Showing posts with label Questions on cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Questions on cooking. Show all posts
Papillote
So there are the principles of cooking in papillote.
The way a papillote works is that all the ingredients cook together, in their own steam, in a casing made of tin foil and parchment. This cooking technique has the advantage to be healthy. To make sure to get it right you must keep in mind how long the main ingredient, which could be meat, fish, vegetables, cooked pasta, cheese, fruits, etc, will take to cook. You will have to cut your vegetables, accordingly and/or part-cook them first.
So, let’s say that we are making a papillote containing a chicken breast. A medium sized breast of chicken off the bone and seared will require about 20 minutes of cooking, plus ten more minutes to bring the parcel to the right temperature. During my pain management program we cooked a medium-sized chicken breast with some baby potatoes, peppers, tomatoes, courgettes, shallots, fresh herbs and garlic. So, to make sure that the potatoes would be cooked we had to cut them in three pieces, the courgettes were cut no more than one centimetre thick but not smaller than half a centimetre. The peppers had to be cut in dices no more that a couple of centimetre aside.
Now, if we had used a medium size piece of salmon, for example, the cooking time would have been only ten minutes. Then our vegetables would have had to be cut into smaller pieces. Well, I am sure that you get the gist of it.
The other very important thing is to make sure that the casing is tightly sealed. So to achieve that you can brush the edge of the tin foil with a little bit of egg white that will seal any gaps when cooking. Failing to seal your parcel properly will lead to the food cooking unevenly, some drying out and/or burning. Another problem that can arise is to damage the parcel when manipulating it. So, extreme care is necessary when putting them in the oven.
Another little tip is to put a couple of spoons of liquid (water, stock, wine, etc) into the bag before closing it. This will increase the steam into the parcel and allow the ingredients to cook evenly and compensate for any loss of steam during the cooking process. It will also bring its own flavour to the dish.
Now, enough talking, more cooking!
Recipe for a chicken with Mediterranean vegetables en papillote:
- 1 Chicken breast, off the bone, skin off
- ½ a courgette
- ¼ of a pepper
- 1 small shallot
- 1 clove of garlic
- 6 cherry tomatoes
- 2 baby potatoes
- a teaspoon of freshly chopped thyme, marjoram, rosemary, oregano and summer savoury mix
- Salt and pepper
- 1 Tablespoon of Greek extra olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of medium dry white wine
- a sheet of tin foil large enough to contain all the ingredients (45cmx30cm)
- a small sheet of parchment
- 1 egg white
First, sear your chicken breast until golden brown. Then, slice the courgette in pieces a centimetre thick; dice the pepper in the same way. Finely slice the garlic and shallot. Peel the potatoes and slice them (about 1/2cm thick). Wash the cherry tomatoes.
Put your sheet of tin foil flat on a clean surface. Place the piece of parchment in the middle. Place the slices of potatoes on it, then the courgettes and peppers. Sprinkle the garlic and shallots on the top of it as well as the fresh herbs. Season well. Finally, place your breast of chicken on the top of the vegetables. Then add the wine, olive oil and cherry tomatoes.
The next step is to close the parcel. Brush a little bit of egg white around the edges of the tin foil. Lift the tin foil length wise and make it stick. Then, start folding it down, tightly 4 or 5 times. You must leave some space for the parcel to expand. So, do not fold all the way down.
Cook in a pre-heated oven at 200˚C for 30 minutes.
Serve as it is, but before that the bag starts collapsing. Like a soufflé.
Use this recipe as an example. Almost everything can be cooked in a papillote, just let your imagination guide you.
There are few great combinations that I invite you to try out:
- Shoulder of lamb, garlic, rosemary, potatoes and a hint of cumin (caraway)
- Salmon, garlic, thyme, lemon,
- Seafood, white fish pieces, leeks, carrots, celery, lemon, coriander
- Corn fed chicken, onion, baby potatoes, and truffles
- Smoked haddock, baby potatoes, milk, spring onions and cumin
- Lemon sole, mushrooms, tomatoes, tarragon and a dash of medium dry white wine
- Pork chop, red onion marmalade, sweet potatoes
- Lamb shin, aubergine caviar, garlic, potatoes
- Slice of ham, pineapple, rum and brown sugar
- Lamb shoulder, olives, tomatoes, courgettes, garlic and mixed herbs
- Apple, cinnamon, dark rum and brown sugar
- And my old favourite a whole banana, dark bitter chocolate
Principles of stock making
Stocks are at the base of most of the Classic French, meat or fish sauces. Although, hygiene regulations have clamped down on their use in French and European kitchens, I am still a big fan of them.
In principle making a stock is extracting flavour and gelatine from meat, skin and bones.
In principle making a stock is extracting flavour and gelatine from meat, skin and bones.
First let’s have a look at the gelatine extraction process. Meat is made of water and the protein fibres that do the work of contraction which are not water soluble. The water soluble materials present in muscles are collagen which represents an average of 1% of the overall weight, other cell proteins for about 5% , 2% of amino acids and other savoury elements, 1% of sugars and other carbohydrates and 1% of phosphorous and potassium based minerals.
In the other hand, bones contains 20% of collagen, pig skin 30% and the chefs favourite source of gelatine veal knuckles and oxtail with 40%.
When meat is cooked in water for a long period of time collagen can be freed from the muscles connective tissues. The gelatine extraction time will depend on the type of bones and meat. Fish bones* and meats only require 20-25 minutes, for a veal calf and young ox tail it may take up to 4-8h, as for the bones and muscles of an old steer it will take longer, up to 24h. Note that the longer the extraction process lasts, the gelatine molecules that have already been dissolved into the water will gradually break down and become less efficient, later, when thickening a sauce (demi-glace) or form the strong matrix that will make a jelly (aspic).
The flavour extraction will gradually happen until the meat will reach the temperature of 70 degrees Celsius/ 160F. At that temperature the meat will have lost 40% of its weight in juices. These juices are made of water and water soluble savoury amino-acids.
What ingredients choose to obtain a full flavour and full bodied stock? Nowadays, when it comes to stock, chefs find themselves to have to balance flavour with economics. Meat is a great source of savoury molecules, but is very expensive and a poor source of gelatine. In the other hand, bones and pig skin is quite inexpensive and a great source of collagen but a poor source of flavour. So a good stock needs to have a good balance of meat (meat trimmings will do) and bones and/or pig skin. I like to use a proportion of 1/3 of meats for 2/3 of bones. Due to their cost, I would use veal knuckles for the making of aspic or savoury jellies, only.
