Interim Conclusion

We have now come to the end of our Recipes and Context interim course.  Overall, this course has been a wonderful experience for me and I feel that I have learned many useful things this past month.  Among these learned items include, measurement techniques, food styling, the mechanics of writing a recipe, and how to make food substitutions in the kitchen.

Going through different resources, such as articles about people in food, videos, and books, has given me a broader idea of all the broad aspects of cooking and food in general.  Also, our sharing blogs with our personal recipes and cooking experiences in class was a great way for all of us to get to know each other in both a culinary and more personal way through the people and stories associated with our food.

My favorite part of the course was cooking meals for each other. We spread these meals out over four days, with about five dishes per day. Each meal generally consisted of one or two main dishes, sides, and a dessert. Also, we enjoyed Thai tea with the first meal. I was very impressed by how delicious all the meals were. Everything that was prepared by the class was excellent.

Looking back at everything I have done in this course, I am proud of all the things I have been able to accomplish with my cooking and recipe development.  This class has taught me several new things that I will be able to use as I move forth in my culinary experiences.  I am happy to have come through this course learning new things and am excited to use them when I re-enter the kitchen!

Side Dish: Madagascar Fruit Salad

While planning our final meals for this year's Recipes and Context interim, we decided to add side dishes to the meals to round them out a bit.  We decided that a fruit salad would be nice for our second meal.  Thinking of some of my favorite fruit salad recipes, I decided to volunteer a recipe for Madagascar fruit salad.  I first made this sweet, syrupy fruit salad in sixth grade when a friend and I had to represent Madagascar in a culture fair.  Liz and I were searching for some type of food we could make to impress the judges of the fair when we came upon this recipe for Salady Voankazo online at www.africa.upenn.com.  The signature ingredient for this dish is vanilla, something I didn't often associate with fresh fruit.

Here is the approximate recipe from http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Cookbook/Madagascar.html#SALADYVOANKAZO:

Salady Voankazo

Fruit:
1 cup fresh pinapple, chopped
1 cup cantaloupe, chopped
1 cup oranges, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 cup strawberries, stemmed and sliced

Syrup:
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
vanilla extract for finishing fuit salad

1. Combine fruit in heat-resistant bowl.
2. In a small saucepan, combine sugar, water, salt, and lemon juice. 
3. Bring sugar mixture to a boil and boil hard for 1 minute.
4. Remove syrup from heat and add 2 tablespoons vanilla.
5. Pour hot syrup over fruit.
6. Chill fruit salad in a refridgerator for at least 1 hour before serving.
7. When ready to serve, pour a little vanilla extract over fruit salad.

Yield: about one quart, or 8 servings

Enjoy!

Mom's Banana Bread

As an additional recipe for my blog, I have decided to include my mom's banana bread recipe, which was given to her by her mother.  Last week, I baked with my mom to see how she prepared her healthy banana bread.  This bread is a healthy, fulfilling breakfast that people of all age may enjoy.  My mom often prepares loaves to bring with her to work or share with people over the holidays.

Starting out, my mom had me combine all the dry and wet ingredients seperately.  I also had to mash the bananas seperately from these two mixes, to be added in last.  For flour, my mom uses one cup white and one cup wheat flour, so that the bread will be slightly healthier than one with white flour only, but still nice and moist.  Instead of butter, my mom used vegetable oil in the mix.  After combining all the ingredients, we baked the bread at 375 degrees for 20 minutes then at 350 degrees for an additional 25 to 30 minutes.  After baking, we let the loaf sit in the pan for a few minutes before transfering it to a cooling rack.

 

Banana Bread

This delicious, healthy bread is a great breakfast food my mom got from my grandmother. 

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 egg

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons softened butter or oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

½ cup milk (soy or regular)
2 bananas (about 2 cups), mashed
¼ cup nuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 375 ͦ F.

2. Combine whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, and baking soda.  Set aside.

3. In a medium-sized bowl, beat egg into the sugar. 

 

 

4. To the egg mixture, add the shortening, vanilla, milk, and bananas. Mix until combined.

5. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture.  Add nuts if desired.

