L'Academie de Cuisine, Week 4

So class last night focused on vegetables: specifically which kinds stand up best in which preparation. The preparations we practiced were:

Confit - tiny pieces cooked very slowly in a good amount of fat. Surprisingly, red cabbage prepared this way (with some granny smith apple bits) is absolutely luscious. (If my parents are reading this, they just laughed out loud at the idea of me liking red cabbage, because when I was two I flung red cabbage across a crowded restaurant. It was the start of my career being particular about what I ate, and also of being a little dramatic.)

Roasting - You know what this is: cooked in an oven, maybe with a little fat to prevent overdrying. Brings out the sweetness and softens veggies.

Braising - browned on the stove with oil and/or butter, then deglazed (scrape the pan with some wine) and cooked in a little liquid (like chicken stock) in the oven until tender. Surprisingly easy and gorgeous with fennel or squash. Add balsamic and honey to balance the flavors.

Carmelizing - used on onions, mostly. First, sweat them on low heat until soft, not allowing them to brown. Once they are completely soft, add some wine, deglaze, and turn up the heat so that they brown evenly.

Blanching - boiling briefly in salted water to season and seal in the color, then plunging into an ice bath to prevent mushiness. (I first became aware of this as the "shock and awe" method.) Also good for loosening skins without actually cooking the vegetable, like for tomatoes.

Gratinee - blanched, then stirred into a bechamel with grainy mustard and a little cheese. Contrary to what I figured before, gratinee does not mean "drowned in cheese;" it means "browned." The browning comes from baking until bubbly, and maybe passing it under the broiler for a minute. (I'm not entirely sure how this even counts as a vegetable.) Our instructor did this with cauliflower last night, and it was sumptuous. I'll be making that again this weekend.