A Franglais Kind of Life
 
These two days of culinary camp have led to more precision with my meatball recipe, my first shot at creating a gravy, and another of many attempts to fry with oil.

Day 2: August 13
Day 3: August 17

Practiced with: Recipes 4a and 4b & 5
Click here for photos.
Exercises completed
1. Eyeballing measurements I, wet- 1 tbsp (olive oil), 1 c (water)
2. Eyeballing measurements II, dry- 1/4 (cinnamon) 1 tsp (pepper, salt, paprika, dried oregano, flour), 1/2 c (bread crumbs, sugar)
3. Eggs I- cracking an egg with one hand
5. Knife skills III- brunoise an onion; fine chop/rough dice
9. Food prep II- minced garlic
40. Homemade meatballs

What went well
1. Both the first and second time, the meatballs turned out wonderfully. The second batch included oregano and definitely added another layer of flavor. The amount of coating flour for the meatballs did not leave as much of an excess the second time around as the first.
2. I believe coating the donuts in the bowl works better than in the original recipe's suggested prepping method. However, I do still need to try and see if dumping all the donut holes in a paper bag and coating them that way is better. Another reason to cook again!

What went wrong... and how to possibly fix it
1. I cannot believe how difficult it is to brunoise an onion; actually it isn't all that difficult. I did watch a short tutorial that when analyzed further reveals that it all seems to be based on the first cut. I've been cutting my onions in half with one end of the onion remaining on each half. Rather, it seems the onion should be cut from one end of the onion to the other (i.e., vertical, from root to top, and not along the horizontal bias). Here's the video (ps/ it's not my own video and I didn't choose the background music): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpqEu-YDWVQ.
   More simply put, to brunoise:
      *After peeling the onion, cut the onion in half, from root to opposing   
         end
      *Make vertical cuts (1/8" thickness) as close to the root as possible
        (don't make complete vertical cuts or else everything will more easily
         fall apart)
      *NOW, make horizontal cuts (1/8" thickness, parallel to the bias),
         making sure to cut close to the root but not completely)
      *Make vertical cuts, perpendicular to the initial ones (again, 1/8" 
         thickness)
With all of this said, as Rachel Ray mentioned on one of her shows, if you keep cutting away at the onion, eventually they get small!
2. There was too much oil leftover after making the gravy. When I made it, I had used a high fat content ground beef, so there was naturally a lot of fat. In this case, I would suggest only using 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil (just enough for the onions to cook without burning quickly). For leaner meats, use more olive oil, not to exceed 1 tsp. Also, allow the gravy to naturally reduce at a low heat; don't be in a rush like me and raise the temperature to flash boil all of the moisture!
3. The dough didn't cook through the first couple batches! Try and stick with the method I propose in my recipe. I like the idea of using a fryer, but I'm not all that comfortable with it. Another way to approach this dough is to think of cooking beignets (only it takes longer to cook these donut holes as the dough itself is relatively denser). Also, there are so many different types of store-bought biscuit dough! Sunny's recipe called for buttermilk biscuit dough. For the sake of comparing quality and price, I made a batch with a basic store-brand dough and another batch with a flaky, butter dough. The end products were similar in taste and overall fried "crunch." Of course, the flaky, butter dough yielded a richer flavor, but it was certainly more difficult to cook and tended to fall apart when rolled around in the orange-cinnamon sugar. The only advice I can give here is to make sure you tightly roll the dough before frying.



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