There were 2 parts to the final day of our course. The first part was to prepare a Vietnamese menu (pho, stirfry, rice paper rolls) and the second was to perfectly panfry steak to medium-rare in a pan, and then make a classic pan sauce. My course mates would be surprised to hear that even the Vietnamese menu was challenging to me because, truth is, while I know most of the individual ingredients and have eaten authentic street food in Vietnam, I have never combined the ingredients the way the Vietnamese do it.
Anyway at least for the frst part the menu, I was a bit of a Nazi (I hope I didn't step on anyone's toes!). I took it upon myself to coordinate the soup and the rice rolls, and because there was so much left over chicken, I also decided to make classic Hainanese chicken rice with the chilli sauce to go with it.
Everything went fairly smoothly. What I did not anticipate was the rice paper being so difficult to work with (sticky %^#*$ bastards), and I forgot to think ahead about how to present the pho. Also I could not find the big slightly spicy sweet red chillis we typically use for the chilli sauce, so I improvised - I used red peppers (no heat, just for the colour) and added thai bird and habenero chillis (lots of heat) to the mix. It turned out perfectly.
For the second part of the menu, my group made the classic brown sauces of bercy, financiere and robert sauces. Ooohh YUM. I think the minute I get home, I'm going to start a beef/duck stock for demi-glaze and just freeze a batch. I'm also going to buy a nice bottle of Madeira - It was such a revelation to discover how awesome this liquer tastes flambed in a sauce! I can't wait!!
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