[Zorba the Greek]

The croissants need definetely eggs and butter and 3-4 turns.
The aluminum, I agree with my buddy athenaeus, this is not a problem if you take certain precautions.

[pollyg]

OK, my 2 cents worth:
The heat seemed too high for such a large piece of meat, so it came out too far cooked and it probably didn't get to rest ( you were in a hurry, right?), so all the juices came flowing out, instead of being re-absorbed into the meat.
The sauce was probably too thin b/c the bones used had practically no gelatine in them.
Another little thing I noticed was the mention of Fonds Lie and roux. Larousse says that Jus/fonds Lie is thickened with arrowroot, not roux.
I'm not so good with baking but the bread flour stood out straight away as far too heavy for croissants. I think they should also have eggs. The 1:1 ratio for the detromph (sp?) sounds suspicious too, surely a little less butter than flour?
Red cabbage will go blue in an aluminium pot , especially if there is acid present, but often it doesn't change the flavour too much. ( As a side note, long simmering of acidic foods in aluminium pots will increase the aluminium content of the food by about 100%).
And finally the grey tatties have probably picked up aluminium from the scraping/mashing action in the aluminium pot.

[kuan]

I think the problem with the demiglace lies in the calf. This calf was the runt of the lot and was obviously the last to feed. So it obviously did not get enough to eat and consequently not enough minerals in his diet. The butcher did not notice and gave you the bones thinking he was being a real nice guy, and really, he is. Being a polite customer, could not refuse this kind gesture so you brought them back with you.

Polly, lie really means to bring together, as in liason. It can be done with roux as well as arrowroot.

Kuan

[Rachel]

You didn't drink enough red wine while you were cooking, you couldn't listen to your favourite music AND you couldn't think of a good place to send your relative so that you cold do everything your way!
How many points do I get??

[Rachel]

You didn't drink enough red wine while you were cooking, you couldn't listen to your favourite music AND you couldn't think of a good place to send your relative so that you cold do everything your way!
How many points do I get??

[chrose]

You people sniff.... make me so proud sniff. Rachel if this was a humanities test and not a cooking test you would be 100%. However I think I have to give Pollyg the gold star on this one. Everybody had good answers. Some right, some close. Top to bottom. Yes the Steamship was cooked too hot and not allowed to rest so all the juices drained out taking what little color was left in the meat and draining it away. Though it sure did look tasty at 180 D. And you can get 1/2 of a steamship.

The demi glace did need the knuckles for the collagen/gelatin to give the stock body. It could have cooked longer as well. Still the breast bones would add flavor. And the Fond Lie is a liason of arrowroot not roux. The roux would have made it a "gravy" and not a demi-glace (the fond-lie doesn't make it a demi glace either, but it's closer)

7 turns on the croissants while a bit much aren't deadly to the texture but a detrempe of 1:1 is! If you are using a pound of butter that means you are also using a pound of flour. While exact quantities may be argued, generally you can figure about 1oz of flour to 1 lb of butter. (told you I was tricky)

And the vegetables are pretty obvious. The acid in the lemon leaches metal ions from the aluminum causing the anthocyanins in the cabbage to turn blueish. The aluminum alone wouldn't do it. Small amounts of acid and alkalais will. The anthoxansins in potatoes and onions will react to iron, carbon steel, and aluminum thereby turning blackish grey as well as a variety of other colors.
Don't think that you need to know all the science behind cooking, just knowing some of these basics will help avoid some of the problems encountered here.

Let's wait and see what #4 has to offer. Brad where were you?

[ShawtyCat]

Wow. I understood the part about the meat not resting to re absorb the juices and the tatties in the aluminum pot (gran still cooks in one of those unfortunately). But since Ive never made crissonts I wouldnt have got that for a mil years. I also know nothing about demi glace. Jeez....I wanna go to school. Why cant my kiddies be older!!?

Thanks for the clarification on the Steamship Round. Never heard of it.

Jodi

[katbalou]

dear chrose,
i'm still laughing from your test!! why Friendlys cake and not Carvel? you didn't want "wally the whale"?
kat

[chrose]

Kat,
I can't believe these tests are getting resurrected! Me thinks you've been watching too many kids movies. Now imagine the old commercials with Tom Carvels gravely voice and NY accent saying "Come on down and get your "Fudgie"the whale cake. I loved him, he was too funny.
And Friendlys is closer and Carvels quality seems to have diminished over the years.

I promised apparently that my next test would be a dessert one. I better get cracking..get it eggs...cracking!!!

[katbalou]

chrose,
you're absolutely correct in saying their quality has diminished(personal knowledge) i don't believe there are many individual stores left, the corporation in place now wanted to focus on grocery stores. their technique is mass production in processing plants - still hand decorated. but - the size seems to be getting smaller and smaller while the price rises. i won't go within 50' of one!! the carpel tunnel syndrome seems to act up if i get too close!!
kat