Culinary School Day 16: Mastering Classic French Dishes – Hanger Steak, Pommes Frites, & Puff Pastry Perfection

As we steadily progress through Phase I of our intense culinary program, the delicate flavors of vegetables and light broths are now giving way to a more robust and indulgent curriculum. Today, Day 16, marked a significant shift, introducing us to proteins and a series of rich, heavy meals that truly tested our palates and our stamina. While our esteemed chefs hailed this day as one of the highlights of Phase I due to the caliber of dishes, my energy levels by the end of it told a different story. It was a day packed with new techniques, luxurious ingredients, and the unmistakable aroma of butter and fat — a true deep dive into classic French decadence.

Day 16, which I’ve mentally dubbed “the day we attempted to incorporate as much fat and butter into one meal as humanly possible,” was an educational journey filled with first-time experiences. We ventured into the world of baking puff pastry (which we cleverly prepared the day before for final execution today), embraced the deep fryer for crispy perfection, and fired up the grill to achieve that perfect sear on our meats. Each of these elements contributed to an unforgettable and immensely challenging culinary session, highlighting the foundational skills and dedication required in a professional kitchen.

The Star of the Plate: L’ONGLET GRILLE A L’ECHALOTE (Grilled Hanger Steak with Shallot-Red Wine Vinegar Sauce)

The centerpiece of today’s ambitious menu was the exquisite L’ONGLET GRILLE A L’ECHALOTE – a perfectly grilled hanger steak served with a vibrant shallot-red wine vinegar sauce. This marked our inaugural experience working with hanger steak, a lesser-known but incredibly flavorful cut of beef. Sourced from the plate primal cut, specifically near the diaphragm, each cow yields only one hanger steak, making it a prized and relatively unique piece of meat.

Hanger steak is celebrated for its intense beefy flavor, often compared to more expensive cuts like tenderloin, yet it possesses a distinct, slightly tougher texture. The secret to unlocking its full potential lies in its cooking temperature: it absolutely must be cooked to a precise rare to medium-rare. Overcooking this magnificent cut will quickly render it dry, stringy, and utterly disappointing, a lesson we learned to respect deeply in the kitchen, emphasizing the precision required for high-quality meat cookery.

Expert Plating: Pommes Frites, Hanger Steak & Tourneed Glazed Carrots (my two servings are proudly on the right!)

Mastering the Cook: Searing and Finishing Techniques for Hanger Steak

To achieve the perfect doneness and texture for our hanger steak, we employed a two-stage cooking method: searing on the grill followed by finishing in the oven. This approach is fundamental to professional cooking and is crucial for preparing larger cuts of meat, ensuring both an appealing crust and a consistently juicy interior.

• Initial Searing on the Grill: We seared both sides of the hanger steak on a very high-heat grill. This intense initial heat triggers the Maillard reaction, a complex chemical process responsible for creating that desirable chewy, crispy, and flavorful outer crust. This rapid browning adds depth and char. However, it’s vital not to cook the meat continuously on the grill. Flipping the steak repeatedly, or leaving it on the grill for too long, causes it to lose precious juices with each turn, leading to a dry and tough result. The goal here is purely surface browning and flavor development, not cooking through.
• Finishing in the Oven: The steak was then transferred to a preheated oven to finish cooking gently. This technique is based on a scientific principle: moisture flows away from heat. By placing a larger piece of meat in an oven, where heat radiates from all directions, we effectively encourage the internal moisture to move towards the cooler center. This not only equalizes the temperature throughout the steak for even cooking but also forces the juices inward, resulting in an exceptionally flavorful and moist piece of meat. The oven provides a more gentle, even cooking environment for the interior without over-charring the exterior, preserving the steak’s tenderness.
• The Critical Art of Resting Meat: Following its time in the oven, it is absolutely paramount to rest the meat before slicing. The high temperatures in the oven create significant internal pressure within the steak, pushing juices towards the center. If you were to slice the meat immediately after cooking, this pressure would cause all those wonderful juices to rapidly escape onto the cutting board, leaving you with a dry and less flavorful piece of steak. Resting allows the internal pressure to gradually equalize, giving the muscle fibers time to relax and reabsorb the juices that have migrated. This ensures that when you finally slice into it, the moisture remains locked within, keeping the meat incredibly tender, succulent, and juicy. A good rule of thumb is to rest meat for approximately one-third of its total cooking time. Patience here truly pays off immensely in the final taste and texture of your cooked meat.