Then, aromatic vegetables and herbs such as carrots, onions, garlic and celery, a bouquet garni will be added as well as some tomato pure and a bit of wine. I like to use some fennel instead of carrots in the making of fish stocks as carrots can make the stock turn a little bit orange.
In general, the solid ingredients are cooked in one to two times their weight of water. This makes 1-2 litres of water per kilograms of solid ingredients to start the stock.
Note that the smaller the meats are cut and the bones are broken, the faster their contents will be extracted into the water.
While cooking a stock must be kept as clear as possible to allow its use in the making of aspics, broths or consommés. I have to say, most of the work involved in stock making is to keep removing impurities from it (skimming). Depending on the type of stock, brown or white, the meat or bones are first roasted to develop the roasted meat flavour through the Maillard reaction for the brown stock or blanched for a minute or two, to remove all the surface impurities and coagulate surface proteins so that they won’t cloud the liquid, in the case of a white stock. Then, they are put in a pot alongside the vegetables and COLD water and slowly brought to a gentle simmer, and it stays there.
Now, comes the grim task of skimming and skimming and skimming again. This operation is necessary to remove the fat globules and scum from the surface.
It is important to start the stock with cold water and bring it slowly to a gentle simmer because it allows the soluble proteins to escape the meats and coagulate slowly into large aggregates that are going to be easily removed from the surface. A hot start and a strong boil will create small protein particles as well as smaller fat globules that will be kept in suspension and emulsion into the water by the boiling process, resulting into a cloudy liquid.
It is also important to keep the stock pot uncovered. This will allow water to evaporate and cool the surface; this will help controlling the gentle cooking process. It will also, dry out the surface scum, making it easier to skim. And it finally, starts the reduction process that will concentrate the stock’s flavour.
The final operation is, when cooked, to thoroughly strain the stock and get rid of most of its fat. For that operation, I think that the best way to do this is to cool down the stock and then remove the cap made of set fat, which will have formed on the top of the container.
This is then ready for use.
* Fish stocks as well as consommé made of crustaceans shells and heads(always had some fish bones when cooking such stocks as crustaceans don’t have any connective tissues on their shells), are made in the same way than mammals meats and bone based stocks. The only differences comes from the fact that due to the cold environment in which fish and crustaceans live their connective tissues and collagen differ from the land animals one. Fish collagen is less cross linked therefore it dissolve faster and at a much lower temperature. As it takes up to 24h at a gentle simmer to extract the collagen of an old steer, cod’s collagen and gelatine starts to melt around 10 degrees Celsius/ 50F.So the general rule when making a fish stock or fumet is to cook is around 70C/ 165F for about 20-25 minutes. This will result in a nice clear stock that can easily be made into a consommé. Note that fat fish bones and meats are not to be used to make fish stocks so avoid using bones from salmon, tuna, sardines, etc; prefer bones from black sole, halibut, cod, turbot and John dory.
In the other hand, bones contains 20% of collagen, pig skin 30% and the chefs favourite source of gelatine veal knuckles and oxtail with 40%.
When meat is cooked in water for a long period of time collagen can be freed from the muscles connective tissues. The gelatine extraction time will depend on the type of bones and meat. Fish bones* and meats only require 20-25 minutes, for a veal calf and young ox tail it may take up to 4-8h, as for the bones and muscles of an old steer it will take longer, up to 24h. Note that the longer the extraction process lasts, the gelatine molecules that have already been dissolved into the water will gradually break down and become less efficient, later, when thickening a sauce (demi-glace) or form the strong matrix that will make a jelly (aspic).
The flavour extraction will gradually happen until the meat will reach the temperature of 70 degrees Celsius/ 160F. At that temperature the meat will have lost 40% of its weight in juices. These juices are made of water and water soluble savoury amino-acids.
What ingredients choose to obtain a full flavour and full bodied stock? Nowadays, when it comes to stock, chefs find themselves to have to balance flavour with economics. Meat is a great source of savoury molecules, but is very expensive and a poor source of gelatine. In the other hand, bones and pig skin is quite inexpensive and a great source of collagen but a poor source of flavour. So a good stock needs to have a good balance of meat (meat trimmings will do) and bones and/or pig skin. I like to use a proportion of 1/3 of meats for 2/3 of bones. Due to their cost, I would use veal knuckles for the making of aspic or savoury jellies, only.
Then, aromatic vegetables and herbs such as carrots, onions, garlic and celery, a bouquet garni will be added as well as some tomato pure and a bit of wine. I like to use some fennel instead of carrots in the making of fish stocks as carrots can make the stock turn a little bit orange.
In general, the solid ingredients are cooked in one to two times their weight of water. This makes 1-2 litres of water per kilograms of solid ingredients to start the stock.
Note that the smaller the meats are cut and the bones are broken, the faster their contents will be extracted into the water.
While cooking a stock must be kept as clear as possible to allow its use in the making of aspics, broths or consommés. I have to say, most of the work involved in stock making is to keep removing impurities from it (skimming). Depending on the type of stock, brown or white, the meat or bones are first roasted to develop the roasted meat flavour through the Maillard reaction for the brown stock or blanched for a minute or two, to remove all the surface impurities and coagulate surface proteins so that they won’t cloud the liquid, in the case of a white stock. Then, they are put in a pot alongside the vegetables and COLD water and slowly brought to a gentle simmer, and it stays there.
Now, comes the grim task of skimming and skimming and skimming again. This operation is necessary to remove the fat globules and scum from the surface.
It is important to start the stock with cold water and bring it slowly to a gentle simmer because it allows the soluble proteins to escape the meats and coagulate slowly into large aggregates that are going to be easily removed from the surface. A hot start and a strong boil will create small protein particles as well as smaller fat globules that will be kept in suspension and emulsion into the water by the boiling process, resulting into a cloudy liquid.
It is also important to keep the stock pot uncovered. This will allow water to evaporate and cool the surface; this will help controlling the gentle cooking process. It will also, dry out the surface scum, making it easier to skim. And it finally, starts the reduction process that will concentrate the stock’s flavour.
The final operation is, when cooked, to thoroughly strain the stock and get rid of most of its fat. For that operation, I think that the best way to do this is to cool down the stock and then remove the cap made of set fat, which will have formed on the top of the container.
This is then ready for use.
