North American Regional Cuisine - Cuisine of the South

Introduction

Our first menu for cuisine of the south was:

• Grilled Quail with spicy eggplant relish
• Tomato aspic on bibb letuce salad
• pecan-encrusted catfish with orange-scented sweet potatoes
• Succotash of corn, hominy, and baby lima beans
• Slow cooked greens
• Hush Puppies
• Peanut Brittle

Our second menu was:

• Watermelon and watercress salad with shallot citrus dressing
• Fried green tomatoes with blue cheese and roasted red pepper sauce
• Southern fried chicken with cream gravy
• Pan roasted butternut squash and turnips
• Peach Cobbler

Observations

Chef commented on the fact that quail is a very delicate bird and would cook very quickly. We were cognicent of this while working on the dish and cooked the quail just right. Along with the eggplant relish, the dish turned out very well. I've had tomato aspic before and it's not my favorite dish - somehow a dish which constitutes what is essencially gelatanized tomato juice doesn't work well for me. The succotash however was a very nice dish that I thought tasted very good. The hush puppies and peanut brittle also turned out very well.

The watermelon and watercress salad was suprisingly tasty and very refreshing. I will definitely be keeping this recipe in mind for a warm summer day. Our fried green tomatoes tasted fine although they were slightly undercooked so were a little tough. The southern fried chicken came out perfectly and chef was very happy with the dish, as well as with our gravy, saying they were exactly how it should taste. The peach cobbler tasted good but the crust was slightly too thick. The other dishes didn't really have anything of note to them.

Introduction to Baking Week 2 - Carrot & Banana bread, Sweet tart dough

Introduction

This week we are preparing Italian rosemary rolls, carrot bread and banana bread. We will also be preparing a sweet tart dough which will be used in the preparation of lemon bars and streusel kuchen.

Practical

The preparation of the rosemary rolls is similar to previous weeks work. The carrot bread and banana bread use the drop method of cooking into appropriate sized pans - for these we must be sure not to over-mix the dough as it is being prepared.

While preparing the sweet tart dough, chef explains the need to ensure all the butter is blended in well, as large pieces of butter will melt during baking and create imperfections in the cooked pastry. We also learn that we must dock (puncture) the dough before cooking it to allow steam to escape, otherwise the pastry will puff up while cooking and create an uneven finished product.

Observations

After preparing the sweet tart dough, while rolling it out we realized that there were still some pieces of butter which may not have been blended in well enough. This seems to be a fine line between ensuring products are adequately mixed and not over-mixing the final product. Although we had some small pieces of butter present, the dough cooked well and our lemon bars and streusel both turned out well.

One thing the streusel recipe did not call for was a fruit topping; although we used a jam layer between the pastry and the cake filling, the final product seemed a little dry to me. Chef commented that generally a fruit layer would be placed on top of the cake filling, which would have added some moisture to the final taste.

Our Italian rosemary rolls, along with carrot and banana breads both turned out very well.

World Cuisine - Switzerland

Introduction

Switzerland is an Alpine European country that has stated as a compact country for centuries. Being a neutral country during both world wars, Switzerland has been the refuge place for a lot of German, Austrian and Italian writers, such as Thomas Mann, Stefan George and Ignazio Silone The food culture of Switzerland has been influenced by its neighbors, especially Italy and France. Pasta and pizza are very familiar in Switzerland, people serving them in restaurants as well. Over the years a distinctive culture with strong regional differences has developed inside the country. Some parts haven’t been influenced by cultural and food differences found in other countries, and have developed their own eating habits. The Swiss chard (Beta vulgaris var. cicla) found in Swiss cuisines, with its long white stems, is actually influenced by the Mediterranean cooks for flavoring soups and rice dishes. Swiss chard is a popular vegetable nowadays, even being the most important vegetable in the Nice region, and is has also grown abundantly in the districts around the Rhône valley because of its resistance to cold weather. chocolate, one of the main characteristics of the Swiss cuisine, has been known to this region for centuries. Lindt, Nestle, and Kraft are just some of the main chocolate factories in Switzerland, and of course, the most refined chocolates and its derivates in the world. The Swiss Cuisine is reknown all over the world for its delicious taste. Some of the commonly found cuisines are: Aargau (carrot Cake), Acelgas Guisadas (Braised Swiss chard), Acqua Di Miele Alla Luganese (Honey water), Aelplermagronen (the Alpine Farmer's macaroni with applesauce) Pasta, Almanzo's Favorite Swiss Steak Beef, apricot Flan (Valais), Aris' Swiss cheese and Green Beans, asparagus Swiss, asparagus Swiss Souffle, aubergine/Swiss cheese Casserole, Avocado-Bacon-Swiss cheese Omlet, Baby Swiss Stuffed Portabellas, Blackberry-Filled Sandwich Cookies (Luxembourgli) blueberry Risotto with Boletus (cep), Boneless Leg of Lamb Stuffed with Swiss chard and feta, Boysenberry-Filled Sandwich Cookies (Luxembourgli) etc.

