Yeast
 Matt H
 Class 8
 The yeast breads were very fun to make. We made pizza. We also made rolls (Or attempted to). Another thing we made were pretzels. The rolls turned into one solid piece of bread. The pizza was grilled before it was baked. The pizza was really delicious. We also made our own sauce. The sauce was my favorite part of the pizza. The pretzels we made were also very good. We put them in water with baking soda. Then after that we put them in the oven. My pretzels had salt on them. The only bad part of the pretzels was the cleaning up part. The rolls were by far the worst yeast meal we had. Mixing the dough, we grabbed a bowl that was too small for it. It almost overflowed. Then it went smooth until the baking. We were able to make the rolls effectively and put them onto the pan. The only problem was we didn't space them out enough. When we started to bake them, they all combined into one solid piece of bread. The rolls were a failure, but we were still able to make bread.
  

Emily Toby Ms. Hoagland Culinary 1, Class 8 November 17, 2013 Yeast Breads “From where I stood, the field stretched west to the bluish ridge of the Coast Range, a shimmering blonde avenue of lawn. If you stand in a wheat field at this time of year, a few weeks before harvest, it's not hard to imagine you’re looking at something out of mythology: all this golden sunlight brought down to earth, captured in kernels of gold, and rendered fit for morals to eat. But of course this is no myth at all, just the plain miraculous fact” (Pollan 289). Thus ends the chapter on bread in Michael Pollan’s wonderful book, Cooked. During this unit, we explored different types of yeast bread and different methods of cooking them. Two recipes we prepared were soft pretzels and rolls. They were polar opposites in success; the pretzels were beautiful and tasted delicious, and the rolls turned out unattractive but yummy. The rolls became unappealing when we took the plastic wrap off. We should have taken it off right after they came out of the refrigerator, but we waited until just before we put them in the oven. The dough stuck to the plastic, revealing the bubbly, airy surface underneath. When we baked them, they weren’t smooth and round, but blob shaped and varying thicknesses. However, they still tasted delicious, especially with butter and jam! The pretzels were more successful. We cooked these differently than the other yeast breads; first boiling them in two quarts of water and ½ cup of baking powder, then letting them bake completely in the oven. Afterwards, we drizzled them in butter and cinnamon sugar, and they came out delicious. It was my favorite bread we prepared this unit.

The yeast unit was one of my favorites. Everything we made was really good. The pizza was good especially since we made our own sauce. The dough was also fun to make since we got to knead it ourselves. Cooking the dough on the grill made it taste really good even thought I burnt myself at least five times. The pretzels were even better. They tasted just as good as Auntie Anne's. It was cool to make then dough and roll them into the shape. I always thought it was so complicated to roll them into the pretzel shape. When we let the dough sit over night it rose and they became really fluffy and airy. My group baked ours to perfection and they were so good. The final thing we made in the yeast unit was bread. It wasn't my favorite of the three thought came out really good even though the dough stuck to the plastic wrap. My group was still able to salvage a few rounded pieces of bread. The bread definitely had a yeast taste but it wasn't too strong. The bread was really good with jam and was crunchy on the outside and moist on the inside.

The yeast unit went well for the most part. The recipes all came out the right way and tasted delicious except for the rolls. Although the rolls tasted good they ended up not really being rolls. Overnight the rolls rose and touched the plastic wrap that was covering them. When we pulled the plastic wrap off the dough stuck to it and also the rolls stuck to each other. When we took them out of the oven the dough was one big piece. It was not a problem however. The recipe for the rolls was very simple, it was only four ingredients that all got mixed together to make the dough. We did not have a problem with making the dough. The grilled pizza was one of the best things that we have made this year. In the first class we made the dough and sauce and the next class we grilled the dough with olive oil and then added sauce and cheese and then baked it. My dough got stuck to the pan so it was a weird shape but it still tasted good. We made soft pretzels by making the dough and then boiling them for about 30 seconds in water with baking soda. After that we put them in the oven. When they came out we brushed them with melted butter and put cinnamon and sugar on. They were delicious and cooked perfectly. Overall the yeast unit was delicious and we all learned lessons about how to store and handle dough. Camden F.

