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Journal of a Poor Culinary Student

Started by Ryven, March 23, 2011, 02:04:43 PM

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Ryven

By each cut I mean, they grade the carrot separate from the onion separate from the allumette.  They don't grade each cube.  That's where size and uniformity come in.  If you cut them each the same size but they're all a little big, you get points for uniformity but might lose one or two for size.

Ryven

Ooooooooooooh yeah!  Who got a 98.5 on their cooking practical?  That's right, I DID!


A picture of my lovely creation.  Poached Chicken with Tarragon Cream Sauce.  Glazed Carrots, Sauteed Green Beans, and Rice Pilaf.

Izu

Oh yumm!! And congrats!! ^_^Looks amazing, bet it tastes even better!

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Ryven

Oh, it did because I ate it shortly after taking that picture.

grdell

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Autumn52

Quote from: Ryven on June 08, 2011, 09:37:47 PM
Ooooooooooooh yeah!  Who got a 98.5 on their cooking practical?  That's right, I DID!


A picture of my lovely creation.  Poached Chicken with Tarragon Cream Sauce.  Glazed Carrots, Sauteed Green Beans, and Rice Pilaf.

Congrats on your grade again. You will be Chef Ryven in no time with grades like that.

If it isn't to much trouble I would love your recipe for rice pilaf. I love rice and get tired of the just white rice cooked with chicken stock and salt.

Hugs
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White Light be upon you if that is your wish

Ryven

It's not my recipe.  It's a recipe in the book we used.  The only difference between what you do and the recipe I used was just 1 bay leaf and 2 oz. of minced onion.

Autumn52

Ah that sound good I will try it. Thanks
May light guide you through your turmoil and may darkness never cross your path.

White Light be upon you if that is your wish

Ryven

I hope you like it.  It was surprisingly tasty. ;D

Ramster

Well done Ryven, that stuff looks great!
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Ryven

I haven't updated in over a month.  I'm contemplating on what to put in my next post.  I had originally thought to put a short tutorial on how to break down a chicken, but as I need both hands to do that, I was trying to figure out how to take the pictures without getting my camera all chickeny.  So, what I think I will do is move on to something I can better explain without needing both hands to demonstrate or getting my camera all dirty.  As my current class is Introduction to Baking, Pastries, and Plated Desserts, I think I will do something of that kind.  Perhaps a short explanation of quick breads and mixing methods.  Either way, I'm hoping to update within the next couple of weeks.

Ryven

A Plethora of Flours

As I am in baking and pastry class this quarter, I thought it would do nicely to talk a bit about flour and the varieties that are available.

Flour, as most of us know it, is made from wheat berries that are ground and processed.  It is made from spring wheat and winter wheat, and the type of wheat that is used determines the strength of the flour or protein content.

All Purpose Flour - is the most common flour and can work in a wide variety of applications.  It is usually composed of 'hard' and 'soft' wheat mixed together.  Again, this goes back to the spring and winter types.  I'm unsure of which one is the 'hard' and which the 'soft,' but they are mixed together to get the this multi-use flour.  It usually contains between 8-11% protein.  It can be bleached or unbleached.  Bleached flour has been chemically processed and contains less protein than unbleached flour.  It can be stored between 8 - 12 months depending temperature, air flow, and other factors.  Obviously, keeping it in the refrigerator will extend that 8 months to the longer 12 month range.

Bread or High Gluten Flour - is a white flour made from high protein wheat, labeled 'hard.'  It contains between 12-14% protein and is best for yeast breads.  It may be packaged with ascorbic acid for volume and texture.  Well wrapped, it can last several months at room temperature or a year or more if kept in the freezer.

Cake Flour - is a high starch white flour made from 'soft' wheat.  It is best for cakes and other more delicate baked goods because of its ability to distribute fat more evenly throughout.  It contains 8-10% protein.  Cake flour is always bleached which leaves it with a very fine texture.  Bleached all purpose flour may be substituted in the place of cake flour though a slight adjustment of about 2 Tbsp less per cup used should be taken into account when substituting.  Again, if well wrapped, it can be stored for months.

Pastry Flour - is another flour made from 'soft' wheat.  It falls in between cake and all purpose flour in terms of protein (9-10%).  It is best suited for quick breads, cookies, brownies, pie crusts and the like.  It is not usually available in most supermarkets though can be found online.  Its characteristics can be mimicked if cake and all purpose flour are mixed together at a ratio of 2:1 all purpose to cake flour.

Self-Rising Flour - is simply a low protein flour with leavening and salt already added.  Recipes calling for this type of flour should never have additional leavening added.  It is used mostly for quick breads.  Each individual manufacturer uses their own ratio of flour to leavening and salt.  It can be made in your own kitchen by adding 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder and .5 teaspoons of salt to every 1 cup of all purpose flour that you need.

Whole Wheat Flour - is made from the entire wheat kernel.  Usually, the hull and germ are removed, but it is left during processing to create this flour.  Whole wheat flour has more nutrient content than other flours because of the hull and germ.  When used in making bread, high gluten flour is often added because whole wheat flour does not contain enough gluten in itself to achieve the desired results of a well risen bread.  With the incorporation of the hull and germ, there is a higher potential for spoilage during storage because of the presence of a fat.  Whole wheat flour should be stored in a tightly sealed container in the refrigerator or freezer for the maximum shelf life.

