Valentine’s Day Blog

Hello! Happy Valentine’s Day on behalf of the Terrier Bakery. I’d like to start out by introducing myself. My name is Lena LePelley and I am a freshman here at Hiram! This is my second semester as a part of the Terrier Bakery. Last semester, we focused on how to bake basic breads, and I specialized in baking our New York Jewish rye. While normally we stick to making customer favorites such as the French baguettes, monkey muffins, and cheddar rolls, this semester we’re kneading our dough in a bit of a new direction, as we are learning to make pastries. This Valentine’s Day, I would like to introduce you to a pastry called Choux à la crème, also known as Cream Puffs. In French, “choux” means cabbage. It is also used in many expressions of endearment, such as: “Tu es mon petit chou,” meaning “you are my little cabbage” or “you are my little darling.”

Cream puffs were introduced in the United States in 1880 although this sweet treat was said to have originated from Europe around 1540. There are many myths about how, who, and where the cream puff was first created. Some believe they were created when a pastry chef made them for Henry II of France. This pastry chef worked for Catherine De Medici, who was the daughter of the famous Renaissance family in Italy, and the Queen of France.

 Cream Puffs are an odd pastry. They are created when flour is added to a boiling mixture of butter and water. After that, they are then cooked at a very high temperature, until they form into a small hollow ball. Before cooling down, these small hollow balls are to be cut in half or else they will completely deflate. By doing this, you can then fill the puff with a sweet cream. Below is a picture of cream puffs, along with a recipe you can use to make this delicious treat!     

http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/bakingdesserts/r/Cream-Puff-Recipe.htm

A Behind the Scenes Look at the Terrier Bakery

Hello, my name is Sebastian Jenkins, and I am a freshman at Hiram College! I am also new to the Terrier Bakery this year, and I play football and baseball here at the college. But this week, I want to talk to you about our very own Professor, Ella Kirk.  I decided to interview her and her experience not only within the Terrier Bakery, but also her time here at Hiram College. I was inspired just by the smile she had on her face. Also, while I was talking to her, it was easy to tell that she loves what she does. She began her career at Hiram in 1993, and she was simply looking for a job; however, Ella came to Hiram because she loved her Hiram students, and it was also a great fit.

Ella began her love for baking after living in France where she had a very good experience with food. She also said she loves to bake because bakers love to eat! Once she came back, she wanted to learn how to make certain foods from France.

 Ella has run the bakery here at Hiram College for five years. The first three breads she started baking with her students in the bakery included French bread, pain de mie, and a wheat bread, which was very unpopular, so she decided to stop making it. The first two breads, the French bread and the pain de mie, are still made in the bakery today.  Ever since she started, she has always had between 10 and16 students in her class who assist her in the bakery. She is hoping for some expansions on the bakery, and she especially wants to have a bigger kitchen because right now there is not a lot space. The team now uses their resources wisely and makes the small amount of space work well.  

 Ella’s door is always open and she always has great stories to tell. Thank you, Ella for starting the bakery and working to help it grow each and every year.  I am very thankful to be a part of your class and the bakery this semester for many reasons, including my love for the food.kirkew@hiram.edu

A New Year for the Terrier Bakery!

Hello, and welcome to the Terrier Bakery Blog.  My name is Joshua Smith, and I will be kicking off the blog this year!  I took the freshman colloquium, “The Art of Making Dough,” with Ella my first semester here at Hiram College. Before the class and working in the bakery, I had never successfully baked anything, but I thought the class would be a great way to learn. I was right! Throughout the 12 weeks, I learned many new things not only about bread and baking, but also about myself. The Terrier Bakery is a student-run entrepreneurial enterprise. It is actually the most successful entrepreneurship program at Hiram, and it is flourishing. In the bakery, I learned to bake many different kinds of bread, such as the Baguette, Pain de Mie, Bagels, Banana and Pumpkin Breads, Jewish Rye, and many other varieties. Every student must become proficient at making Baguettes, the hardest bread to make. Pain de Mie is a basic dough that can be used as base for many other types of bread. It can be sprinkled with cinnamon and rolled to make delicious cinnamon swirl. When sliced and tossed with a precise mix of cinnamon and brown sugar you can make monkey muffins, another Terrier Bakery classic. Now that I am in the Freshman Seminar “Transforming Dough into a Life of Sweet Success,” I am able to continue learning, while passing on the knowledge I have gained to the new members of the class. This blog will be updated weekly by my fellow classmates and bakers. So, don’t forget to check back each week to see what’s going on in the Terrier Bakery!  

