Cams Cooking Class Extravaganza

When I first started thinking about this trip, I wanted to do international culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu (LCB). Three months in 3 different countries to get a culinary diploma. Unfortunately, there were a couple problems.

1. It was $30,000 per semester; regardless of location. I cannot afford this.
2. Not all locations offered a program in English so I would have to listen to my classes through headphones.
3. School would prevent me from ever going on masterchef… lol

Turn out, Le Cordon Bleu offers single day classes so my dream would come true.

The LCB in London was offering a “Taste of Le Condon Bleu Cuisine” work shop in London when we were there so I booked it immediately. The class was approximately 500CAD so Graham would not be joining.

The cooking class happened in the CORD restaurant. The menu looked great and the cafe attached had beautiful pastries so its probably a good place to try if you can afford it.

There were 14 people in the class and one Chef. Everyone had their own station. I was beside Livia, a computer science teacher, and Louis, an acoustic engineer. They were both lovely and we would help each other remember what to do next.

The Chef leading the class was Chef Marco. He did his schooling at LCB and was the sous Chef the same year his restaurant won a Michelin star. He looked very intimidating but he was very nice and funny.

Now to the class. The first dish we made was Sable au Parmesan, Caviar d’Aubergine et Tomates Confites or the translated version Parmesan Sable, Aubergine Caviar and Confit Tomatoes.

So what does that mean? Lets break it down.

We started with the eggplant and the tomatoes. The procedure for these parts was quite similar. For the eggplant, you cut it in half, score the flesh, cover it oil, thyme, salt, pepper, garlic and put in in the oven until it get mushy. For the tomatoes, blanche, remove the skin, cut into quarters, take out the seeds, cover in the same seasonings, but into the oven until it looks like a sun dried tomato.

Next we made a cream cheese mousse. Making a mousse is tricky because it can split. You have to start by mixing some cream cheese by hand for it to get soft and creamy. Them you start by adding a little bit of cream and mixing gently until it is all incorporated. If you mix to vigorously, the mousse will split. Once it is all incorporated, add some salt and some fancy pepper powder Chef supplied that came from the very specific region in the south of France add mix aggressively until it thickens. However, if you over mix it, it will become very runny. Livia’s and Louis’s Mousse was over mixed so if never thickened. Mine was great.

Is any of this super hard? No. Are we almost done with this one dish? Also no.

Next we pickled some shallots. I always see this on Masterchef and other cooking shows not super convinced that it would work but it did. Bring sugar, water, and vinegar to a boil, throw your pieces of shallot in there, turn the heat off. Cover the pot with some plastic wrap, leave on the counter and you are done until you need to use them. They tasted great so I’m not sure what I have been doing for the past 23 years.

The last part is making the parmesan cracker everything goes on.

Mix parmesan and flour into a bowl. The add soften butter and mix it will your hands until the butter is coating all the flour, like biscuit or scone dough. You do this because you won’t want the water to mix with the flour because that creates gluten. The fat from the butter acts as a protective layer from the water from the egg so the texture is more crumbly and brittle instead of doughy. The add a egg yolk to the dough and let it harden in the fridge and then you bake it.

Alright now all the parts are done so we just have to plate. Top with some basil cress and dried black olives and we have the first dish.

It tasted amazing but I think I needed to add a touch more salt to everything.

Now, on to the second dish: Canon d’Agneau Roti en Croute de Basilic, Pomme Darphin, Jus Tranche a I’Huile de Noisette or Roasted Lamb Loin with a Basil Crust, Darphine Potatoes, Hazelnut Split Jus.

This dish was not as complicated as the first one. The hardest part was making the sauce.

We started roasting some lamb bones in the over until there was a fond on the bottom of the pan and then we added the aromatics, bay leaf, thyme, carrots and onion. Once it was brown, we added some very nice veal stock and simmered it until it was reduced to a nice consistency. The thing to remember is to remove the fat from the jus. If you leave the fat and don’t skim it off, then the fat can emulsify into the jus while it jus is simmering and becomes cloudy (which is not a good thing – that’s why tonkastu ramen broth is cloudy).

We also made a delicious shallot and it was super easy. Cut a shallot in half length wise. Season the shallot with salt and pepper. Cover the bottom of a pan with oil and put the shallot face down in the pan and put in the oven until it is soft. Take the skin off before serving. So good.

We made some fun potatoes but this requires the use of the most deadly kitchen tool: The mandolin. There is a fun setting on these thing where you can can make little match sticks. We sliced the potatoes, and then put them in a bowl with salt and pepper and let it rest for 30 minutes so all the water was removed. Then we squeezed the water out and put the potatoes in a pile in a ring mold and fried it on low with a lot of oil.

The main start of the dish was the lamb loin. We had to made a herb butter but Chef made a big batch for everyone because we only had one food processor. He blanched some basil and parsley, refreshed it and then squeezed the water out. After he added the herbs, bread crumbs, and lots of butter to a food processor. The we got a dollop of butter, put it between two sheets of parchment paper and then pressed it into a rectangle that was the size of the loin and put it into the fridge. When we took the meat out, we seasoned and seared the loin on every side.

In the picture below, I am cooking my potatoes, I have my shallot and side carrots in a pot with some butter and thyme that will heat up right before serving, with my sauce in the back reducing, and my loin cooking before I add the herb butter.

What’s that thing under neither the potatoes in the pan? We learned how to cut a circle out of parchment paper (which starts in a rectangle) We do this to prevent the potatoes from sticking.

Once the lamb cools down, you put the butter on top and but it in the oven for 6 minutes for a medium rare and rest it and then plate.

Boom! the best thing I have ever made and one of the best meals I have ever had.

A couple other comments.

It was great taking a class with other people who have the same passion as you and are at the same skill level. Chef showed us how to do everything but didn’t explain the technique so the class moved very fast. I felt challenged but I could keep up at the same time.

The stoves used are magnetic induction. That means it wont get hot unless metal is touching it and only heats up where the metal touches so it is very efficient and heats up FAST. It’s nice because you can also use the surface as a counter if you are not using it.

Overall this was an incredible experience and I would absolutely do it again.

Just like Julia Child would say “Bon Appétit!”