 

6. Bake in greased and floured bread pan at 375 ͦfor20 minutes.

7. Reduce oven temperature to 350 ͦand bake for an additional 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.

8. Cool, in pan, for 5 minutes.

9. Transfer bread to wire cooling rack and let sit until cool enough to handle.

10. Serve with butter, if desired.

11. Store remaining bread in refrigerator.
 

Yield: 1 loaf (about 8 servings)

 

Project 2: Mammaw's Apple Pie

For my second project, cooking with someone, I decided to let my dad teach me how to make my grandmother’s (Mammaw’s) apple pie.  When my family visits my Mammaw and Papaw, Mammaw always makes the most wonderful desserts for us.  One of these is her apple pie.  This classic pie tastes delicious with her homemade crust with a sort of sugary glaze on top.  Cutting into the pie, one can see how full it is of apples and how well the pieces stay together to create the perfect slice.

Because Mammaw lives in West Virginia, I turned to my dad to try to teach me the secrets to my favorite kind of apple pie.  My dad began by giving me the crust recipe and showing me how to put together the dough.  We added half the butter into the flour to begin with, then added the other half a little later to make mixing the dough together easier.   

Mammaw, me, my dad, and my sister building a snowman over winter break.

 

After making the dough, we made the pie filling.  Mammaw doesn’t usually measure exactly the ingredients to go inside the pie, so my dad taught me how to look at the apple mixture and taste a slice of mixture-covered apple to determine if our balance of ingredients was correct.  Measuring what we added and calling Mammaw for some specific measurements, we were able to determine how much of each ingredient was to be added to the pie.   

Once we had assembled the filling, we put one piece of dough in the bottom of a glass pie pan and put the filling over it.  Although many people poke holes in the bottom of the pie, my dad shared with me that Mammaw didn’t.  Following the filling, we put the second piece of pie dough over the filling.  My dad taught me how to seal the pie put pushing the dough up slightly on the sides so the bottom and top crusts were joined but the dough didn’t crack.  We also cut off any extra dough that hung over the edge of the pie plate. 

Finally, we used a fork to make small holes in the top crust and brushed it with egg whites, making sure not to put too much in any one area.  We sprinkled sugar on the pie after about 20 minutes of baking, so the sugar would not burn.  In our first attempt, we added a bit too much lemon juice and sugar, but we were able to adjust the recipe slightly to better duplicate the flavor of Mammaw’s delicious pie.  Enjoy!

 

Mammaw’s Apple Pie

This sweet pie is a trademark of my grandmother’s during the holidays.

For crust:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1 teaspoon salt

¾ cup shortening

5 teaspoons cold water
 

For filling:

6 cups apples, thinly sliced

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar, divided

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 egg white 

To make crust:

1. Sift flour and salt together.

2. Add half of shortening to flour mixture and combine using a fork.

3. Mix in remaining shortening, making sure not to overwork.

4. Add water and combine mixture with hands until it creates a firm, cohesive dough.

5. Form dough into a ball with hands and transfer to lightly floured surface.

6. Tear ball in half and form two balls.

7.  Use a rolling pin to shape dough into two circular shapes, about 1/16 inch thick each.

 

To make pie: 

1. Preheat oven to 375 ͦ F.

2. Place one piece of crust dough in the bottom of an ungreased glass pie plate.
 

 

3. In a medium bowl, combine apple slices, ½ cup sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon juice. Mix until all apple slices are coated.

4. Pour apple mixture into crust. 

5. Cover filling will second piece of pie crust.

6. Gently pinch upper and lower crust together to seal in filling, making sure not to tear any holes in the crust.

7. Carefully remove and pie crust hanging off the edge of the pie plate.

8. Using a knife, poke small holes into the top of the pie crust.
 

9.  Use a fork to gently scramble the egg white and use a pastry? brush to brush the top pie crust, so that there is a thin layer of egg white over the entire upper crust.

10.  Bake pie for 20 minutes then sprinkle top with remaining sugar.

11. Bake for an additional 20-25 minutes or until top is golden brown and liquid begins to bubble out of crust slightly. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream, if desired.