From: http://www.cookbookwiki.com/Switzerland

Recipes

Chopf Salat

Servings: 4

1 head butter lettuce

Dressing

1 oz shallots fine dice
1 oz cider vinegar
2 oz light olive oil
2 oz chicken stock
2 oz heavy cream
1/4 oz prepared mustard
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
Salt, pepper, sugar to taste

Preparation:

1. Core, clean, and wash butter lettuce in a large quantity of water.
2. Drain and place on paper towels and refrigerate to get crisp until needed.
3. Combine all ingredients for dressing in a bowl with a whisk, season to taste.
4. Toss lettuce with dressing just before dressing.

Note: Lettuce will wilt quickly in the dressing, do not toss ahead of serving time.

Eminceed Pork "Zürcher Art"

Servings: 4

1 lb pork tenderloin, trimmed, sliced 1/8" thick
flour for dusting
oil as needed

2 oz butter
2 oz shallots diced
8 oz mushrooms sliced
1 oz brandy
4 oz dry white wine
6 oz demi-glace
4 oz whipped heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
chopped parsley

Preparation:

1. Trim and cut the pork into 1" x 1" x 1/8" thick slices (emincee)
2. Sesason and dust the sliced meat with flour just before cooking
3. Heat a sauté pan, add a thin layer of oil, heat the oil and sauté the meat int he hot oil until lightly brown. remove the meat and set aside (do not overcook).
4. Heat the pan again, add butter and sweat the shallots and mushrooms.
5. Deglaze the pan with brandy, white wine and reduce.
6. Add the demi-glace along with any juices collected from the meat and reduce the sauce to a creamy consistency.
7. Add the meat, bring to a simmer, season the sauce with a little fresh lemon juice, salt, pepper.
8. Add the whipped heavy cream at the last minute and fold into the sauce but do not boil any more.
9. Sprinkle with chopped parsley when serving.

Practical

Our full menu for our day of Swiss cooking was:

• Flädli Suppe
• Chügeli Pastetli
• Gschnätzlets "Zürcher Art"
• Green Beans
• Broiled Tomato
• Spätzli
• Chopf Salat

The suppe was simply a consommé prepared with chopped crepe. Our preparation order started with the consommé, followed by the crepe batter. We then prepared the proteins for the chügeli and the gschnätzlets, along with the remainder of the vegetable prep work. Last, we prepared the spätzli dough and set it aside to refrigerate before cooking.

Observations

Something which came to me in this third week of World Cuisine is that there are a lot of foods out there which are similar or related to another cultures, yet has a local or regional twist to it. Chef describe the Gschnätzlets as a sort of Swedish stroganoff, and with the dish finished, I could definitely find a resemblance there.

Our consommé turned out very well, it was quite clear and very flavourful. Adding crepe as a garnish was an interesting touch, and I enjoyed the end result. Chef commented on the clarity of our consommé and said the dish was quite good, although there was some chopped parsley floating in the bowl - this had been mixed into the crepe batter and was separating in the soup.

