Red, White, and Cordon Bleu: Spring Break

The cute bed and breakfast where Mom and Dad stayed

For their 25^th anniversary last year, Mom gave Dad his choice of cooking class at Le Cordon Bleu while I was in school, so they could experience the school first-hand (and have a ton of fun). After the list of 2013 classes was released, they chose the “Tour de France,” a four-day class with each day exploring the cuisine from a different region of the country. It was scheduled for the week between my Intermediate graduation and the start of the new term (scheduled for April 1^st), which was perfect: they would already be in town!

Knowing that they would be here, I quickly signed up to be an assistant for that class. Even though it was a cuisine course, I figured the help of a pastry student couldn’t hurt. Plus: I would have cuisine students helping with me, so if I didn’t know how something was done, they could fill in my gaps, right?

Wrong.

The day before graduation I received an e-mail from Student-Services Jeremie explaining that I was the only student who had signed up to help with the course, and that it was very likely that I would be assisting the chef on my own. On top of that, he informed me that the class would be taught by Chef Frederic, the new cuisine instructor who already had a reputation of having unrealistically high expectations of students, and being very hard on them when they were unable to meet those expectations. I was nervous about it (if I was going to get yelled at by a chef in front of a class for being an incompetent pastry student, I would really prefer that my parents weren’t there) but there was nothing I could really do.

Goofing around in the market's French deli

Mom and Dad’s class didn’t start until Monday so, after graduation on Friday night, we had all weekend to relax and enjoy each other’s company. It was a fun-filled weekend! We hadn’t seen each other in person since Christmas, so there was some catching up to do. They were staying in a really cute bed and breakfast only a block from our apartment, which was incredibly convenient, and they got free homemade breakfast every morning.

We spent much of the weekend relaxing in our apartment. Dad taught us how to make fresh mozzarella cheese (we made plain, black olive basil, and chive and garlic – yum!) and I taught Mom how to make muscadines (a chocolate bonbon I learned in Intermediate). We all made a lemon tart together, complete with tempered chocolate decorations, and Mom dried the extra meringue to make her favorite big crunchy cookies. On Sunday we dyed eggs and decorated them like baby chickens, since Easter was only a week away, and we relaxed in Mom’s favorite tea lounge in the market with a pot of caramel-flavored black tea. Before classes started, we also wandered around the bed and breakfast. It is their policy to leave all unoccupied rooms open, so we looked at them all (there was only one occupied one besides Mom and Dads’) and chose rooms for the guests coming in June for my Superior graduation. It was such a cute and historical little building and, though we weren’t able to reserve all of our first-picks, I am so excited for it to be buzzing with my family and friends this summer (11 people total)!

Snacks for the week

Making cheese from scratch!

Stretching the fresh mozzarella

Piping muscadines

Tempering chocolate like a pro!

Our cheese is done -- and SO tasty! We ate this entire log
with tomatoes and fresh baguette toast in one sitting.

Making that dreaded Italian Meringue

Learning how to use a Saint-Honoré tip on our
fabulous lemon tart. She wanted to learn over
Christmas Break...but better late than never!

Beautiful Lemon Tart!

Getting ready to dye eggs -- no Easter would be complete without it!

Making them into baby chickens

The entire brood

Packing up the Black Olive Basil mozzarella

Our first flight of scotch samples

We had one last mission for the weekend: to do a single-malt scotch tasting at our local scotch bar. None of us had any previous experience with scotch, so it was a completely new experience. We headed to The Highlander for dinner on Sunday night, having no idea what to expect.

We told our waitress that we intended on having two flights (eight scotches total), and that we were complete scotch n00bs. She got really excited, and was fabulous throughout the entire experience. She brought us the “Sniff Kit,” a dark wood box full of vials of scented oils, each marked with a number corresponding to their aroma. We were supposed to use them to train our noses to search for certain hints in the scotch (this one is peaty, that one is floral, the other one has a hint of fresh salty sea air), but really we just had fun smelling them all and guessing their scents. She fully explained each scotch, and taught us how to first smell the sample, then taste it, then add a tiny drop of distilled water, and smell and taste again. After two sets of four scotch samples (one ounce each), we each had our favorite…but I don’t think we’ll be ordering another scotch any time soon.

The inside of the "Sniff Kit"

They each smelled so strong!

We had light meals that weekend (salads at our apartment, lunch at the French deli in the market, dinner at our favorite bar, sandwiches with our scotch tasting) because we suspected the fabulous French food we would be feasting on for the following week. It was finally time for the Tour de France!

Paying close attention to the Chef's demo

I had to leave for the school before Mom and Dad. As an assistant, I had to be there an hour before class started to help set up, and before that I had to iron and change in to my uniform. I was still nervous about being the only student (and under-qualified, at that) helping Chef Frederic, but there was nothing I could do but my best, right?

When I arrived, the school was buzzing with students. I had forgotten that there was also a bread-making course in those four days, so it was nice to at least not be alone in the building. There were so many students signed up to help with the bread class that they sent a couple of the cuisine students to help me. Score! I wasn’t going to be alone after all.

