Lab #10 - Bread

Oh the lab smells good this week! We are up to our eyes in yeast risen doughs this lab. Classic white and whole wheat as well as bagels, cinnamon rolls and focaccia. We also prepared a gluten free buckwheat bread so the students could experience a bread alternative for someone who has eliminated gluten from their diet. Most importantly we learned that the 2 vital tools you need when baking any kind of bread is your thermometer and a good timer. Making sure you do all of the steps in bread preparation, for the accurate amount of time is crucial. You should also always make sure that your liquid temperature is between 110° - 115° so as not to KILL your yeast. Following a bread recipe to the letter can help you create wonderful products, but practice is essential. You can learn much from your bread each time you create the dough. It can be temperamental and picky based on the temperature and humidity of the day. But taking that time and care can help you create some yummy and comforting goodness! And the kneading process is very relaxing and can give you some great arms!! Happy Baking – Chef Kristi

Lab # 9 – Fruits and Vegetables

What a colorful week we are having! We have some very exciting and delicious recipes that show even the most skeptical veggie eater that vegetables can be oh so yummy! After a bit of advice from Chef Kristi about how to get the best out of your vegetables and fruit and how to prolong their life we explored some interesting and unusual fruit and veggies, tasting a few along the way. Horned melon, ugly fruit, cactus fruit, okra, yucca root and passion fruit begin some of the more unusual. We also discussed the issue of buying organic produce and if it was worth the cost. It is a very challenging topic that has many people thinking. Explore your grocery and try out some of the more exotic specimens and see what you think! It will be worth the adventure. Happy cooking – Chef Kristi

Lab #8 - The functional properties of EGGS

This week was egg overload. We experimented with every way an egg can be cooked in this lab. Poached, baked, custards, mousse, meringue…………… What a yummy week it was! Eggs, exquisitely simple, yet enormously complex. Simply a yolk, egg white, and shell. Eggs are known as the “cement that holds the castle of cuisine together.” They can help an emulsification come together and stay together. They provide a beautiful color when you “wash “ them over pre-baked pastries. We learned about how eggs are such an important part of the structure of some seemingly fragile dishes like a soufflé or mousse. The wonderful edible egg is probably the most versatile of cooking/baking ingredients. What would we do without them. Well…..if we had to be without them, there are many alternatives available from Egg Beaters to powdered eggs to vegan “eggs”, but you will always have a compromise of the texture and taste from a real egg. Thanks for the beautiful dishes this week. Nice job everybody! Happy Cooking – Chef Kristi