Other Flours

There are several other types of flour, many of which are not made from wheat.  Buckwheat, Coconut, Almond, Rice, Oat, Potato, Corn, Soy, Tapioca, and Rye are all flour types.  With the exception of Buckwheat, Corn, and Rye, all other listed are gluten free.  Almond flour is simply ground up almonds, and can easily be made with a food processor.  In fact, any nut can be turned into a 'flour' by finely grinding it up.  These gluten free flours are ideal for those who have any kind of dietary restriction because they can be baked into many kinds of breads and pastries just as wheat flour can.  The real difference in the final product is one of texture and taste.  Gluten is the reason why breads and baked goods come out with a spongy or airy texture.  During baking, the baked good rises whether from chemical reactions, yeast, or simply steam escaping.  This creates pockets in the dough, and the gluten creates sort of a web-like matrix inside that sets the texture, keeping the spongy or airy feel to the finished product.  The gluten free flours can produce similar effects, but it will not be exactly the same feel as with a bread containing gluten.

Oniya

One thing I learned in my bread-making is that gluten-free flours can be supplemented by things like xanthan gum to give them that same web-matrix.  Also - 'rice flour' is categorized as safe for gluten-free and celiac diets:  http://www.csaceliacs.org/gluten_grains.php#R  - actually, corn and buckwheat are listed as safe on that site as well.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
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Ryven

Odd, for some reason corn and buckwheat were listed as low gluten, not gluten free which in retrospect is kind of odd.

Oniya

My husband's boss's wife has to eat gluten-free, so I started looking up stuff like this in case I ever wanted to do holiday gifts and such.  :-)
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Ryven

I've never had to cook gluten free, but I did have the challenge of cooking for a friend who was allergic to nuts, dairy, eggs, and red meat.  It was interesting finding baked goods to make that were dairy and egg free.  I was able to make him some lemon scones that he absolutely adored.  I simply changed out the butter for vegetable shortening.

Oniya

With all those allergies, I'd bet anything out of the ordinary would be a treat!  Poor guy!
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Ryven

4th Quarter Reprieve

...only not.

My third quarter went by pretty swimmingly.  I ended my baking and pastry class with a 97 overall grade.

My final consisted of making creme anglaise, creme patisserie, sweet tart dough, pate a choux, creating a chocolate filigree, and then putting it all together to make a 9" fresh berry tart, profiteroles filled with pastry cream, and then plating each and garnishing with the creme anglaise and the chocolate filigree.

By the way, for anyone who doesn't know, basic pastry cream is vanilla pudding.  That's all it is.  And creme anglaise is the base for making vanilla ice cream.  Interesting little things you learn.

This new quarter, I am taking Nutrition and Management by Menu.

Nutrition is pretty straightforward though this will be the first quarter it will be taught in the kitchen.  My plan of having one quarter where I wouldn't have to worry about my uniforms has been shot down.  Luckily, it still wont be that bad.  For the first 5 or 6 weeks, the cooking will be extremely light.  In fact, I think next week, we will be just cooking a few vegetables a couple of ways.  Nothing really big.  It's more a way of learning how different ways of cooking affects the nutrition of a finished item.

Management by Menu seems to be more labor intensive.  By the end of the class, I'm going to have to have a menu planned, a restaurant concept, a location, layout for front and back of house, and all that jazz to make a presentation on it.  I have no idea where to start with this, AND because I had to miss the first day of class today, I'm a little flustered.  Hopefully, I can get back on track next week.  My chef instructor for this class hasn't responded to my emails yet, so who knows.

I would have liked to incorporate a recipe or something of the like with this post, but for now, it looks like just a synopsis of what has been going on shall suffice.  I do plan on making some Pumpkin Creme Brulee soon, so I will try to get pictures of in production and the final product complete with recipe.

The Golden Touch

My friend did this for her senior project in high school. I think she used a system called Auto CAD for her layout. It was pretty spiffy. Besides, you'll do awesome!

"Yesterday was the easy day."
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Oniya

Creme Brulee = an excuse to play with an open flame and act romantic at the same time.  ;D
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Ryven

Quote from: The Golden Touch on October 06, 2011, 05:52:38 PM
My friend did this for her senior project in high school. I think she used a system called Auto CAD for her layout. It was pretty spiffy. Besides, you'll do awesome!

Thanks, Goldie.  I just need that initial concept then I'm sure I can get the whole thing rolling.

Quote from: Oniya on October 06, 2011, 05:54:31 PM
Creme Brulee = an excuse to play with an open flame and act romantic at the same time.  ;D

As soon as I found out I could get a blowtorch for $15 at Wal-mart, it was game on.

Ryven

So I need to come up with a concept for a restaurant for my management by menu class.  How does Johnson's Wine and Dessert Bar sound?  It's like Hooters, but instead of women serving wings you get hot men serving wine and fine desserts.

Oniya

Sounds good to me.  There are any number of good desserts that involve wine, cordials, or other alcohol.  Unfortunately, there's already a food festival called 'Days of Wine and Chocolate', or I would have put that out as a possible name.
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Ryven

I'd be pairing wines with desserts, not necessarily putting wine in the desserts.

Oniya

Sorry, thoughts moved faster than my fingers, and some got skipped over.  The quantum leap was that since those exist, the idea of serving the two together wouldn't be at all far-fetched.  Dare I say that the hot men would be 'icing'?
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17