Beginning Gourmet Cooking Techniques | Tuesday, 1st Period

[sharp_as_knives]

Hannibal nodded at the students as they took their seats. "Good morning. I hope you all had a very good break. Today we'll be speaking about utensils once again. While a good knife is perhaps the most important, there are other things which also make cooking substantially easier. Among them, pots and pans."

He nodded at the assortment in front of him. "There are a number of basic types, and if you're planning on cooking at all, it's good to have at least one of each." He held the handles of the first two, lifting them so everybody could see. "A sauté pan, and a skillet."
"The sauté pan is deeper and has straight sides; it's best for searing meat, and for reducing sauces. It has more surface area at the bottom, and meat and other things are less likely to escape." He smiled and turned the other one. "The skillet's sides are sloped, so you don't have as much room. But if you're cooking anything that takes a lot of movement, such as stir fry, or that requires serving from the pan, it is easier to work with."

He picked up and turned the next item.

"Saucepans come in many sizes; if you're stocking a kitchen, you'll probably want several. The size of your pan can determine how quickly and evenly your food is cooked. Similar to those is a double boiler."

"The top pot is simply a shallow saucepan; the bottom, as you see," he demonstrated, "has a ridge in which the other sits. This way you can cook things for which direct heat is too delicate. Water in the bottom steams the food in the top."

He tilted the largest pot forward. "Lastly, a dutch oven."

"Larger than a sauce pan, with thick walls. Very useful for soups or for larger roasts."

He flicked the dutch oven, which made a fairly dull thud, and the double boiler, which rang at a higher pitch. "You will also note the various metals. Cast iron is traditional for the dutch oven; also many saucepans, including this one. However, the iron may react with strongly acidic or alkaline foods, so it's good to have something nonreactive as well. Stainless steel is nonreactive, but it doesn't conduct heat well. This double boiler and skillet are all-clad; that means they have a copper core surrounded by stainless steel." And that they cost more than some people's paychecks.

"You want to be careful when choosing metals to get something that will last, and preferably that will not poison you. Also, you should take good care of the pans that you get; they'll last much longer and your food will taste better."

He eyed them all. "I had considered that for this class it would be appropriate to have you wash dishes instead of cooking, but that seemed too cruel after vacation. Count yourselves lucky. Instead, you will be making eggs." He tapped each pan or pot in turn. "Fried, scrambled, poached, and hard boiled. The same food, very different ending points, and different cookware for each. Please ask if you have any questions."

Comments

Sign in!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Like you're grateful for not washing Hannibal's dishes!

Re: Sign in!

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

Rilla Blythe

Re: Sign in!

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle Lightwood

Listen to the lecture, look at the pots and pans

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Seriously, the prices on these things? They're art in their own right.

Re: Listen to the lecture, look at the pots and pans

[rilla-myrilla.livejournal.com]

Rilla, wearing a simple white dress and a pale, drawn look on her face, was focused incredibly intently on the pots and pans, in that "dear Lord, give me something to focus on" sort of way.

She looked like she'd dropped ten pounds in a week. Her trip home had lasted longer than that, but the weight loss was accurate.

Re: Listen to the lecture, look at the pots and pans

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

"Miss Rilla." Hannibal nodded at her. It seemed pointless to ask how her time at home had been; he could see that for himself. "How is Ms Baker?"

Re: Listen to the lecture, look at the pots and pans

[seveninchmotto]

Isabelle was trying to pay attention. Honestly, she was. But her mind kept drifting to other things. Like training. And what accessories would go best with her dress for the dance.

It was possible that all she'd be taking away from this lecture would be that cooking involved pans.

Re: Listen to the lecture, look at the pots and pans

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

"Using the proper pan or pot can keep you from turning your food into an inedible mess," Hannibal said rather pointedly.

Had he forgotten the pasta that first week? No, he had not.

Re: Listen to the lecture, look at the pots and pans

[flickofthewrist]

Unfortunately, he hadn't healed overnight. So, he was still looking fairly worse for the wear with the bruises crisscrossing his body, the useless arm in a sling and the leg that he could only limp on.

But, he was paying attention for the most part. Every so often, he'd drift away, thinking about other things or focusing on blocking out his pain but pots and pans and cooking. He was in the now.

Sort of.

Re: Listen to the lecture, look at the pots and pans

[shippedtomaine]

Emma maybe wasn't paying as much attention as normal, since she doubted she'd ever even have a kitchen to put any pots and pans in.

Re: Listen to the lecture, look at the pots and pans

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

"Emma." Hannibal greeted her. "Did you enjoy Italy?"

Re: Listen to the lecture, look at the pots and pans

[not_a_moonie]

They were ... pots. And pans. They were nice, Alana guessed, but she really didn't see the big deal. She passed part of the lecture sketching ideas for her homecoming dress in her notebook.

Re: Listen to the lecture, look at the pots and pans

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Hannibal watched for a moment, then interrupted. "While I may at some point teach a sketching class, Alana, this is not that class."

Re: Listen to the lecture, look at the pots and pans

[dressedinblood]

Now this, Anna was familiar with. The cookware at her home had never been of such high quality, and they'd certainly never owned a double boiler, but the cast iron--well, cast iron was cast iron, and it wouldn't steer you wrong. She could have prepared all the forms of egg in the dutch oven if she had to. But the others were all so shiny.

Re: Listen to the lecture, look at the pots and pans

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

"Hello, Anna," Hannibal said. "I trust you enjoyed the break?"

Cook your eggs

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

The pots and pans get used in the same order he introduced them. No double boiler today, though.

Re: Cook your eggs

[flickofthewrist]

Dr. Lecter was going to have to forgive him during this lesson since he was basically working with one arm. He was still giving cooking eggs a go but they were probably going to end up undercooked or just all around gross.

Re: Cook your eggs

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

"You seem to be in some difficulty." Hannibal reached over and held the skillet steady for Flick. "Did you bump into the wrong person on the street?"

Eat Hannibal's food and ask questions

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

He's feeling nostalgic today, so you'll be eased into things. Today's food:

Re: Eat Hannibal's food and ask questions

[flickofthewrist]

He'd had to grit his teeth throughout the entire class but since they were at the eating portion, he knew he was almost done.

He went with the citrus gelato and ate it slowly.

Talk to Hannibal!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

If you have anything after class to mention.

Talk to the TAs!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Once they ping in.

Re: Talk to the TAs!

[myownface]

The whole new, exciting world of cookware. The stuff that Hannibal was showing them this class was way better quality than anything he'd seen, and that stuff was freaking expensive when you were looking for quality.

Sparkle was about equal parts fascinated and jealous.

... Not that he was slowly gaining a mild obsession with cooking as a hobby or anything. Honest.

Re: Talk to the TAs!

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

Not that Hannibal was intentionally fostering that, either.

At all.

OOC

[never-dull.livejournal.com]

One class I'm seriously glad I'm not in. I am so not a fan of eggs! LOL

Serious SP from me Tuesday; the owners and board members are having a board meeting in our office.