Posted by Becka on December 27th, 2009
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Semester 1 is over!

The last day of this semester was December 21st, and I have been busy getting ready for Christmas instead of spending hours on my computer and writing posts. I am going to miss Chef Jones and we now move onto the cafeteria with Chef Sartain. I’m not sure what to think of him, he is very blunt and expects a lot of you. It will be interesting to see how our class preforms under this pressure.

The first day of the 2nd semester we will be thrown to the wolves and open the cafeteria 1 1/2 hours after we arrive to class. No special treatment, which I think should be considered; perhaps starting the class earlier that day or opening later would be nice.

What will be a perk of this semester is that we will not have to do our own dishes! Hooray!

Categories: School
Posted by Becka on December 27th, 2009
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Rosemary Artichoke Spread

For my practical exam, finishing this semester I was left with making a dip or spread. After going back and forth, wasting precious time, I decided on artichoke dip with flat bread. We were not allowed recipes so I had to think back to the one time I had made it before and try to recreate it. We could only use supplies found in our kitchen, so that forced a few changes in my recipe. There wasn’t quite enough cream cheese, so I made some mayonnaise to bulk it up. Here is an approximate recipe of what I did the second time around when I made it for family the following week.

8oz Cream Cheese
1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced rosemary
8oz Monterrey Cheese divided (usually parmesan is used, but this is what was available and it turned out awesome)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Let cream cheese soften and mix with artichokes and seasonings.

Shred cheese and use about 6oz to mix into spread and top with more cheese.

Bake at 400F in a shallow crock until it is golden brown and bubbly. (Somewhere around 20-30 minutes)

Serve with crackers, bread, or maybe some crustinis!

Categories: Food
Posted by Becka on December 21st, 2009
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Tons -o- Fudge

I have been making fudge at Christmas time for the last few years, but this year I think I went overboard. Usually it a batch with and without walnuts and a peanut butter one. Here are the types I made this year.

  • Walnut (two 9×9 pans)
  • Peanut Butter (two 9×9 pans)
  • White Chocolate/Cookies and Cream (one 9×9 pan)
  • Cherry (one 9×9 pan)
  • Maple Nut (one 9×9 pan)
  • Mocha Nut (one 9×9 pan)

Unfortunately the walnut and peanut butter didn’t turn out, it never set, but the mocha one didn’t have enough coffee in it to be able to taste it, it had a small amount of nuts, so my plans weren’t too ruined. Either way, I have tons. I brought almost half to school with me and it got  gobbled up. At home we are slowly chipping away at what is left.

The basic fudge recipe (in which you can make the walnut, peanut butter, mocha and cherry) is as follows:

Yield two 9×9″ pans

  • 4 cups sugar
  • 10 oz (1 1/3 cups) evaporated milk
  • 1 cup butter
  • 12 oz (2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate pieces
  • 7 oz dark or milk chocolate candy bar (optional)
  • 7 oz marshmallow cream
  • 1 tsp walnuts

Butter the sides of a 3 qt saucepan

Combine sugar, milk and butter in saucepan, stirring  constantly bring the temperature up to 234F.

Remove from heat and add the chocolate, marshmallow cream and vanilla. Stir until melted.

This point is where you add walnuts, or if you want cherry, add 1-2 tsp of juice from a jar of maraschino cherries.

Pour the fudge into buttered foil lined pans and allow to cool. If you are adding cherries, gently push one into the fudge, stem side up, so that it stands up, one for every piece you plan on cutting.

For peanut butter fudge, substitute the butter for peanut butter and omit the optional candy bar.

Store in sealed container in the refrigerator, or freeze.

Categories: Food
Posted by Becka on December 17th, 2009
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Mini-Tiramisu

Using appetizer spoons, assemble ladyfingers soaked in a simple syrup, topped with Marscarpone mousse, and a drizzle of chocolate.

Simple Syrup

1 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 tsp instant coffee
1 tsp amaretto liqueur

Put sugar and water in saucepan and bring to a simmer, dissolving all the sugar. Remove from heat and add coffee and liqueur.

Marscarpone Mousse

3/4 lb Marscarpone cheese
4 egg yolks
4 oz sugar
1/2 tbsp vanilla
2 1/2 oz water
1/2 tbsp gelatin
1 cup cream, whipped into stiff peaks

Wisk yolks and sugar until creamy.

Paddle marscarpone until soft, add egg mixture and vanilla.

Dissolve gelatin in one ounce of the water. Bring the rest of the water to a simmer, remove from the heat and dissolve gelatin.

With mixer, slowly add gelatin into cheese mix, when fully mixed, fold in whipped cream.

Ganache

8 oz semi or bittersweet chocolate pieces
3/4 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp butter

Melt the chocolate and butter on a double boiler.

Add the whipping cream slowly or you will cool the chocolate too fast.

Stir well until smooth.

Categories: Food
Posted by Becka on December 14th, 2009
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Chocolate Lava Cake

This dessert is meant to be partially under-cooked. When testing with a toothpick, the top should be set, but the middle come out still wet with batter.

10 oz bitter/semisweet chocolate (chips or chopped)
4 oz butter
1 tbsp coffee liqueur

Melt in a double boiler and cool slightly

4 eggs
4 yolks
5 oz sugar
1 tbsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt
1 oz flour

With electric mixer, beat eggs, yolks, sugar, vanilla and salt until it becomes a thick mixture and ribbons fall from the side of the bowl.

Fold in chocolate thoroughly, sift flour over the mixture and fold into batter.

Pour 1 3/4 ounces into a well buttered ramekin or foil baking pans. For mini cakes, use 2 ounce pans or foil souffle cups.