Overall, I would say that the quick bread unit was successful and interesting. We learned a lot about how yeast will affect different products. The first quick bread we made was pizza dough. In this recipe we allowed the yeast to bloom in warm water, and “activate”. We then added other ingredients such as flour, salt, and baking powder. After we mixed the dough we put it on a floured surface and kneaded it until it was no longer sticky and had a uniform consistency. The dough was placed in the refrigerator overnight and when we took it out the next day, we found that it had risen substantially. After each rolling out the dough, we brushed a little bit of olive oil on it and put it on the grill. It firmed up and became the perfect base for sauce and cheese. The next quick bread we made was soft pretzels. This process was a little bit more difficult that the pizza, but still fun and interesting. We started off the same way as the pizza dough by letting the yeast bloom/activate in warm water, and then added the other ingredients. But this time, the dough was very sticky and we wound up having to add an extra two cups of flour than what the recipe instructed. We learned that temperature and humidity play a large roll when making quick breads. Also, when making the pretzel dough, instead of using a mixing bowl and wooden spoon, we used an electric mixer, which made it easier to create a uniform consistency. The hardest part about making the pretzels was shaping the dough. We rolled out “worms” of dough, made it into a “U” shape then twisted the top and folded it over. It was a tedious process and hard to get the pretzels to look aesthetically pleasing. We wound up having to put the pretzels into the refrigerator overnight and covered them with saran wrap. They rose so much that we had to re-roll each pretzel the next day. To cook the pretzels we boiled them in water with baking soda. It was crucial to add the baking powder to the boiling water and not pretzel dough. We boiled them for 30 seconds and then put them on a buttered baking sheet. We baked them in the oven for 8 minutes. We finished them off with melted butter, cinnamon and sugar. Even though we had minor issues, the end result was successful and the pretzels turned out very well. Our final quick bread was a “no-knead” sourdough bread. For this recipe we combined all the dry ingredients including yeast and then added water to the dry mixture. We combined the ingredients in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon. Our mixture was too moist so we had to add a couple more cups of flour. On a floured surface, we formed balls of dough by pushing and pulling the pieces of dough using the traction of the wooden table to make them smooth. This was a very difficult process. We then covered the bread with saran wrap again and let the bread sit for another day before baking. The day we were to make the bread, it had been warming on top of the oven and had risen a lot so most of the individual balls stuck together forming a “blob” of bread. We didn’t have time to recreate the balls/rolls, and so we baked them as is in the oven. In the end the bread had a good taste and consistency but did not look aesthetically pleasing. Overall, I enjoyed the quick bread unit and feel that over time, our quick bread skills will continue to improve. Celia G

Broccoli Blue Cheese Soup For the Stock unit we first started learning about how to make stocks then we started learning about the different techniques needed. We learned that sweating vegetables when you put vegetables in a fat over low heat that eventually allows them to release moisture. Also mirepoix is chopped vegetables and herbs that you can add to stock to add different colors, flavors and nutrients. For our first soup we made broccoli blue cheese soup. Our soup had a nourishing element of broccoli and blue cheese which was the most important ingredient in our stock. First we started with a pot and putting out bouquet garni and we let that simmer then we put in our liquid and after adding other ingredients we let it sit. After that we then pureed it and lastly put our garnish on top. If I were to make this soup again I would like to correct my errors by tasting everything as we go to make sure we have enough of each ingredient so that it could add certain textures and flavors. In our broccoli blue cheese soup it said to add a certain amount of blue cheese but we only did half of it and it ended up tasting just like broccoli which wasent suppose to happen. In our second soup, we experimented. We took potatoes and chopped them into medium size rectangles then we diced carrots, jalapeno, and onions. We put our chicken stock into a pot and then through in the carrots and potatos. We applied the mirepoix technique. While that was happening we then went on and sauted the onions and jalapenos until they were crispy and tender and then we added them to the rest of the stock. Then after our stock cooked for a bit we then pureed it and added the finishing touches. - Leah C.

