Food of the Future

I found a very interesting extended essay on genetically modified crops. With the country in an organic frenzy, science is stepping in with other options. This article mentions the pros and cons for GM (genetically modified) crops. This could be good because food can be made resilient against herbicide and disease.  The downside being, who controls the rights to the GM crops and the distribution of seeds may not be fair-trade. There is a great summary about how some items already in stores are GM and how there may be more GM products in the future.

http://www.markedbyteachers.com/as-and-a-level/science/extended-essay-on-147-gm-crops-148.html

Fruit Pizza-Try It!!

I always like to learn new recipes, but I also like to know what is in my food and how it is processed. I found this great article that combines both. Carrie introduced me to irradiation. Irradiation is a FDA process that increases the shelf life of food products. Carrie leaves a sweet taste in your mouth with an amazing recipe for fruit pizza. Check out this link to get her thoughts on irradiation and an unbelievable recipe for the summer!

http://deliciouslyorganic.net/fruit-pizza-recipe/

Shots Fired in the Kitchen!

I found this cookbook everyone needs to learn about especially if you love to entertain. Jelly Shots Test Kitchen by Michelle Palm takes your party to the next level. She turns classic cocktail recipes into fantastic jello shots, by using ingredients found at the grocery and liquor stores. I love the shots because I can whip them up at a moments notice. Even my friends that do not drink often, find the shots clever and tasty. Michelle has a fun blog that has pictures and recipes to even more drinkable treats.

Here is the link to Michelle's blog
jelly-shot-test-kitchen.blogspot.com

Salad is Incompatible with Life

Salad is Incompatible with Life

Yes, my waist is fifty inches -
Big for me because I'm short.
And yes, I like my cheddar cheese
When partnered with a vintage port.

Okay, okay, that double cream
Is always served with pud,
And cake and biscuits with my tea
Are just no bloody good

For my poor hardened arteries,
But see my point of view,
Please dear wifey if you please,
A Salad makes me spew!

I'd rather eat a bowl of air
Than crunch away on greens;
Drink water from the toilet bowl
Or nibble on my jeans!

But salad! Are you there?
You know it makes me snappy -
So let me fill my face with grub,
Stay fat, and die young happy!





Copyright Mark R Slaughter 2009

Dessert for Breakfast?

Dessert for Breakfast? I say why not, especially if there are bananas in your cake. Oh, and did I mention CHOCOLATE. Yes, chocolate and bananas together-who can resist? Here is a wonderful banana cake with chocolate glaze recipe. I made this Sunday night for friends and saved one last slice for this morning for breakfast. I advise you to make this for your friends so you do not devour it in one sitting.

Banana Cake with Chocolate Glaze

Yields 2 8-inch cake layers (or 9 x 13" cake)

Banana Cake
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
3 overripe bananas, mashed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (160 degrees C). Grease 2 8-inch baking pans.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in the bananas and vanilla extract.

Alternatively add and beat in the flour mixture and buttermilk in 5 additions, starting and ending with the flour. Pour batter evenly between prepared baking pans. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before removing from cake pans. Cool completely before frosting.

Chocolate Glaze
12 ounces (2 cups) semi-sweet chocolate
8 tablespoons butter

In a double boiler, melt together the chocolate and butter, stirring until smooth. Glaze will be thick. Remove from heat and frost cake before glaze hardens

http://www.pastryaffair.com/blog/2011/8/3/banana-cake-with-chocolate-glaze.html

How to make Bread

Alton brown shows us how to do it all! 

Bread is one of the most common baked goods and one of the hardest to master. With lots of patience and perseverance you can break bread as quickly as you can make bread. Here's how!

Ingredients

• 1 pound bread flour, plus extra for shaping
• 1 teaspoon instant rapid rise yeast
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 10 ounces bottled or filtered water
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 quarts hot water
• Vegetable oil, for greasing the rising container
• 2 tablespoons cornmeal
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Directions

Combine 5 ounces of the flour, 1/4 teaspoon of the yeast, all of the honey, and all of the bottled water in a straight-sided container; cover loosely and refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours.