Our Chügeli Pastetli (chicken mousseline piped and poached, served with a mushroom and cream sauce in puffed pastry) turned out well. However, instead of portioning the mousseline as it was being piped into the poaching liquid, we cooked long strands of it and portioned it afterward, resulting in harder edges on the cooked product. While this decision had no impact on the flavour of the dish, it didn't present as well visually as it could have.

The Gschnätzlets "Zürcher Art" dish was very good, the sauce having good flavour and texture, and the meat being prepared appropriately without being overcooked. The vegetables turned out well as did our spätzli, although the spätzli was slightly small due to the tool we used to portion it into the cooking liquid. Our Chopf Salat was very good as well, the dressing having a nice flavour and coating the lettuce appropriately without weighing the dish down.

North American Regional Cuisine - Mid-Atlantic States

Introduction

This week our focus was on the cuisine of the Mid-Atlantic states. We cooked two menus of food, which were comprised of the following:

Menu 1

• Beets, Belgian Endive and Feta Salad
• Scallops, Mushrooms and Asperagus
• Shaker style turkey cutlet
• Croquette Potatoes
• Potatoes Parmentier
• Green Beans
• Spaghetti Squash
• Ginger pound cake with warm cranberries

Menu 2

• Navy Bean Soup
• Waldorf Salad
• Sauteed Soft Shell Crabs on Fennel Salad
• Braised Short Ribs
• Buttered Homemade Noodles
• Red Swiss Chard and Spinach Sauté

Observations

For our first menu, due to lucky market conditions we used white asperagus for the scallop and mushroom dish. This added an extra visual flare to the dish although the flavour was the same as green asperagus. The Belgian endive salad was flavourful and quite a refreshing dish. Overall Chef commented that our presentation and taste was good, although we overcooked the pound cake on the first try and had to make it again, resulting in late service.

When discussing the second menu, Chef made the point that while the menu included soft shelled crab, it was not an ingredient that would be locally available and thus likely never served in our area. As a comparison, we made the dish with frozen soft shelled crab, and then prepared some fresh live dungeoness crab as well. The texture and flavour of the fresh crab was obviously quite superior and there was very little comparison to be made between the two. For our homemade noodles we used whole wheat flour instead of white flour for a twist, and while the noodles turned out well, they were slightly chewy. This could be a result of over mixing, or simply a difference caused by the whole wheat flour. Again, our presentation and flavours were good for the second menu.

Introduction to Baking Week 2 - Pie, Cinnamon Rolls, Foccacia

Introduction

This week we are preparing three dishes - pie dough which will be used to make an apple pie, sweet dough and caramel glaze to make cinnamon rolls, and foccacia dough.

Practical

During the preparation of our doughs, we are reminded not to overwork our doughs while preparing them, as this will cause the doughs to become tough. We start by preparing the foccacia dough as it will go in the proofer to rise. We then prepare the pie dough and leave it to rest while we simultaneously prepare our caramel glaze and sweet dough.

Observations

After the preparation of our foccacia dough, Chef commented that it looked like we had added too much water. However, after allowing to rise and baking, our foccacia was quite good. Where others' dough hadn't risen evenly or completely, ours had and baked well.

Our pie dough was light and fluffy once baked, although our apple mix was slightly tart once the pie was baked. Chef didn't have any particular comments regarding our pie.

Our cinnamon rolls with caramel glaze were very good as well. Chef commented on the good flavour of the rolls, especially warm out of the oven.

