Pastry Pro I: Week 3: Yeast Breads

Bread baking is one of those things I do around the holidays, usually trying a new dinner roll recipe here and there but never quite finding the "right " recipe. I think it was more my technique than the recipe. I learned several things in this class that have already helped. Since class last night I have already practiced at home and made a huge batch of roll dough. I wanted to use the new information while it was fresh in my mind. Making yeast bread turn out right is not that simple. There are so many variables including room temperature, humidity, temperature of the flour, yeast freshness, etc. We were given demonstrations on how much to...

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Pastro Pro I: Week 2: Cookies and Brownies

Cookies and brownies seem like such as easy topic when as a mom I've spent more years than I want to admit making them. I learned to bake first from my mother but more from a home economics class I took in high school. Over the years I have collected cookbooks and magazine recipes with many, many cookie recipes. I never gave much thought to modifying a basic recipe to suit my taste or using a "ratio" to make a cookie dough but that's the difference between the home cook and the professional. By learning the chemistry of baking it's possible to start thinking in a totally different way. Why did the cookie dough spread out so thin when I baked it?It could be the fat (butter) or the type of flour (all purpose) and the temperature of the dough (room). To spread less the solution may be cake flour...

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Sushi Demonstration at Texas Chef Association Meeting: May 6, 2009

I had the opportunity to volunteer for a TCA meeting held at the school. Chef Bobby Garza from Piranha Killer Sushi in Ft. Worth did a sushi demonstration and Chef Kurima asked for students to assist. Sign me up! Sushi is my favorite food and I have always admired the unique and beautiful creations at Piranha. The above photo does not do the sushi justice as most of it was gone by the time I could get my camera out. Everything he made disappeared instantly because it was not only beautiful but also delicious. I was able to make some things for him before the demo. He asked me to fry some corn tortillas cut into 6 wedges, put salt & pepper...

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Pastry Pro I: Week 1: Principles of Baking/Quick Breads

When Chef Kurima started the lecture for Pastry Pro I she told us that pastry is all about "chemistry". Later she said we would be "scaling" which involves math and weighing everything. This information did not thrill me since math and chemistry were not my strongest subjects in high school and college. Although I have been baking since the age of 14 which I took home economics in high school (do they still even teach that?) I have not used recipes that call for 2 pounds of flour, 1/4 ounce cinnamon, 8 ounces brown sugar, 1 1/2 pounds granulated sugar, and 1 1/4 pounds whole butter--and now take this recipe and scale it by making only 1/4 the...

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