Crispy Perfection: Hand-Cut POMMES FRITES

No classic steak dish is complete without the perfect accompaniment of hand-cut french fries, or POMMES FRITES. Each table was tasked with creating these golden beauties from scratch, employing a precise two-stage cooking method that is essential for achieving the ideal balance of fluffy interior and crisp, golden exterior. We started by carefully squaring our russet potatoes, known for their high starch content which yields a desirable fluffy interior, then uniformly cutting them into “batons,” which are essentially 1/2-inch thick matchsticks. Consistency in cutting is paramount for ensuring even cooking and a professional presentation.

The first stage of frying involved submerging the batons in oil heated to a moderate 325 degrees Fahrenheit. This lower temperature allows the potatoes to cook thoroughly all the way through, softening their texture and ensuring the starches gelatinize without gaining any significant color. They emerge from this initial fry looking pale but tender and fully cooked. Just prior to service, we initiated the second and final cooking process. The oil was brought up to a higher temperature of 375 degrees Fahrenheit, and the par-cooked fries were returned to the fryer. This quick, high-heat fry is primarily for developing that coveted golden-brown color and achieving the quintessential crispy factor that defines truly great french fries. The high heat rapidly removes surface moisture, creating an irresistible crunch. After their final fry, they were meticulously drained, seasoned immediately with fine salt, and ready to serve alongside our succulent steak.

The Perfect Pairing: L’ECHALOTE Sauce

To complement the rich flavors of our hanger steak, we prepared a classic L’ECHALOTE sauce. This relatively simple yet incredibly impactful sauce is crafted from finely caramelized shallots, deglazed with red wine vinegar, and then enriched with a reduction of savory veal stock. The process begins with gently cooking minced shallots in butter until they are sweet, translucent, and deeply aromatic, achieving a beautiful golden caramelization without burning. Next, red wine vinegar is added to deglaze the pan, scraping up any flavorful bits, and reducing the liquid to intensify its bright, acidic tang. Finally, a rich veal stock is incorporated and reduced, allowing all the flavors to meld and creating a sauce with remarkable depth of umami and body.

The beauty of L’Echalote sauce lies precisely in its acidic bite, which brilliantly cuts through the dense, robust richness of the hanger steak. It provides a much-needed counterpoint, preventing the meal from feeling overly heavy and adding a sophisticated layer of flavor that elevates the entire dish. This masterful balance of richness and acidity is a fundamental characteristic and a highly valued technique in classic French cuisine, demonstrating how complementary flavors can enhance a main ingredient.

Elegance in Vegetables: Glaceed Tourneed Carrots

Last, but certainly not least, we incorporated a delicate touch of vegetables in the form of glaceed tourneed carrots. While seemingly simple, the technique of “tourneeing” a carrot is significantly more intricate and demanding than tourneeing a potato. It requires exceptional precision, a sharp knife, and a very steady hand to carve the vegetable into uniform, seven-sided, barrel-shaped pieces, ensuring not only aesthetic appeal but also even cooking. The goal is a consistent, elegant form that speaks to the chef’s skill.

Fortunately, my extensive practice for last week’s culinary exam, which heavily featured tourneeing, proved invaluable, making this task much less daunting. There’s a clear pedagogical reason why culinary schools teach potato tourneeing before moving onto the more challenging carrot; it’s all about building foundational knife skills incrementally, mastering easier forms before tackling more delicate and harder vegetables. The patience and repetition involved in this technique are truly a test of a budding chef’s discipline.

