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Benvenuto once again from fOrQQ ^^ Hope everyone is enjoying my cooking adventures :D Once more I feel like I've 'leveled up' my newb cooking abilities. Luckily I haven't burned down the kitchen yet, but I won't hold my breath :p
Tonight I revisit (already) a dish from the last blog (since I still had a portion left), but it wouldn't be an improvement if I didn't take into account everyone's advice (thanks kikimama!). Without any further ado, here we go!
Dish 1: Steak au Poivre, side of mashed potatoes
Last time I wanted a medium rare steak and got medium...this time I got it! Again the sauce is made from red wine, mushrooms, onions, garlic, and I would like to say that I plated it much better ^^ Also added some chili flakes to add a bit more colour and flavour to the dish.
Of course doing the exact same dish would be boring, so I made a nice side of mash potatoes with some baby potatoes that were on sale at the market! I considered just buying instant mashed potatoes but it just wouldn't be any fun if I didn't mash them myself XD Unfortunately I didn't have a masher, so I had to make do with a giant ladle to mash them inside the pot (lol). The result was great and I definitely feel like I'm improving, thanks to the great support and advice from my audience.
Pics:
![[image loading]](http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab171/_fOrQQ/P1000024.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab171/_fOrQQ/P1000025.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab171/_fOrQQ/P1000026.jpg)
Dish 2: Tiramisu (Gordon Ramsay style)
Ah, the quintessential Italian dessert...the one dish everyone talks about when on the subject of Italian cuisine. Again, I have had absolutely no experience in making any kind of dessert (unless scooping out ice cream from a tub counts), so I was quite nervous to start. My arms actually started to get sore while whisking the mixture but the result was definitely worth it!
Unfortunately I didn't have any Marsala wine (and have no idea where to even get some) but I substituted for Bailey's Irish cream, and my God it was heavenly (although I haven't had that many tiramisus, so I could just be fooling myself -_-) Anyway, this was my first 2-course meal and I'm proud to say that I'm learning a lot~
Pics:
![[image loading]](http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab171/_fOrQQ/P1000030.jpg)
![[image loading]](http://i861.photobucket.com/albums/ab171/_fOrQQ/P1000032.jpg)
Enjoy!
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i agree with l10f, your steak looks delightful. so does your tiramisu... fortunately, it's dinner time now so the hunger that your blog has invoked upon me won't haunt me for long!
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I just had dinner and now I am hungry again...
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The steak and mashed potatoes look really yummy, but I can't say I ever tried anything like what's in the glass... and it doesn't look exactly appetizing. I'm sure it's good 
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man i was already so hungry t.t
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that looks like it tasted good but I don't really agree with the plating of the meat dish. but its always hard when you have that much sauce.
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I assume that was regular mashed potatoes and not garlic mashed potatoes?
I've never figured out how ppl get garlic mashed potatoes so garlicky without having to taste the minced up garlic in the mashed potatoes themselves.
Nice job by the way. It looks pretty delish.
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On July 07 2010 09:38 BottleAbuser wrote:The steak and mashed potatoes look really yummy, but I can't say I ever tried anything like what's in the glass... and it doesn't look exactly appetizing. I'm sure it's good
Yeah I confess I'm probably a worse photographer than I am a chef but I hope you trust me when I say that it was great :D I know often tiramisu is made like a cake but I wanted to give it a more delicate, post-dinner feel with the martini glass :p
On July 07 2010 09:46 Julmust wrote:
that looks like it tasted good but I don't really agree with the plating of the meat dish. but its always hard when you have that much sauce.
The plate was actually quite shallow so there isn't actually too much sauce. I'm all ears to any ideas you have about plating though! Compared to the last pepper steak, I do like this one more =D
On July 07 2010 09:46 lac29 wrote:
I assume that was regular mashed potatoes and not garlic mashed potatoes?
I've never figured out how ppl get garlic mashed potatoes so garlicky without having to taste the minced up garlic in the mashed potatoes themselves.
Nice job by the way. It looks pretty delish.
Yes, they are regular mashed potatoes^^ wanted something simpler before the complex stuff lol. Next time I'll try doing garlic mashed potatoes though~ (No idea how to do that though)
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need steak in my stomach..now...
otherwise looks great~ cant wait for part 4
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Wow, it looks delicious...now I'm hungry. Hurry pizza man hurry!