World Cuisine - Russia

Introduction

Each country’s national culture is also reflected in their cuisine and the Russian cuisine follows this path. The culinary aspects of Russia are also respected ambassadors of many Russian traditions and life styles. Many dishes which were appreciated in antiquity are still popular today, while new dishes are being invented by Russian chefs on a regular basis. Many traditional Russian dishes became known all over the world from the times of Peter the Great when hundreds of European cooks traveled back and forth to Russia cooking for the tsar’s banquets. Several new spices were adopted by the Russians - many of which had French origin - as the French cooks were among the most famous of those times. Some Russians stick with the original recipes for some of their traditional dishes, such as Pelmeni or meat dishes, while others prefer to bring new life to old recipes and add new ingredients and exotic spices which were unknown to Russians hundreds of years ago. Agriculture has always been used extensively in Russia and Wheat, Rye, Oats and millet were the main ingredients for any meal for centuries. Bread was and still is one of the food elements that are never absent from a Russian table. Bread is used with soup and the main course, although sometimes it may be left aside if the dish contains potatoes or pasta. Baking is also present since times immemorial and all grain based food products used in the past are still present today in one form or another. Meat is yet another essential element in the Russian cuisine. Hunting was extremely popular in Russia and it provided a large proportion of the meat that Russians consumed. Wild animal meat was gradually replaced by farmed animal meat although some of the most appreciated Russian dishes are prepared with boar or moose meat. Fish is also popular with a large variety of dishes and there are hundreds of fish species that are used in delicious and often extremely sumptuous dishes. The huge Russian forests also provided people with different types of berries and nuts which also find their way in today’s Russian dishes.

From: http://www.cookbookwiki.com/Russia

Recipes

Borscht

Servings: 4-6

1/2 oz butter
1 oz bacon, diced
4 oz onions, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 oz celery, diced
2 oz carrots, diced
4 oz green cabbage, chiffonade
12 oz beets, diced
1 oz tomato paste
3 cups chicken stock

2 oz potatoes diced
6 oz tomato concasse
2 oz sour cream
Fresh lemon juice
Fresh dill, chopped
Salt and white pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Place the butter and bacon into a sauce pot and sweat, do not brown
2. Add the onions, garlic and sweat until translucent
3. Add the celery, carrots, cabbage, beets and sweat.
4. Add the tomato paste, chicken stock and bring to simmer over medium high heat and simmer for approximately 20 minutes.
5. Add the potatoes, tomato concasse and simmer for 10 more minutes or until all the vegetables are tender - do not overcook.
6. Adjust seasonings with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
7. Garnish soup with sour cream and fresh chopped dill just prior to serving.

Pojarskie

Servings: 4

4 oz bread, crust removed
2 oz whole milk
1 chicken, whole
2 oz butter, softened
Salt and pepper to taste
2 oz butter
2 oz oil

Preparation:

1. Cut the crust off the bread and soak in the milk, set aside.
2. Bone the chicken, ending up with approximately 1lb boneless/skinless chicken meat.
3. Grind the chicken through a medium die, add the bread mixture, butter and seasoning, then grind through fine die.
4. Divide the chicken meat into 4oz patties and shape to look like a pork chop, place on saran wrap, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
5. Apply standard breading procedure, set aside until needed.
6. Pan-fry the pojarskie in the butter and oil mixture until golden brown on the outside and cooked in the center.

Salmon Kulebyaka

Servings: 4

Brioche Dough:

1 1/2 oz milk
1/4 oz sugar
1/4 oz yeast

3 oz bread flour
1 whole egg
1/4 oz salt

2 eggs whole
10 oz bread flour
3 oz butter, melted

Rice Filling

1 oz butter
1 oz onion, diced
1 cup rice
1 1/2 cup chicken stock

1 oz butter
8 oz mushrooms, diced
1 oz lemon juice

2 oz butter
3 oz onion, fine dice
1 egg, hardboiled, chopped
1 egg yolk
Salt and pepper to taste

12 oz salmon fillet

Preparation:

Brioche dough:

1. Combine the milk and sugar, heat to 110°F then add the dry yeast and rehydrate for 10 minutes.
2. Combine first flour, egg, and salt in a bowl, then add the milk and yeast mixture, blend with wooden spoon until smooth.
3. Slowly add second flour, egg, and melted butter.
4. Knead the mixture by hand until the dough is smooth, slightly shiny and warm.
5. Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover and proof for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.
6. Punch down the dough, knead slightly and retard.

Rice Filling:

1. With the first set of ingredients, prepare a rice pilaf.
2. Melt butter and sauté the mushrooms over high heat, finish with fresh lemon juice.
3. Heat a sauté pan and butter, sauté the onions until translucent and place into a bowl.
4. Combine the cooked mushrooms, rice pilaf, hard boiled egg, raw egg yolk and seasoning.

