Job Shadow

For my capstone project, I had to do some job shadowing in the field of my subject.  Since we are lucky enough to have a professional chef (who has years of experience in the industry and even owned a restaurant.)  His name is Chef Rick.  (I didn't get a picture of me with him.)

I learned that it takes a lot of work to be a chef of a restaurant or a lunchroom.  So many kids have different food tastes and are so picky with what they will or won't eat.

I couldn't help prepare the food because I am not old enough to have a food handler's permit, but I did get to help serve.  I job shadowed during an elementary lunch period, so we saw a lot of kids through that day.  I helped serve the potatoes.

It  was a lot of fun!

Cupcake Wars #2

My friend, Rachel, invited me over for another round of Cupcake Wars. We were given a vanilla cake mix to start off with and then we got to add whatever ingredients we had on hand to add to our batter.  For one cupcake recipe, I added defrosted, frozen, diced strawberries. For another recipe, I made almond chocolate chip cupcakes.  I chopped almonds and added those along with semi-sweet chocolate chips to the batter.  For a third cupcake, I added just chopped almonds.

Rachel went crazy...again. She did flavors like a Welch's Fruit Snack one, and Fruity Pebble cereal flavor, ending with a berry pudding/jello cupcake. For me, those flavors were too sweet.  She has lots of advantages because her family usually judges, and she knows what her family likes.

She won...again. I think one of the reasons was because her younger brother and his friend were two out of four judges. Of course they will vote for the sweet, sugary ones. And the ones with potty names (Yes, she did potty-name hers.) So did I, but I guess they'd rather have both sugar+potty names. Oh well.  Her dad said he would eat a whole cake like my strawberry flavored one. So that's a win in my book.

Turkey Spinach Wrap

This is a quick, easy and healthy snack. All you need is deli turkey slices and fresh spinach.  Place fresh spinach leaves on the edge of a thick deli slice of turkey.  (We get ours from Costco...Kirkland brand.)  Roll the spinach up into the turkey, like a taquito.  Wrap a few while you are at it.  Two to four rolls make a nice snack/meal depending on how hungry you are.  YUM!  (You spread a little hummus on the turkey slices before filling/rolling with spinach.)

Blueberry Muffins

Yield:  12 muffins

Muffins are delicious for breakfast or dessert.  The blueberries make the muffins extra moist and yummy.  They pop while they cook and create great bursts of color.

Ingredients:
4 Tbs. unsalted butter
2 cups self-rising flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup superfine sugar
1 lemon, finely grated zest (optional)
1 cup plain yogurt
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
9 oz. blueberries

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.  Melt the butter in a pan, then set aside to cool.  Sift the flour into a bowl, and mix the baking powder, sugar, and lemon zest.

Make a well in the center of the flour.  Mix the yogurt, eggs, and cooled melted butter together in a large pitcher, then pour into the dry ingredients.

Add the blueberries.  Mix until just combined, but don't overmix or the muffins will be heavy.

Spoon evenly into the paper liners and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and springy.  Cool in the pan for 5 minutes.

Tips:  Juice the lemon you are using for zest and add juice to muffin mix.  Add more zest, too. I like them with more lemon flavor.  You can freeze prepared muffins for up to two months to have at a later date.

Cleaning up is an important part of cooking.

 

Fresh out of the oven!

The blueberries really do pop out during baking.  They don't look like regular smooth-top muffins.  These babies are deliciously chunky.  Be cautious if using baking cups.  The blueberries can make them stick pretty good to the muffin itself, so peeling them off is not always easy.

I could eat these all day!

Birthday Cookbook

I got a cookbook from my friend Bailey at my birthday party. It was my favorite gift.  It is a 304 page cookbook from DK called Complete Children's Cookbook.  It includes a ton of recipes to make for breakfast, snacks, main meals, desserts, breads, etc.  It is very well written and includes step by step photos, equipment needed list, detailed instructions, and tips for the chef.

The first thing I made from it was blueberry muffins. They are really good. I have made them about 2 or 3 times. Bailey even came over and made them with me one day after school.  I learned after making them the first time that they might taste better if more lemon zest was added to the batter, along with some lemon juice straight from the lemon. We did that the second time we made them and in made a difference.  I guess I just like the taste of lemon and blueberries together.  I will soon be giving a cooking demonstration in one of my classes at school on making these muffins, and them giving each student one to try.  (I will probably make mini muffins for them.  I will have to experiment with that.)  These muffins have become a favorite.  (Recipe to follow.)

Peach & Blueberry Galettes

Yield: 1 galette 

“Galette” is a term used in French cuisine that represents a crusty cake, which is mostly flat
and round in shape. It is a type of thin large pancake which mostly hails from the French
regions of Normandy and Brittany. The cake is believed to have replaced bread as the basic
food and is eaten countrywide. The most well known story behind the origin of the cake is
the story of the Twelfth Night, when the Three Kings arrived in Bethlehem with gifts for baby
Jesus and galette commemorates this day.

 

Ingredients:
1 pound fruit (apples, peaches, pears, berries, etc.)
3 Tbs. sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (optional, mix with sugar)
1 tsp. vanilla
1-2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 round pie dough (recipe below)

Optional egg wash

1 egg white

1 tsp. milk optional egg wash
1 Tbs. sugar

Preparation:
Move rack to center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Place a piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Lay the circle of pie dough over the parchment paper.

In a small bowl, mix 3 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon. In another mixing bowl, toss the fruit with the vanilla and sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar mixture. Toss until coated.

Spoon or place fruit onto the center of the crust, making sure to leave 2” of dough around the edges not covered. Cut the butter into 5-7 chunks and dot the top of the fruit.

Pull the dough up partway over the fruit to form pleats. Optional: Whisk together egg white and milk. Brush crust with egg/milk mixture and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake for 50-60 minutes – until the crust is golden brown. Let cool on the pan for 10 minutes and then using the parchment paper, slide the galette to a rack to completely cool.

Serve at room temperature or slightly warm with vanilla ice cream or freshly whipped cream. 

Butter Pastry Dough

Yield: 2 rounds

  

Ingredients:

3 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. sea salt
1 c. (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
2 large eggs yolks

5 Tbs. ice water (+ additional ice water)
 

Preparation:

Combine the flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with chopping blade. Cut the butter into 1/8-inch-thick slices and add to the flour mixture. Pulse 10 to 12 times, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

Beat the yolks with 5 tablespoons ice water and add to the mixture; pulse 4 to 5 times, until a crumbly mixture forms. Press the mixture together to form a ball, adding more water, if necessary, to make it manageable.

You can immediately roll out the dough between lightly floured sheets of plastic wrap or, if you have the time, chill the dough for 1 hour before rolling it out. That allows the gluten in the flour to relax, ensuring a tender crust.

Use the pastry as directed in a recipe or divide it in half, shape it into balls and flatten slightly. Wrap the flattened rounds tightly in freezer wrap and freeze until firm for later use. Use within 3 months.

 

Jus de Pomme Pétillant

Prep time: 3 min.


This is just a fancy way of saying Sparkling Apple Juice in French. It is delicious and super easy to make. It is a great non-alcoholic substitute for wine and champagne, which are usually served with a French meal.






















Ingredients:
2 cans apple juice concentrate (thawed)
1 (2 liter) bottle club soda

Preparation:
Mix and serve.

Optional: You can add ice and apple slices to your beverage dispenser.