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An opinionated blog beginning with advice on how to create the ultimate French sauces 

The use of stock to create sauces: Part 2 Fumet

7/31/2021

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​Intro: Now that we have looked at the use of Demi-Glace and its usefulness in creating (mostly beef and chicken) sauces, it is time to focus on Fish Fumet, Demi's aquatic cousin.  

What is Fumet?
​

​Much like demi-glace, which is a veal stock boiled down to a thickened state, fumet is simply a white fish stock that is boiled down to a thickened state. The thickening of the stock occurs in the same manner that demi does: the gelatin located in the fish bones becomes thicker as the water boils out of the stock.
 
Besides the different kinds of bone used, there are two main differences between demi and fumet: fumet does not require that the bones be roasted before adding water to them, and fumet also takes a lot less time to make. (While veal stock can take up to 13 hours to make, fumet averages about 5 hours, from the making of the stock to reducing it down in volume).
 

Making Fumet in two steps:

1) Make white fish stock. Put the bones and mirepoix into a large pot and cover everything with cold water. Bring it to a boil, and simmer the stock for about four hours. Make sure to remove any scum that comes to the surface with a ladle when it comes to a boil.
 
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Simmering White Fish Stock
​2) Reduce the fish stock to make fumet. Carefully strain the stock and then reduce it on a medium flame for about forty-five to fifty minutes. The stock should take on a darker and darker color as it reduces and become the color of caramel. 
The best way to see if you have reduced the fish stock for enough time is to check it after it has been refrigerated for a couple of hours. The stock should be gelatinous when cold and have the color and consistency of tan Jell-O.
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Hot Fumet
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Cold Fumet 
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Fumet-thickened lemon butter sauce

Terms related to stock, demi and fumet:

​Mirepoix- Mix of celery, onions, and carrots added sauces and soups to give them a flavor boost. The mix is always removed from stock at the end of the cooking process and discarded.
Residue- Bits of protein left on the bottom of pots/pans.
Simmering- To cook gently beneath the boiling point.
Scum- Filmy impurities that come to the surface of stock and should be removed.
Stock- Bones and/or vegetables covered with water which are simmered for a varying degree of time. They are sometimes accompanied by herbs.
​The purpose of these blogs: The ultimate purpose of these blogs is to help you to successfully prepare French cuisine so that you can eventually plan and serve a multi course-meal.

Next week: Appetizers 

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The use of stock to create sauces: Part 1 Demi-Glace

7/24/2021

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The use of stock to create sauces: Part 1 Demi-Glace
​

​Intro: Most people that enjoy French food are familiar with the term Demi-Glace and understand that it is a thick liquid that is often used in many French sauces. Their assessment is correct, but Demi-Glace is much more than that: it is the most versatile of all French beef-based sauces and you can build the character of your entire entrée by just adding a few ingredients to it.

What is Demi-Glace?
 

​Demi-Glace is simply a veal stock that is boiled down to a thickened state. The thickening of the stock occurs because  the gelatin located in the bones becomes thicker as the water boils out of the stock. That's it! 
The only downside to veal stock is that it can take up 13 hours of total time to prepare from the beginning of the stock (the roasting of the bones) to the final reduction of the demi.
 

Making Demi-Glace in three steps:
 

​1) Roast your bones and remove the residue. First roast your bones and at the halfway point coat the bones with tomato paste.  When the bones are brown you will take the bones out of the pan, add red wine to the pan, and scrape that awesome residue from the bottom. Now put the bones, wine, mirepoix and residue into a large pot. 
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Roasted bones, red wine, and mirepoix (mix of celery, onions, and carrots).
​2) Now make veal stock. Cover the pot with cold water, bring to a boil, and simmer the stock for about eight hours. 
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Veal stock at about the half-way point
​3) Reduce the veal stock to make Demi-Glace. Carefully strain the stock, add red wine, and reduce the stock on a medium flame until it is about a fifth of its original volume. The stock should take on a darker and darker color as it reduces and becomes the color of caramel. 
The best way to tell if your demi is done is to check it after it has been refrigerated for 4 hours or so. It should be very dark brown in color, and it should have a solid form that resembles brown Jell-O. 
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Hot demi
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Cold demi-portioned and ready to refrigerate or freeze
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T-bone with Madeira demi-glace 

Terms related to stocks:

​Mirepoix- Mix of celery, onions, and carrots added sauces and soups to give them a flavor boost. The mix is always removed from stock at the end of the cooking process and discarded.
Residue- Bits of protein left on the bottom of pots/pans.
Simmering- To cook gently beneath the boiling point.
Stock- Bones and/or vegetables covered with water which are simmered for a varying degree of time. They are sometimes accompanied by herbs.
 
