Artisan Bread

To date, Artisan Breads has been the most difficult culinary class I have taken.

Maybe this is because it was a five week course that met on Monday and Tuesdays from 3:30pm until 11pm. Well, 11pm was really more of a suggestion. I often saw the clock strike midnight or later in the bakery.

Or, more likely, this class was difficult because there are so many variables that affect one's ability to make good bread: temperature, humidity, yeast activity, dough hydration, protein content of flour. I could go on. And on.

Artisan Bread class was certainly an exercise in patience.

Since this class we a survey of artisan bread, I'll let the bread speak for itself. Here is a sample of the breads I attempted. Yes, there are a lot of them. No, this isn't all of them! :)

Semolina Bread with Sponge

Terrible scoring. Beginners luck with the boule shape. Yes, it is supposed to be that dark. And, due to the semolina the bread is yellow on the inside!

  Pain au Levain with Whole Wheat Flour

Basically a sourdough wheat bread. The slightly red color is good. The terrible shaping is bad. It should be round.

Ciabatta with Olive Oil and Wheat Germ

Topped with pesto. The wheat germ makes this bread addictive. One of my favorites.

 

yeah, I ate this whole thing in less than 24 hours and probably gained 5 pounds. Whatevs.

Midterm Exam

Still need to work on shaping and scoring my baguettes. Scoring is MUCH harder than it looks.
 

 

2 Baguette

5 Epi

Sourdough Batard

(not pictured

Rye Flaxseed Bread

I'm a rye lover but this was not my favorite. I had issues with the dough being too stiff. And, yes, I did try to score a K in to the boule.

Beesting

Round brioche topped with almond praline and filled with diplomat cream. Think holiday breakfast. Bye, Bye Cinnamon Rolls.

 

Sunflower Millet Bread

Everyone loves this bread. Chewy, crunch, nutty. Yum!

 

 

Final Exam  

Two hours for Part One. Four hours for Part Two. Hustle has been redefined.

Part One: 

4 Mummy Rolls

4 Infinity Rolls

4 Flower Rolls

We were able to eat one of these before she graded. I certainly took the opportunity here to put that horrific flower on the far right in the trash. Smart move. I earned the highest grade in the class on shaping.

Part Two Nanterre Brioche Loaf Five Grain Bread Six Strand Filled Brioche Braid  (filled with apricots and almond praline) One Dead Dough Plaque for Each Bread

Fancy Meringues

ummm...how creepy is this?

 This Summer I am taking Pastries, a class that builds on what I learned in Baking Basics.

Out of all the classes I'm taking this Summer this one might be the one I'm enjoying most because it allows for a certainly level of personal creativity.

And, this class more that any other I've taken is exposing me to a wide variety of desserts that I've certainly never tasted and quite often have never even knew existed. Fun!

Recently we had a class that focused on baked aerated desserts.

I signed up to make a chocolate souffle and a plated dessert called "Pink Peppercorn Pavlova with Passion Fruit Curd and Berries."

Chocolate souffles certainly aren't all that exotic but I don't think I had ever eaten on and they are hella difficult to get right.

The most helpful tip I learned while making this souffle is that this is one dessert that should be served wet in the center and to the edges. If the souffle looks like cake, it is over baked.

My addition to this recipe was a vanilla clove creme anglaise.  The souffle recipe called for dark chocolate, orange juice, and orange liqueur for flavoring and I think clove and orange complement one another nicely.

The Pink Peppercorn Pavlova caught my eye because I always like desserts that incorporate  traditionally savory flavors.

The dessert is a free form meringue disk that has ground up pink peppercorns in it. Since it is a pavlova the inside should be chewy not dry/crisp like a traditional baked meringue. 

The curd is made with a passion fruit puree the same way you'd make lemon curd.

The berries were macerated in vanilla, sugar, and aged basalmic vinegar for 20 or 30 minutes.

The pavlova is very sweet and the spiciness of the peppercorns really works well in this dish. The curd added a nice sweet tang and the berries bought some much needed freshness and an additional texture to the dessert.

Yep, It is Officially BLT Season



maybe I watched too much Parks and Recreation this weekend!

BLT's are one of my favorite Summer comfort foods.

The Farmer's Markets in Omaha are amazing. I recently found quite literally the most perfect tomatoes I've ever had in my life there about three weeks ago.


The amazing produce coupled with the surplus of bread I now have on hand due to the Artisan Bread class I'm taking will likely lead to a weekly BLT.

Oh, and of course, I added Sriracha to my list of mandatory BLT ingredients! Yum!

Ingredients:

Bread of Your Choice
Amazing Lettuce
Perfect Tomatoes
Bacon (Nitrate Free, if possible)
Sriracha
Mayo (Sadly, my Dukes didn't make it past TSA)
Salt
Pepper
If you like super crispy bacon like I do here's my one tip: bake it!

Put an entire package of bacon on two sheet trays lined with parchment or foil.

Put the bacon trays in a cold oven and turn on to 400 degrees.

Walk away, for about 14 minutes (or however long it takes your oven to preheat.

At that point, check the bacon. You may need to rotate the pans on drain some of the grease.

With my oven, 14 minutes gets the bacon almost done and at most it take about 8 more minutes to finished cooking.

Bacon in the oven ="s a high volume of hand's free bacon prep without the grease burns from the stove.

Involtini di Melanzane

Involtini di Melanzane = Baked Eggplant Rolls

A quick search showed me that there are umpteen variations of this dish: appetizer, side, main, stuffed with cheese, meat, other veggies, and really any combination thereof. However, perhaps the most traditional version is to stuff the eggplant rolls with some type of cheese and top with a marinara sauce.

When I came across this recipe, I was looking for a new way to serve my meat loving fiance eggplant as a main dish.

I LOVE fried eggplant but was looking for a healthier option and a way to include more fresh veggies.

I was also looking for a recipe that would let me show off my savory cooking skills after laboring over cakes, breads, pastries, custards, and all things sweet for the last two months.

Here's what I came up with:

Baked Eggplant Rolls with Spaghetti Squash, Fresh Mozzarella, and Pesto

Ingredients

1 small/medium eggplant
1 spaghetti squash
1 bunch of fresh basil
grated Parmesan
walnuts
fresh basil
garlic
salt
pepper
evoo


To create this dish, slice the eggplant lengthwise (not in rounds). Then, salt and let drain.


Cut the spaghetti squash in half and bake face down on a foil lined sheet pan at 375 for about 25 minutes or until a paring knife easily pierces the skin.


While the squash is cooling, rinse, dry and then grill the eggplant after lightly brushing it with olive oil. Place on towel to drain and season with salt and pepper.


Then, make some pesto. I used a food processor. I used an entire bunch of basil, 3 cloves of fresh garlic, 1/2 cup of walnuts, 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan, and then drizzled with olive oil until the right consistency was reached. I do adjust the Parmesan and walnuts as needed depending on the amount of basil.

Once squash is cool, use a spoon to remove the seeds. Then scrape with a fork the get those
spaghetti-like strands. Place in a bowl and toss with olive oil, salt, pepper, and Parmesan.


Lay a rectangle of mozzarella topped with 1/2 T of pesto on top of one piece of grilled eggplant.

Then, add a bundle of the spaghetti squash. Roll the eggplant up and place seam side down on a foil lined sheet tray.

Wrap with a slice of eggplant and place seam side down on another foil lined sheet tray.

Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes to melt the cheese.

To serve, I topped the eggplant bundles with avocado but they are great without or you could add some more pesto if you love it as much as I do.

Yay, eggplant fun!