Day 5

No production for us today but our Chef instructor did a demo on caramelized onions, mashed potatoes, simple vinaigrette, and basic tomato sauce. Here are some important things to remember:

#1 - Always put your potatoes [for mashed potatoes] in COLD water and then let them simmer from there. If you put your raw potatoes into simmering or boiling water they will not cook evenly. 

#2 - Add salt to your pot of water when making mashed potatoes. How much salt you ask? The Answer: Enough. Test the water; it should taste "like the sea"

#3 - NEVER add salt to onions that you are attempting to caramelize. Onions will sweat enough liquid as it is...there is no need to have them release more liquid than that.  There is no need to add sugar either, as onions have enough natural sugar in them

#4 - If you don't have a lid on hand to cover your sweating onions have no fear...make one out of parchment paper!

#5 -  A vinaigrette is an emulsion and therefore requires an emulsifier (also known as an emulgent) to become stabilized.  The best emulsifiers are egg yolks, honey, or mustard. 

Another neat thing about today? I tasted Chervil for the first time. Chervil is a delicate annual herb that is  related to parsley. It looks like miniature Italian parsley and tastes like black licorice. We incorporated Chervil into our vinaigrette - it was delicious