Place the remaining 11 ounces of flour, remaining yeast, and all the salt into the bowl of a stand mixer, and add the pre-ferment from the refrigerator. Using the dough hook attachment, knead the mixture on low for 2 to 3 minutes just until it comes together. Cover the dough in the bowl with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, knead the dough on medium speed for 5 to 10 minutes or until you are able to gently pull the dough into a thin sheet that light will pass through. The dough will be sticky, but not so sticky that you can't handle it.

While the dough is kneading, pour half of the hot water into a shallow pan and place on the bottom rack of your oven.

Grease the inside of a large straight-sided container with the vegetable oil. Place the dough ball into the container and set on the rack above the pan of water. Allow to rise until doubled in size, approximately 1 to 2 hours.

Once the dough has doubled in size, turn it onto a counter top, lightly dust your hands with flour, and press the dough out with your knuckles; then fold 1 side in towards the middle of the mass and then the other, as if you were making a tri-fold wallet. Repeat the folding a second time. Cover the dough with a kitchen towel and allow to rest for another 10 minutes.

Flatten dough again with your knuckles and then fold the dough in onto itself, like you are shaping something that looks like a jellyfish. Turn the dough over and squeeze the bottom together so that the top surface of the dough is smooth. Place the dough back onto the counter and begin to roll gently between your hands. Do not grab the dough but allow it to move gently back and forth between your hands, moving in a circular motion. Move the dough ball to a pizza peel or the bottom of a sheet panthat has been sprinkled with the cornmeal. Cover with the kitchen towel and allow to bench proof for 1 hour, or until you poke the dough and it quickly fills back in where you poked it.

Place an unglazed terra cotta dish upside down into the oven and heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine the 1/3 cup of water and the cornstarch in a small bowl. Uncover the dough and brush the surface with this mixture. Gently slash the top surface of the dough ball in several places, approximately 1/3 to 1/2-inch deep. Add more of the hot water to the shallow pan if it has evaporated. Slide the bread onto the terra cotta dish in the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes. Once the bread has reached an internal temperature of 205 to 210 degrees F, remove to a cooling rack and allow to sit for 30 minutes before slicing.

An Interview with Alton Brown

I found this great interview with Alton Brown. I think I have more in common with him than a love of food.  

When did you realise you could cook?

AB : 
College. I had a pathetic social life, and I couldn’t get dates very easily -- at all -- and I found that if I offered to cook for a girl, my odds improved radically over simply asking a girl out. Through my efforts to attract the opposite sex, I found that not only did cooking work, but that it was actually fun.

I worked in restaurants all through high school and college. I had always been in a kitchen with my mom and grandma and relatives and then, yeah, I watched cooking shows, although I found them to be uniformly unsatisfying, which is why I ended up where I ended up.

What's the best way for a chef to impress his lady friend? Would it be knowledge of place, food or wine?

AB : 
No. Not at all. Um, hospitality all the way. Hospitality -- you know, showing that you love or care about the simplicity of having someone at your table and serving them from the heart. I know people that could serve me canned tuna and saltine crackers and have me feel more at home at their table than some people who can cook circles around me. The more you try to impress people, generally the less you do. 

And as far as getting to a woman’s heart through her stomach, I don’t think that there’s anything that is more important than just simply being yourself and sharing what you like. For the people that come into my house, I cook very simple food. My number one rule for cooking is just to do no harm. You know, buy simple, good ingredients and don’t mess them up. And don’t try to cover them up with your ego and your ability to use 15 different herbs and spices -- how about just cook the chicken and don’t screw it up?

You know, a lot of men want to make it look like they can conquer the food, um, and I think that’s the big mistake. You should just simply do it right.

To become a successful chef, which is more important: receiving professional schooling or learning the ropes "on the street"?

AB : 
I would say that it is like anything else: Professional schooling can get in the way as much as it can help. So I would have to say: the street. Life is always the best teacher, no matter what you’re doing.

Read more: http://www.askmen.com/celebs/interview_200/214b_alton_brown_interview.html#ixzz1st42XWrp