Lesson 21: Mom's Favorites

This week's pastry class was a belated Mother's Day present for my mom: pate a choux.

Pate a choux- a salty puff pastry that can be combined with either sweet or savory flavors- is the basis for two of her favorite desserts: eclairs and profiteroles.

Though we didn't make these in class, this infinitely adaptable dough is the basis for a few other addictive pastries: beignets, that delightful New Orleans morning treat, and gougeres (recipe here or here), which I first tasted at Tartine in SF.

Lesson 20: Finger Foods

Fancy schmancy!

Appetizers to delight. Just imagine them being carried around by your servants at your next soiree...

Blinis w/ dill butter, homemade creme fraiche and smoked salmon:

CAVIAR up close and personal:

Puff pastry stuffed w/ mushroom cream:

Shrimp and leak skewers with coconut milk foam and crawfish cream- oh, the drama of dunking things in shotglasses!

Lesson 19: Baked Goods

There comes a time in Argentine cooking school when they decide to teach you how to make "American" baked goods. 

The Argentine word for brownie? Brownie. The recipe used melted chocolate, similar to this one for Triple Chocolate Brownies, which is earth-shatteringly good.

The Argentine word for muffin? Muffin. These had "red fruits" in them.

These were delicious: Marbled and Lemon pound cake w/ chocolate and lemon glazes.

Between Meals: Regatta!

Ships that pass in the night?

No, gallant gents steering remote control boats around a pond in a park.

Lesson 18: Bunnies

I think if this week's butchering task had come with the ears on, it would have been the end of me....

Fortunately, this bunny was somewhat unrecognizable:

Thank god rabbits reproduce like...rabbits, because it is really popular here- like veal, I've seen it on almost every restaurant menu, including at the delicious Tegui, where they have a dish they describe as "compressed rabbit." Unappetizing translations aside, our rabbit dishes were pretty delicious... I made rabbit two ways: a creamy, anise liqueur-spiked rabbit stew with ravioli and a rabbit leg/paw stuffed w/ herbs and cheese.

The mise en place for the rabbit stew. Note pretty diamond-shaped veggies:

Bunny two ways: tasty but guaranteed to cause a coronary.