* Fish stocks as well as consommé made of crustaceans shells and heads(always had some fish bones when cooking such stocks as crustaceans don’t have any connective tissues on their shells), are made in the same way than mammals meats and bone based stocks. The only differences comes from the fact that due to the cold environment in which fish and crustaceans live their connective tissues and collagen differ from the land animals one. Fish collagen is less cross linked therefore it dissolve faster and at a much lower temperature. As it takes up to 24h at a gentle simmer to extract the collagen of an old steer, cod’s collagen and gelatine starts to melt around 10 degrees Celsius/ 50F.So the general rule when making a fish stock or fumet is to cook is around 70C/ 165F for about 20-25 minutes. This will result in a nice clear stock that can easily be made into a consommé. Note that fat fish bones and meats are not to be used to make fish stocks so avoid using bones from salmon, tuna, sardines, etc; prefer bones from black sole, halibut, cod, turbot and John dory.
A Classic Approach to Sauces and Dishes Associations
As I wrote on my previous posts on sauces, a sauce is an accompaniment that will enhance or complement the main ingredient of a dish. I concocted this list of ingredients with the classic sauce accompaniment, accordingly to the way they are cooked.
Offals
Braised, deep-fried or pan-fried: Sweet and sour, Allemande, banquiere, beurre noisette, Breton, chaud-froid (chicken veloute), Scottish, Hungarian, ivory, meurette, ravigote, Soubise, supreme, tartar, Villeroi, sherry vinegar.
Ox tongue: Piquante (gherkins and vinegar), roman, tomato sauce.
Pig trotters: Devil's, mustard, Sainte-Menehould.
Braised sweetbreads: Albufera, aurore, chantilly, tarragon sauce, financiere, Foyot, Godard, Nantua, périgourdine, Régence.
Kidney, grilled or pan-fried: Beurre marchand de vin, madera sauce, Portuguese sauce, tyrolienne.
Veal head: Gribiche, mayonnaise, parsley sauce, tortue.
Vol au vents
Allemande sauce, banquiere, financiere, mariniere, normande, périgourdine, Soubise, supreme, Toulousaine and sherry sauce.
Shellfish
Cold dishes: Gribiche sauce, kiwi based sauce, mayonnaise, remoulade, verte (green sauce), Marie-Rose, Cocktail sauce.
Hot dishes: Americaine, prawn sauce, armoricaine, lobster sauce, Indian sauce, Nantua, Newburg, Victoria sauce, thermidor.
Snails
Garlic butter, Aioli, poulette sauce.
Feathered Game
Bread sauce, chaud-froid sauce (game stock, demi-glace, egg yolks, butter), moscovite, port wine sauce, salmis sauce.
Game
Aniseed sauce (sweet and sour), dried cherries sauce, chaud-froid, game jus, Cumberland, sauce Grand-veneur, moscovite, Napolitan, Onion sauce, poor man's sauce, périgourdine, pignoles sauce, apple sauce (spiced apple marmelade), pepper sauce (poivrade), Reform sauce, roman, saupiquet (hare), smitane, Victoria (base of Espagnole sauce with port and redcurrant jelly).
Gratins
Frog legs
Garlic butter, poulette (Allemande sauce+mushrooms, parsley and lemon juice), Aioli.
Oysters
Shallot sauce, tartar, flavoured vinegar.
Fish roe
Brown butter, tartar sauce.
Vegetables
Asparagus: Batarde sauce, chantilly, maltaise, Pompadour, truffle sauce, vierge.
Boiled or steamed vegetables: Aioli (sharp garlic mayonnaise), melted butter, Gascogne butter, beurre mousseux (foamy butter), maitre d'hotel butter, brown butter, Allemande sauce, batarde sauce, béchamel sauce, white sauce, chantilly, hollandaise sauce, mikado sauce, Mornay sauce, mousseline sauce (hollandaise with with wipped cream), tomato sauce.
Cardoons: Lyonnaise sauce (onion, vinegar, white wine, demi-glace), marrow sauce.
Salads and raw vegetables: Anchovy dressing, dijonnaise sauce, cold indian sauce (mayonnaise with curry and chives), kiwi sauce, mayonnaise, horseraddish sauce, remoulade sauce, roquefort cheese sauce, russian sauce, verdurette sauce, vinaigrette, yoghurt sauce.
Beans: Tomato sauce, breton sauce, cream sauce.
Leeks: Vierge (butter, lemon, juice), vinaigrette.
Potatoes: Cottage cheese sauce, horseraddish sauce, tartar sauce, curry sauce, ketchup.
Green leaves: Flavoured oils, Rossini sauce, vinaigrette, flavoured vinegar.
Sauteed or braised vegetables: Bohemian sauce, Colbert sauce, cream sauce, Italian sauce (Bouillon, mushrooms, shallots, onions, tomatoes, dices of ham), poulette sauce, provencale sauce, Soubise sauce, supreme, tomato.
Mussels
Mariniere (shallots, parsley, white wine and butter), poulette, ravigotte, Catalane, provencale.
Eggs
Hard boiled and served hot (or Lukewarm): Allemande, aurore, béhamel, white sauce, duxelle sauce, Indian sauce (chicken or fish veloute with lemon juice and mace), lyonnaise, Mornay, Soubise, tomato.
Poached or 6minutes eggs: American, andalouse sauce, aurore sauce (white sauce with tomato), banquiere, bourguignone (Beef or chicken bouillon, mushrooms, onions, pork belly, roux), bretonne, chasseur, chaud-froid, Chivry, Choron (bearnaise with tomato fondue), cream sauce, cressoniere (with lambs lettuce), Scottish (Chicken consommé with madera wine, julienne of carrot, celery, leek and truffle) tarragon sauce, Hungarian, Indian, Ivory, matelote, meurette (bourguignonne sauce with croutons and lardons), marrow sauce, Mornay, Nantua, périgourdine, Portuguese, printaniere (spring sauce), provencale, rouennaise, royale, Soubise, supreme, venitienne, Hollandaise.
Omelets: Chasseur sauce, prawn sauce, madera wine sauce, normande, Reform, tomato, Worcestershire sauce.
Pastas
Al fungi, al arrabita, pesto, bolognaise, duxelle sauce, financiere (espagnole, beef bouillon, Madera wine, truffle), ketchup, poulette, stufatu (Corsican meat (beef, game, pork belly) stew with tomatoes, onions and parsley), vinaigrette, alfredo, carbonara, tomato, napolitan.