To assemble:

1. Roll out the dough to 1/8" thick and spread a 1/2" layer of rice mixture in the center of the dough, the size of the salmon fillet.
2. Place the salmon fillet on top of the rice and add another 1/2" layer of rice on top of the salmon.
3. Egg wash the edges of the pastry and fold the brioche over the top to cover the rice and salmon.
4. Place the seam at the bottom and eggwash the top and make marks with a fork.
5. Proof for approximately 20 minutes before baking.
6. Bake at 375°F until dough is golden brown on the outside and salmon fillet is cooked in the center, to about 145°F.

Glazed Carrots

Servings: 4

1 lb carrots, tournéed
2 oz butter, whole
1/2 oz water
1 oz brown sugar, granulated
Salt and white pepper to taste
Parsley, chopped

Preparation:

1. Parboil the prepared carrots until tender.
2. Heat a sautépan, add the butter, water, and brown sugar, bring to a simmer and add the carrots.
3. Heat the carrots tossing them until they are glazed.
4. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Garnish with chopped parsley when serving.

Glazed Turnips

Servings: 4

1 lb Turnips, tournéed
2 oz butter
1/2 oz water
1 oz maple syrup
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch of cinnamon
Parsley, chopped

Preparation:

1. Parboil the prepared turnips until tender.
2. Heat a sautépan, add the butter, water and maple syrup, bring to a simmer and add the turnips.
3. Heat the turnips tossing them until they are glazed.
4. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to taste and add a pinch of cinnamon.
5. Garnish with chopped parsley when serving.

Glazed Beets

Servings: 4

1 lb beets, whole
1 oz butter
1/2 lemon juice, fresh squeezed
2 oz maple syrup
Salt and white pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Boil the beets in salt water, whole in their skin until tender.
2. Drain, cool and peel the beets, cut into wedges.
3. Heat a sautépan, add the butter, lemon juice and maple syrup, bring to a simmer and add the beets.
4. Heat the beets tossing them until they are glazed.
5. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to taste.

Practical

Our plating for the day was to serve the Borscht first, the Pojarskie as an appetizer style dish second, and finish with the Salmon Kulebyaka served with the vegetable side dishes.

We started by preparing the Borscht and getting it cooking. Once the soup was going, we deboned and prepared the chicken and got it shaped and in the fridge to cool. We also prepared the rice filling for the kulebyaka at this time.

At this point we prepared the brioche dough for the kulebyaka and set it aside to rest. We then prepared our vegetables to be served with the kulebyaka, and blanched those that we could.

At this point we were able to serve our Borscht. We were able to follow this shortly with breading the pojarskie, cooking it and serving it as well. We then finished preparation on the Kulebyaka, laying down the rice layer and placing the salmon on top, then another rice layer and wrapping the whole thing with the brioche dough. This was put into the oven to cook as we finished the vegetables with their glazing and seasoning. Once the kulebyaka was cooked, the whole dish was served.

Observations

Due to the beet content, Borscht has a very interesting red colour. It is also very flavourful, and the vegetable content makes for a very healthy yet filling dish. Chef commented on the appropriate consistency of our dish - borscht is a thin soup with vegetables, so the liquid should not be thick or stewy.

The pojarskie was an interesting dish. The first thing I thought of was that shaping a chicken based dish like a pork cutlet was peculiar, however after cooking and tasting the dish, either it actually does taste like pork, or your mind fools you into thinking it tastes like pork. For this dish Chef commented on the appropriate colouring of the breading after cooking, and appropriate seasoning to the dish.

Our kulebyaka came out very well. It was quite flavourful with the salmon cooked quite well. We were getting close to over-doing the salmon, as it had started to lose some moisture, but it was still very good. Chef commented on our rice being an appropriate consistency and sticking together well, not falling apart or out of the pastry when it was cut into. Overall, a very good dish. The vegetable accompaniments were fairly standard for us and there wasn't much to comment on regarding them.