The purpose of these blogs: The ultimate purpose of these blogs is to help you to successfully prepare French cuisine so that you can eventually plan and serve a multi course-meal.
 

​Next week: Stocks Part Three: The use of stock to create sauces: Part 2 Fumet
 

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Stocks Part One: The use of stock to create soups

7/18/2021

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Intro: In my experience, stock is the most important ingredient in soups because it forms the base of the soup and provides flavor and richness. Like the foundation of a well-built house, the stock is the support system for the soup. Fortunately, stocks are easy to put together and once they come to a boil you just simmer them for a certain amount of time until they are done.
 
This week I am going to focus mainly on three different stocks,-chicken, shrimp and vegetable,-their ingredients, and how long to simmer each of them. I also will present a companion soup that can be made from each stock.
 
Next week we will take a look at Demi-Glace and Fumet which are simply stocks that have their solid ingredients s removed and then are boiled down to a thick consistency. 
Note: I plan to make both the recipes for the chicken stock and the White Bean with Prosciutto soup available when I discuss soup creation in more detail (in future blogs).

Chicken stock becomes White Bean with Prosciutto

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First make your chicken stock by simmering chicken bones, carrots, onions, and celery in water for about 4 hours. Let it cool a bit and then strain it through a fine china cap. 
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​Chicken stock can be used to make White Bean with Prosciutto where the stock boosts the mild flavor of the beans and adds a hardiness that is called for in most bean soups.

Shrimp Stock becomes Shrimp Bisque
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First make your shrimp stock by simmering shrimp heads and shells, carrots, onions, and thyme sprigs in water for about 1 hour. Let it cool a bit and then strain it through a fine china cap. 
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​Shrimp stock is a vital ingredient in shrimp bisque because it infuses a wonderful shrimp flavor that cannot be reached with shrimp meat alone. 

Vegetable stock becomes Carrot Dill Soup

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First make your vegetable stock by simmering carrots, onions, leeks, bay leaves, and thyme sprigs in water for about 1 hour. Let it cool a bit and then strain it through a fine china cap. 
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Vegetable stock is a very important ingredient in vegan soups like Carrot Dill because it infuses extra flavor into a soup that can't be helped by cream, butter or meat.
Without animal fat to coat your mouth you are left with a watery soup unless you have a strong vegetable stock base. ( I must confess that I use olive oil in the soup which adds fat but it would not be enough on its own!).

Terms related to stocks:

Simmering- To cook gently beneath the boiling point.
Stock- Bones and/or vegetables covered with water which are simmered for a varying degree of time. They are sometimes accompanied by herbs.

​Next week: Stocks Part Two: The use of stock to create sauces
 

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French stocks and sauces: Part Three: Fish-Sauce

7/11/2021

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Before we get started: contact me for a complete recipe  for last week's Roasted Herb Chicken

​Intro: This is my fourth blog (it took two blogs to cover chicken) aimed at helping beginners to prepare French sauces. This week my focus is on fish sauce and I will use the Stove-Top Cooking Method where I will cook a small fish filet on the stove and created a sauce for it at the same time.  
 
I just came back from the market, and the best and freshest seafood that they had in stock were scallops and shrimp, so that is what I will go with today. (I originally wanted to prepare a white fish filet, but no worries, I can easily substitute scallops for the white fish and bring shrimp along for the ride).

​Cooking Seafood using the Stove-Top-Cooking Method 

​Intro: The process for cooking seafood is very similar to cooking the chicken breast (that I featured in my second blog) where I completed the breast on the stove-top. 

