Musique de cuisine harmonieuse.

Generalised Anxiety, OCD and the life of a cook

Je sais pas pourquoi, mais je veux m'exprimer en anglais là dessus, probably because it's easier for me to whine in english while overdosing in caffeine.

I have big problems with managing my anxiety, it became a huge part of my life. The control. Control... control...

Control is a huge part of my life. Being in control of my life. Control.

In a professional kitchen, you gotta be able to control your stress, to work with it, to use it to your advantage. Some people are able, some people are not. Handling the pressure... work with it. When the orders come in, in a lunch rush, you have to be able to seize yourself up.

It alls comes down for me to the fight or flight response. It happens sometimes. Sometimes I fly. But now I can FIGHT.

I personnally think it's awesome to have the same level of stress where as you fight for your life or you are sending out a cassoulet. But then... I have to fight perfectly. There has to be the same exact number of sausages in each cassoulet, and the skin of the confit has to be perfectly crispy yet not dried out. The beans have to be as tender as it they were baked in that earth crock, yet not become mushy. All that while sending out soup that has to have the same perfect design of cream on top and that little pinch of chives in a perfect spot at the exact same place on each bowl and sending out salads with the perfect amount of perfectly seasoned dressing with a bruiseless perfect endive leave and perfect tomato brunoise all that while having the door of the convection oven open breathing out it's hot hot 425F air but for not too long since you want your tartines to be perfectly golden and dont loose any of that precious time...

phew.

This to me makes the same response in my brain as if i was fighting a bear with my bare hands. I guess. I never really experienced that. But thats what the doctor said.

I am pretty amazed that I can "fight a bear with my bare hands" for a couple of hours.

Just wanted to share that. And a typhoon of bread dough is a good metaphor.

Happening Gourmand

Uhhhh ben ca semble pas mal intéressant!

http://www.happeninggourmand.com/fr.html

8 restos du Vieux Montréal avec des tables d'hôte à prix réduit! Pas trop veggie friendly, mais ils offrent quelques options...

On va s'amuser!

Petites cuillères de crème brûlées au thé chai/ Mini Chai Crème Brûlées Spoons

Les petites cuillères en "Porcelaine" "Chinoise" peuvent faire place à beaucoup de créativité. Elles sont le réceptacle parfait pour petites bouchées et amuses-gueules créatifs.

Durant le temps des fêtes, on fait beaucoup de petites mignardises dans ma famille. Plusieurs sont au menu depuis qu'on sait faire la cuisine, d'autres sont plus innovatrices et changeantes d'années en années...

Une crème brûlée, c'est hyper riche. C'est assez difficile pour moi d'en terminer une. Alors une petite portion comme ca c'est parfait.

J'ai pris la recette de Martha Stewart (toujours Martha!) sur son site web...
http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/cooking-school-creme-brulee
Sauf que j'ai fait la 1/2 recette, ce qui suffit amplement pour faire environ 40 cuillères ET que j'ai utilisé environ 3 cuillèrées à soupe de thé chai en infusion dans la crème bouillante... pendant environ 15 minutes, ensuite je l'ai filtré.
Et ensuite je l'ai fait refroidir, et j'ai fait le mélange jaunes d'oeufs-sucre-crème à froid... beaucoup plus simple. J'ai fait cuire les cuillères au bain marie (dans une plaque à biscuits avec bords d'environ 2 cm de haut, et jai ajouté de l'eau bouillante jusqu'à la mi-hauteur des cuillères. (FAITES ÇA QUAND VOUS AVEZ MIS LA PLAQUE AVEC LES CUILLÈRES AU FOUR!)
La cuisson dure à peu près quinze minutes à 300F.

Autre petite astuce, crever les bulles en surface de la crème brûlée non-cuite avec un chalumeau. Vous pouvez trouver ces trucs en quicailleries, et ça coûte environ 30 dollars. Le chalumeau est indispensable si vous voulez que votre crème reste froide au service lorsque vous caraméliserez le sucre. J'ai utilisé du sucre brut.

Small "chinese" "porcelain" spoons are the perfect base for a wide variety of creative bites, savory or sweet. During the holidays, in my family, we make a huge variety of small sweet morsels, such as truffles, rhum balls, tiny cookies... Some are there since the 50's, some change every year. And a tiny crème brûlée was a original and tasty change.

A full-sized crème brûlée is almost impossible to finish. A tiny one is perfect for sampling other stuff while still indulging into that decadent treat.

So... I used Martha Stewart's (god bless her) recipe for the basic crème brûlée. http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/cooking-school-creme-brulee

But I halved the recipe in half. It's enough to make 40 spoons. I boiled the cream, and added 3 tablespoon of chai tea mix. I've let it infuse for about 15 minutes, then I strained it. I've let the cream cool and whisked it with the yolks and sugar. Less fuss than temperate and crap, that's how they do it in most restaurants, anyways.

I used my small blowtorch (available in most hardware stores for 30$) to burn the bubbles on top of the custard when pouring it in the spoons.

I placed the spoons on a baking pan that had a "rim'" of at least 1/2 inch, and added boiling water to about half the height of the spoons. Then I cooked it for 15 minutes at 300F.

You absolutely need a blowtorch for this recipe, a broiler won't do the trick, as you want the custard to be cold and the caramel to be hard and hot. And 10 ml of creme brûlée is quite easy to change in temperature... Oh and I used raw sugar.

Alors voilà le secret...