Get your MISE on... Day 3

Dear Food Diary and Hungry Bloggers,

It is day 3 in class and I have my game face on! Or should I say my Mise face on. :) Remember Mise en place (Pronounced Mees en plaz) ~ everything in its place ~ is a chefs way of life. I have come ready to conquer the kitchen!! No burning, under cooking or poor seasoning will be coming from this girl! I have written my recipe cards and reviewed them so I know what I am in for. It is sauce day!! We will be making 4 different sauces today...Two leading sauces: the Bechamel (a milk and blanc roux based sauce), and the veloute (a chicken broth and blond roux based suace). Using those two leading sauces we will make derivative small sauces: The Mornay (a creamy cheese sauce) and the Allemande (the veloute with added cream and egg yolk...kind of like a gravy).

Sauce Allemande and Sauce Mornay

Lets do this! Monkey see, monkey do...Chef gives a demo of the sauces and then I create my own. I have to start by making my two roux...blanc and blond. I rock it and make perfect roux. I then take my roux and incorporate the right ingredients into my pan. I soon come out with a very nice looking bechamel and veloute. I present it to chef and get approval to move on. I start my two small sauces. I am doing so much better than yesterday...but being on a time crunch and having so much multi tasking to do is not an easy thing! I notice many of my class mates are plating and presenting. I will defiantly be done in time, but I wish I could speed things up! Chef yells out "15 more minutes" With 5 minutes left I adjust my seasoning and plate my sauces. I think they came out delicious! Chef Sutton once again takes out her spoon checks the consistency, color and flavor...this is the moment of truth..."very nice, good seasoning, almost perfect" are the words she says.Whew...I let out a sigh of relief.  I achieved the results I wanted. Although I would've liked to finish cooking a little faster than I did, I guess the story of the tortoise and the hare played a small part in my results, "slow and steady wins the race" As good of a moral lesson as this might be, I do remember my Chef saying "NO TORTUGAS" So I better step it up! Tomorrow is a new day!

After I got home I turned my Mornay sauce into a DELICIOUS Black Truffle Mac and Cheese.
Here is my recipe!

Delicious Black Truffle Mac and Cheese with Mornay Sauce


Ingredients:


Sauce Bechamel
2oz white roux (1oz flour/1oz butter)
2cups milk
1/4 onion
1 dry bay leaf
1 clove
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
Nutmeg (a pinch)


Add 1oz of butter to a hot saute pan, once heated whisk in 1oz flour. Cook until fully combined. 
Add in the milk, onion, bay leaf, and clove. Simmer for 30 mins or until sauce becomes thickened and coats the back of your spoon (this is called Nappe)
Strain the sauce into a clean pan and hold for mornay sauce.


Mornay
 2 cups Sauce Bechamel
3-4 oz of Gruyère cheese, grated ( you can use whichever cheese you fancy)
1-2 Tbs of butter


Heat Bechamel. Stir in cheese until fully melted. Finish by melting in the butter. Set sauce aside for pasta.


For the rest of the dish you need:
1 bag/box of cooked elbow noodles (or whichever kind you prefer)
2Tbs of black truffle oil
1/2 cup bread crumbs 

1/2 cup mozzarella
2 Tbs of melted butter


Take the pasta and toss it with the black truffle oil. Add the mornay and coat the noodles, mixing really well. Place past into an oven safe bowl. Take the melted butter and mix it together with the bread crumbs and mozzarella. Spread the mixture on top of the pasta. Place entire dish in the oven, set to high broil and crisp the top until it is a golden brown. Let cool for 5- 10 mins and serve!

...voila!! You have a dish that will impress any of your family and friends!! 

Tata!

- Chef Kass In Training