Soups

Explain the two soup categories.

Clear soup is a soup that is made by combining ingredients such as meat and vegetables with stock. Thick soup is a soup that is made of meat or fish or vegetable stock often containing pieces of solid food.

What types of soups are in each category?

Clear soups include flavored stocks, broths, and consommés. Thick soups include cream soups and puree soups.

What is the difference between a puree soup and cream soup?

Consommé is a rich, clear broth or stock that has been clarified, or made absolutely cleared of whole food particles.  Puree soups is a course cream soup, which is thickened by a starch found in pureed main ingredient.

What is the basis for all for all clear soups?

Stocks and broths are the basis for all clear soups. 

Lab 5: Shrimp Appetizer

SHRIMP BRUSCHETTA 

Description:

For my shrimp appetizer, to stick to my Italian theme, I made a shrimp bruschetta. This bruschetta is quick, easy, and delicious. In this shrimp bruschetta, sweet shrimp join tomato, garlic, and parsley to create a bright, flavorful topping for garlicky grilled toasts.

Uniqueness:

This appetizer is unique because it combines a sweet shrimp taste with the thick Italian taste of garlic and parsley.

Improvement:

I was really pleased with this recipe and how it turned out to be. The only thing I didn’t do was garnish an extra piece of shrimp on top of the bruschetta, so to add a more appealing look, I would garnish it with the extra piece of shrimp.

Recipe:

Ingredients

·         1 pound cooked small shrimp, peeled, deveined and chopped (reserve 16 whole for garnish, optional)

·         2 small tomatoes, cored and chopped (1 cup) 

·         2 tablespoons ketchup 

·         1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar

·         1 clove garlic, chopped

·         1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley

·         2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for brushing

·         1 1/2 tablespoons rice vinegar

·         Salt and pepper

·         16 slices of French bread

·          

Preparation

1.        Mix shrimp, tomatoes, ketchup, brown sugar, garlic and parsley. Add oil and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Keep covered and chilled.

2.        Prepare grill and set rack 6 inches from heat. Lightly brush one side of each piece of bread with oil. Grill bread, oiled side up, for 1 minute. Turn and grill other side until lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes.

3.        Spoon a heaping tablespoon of shrimp mixture on top of oiled side of each bread slice. Garnish with whole shrimp, if desired.

Critical Thinking

          Your Local Market: Research trends in your community’s population and economic growth. What type of restaurant might be a successful addition to your area and why?

              We had made a marketing plan for a nicer family restaurant with an Italian theme. Because of the large polish population in Stevens Point, it might not be best to open an Italian restaurant in point; the food is very different. Another successful restaurant style in Stevens Point is the fast food industries and chain restaurants. It seems that more chain restaurants are coming to Point, and not a lot of people are willing to take the time to eat at a sit-down restaurant. Opening our Italian restaurant might be better to do in a bigger city, like Chicago, with a larger variety of cultures. 

Lab 4: Burgers

Lab 4: "The Italian"

                                                                     Describe your burger. What makes it unique?

Our burger was the combination of two cultures: American and Italian. For the burger itself, we used Italian seasoned sausage meat, freshly chopped basil, and stuffed it with mozzarella cheese. To give it even more Italian flavor, we made a fresh tomato topping instead of the original ketchup. It included: diced tomatoes, fresh basil, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Our burger was unique because it mixed two cultures: the American burger with and Italian taste! It also had a fresh and natural taste to it—which is different than some burgers, when some burgers tend to be heavy and greasy.

Explain your marketing plan in detail. Include a picture of your burger and one of you marketing strategies.

1.      Research the Product:

a.       Before coming up with the idea of the Italian burger, I looked up many different recipes for Italian sandwiches. I found a couple good recipes, picked out the best ingredients, and combined them to make up the burger! I also got the idea of the fresh tomato topping instead of a sauce from one recipe!

2.      Establish Objectives:

a.       Our goal was to make a different style of burger with a fresh taste!

b.      Keep with the Italian theme.

3.      Develop a market strategy:

a.       To achieve this goal of the fresh Italian burger, we used mainly fresh ingredients.

4.      Implement an Action Plan:

a.       We put it all together to make our Italian burger!

5.      Evaluate/Modify the Action Plan:

a.       After cooking our Italian burger, we thought of possible ways to make it better. Some people might not like having sausage instead of a beef burger. Next time, maybe we will try and make it with a beef patty and just add Italian seasoning, garlic, and onions instead! 

Lab 3: Éclairs

Describe the process of making éclairs.

First, I made the dough in a medium saucepan. After it formed into a ball, I took it off heat and began to add the eggs. I put that in the oven and then started to work on the filling. I prepared my ingredients for the filling and then mixed it with my butterscotch pudding mix, because I did not have any vanilla at home. I filled the shells of the pastry after I took it out of the oven. I then melted chocolate with butter, confectioner’s sugar, and vanilla and poured it on top of the éclairs.

What are the various parts?

There was the dough, the filling, and the chocolate sauce.

What is unique about the dough (pate achoux)?

It was first cooked on top of the stove to form the dough and then baked in the oven.

What would you do differently next time?

I would use a pastry bag to pour the éclairs out on the pan so it would be smoother!

Syneresis vs. Curdling

Syneresis vs. Curdling

What is the difference between Syneresis and curdling?