Making stock is new to me. I don’t do too much cooking at home. After making the stock and researching recipes that used chicken stock as the base I realized how important stock can be for cooking. I learned how nourishing elements was a key to the flavor of the liquid. So was the mirepoix and the boquet garni. I enjoyed learning and making the stock along with making the soup. I learned how the nourishing elements helped flavor it by simmering it for a while the straining everything out at the end with a chinois. My group and I had fun chopping all of the vegetables for the stock also for the soup we made with the stock. It smelled so good especially with so many people making stocks at once. Butchering the chicken was fun since I was the only one in my group that would even touch it. It was much easier than I thought. I learned the difference between stock and broth as well. They always seemed to me to be the same thought I learned that a stock is more of a watery based liquid and the solids are strained out. A broth is less watery and not all of the solids including meat and vegetables are strained out. -Tommy E

This marking period we worked on soups and sauces. We started by making stock. Stock is made by taking a liquid and adding a nourishing element, bouquet garni made with cheesecloth, and mire poix. The mixture simmers and then is strained through a chinois to get the liquid by itself. The stock our group made came out well and we did not run into any problems. The soup that our group chose to make was minestrone. Again we did not run into any problems and the soup was delicious. As a group we decided to add bacon bits at the end of the cooking time although the recipe did not call for it. The bacon added a lot of flavor and made the soup even better. I think it was good that we decided to change the recipe and we learned that the recipe does not have to be followed in order for the food to taste good. The puree had a different outcome. When we made this soup we tried to make it with sweet fruits and vegetables such as mango, corn and carrot. Although it smelled delicious the one jalapeno pepper we added overpowered everything and made the whole soup taste terrible. It was very bland and had a bad taste so we experimented with different seasonings and ingredients to make it taste better. Although in the end nobody was able to eat it. We learned that all the ingredients should get along and sweet foods don’t usually have a strong flavor. At the end we garnished it with parsley and mixed in chicken. The last soup we made came out perfectly. The tomato soup was a simple soup that didn’t need a lot of preparation or effort. It looked like it came out perfectly although nobody tasted it. We did not run into any problems and the group worked efficiently. Camden F.

Robert K


To begin the soup and stock unit we made chicken stock. In this stock we included chicken breast, the bones and everything. I have made soup before but I never made a stock. I thought it was very interesting that there are so many steps and ingredients to make a liquid. I learned how to make a bouquet garni to help season the stock. A garni is a bundle of fresh herds and vegetables tied with twine. This stock was the base for our chicken and sausage gumbo that we were going to make. I had never made gumbo before so this was all new to me. A challenge that our group had was making the roux for the gumbo. The roux is supposed to be thick and creamy while ours had a mashed potatoes consistency. The roux was supposed to be cooked for a hour before anything else but because we only had a total of two hours to make the soup we had to improvise. We cooked some vegetables ahead of time and we used precooked chicken. My group was skeptical to how the soup would turn out but in the end it was a success. The sausage and chicken was cooked perfectly while the spices and chicken stock added a kick. The final sou we made was a vegetable puree consisting of many different things. There were potatoes, caramelized onions, apple slices, celery, spices and herbs. To start off we made a mirepoix, a mixture of coarsely chopped vegetables and herbs. Using the mirepoix we added the caramelized onions and then pureed it, then adding apple chunks to to it off. In my opinion I thought the soup wasn't that good. I thought it was too bland, while some of the group thought it was really good. Vegetable soups just aren't my thing, I need a soup to have noodles and/or some type of meat.

