Garde Manger I - Appetizers

In July, my cooking class focused on the cold kitchen - meaning breads, dressings, salads, sandwiches, cold soups, and appetizers. While I won't touch on everything we learned, here were some of the highlights...

Garde Manger = refers to the preparation of and presenting of cold food items like those listed above.

Some of my favorites from this class included making cold soups (vichyssoise and gazpacho), appetizers and mayonnaise from scratch.

Below is an appetizer I made during class: Parmesan crisps* topped with prosciutto, green mayonnaise (sauce vert) and chive sprigs. The center bowl is the green mayonnaise with a Parmesan crisp in it for presentation.

Our chef instructor also shared a couple of appetizers with us:

1. Cucumber crab appetizers: Use a slice of cucumber with the center slightly hollowed out (use a melon baller) and top it with crab meat, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper, and fresh parsley. Garnish with fresh dill.
2. Salami cones: Take a slice of salami and make one cut to the center. With two fingers, wrap the salami around into a cone shape (narrow at bottom, wide at top and slightly flaring out). Fill salami with sun dried tomatoes, garlic, salt pepper and cream cheese mixture. Garnish with a black olive.
3. Spicy shrimp on a crostini: Marinade shrimp in spicy mixture (for example: olive oil, garlic, paprika, season salt (only a little) and cayenne) while mixing some BBQ sauce and cream cheese. Place BBQ cream cheese mixture on crostini and top with shrimp. Garnish with a chive.
4. Scallop Ceviche: Use 2 pounds of sea scallops removed from shell and cut thin lengthwise to 'cook' faster in acid mixture. Season scallops with salt and pepper - set aside. Add the juice of 3 lemons, 3 limes and 3 oranges, plus the zest of 1 lemon, 1 lime and 1 orange and 2 teaspoons of sugar into a blender. Start to blend it and add 1/4 extra virgin olive oil until emulsified. Upon completion, pour juice mixture over the scallops and let the scallops 'float' in it. Cover it, place in fridge for 2-3 hours, and serve in small bowls. I'd use those Japanese soup spoons if I make it again.
   
5. We also made poached shrimp with cocktail sauce (nothing new here) and deviled eggs (reminds me of Thanksgiving and Easter).

*To make the Parmesan crisps, line a baking sheet with tin foil and coat it with a thin layer of olive oil. Shred Parmesan cheese across the entire pan making sure you have a nice layer that you can not see through to the tin foil. Bake at 400 to 425 degrees for approximately 15 minutes or until the cheese is nice and crispy. You don't want it malleable. Pull from the oven and allow to cool. Once cool enough to touch, break cheese into pieces and prepare to serve. I recommend regular Parmesan instead of Parmesan Reggiano as it tasted better toasted to me.