Fish
Braised or baked fish: American, bourguignone, bonne femme, breton (Julienne of mushroom, leek and celery, fish veloute, white wine, creme fraiche), bourguignotte, cardinal, chambertin wine sauce, Chambord (for carp), prawn sauce, diplomate, crayfish sauce, genevoise sauce, genoese sauce, greek sauce, gooseberry sauce, Hungarian sauce, Italian, Joinville sauce(fish veloute with prawns, mushrooms, crayfish and truffle thickened wit egg yolks and cream), Laguipiere sauce (white wine sauce with truffles), matelote (for eel), meurette, normande, Newburg, Portuguese, Riche sauce (for sole, John Dory, turbot), rougail, tyrolyenne, veron, Victoria, white wine sauce, red wine sauce.
Deep-fried: Tartar, nuoc-mam, pekinoise (from Beijing), ketchup, raito.
Smoked fish: Cream sauce, Horseraddish sauce.
Grilled fish: Anchovy butter, gascogne butter, Bercy butter, flavoured oils, spicy oils, pissalat, batarde sauce, Beauharnais sauce, Choron, Colbert, Fennel sauce (for mackerels), Italian, marrow sauce, mustard sauce, Saint-Malo sauce (for ray, turbot and brill), tapenade, pesto, aioli.
Marinated fish: Escabeche sauce, Italian sauce, tomato sauce.
Fish cooked "meuniere" : Brown butter, Bonnefoy sauce.
Poached or steamed fish, served hot: Beurre blanc (pike, sanders), mousseux butter, brown butter, black butter (ray), Allemande sauce, anchovy sauce, batarde sauce, béchamel, Bercy sauce, white sauce (made with fish stock), brandade (mash potato, garlic and olive oil), caper sauce, chervil sauce, chaud-froid sauce, cream sauce, prawn sauce, red mojo, green curry sauce, Scottish sauce, egg sauce, francaise sauce, hollandaise, oyster sauce, indian sauce, maltaise, mariniere, Mornay, mussels sauce, mousseline sauce, mustard sauce, Nantua, oursinade (sea urshin sauce), parsley sauce, poulette, rouille (spicy mayonnaise), sabayon, sorrel sauce, Thermidor, tortue, truffle, venitienne sauce, waterfish (served hot).
Poached or steamed fish, served cold: Montpellier butter, aioli, anchovy sauce (served cold), cinghalaise, gribiche, La Varenne, mayonnaise, oriental sauce, sorrel sauce (served cold), ravigote, remoulade (mayonnaise with dijon mustard), russian sauce, tartar, tomato sauce, red mojo, verte sauce, vinaigrette, Vincent sauce, waterfish (served cold).
Quenelles (dumplings)
Rice
Served hot: Chasseur sauce, Duxelle sauce, Indian, Mustard sauce, Richelieu sauce, tomato sauce.
Served cold: Mayonnaise, tartar, vinaigrette.
Meat
Lamb: Mint sauce, Reform sauce, jus.
Minced or boiled meat: Devil's sauce (sauce a la diable), minced sauce, Italian sauce, lyonnaise sauce, bread sauce, poor's man sauce, piquante sauce, Robert sauce, Verjus (wine made from unripe grappes) sauce.
Large cuts of meats for roasting or braising: Jus, cooking liquid (braised meat), Albert sauce (white veal bouillon with horseraddish, mustard, vinegar, thickened with bread crumbs and creme fraiche), English cream sauce (white veal consomme, roux, creme and mushroom essences), bread crumb sauce (shallots, ham, veal veloute, lemon juice, veal stock, bread crumb), Godard sauce, madera wine sauce, pepper sauce, Regence sauce, Richelieu sauce, russian sauce, sarladaise sauce, Tallayrand sauce.
Ham: Cumberland sauce, Madera wine sauce, saupiquet sauce, sherry sauce, Yorkshire sauce.
Mutton: Harrissa (maroccan chilli paste), Cumberland sauce, Indian sauce, onion sauce.
Small cuts of meat, served panfried or sauteed: Sweet and sour sauce, bearnaise, bordelaise, bourguignone, chasseur, roe-deer sauce, choron, duxelle sauce, tarragon sauce, financiere, hungarian, hussarde sauce, Italian, madera wine sauce, marrow sauce, perigourdine sauce, portuguese sauce, provencale, Talleyrand sauce, tomato, Valois, sherry wine sauce, zingara (paprika, mushroom, ham, demi-glaze, tomato).
Pork: nuoc-mam, sambal, sweet and sour sauce, charcutiere (veal stock, gherkins, vinegar, parsley), piquante, apple sauce, Robert sauce, Sainte-Menehould, sage sauce, Swedish sauce.
White meat: Aurore sauce, Breton sauce, cinghalaise sauce, cream sauce, tarragon sauce, hungarian sauce, Italian sauce, meurette, parsley sauce, romaine sauce (braised beef), Soubise, villageoise sauce, truffle sauce, zingara.
Cold meat: Aioli, anchovy butter, avocado sauce, Cambridge sauce, chaud-froid, dijonnaise sauce, mayonnaise, mousketeer sauce (mayonnaise with shallots cooked in white wine, meat glaze, cayenne pepper), horseraddish sauce, ravigote sauce (vinaigrette, tarragon, parsley, mixed herbs, chervil, onion and capers), remoulade sauce, tomato sauce.
Grilled meat: Anchovy butter, Bercy butter, Chivry butter, Colbert, oyster sauce, morel sauce, butter, bearnaise, choron sauce, Snail butter, Maitre d'hotel, marchand de vine sauce (sirloin), ravigote (served hot), barbecue sauce, Beauharnais sauce, Bonnefoy sauce, Bontemps, bordelaise sauce, Chateaubriand sauce, Colbert sauce, Foyot, harrissa, mustard sauce, paloise sauce, Robert sauce, sarladaise sauce, tyrolienne.
Crumbed and deep-fried meat: Tomato sauce, Villeroi sauce.
Crumbed and pan-fried meat: Devil's sauce, Sainte-menehould (onion, thyme, baie leaf, vinegar, white wine, mustard, demi-glace and gherkins), mustard sauce.
Poultry
Braised: Albufera sauce (chicken velouté, chicken stock, creme fraiche, butter, pepper, veal stock), celery sauce, duxelle sauce, financiere sauce, Godard, onion sauce, piemontaise, provencale, Talleyrand, villageoise, sherry sauce.
Duck: Bigarade, chaud-froid, dodine sauce, apple sauce, rouennaise, Yorkshire, sweet and sour, soy sauce, cantonese sauce.