Homemade Italian Wedding Soup: Samantha Martinek

Parents: you love them, and you hate them. You can’t live with them, and you surely can’t live without them. Our parent’s cooking is usually the first we ever eat , well, after getting baby teeth.   And coming from my very Italian cooking background, it only makes sense that I would write about something dealing with my mother’s wonderful cooking.   I have  never before talked about my mom’s recipe for her Italian Wedding soup , mostly because it was just a soup that she threw   together after seeing a version of it at The Olive Garden.    .   There was a lot of trial and error figuring out how much of every vegetable put in.  Over time, she has done away with the  sausage in her soup and replaced it with chicken.  She and my dad have also started putting potatoes in it to absorb some of the broth and flavors.

  My mom has said that she has learned some basic tricks when making this soup, and they really help speed up the process.  She uses storebought  broth  and she always buys packaged  chicken breasts  because. My mom is really squeamish about that kind of stuff. I’ve had enough conversations about dissections with her to know.   Unfortunately, there are no exact measurements for the ingredients. You have to eyeball the whole recipe in order to get it right.   Her final piece of advice is, don’t rush it! You want to let the numerous flavors soak into the noodles and such.  Also,  it freezes extremely well!

Ingredients:

• Chicken Breast
• Chicken Base
• Spinach
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Egg White Noodles
• Orzo Pasta noodles (Small cut noodles)
• Celery 

No quanties are given because you add more of what you like. This recipe is based off of eyeballing the dish.

Process:

1. Beginning by cutting everything into bite size pieces.
2. Boil the Chicken in water until tender
3. In a separate pot, boil the vegetables with the chicken base until tender. 
4. When everything is tender, mix them together, and add the noodles to the pot, continue boiling
5. Serve!

Erin Smith

Chicken Siciliano

            My father was not always given the best plot in life, but darn can that man cook! Even when times got tough, he always made sure that my sister and I had smiles on our faces and food in our bellies. Of course, when times do get tough, a man must get creative to feed two hungry, growing teenage girls on a budget. I really commend him on his creativity and ingenuity in the kitchen. It was in a moment a pure culinary inspiration did my father create Chicken Siciliano. He was able to alter a recipe for steak that he found a long time ago by replacing the steak with chicken and using ingredients he already had in his kitchen. The result was a delicious home-cooked meal and a lot of new, happy memories.

Ingredients:

·         4 small chicken breasts

·         1 box of angel hair pasta

Ingredients for sauce:

·         1 small red onion, chopped

·         1 medium green pepper, sliced

·         1 can diced tomatoes

·         1 can mushrooms

·         ¼ teaspoon minced garlic

·         1 tablespoon chopped bacon

·         ¼ cup olive oil

·         ¼ cup beef stock

·         1 pinch of oregano

·         1 pinch of basil

·         1 bay leaf

·         Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1.      Place a medium sized saucepan (with lid) on the stove with low heat.

2.      Pour the oil and chopped bacon into the pan.

3.      When the bacon is crisp, add the peppers, onions, mushrooms, and tomatoes to the pan. Place the lid on the pan and allow to cook until the vegetables are tender.

4.      Add the remaining ingredients and let the sauce cook (covered) for one hour or more.

5.      In a separate pot, boil the pasta until the noodles are soft and ready to eat.

6.      Grill the chicken breasts to desired preparedness.

7.      When the sauce is finished, combine the pasta, sauce, and chicken and serve. 

 

Homemade Recipe

Jacob Luc

Homemade Macaroni 

Words can’t even describe how I felt after I took my first bite into my mother’s homemade macaroni and cheese. All the different cheeses going into my mouth at once just left my body craving for more and more.  I don’t know if it’s the slightly crusted covering or all the cheeses combined in one, but I have never tasted any type of macaroni like my mother’s. After every time I eat her macaroni, I ask her the same question, “What is your secret to making your macaroni taste so different from anyone else’s and she replies with same answer “Well, If I told you, it definitely wouldn't be a secret anymore because who knows who your loud mouth would go and tell”. She must have her own secret ingredient, because she gives out her recipe to everyone, yet no one can perfect it like my mother.

