My First Paycheck

It’s hard to believe how unsophisticated I was when I taught those series of cooking courses on the North Shore of Long Island that I told you all about last week. This was just the warm-up for going into business; a year or two before my original partner, Jill, cajoled me into starting what became my destiny.

It cost me a fortune; thirty to forty hours of preparation for each three hour weekly session, G-d only knows what I spent on all the foodstuffs I needed for each class, what I spent for other needed supplies, travel time, additional hours in front of a copy machine preparing my giveaway materials for each participant. Yet they offered to pay me $150 per session. I thought that a princely sum, clueless as usual.

Yet it taught me that the time to do something, other than entertaining my friends, had arrived.

As promised, following is the application (and I use the term loosely) that I submitted to teach the classes I told you all about last week:

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I create an analogy between painting and cooking. I love to cook and find it creative, challenging and really satisfying. A fine dinner or dish must balance color, texture, form and taste. Its final presentation in its very own way combines all of these parts, as a painting does. What we choose to serve, whether formally or informally, and how we present it helps create the atmosphere for any gathering.

I plan on dividing my three courses into (1) French (2) Italian (3) Pastries, Desserts and Confections.

I have learned during my years at serious cooking that there are some very basic principles and techniques that once mastered, can give us the necessary tools or rather skills for improvising and inventing things on our own that are unusual or express our own personalities, and fit our own families and friends. A good kitchen needs certain basic equipment, tools, spices, canned goods, etc. that we cannot do without. I will talk about these and I will try to be representative in the foods I choose to demonstrate using as broad a spectrum and basics as I have the time for and I feel the “girls” (!) taking the courses are ready for, flexible concepts for whatever things they want to learn. I’ll also keep in mind that we, as hostesses, want to be able to enjoy our own parties as well as our guests. Lots of parts can be prepared in advance, menus planned with our own pleasure taken into consideration.

My cooking methods, even when elaborate, try to bring out the natural goodness and flavors of the foods I use, rather than making them for the sake of “fanciness”. We want to learn how to prepare really good food.

French cooking techniques form, for me, the basis for expert cooking in any type of cuisine (Spanish, Italian, etc.) though, of course, any national cuisine has parts to it uniquely its own. But I have learned the most from French techniques. Some French foods are very delicate, elaborate, classic and some more robust, peasant. They have given me the tools for a myriad of creations.

Techniques for dealing with fresh vegetables, spices, knowledge of meats, poultry and such; braising, poaching, sautéing, roasting, blanching, subtleties of seasonings, proper use of butter and oils are some of the things best learned through the French cuisine.

There are five basic sauces from which practically all other sauces are drawn (Espagnole, Béchamel, Veloute, etc.) These incorporate use of stocks and wines, etc. I will choose some simple but elegant and some really elaborate dishes to demonstrate here. We can make a filet of beef or veal, sliced thin, in Madeira and truffles, combined with mushrooms, glazed pearl onions, and almonds, served with Potatoes Anna. Or a filet with foie gras in red burgundy, shallots, mushrooms and cheese with olives, artichokes and salad. Or a classic coq au vin or a duckling in port with poached fruits, or roast rack of lamb stuffed with pistachios served with a Cumberland sauce. Or veal chop in white wine sauce with morels, with some sort of pasta. Veal Orloff using a Soubise sauce is fantastic.

For hors d’oeuvres I will choose perhaps a classic cheese soufflé with lobster sauce. Soufflé techniques, once mastered, can be adapted for sweet or savory dishes, and can be done in advance by several hours if done properly. Quiches and crepes can be used for gaining knowledge of custards, Béchamel and Hollandaise sauces. Lots of imagination can be used here.

Pates, simple or in pastry cases, and cold fishes in aspic with homemade mayonnaise are very good. We can also make some brunch dishes such as eggs in cream and cheese served on homemade English muffins, or eggs Benedict with a crisp salad.

Potatoes, vegetables and salads are extremely important to French cuisine. I will devote some time to these.