North American Regional Cuisine - New England

Introduction

While our focus in North American Regional Cuisine is going to be on specific regions and their culinary ingredients and dishes, Chef will also be relating the work to ingredients local to the Vancouver area. While understanding the regional cuisines will give us a broader picture of the variety in culinary, the reality is that we work in a specific market with an abundance of certain ingredients. These fresh ingredients bought locally are generally preferred when preparing dishes due to enhanced visual appeal, flavour, and texture of fresh product over those which have been frozen and transported over great distances.

Practical

We started our first day in North American Regional Cuisine with a review of knife skills, emphasizing proper cutting technique and safety. We then began our work on New England cuisine by preparing a clam chowder. During preparation, the cream in ours broke due to the temperature getting too high and Chef demonstrated a method of saving the key ingredients by discarding the liquid, briefly rinsing the solid ingredients to remove any remaining curdles, and starting again with prepared clam nectar instead of using our own nectar from steaming clams. Our end result was quite flavourful although not holding quite enough depth to the clam flavour as we would have liked. We then prepared a New England boiled dinner, a piece of meat boiled with vegetables, sliced, and served. This dish is designed to take an inexpensive, likely tough, piece of meat and tenderize it; the end result, however, is a meat that is very low in flavour. This dish is accompanied by fresh creamed horseradish sauces to make up for lack of flavour in the meat itself. We then prepared a peach and blueberry cobbler, which was fairly standard fare. Our group mixed up a fresh blueberry frozen cream as a garnish for this dish which worked out quite well. We prepared baked beans, which were flavourful but the liquid had not reduced to a thick enough consistency by the time we needed to serve them. Along with the baked beans we prepared a Boston brown bread, a bread which is very similar in texture to a bran muffin. We served this with an apple-cinnamon butter which was very tasty. Lastly, we served red snapper with steamed clams which ended up being a very tasty dish, although we served a little too much liquid with the dish.

Blog Notes

Our Chef for this class is not huge on written assignments and has asked that we keep these journals short and to the point, so there will not be as much information here as I usually post. If anyone has any questions, feel free to let me know and I'll be happy to expand on anything for you.

Introduction to Baking Week 1 - Cookies, Muffins, Rolls

Introduction

Our first week in Intro to Baking started with a quick overview of the class and some of the methods and procedures we would be using. Some of the terms we reviewed were:

Leavener - an ingredient or process that produces or incorporates gases in a baked product in order to increase volume, provide structure and give texture.
Sugars - The most common sugar being sucrose, refined from sugar cane, there are a variety of sugars used in the bakeshop including demerara, sanding sugar, regular granulated, cubed sugar, brown sugar, superfine or castor sugar, and icing or confectioner's sugar. There are also liquid sweeteners such as honey, maple syrup, corn syrup, and molasses.
Simple Syrup - a combination of sugar and water.
Mixing methods - while there are a variety of mixing methods used, we focused on the straight dough method, a mixing method for yeast breads in which all ingredients are simply combined and mixed, and the creaming method where softened fat and sugar are vigorously combined to incorporate air.
Punching down - folding down dough after fermentation in order to expel excessive gas pockets and even out the dough's temperature.

Recipes

Blueberry Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

8 oz all-purpose flour
4 oz sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
8 fl oz milk
4 fl oz unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla
6 oz blueberries, or other frozen berries
1 tbsp lemon zest

Preparation:

1. Sift the dry ingredients together.
2. Stir together the liquid ingredients, including the melted butter.
3. Stir the liquid mixture into the dry ingredients. Do not overmix. The batter should be lumpy.
4. Gently fold in the blueberries and lemon zest.
5. Portion into greased or paper-lined muffin cups and bake at 350°F until light brown and set in the centre, approximately 18 minutes.
6. Cool the muffins in the pan for several minutes before removing.