Goose: Apple sauce, sage sauce, Swedish sauce.
Poached or pan-fried dishes: Albufera sauce, allemande sauce, aurore sauce, cold avocado sauce, banquiere sauce, breton, chervil sauce, chantilly, chaud-froid, Chivry, cream sauce, Scottish, tarragon sauce, financiere sauce, mixed herbs sauce, Indian sauce, ivory sauce, mayonnaise, Mornay, Nantua, Perigueux, parsley sauce, printaniere, ravigote sauce, red mojo, Richelieu, royale, supreme, toulousaine, thai green curry, thai red curry, Indian curry, venitienne.
Grilled chicken: Bontemps sauce, Devil's sauce, paloise (bearnaise sauce in which the tarragon has been replaced by mint), Sainte-Menehould, tyrolienne.
Roast poultry: Sweet and sour sauce, cranbery sauce, English sauce, bread sauce, jus, gravy.
Sautéed poultry: Bourguignone, chasseur sauce, duxelle sauce, Hungarian sauce, Indian sauce, périgourdine, salmis sauce, zingara.
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As I based myself on the conventional "Antonin Caremes sauce classification", my experience and training as well as some sauces that I've learned throughout my few years in kitchens working with chefs from all over the planete, this list is not repesentative of all the classic sauce-dishes association in the World. So, where ever you are, feel free to let me know of the traditional sauce-dishes association in your traditional gastronomy. I will make a point to add it to the list.
Sauces: Flavour
A sauce is concentrated flavour, in a liquid or semi-liquid form that complement or enhance the flavour of the main ingredient of a dish. So, a sauce is made of two distinct parts that are the flavour and the consistency. Lets put the complex subject of sauce textures to the side, for the moment, and have a closer look at the vast world of flavours.
Flavour is the combination of two sensations: taste and smell (aroma).
Taste is perceived on the tongue. There are five basic sensations related to taste: saltiness, sourness, savouriness, sweetness and bitterness. These sensations are triggered by water-soluble chemicals, salt, sugars, sour acids, savoury amino-acids and bitter alkaloids. The "hot" pungency and astringent sensations are not true tastes they are classified as a form of pain. But still perceived by our tongue. 
Smell is perceived in the upper nasal region and comes in thousands of different aromas. They usually are described by the foods they remind us of. They have been classified in 25 different genres (groups). They are: floral, spicy, citrus, berry, tree fruit, tropical fruit, non-vinifera grapes, dried fruit, artificial fruit, green leafy, green stemy, dried leaves, nutty, phenolic, caramel, burnt, papery, hot, sulfur, yeasty, bacterial, moldy, earthy, oxidized, and contaminated (source Cornel University). The molecules that we can smell are usually more soluble in fat than in water. That little part of them that aren't embeded in fats are the one that we can smell. Being water-soluble, these molecules can escape more easily into the air where our smell detectors can catch them.
So, when we are making a sauce we have to make sure that the combination of taste and aroma is respected. Neither of the two sensations alone is fully satisfying. But it is not all, recent studies have demonstrated how taste sensations affect our smell sensations. They showed that the sugar in sweet food enhances our perception of aromas. It is also true with salt in savoury foods.
Sauces as carrier of flavours form a broad spectrum. At one end they can be made of a simple mixture that bring a pleasing contrast to the main ingredient itself or add a flavour that is missing. Butter or cream provides richness to mash potatoes, salsas add pungency to fish or chicken. At the other end of the spectrum are complex flavour mixtures that fill your mouth and nose with sensations. These sauces provide a strong environment in which the flavour of the main ingredient blends itself. Amongst those, the "jus" of the classic French tradition. Their complexity comes from the extraction and concentration of savoury amino-acids and other taste molecules as well as the generation of meaty aromas by mean of browning reactions (maillard reaction) between amino-acids and sugar. In the Chinese tradition, braising liquids based on soy sauce get their complexity from the cooking and fermentation of soybeans. In Indian, Thai and Mexican cooking the complex flavours come from spice blends made of a half dozen or more, strongly aromatic and pungent ingredients.
In the light of all what we know, now, about flavour, taste and aromas lets tackle the main problem that all chefs come across: how to improve a sauce. There are two basic principles that can help to analyze and improve a sauce.- The first one is to look at a sauce as an accompaniment of the main ingredient in the recipe and understand that it is going to be eaten in a much smaller quantity. Therefore a sauce should have a concentrated flavour. Just keep in mind that if a spoonful of your sauce taste too strong, it should be just right on a piece of meat or some pastas. You should also remember that thickening agents can reduce the flavour of your sauce. So, it's important to taste and adjust the flavour of your sauce after thickening.
- The second one is to look at your sauce not as a chef but as a chemist. A satisfying sauce stimulates more or less all of our chemical receptors. You know that feeling: "it doesn't taste quite right, something is missing!" It is probably the problem, it is missing in one or more of the chemicals that activates our sensations. The trick here, is to try to rectify the amount of saltiness, acidity, sweetness, sourness, bitterness or savouriness by little touches keeping in mind the overall balance of the sauce.
It seems easier said than done, don't worry there is nothing that a bit of practice can't overcome. Even top chefs need to practice.
Dough and Batter part II
In dough and batter part one, I tried to describe the most common ingredients found in baked and pastry products and how they interact with each other. In part 2 I short listed some common dough and batter recipes and summarized their representative compositions.This is how it works. The numbers shown will indicate the relative weight of ingredients in doughs and batters with the weight of flour constant at 100. This description is purely based on wheat flour, though other grains and seeds can also be used, most familiar baked goods and pastries are made from wheat. Also, I would like you to keep in mind that it is only a general representation of the proportion of ingredients used in common baked foods; individual recipes vary widely.
Doughs
- Bread = Flour: 100; Total water: 65; Fat or oil: 3; Milk solids: 3; Eggs: 0; Sugar: 5; Salt: 2.
- Biscuits = Flour: 100; Total water: 70; Fat or oil: 15; Milk solids: 6; Eggs: 0; Sugar 1; Salt: 2.
- Pastry = Flour: 100; Total water: 30; Fat or oil: 65; Milk solids: 0; Eggs: 0; Sugar 1; Salt: 1.
- Cookie = Flour: 100; Total water: 20; Fat or oil: 40; Milk solids: 6; Eggs: 6; Sugar 45; Salt: 1.
- Pasta = Flour: 100; Total water: 25; Fat or oil: 0; Milk solids: 0; Eggs: 5; Sugar: 0; Salt: 1.
