Strawberry Layer Cake

Post Easter dinner, my mom made a beautiful strawberry layer cake. She layered meringue with pecans, cream cheese mixed with whipped cream and strawberries 4 times. Beautiful cake, but really hard to cut. We agreed individual little cakes would be best so that you don't have to slice it. Southern Living April cover cake!!!!

Easter Breakfast Bread

My mom has a tradition making Easter breakfast bread every Easter. It is a raisin like bread with powdered sugar icing and sprinkles.

Mascarpone Cheese Cake

Saturday night, I made a modified version of my Le Cordon Bleu for my first audience, my parents - sister - brother. I heated up the house so much that the windows were steamy, but buy it was good. For dessert, I created a cake without hydrogenated oil. The only cake box without it was a chocolate gluten free cake. I layered it with tiramisu mascarpone and raspberries. I topped it with white chocolate shavings.

Fruit Tartare with Peppermint, Campari Sorbet

Dice mangos, pineapple, bananas, passion fruit, bunch peppermint - nothing perfectly cut

Campari sorbet (orange juice, lime juice, orangel peel, Campari, water, sugar, glucose - honey can be substituted)

Pike Perch with a Crisp Skin, Couscous with Currants

Pike Perch (any white fish would do. Use parchment paper, oil skillet, added paper and flip to coat both sides. Then cook fish skin side down using med-high until the outline of the fish is cooked except for the inside. Then flip the fish flesh down on hot pan removed from heat to finish cooking.)

Couscous with currants (currants, couscous, butter, light fish stock - garnish with zucchini, diced, butter)

Red butter sauce (shallots, red wine vinegar, red wine, fish stock, butter)

Garnish/decorate everything with fresh dill.

Warm foie gras, split pea puree, lightly smoked sauce

Food presentation is half the battle to make French food look magical.
First, spoon lightly smoked sauce (shallots, butter, cultivated mushrooms, white wine, clear veal stock, smoked slab bacon).
Second, spoon un-food processed split pea (split peas, carrot, onion, celery stalk, bouquet garni, chicken stock, cream, butter).
Third, spoon split pea puree.
Forth, place 1 slice foie gras, pan fried in haxelnut oil. Interesting trivia - the duck liver was huge. They force feed the duck cornmeal so that the liver expands to about the size of the main body of the duck and then they kill it.
Fifth, place salad to garnish (lamb's lettuce, lemon juice, hazelnut oil)

Le Cordon Bleu, Demonstration

At 8:30 AM, I arrived by taxi to Le Cordon Bleu. Chef Patrick Caals led a group of Americans and Canadians in the classroom style setting. He prepared a 3 course meal in the front of the classroom while the "students" watched in old wooden riser style chairs. He cooked through noon and served all courses in small portions. He only spoke French, but there was a British English translator that repeated everything the chef said. The chef was very funny and wanted us to keep saying "we chef" whenever he gave an instruction!

1st Course: warm foie gras, split pea puree, lightly smoked sauce

2nd Course: pike perch with a scrisp skin, couscous with currants

3rd Course: fruit tartare with peppermint, Campari sorbet