peek after lifting the bowl on a ball of dough to find that it has risen perfectly.

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Oh hell yeah. Good bread days rule !. Its the stuff legends are made of.

Working with dough has a zen like quality to me. I get alot of pleasure from the simplest preparations. These tasks get you out of bed every day to do it all again.

Glad you all had a blast with it , the pics look cool.

[BCinBC]

Nice pix Joie and Wes.

Haven't tasted my lemon tart yet either, but for me the best part was the sauce that accompanied the saltimbocca. Brown bits + white wine deglaze + chicken stock + butter + butter + butter = WICKED GOOD STUFF!

I was dying to "flip" the green beans (would be so cool on the 6-burner 6-million-BTU range!!), but the beurre noisette was too sticky. I am way into the flipping, it is showy and good for wooing the ladies (however I'm already married... but still do it every once in a while for N).

[fud]

I heard rumour of hangar steak if Chef Tony can possibly find a source.  Hmmm ... wonder where he could find that ...

Hanger Steak Lessons? Man I have NO idea who Chef Tony could get to teach that! I mean seriously who in Vancouver has the expertise needed to show a class full of egulleters and food lovers how to do THAT kind of thing right?

Anyone? Anyone?

[BCinBC]

This weekend I did a quick chicken saltimbocca to place atop some mushroom and pea risotto (using some great shitakes and oysters from GI), while N used the pastry recipe for some apple tarts (with very good results). I love this class! Looking forward to tonight's installment.

[Ling]

How were the lemon tarts? They look good.

[Daddy-A]

How were the lemon tarts? They look good. 

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My tart was really good, although I'll admit to the pastry being a bit tough. That being said, I wasn't responsible for said pastry, so I can honestly blame it on someone else.

I'll be at Wink havin' a coffee beforehand if anyone wants to join me.

A.

[BCinBC]

We actually didn't get around to trying the lemon tart until 2 days afterwards, so by that point my pastry was quite tough as well (lemon curd excellent tho). Which is partially why I wanted to give the pastry another go, that and we have a whole whack of apples we're trying to use up.

I was so impressed with lemon curd that I am now trying to adapt the recipe into something that can be used in another form, perhaps in cookies...... So far it's too thin, but I'll try to figure something out.

[Mooshmouse]

How were the lemon tarts? They look good. 

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My tart was really good, although I'll admit to the pastry being a bit tough. That being said, I wasn't responsible for said pastry, so I can honestly blame it on someone else.

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Our group's pastry, which was rolled by someone other than me, turned out quite well. And the lemon curd was fantastic: creamy, not too tart, not too sweet.

[achiu]

We actually didn't get around to trying the lemon tart until 2 days afterwards, so by that point my pastry was quite tough as well (lemon curd excellent tho).

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I have to admit I ate my tart when I got home that night and found the crust to be a bit tough as well so I don't think it was because you waited 2 days before eating it. I was meaning to ask Chef Tony about it tonight

Alex

[Ling]

^If the tart dough is tough, the pastry may have been overworked (thus over-developing the gluten.) Are you using all purpose flour or pastry flour in class? Canadian AP flour has less gluten than American AP flour, but you can still reduce the gluten content by adding some cornstarch to your AP flour.

ETA: Also, I never cut in the fat with my hands...the heat from your hands will melt the fat a bit, and it is easier to overwork the dough that way. I use a pastry cutter, while some people like using the food processor.

Edited October 25, 2005 by Ling (log)

[Ling]

I was so impressed with lemon curd that I am now trying to adapt the recipe into something that can be used in another form, perhaps in cookies...... So far it's too thin, but I'll try to figure something out.

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Does the lemon curd recipe contain whole eggs, or only yolks? Here's my favourite lemon curd recipe...you can see how it compares to the one used in class, if you like. Also, you can use some cornstarch to thicken the lemon curd when you're cooking it. This recipe is not too thin to be used in cookies...I smear it between thin shortbread cookies (also use cornstarch in my shortbread, just like for pastry).

lemon curd

[fud]

^If the tart dough is tough, the pastry may have been overworked (thus over-developing the gluten.) Are you using all purpose flour or pastry flour in class? Canadian AP flour has less gluten than American AP flour, but you can still reduce the gluten content by adding some cornstarch to your AP flour.

ETA: Also, I never cut in the fat with my hands...the heat from your hands will melt the fat a bit, and it is easier to overwork the dough that way. I use a pastry cutter, while some people like using the food processor.

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AP Flour but I think we're just overworking the dough

[achiu]

Yup, asked Chef Tony in class today. Overworked dough = tough pastry. I think the problem was that our dough was too wet and we kept adding flour and working it to dry it out.

Alex

[fud]

Class #5

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- Linguine /w Broccolini and Proscuitto

- Turkey-Smoked Gouda Tortellini

- Prawn-Leek /w Vodka-Lemon-Cream Tortellini

- Biscotti

First we were tasked with making the dough! We mixed together sugar and butter and then added the dry ingredients, threw in egg, nuts and flour. mmm biscotti dough. We rolled it all out and put them in the fridge so the butter coagulates.