The Art of Glazing Carrots to Perfection

To cook these tourneed carrots, we placed them in a saucepan with a generous knob of butter, a pinch of salt, and just a tiny amount of sugar – the latter crucial for enhancing their natural sweetness and aiding in a beautiful caramelization as the liquid reduces. Veal stock was added to come about one-third of the way up the carrots, providing a rich cooking medium. The pan was then covered with a “cartouche,” which is a piece of parchment paper cut to fit snugly inside the pan and pressed directly onto the surface of the carrots. This acts as a clever lid, creating a steamy, moist environment that gently cooks the carrots over very low heat until they are perfectly tender yet still hold their shape. Once tender, the cartouche was removed, and the liquid was allowed to reduce and thicken, enabling the carrots to gain a lovely, subtle glaze and slight caramelization just before serving. Tourneeing, despite its initially tedious nature, is becoming a surprisingly relaxing and meditative process for me. Who knew I’d ever find such tranquility in meticulously shaping vegetables?

A Flaky Indulgence: L’ALLUMETTE AU FROMAGE (Puff Pastry with Cheese)

As if the preceding dishes weren’t enough to satiate our appetites, we also put our prepared puff pastry to its first use, creating the exquisite L’ALLUMETTE AU FROMAGE. This delightful dish, roughly translating to “puff pastry filled with cheese,” delivered an incredible depth of flavor and textural contrast. The cheese, however, wasn’t just grated; it was incorporated into an unbelievably rich, thick, and perfectly pipeable Mornay sauce. Mornay sauce is a classic derivative of Bechamel, one of the five foundational “mother sauces” of French cuisine, traditionally made from a roux (a cooked mixture of butter and flour) and milk, forming a creamy white sauce base.

Our version took the classic Bechamel to new heights by transforming it into MORNAY. This involves enriching the Bechamel with a generous blend of finely grated Gruyère and Parmesan cheeses, which melt seamlessly into the sauce, imparting a nutty, savory depth. To further enhance its complexity and provide a subtle warmth, we also incorporated a small amount of Dijon mustard for a piquant kick, a whisper of freshly grated nutmeg for aromatic spice, and one egg yolk for added richness, emulsification, and stability. The resulting Mornay sauce was incredibly thick, luxurious, and held its shape beautifully, a testament to the power of classic French sauce-making techniques.

Crafting the Perfect Puff Pastry Allumettes

The assembly of our L’Allumettes au Fromage was a meticulous process, demanding precision and care. We carefully rolled and trimmed our delicate, pre-made puff pastry into thin, uniform rectangles, ensuring consistent thickness for an even bake. One set of these rectangles was then brushed with a luminous egg yolk wash, providing both a beautiful golden color and a sticky base for our rich Mornay sauce, which was neatly piped onto the pastry. This method ensures an even distribution of the creamy filling and prevents it from spreading too much.

A second rectangle of puff pastry was then carefully placed on top, creating a delicate sandwich. We meticulously pinched around the edges of the filling, not only to seal in the decadent Mornay sauce but also to expel any trapped air pockets, which could impede the pastry’s rise and cause uneven baking. After sealing, the allumettes were allowed to rest in the fridge, a crucial step for the butter layers within the pastry to firm up, ensuring a superior, flakier bake. Before baking, they received another generous brushing of egg wash for a lustrous golden sheen and were pierced with several small holes. These perforations are essential for allowing steam to escape during baking, preventing the pastry from exploding and encouraging an even, glorious puff and delicate internal structure.

Finally, these pastry creations were carefully transferred to the oven. We began baking them at a high temperature, typically between 400-425 degrees Fahrenheit, which encourages the rapid expansion of the steam trapped within the layers of butter and dough, leading to an impressive, dramatic rise. Once fully puffed and golden, the oven temperature was reduced to approximately 325 degrees Fahrenheit, allowing them to finish baking slowly until they were perfectly crisp and beautifully golden brown throughout, ensuring the interior was cooked without over-browning the exterior. The transformation was astounding—just look how huge and magnificent they became! Puff pastry truly feels like a work of culinary magic; the genius behind its invention deserves endless accolades for creating such a versatile and delightful dough.