 

 

Yield: 1 pie (about 8 servings)

Using this recipe again, I had enough for two pies, so I tried making individual pies in a cupcake pan and found it worked out nicely.  To make these, follow the recipe for the regular-sized pie, but instead treat each cupcake tin like an individual pie.  One pie recipe makes about seven individual pies. Here's a picture of them after baking!

Project 1: Blackened Chicken and Corn Chowder

For my first recipe, I have developed a version of chicken corn chowder.  Looking through multiple recipes for corn chowders, I decided I wanted to integrate a mix of vegetables into the soup, as well as add a little heat.  This idea came from a southwestern corn chowder I tried previously and truly enjoyed.

 

 I didn’t choose a specific recipe to alter, but rather looked at the basic ingredients listed in multiple chowder recipes I found online.  I did, however, look to a recipe my dad had for a chowder-style vegetable soup to see what vegetables I might want to combine in my soup.  One idea that came from this recipe was using leeks in place of the traditional onions.  I found the leeks added a nice onion flavor to the soup without being so intense as some onions can be.  Also, the pale green parts of the leeks were visually desirable in the soup.  I tried using carrots in my first test recipe, but found the orange bits unattractive and a bit sweet for the overall product.  Thus, I omitted them in the recipe.

 



 

Because I wanted the slightly spicy element that I liked in the southwestern chowder, I decided on the blackened chicken.  The blackening seasoning adds a slightly smoky element to the chowder and adds heat to the end of a bite.  I counted on the flour and half-and-half in the chowder to take some of the heat away from the chicken so as to not take away from the flavor of the corn and other vegetables.

 

In testing my recipe for the chowder, I made several alterations between batches to account for issues I faced along the way.  One such issue was that of the chowder’s thickness.  When I began the recipe, I decided I wanted to thicken the soup using a type of rue as a base.  I did this by cooking the vegetables in butter then adding flour to them before adding any of the liquid elements.  Additionally, I added half-and-half to make the soup a bit thicker and creamier.  The tricky part with this type of thickening is determining exactly how much flour would create the optimal consistency in the final product.  My first trial, using three tablespoons flour, resulted in a chowder that was too thin for my liking.  As a result, I increased the flour content and found that ½ cup gave a good thickness without taking away from the flavor of the soup.  The first version of the chowder I made was a bit spicy for my liking, but the added flour in the next trial helped mellow the heat to the point where I was happy with the balance.

 

After all this testing and adjusting, I came up with the above recipe.  I hope you all enjoy it!

 

Blackened Chicken and Corn Chowder

This is a slightly spicy spin on the traditional creamy chicken corn chowder, adding warmth through the integration of blackened chicken pieces.

 

3 tablespoons butter

1 medium leek, white and light green portions only, finely chopped

½ stalk celery, finely chopped

3 small red potatoes, finely chopped

1 red or yellow bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped

3 cups frozen corn, thawed

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

4 cups chicken broth

2 blackened chicken breasts, finely chopped
    (see below)

½ cup curly parsley

¾ cup half-and-half

salt and pepper 

For blackened chicken:

½ teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon onion powder

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

salt and pepper

2 thin chicken breast slices (about ¼ pound each)

2 tablespoons olive oil

 

1. Melt butter in medium sized pan over medium-high heat. 

2. Add leek and cook, stirring often, until slightly browned, about 6 minutes. 

3. Stir in potato, pepper, celery, and corn. Cook until slightly soft, about 10 minutes. If vegetables begin to stick to bottom of pan, lower heat slightly.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

 

 

4. While vegetables are cooking, prepare blackened chicken and reserve:

- Combine oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and cayenne pepper on flat plate or in
a 9x9 baking dish.  Season with salt and pepper.

            - Add chicken, one piece at a time, to dish and coat completely with seasoning.

- Add olive oil to sauté pan and heat over medium-high to high heat for a few minutes, or until sizzling is heard when chicken is added. Make sure oil does not smoke or burn.

- Cook chicken pieces in pan, about 3 minutes on each side, or until the outside of the chicken is dark but not burnt and chicken is cooked through. Reduce heat if pan gets too hot.
 

Blackening seasoning ready for chicken to be added.