- Brioche = Flour: 100; Total water: 60; Fat or oil: 45; Milk solids: 2; Eggs: 75; Sugar: 3; Salt: 1.
- Panettone = Flour: 100; Total water: 40; Fat or oil: 27; Milk solids: 1; Eggs: 15*; Sugar: 28; Salt: 1.
Batters
- Pancake, waffle = Flour: 100; Total water: 150-200; Fat or oil: 20; Milk solids: 10; Eggs: 60; Sugar: 10; Salt: 2.
- Crepes, popover** = Flour: 100; Total water: 230; Fat or oil: 0; Milk solids: 15; Eggs: 60; Sugar: 0; Salt: 2.
- Choux = Flour: 100; Total water: 200; Fat or oil: 100; Milk solids: -; Eggs: 130; Sugar: 1; Salt: 2.
- Sponge cake = Flour: 100; Total water: 75; Fat or oil: 0; Milk solids: 0; Eggs: 100; Sugar: 100; Salt: 1.
- Pound cake = Flour: 100; Total water: 80; Fat or oil: 50; Milk solids: 4; Eggs: 50; Sugar: 100; Salt: 2.
- Layer cake = Flour: 100; Total water: 130; Fat or oil: 40; Milk solids: 7; Eggs: 50; Sugar: 130; Salt: 3.
- Chiffon cake = Flour: 100; Total water: 150; Fat or oil: 40; Milk solids: 0; Eggs: 140; Sugar: 130; Salt: 2.
- Angel cake = Flour: 100; Total water: 220; fat or oil: 0; Milk solids: 0; Eggs: 250***; Sugar: 45; Salt: 3.
*Yolks only; ** Known as Yorkshire pudding on this side of the Atlantic; *** Whites only.
What is the healthier way to cook meat?
Nowadays, eating healthily has become a very important issue. Meat has taken a very important part in our diet, but as well as being a great source of proteins and minerals it is also, rich in saturated fat.A common idea is that boiled meat contains less fat than grilled or roasted ones. But is it true?
In fact, it is a wrong idea. This is why.
While cooking, a cut of meat is exposed to different heat intensity depending on the way it is cooked: roasted, boiled, grilled, steamed, etc.
Kitchen scientists have measured the minimum heat level needed to melt the fat away from the meat. It takes a temperature of 150 degrees Centigrade to melt fat in red meats and 240 degrees Centigrade for white meats.
The maximum temperature reached while boiling meat is 100 degrees Centigrade, the boiling point of the liquid the meat is plunged into.
Now you can see where the problem is. The temperature of boiling water is not high enough to melt the fat hidden in meat. You could argue with me that in a stew for example, the meat is cooked for a longer period of time than a pan fried one, thus the fat will have more time to leave the cut. Unfortunately, this is not a matter of time but a matter of temperature.
Another bad point for the boiling method is that through osmosis, the meat looses some of its proteins, and most of its aromatic compounds and minerals to the liquid surrounding it. This will not happen with the other cooking methods which are classified by chefs as a way of cooking by concentration.
In conclusion, it is healthier to roast, grill or pan fry a cut of meat, as soon as the fat that as melted away from it, is kept aside or if you take the excess fat surrounding the meat away with a bit of kitchen paper at the end of the cooking process. And it will be tastier too!
Culinary Terminology
I cannot count the number of times that my friends and family rang me to ask what means a particular word used in a recipe that they found in a cooking book. This apply too, to restaurant menus. It is true that chefs use professional terminology without thinking that they are not talking to one of his/her colleague.
So there is a list of culinary terms and their definitions. This list is a work in progress, so keep checking as I will be adding terms as they come to my attention.
- To arrange: Aesthetically place meat and garnish on the serving dish.
- To bard: Wrap in a thin layer or sheet of bacon or fatback bacon.
- To bind: Enhance the consistency of a soup, sauce or gravy by the addition of egg yolks, cream, flour, starch or blood.
- To blanch: Immerse certain foods in boiling water, either to part-cook them or to clean them. Either they are dropped into boiling water or put into cold water that is then brought to a boil.
- Bouquet garni: Choice of aromatic plants tied with some kitchen string. It usualy consists of 2-3 sprigs of parsley, a sprig of thyme, 1 or 2 bay leaves, some sage, celery or rosemay can also be used. The lot is wrapped in a couple of leaves of leek before tying it.
- To braise: Slowly cook meats or vegetables in a small quantity of aromatic liquid in a closed utensil.
- To bread: Roll in bread crumb.
- To brown in butter: Cook in butter until lightly colored.
- To brown on the top or gratiner: Put a dish, sauced or not, but often sprinkled with grated cheese, into the oven or under a broiler to obtain a light coloring and sometimes a crispy surface.
- A brunoise: very fine dices of vegetables or cooked meats.
- To butter: Grease a mold, a baking sheet, baking paper. Also means to finish a sauce by whisking in some fresh butter.
- Chaud-froid: means hot-cold, dish that has been prepared hot and served cold.
- Chinois: A fine-meshed cone-shaped strainer.(Fig 1)
- Clarified butter: melted butter in which the whey and all the solid elements have been discarded to only leave the oil (pure fat). Such butter will resist better to high heat. It is used to prepare sauces such as the bearnaise sauce and hollandaise sauce.
- To coat: Cover with sauce. In confectionery, cover with icing or meringue.
- To color: Get a light golden color on all the faces of meats or vegetables in some fat.
- Compote: preparation of fresh or dried fruits slowly cooked in a light sweet stock. It also means vegetables (such has onions, red onions, etc) that are slowly cooked with stock and sugar.
- Confit: Slowly and gently cooked in fat. I'd like to make a point here, as at least 90% of my customers will ask for their duck confit crispy. It is not a roast but a parent cooking process to braising, therefor it cannot and should not be served crispy.
- To cook in a blanc: Cook vegetables (such as artichoke, Jerusalem artichokes, button mushrooms) or some offal (such as veal head, tongue or lamb feet) that are subjected to oxidation , in a water base in which lemon juice or vinegar and flour have been added. Note that the vegetables or meat are left to cool down in the cooking liquid. The proportion for a litre of cooking liquid is 25g flour, 1/2 lemon or 1 tablespoon of vinegar and 6g of salt.
- Cooking liquid: Any liquid that has been rendered after cooking food. For example, the liquid resulting from cooking mushrooms.
