More Baguettes, Meatpacking District Field Trip

It's Tuesday, so that means a REALLY long day for me (for the next 4 Tuesdays anyway). In Pastry class this morning, we made another batch of Amy's Bread Baguettes. This time we used the dough that we prepared yesterday, so they had a little more fermentation on them (which is GOOD for flavor). I liked them a lot better. Here are some pics of the loaves - the recipe made 40 baguettes, so we had A LOT of bread! We also prepared some breadstick dough, which is fermenting overnight in the fridge (cold slows yeast) to use tomorrow. We make pizzas and calzones later in the week and donuts are on for MONDAY.



After class, a group of us walked the 10-15 blocks or so to the Meatpacking District for a class field trip to Debragga & Spitler, a fine quality wholesale meat purveyor for the Manhattan area (but they ship all across the US).




We toured the different meat preparation rooms, saw a butcher cut two racks of lamb and french them in under 5 minutes (pretty much unheard of speed and precision) and spent 20 minutes in the beef aging room, which is about 20 minutes longer than I'd ever like to spend again. Dry aged beef is supposed to bring out the quality of the beef and really develop the flavor and, if you've ever tried it, you'd definitely notice the more "mature" taste as compared to wet aged beef (typical beef you'd get even in a nice steakhouse). Most steaks are wet aged (aged in their own juices), but dry aging is becoming more popular. Let's just say that once you've smelled dry aging beef, you won't ever mistake the two again! I was really fighting a battle of the senses in there and had to distract myself from getting ill. Enough of that. We did learn a lot and managed to have a nice time, despite the different smells and the very cold temps! From Debragga & Spitler, a group of us broke off to do a side project - investigate 5 very different establishments in the area (Hogs & Heifers, Little Pie Company, Pastis, Hog Pit BBQ and Old Homestead Steakhouse) and discuss their general concept, how they all coexist in the same location and whether or not our own concept would "fit" there. These places, as you can tell, are all very different and THAT'S what is unique about the Meatpacking District in NY. It's an area that used to be all about meatpacking and butchering, but many of those old warehouses have been shut down, abandoned and the area has been transitioning to a new, hip, nightlife spot in the past 5-10 years. It's unique in NYC because it's one of the only "destination" areas in the city. There really isn't a residential population there and not many people work there, but a lot of people want to hang out there. So...these many different restaurants, bars, lounges can all exist down the block from there because their patrons travel to get to them! We ended up having to do tequila shots at Hogs & Heifers, because the bartender wanted to throw us out if we didn't order a drink. "This isn't a damn museum..order a drink or get out," she said when we walked in, so we sat at the bar and showed her we meant business. Ha ha! All in the name of a school assignment, right? (FYI - Hogs & Heifers is the actual site of the infamous Coyote Ugly movie. The bar, the customers and the bartenders are just like you saw it in the movie. If anything, more crude...And we were there at 3:30 pm on a Tuesday. They really don't serve water there - don't ask! - and no limes.) Some of us (Gabriela, Annastasia and I) had wine class at 7, so we took the long walk back to school and sat through 2 1/2 hours on the wines of Burgundy. I can now identify the two main grapes of the region (white - Chardonnay, red- Pinot Noir) and tell the difference between wines from different parts of the region. For comparison, we also tasted a New Zealand Pinot Noir, which ended up being my favorite of the night. Now, it's bed time! GOODNIGHT! :)

Walk Down Main Street

Today was Day 3 of breads and we made a big batch of baguettes from Amy's Bread (a really famous bakery here in NY). The batch made 40 full-size baguettes, so we all had plenty to take home. I forgot to take pictures in class, but I did snap some as I was walking down Main Street on Roosevelt Island on my way home. This is where we live. It's snow covered right now, but you'll get the general idea. Main Street Roosevelt Island is a little like "Generica," with the exception of this rather pretty church (1st picture). The walking path by the river is a lot nicer, with great views of Manhattan. The blue plastic covered windows in the high-rise across the water is where that baseball player crashed his plane last year. And the last pictures are of our "back yard," complete with igloo and playing kids.

Happy Saint Patty's Day!

It was great to sleep in a little today and be lazy. Around lunchtime, though, we went into the city to meet my friend Greg (and HIS friends) at this Irish pub. Todd could only stay until 4:00, since he had to leave to catch a flight to DC tonight for a meeting tomorrow morning. It was sad to see him go... Some of my friends from school met me out, though, and we ended up having a very festive day. Of course, I wore plenty of green so nobody would PINCH me! Tomorrow I am planning on a day in the apartment, cooking corned beef and cabbage for dinner tomorrow (Todd flies back in around 4pm), doing laundry and working on school stuff. Now, I am going to the land of tir na nog. :)

Bread, Day 2 and Todd's Birthday!

Today was our second day of breads. The first picture below is of our 80-quart Hobart mixer, the second is a great sticky-hands photo. This is one of the reasons I love making breads! Third is of my nicoise loaves on the peel getting ready to go in the oven. Fourth is my friend and classmate, Jennifer, with her loaf, shaping and proofing in the banneton (the basket). Last is my finished nicoise loaves (leavened breads with olives and rosemary)...






As soon as I got out of class, I was supposed to meet Todd at The Palm for an early dinner. It was sleeting like mad outside and probably the messiest weather I've seen in a long time. I had changed at the school into some new heels and a dressier shirt, but when I got downstairs I quickly saw I'd need my snow boots. So, I went back up to the school and changed, then tried to get a cab - no cabs, as everyone is taking a cab! I was late meeting Todd, but no one in NYC eats dinner before 8:00 anyway, so we had no problem with still getting our table. I had early reservations for dinner so we could get to some evening activities. We each had a nice steak and split a bottle of wine. After dinner, we caught a taxi to 25th Street to a spa to get a couple's massage. Aaaaaah. How nice! It was great! The spa also had a jacuzzi and steam room and sauna, so we hung around for a while after the massage for some more relaxing. Yay! We then hopped on the train, out of the weather, to the UES (Upper East Side from now on) to get dessert at Serendipity, a cafe known for its frozen hot chocolate. What a great day!

Beginning Breads

Today was the first day of Module 2 - breads and pastries. To start, we have a new chef! His name is Chad Pagano - some of you may have seen him competing on the Food Network's Pastry Challenge for sugar showpieces. He seems like a great teacher and we are all excited about going into some less sugary stuff for the next couple of weeks. In this module, we'll cover all breads (including pizza, bagels and foccacia), pies, tarts, other pastry doughs (such as Puff Pastry), cannolis, etc. It's going to be lots of FUN! Here is a photo of Chef Chad teaching us how to round out our semolina rolls, a photo of the rolls in the deck ovens, my rolls in the box.