 

5. Stir in flour, coating all the vegetables.  Cook for 1 minute. 

6. Add chicken broth, making sure to scrape off any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. 

7. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium and add parsely. 

8. Stir in chicken and reduce heat to low. 

9. Add half-and-half and simmer on low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, or until ready to serve.  Do not keep heat on for more than 20 minutes after half-and-half is added.

 

10. Garnish with curly parsley and serve with sliced bread, if desired. 

Yield: about 8 (one cup) servings

 

Introduction

            My name is Madison, and I’m a freshman here at Wofford.  Over the past few years, cooking has become one of my favorite hobbies.  I love to search for new recipes to try out and share with my friends and family.  Often, I get inspiration from dishes I see on television shows, websites, or ones I have tried myself and enjoyed. 

            Probably my favorite type of food to make and eat is Italian food.  I find there are countless possibilities for Italian food that are both delicious and not too difficult or time-consuming.  It’s easy to be creative when it comes to making foods like pasta or pizza, which can have just about any flavor profile imaginable, depending on the desired outcome for the dish.  I also enjoy making risotto.  It is a wonderful comfort food for any time of the year.  Fresh salads and bread always go wonderfully with this type of food as well. 

            Express Entree, Annandale. Google. Web. 7 Jan. 2013. http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&tbo=d&biw=886&bih=398&tbm=isch&tbnid=I9yV4RnHP0KRuM:&imgrefurl=http://www.expressentree.com/italian-food-delivery.asp&docid=Gi_KBX6qWRH2kM&imgurl=http://ww.

 

In addition to Italian food, I also enjoy making some French and American foods.   Furthermore, I like to eat foods such as Asian or Greek, although I generally do not try to prepare these types.  One of my favorite foods to make is French braised short ribs with gruyere mashed potatoes.  I don’t consider myself a very picky eater.  I eat most common foods except really spicy foods, foods heavy in mayonnaise, and salmon. 

Not only do I like to prepare savory foods, but I also like to make desserts.  I am often drawn to sweet foods, so I enjoy baking and otherwise preparing dessert foods.  Ice cream is one of my favorite things to eat and I like to occasionally make my own also.  Some of my friends and I make rice gelato together and, as obscure as it may sound, the recipe for this treat is one of the best I’ve tried.  I also like to bake desserts such as cupcakes and pies. 

I enjoy trying new foods and new recipes and hope to expand my cooking ability through exposure to diverse recipes and ideas in food.       

Project Plans

As part of my Recipes and Context interim course, I am learning how to properly write a successful recipe that can be replicated by others.  In order to demonstrate what I am learning in the course,  I will be working on two projects, a personally developed recipe and one passed on to me by a mentor.
 

For my developed recipe, I will prepare my own version of chicken corn chowder.  I love a good chicken corn chowder, especially on a rainy or cold day, but I have never attempted to make my own.  Looking at several recipes for this particular item, I have discovered endless variations for this soup which all seem to have a basic base in common between them- a thick creamy broth, chicken, and vegetables. I am using this base to build the fundamental flavor profile for my chicken corn chowder.  From the base, I will be adding ingredients which I feel will enhance this dish. 

                               Me in front of a kitchen in a restaurant I visited in Rome two summers ago.


As for the passed-on recipe, my father will be demonstrating to me my grandmother's apple pie. I am generally not a huge pie lover, except when it comes to this apple pie. It combines a soft homemade bottom crust, a thick layer of perfectly cooked apples, cinnamon, and a crispy top crust with a few other ingredients to create a deliciously sweet dessert that is absolutely impossible to resist. One of my favorite parts of the pie is the light dusting of sugar baked onto the top of the pie.

My dad will begin our session by showing me the way his mother (we call her mamaw) prepares her homemade crust.  He will then take me through the pie preparation and baking. Mamaw is known for her excellent baking and her pies are always one of the first things to go at our family reunions.  Although I cannot work directly with her due to her living several hours away, I hope I will be able to closely replicate her pie through my dad’s demonstrating the recipe for me.

 
Over the next two weeks, I will be working on these projects as well as seeing similar presentations from my fellow classmates.  My completed recipes will be posted on this blog, along with pictures of the food and a discussion of my recipe development experience.