Week 5 Day 1 was a "Flatbread" day--naan, pita, and focaccia. Chef Ramzy (an experienced chef instructor who is notorious for his sharp mind and encyclopedia-caliber knowledge about food and cooking) came into our class to give us his focaccia recipe. His recipe contains milk and honey, making it very tender compared to other focaccia.
The focaccia is in the back. We sprinkled ours with Parmesan and rosemary, a winning combo. People kept snagging a bite every time they passed by--about a third of it was gone before the end of class. Our pita breads (in the front) turned out...fluffy. Chef said that they are the fluffiest pita breads she has ever come across. She was blaming the recipe, since everyone's pita turned out funny. But I know for sure that the oven temperature was set too low. These were supposed to be baked at 475F, but the oven was set at 400F, causing these to rise too slowly to form that characteristic air pocket. But they tasted fine, just like a regular sandwich bread.
Naan. We smeared it all over with olive oil and grilled them. Great smoky flavor--I took them home, and Mom had it with curry. She thought they were 'too smoky', but otherwise tasted great.
For Day 2...
German Mason's Bread. Made with rye flour, but it was so airy and light! ..Also, August 9th, was the 66th anniversary since the Nagasaki bombing. Wanting to commemorate that day and to honor the victims, I cut a stencil from foil and used it to dust a peace symbol on it.
Italian Breads. They're basically French Bread with shortening and sugar added to it, so they're more tender and definitely taste more enriched. They turned out beautiful!
Cuban-style breads, very much like French bread. Used to make Cuban sandwiches, they are traditionally baked with palmetto leaves on top instead of being scored. The leaves help the bread split open during baking. We just scored ours since we didn't have any palmetto leaves. I wonder if using bamboo leaves or corn husks have a similar effect?
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