Stuffings and forcemeats

Interesting day in the classroom. We made stuffing for vegetables with mushroom duxelles, shredded zucchini (scraps and trimmings), shallots, bacon and Parmesan. We stuffed hollowed out blanched zucchini, mushrooms, and halved, seeded plum tomatoes, then baked them till slightly soft. The meat is beef, pounded thin, but you can use veal for a more tender texture. The filling is sausage, mushroom duxelles, parmesan, and garlic. Place filling in center of the meat, then fold it up like a package and tie with butcher's twine. Sear it in oil till browned on all sides. Remove. Add some finely diced onion and carrot to pan. Brown, then deglaze with red wine. Reduce by half, return meat to pan , then add enough beef or veal stock to come halfway up sides of the meat. Add a sprig of thyme, then bake covered 35 mins in a 325 degree oven. Remove meat, reduce cooking liquid on stovetop. Season, then spoon over sliced meat. In the afternoon we made chicken liver pate served on toast points. We also watched Chef Sixto demo chicken mousselline cut into quenelles, and also shaped into a log wrapped in plastic. (sorry, no pics of that-I was distracted by a chocolate creation the Pastry Arts class sent in) Ciao!