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Mmm this looks delicious. And incredibly pro. Level up indeed :D That tiramisu makes my stomach giggle with happiness.
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Eating instant ramen while reading this blog is not a good idea. 
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Well first of all I just wanted to state that I'm not a professional chef but more a guy who enjoys to cook a bit more fine-dining for his family a couple of times a year. So my points here might be moot. First of all I just wanted to say that the mashed potatoes presentation looks great (could've shaped it better if you're really trying to get into fine dining) and the meat looks fine aswell (altough I am more a fan of this type of meat plating).
The only real problem is the sauce and I generally try to avoid a "loose" sauce (that's what yours looks to be anyway) and rather go with a more concentrated sauce, which you need to make more flavorful to make up for the lack of pure volume.
Again: not a professional in any way, so check with the chefs of TL before you make any adjustments. I'd post pics of what I have done, but it's been a while since I actually cooked. Might do something this weekend
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Your steak turned out amazingly well! I dunno that I'd add the pepper flakes (cuz i like steak au poivre as is) but your mashed potatoes looks amazingly awesome.
maybe I should start taking pictures of what I cook...
edit: to go off of kind of what the guy above me said, I think the sauce would have been better on top of the steak, but there isn't too much of a difference. I suppose it might just feel like the steak slips around a bit if you pour it on the plate then put the steak on top.
edit #2: when you pick up a masher, make sure it's one of the straight ones with the wire curved at the mashing end rather than one of the ones with holes. the first one does a much better job of actually mashing and you can control consistency more easily. the second one just beats it do death imo.
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Ahh... This is a pretty cool blog. I always found cooking the one thing that I was very bad at. Anyways, it's really cool that you are learning to cook!
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On July 07 2010 10:13 Julmust wrote:Well first of all I just wanted to state that I'm not a professional chef but more a guy who enjoys to cook a bit more fine-dining for his family a couple of times a year. So my points here might be moot. First of all I just wanted to say that the mashed potatoes presentation looks great (could've shaped it better if you're really trying to get into fine dining) and the meat looks fine aswell (altough I am more a fan of this type of meat plating). The only real problem is the sauce and I generally try to avoid a "loose" sauce (that's what yours looks to be anyway) and rather go with a more concentrated sauce, which you need to make more flavorful to make up for the lack of pure volume. Again: not a professional in any way, so check with the chefs of TL before you make any adjustments. I'd post pics of what I have done, but it's been a while since I actually cooked. Might do something this weekend
Thanks for the tips! Yes, the sauce was a bit more runny than I hoped for; probably should have reduced it more.
On July 07 2010 10:43 a176 wrote:
you pureed the sauce?
Nah, don't think you can see it but there are diced and sliced mushrooms in there as well =]
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nice! hey, at least it's a start. looks good man, keep it up. that steak looks really good, but I prefer well done . We actually had a Tiramisu demo at work last week, but I never manged to get a sample. Still haven't tried it, but I hear great things.
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On July 07 2010 10:58 Grobyc wrote:nice! hey, at least it's a start. looks good man, keep it up. that steak looks really good, but I prefer well done . We actually had a Tiramisu demo at work last week, but I never manged to get a sample. Still haven't tried it, but I hear great things.
Noooo D:
Btw, good job OP, the food looks great! I'm about to cook dinner myself, though it's nothing fancy
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What a ninja got to do to get some Tiramisu around here?
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On July 07 2010 10:58 Grobyc wrote:that steak looks really good, but I prefer well done .
Get out.
jkjk :D Thanks for the compliment~ You should try at least medium or medium well :< Also try tiramisu sometime XD
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So you learned how to do all this through youtube videos alone? I didn't really read the thread to see if anyone asked how u made these but u replied in the other thread that u learned through youtube.
Sorry if the question is repetitive but if all u used was youtube video then I'm thinking about giving it a shot too.
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On July 07 2010 15:45 MaRiNe23 wrote:
So you learned how to do all this through youtube videos alone? I didn't really read the thread to see if anyone asked how u made these but u replied in the other thread that u learned through youtube.
Sorry if the question is repetitive but if all u used was youtube video then I'm thinking about giving it a shot too.
