We're finally baking!

Well,
the first 3 weeks of school are over, and so is the "culinary" portion of my education. Thank goodness. It was fun to learn how to cut up a whole chicken, and how to make the "mother" sauces, and all that good stuff. But that's not why I'm there. We've had our hands in dough the past two days, and boy, does it feel good. I'm remembering the reasons I enrolled. I remember that "zen" feeling I get when the table is covered with flour, and I find myself humming as I gather my mise en place.
And boy oh boy! We start off with a bang! 3-4 recipes a day--we get a demo and then we have to get cooking. We're getting a general overview of baking, and later we'll go back over these same things and learn them more inimately. Yesterday we made Peanut Butter Cookies (using the creamy method) and brysselkex (basically those yummy pepperidge farm merona type cookies). We decided to get fancy--see picture. Today it was Strassler cookies (piped out of a fancy tip! Cool! I made beautiful rosebuds), macaroons--which, sweet saint whoever the patron saint of bakers is, where have these been all my life? I've had those nasty coconut macaroons out of the Good Housekeeping cookbook, and have avoided them since. These are made with crushed almonds, butter, confectioners sugar--they melt in your mouth. You can make sandwich cookies out of them if you spread a little Nutella in between. We also made biscotti, which you have to bake twice! It kept us all late after class because we couldn't get it done.
Which brings me to the more personal part of my reflections: going back to college as an adult is really interesting. I've realized that my time is VERY valuable, and I don't have much patience for laziness or incomptence, especially people at my table who I have to do group projects with. Seriously, kids, welcome to the adult world. I'm getting lots of material for my novel because the stereotypical characters are just thick in the room. You've got the lazy college kids who have everything handed to them and have never had to work a day in their lives. When the chore/work roster was handed out, you should have seen the sneers! "I'm expected to mop? Are you kidding?" All eloquently said with a lifted eyebrow and curled lip. And sleeping during lecture. And not listening to directions! ARGGHH! What do we do? What did he say? Can I borrow this because I forgot mine? Puh-leeze! Everyone deserves some rope, and I do lend stuff. I also need to borrow stuff and ask questions sometimes. But there is a limit. I seriously wonder how many people are actually going to make it through the program. Thank goodness for my table partner who is totally sane, realistic, nice, and knows how to work. We have collaberated a lot, actually, sharing supplies and baking trays and doing projects together. She's another mature (I use that term loosely in my case. Yes, I still laugh at fart jokes) adult with a career behind her, who knows what she wants and how the real world works. Who knows how listen and study and be responsible. We get along.

So, one of my large faults has been exposed--I lack mercy. I'm trying. I've got to vent somewhere. The characters are just so obvious it's unbelievable. I don't have to be creative or embellish at all, I just have to write it down, with the appropriate use of semicolons and no run-on sentences. Gosh, my high school creative writing teacher would kill me. I think my blogging will be more conversational in tone. I ain't go time to edit!

Some things I wasn't expecting: there are no traditional amounts as we're used to seeing them. We weigh everything on a digital scale. The recipe does not say, bake for 30 minutes. It says a temperature and that's it--you know it's done by what it looks like. We have to cream our butter and sugar and whip our eggs by hand! No mixers. We have to do it the hard way. We're going to learn to do it right! No sissy stuff. You eat dirt, and you like it! You walk to school barefoot in the snow uphill both ways! That's how we do it in the army, and no whining! I don't know. I'm tired.
Will update pictures soon--

Next bread baking marathon

To all of you out there waiting for me to bake bread again: I'm on it. Trying to figure out the next weekend I will do it. I've been waiting to see how my school and work schedule falls out, and how my family adjusts to the new schedule. Plus my kids started school again too. I have to be at school in Mendota Heights at 7 am every weekday morning, and I work nearly every weekend. It's been kind of exhausting.

