This is our last class in the Essential Cooking Series at Chez Boucher, Hampton, NH. It was all about meat: lamb, beef, pork. Donald and I don’t eat much meat but our favorites were the pork tenderloins and the lamb chops, both with creative sauces. Here’s what the Lamb Chops process looked like. The … More to the Meat of the Matter
Now that’s technique! Our chef attacks the bird. Actually he’s letting the inside juices drip into the pan. This week our favorites were the Chichen Fricasse with Artichokes, the Chicken Cordon Bleu, and the Turkey Scaloppini Marsala. Kevin McKibbon, the chef, showed us a really cool way to debone chicken legs in order to … More Foul Weather for Fowl
This week our class divided into teams and each made an entrée. One team made 2! Donald and I did Cod Fish Cakes. The NY times must have found out what Chez Boucher was featuring because they came out with a 2 page spread in the Sunday magazine section 3 days later. The cod was first poached … More 1 Fish, 2 Fish, Red Fish, no Blue Fish
The crêpes, the poach, the soufflé. Whip ’em, drop them, swirl them around in a pan. It’s all about the egg. How many minutes for hard boiled – 11, soft boiled – 6 to 7, poached, just stand there and be ready. We started tonight’s class by being served a DELICIOUS lobster sauced pasta. Kevin … More it’s all about the Egg
We got down to it this week: making mother sauces or as Kevin said they are now called foundation sauces. We started by making 3 roux: white, blond and brown. The white we turned into a Bechamel sauce which I loved. I could just drink it as is. The only difference between the roux was … More Foundation Sauces
Le Grand Véfour: Napolean and Josephine ate there, Sartre too, it opened in 1784 as the “Café de Chartres” and reached it’s zenith during the Restoration with the arrival of Jean Véfour. Decorated in the rich golds and crystals of 19th century France, we were treated to a 12 course lunch, which included 7 desserts … More one of the oldest of the grand restaurants in Paris
Our first class: Kevin tells us only 3 knives are necessary: chef, paring, boning. We used the chef knife or French knife tonight and learned how to hold it: middle finger under, thumb & pointer on the blade. Next one pushes the carrot or celery towards the blade to chop, not really moving your arm, the … More French Cuts
Tonight we start on an adventure in cooking, French cooking. Having spent 4 weeks in France last fall we got hooked, and want to go back, but we live in Massachusetts at the moment. Enter Chez Boucher cooking school. We gave each other cooking lessons for christmas and it starts today. The Essentials. The first … More Jan 12, 2016
Away at Chez Boucher 