Who doesn’t love soup? During this unit, we learned all about different ways to prepare soup and the main ingredients in a soup. We made chicken broth, chicken and sausage gumbo, and a vegetable purée soup. We learned about the different elements of soup, including mirepoix and bouquet garni. All of our recipes turned out pretty well. We made stock as a base liquid for our other two soups, gumbo and a vegetable purée soup. To add flavor to the soup, we made a bouquet garni out of cheesecloth and herbs and added a nourishing element of chicken meat and bones. When we made gumbo, we made a roux with flour and butter, and cooked meat and vegetables to add to it. Before serving, we garnished it with chopped parsley. The next dish we made, vegetable purée soup, was a bit more creative. We chose any leftover vegetables from the previous soups we made, and sweat them. Then we simmered them in chicken broth and then puréed them to make a creamy potato and vegetable soup. I chose to make a carrot and squash soup. From soup to nuts, this unit was souper fun and educational. I learned all about the methods and elements of the food, and got more comfortable preparing soup on my own. My favorite soup that I made was the chicken and sausage gumbo, which was delicious and more challenging to make than the vegetable soup. This unit was a great start to an exciting new class! Emily T.

I think the whole soups and stock unit went well. There were little to no errors and if there were errors, it wasn't an extreme error. While making the stock, I learned several new techniques like how to add spices (bouquet garni) using a cheese cloth and adding the mirepoix which was the vegetables. In our stock, then nourishing element was chicken, and once the stock had a chance to simmer and absorb the spices, it was liquid. We made broccoli blue cheese soup for one of our dishes and for that, we made a little mistake by adding the ingredients incorrectly. We were supposed to add the broccoli last and add the other ingredients before that, but we ended up adding them all at the same time. It wasn't a big deal because almost all of the vegetables needed the same amount of time cooking anyways, but we've learned to read the recipes thoroughly. In our recipe for that soup, it also said we have to purée it, so once it was all cooked, we put the hand blender in the pot and let it turn into liquid with very little chunks. When we made the soup out of random vegetables, we chose to make a carrot and potato soup with hot sauce in it. This turned out a bit better than the other one because we didn't have any mistakes. There was no recipe, so we just did what we thought was right and what would taste good, and to our surprise it all worked. We didn't really garnish our work, for we didn't think it needed to be garnished because we were the only ones eating it. For the most part, this unit was good and a well learned experience. I think we did a good job executing the recipes and working as teams. Samantha D.

When we started the stocks and soups unit, we made a chicken stock using the carcass of a chicken, and various vegetables. We also used a bouquet garni that was created by wrapping bay, thyme, and parsley in a cheese clothe. We put it into the stock to flavor it. I learned that certain parts of the chicken are used to go into the stock as flavoring, and which parts are used as the nutritional element in the soup. The second soup that we created was a recipe of our choice. We came up with the recipe, and wrote down the necessary ingredients. Then when we had reached our misonplas by gathering all the materials, we began the recipe. The roux that the recipe called for was a strange consistency, it was thicker and there was way more than we needed for the gumbo recipe we chose. So we only used a small portion of it. When we had finished the recipe, we figured out that we had added too much chicken, so it over powered the soup. If I had to give it a rating out of 10 stars, I would give it 8.5 stars. It was a good soup, it just took some altering to the recipe to create the desired taste and texture. Next, we had the challenge of creating a chicken- stock based soup, just using our knowledge of cooking. We added many different kinds of ingredients that are not typically found together in a dish. For example, sautéed onions, sautéed apples, celery, carrots, thyme, and potatoes. The soup turned out to be pretty good in the end. We did a lot of experimenting with flavors and we learned from other groups that the poultry should be added to the soup after the cooked vegetable and various ingredients are puréed. Throughout this unit, I learned that sometimes, going on your senses alone can turn out well. The uncommon ingredients that we combined turned into a very good soup. Being creative can actually work in your favor sometimes. - Mary-Kate M.