Actually, in school we were learning about sanitation, about how to cook and hold food safely so you don't get anyone sick. For a while there I didn't know if CSB was going to work out. No matter how clean and sanitized I try to keep things, there's no way I can be as germ-free as a professional kitchen. I talked to my chef instructor, and we decided that while there is some risk, it's not as big a deal as if I was doing chicken salad or something like that. My bread is all baked, and doesn't have any raw ingredients or anything that urgently needs to be kept in the fridge. So, I'm still going to bake for ya'll, though I officially state now that I am not responsible for foodborne illness, and you eat my home-baked stuff at your own risk. Gosh, that sounds harsh. I'm sure nothing will happen, because I am as careful as can be, but I feel like I need to address it.

On that strange note, I'll try to post as soon as I can about when the next disbursement will be. Thanks for your patience!

First week of pastry school

I am very weary.

I think people have a glamorous, romantic idea about culinary school. Or they think it's like "Hell's kitchen" where the chefs yell at you all the time. I am not to those parts yet, so I don't know either. This week I learned :
My uniform: Wear every aspect at all times, wear your apron if you're prepping food--but not in the hall! My commis (unsure if that's the correct spelling) is my skullcap hat that signifies my rank--lowest possible. Maggot. The cravat ties around the neck like a boy scout with the ends tucked in to catch your sweat. Neato chef coat, uncomfortable non-slip sole shoes.
My kit: it was like Christmas. It includes my knives (3), spreaders, peeler, corer, cake decorating tools, silpat cooking mats, rolling pin, measuring cups and spoons, spoon, spatula, etc. Very heavy.
History of culinary: lecture about important (but dead) French guys.
Knife skills: How to cut veggies into many shapes including seven sided footballs (chateau) , mini chateaux (cocottes), concasse (rough dice) batonetts (french fries) Julienne (1/8 in x 1/8 in x 2 in), brunoise (same size, dice), fine Julienne (1/16 in strips and dices), supreme (best part of the citrus, no peel or membrane), and other cuts. Getting used to the balance of the knife, getting a blister, trying not to lose any digits. This is basically what we did all week. And go home and practice, practice, practice! There will be a test.
Food safety: Keep the food in this temperature range or it will kill your customers and you will lose your business, etc.
Cleaning: I heard that people in the food industry spend 70-80% of their time just cleaning. We spend at least an hour doing it, even after just cutting. Washing dishes by hand (and rinsing and sanitizing), learning to use the big dishwasher, sweeping and scrubbing the floor, sanitizing tables, wiping walls and stovetops, and more. (Hopefully with all the mopping I'll drop some of this baby weight. Or not. Chef said many students gain about 30 lbs. during the program. Dang.)

The unexpected up side is: many of those veggies our class chopped turned into our snacks, cooked by us and the chef. He says, put that pot on the stove, add this, melt that butter, go get the food mill and rice the potatoes, etc. And he's always dropping tips that the Pastry and baking (P + B) students might never use, but good to know. Like, you make this recipe out of such and such an ingredient--like the carrots we cut at irregular angles (oblique) roasted on a sheet tray with oil, salt, pepper, and curry--never had that in the midwest before. For example, the onions we minced up, learning, turned into French onion soup and salsa one day, and the next we he reduced them with red wine and we ate them with mashed potatoes (yum!) We also had croutons with the soup made with cave-aged Gruyer cheese ($35/lb!!!!!--wasted on us maggots). The block he brought out was as big as my youngest child. A far as scraps, we try not to waste--inedible scraps go into the "pig bucket" and go to feed real pigs. And lots of stories from his career. Pretty interesting.
In short, even though we are P+B students, they are still teaching us the basics, and trying to cultivate an educated palate. It's all good.
But, class starts at 7 sharp every AM (no lateness is allowed, ever) and no one leaves until the room is spic and span. Then I go home and take care of kids, or go to work, only once or twice during the week. I'm basically working every weekend until this time next year. I've been ready for bed by 8:30 every night. My husband is doing such a good job with the kiddos in the morning. Anyway, I'm whipped, it's Friday night, and I can sleep in in the morning til the baby gets me up! Yippee!

Baguettes and Whole Wheat Flaxseed

I finally found a French bread recipe I really like! I think the secret is in quality ingredients. I've always heard that, but always tried to skimp. This recipe called for a small amount of semolina flour (usually used for pasta). I also used real bread flour like a good girl. Otherwise, it's very basic--yeast, milk, salt, butter, olive oil. Once you mix it all together the sponge is immediately beautiful and smells divine. I love kneading dough! It's so hard to describe. I just zone out and get peaceful and go to my happy place. It feels really good in your hands. I think bread tastes better if it's been kneaded by hand. It needs touch.