I do a lot of Italian cooking, especially for my closer friends. Italian cooking is probably more fun but can be quite delicate and subtle, too. A very good dish, very fine, is veal in Marsala wine with prosciutto, eggplant and fontina cheese.

For hors d’oeuvres, my favorite is Pizza Rustica, an extraordinary Italian quiche; sausage in pastry; caponata, a cold eggplant dish that is fantastic when homemade; spedini, stuffed artichokes; calzone.

Pasta is easy to make, even easier with a pasta machine (not very expensive). From these or certain imported brands I will list for the class, we can make fettuccine Alfredo with white truffles, spaghetti carbonara (love it, the best pasta creation, I feel), ziti Siciliana, homemade marinara sauce, light northern Italian meat sauce, clam and lobster sauces. We can work with risotto, make gnocchi or polenta.

Very special is Frito Misto platter, batter fried vegetables and meats. Another very special dish is called a country platter which I adapted from the Grotto Azurra restaurant in Little Italy.

We can also make some Italian desserts that I may not have time for in my Pastry course. Cannoli are my favorites. Or a huge Italian cheesecake made with ricotta. Zabaglione is easy to make (sabayon in French desserts is the same). Certain cookies are uniquely Italian.

One of the most important techniques, included in so many varieties of desserts is a successful pastry crust. They can be made in many ways, some crisper, or sweeter, or more short, or with overtones of wine or including pulverized nuts, or other spices, or with or without egg yolks, or the whites. Each is just right for a particular filling or presentation. I will talk about many and demonstrate a few. We can make a poached fruit tart with a frangipane cream, or a pecan tart, or tarts and pies with creams and mousses and other fillings.

I always make my own ice creams and sherbets. It is easy, can be done several days in advance, and ends almost any dinner well, served with an elegant cookie and sauce.

Custards and creams, Bavarians and pastry fillings are a course in themselves. We can make a bread and butter pudding with a fresh raspberry Melba sauce, or a crème brulee or a chestnut Bavarian with a chocolate sponge, sauce Anglaise, or some elaborate bombe. Lady fingers are fine with any meal, served in addition to any dessert, as if they are mints. They freeze well, don’t even need defrosting, are hard to make but can be used in dozens of ways. We can also make other elegant cookies, crumb cakes to be filled with creams, etc., chocolate cups, etc.

Dessert soufflés and crepes served with special fillings and sauces are always spectacular. Chocolate is good for the soul. I make a very special French torte called a trianon which can be served with a praline crème, or sauce Anglaise or sandwiched with a rich pastry filling.

Another chocolate dessert is an almond torte. Tissue thin almond layers which alternate with a deep chocolate and mocha mousse, extremely elaborate.

We can also make really authentic shortcake, a split short, sweet biscuit with strawberries, raspberries and apples. Tarte Tartin (a French apple flan) is really lovely.

Each dessert I will present will be done with an eye towards creating something really special, different, and elaborate, and very beautiful to look at.

We will also make some candies. For example, a macadamia or mixed nut brittle and chocolate truffles, which are both easy and elegant.

If it is preferred, I can substitute the last course for a potpourri of dishes, such as Chinese Peking duck, cassoulet, a very special Spanish paella or Spanish sliced pork or veal with almond sauce and saffron rice, South American or Greek specialties, etc. Then I will include my pastries throughout all these courses.
                                                 

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I had tears running down my face (from laughter) as I read it. The language was so flowery and overly dramatic. The scope of what I said I would cover in the nine sessions was breathtakingly over-ambitious; I called the participants “girls”; and it was more like a laundry list of everything I had ever cooked or prepared. Funny thing was, I almost did it all! My courses were a sell out, with participants spilling out the doors.

During the next few weeks I’ll share some recipes from these courses and tell how I would simplify them for today’s lifestyle. Also, I’ll include changes I would recommend to take some of the calories out, if desired, without sacrificing even one bit of flavor.

More importantly, I’ll also be talking more about “Who I Am” and how I got that way; doing what I needed to do to become a leader, to succeed, and to survive it all.

Until next time...make someone happy —serve them dessert!






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