Bake for 8-12 minutes until top is set, remove from oven and let cool 3-5 minutes, invert onto plates and  garnish.

Categories: Food
Posted by Becka on December 11th, 2009
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A Basic Emulsified Vinaigrette Dressing

By using various vinegars and oils, you can create your own vinaigrette to fit your menu!

1 shallot, minced
1 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 cup vinegar (including champagne, balsamic, red wine and others)
1 1/2 cup salad oil or mixture of salad oil and olive oil
1 tbsp water if needed
salt and pepper

Combine the shallot and mustard in a blender and mix until smooth.

Very slowly add the oil until it starts to thicken, increase to a light, steady stream, if it gets too thick, add some vinegar to thin.

Continue adding oil and vinegar until it has been used up.

Salt and pepper to taste, keep refrigerated

If the emulsion breaks, re-blend it.

Categories: Food
Posted by Becka on December 9th, 2009
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Skillet Corn

Here is a recipe for a potentially spicy corn side dish. The proportions and types of peppers are as you desire.

These are approximate:

4 slices bacon
1-1/2 cup onion, small dice
1 cup red bell pepper, small dice
1/4 cup jalapeno peppers, small dice (or other spicy pepper)
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 cups corn frozen or canned

In large skillet, render bacon and set aside.

Saute onion and garlic 1-2 minutes, add peppers and cook until everything is soft.

Add corn and cook until heated thoroughly, fold in bacon (diced)

Season with salt, pepper and a little cayenne.

Categories: Food
Posted by Becka on December 5th, 2009
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How to Blind Bake

Here are two methods to help keep your pie crust from bubbling up and becoming uneven.

Beans:
Cover your pie crust with parchment paper and fill with dried beans. I have also seen a product on Amazon that is small ceramic balls that do the same job.

Tin and Beans:
Place parchment paper on the pie crust, put another pie tin on top, fitting into the first one, then put dried beans on top of that to weight it down.

Note that after you have used beans for this purpose, they can not be eaten. A lot of people keep a jar of “pie beans” for this purpose and use the same ones over and over again.

Categories: Food
Posted by Becka on December 1st, 2009
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I brought the bread for Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving, I escaped having to make THE dinner. We had it at my mom’s house and she cooked it all. My only responsibility was to bring bread, but instead I made some fresh stuff. I used a “soft roll” recipe and made a seasoned butter to go with. I helped supervise everything as it cooked; my mom left it pretty much all the decisions regarding the turkey to me. Since I am in culinary school, mom thinks that I know best how to do things, even if she has been making that particular thing for years. I was almost positive that I would have to make several things for dinner, but I escaped!

The herb butter I made consisted of:

  • ½ cup softened butter
  • ½ tsp olive oil
  • Rosemary, parsley, garlic powder, and salt to taste.

Refrigerate until it is set to your desired firmness.

Soft roll bread:

  • 1lb 5 oz bread flour
  • ½ oz powdered milk
  • ½ oz salt
  • ¾ oz fresh yeast
  • 12 oz water
  • 1 oz butter
  • 1 oz shortening

Yield is 2lb 7oz of dough, enough for about 16 rolls.

I brushed the uncooked dough with the seasoned butter just before putting in the oven and then also served it along side them at dinner.

There are 10 basic steps to making bread.

Scale Ingredients — get everything ready measured,

Mix — mix the yeast and salt into warm (about 90 degrees) water and allow the yeast to start bubbling, and so the salt is more evenly distributed. If you are doing this by hand, make a large well with dried ingredients and slowly add the water. Circle the inside of the well, combining more and more dry ingredients as you add the water. Knead for 10 minutes.

Proof — cover dough and allow to rise to double its size.

Punch — poke and gently, gently work the dough just enough to “deflate” it.

Scale — measure out the amount of  dough you want for the individual pieces and separate.

Round — take each piece and roll around on the counter until it takes a round shape

Bench — let the dough rest for 10-15 minutes on the countertop

Pan/Shape — shape the dough into the shapes you want and place in the pan you are going to be cooking them in.

Proof — again allow the dough to rise to double its size or until it reaches the desired shape

Bake — put into oven at about 425F and bake until browns and sounds hollow when it is thumped.

Cool

Store

For an especially golden and glossy outcome, brush with butter before baking.

Categories: Food
Posted by Becka on November 29th, 2009
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“Real” Buttercream Frosting

There are many frostings that claim to be buttercream. If you ever see a cake that claims to have buttercream frosting and is white, you can be positive it is not. Buttercream is made solely from butter, and butter is not white. We made cakes in class and used shortening for part of the base, but only because of temperature issues. Butter needs to stay cool when you work with it, and of course it is always very warm in the school kitchen lab.

Here is the recipe we used for our cakes, but I think I was able to detect the shortening, it has a coating, oily effect. It could just have been our group, no one else said anything.

Ingredients:

  • 5.5 oz butter
  • 2.5 oz shortening
  • 10.5 oz confectioners sugar (or substitute 1.5 oz of cocoa powder and 1 tbsp water to make chocolate frosting)
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1/3 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tbsp vanilla

Directions:

Sift sugar and add to fat, and cream in mixer on medium. Keep mixing until texture is completely smooth.

As a tip, once you think you have mixed enough, mix for a few more minutes. If it is not completely incorporated, the frosting will be gritty. Be sure to scrape often while mixing.

Mix until the frosting is fluffy.

Add extract, lemon juice and egg whites, one at a time while continuing to mix.

This recipe can be altered to make Cream Cheese Frosting. Replace the fat with cream cheese, and omit the egg. You can also flavor with grated lemon or orange zest instead of the vanilla.

Yield is about 1lb 3 oz.

Categories: Food
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