The only real problem I had with this was it was such a large recipe--10 cups of flour! It makes 3 long French loaves or 6 baguettes. I didn't have enough pans. Also, this recipe said to just "shape it into a long French loaf." Okay. Other recipes say to roll it up like a jelly roll. My first tries did not stay very round-- I think I need a baguette pan to get that classic shape. So these were flatter on the bottom. But the texture inside was perfect! Chewy outside (thanks to the cast iron pan full of boiling water in the bottom of the oven) and perfect on the inside. Really tasty too! My kids wanted to eat it all afternoon. And I didn't mind. It's real food. How did you like it?

I've tried quite a few different whole wheat recipes and I'm still trying to find one I like. I practiced with this one yesterday, and it turned out good, but not REALLY good. I tinkered with it a bit. The initial recipe had whole wheat alone (many w.w. recipes call for half white flour for a lighter texture and taste), honey, egg, butter, milk, yeast, salt. It didn't have any sweetness to it, and was slightly dry. But, it made a really good pb&j! On my second try I added molasses for a sweetner, along with the honey, because I think all that whole wheat masked the honey flavor. Also I increased the olive oil and butter just a little, hoping to moisten it. But the biggest thing was that I added some flaxseed meal to make it taste a little nuttier. The first recipe was kind of one-dimensional--I think that's where people get turned off to whole wheat--it's just dry and boring, unless you add some things to make it a deeper flavor. How did you like it?

However, last week I did a multi-grain that was amazing! (see previous post) I wasn't quite ready to debut it yet. Next time I'm thinking the multi-grain, sourdough, or a country oatmeal. And pie, for July! What are your thoughts?

Please post your comments--I really want honest feedback! Also if anyone has a good whole-wheat recipe, let me know. Sometimes Grandma's recipe is the best.

Multi-grain

I'm practicing a few recipes. This multigrain bread recipe is from www.cookingbread.com with a few slight modifications. It's very dense and hearty. The recipe includes whole wheat flour, cracked wheat, flax meal, steel-cut oats (which aren't flat--they're like an oat kernel), molasses, and buttermilk. You have to make a starter the night before and also soak the whole grains to soften them. The sponge smells delicious and is slightly sticky when you knead it up.

It turned out pretty well, and smelled great baking, except I didn't let it bake quite long enough. Many bread recipes say to bake until the loaf sound "hollow" when tapped. I find that pretty ambiguous. It's really hard to tell sometimes until you cut into it. My last loaf I slightly over-cooked. So, it's still slightly dough-y in the middle, but tasted really nutty and rich and yummy. Especially warm and slathered with butter.

It makes two loaves, and I tried to make a "boule" out of one--it didn't work too well. You're also supposed to brush it with egg white before baking, so I brushed one loaf and skipped the other to see the difference. The egg white makes it nice and brown and glistening on top. Also, interestingly, you're supposed to put a cast-iron skillet in the bottom of your oven and pour boiling water in it as you bake it, to create steam. I gave the bread a nice chewy outer layer.

What are you hungry for?

What kinds of things do people want to see?

Once I start school, the sweets will correlate with my assignments. But for July, I'm thinking pie. What could be more more Ameican than apple pie? Besides, it's easy. I've been making pie at my mother's side since I was four years old. Not kidding. This is hand made crust and always fresh fruit filling (canned stuff is nasty). Apple is pretty do-able, peach is a little more expensive to make--cherry is to die for, but pretty expensive. I haven't done cream or meringue pies much.

Let me know . . .

First Try!

Shall we start on June 26-27? (Note: baker reserves the right to change dates!)

I'm going to experiment over the next few weeks, and I think I'm going to try just bread this time. I'm either going to do some type of wheat bread or a classic baguette. Please comment with your name and address if you're interested in participating. Email your address to mastuempy@hotmail.com if you don't want it publicly posted.