Sharpen your culinary sl

Dubrulle French Culinary School hosting 10- “day intensive cooking classes

CUISINE SCENE

WEST VAN’S Diana Becker, founder and presi- dent of the prestigious Dubruile French Culinary School, offers a unique “Shands-on’’ full-participa- tion cocking course this Summer,

Becker calls this custom-design- ed course ‘two weeks to be a bet-

ter cook, That’s what ‘Sharpen Your Culinary Skills’ is all about.”’

And madame president (her private trade school is Canada’s largest} knows of what she speaks.

Since 198}, her school has turn- ed out some of this city's finest and most talented toque- -topped chefs and cooks.

Becker has selected instructor Margeret Chisholm to‘head this 10-day intensive, fun foray into becoming just what the course promises -— a better cook.

_ I joined Chef Chisholm’s pastry class one Saturday morning sever- » al weeks ago, and came away ad- .. dicted to her gentle way of teaching with an elegantly person- able style coupled with remarkable . Skil! and knowledge.

What a morning it was! First, a round of professional crisp white aprons (big roomy ones with full bib and long ties) were offered.

Our class of 12 divided up into work teams of three. .

In a trio of hours we poached pears in vanilla syrup, prepared creme patissiere (with no lumps!), whisked sabayon sauce to a silken finish, stirred creme anglaise (and learned what * a spoon"' meant), baked three dif- ferent apple tarts from start to finish, assembled a stunning fresh fruit tart, and made two different pastry doughs (by hand).

The sweet finale was a pres- entation of the finished products — seven in all.

We learned the tricks of the trade — how to make all of those

“nitty little heart swirls and cobweb-like trails of raspberry coulis set into vanilla custard sauce.

And it was simple, with our en- (husiastic instructor as guide.

The next full 10-day session of “Sharpen Your Culinary. Skills”’ at Dubrulle runs fram Monday, Aug. 23 to Friday, Sept.3, from 5

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NEWS photo Neil Lucente

DIANA BECKER (foreground) has selected Margaret Chisholm to run the 10-day summer courses at her Dubrulle French Culinary School.

p.m. to9 p.m. Maximum 12 stu- dents.

For more information phone the nice staff at the Dubrulle School (located at Eighth and Granville in Vancouver) at 738- 3155. ;

Chishoim also offers single- lesson specialty classes in her workshop series.

Coming up is West Coast Sal- mon (Tuesday, July 27), Mediter- ranean (Tuesday, Aug. 3), Preser- ving and Canning (Tuesday, Aug. 10), and Summer in Provence (Tuesday, Aug. 17).

Whatever you choase, don’t miss out!

And to get you started, here are some of Chisholm’s dessert recipes from the class | attended.

POACHED PEARS IN VANILLA SYRUP

Serve these fragrant poached pears chilled, standing them upright on large dessert plates on

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a pool of creme anglaise.

A drizzle of vibrant raspberry coulis makes for an upscale deco- rative finish to each plate. Serves 4.

4 pears; ripe, firm, unblemished, with nice stems 1 cup (250 mL) sugar

2 tbsp. (30 mL) fresh lemon j juice, ¥% whole vanilla bean, split jengthwise (may substitute Ttsp 6 mL) vanilla extract)

Select a siainless steel or enameled saucepan that will just fit the pears. Add the lemon juice and enough cold water to com- pletely cover the pears as you peel them.

Carefully peel the pears using a swivel-type peeler. Use long, smooth strokes so that pears re- main as smooth as possible.

Leave the long stems attached for nice presentation. Take a thin slice off the base of each pear, so that they will stand upright when

and

served.

Immediately plunge each pear into the aciduated water as you peel them to keep them from tur- ning brown,

Pour off any excess water, leav- ing enough to just cover the pears completely.

Add the sugar and the split vanilla bean (or vanilla extract).

Bring water to a boil over me- dium heat.

Simmer the pears until tender when tested with the tip of a thin, sharp knife. Total cooking time will be 20-25 minutes.

Transfer poached pears to a bowl, and pour the poaching syrup over them. Cool, cover and chill several hours or overnight.

Serve as suggested.

CREM®. ANGLAISE

Serve this classic creme anglaise sauce as an accompaniment to the poached pears.

It may be served over simple

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3 large epg yolks

4 tbsp. (60 mL) sugar

tsp. (5 mL) pure vanilia extract

Place milk in a saucepan. Heat to boiling point.

Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and sugar to the “ribbon stage” (when thickened, mixture will fall back onto itself into ribbons or bands) in a mixing bowl, using a whisk.

Whisk about one-third of the hot milk into the sugar-yoik mix- ture, incorporating until smooth, |

Pour the sugar-yolk-milk mix- ture back into the remaining pan of hot milk, whisking it smooth as added.

Heat the mixture slowly, over medium-low heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until the sauce thickens slightly, taking care to stir corners of the saucepan to prevent scorching.

Cook until finished sauce “coats a spoon”® (sauce will ‘‘hold a line’ cleanly when you draw your finger through the sauce on the back of the spoon). Watch for this indication very carefully.

Strain the finished hot sauce in- to a clean bowl to stop the cook- ing- immediately. Cover with plastic wrap, and chill at once.

Chill several hours, or over- night, before serving.

RASPBERRY COULIS

Serve this simply berry sauce’ in a decorative pattern over. the creme anglaise sauce. Or serve alongside chocolate ice cream, dark chocolate sorbet, with choco- late cake, or simply drizzled over the chilled poached pears.

To make the freshest. tasting raspberry coulis: Simply puree fresh raspberries in a food pro- cessor.

Strain the mixture to remove seeds, pressing to get out every bit of the fruit pulp.

Add a bit of berry sugar to sweeten as desired, depending on the sweetness of the fruit, e.g. 1 cup (250 mL) berry puree may take 1-3 tbsp. (15-45 mL) sugar.

Chill, covered, until ready to serve.