Soft Rolls

Yield: 24 rolls, 50g each

385g water
23g fresh yeast
670g bread flour
13g salt
64g sugar
32g milk solids (powdered milk)
32g shortening
32g butter

Preparation:

1. Mix all ingredients together, allow proofing until dough has doubled in size. Punch down.
2. Divide dough into 50g units and round.
3. Roll to desired length. Twist into shapes as desired.
4. Brush rolls with water and finish with sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or corn meal.
5. Place on sheet pan.
6. Proof once more.
7. Bake at 400°F until done.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Yield: 2 dozen cookies

360 grams pastry flour
2 grams baking soda
2 grams baking powder

238 grams butter
238 grams sugar

50 grams eggs (1 large egg)
150 grams peanut butter, smooth
6 grams salt

Peanut pieces, Granulated Sugar

Preparation:

1. Stir together flour, baking soda, baking powder, set aside.
2. Cream the butter, add sugar and continue creaming.
3. Gradually add eggs followed by peanut butter and salt.
4. Add dry ingredients to the butter mixture and mix to make a firm dough.
5. Divide dough into 2 logs and cut each log into 12 pieces.
6. Roll each cookie into a ball and place on pan. Press down. Using a fork, place criss-cross markings on surface of each cookie.
7. Lightly brush with water and sprinkle with granulated sugar and press peanut pieces into cookies.
8. Bake at 350°F until golden brown, approximately 12 minutes.

Observations

Our first day of baking went relatively well, with some delicious yet fairly simple formulas (bakeshop talk for recipe) being followed.

Our muffins turned out very well. They had a good colour to them after baking and were light in the middle. Some of the class had issues with over-mixing their dough which caused the muffins to be very flat and run across the bake pan rather than rising. This demonstrated that over-mixing can drastically effect your final product, and when following a muffin-method recipe mixing should only be done just so that the ingredients are together, not trying to smooth out the batter altogether.

The peanut butter cookies also turned out well, as was the case for most of the class. The biggest issue here was baking time, ensuring that the cookies were removed from the oven early enough that carry-over baking would not over cook the cookies. This is something that will mostly come with experience observing baking as cookies will always be soft in the oven so firmness cannot be used as a doneness indicator.

Our soft roll formula was where we encountered the most difficulty. Our dough did not rise very much while proofing, perhaps due to a mis-calculation of yeast required. Although we corrected the yeast before proofing the dough, it took quite a long time to proof. Once punched down and rolled out, we were unable to roll it into uniform shapes, so some of the final rolls were slightly misshapen. While the finished rolls were light and tasted fine, we were behind on time so we hadn't glazed them which gave them a dull luster rather than an attractive sheen produced by glazing. Chef noted the size inconsistencies and glazing while reviewing our finished product.

Overall, a mostly successful first day in the bake shop.

World Cuisine - Scandinavia

Introduction

Scandinavia is the geographical region encompassing the Scandinavian peninsula in Northern Europe. It includes the countries of Norway, Denmark, and Sweden. Scandinavian cuisine is generally based on simple cooking styles, often very mild and not spicy. While most of Europe emphasizes lunch as the main meal of the day, dinner is emphasized more in Scandinavia, with a quick cold lunch being served and dinner being served by 6pm. A similar custom to the traditional English tea is also observed where bread, biscuits, cookies, pastry and coffee are served around 2-3pm. Norwegian cuisine often consists mainly of a meat dish, with vast wild areas providing an abundance of fish and game - smoked salmon being one of the most famous food products related to Norway. Danish cuisine normally consists of high levels of meat and less vegetables, due to the climate not providing plentiful time for agriculture. Thus, many dishes rely on seasonal fruits and vegetables, as well as including many preserved meats. Lack of vegetation due to long winters causes a similar situation in Sweden, where root vegetables such as rutabaga and potatoes are used along side abundant fish, particularly Herring, to create many traditional Swedish dishes.

Recipes

Cucumber Salad

Servings: 4

2 Cucumbers
2 oz Sour Cream
1/2 oz Cider Vinegar
1/2 oz Vegetable Oil
Pinch of granulated sugar
1/2 tablespoon chopped dill
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Peel, cut in half lengthwise and seed the cucumbers, slice crosswise very fine, sprinkle with salt and let them stand for 30 minutes (this is known as "purging" which is done with high moisture vegetables such as cucumber or eggplant to prevent dishes from becoming over-moist)
2. Drain the cucumbers and squeeze/pat dry.
3. Combine sour cream, vinegar, oil, sugar, and dill.
4. Add cucumbers and mix thoroughly, season to taste.