At the same time we mixed in flour, egg, salt and water to make the pasta dough. Simple! We worked it over quite a bit and then let it rest.

We proceeded to make our pasta. Mmm we had Rustichella (it has SO much texture, it can latch onto any sauce thrown at it mmm). We boiled some broccoli in some well salted water:

Here's Joie slicing some garlic for the sauce:

We threw in some butter, olive oil, pine nuts, chillies, proscuitto and garlic and browned it a little. At the end we added some basil and mint.

The pasta was cooked Pre-Al Dente and then finished in the pan with the sauce so the Linguine could soak up the sauce. Toss on top some fresh parmesan and cracked pepper.

We proceeded to roll out our pasta dough into long thing sheets. Here is BCinBC getting it going.

Daddy-A works his like a pro. Look at the length!!

While all this pasta madness was occuring, other brave souls were preparing the stuffing and sauce. Our group was responsible for making the meat sauce with smoked gouda. Here is the ground turkey mixed with Moosh's magic mix of herbs and spices.

The red sauce consists of tomato sauce and more...

Now the fun part, cut the pasta into squares and stuff the meat into them and then fold them into tortellini's. Yumm! We packed ours full and then stretched the pasta dough to close them off. Look at them - so cute!

Here's Moosh on the factory floor.

And the finished product. We partnered with another group so we could have a red and a white sauce. You could also put them together in the same bowl and get a mixed white/red sauce in the middle.

The meat tortellini and tomato/white wine red sauce up close

The prawn-leek tortellini up close with the voda-lemon-cream sauce

And with a nice coffee, enjoy some biscotti (Chef Tony went off on a tirade about cafe latte - "Cafe Latte is for kids...KIDS!!! Don't give me that latte crap!")

Moosh will fill in on the wines as I am terrible at getting their names. However I wanted to share some amusing quotes from Chef Tony tonight as it was truly hilarious and memorable. He is SERIOUS about pasta...don't piss him off!

"to this day, I LOVE fat ankles" - Chef Tony when talking about playing with toy cars while his grandma kneeded pasta dough

"you know....pasta....tastes like wheat. Like wheat, that is what pasta tastes like" - Chef Tony stating the not-so-obvious

"You don't have to add meat to this dish, it's vegetarian" - Chef Tony before a student told him that there was proscuitto in the dish

"Proscuitto! Well pork! Pork is vegetarian!" - Chef Tony in response to having proscuitto in his vegetarian dish.

Good stuff. Can't wait till next week when Neil comes to visit...right Neil?

[Mooshmouse]

You missed two of the best anecdotes, Wes: Chef Tony doing his "I-Am-A-Piece-Of-Pasta" dance and, "Punch out a couple of eye holes and, voila, it's Pasta Man!"

For me, the best part of the evening was stuffing and folding the tortellini. It was as zen-like as kneading bread dough, especially once you get into the rhythm. First thing's first, however.

Linguine with Broccolini and Prosciutto

Wine Pairing: La Vielle Ferme - Côte de Lubéron Blanc

Because it's about 7:30 or 8:00 by the time we get to eat the first dish, it always disappears the most quickly. This linguine was no exception. Wonderfully flavourful yet still quite light.

Turkey/Ground Pork/Smoked Cheese Tortellini - Before

To clarify one of Wes's photos, the browning meat was for the tortellini filling. The pasta rectangles that you see to the left are pasta testers that enable us to check for doneness without sacrificing an actual tortellini. I'll lay claim to the really cute tortellini that you can see in the background.

Turkey/Ground Pork/Smoked Cheese Tortellini - After

Wine Pairing: Cono Sur 2005 Pinot Noir

Rather than combine our two pastas in one dish, we took a suggestion from one of the professional student assistants and plated each of them separately so that the sauces wouldn't compete with one another. Ground pork provided an added layer of flavour, but the combination of grated smoked gouda and smoked provolone was the real icing on the cake. Delicious.

Prawn/Leek Tortellini with Vodka/Lemon/Cream Sauce

This dish was, IMHO, the winner of the evening. Large chunks of prawn in the tortellini filling to sink your teeth into with such a lovely delicate sauce. I'll be repeating this one, without question.

A photo of my biscotti will have to wait until I can properly enjoy them with a cappuccino tomorrow morning. I will say, however, that they were flavoured with hazelnuts, cornmeal, lemon zest and fennel seed. Took a tasting preview before the second bake... fantastico, even before dunking them into coffee.

[Vancouver Lee]

Sorry for the late response, I'm just getting caught up on this thread.

Re last week's pizza.....is it verbotten to share the recipe for the dough and the tomato sauce? If not, please post them.

And awesome work here, everyone. The food you are preparing looks heavenly.

For everyone out there like me who wanted to go this time, but didn't....anyone want to attend the next class? I believe it starts January 23rd and costs $695.