Josh and I 3rd Anniversary in Charlotte

I always talk about food on here so I was going to share a little about my weekend with Josh in Charlotte.


 It all started with flowers being on my door step  Josh surprised me the day after our 3rd anniversary.
I was so excited!! Then on Tuesday I get a phone call from Josh saying he is on his way. I was thrilled and not only did he come but he brought me a Brian's Subs. If you have been to Dublin, GA and need some where to eat look up Brian's Sub!!! Get the #10 it is amazing. fresh bread and great cold cuts.

For our anniversary Josh got me a PINK chef's jacket and if you know me you know I LOVE IT!!!

 So for our anniversary and Josh's Birthday we went to Ruth Chris they have great steaks that are put on a plate that is 500 degrees to keep the steak warm while you eat. Since it was Josh's Birthday they surprised him and brought him a dessert platter that we shared

Like always Josh and I have no luck with valet they lost his truck for 30 minutes which now all we can do is laugh about it . We had a great time together just did not last long enough.





I cant wait to spend even more anniversaries with him







Until my Next Culinary Adventure ,
                                                          Marti

Chocolate Chocolate

O wow at the chocolate I have tried.

On day one we started by trying different chocolates. We started with coverture chocolates which have 33% or more cocoa butter inside. we started with white chocolate, then milk chocolate and then dark chocolate. He then gave us a piece of Hershey's chocolate and O WOW!!! I think I will never Hershey's chocolate again. It tasted like it was 5 years old after having coverture chocolate.

We started making truffles, then covered them in chocolate.

Next we created these cute little mice these were very cute but a little complicated. they have a truffle filling and almond ears.

 
 

 
 
We also started to make Bonbons. We made these with a gingerbread spice, mocha and peanut butter crisp filling, then covered with chocolate.


I am also super excited about a chocolate box we are making for our homework project. I am putting a chocolate shoe on top of my box. Also I am excited to be coming home for Thanksgiving break. I will get to spend quality time with Addison (my Niece and mini me) and my brother James and the rest of my family. Addison has scheduled us time to bake and make goodies for everyone.


Till my  Next culinary Adventure,
Marti

Viennoiserie

Hey y'all sorry for such a long post,  Plus as everyone knows my computer CRASHED
 

 I have been super busy with school and having a surprise visit from Josh , which was great!!! 

Today we finished making croissants, we started on day 1 with making the dough and today we laminated and shaped the croissants. My croissants had a crunchy outside with a soft and flaky inside.  These croissants had a   buttery flavor with a little bit of salt that balanced the butter well. My product looks neat being able to display the layers of the laminated dough. When making the laminated dough the most critical point of making the product is making sure that the dough is cooler than the butter that helps make the layers of the dough more distinct.  I had some problems with uniformity from the different pressure to one side of the dough to the other.  My product was made correctly with little flaws some of the inside of my croissant were a little doughy because of the pressing between the layers being pressed to tight together.

Day 3

 

On this day we produced a muffin with our choice of flavorings and sweet Danishes. I chose to make a caramel walnut and apple muffin with a streusel topping and flat icing. In this product has a very nice outside color with a crumble from the streusel. The flavor of the apple was not as strong as hopped it had more of a cinnamon flavor that over powered the apples. The walnuts were inside and also in the streusel giving a nice crunch to contrast with the fluffy muffin insides. If I was to make this again I would make sure to add more apples and to cook it down for a longer time to bring out more of the apple flavor. Next we made the Danish; this process of laminating the dough was a little different than the croissants because on the Danish you can see the different layers of dough. These were filled with pastry cream, cream cheese filling and different fruits. Danishes were very flaky crust and a smooth filling. The crust would melt in your mouth from the lamination of the butter. I feel these turned out well I learned how to create different shapes and which holds fillings better.  When making the Danish a critical step during lamination is to make sure that your dough is not too warm because it would make the butter begin to melt making the layers not so uniformed. This would not ruin your product but it would not look the best.  

Day 4

 

On day four we began the day with making whole wheat Danish with a savory filling. The savory filling is different than the sweet because of the shapes you can create because we want to pack as much filling as possible. Most of our filling contained a meat with cheese. These Danishes looked great with the dark brown crust with still having the middle creamy with the cheese and different sauces. Also on day four we made orange cranberry muffin. This had a nice balance of flavors. The orange brought out some sweetness in the dried cranberries but also allowed the tang of citrus to come out. I feel like today went well I was able to have time to produce my products with great flavors. If I was to produce the whole wheat Danish for a large scale I would change the way the Danishes were cut by maybe using a sharp cutter or maybe a cookie cutter. I would also use one or two different techniques of shaping then adding different ingredients.  