Frikadellen - (Meat Patties)

Servings: 4

3 oz Onions, fine dice
1 oz Butter
1 1/2 oz Pork butt, ground on medium die
2 Eggs
1/2 oz parsley chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste
Breadcrumbs as needed

Frying mixture:

4 oz butter
4 oz oil

Preparation:

1. Sweat the onions in butter until translucent; cool and add to the meat
2. Add eggs, parsley and seasoning to the meat and mix thoroughly, add breadcrumbs if mixture is too moist
3. Season and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Scoop meat into 2 oz patties and dip in bread crumbs to coat the outside.
5. Pan-fry the patties in butter and oil mixture until golden brown on the outside and cooked thoroughly.

Creamed Potatoes

Servings: 4

1 1/2 lbs Red Bliss potatoes
Heavy cream as needed
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Peel, wash and cut the potatoes into 1/2" cubes
2. Place potato into a sauté pan, add heavy cream until almost at the top of the potato.
3. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer, then place in oven and cook at 350°F until potatoes are tender and cream has almost been absorbed. Season to taste and serve.

Green Beans

Servings: 4

1 lb Green Beans, trimmed
1 oz butter
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. String and parboil green beans in boiling salt water for approximately 6-8 minutes, stopping when desired tenderness is achieved.
2. Shock beans in ice water, drain and chill until needed.
3. Heat a sauté pan, add butter, let it get light brown then toss beans until coated and re-heated. Season to taste and serve.

Sautéed Mushrooms

Servings: 4

2 oz Butter
1 oz Onion, diced
1 lb Mushrooms, quartered
Salt and White Pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Sweat the onions in butter until translucent.
2. Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper, sautéing until cooked and the moisture has evaporated.

Practical

We started the day by preparing the cucumber for purging as this would take some time to sit, as well as wanting to serve the salad first. Once the cucumbers were prepared, we mixed the dressing and left it to chill.

Next we prepared the meat mixture for the frikadellen as this also needed to chill briefly. The meat was ground then mixed with seasoning, covered and placed in the refrigerator to cool.

We then worked on preparing our mise-en-place for the remaining vegetable dishes so they could be quickly finished when the frikadellen was being cooked. We prepped the beans as called for, and removed the stems and quartered the mushrooms.

Once we were satisfied with the amount of liquid purged from the cucumber it was dried and mixed with the dressing, then served. We then pan-fried our frikadellen while sautéing the beans and mushrooms, and plated these three items and served them.

Observations

While we have prepared the mushrooms and beans many times before, we usually sliced the mushrooms rather than quartering, so that was a slight change. I personally prefer quartering as I find the mushrooms hold their shape better and provide a more substantial flavour when eaten individually quartered rather than sliced. The cucumber salad was very good, the dill flavour going well with the crispness of the cucumbers. Chef noted that we need to be careful with the amount of salt used for purging as it can be very easy to make the dish excessively salty this way. While ours was still fine, we probably used just a little too much salt.

The frikadellen was very good, although quite difficult to cook well. As with all breaded items, if cooked at too high a temperature, the bread crumbs will quickly go beyond golden brown to dark or even black. This means that a combination of appropriate size and shape along with low pan-frying temperature must be used to achieve appropriate results. Our first attempt did not finish cooking before the bread crumbs were too dark, and while our second attempt remedied this after flattening out the patties slightly, Chef noted our colour was still slightly dark. The best patties in class were a very nice brown and well cooked through, obviously done at a more appropriate temperature than ours were.

Back on the blog train

Well, it's a new year and school has started again so I'm getting back to blogging about what I'm doing. This semester will bring many more entries as I'm three cooking classes which each require a journal - North American Cuisine, World Cuisine, and Introduction to Baking.

That being said, the format will change slightly as our focus shifts away from basic techniques to understanding the variety of culinary which exists in the world. New things will be production timelines as well as full recipes being included, while safety (although still the most important part of commercial food production) will not be explicitly reviewed unless something specific is noted that week.

That's about it for now, here comes the first entry!