The resulting L’Allumettes au Fromage were incredibly light and impossibly flaky, practically disintegrating with the slightest touch of a knife. The interior revealed a luscious, rich, and dangerously cheesy Mornay sauce, creating a perfect harmony of textures and flavors. It was a dish that epitomized indulgence and the incredible versatility of classic French pastry, a true triumph of technique and taste.

A Sweet Conclusion: LE GATEAU QUATRE-QUARTS (Pound Cake)

Just when we thought we couldn’t consume another gram of butter for the day, we rounded out our culinary marathon with a very basic yet utterly classic dessert: LE GATEAU QUATRE-QUARTS, or Pound Cake. True to its name, this traditional cake is made with equal parts by weight of four key ingredients: flour, sugar, eggs, and butter. This simple, balanced ratio results in a dense yet tender crumb, a rich buttery flavor, and a satisfyingly moist texture that has made it a beloved classic for centuries.

While undoubtedly delicious and a testament to the enduring appeal of foundational baking, I could only manage a small bite of it during the demo. My stomach, accustomed to a much lighter diet at home, was definitely protesting by this point. The sheer richness of the day’s curriculum, from the robust hanger steak and crispy frites to the Mornay-filled puff pastry, had truly pushed my culinary boundaries and, frankly, my digestive system to its limits. I found myself craving simple, plain vegetables with an intensity I hadn’t anticipated after such a decadent day of French cooking!

It’s a bittersweet irony that these heavier, more indulgent dishes couldn’t have been interspersed with the comforting, brothy vegetable soups from our earlier weeks, rather than concentrated all in one ambitious meal. However, despite the physical toll, the experience was undeniably fun and incredibly educational, offering deep insights into the traditions of French cuisine.

Beyond the Plate: Kitchen Duties & Meat Lecture

Our afternoon transitioned from the excitement of cooking to the less glamorous but equally important tasks of the culinary world. We spent a significant amount of time cleaning and meticulously trimming chicken bones, preparing them for future stock production – a fundamental process in any professional kitchen for building flavor bases. This is probably my most dreaded task in culinary school so far – standing in place for extended periods, hunched over a cutting board, carefully removing sinews and fat, is when the true extent of your soreness and fatigue from the day really starts to sink in! This labor-intensive work was followed by a thorough classroom clean-up, ensuring our station was spotless and organized for the next day’s lessons, a critical component of kitchen professionalism.

The day culminated in our weekly (Tuesday) meat lecture with Chef Francois, who, fittingly after our hanger steak experience, expertly delved into all things beef. While the lecture was incredibly interesting and informative, covering everything from primal cuts and butchering techniques to aging processes and quality assessment, maintaining full focus after such a rich and physically demanding day proved challenging. I’m beginning to wonder if this curriculum is designed deliberately to push us to our absolute limits – physically, mentally, and gastronomically – preparing us for the intense realities of a chef’s life!

Concluding Thoughts: A Day of Decadence and Learning

By the time I left the kitchen, my bed was officially calling out to me with an irresistible allure. This day, filled with the rich aromas of grilled steak, crispy fries, delicate pastry, and buttery cake, was an intense but invaluable learning experience. It highlighted the precision, dedication, and deep understanding required to master classic French cuisine, where even seemingly simple dishes involve multiple stages, scientific principles, and careful attention to every detail. Despite the exhaustion and the momentary cravings for plain vegetables, I remain incredibly grateful for this journey into the heart of professional cooking.

Thank you all for your continued support and encouragement! Even when I’m utterly depleted after a long day at school, I genuinely look forward to sharing these daily adventures and the fascinating lessons of culinary school with you. I sincerely hope you are still enjoying following along with my culinary school chronicles and finding inspiration in these classic French techniques.

Stay tuned for a brand new and exciting recipe post coming by the end of the week, where I’ll share a taste of what I’m learning!