BarcellonaBites

Hot Potato

Joe, a guy who was in culinary school with me (but in the 14-month program), works with me at the Bistro. He showed me a great technique tonight when peeling potatoes. Peel toward you. So simple but it makes so much difference. You can peel a potato in 25% of the time. Less energy. Less time. All good. Only 164 more hours to go.

Poaching Eggs

I learned the coolest thing tonight about poaching eggs. I always thought that for eggs benedict you had to use those little silicon egg cups or a special poaching pan to get that classic shape of the EB egg. Well, you don't. You can take a pot of water, put a splash of vinegar and a pinch of salt in in. Bring it to a boil and then down to a simmer. Crack and egg into a small bowl. Then gently drop the egg into the water. it'll sink to the bottom, but as you watch it the white will form around the yolk. In about 3 minutes, a perfectly formed EB egg is floating to the top and you can plop it on your English muffin.

Of course the first time I tried this, with the chef standing right next to me, I accidentally dropped the bowl into the pot of water. Giant splash. Loud scream and then hysterical laughing. Egg everywhere. it wasn't pretty But it was funny.

Knife Drills, Slices & Dices

I'm going to be maiming a lot of innocent potatoes over the next four weeks. We have to master a bunch of different dices. My biggest problem tonight was the fact that in the kitchen lighting, I couldn't distinguish between the white potato and the white cutting board. I've got to go get a colored silicone sheet to put down because my depth perception is totally off. For the drills, we just grab a million potatoes and Chef Jared tells us which dice to do. For the final, he'll stand there and yell out "25 small dice, 2 minutes, NOW!" and you have to crank it out. So if anyone wants some potatoes for chowder, don't bother going to the store, just stop by.

And if you've ever wondered how big to dice something when a recipe saysy "large dice," now you know. Here's what I have to master:

Fine Julienne 1/16" x 1/16" x 2"

Julienne 1/8" x 1/8" x 2"

Batonnet 1/4" x 1/4" x 2"

Small Dice 1/4" x 1/4" x 1/4"

Medium Dice 1/2" x 1/2" x 1/2"

Large Dice 3/4" x 3/4" x 3/4"

Brunoise 1/8" 1/8" x 1/8"

Paysanne 1/2" x 1/2" x 1/8"

Tourne 3/4" diameter, 2" long, 7 sided

10 Tips for Baking Perfect Cupcakes

1. Fill your cupcake wells 1/2 to 1/3 full.Any more and you'll get a gooey mess instead of a beautiful cupcake. If you use less than 1/2 a well of batter, then you'll get a wimpy cupcake will have to use extra frosting to make them look larger.

2. Choose the right cupcake pan.Good cupcake pans are shiny and on the heavy side. They'll cook 6 to 12 cupcakes at a time. Large muffin pans don't work well for baking precious little cupcakes. Make sure you have two pans available because then you won't have to cool a pan before you finish baking your cupcakes. Two 12 well cupcake pans should be enough for one batch of cookies.

3. Make it easy to remove the cupcakes from your pan.Either use paper or foil wrappers or spray the individual wells with a nonstick spray. If you're using a new silicone pan, wrappers or nonstick spray works in in these also.

4. Don't over mix your batter.This will cause your cupcakes to be rather chewy instead of perfectly moist. Follow the directions in your cupcake recipe. If your recipe calls for a hand mixer and you're using a stand mixer, you'll need to reduce your mixing time. Stand mixers mix batters faster than regular hand mixers. Consult your owners manual for mixing time adjustment.

5. Bring all ingredients to room temperature before mixing your cupcake batter.The items will mix even;y and the result will be a wonderful cupcake batter. By mixing cold items into your batter, you risk having lumpy batter which might cause you to over mix your batter. GASP! What a No No!!!

6. Bake your cupcakes at the proper temperature. Preheat your oven to the correct temperature BEFORE you put your cupcakes in the oven. An oven thermometer would also be a good idea to make sure your oven is set to the right temperature. If your oven cooks food faster at the rear of the oven, then make sure you rotate your cupcake pan halfway through the baking time. Watch them. They cook fast in convection ovens.

7. Use your favorite cake batter to make cupcakes. Batter for an 8 inch layer cake usually makes 20-24 cupcakes. Just make sure you have mixed the batter well, and only fill the cupcake liners 1/2 to 1/3 full. Bake approximately 20 minutes and check for doneness using a toothpick or cake tester into the center of the cupcake.

8. Test for doneness after the minimum cooking time. If the cupcakes aren't finished cooking after the minimum time, then place them back in the oven for some additional cooking time. Cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

9. Cook only one pan of cupcakes at  a time. Place your cupcake pan in the very center of your oven. If your oven tends to cook items more in the front than in the back, then rotate your pan halfway through the cooking time. If you absolutely have to bake two pans of cupcake at one time, make sure you switch cupcake pans halfway through the cooking time. By this, I mean put the bottom pan on the top and move the top pan to the bottom.

10. Cupcakes are best eaten the same day they are made.  Undecorated cupcakes can be frozen up to three months.

Quick Bread Mixing Methods

Muffin Method

1. Combine all wet ingredients.

2. Combine all dry ingredients.

3. Combine wet and dry ingredients all together at once.

4. Mix just until everything is moist. DO NOT OVER MIX.

 

Biscuit Method

1. Combine all dry ingredients together.

2. Cut in fat to a pea size. Make sure fat is cold.

3. Add liquids all at once.

4. Mix only until combined. DO NOT OVER MIX.

Creaming Method (for cookies or muffins)

1. Cream fat and sugars until light and fluffy.

2. Add eggs one at a time until incorporated. Add flavorings.

3. Add sifted dry ingredients all at once.

4. Mix until blended. DO NOT OVER MIX. If there is liquid to add, it is done here and can be added alternately with the dry ingredients (if a lot) or with the egg mixture (if a little).

Yeast Bread Mixing Methods

You'll be seeing these mixing method terms throughout my recipes. There are a few terms you need to know.

Take-up = When you mix the dough and the ingredients are thoroughly combined and start to pull away from the side of the mixing bowl.

Window Pane = When you know the dough is read to ferment. You take a small amount of dough and pull it apart with your fingers. If you can pull it thin enough to see through it and poke it with your finger without breaking it, then it is Window Pane ready.

Straight Dough Mixing Method

1. Combine yeast and liquid.

2. Add flour and salt.

3. Mix until take-up.

4. Knead until window pane.

Modified Straight Dough Method

2. Combine yeast and liquid.

3. Feed 1/3 of the flour to the yeast mixture.

4. Add other ingredients (fat, sugar, etc.)

5. Blend until well mixed.

6. Add the rest of the flour and salt.

7. Mix until take-up.

8. Switch to dough hook and knead until window pane.

Sponge Dough Method

2. Combine liquid and yeast

3. Add 1/2 of the flour.

4. Autolyse (ferment covered with plastic in bowl).

5. Add rest of flour, salt and other ingredients.

6. Mix until smooth (and somewhat sticky) dough.

A Pint is a Pound the World Around

 

I've always struggled to remember how many cups in pints, pints in quarts, etc. That is until Chef Jenni gave me this little illustration to help me remember. It's really simple. Picture this in your head when you're at the grocery store and you'll know how much you need to buy.

There are:

2 cups in a pint

2 pints in a quart

4 quarts in a gallon

Another couple things to remember: There are 8 ounces in a cup. And "a pint is a pound the world around," meaning a pint is always 16 ounces, so a pound is always 16 ounces. And if you ever get a chance, ask Chef Jenni about Mr. Gallon.