Cauliflower Popcorn to the rescue....

M

music-city-missy

Well-known member
Tonight after we got our Beef Bourguignon simmering and went through our lecture, Chef threw each team a veggie that we had to do something with and it was totally up to us what we did with it. Well, my partner and I got the cauliflower and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it and ran it by my partner and we ran with it.

The cauliflower was already in perfectly sized pieces and washed. In less than 5 minutes our dish was in the oven and we went about cleaning.

Finally chef asked what we were making and we told him and he gave us this look sort of out of disgust it seemed. So for the rest of the hour, we kept thinking our grade was going to be somewhat less than perfect tonight.

When it came out of the oven, Chef came by and popped a piece in his mouth. He said he liked cauliflower anyway but he noted that it was nice and had a slight crispness. When it came time to eat, I noticed he got several more pieces. A kid in the class was overheard saying that even though the preparation was simple, it was really good and had a slight sweetness to it.

It was the only dish that was completely eaten! Chef is so tough that I feel like we had a huge victory tonight and floated home on cloud 9. So thanks to whomever posted it originally - Josh I think!

 
Great story, Missy, thanks! I love that recipe too--it comes to the rescue often at my place!

 
That's awesome!

Where are you in school? I envy you, but being the type A that I am, I might have a hard time being judged like that. Congrats- a roasted vege is the best one, to me.

 
Whenever I have made it, it hardly gets off the counter. it

just becomes like candy.
If I can do enough, I'm going to make a soup with it. Enough, that is for snacking AND for the soup.
Missy, out of curiosity, did your chef suggest the parchment paper "trick" when simmering your bourgignon? Or did you?

 
No we didn't use the parchment on the stew....

but you know what, that would have been good because some of the beef would start to dry out on top and I would stir it up trying to keep it all good and moist. I'll point that out next week. This was 'his version' of it and I have to say it might have been one of the tastier versions I have had. Turned out nice except we might not have cooked it quite long enough because we were having trouble keeping it simmering and kept turning it down (too low) so the beef was not as tender as it should have been.

 
Nashville State Community College....

is the only program that is local. AND we are about to receive our ACF certification which means I graduate with my first level of ACF certification - how cool is that?

 
Before there was parchment there was lettuce leaves....

in the "old days" before parchment paper started appearing on top of stuff to keep it from drying out, lettuce leaves were used quite commonly. A trick I learned in the 1950s from my Mom was to put sturdy lettuce leaves on top of many types of foods on top of the stove, just under the lid. At the end the lettuce can be taken off. Stews, braised meats, vegetables- almost any kind of food that might dry out.

 
We've been doing the oven....

but we have to learn all the proper techniques so it was time to use the stovetop this time. We did Coq au vin on the stovetop and had the same problem with keeping the right amount of heat and our chicken was underdone. Both times I had partners that would listen to Chef and turn it down and then leave it there - they aren't listening to him saying to KEEP adjusting it so when I turn it up, they turn it down regardless of what it's doing. I think the stoves just need calibrating.

At home, I do the oven on most things like this but even on the stovetop, I never have this much problem.

 
The J&W class I did did the coq au vin on the stove top.

I think chicken is more forgiving if you cook it at a little higher temp than is a tough cut of beef which will "tighten" if boiled.

 
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