Le Cordon Bleu - Instruction #14; Practical #14

We started laughing and joking around. By the end of demonstration the students were bored and ready to get out.

Chef Lesourd in his calm, seemingly flawless, mood taught lesson #14. Gracing through recipe after recipe. Finishing on-time. With beautiful final products.

Instruction #14

• Roasted jumbo shrimp flavored with lemongrass and coconut
• Herb crusted thick salmon steak, mushroom flan, creamy jus with Madeira
• Pistachio crème brûlée, nibbed cocoa bean tuile

Crème brûlée should take over an hour at a low – 100 degree Celsius – temperature. Respecting this, Chef started with dessert.

Mixing milk and cream into blanched – lightly whisked with sugar – yolks. Flavored with pistachio paste. And poured into ramekins to slowly bake. Brûlée at the end.

Served along side, cocoa bean tuiles. Baking at a slightly higher 160 degree Celsius oven for thirty minutes. Melted butter, milk, sugar, glucose, honey, and cocoa nibs filled the room with a chocolate bake-y goodness.

Leaving France all together, today’s entrée is a must make.

Jumbo shrimp pungent from a sesame seed oil, lemongrass, cilantro, garlic marinade were quickly pan-fried. Sauce – almost soup like – poured over the top. Adding ginger, galangal – blue ginger baring no resemblance – coconut milk, and kaffir lime leaves completed a perfect flavor.

Garnished with baby sweet corn, red bell pepper, baby green asparagus, and fresh cilantro.

Chef created a coconut, pineapple puree, curry, turmeric, ginger, Tabasco paste. Gummed with xatan. To add a fantastic addition to the presentation.

Staying with seafood, salmon topped with an herb butter crust centered our main plate. Butter mixed with breadcrumbs, ground hazelnuts, potato starch to bind, chervil, parsley, and cilantro perfectly added.

A simple mushroom flan, whipped cream, and Madeira jus set this dish to the finish line.

Practical is not until Thursday.

Today, July 14th, is Bastille Day. Equal to America’s Fourth of July. Morning rain delayed the air show and put a damper on most picnic plans. The skies are expected to clear for tonight’s over-the-top firework show. Illuminating the Eiffel Tower and surrounding 7th and 15th arrondissements.