Yes, I learned all of these dishes through youtube and online recipes. I'm sure you can do it too! Just don't be afraid of mistakes~ (newb chef buddies? lol)
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On July 07 2010 15:54 fOrQQ wrote:Show nested quote +On July 07 2010 15:45 MaRiNe23 wrote:
So you learned how to do all this through youtube videos alone? I didn't really read the thread to see if anyone asked how u made these but u replied in the other thread that u learned through youtube.
Sorry if the question is repetitive but if all u used was youtube video then I'm thinking about giving it a shot too. Yes, I learned all of these dishes through youtube and online recipes. I'm sure you can do it too! Just don't be afraid of mistakes~ (newb chef buddies? lol)
:D
I was asking cuz I acutally have tried youtube video's and I was trying to cook this thai dish called "phat phet moo" and it turned out fine but some of the ingredients I couldn't find at H-E-B. Like lime leaves and "Sweet Basil." Instead i got "Basil Albahaca" whatever that is..and they told me it was a herb. So I'm not sure if u can acutally "eat" basil so I didn't even put it in like I'm supposed to. Also they had pork center lions but didn't have the pork tenderloins that I needed. Anyways like I said this came out good
What didn't come out so good was my fried rice :/ put too much soy sauce and salt lul~
Anyways yea ur food blogs make me hungry everytime. Keep at it dude.
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How are you making your sauce? Use the same pan you seared/cooked your steak in. While your steak is resting else where, use the same pan pouring off excessive fat,
1) most important thing is to deglaze your pan with cognac (traditional au poivre sauce). This'll get all those good bits that are stuck to your pan. Doing this first has another advantage in that it gives you a chance to cook out the alcohol quickly before adding other ingredients.
2) after your alcohol is cooked out and reduced to almost gone (like a light syrup), add butter shallots garlic and saute. This is your basic French butter glaze.
3) add heavy cream, bring up to a boil -> reduce till you get the thickness of say... an Alfredo sauce. Your sauce IS broken (i.e. oil in water). That's probably because you used milk which breaks down like oil and water because milk contains fats and water which separate when boiled. Have you seen how cheese is made? Basically they boil milk to separate the milk solids from the liquids. You don't want a sauce like that. Heavy cream is the part of milk that has already been separated, so it's tolerance to breaking down is much higher.
4) check the seasoning (ie. salt/pepper) after it is reduced. Don't season too heavily in the beginning because as your sauce reduces, the saltier it gets.
Protip: It isn't the recipes that matter but the techniques. You can substitute the alcohol/meat/veggies and it will taste good if you apply good techniques. You don't even have to deglaze with cognac, you can deglaze with a stock or even water but the point is to lift off those particles from the pan because that is all flavor leftover from cooking your meat.
Platingwise: Obviously this is subjective. You may want to plate directly on dinner table if that makes you happy. However, since you want to go beyond that, it's good practice to think about how you would eat that plate. Are you going to eat the steaks and potatoes separately? What about the sauce. Does it go well with the potatoes or only with the steak or both? How does the shape of your plating medium affect your presentation? It's round, it's got height on the edges. To me that means the dish should be focused near the middle. The way you plate breaks that harmonious center focus by dividing it in half. I understand that all parts of a dish must be fantastic but your basically saying the potatoes are on the same level as the steak. I don't know about you but I would like the steak to be the main component of this dish as it is tastier and extrudes more emotion than mashed potatoes. I would prefer if the steak was leaning on the potatoes or stacked on top. Who cares if it hides half of the potatoes, they are just potatoes. Also, having them layered over the potatoes allows the eater to cut down on the steak and scoop up some potatoes and the sauce in one motion instead of having the eater moving all around his/her plate for the components.
I'm a beginner cook as well so this is just fun for me to share with others. Sorry about the long paragraph. Good food will taste good no matter how poorly it looks but good food will taste just as good as it looks when presented nicely. Think about that. Most of the responses here can't even taste your food but when they saw it, they got excited. Imagine if you posted a picture of steak n potatoes with blood everywhere and hair in the potatoes. You would get banned.
If you have a questions, I will try to answer them the best I can. Looking forward to seeing what you make next.
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@kikimama
do you have any linktips to read about plating?
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EPT
