I made some dinner rolls the week before we had class, so that if I had any questions while making them, I could be sure to ask the Chef (our instructor).  The rolls were very easy to make, and I learned a few things in the process:

Bread dough is more finicky about temperature than I realized.  Bakers use dough-temperature to adjust how bread tastes.  The longer a bread ferments (rises), the more intense flavor the bread will have.  I’m not really sure what the “intensity” scale is, but I haven’t been able to tell a difference in the different fermenting times.  For example, if you start with room-temperature water to mix the dough and then knead, the dough will end up being about 78-81 degrees F.  It will then take about an hour to rise (double in size).  This long fermentation times means a richer flavor.  However, if you don’t have an hour (like in class), you can heat the water to about 95F and then mix and knead the dough.  The dough will be very warm and will ferment a lot faster (only about 15-20 minutes to double in size). For my rolls, I used the longer fermentation time.

Now on to the egg wash. Egg wash keeps the bread moist while proofing (if done before proofing), and it gives the bread a nice pretty color when it is baked.  As you can see in the pictures though, I have a problem with applying egg wash to the ENTIRE round of dough, so you can see the difference in color.  I haven’t mastered this technique yet (even though it shouldn’t be that hard), and the Chef has been sure to point that out on the rolls that I have made in class.  I blame it on the crappy pastry brushes that they have in class.

I also now know how to properly round dough, so that it is completely smooth on top.  The rolls in this picture were done before I learned how to round the dough.  My rolls from class looked MUCH prettier as a result.

The rolls were OMGDELICOUS when eaten just out of the oven, and were good in the following days as well.

All of the recipes in my book list out the ingredients by weight.  This makes it a lot easier to understand the percentages of the ingredients used.  It takes a scale and a little more time to weigh out the ingredients, but in terms of understanding why X-amount of an ingredient is used makes a lot more sense.  I was too lazy to try and convert the amounts from weight to cups/tsp, etc, so here is the recipe, by weight.  I got about 30 rolls from this recipe.

Soft Dinner Rolls

Ingredients
1 oz. active dry yeast
12 oz. water (warmed to temperature of choice, but not more than 95F)
1 lb. 6 oz. bread flour
.5 oz. salt
2 oz. sugar
1 oz. nonfat dry milk
1 oz. shortening
1 oz. butter, softened
1 egg
egg wash

Preparation

1. Dissolve the yeast in the water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the flour, salt, sugar, dry milk, shortening, butter and egg in the bowl. Mix on low speed until combined.
2. Knead on medium-speed for 10 minutes or until dough is kneaded (must pass the window pane test).
3. Transfer the dough to a lightly greased bowl and cover.  Place in a warm spot and ferment until doubled.
4. Punch down the dough.  Let it rest for a few minutes (this relaxes the gluten).
5. Dived the dough into 1 1/4-ounce portions and round.   Arrange them on pans and apply egg wash.  Proof until doubled in size.
6. Bake at 400F until medium-brown, about 12-15 minutes.

Ingredients
1 plantain, as green as you can find
oil for frying (I used vegetable oil this time)
Salt
Dipping sauce (I used Thousand Island dressing, but the internet says that people use ketchup, mayonnaise, and pretty much anything else you can think of to dip into)

Preparation
1. Heat oil in pan over medium to medium-high heat (oil should be 1/4 inch in depth)

2. Peel the plantain — Peeling a green plantain like a banana won’t work. Chop off a little of each end, then score the flesh down the length of the plantain 4 times, so that you have 4 sections of flesh. Then take your thumb and wedge it between the flesh and the meat and run your thumb down the length of the plantain to get the skin off.

3. Cut it into 1/2 to 1-inch pieces

4. Fry the pieces for about 2 minutes on each side, just until they start to get some color

5. Put a piece of wax paper on a cutting board. Put one piece at a time on one half of the wax paper,then fold over the other half to cover the piece of fried plantain. Use a heavy skillet to smash the plantain (it should now be no more than 1/4 inch thick. I like them on the thicker side, but some may like them super-thin).

6. Put the flattened plantains back in the frying pan and fry on each side until golden.

7. Sprinkle salt on the plantains after taking them out of the frying pan..

8. Let cool, then dip in your favorite sauce and eat!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup AP flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350-degrees and prepare cookie sheets for baking.

1. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

2. Add eggs and vanilla and mix until blended.

3. Add flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt, mixing until just blended.

4. Add chocolate chips, mixing until combined.

5. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto cookie sheets and bake for 12 minutes

6. Let sit on cookie sheets until they have flattened out and cooled down, 3-4 minutes.

The most recent Food & Wine magazine featured a very simple squash soup that caught my eye over the weekend. Knowing that we STILL had squash in the refrigerator, and knowing that I had a sore throat and wanted something comforting like soup, this was a perfect choice for dinner. The soup itself has only a few ingredients. Buttermilk is added after pureeing to give it a slight tanginess. My most favorite part about this soup was that with so few ingredients, the squash flavor was very intense. A “garnish” was also prepared, which was actually a small salad of a handful of vegetables. The garnish wasn’t really a garnish, it was more like a bunch of chopped veggies, that, when added to the soup, provided a nice crunch to every bite of soup. This description may sound a little weird for soup, but trust me, it was good.

Summer Squash Soup
Modified from August 2008 Food & Wine

Ingredients
For the soup:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 pound small yellow squash, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 small yellow onion, roughly chopped
2 fresh bay leaves
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup buttermilk
Salt and pepper

For the garnish:
6 scallions, white and tender green parts only
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup finely diced peeled cucumber
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Salt and freshly ground white pepper

Preparation
1. In a saucepan, melt the butter. Add the yellow squash, onion and bay leaves and cook over moderate heat for 8 minutes. Add the broth and water and bring to a boil. Simmer just until the squash is tender, 25 to 30 minutes.
2. While the soup is simmering, heat a pan over high heat. Rub the scallions with 1 teaspoon of the oil and grill over high heat, turning occasionally, until lightly charred, 5 minutes. Let them cool, then cut into 1/2-inch pieces.
3. Add the scallions, tomatoes, tarragon, parsley, cucumber, lemon juice and the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil in a bowl. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside until ready to serve the soup.
3. When the squash is tender, transfer it and 1/2 cup of the broth to a blender and discard the bay leaves. Puree the soup and blend in the buttermilk. Season with salt and pepper.
4. To serve, ladle soup into bowls. Put a generous portion of the garnish in each bowl.

Ingredients
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 large sweet onion, cut crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation
Preheat oven to 450°F. Separate onion slices into rings and pick out the 12 largest, reserving remainder for another use.

Whisk together egg white, buttermilk, sour cream, flour, salt, and cayenne in a shallow bowl until smooth. Add onion rings to the mixture, making sure onion rings are coated well. Let onion rings sit in the batter in the refrigerator for a few hours or until ready to use (you don’t have to let the onion rings sit in the batter, but I chose to do this in hopes of the onion absorbing some of the batter).

Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Working in batches of 4, cook onions in skillet until golden brown, about 1 minute on each side. (Use 1 teaspoon oil per batch.) Transfer rings as browned to a lightly oiled shallow (1-inch-deep) baking pan.

Bake rings in middle of oven, turning once, until crisp and deep golden, 15 minutes total.

Ingredients
1 lb purple-top turnips
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch of nutmeg
Salt and pepper as needed
Water as needed
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Preparation
Peel the turnips and cut them into 1-inch pieces. Heat half of the butter in a pan over medium heat. Add the maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, pepper and turnips. Add enough water to fill about 1/4″ of the pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. cover the pan and let the turnips steam for 8 minutes. After the 8 minutes, take the cover off and continue to cook until the water has cooked away and the syrup has glazed the turnips (this should take 3-5 minutes). Add the rest of the butter to the pan with the parsley and lemon juice. Shake around until the butter has melted and the turnips have all been coated. Serve.

The most recent time that I made this, it turned out way too salty. I don’t know if it is because I added too much salt, or because the prosciutto that I happened to get was a little saltier than last time. It was still good, but I probably would have eaten more if it was less salty. I took out the salt from the recipe, but if you wanted to salt it, do it at the end before you add the cheese.

Creamy Swiss Chard with Prosciutto

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup diced prosciutto
1/4 cup yellow onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, finely diced
1 bunch of swiss chard (about 6-8 cups)
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp nutmeg

Preparation
Heat the olive oil in a medium pan over medium heat. Add prosciutto and saute for 1 minute. Add the onion and garlic, and increase the heat to high. Saute for 1 more minute stir often. Add the chard and saute for 5 minutes. Add the heavy cream and bring to a simmer. Cook until the chard is tender, about 5 more minutes. Remove from the heat and add the Parmesan and nutmeg. Serve as soon as possible.