Cooking seafood using the Stove-Top-Cooking Method
in three steps:

​1) Sauté your seafood. On a medium flame sauté your flour-dusted scallops and flour-free shrimp on both sides until the scallops brown and the shrimp becomes reddish-pink in color. They should be done at this point. (It only takes a couple of minutes to cook standard sized scallops and shrimp).  ​Remove the shellfish from the pan by using a strainer so that all of the sauté oil is discarded.
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Shellfish is strained of all the sauté oil
​2) Make your sauce. Next, remove the pan from the stove, add your wine (probably white wine for shellfish and white fish) and  more essential ingredients (like, butter, cream, citrus, fish fumet, etc.). Now whisk your sauce while it reduces to a creamy consistency. When it is ready, return the shellfish to the pan.
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Sauce is reduced to a cream consistency
3) Plate your seafood. First, plate your starch and your vegetable, and then sauce the bottom of the plate where you will place your seafood. (This week I used spiced couscous as a starch). Plate your seafood and then top with more sauce. (I always serve seafood entrées with a vegetable of some kind because seafood filets tend to come in smaller portions than beef or chicken). 
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Sauce is applied
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Scallops Almandine with Shrimp

Next week: Stocks.

The purpose of these blogs: The ultimate purpose of these blogs is to help you to successfully prepare French cuisine so that you can eventually plan and serve a multi course-meal.
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French stocks and sauces: Part Two: Chicken-Sauce (continued)

7/4/2021

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​Intro: This is my second blog aimed at helping beginners to prepare French chicken sauces. Last week I used the Stove-Top-Cooking Method where I cooked a small skinless chicken breast quickly on the stove and created a sauce for it at the same time.
 
This week I use the In-the-Oven Braising Method: using this method I sear a large skin-on chicken breast on the stove and finish it by braising it in the oven. The sauce will be created in the pan as the chicken braises. (I used to love braised chicken when I worked in restaurants because once you put the chicken in the oven you can forget about it for a little while!).
 
Quick note: One thing that you have probably noticed by now-if you have been looking at the included pictures-is that I like to cook two servings of meat or chicken at the same time in the same pan. This is not by accident: Two portions per 12 inch pan is a system that usually seems to work best when cooking French-style entrées.
 

Cooking chicken using the Braising Method

​ 
The Braising Method Intro: Unlike the Stove-top chicken, (from last week's blog) the Braised chicken spends most of its cooking time in the oven. The process for this dish is pretty straight forward: you sear your chicken breast in a hot pan with oil, dump the searing oil, and then add liquid(s) and put the pan in the oven until the chicken is done. What makes braising special is that the liquids in the pan reduce and flavor the chicken breast while it cooks. 

Cooking chicken using the Braising Method in four steps:

​1) Sear your chicken. The first step is to sear the chicken breast-starting skin-side down on both sides in a pan with hot oil. When both sides are brown, strain out the oil. 
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Searing two portions of chicken along with mushroom caps
2) Braise your chicken. Next, remove the pan from the stove, carefully add wine or liquor to the pan, and then add more essential liquids (like cream, burgundy, reduced stock, etc.). Now  place the pan with the chicken in the oven at 350 degrees for approximately 15 to 20 minutes or so. As mentioned, the liquid will reduce in volume as the chicken cooks in the oven. (Please check on it from time to time because some liquids will reduce faster than others). 
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Ready for the oven
​3) Finish your sauce. When the chicken is done, remove the chicken from the pan, and finish your sauce. (This is usually done by whisking it and reducing it down on a medium flame). When it is done, return the breast to the pan and coat it .
 
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Sauce is whisked while it reduces
​4) Serve your chicken. Lean the breast on top of the starch that you are serving and then spoon the sauce on top of the chicken. ​I almost always like to place the chicken on top of or right next to the starch. (This time I used potato wedges). 
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Sauce is applied
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Roasted Herb Chicken

The four French cooking methods used in preparing roasted Chicken

 
À la Minute- The method of first searing chicken, fish, or meat in a pan and then adding a liquid to it so a sauce can be created as the liquid reduces (with added heat) around the protein. Nothing equals the purity and flavor of French cooking better than this process.
Deglazing- The method of adding liquor or wine to a pan to remove the residue of the chicken, fish, or meat that is located on the bottom of the pan. 
In-the-oven braising method- Method of sautéing a protein and then cooking it in the oven so it cooks in  its own juices along with added liquid(s).  
Searing- The method of browning the surfaces of a protein in hot oil. 

Next week: Fish sauce.

 
The purpose of these blogs: The ultimate purpose of these blogs is to help you to successfully prepare French cuisine so that you can eventually plan and serve a multi course-meal.
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    Chef Brent

    Brent Littlefield has worked as a chef de cuisine, pastry chef, saucier, and sous chef, for more than 25 years in San Francisco, San Diego, and Las Vegas. 

    b_littlefield123@yahoo.com

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