(^^^ not gonna win any photography awards with this picture but *I* love it. Kids figuring out measuring spoons and moving too fast to photograph!)
“So guys, here’s your recipe, there are your ingredients and equipment – go for it!”
So said Chef Suzanne Baby on Monday afternoon as the Petits Chefs invaded visited her kitchen at The Gallery Grill in Toronto.
Suzanne is someone who totally “gets me” in terms of what I am trying to achieve with the boys in cooking club. We’ve visited the restaurant twice before, the first time the boys got to make choux pastry and the second visit was a ravioli-making extravaganza! Choux pastry! Ravioli (from scratch)! Hear that? Not only are those “meant to be difficult” (according to some) but they are certainly not recipes most people would think about tackling with 12-17 boys under the age of 14 in just over an hour… But Suzanne is not “most people”. She has high expectations of the boys when they visit and I am pleased to report they always meet (and exceed!) then, doing our school proud!
This time around, she’d chosen goat cheese soufflés for the boys to make. The “twice baked” version of soufflés (something like this recipe that I have used myself with a lot of success) because that’s what we would be able to achieve in the time we had. Since they are relatively easy to put together, Suzanne simple pointed the boys in the right direction of the ingredients and equipment and let them go for it. I’ll let the pictures tell the story…
We waited with bated breath to see if they would pop right out of the ramekins…
Et voilà:
Watching the boys, what struck me was the absolute ease in the kitchen. No big deal for them to be working in a professional kitchen. Using unfamiliar equipment didn’t faze them. They figured stuff out. Used their knowledge of prior cooking sessions. I was impressed to see them working fairly well at organising their mise en place (well and Suzanne wouldn’t let them start mixing their ingredients until they had everything ready and she’d done a check so…) – when it came time to mix all our ingredients together, it was simple and relatively neat 😉
THANK you Suzanne for inviting the boys to work with you again (they are already asking when they get to come back!). Your generosity is so very appreciated – working in a professional kitchen is something many adults can only dream of yet you allow these guys to come and work with you – we know we are very lucky!
C’mon… souffles are supposed to be so difficult… and the pics made it look so uncomplicated.
I bet most of the soufflés never made it past the front door… they looked gorgeous.
Great work LPCs…. Did Mr Neil get any?
Nope, Mr Neil did not get any but I promise to make him some! Also, these are not so much the puffy soufflés – they are more quichey…. Still delicious.