- Duxelle: Minced button mushrooms, shallots and onions sauteed in butter and slowly cooked until all the cooking liquid has evaporated. It is usually used as part of stuffings or dishes called "a la duxelle". The origin of the word seems to either come from a little village of Uzel in the Cotes d'Armor county of Brittany in France or La Varenne chef of the marquis of Uxelles.
- Emulsion: Mixture of two incompatible liquids with droplets of one liquid dispersed in a continuous phase of the other. Oil and vinegar in a dressing for example. The term comes from the Latin word for milk, which is just such a mixture.
- To Decoct: Extract the essence of something by boiling it. Be cooked until very little is left; as of sauces " The sauce should reduce to one cup". Steep in hot water
- To deglaze: Dissolve, by moistening with little liquid, the caramelized juice at the bottom of a saucepan or roasting tray.
- To degrease: Remove all excess fat from stocks, cooking liquids, sauces, etc.
- To dilute: Add a liquid to thin out a sauce or a puree that is too thick; adjust consistency.
- Double-boiler or bain-marie: A bain-marie can be any set-up of utensils where the lower part is filled with simmering water and the upper part, which can be a pan or a bowl, is placed on the top. Allow 2 cm (3/4 inch) space between the two utensils.
- Drum sieve: A sieve whose screen is stretched across a circular band of wood or metal, resembling a drum. (Fig. 2)
- To glaze or glacer: In addition to the literal meaning of the word, this term applies to; first of all basting a cut of meat or other preparation with its own reduced juice and returning it to the oven to give it a glaze. Second meaning to this term is the formation on a sauced dish of a light, shining skin. Finally, in pastry making it means a layer of sugar spread over a pastry.
- A Julienne: Very thin batons of vegetables or cooked meat.
- To knead: to work a dough into a uniform mixture by pressing, folding, and stretching.
- To lard: Thread strips, lardons, of fatback bacon or bacon into a cut of meat with a larding needle (fig. 3).
- Lardon: Small dice of smoked or unsmoked pork belly.
- Liaison: French word meaning close connection, bond. It refers to the act of theckening and the agents of thickening. It was borrowed from the French by the English in the 17th only for its culinary meaning. It is only in the 19th century that the military and romantic liaison came to the English language.
- To line: Arrange slices of bacon, onion, carrot on the bottom and sides of a utensil. Also means, line a mold with dough.
- To line with aspic: Coat the insides of a mold with melted savoury jelly and allow it to harden before filling with the required ingredients.
- To marinate: Soak meat, game or fish in an acidic liquid either to flavor or to tenderize it.
- To melt: Cook thinly sliced, minced, julienned or diced vegetables gently in butter until they become translucent.
- A mirepoix: Rough dice of vegetables added to stocks or bouillon to flavor it.
- To moisten: Add the necessary cooking liquid.
- Oven temperatures: Every oven has its own characteristics and experimentation is the only way to truly comprehend your oven, but there is a general guide:
-Very low 225-275 F or 107-135 C
- Low 285-325 F or 140-163 C
- Medium 350-400 F or 177-205 C
- High 410-450 F or 210-232 C
- Very hot 475-550 F or 246-288 C
- To poach: Simmer in a liquid kept just below point.
- Poaching liquid or bouillon: The liquid in which meat or poultry has been cooked.
- Pre-cooking rice: Put the rice you need in boiling salted-water for a few seconds; then drain in thoroughly and moisten it with milk.
- To purge: Put certain foods, such as brains, sweetbreads, kidneys, offal in general into cold water or milk to flush out impurities and traces of blood. Snails, cucumbers, gherkins, etc are purged with a coating of sea salt.
- To reduce: Simmer a liquid or sauce down to decrease its quantity and make it more concentrated. Be aware: Do not add any salt in this liquid before reducing it as the salt will concentrate thus making the final preparation too salty.
- To refresh: Blanched food is immediately plunged into ice-cold water to remove any foam and fix the chlorophyll in green vegetables.
- Ribbon (to make a.. ) : Consistency required in the making of sponge cake or sabayon sauce. It is obtained by long whisking of an egg and sugar mixture over low heat. The ribbon can be seen by lifting some of the mix and observe its behaviour when it falls on the rest of the mixture in the bowl. It should keep its shape while staying on the top of the rest of the mix see (fig.5).
- Roux: A mixture of flour and butter cooked more or less completely (white, golden or Dark) according to requirements. The usual proportion of flour to fat is 1/1 or 50g of flour for 50g of fat for a liter of liquid.
- To sauté: To fry quickly in a little hot fat. Sauté(adj) Quickly fried in a little hot fat.
- Salpicon: A mixture of several ingredients, cut to the same shape, generally in cubes, to garnish savory pastry shells, interiors of croquettes, rissoles, etc.
- Scant: Falling short of a specific measure: a scant cup of sugar.
- To score: Make some small incisions on the skin of meat or fish to help it to cook.
- To Seethe: Also written seeth. To decoct or prepare for food in hot liquid; to boil; as, to seethe flesh.
- To shrink: When cooking ingredients, having sweat off their moisture and juices, start to contract, they are said to shrink.
- To simmer: Boil very gently and regularly over low heat.
- To skim: Purify a sauce or soup over a very gentle heat, by removing the scum from the top.
- To soak: Applied to bread that must be soaked in soup for an extended period of time and reheated before serving.
- To stew: Cook almost without liquid or without liquid in a closed container.
- To strain: Cook in butter, then strain through a chinois, sieve, cloth or strainer stock, cooking liquid, sauces or force through a drum sieve purees, stuffing, etc. Consomme, syrups and fruit juices are strained through a muslin cloth.
- To stud: Inserting small pieces of fatback bacon near the surface of different cuts of meat, especially game to avoid that they dry out while cooking.
- To sweat off: To cook an ingredient covered over low heat to make it give up its juices.
- Tablespoon: In French cooking a tablespoon (not level) is equal to a soup spoon that holds about 15g (2/3 ounce) of flour or sugar and about 25% more liquid than the imperial tablespoon measure.
- To trim off: To make an ingredient more attractive by cutting away certain parts. For meat, removing excess fat. For potato, the eyes, etc.
- Trimmings: The off-cuts resulting from trimming an ingredient.
- To truss: To retain the shape of poultry, game, roasts, racks and seafood by tying it up with a fine cord, sometimes using needle (Fig. 4).
- To whisk or whip: Give volume to a substance, such as egg whites, a sauce, cream, a hollandaise, etc.