                My mother told me everything about her macaroni and cheese, from the changes she made overtime, the exact ingredients, the most important items to have and even where the recipe originated from. My mother told me she gets bored of using the same recipe all the time so she constantly changes her ingredients in whatever she is cooking. Before, in her macaroni, she would only use one type of cheese and that was cheddar, now she has added mozzarella as well. Like all macaroni and cheese, the most important item into making the dish is the cheese. My mother said if there is not enough cheese in it, then all you will taste is the noodles and if you put too much cheese in it then it will just be disgusting. The recipe originated from one of my mother’s good friends while we lived in North Carolina. I had her macaroni and cheese before and it tasted amazing, but somehow my mother’s still tasted better. Still to this day, I am trying to figure out what it is that makes my mother’s macaroni taste so different from anyone else’s. I have a good feeling it will be a never ending thinking process until she finally gives me her secret ingredient, if that’s even what it is.

The Recipe

Boil your macaroni until tender. Strain it after boiling it. Mix your egg and evaporated milk together seasoning it with salt and pepper. Place your macaroni in the casserole dish and add a little butter while it is still hot. Pour the egg and milk mixture over the macaroni. Shred your cheese and pour the cheese in with the macaroni and the egg and milk mixture. Use work the cheese throughout the mixture so that it is not just on the top. My mom uses a lot of cheese. She doesn't know the exact measurement, but she uses a lot of it. 

1 and a half cups of macaroni

Evaporated milk

1 egg

Cheese (Sharp Cheddar

Butter

Salt and Pepper

Special Recipe

No-bake Cookies have been a very special recipe in my family as long as I can remember. My Mother made these cookies many times over the years. I remember I would scrape out the pot she used to make the cookies and eat the remaining No-bake Cookie mix. Until this phone call, I never knew where the recipe came from; my Aunt Marie had given the recipe to my Mother and that’s who taught her how to make the cookies. This makes the recipe even more special to me, because this was also one of my favorite aunts.

                While talking to my Mother about the cookies, she said there are no short cuts in making these cookies. She explained that these cookies are done on the stove top, so stirring the ingredients constantly and make sure the mixture doesn’t burn is very important. If they burn the slightest the cookies will have a burnt taste to them, even if the mixture doesn’t look burnt.  She explained the preparation in making these cookies and how it was very important to measure out ingredients and have in reach. Once the mixture starts to boil, it’s a very fast process and there is no time to stop and get or measure out something.  

                You will need wax paper, a medium saucepan or pot, a couple spoons handy,   sugar, milk, cocoa, vanilla, oats, peanut butter, butter, and chopped peanuts (optional).

Fix the heat to medium and combine sugar, butter, milk, and cocoa in the saucepan. Stirring constantly. Once the mixture reaches a rolling boil, remove it from the heat and add the oats, peanut butter, peanuts (optional), and vanilla. Stir quickly making sure all of the oats are mixed in well. With a teaspoon drop the mixture onto the wax paper and cool for about thirty minutes. Cookies will stay fresh if stored in a closed container in a dry place.

                 Over the years I have felt as if only my Mother knew how to make these cookies and everyone else’s were either too dry or just didn’t have a good taste. She taught me how to make the cookies and I’ve been making them now for the past 25 years. She never changed the recipe, but I’ve experimented with leaving the cocoa out and just making them Peanut Butter No-Bakes. When I first did this, I took some to my Mom, and she became an instant fan. She’s even been known to hide some for herself.

                While on the phone we discussed the possibility of adding raisins to this mixture. This may mean that I need to get in the kitchen and whip up a batch of Chocolate Peanut Butter Raisin No-Bake Cookies.

No-Bake Cookie

   3c     Quick Oates                                                          2/3c Peanut Butter

1/2c Chopped Peanuts (optional)                                     2c  Sugar

1/2c  Butter (1 stick)                                                        1/2c  Milk

1/3c  Cocoa                                                                        2tsp  Vanilla Extract

Lay out enough wax paper to hold cookies. Measure oats, peanut butter, and peanuts (optional), set aside. Combine sugar, milk, butter, and cocoa in a medium size saucepan, continuously stir mixture until it comes to a rapid boil. Remove from heat and add peanut butter, oats, vanilla, and peanuts. Stir quickly making sure all oats are coated. Quickly drop mixture using a teaspoon onto the wax paper. Cooling time is about 30 minutes.

**Store extra cookies in a closed container in a dry place.

***Pamela Rohrbaugh***