Rosie, with whom I was acquainted from the locker room, and I went to work for the Chef, setting up the practical kitchen for the class’ seven students. As they began to arrive, I ushered students into the bread-making classroom and the Tour de France room, then resigned to the demo room to run the webcam during Chef Frederic’s demo. He didn’t seem scary or mean or pretentious at all. In fact, he was fun and lighthearted.

As the designated camera-girl, I wasn’t sent on many errands for the Chef, but I did help to dish up food after his demonstration had finished and delivered it to the students in their seats. Rosie and I made final preparations for the practical, and we led the class to their kitchen.

The practicals were always as fun as the demos. The students, all adults, had varying levels of skill, so there was always someone I could genuinely help. I was useful in the practical (a surprise to me) and when the students were all busy, the Chef would come chat with Rosie and me.

In the four days, the class made some truly fabulous food. Each day, Chef Frederic would demonstrate two dishes, a first course and a main course, and the class would just make the main course. They were:

Monday: Quiche à l’Oignon au Camembert (Onion and Camembert Quiche) and Jambonette de Volaille Farcies Braisée au Cidre et aux Pommes (Chicken Jambonette Braised with Apple Cider)

My slice of the quiche -- the Camembert is running down
the side...my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Dad's plated chicken legs -- they're filled
with a really luscious veal stuffing

De-boning her chicken legs: removing the bone
from the center without cutting the meat, so all that
is left is a little meat-sack for the stuffing

The more bone they remove, the more room there is
for the veal inside!

Giving good comments on the presentation

Success!

Tuesday: Salade de Lentilles du Puy Crépinette de Jambon au Fromage (French Green Lentil Salad with Ham and Cheese Crépinette) and Choux Farcis à l’Auvergnate, Légumes au Jus (Arvernat Stuffed Cabbage)

Getting the cabbage ready for stuffing

It looks like a brain!

Ready to go in the oven!

Baked and ready for browning

It looks a little strange, but it is actually really tasty!

Wednesday: Paté Berrichon à l’Oeuf Maitre Jean (Berrichon Paté with Egg) and Joues de Boeuf Braisées au Vin Rouge, Gratin de Pommes de Terre (Braised Beef Cheeks in Red Wine with Berrichon Potato Gratin)

Chef Frederic's beautiful pork shoulder Paté. It's wrapped in puff pastry.

Beef cheeks in red wine sauce! These were so tender and delicious.
They are actually made from the cheek of a cow's face, and the Chef
served them with pearl onions, button mushrooms, and potatoes
with bacon, cheese, and cream sauce.

Dad's beef cheeks are looking good!

Mom's potatoes

The Chef was checking the sauce to see if it needed
to be reduced any further

Thursday: Fonds d’Artichauts Frais et sa Mouclade de Moules (Fresh Artichoke Hearts with Curried Mussels) and Brandade de Cabillaud à la Fondue de Poireaux Gratin de Chou Fleur (Cod Brandade with Leek Fondue and Cauliflower Gratin)

The Cod Brandade -- essentially a fish pie with a base of finely-sliced leeks
and a body of mashed potatoes mixed with flaked cod, topped with bread crumbs.
Mom doesn't like fish, so Dad and I shared her portion in class.

Chef Frederic's artichoke hearts with curried mussels -- this was
fantastic! It was SO much work, but I might attempt it when
we live in a place with a little bigger kitchen.

At the end of the class, everyone was happy! Mom and Dad gave
one of their homemade aprons to the Chef, and he loved it. He
immediately put it on and went to the staff's lounge to show it off,
then wore it around the kitchen until another student asked him to
take it off for a photo.

Working hard in the practical kitchen!

The class celebrating after a long week

The class lasted from noon to 6:30pm, so each night the three of us would return home to Chad, reheat any food that was no longer hot, and have a wonderful French supper. Of the dinners Mom and Dad made, my favorite was the stuffed chicken leg with potatoes (Monday), but of the entire week, my favorite was definitely Chef Frederic’s artichoke hearts with curried mussels, with the onion and camembert quiche coming in a close second. The paté was so good, too, that Mom made one for Easter (even though she didn’t make one in Ottawa).

Mom, Dad, and I all really enjoyed the class. It was fun, we all learned a lot, and Chef Frederic was great to work with. After the practical on Thursday evening, there was a little “graduation” ceremony for the students of both classes. We were served champagne with baby hibiscus flowers in the glass, and the Chef gave certificates to all the students. It was funny and lighthearted. That night we ordered pizza for supper (since Mom really didn’t like the fish pie they made in class) and celebrated the end of the class at home.

On Good Friday Mom and Dad flew home. It was sad to see them go – we had such a lovely time together! I can’t wait until they come again in June.

Our freezer after they left -- well-stocked with delicious left-overs!

Chad and I went to a nice little church on Easter Sunday, then came home and had an Easter egg hunt in the apartment. I made a ham and cheesy potatoes, just like my family does. It was the best Spring Break ever.