Fig. 1 
Fig. 2 
Fig. 3 
Fig. 4 
Fig. 5
Why do fish stock should not boil?
Fish stock or "fumet", which means aroma in French, is a very simple and quick base for various sauces, cooking liquid to poach fish, aspic or Japanese and Korean consommés. A lot of recipes like the consommés and aspic require a perfectly clear fumet. But, most of the time, even with the best recipe it will turn cloudy, like on that picture below. Why is it happening?
Well, the first cause may be that the fumet has been cooked for a too long period of time (20 minutes is best). The second is that the fish stock was boiled instead of a steady simmering. Boiling or overcooking have basically the same effect on the liquid. They dissolve calcium salt from the fragile fish bones in the stock. These salts will make the final liquid cloudy and give it a chalky taste.Note that these salts cannot be removed at a later stage, when performing the clarification of the fish stock for the purpose of an aspic or fish consommé cooking.
Roasting
The other day I was passing by a supermarket from which came the gorgeous smell of roast chicken. Like Proust and his madeleine, this brought back memories of the traditional Sunday roast at home when I was a kid. Now that I am a chef, I am rarely able to recreate this for my customers as it is difficult to serve a whole chicken or leg of lamb on the same table.
How to make sure that the outcome of a roast becomes a great gastronomic experience everytime? I thought kitchen science could give it a push to the right direction.
How to make sure that the outcome of a roast becomes a great gastronomic experience everytime? I thought kitchen science could give it a push to the right direction.
Before starting to cook our roast, I would like to talk about the chemical reaction behind the flavour of roasted meat. It is produced by a chemical reaction called the “Maillard reactions”. The understanding of this principle will guaranty us a great outcome every time.In simple words, the maillard reactions begin when, under the action of intense heat, a carbohydrate molecule (a sugar) reacts with a molecule of amino-acid (a protein) to create an unstable, intermediate structure. This new molecule called Amadori by-product will, then, be able to combine to other compounds in the meat, further along, during the cooking process. The final result of the Maillard reactions, is hundreds of different by-products that combined together create the meaty savoury flavour of the roast crust.
Just few words here about how to choose a cut of meat for a roast.I’m not going to talk here about the birds as most of them are eligible for roasting. But choosing a cut of lamb, beef or pork in the supermarket isn’t always simple as most of us go by the price. In an animal there are two types of muscles, therefore two main types of cut of meat.The first one, are the working muscles like the leg, shoulder and arm. They do most of the work of supporting the animal, they contain a large proportion of what is called reinforcing connective-tissue, rich in collagen they are tough and require a long cooking to dissolve that collagen.
On the other hand rib, short loin and sirloin do less work, so have fewer connective-tissue and are tender and more suited to short cooking at high temperature.
A roast is always done in three steps : searing, cooking and resting.
The first step in cooking a roast is to sear the meat. It is simply done by cooking every sides of your cut of meat or bird (for this one stick a large wooden spoon through the inside cavity, it is then, easier to move it around), for a short time, in a very hot pan to a golden brown color. This is an important step, because this operation will ensure, first of all, that the meat will keep its moisture during the cooking process by creating a protective shell. It will also lay the base for the Maillard reactions by generating the Amadori by-product.There are few tips to obtain a good searing result. First, make sure that your cut of meat or bird is dry on the outside. Then do not season the meat yet as the salt will extract some moisture
out of the meat and the pepper will burn and give a very bitter taste. Using a brush, oil the meat on all its surfaces (do not over do it though!), it will help the transfer of heat from the pan to the meat.
The second step is the actual cooking of your cut of meat. This operation seems pretty simple, just throw the meat in a roasting tray, put it in the oven for what ever amount of time and forget about it. In fact it isn’t that simple. If you want to achieve a crispy outside crust and a juicy, tender center, you will have to keep a close eye on the temperature of the oven.Kitchen science tells us that the principle of cooking meat in the oven is to minimise the loss of moisture and compacting the meat fiber while maximising the conversion of tough connective-tissue, collagen, to fluid gelatin. Unfortunately, these to actions are contradicting. To avoid the loss of moisture the meat cannot be cooked over 130-145F or 55-60C (at core) but the collagen needs prolonged cooking above 160F or 70C for a long period of time. This is a problem when roasting a chicken, turkey or other birds because the meat in the breasts is made of fewer connective-tissue, but the meat in the legs is mainly made of such tissue. The result is dryer, tougher meat in the breasts, and under cooked juicy meat in the legs. There is the answer to why meat connoiseur will prefer the leg to the breast of a roast bird.
So, to obtain a good result while roasting your cut of meat or bird, start with a relatively hot oven 180-200C, turning the meat from time to time (use a wooden spoon, you don’t want to break the protective shell created earlier) until the crust is done. Then, only, reduce the temperature of the oven to 160-170C to cook the meat trough. When roasting a bird, protect the breast with a bit of tin foil to avoid that they over-cook. You can season the meat now, just before putting it in the oven.
How long should you cook your roast? There is no definite answer to that. The usual will be a minutes per pound of meat. The new research on the subject shows that isn’t accurate, the cooking time is proportional to the weight squared, or to the weight to 2/3 the power of the oven. So, the best way is to check the temperature at core or like chefs do by touch.
There a guide line on doneness :
- Bleu 110F/45C, soft raw like to the touch.
- Rare 120F/50C, becoming firmer to the touch.
- Medium-rare 130F/55C, resilient to the touch.
- Medium 140F/60C, begins to shrink, losing resilience, exude juice when pressing it.
- Medium-well 150F/67C, little resilience, less free juice when pressing it.
- Well-done 160F/72C, stiff, dry.
- V well-done 170F/75C, stiffer, very dry, grey color.
The last step is the resting. The purpose of this final step is to allow the meat fiber to “relax” and allow the juices to migrate to the center of the roast. It take from 5 to 15 minutes depending on the doneness of the meat. A rare meat will require 5 minutes and a v-well-done one 15 minutes. Little tip place the meat on rack or grid on the top of the opened oven door while the oven is still hot.Then skim the fat out of the roasting tray, put it on the ring, add a couple of carrots coarsely chopped, an onion prepared in the same way, 2 crushed cloves of garlic, some thyme and halve a bay leaves. Cook it for 10 minutes, add a cup of wine and scrub the brown bits at the bottom of the tray. Allow to simmer for another 10 minutes. Filter that juice it make a great gravy base or as we call it in France “jus de roti” (roast juice).
I hope it can help!
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