Day 5

 

Doughnut day! On day 5 we produced yeast, and cake doughnuts while also making other fried breads. The cake doughnuts were very tight with the crumb texture. They had a very nice crunchy exterior. Yeast raised doughnuts are my favorite and these were no exception. These doughnuts were light and fluffy inside with a brown exterior. With the same dough we made jelly doughnut, this had a warm outside and a cool inside filling. We filled these with pastry cream, raspberry and blue berry fillings. This day was a little crazy with all the different products being fried and having to then be decorated. If we were able to redo this day I would make sure everything is more organized and maybe set up in stations to make sure that everything was done in an orderly fashion. 

Day 6

 

Day six was all about cinnamon buns, sticky buns and coffee cake. Sticky buns have a very good flavor of cinnamon and sweetness. The thing that makes a sticky bun is the smear that is put on the bottom of the pan that allows the moistness to it and the “stickiness” aspect. I like having the pecans on top giving it the different texture with a slight salty aspect to contracts from the bread and then the sweet of the caramel sauce. Our next recipe was our coffee cake. This is a great and simple quick bread. It gives you a sweet taste with the slight spice of cinnamon and by adding the streusel on top gives you a little crunch. When producing the sticky bun I would have allowed it to cool off a little more before flipping it over so that we do not lose all the smear that ends up running on the sheet pan when you flip it over when it come straight from the oven. Another critical point of the cinnamon/ sticky bun is when baking them. They may not be done in the middle but cooked in the outside. This could mess up your whole production because of serving undercooked dough is unacceptable.

Day 7

 

On day seven we made Gugelhopf and a banana challenge that was given at the beginning of the day. The Gugelhof we made was savory bread made with ham, onion, garlic, cheese and fresh herbs. The taste of the ham and fresh herbs gave a little saltiness from the ham and freshness from the herbs. It was also balanced very well with the onion and garlic mixture. This would be a good afternoon snack because of the protein and savory flavors. Our banana challenge was a Banana and Peanut Butter nondairy ice cream served on top of a funnel cake with bruleed banana and a caramel sauce. I thought that the peanut butter over powered the bananas. I liked how the funnel cake and bruleed bananas gave a crunch aspect while the ice cream gives you a cool smooth texture. Today I would have changed that ratio of peanut butter to banana and try to bring out more of the banana flavor. I also would try to add a better crunch aspect than the funnel cake to make it easier to eat. The critical point in the ice cream was to make sure it was going to be able to have time to freeze and the plating time is crucial so that it does not melt.

Day 8

 

On day eight we started working on our practical. We had to make Brioche and three different ways of using the brioche . I produced savory brioche that was filled with tomato sauce and different toppings. I enjoyed the savory brioche that contained sauteed onions and mushrooms. This gave a balance of sweetness from the onions and then the mushrooms give a soft woodned flavor. Our next brioche was couches this is the brioche with a topping of sugar flour and primex, then stamped . Next was our entrameys , these had a great contrast in texture between crumb for the struesel and the smoothness of filling. Also because of the flavor combonation of sweetness of the Rasberry jam with the tartness of the cream cheese filling. I feel like the only change I would make during the day was on the entrameys I should have made my layers more defined.

                              Yeasted Yelly Doughnuts

Recipe:                    Yield: 2.5 lb total dough  (20 – 25 doughnuts)         

 Dough:

            Milk, 70*F                  500 gr.            

            Egg                                80 gr.

            Egg yolk                        80 gr.            

            Sugar                           120gr. 

            All-Purpose flour        1,000gr.                      

            Fresh yeast                    60 gr.            

            Salt, Kosher                  17 gr.            

            Butter                          120gr. 

  Make a sponge out of flour, milk and yeast.
Rest for about 30 minute
Add  all other ingredients and develop the gluten structure until the dough comes away from the sides of the mixing bowl.
The dough should have a temperature of 78*F.
Rest  for 20 minutes and divide into 50 gr pieces and shape into round dough balls and place on flour dusted sheet pans of wooden boards.
  Proof for 45-60 minutes at 80*F in the proof box.
  Fry at 375*F for about 3 minutes.
  Fill with jelly and coat with sugar or glace.
  If there is no sufficient time to make a sponge, dough conditioner could be added and all ingredients can be mixed together in a straight dough mixing method.