Day 5: Eggs

Today we did a lot of different techniques. We started out the day cutting orange supreme, which is basically the equivalent of filleting an orange. We cut off all of the peel and the pith before removing the fruit in slices while taking off the membrane. 

The first stage of my marmalade: oranges in boiling water 

Then we moved on to practicing our sugar syrups by making different jams. The other students made bitter orange marmalade,  lemon marmalade, strawberry jam, caramel oranges, caramel apple sauce, and candied orange peel. I started making sweet orange marmalade. I will try to take a picture of the finished product tomorrow.

The second stage of my marmalade: ranges simmering in sugar syrup 

After lunch we made caramelized almonds using the dry method of cooking sugar. The wet method of cooking sugar is what I described yesterday; the dry method doesn't include any water. The dry method is good when you want to caramelize something quickly because it heats up much faster than the wet method. It also rarely crystallizes. I should have let my sugar cook to a darker caramel, but they still tasted yummy. I'd like to add spices to them next time.

Caramelized Almonds

Towards the end of the day we began discussing eggs. The function of eggs is to set baked goods. Egg whites set the hardest and fastest, whereas yolks set softer and slower. As the week goes on we will be making different things using each component, as well as whole eggs. We should be making meringue, soufflé, mousse, and custard. Today we started with a vanilla Crème Anglaise. We learned how to split and remove the seeds from a vanilla bean pod. The thing that makes Crème Anglaise a little bit difficult is that if it heats up too fast or if it isn't stirred enough there will be chunks of scrambled egg in the final product. Each student did a different variation on an ingredient in the Crème Anglaise, so we could look at how the thickness and set was effected. The option were the original recipe (1/2 milk 1/2 cream), all cream, all milk, 1/2 eggs, 1.5 eggs, and 2x eggs. I did the double egg recipe and I ended up with a lot of cooked egg pieces. My chef instructor said that it was just because the ratio of egg was so high compared to the dairy. At the very end of the day we strained our Crème Anglaise and left it to chill and set overnight. From what I could tell today, mine was much yellower and exponentially thicker than the other variations. I had to push mine through the strainer with a rubber spatula, because it wouldn't go through on its own. I also only cooked mine to 110°F when the recipe called for it to be at least 165°F, because it was so thick and getting too scrambled. I'll see if I can get some pictures tomorrow. I will report back about how else the recipe was effected.

Have a lovely night! I get to sleep 15 minutes later tomorrow!