Syneresis: “weeping”; water freed from a cooked, cooled starch gel caused by retrogradation; separation of a liquid from a gel upon standing

Curdling: Separate or cause to separate into curds or lumps.

Which dessert sauces could experience Syneresis and curdling?

Foods such as custards, melting chocolate sauce, and egg products used for crèmes can experience Syneresis and curdling.

What steps are taken to prevent Syneresis and curdling?

Curdling can be prevented by heating the product at a low heat and having patience.

For Syneresis, one way to prevent is to change the starches or add more starch. Cooling a product too fast or too slow can also caused Syneresis.

Lab 2: Dessert Sauces

Our class was divided into 6 teams of two, each group making their own dessert sauce. The sauces that we made include: fruit syrup (cranberry), caramel sauce, hot fudge, butterscotch, a mixed berry coulis, and one other group whose I do not remember! My group had caramel sauce, which was a difficult recipe, because it is very easy to burn the sugar. Fortunately, we did not burn the sugar and successfully made the sweet, warm caramel sauce. Here is the recipe: 

Caramel Sauce Recipe
Cook Time: 10 Minute
Ingredients: 
-1 cup sugar
-6 Tbsp butter
-1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

METHOD
 

1 First, before you begin, make sure you have everything ready to go - the cream and the butter next to the pan, ready to put in. Making caramel is a fast process that cannot wait for hunting around for ingredients. If you don't work fast, the sugar will burn. Safety first - make sure there are no children under foot and you may want to wear oven mitts; the caramelized sugar will be much hotter than boiling water.

2 Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan. As the sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want, from this point on. Note that this recipe works best if you are using a thick-bottomed pan. If you find that you end up burning some of the sugar before the rest of it is melted, the next time you attempt it, add a half cup of water to the sugar at the beginning of the process, this will help the sugar to cook more evenly, though it will take longer as the water will need to evaporate before the sugar will caramelize.

  

3 As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted.

4 Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat. Count to three, then slowly add the cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate. Note than when you add the butter and the cream, the mixture will foam up considerably. This is why you must use a pan that is at least 2-quarts (preferably 3-quarts) big.

5 Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass mason jar and let sit to cool to room temperature. (Remember to use pot holders when handling the jar filled with hot caramel sauce.) Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving.

Lab 1: Poaching Pears!

In this lab, we poached pears. 

Ingredients: 

-Pinch of ground cloves

-1tsp cinnamon

-2 Firm Bosc Pears 

-8oz. Pomegranate Juice 

                                                                                            MY PEAR: 

After combining the spices in with the pomegranate juice, we turned the pears for about 10 minutes. After the pears were complete, we decorated each of our plates as we wished. I decorated mine with a spiral of chocolate syrup and powdered sugar. Overall, I thought this was a very simple recipe but it was good practice for plate decorating. 

My Favorite Dessert!

Chocolate and mint--two of my favorite things combined! Just looking at the picture and hearing about the ingredients made me want to make this cake ASAP. The mint chocolate chip frosting is as amazing as it looks and the chocolate cake on the inside is to die for. This is defiantly a cake to try!

FOR THE CAKE:
Recipe from:Shugary Sweets

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup flour
9 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup brewed coffee, cooled
1/2 cup milk

FOR THE FROSTING:

1 cup butter, softened
8 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1/2 cup milk plus 2 Tbsp
11 oz dark chocolate chunks (62%cacao) or mini chocolate chips
1/8 tsp green food coloring gel

FOR THE GANACHE:

3/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
1/4 tsp peppermint extract

1. In medium bowl, sift cocoa with flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. Set aside. In measuring cup, mix coffee and milk together. Set aside.

2. In mixer, beat butter and sugar for about 5 minutes until smooth. Beat in eggs one at a time. Slowly add in dry ingredients alternating with the coffee/milk blend (about 3 additions of each).

3. Pour cake batter into two prepared pans (two 9inch cake pans lined with parchment paper and then greased and floured). Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes. Remove and allow to cool about 10 minutes before removing from pans. Cool completely before frosting.

4. For frosting, in food processor, pulse dark chocolate until small bits (not powder)! Set aside.

5. In mixer, beat butter, powdered sugar and milk (slowly add the milk, you may not need it all) for 3-5 minutes, until smooth and creamy. Add in extract and food coloring gel. Mix until fully blended. Add more milk if necessary to desired consistency. Fold in chopped dark chocolate or chocolate chips.

6. Frost first layer of cake, then top it with second layer. Completely frost sides and top of cake.

7. For the ganache, heat 3/4 cup heavy cream in saucepan. Bring just to a boil and remove from heat. Place chocolate chips in a bowl then slowly add in hot cream and extract. Stir until smooth and completely combined. Allow ganache to cool then pour over chocolate cake.

Communications Quiz

For my personality quiz, I scored as the: 

Brainy Type
Brainy types focus on Facts and prefer Thinking over Action. Brainy types are:
1. Calm
2. Quiet
3. Private
4. Detail Oriented
5. Logical & Structured

After you learn about your preferred communication type, think about how your co-workers like to communicate. If you’re very different, you may find it harder work well together. By understanding you and the people around you, you can make small adjustments in the way you deal with them to build better relationships and get better results.

I agree that I'm quiet and think logically, but I believe I work well with others. I think good communication is essential to be successful in your job, and this "type" assumes that I have troubles with communicating. Besides that, I agree with the characteristics that are in the brainy category.