how to become a baker

How to Become a Baker.

A baker bakes breads, pastries, pies, cakes, cookies, tarts, and other baked goods by combining raw ingredients according to recipes. Though the traditional idea of a baker is somebody who works in his own bakery and caters to a local market, nowadays, bakers may also work in specialty shops or restaurants where they produce smaller quantities for consumption at the location itself, or in manufacturing positions where they oversee the production of large quantities of goods for distribution. Becoming a baker involves enrolling in a training program at a supermarket, or apprenticing with a craft baker to gain practical experience. If you want to know how to become a baker, see Step 1 to get started.

Part 1 Getting the Training.

1. Have a high school diploma. Though it’s not mandatory for you to get a high school diploma to become a baker, having one can help you become a more desirable candidate. For one thing, high school will help you learn basic math, as well as other concepts that can help you in your profession. Additionally, you may choose to go to culinary school to get a leg up in your field, and you’ll need a high school diploma to do that. Though it may not be worth it for you to go back to high school to become a baker, if you’re still in high school, you should finish the course.

While you’re in high school, you should take home economics, cooking, or other baking-related elective courses to help you get a head start on your passion and career.

2. Attend a technical or culinary school. A technical or culinary school can help you improve your craft, learn more techniques, and to find your niche as a baker. These programs typically last from 1 to 2 years and they will give you an education in nutrition, health, and mathematics, among other relevant subjects. If this sounds like the best path for you, look into programs in your area that offer a reasonable financial package and take your studies seriously.

You shouldn’t look at this experience as slowing you down from being a real baker. You can even begin working as an apprentice or trainee in your area while being in school, if you can make the time commitment for both.

If you want to be a high end pastry chef, for example, then you should get trained at the best program you can afford. This kind of work is highly specialized and extra training will give you the edge you need to get noticed and hired.

3. Apply to be an apprentice or trainee in your area. You can be a trainee at a local store or supermarket, where you’ll learn more basic cooking skills, like how to bake a variety of cookies, or you can become an apprentice at an artisan bakery, where you’ll learn more complicated skills, like how to bake cakes. This training typically takes 1-3 years, and you may be able to find an apprenticeship for aspiring bakers at a bakery in your area. Of course, it always helps to have some connections, or to have worked at a bakery or local store in some capacity so you have a leg up when looking for work as a baker.

It’s common for bakers to start out as an apprentice or a trainee in a bakery or grocery store, working on learning the basics of baking, icing, and decorating.

As you work as an apprentice or trainee, you’ll also learn topics such as basic sanitation procedures and nutrition.

If you begin your training or apprenticeship in a manufacturing facility, then you will also learn how to operate industrial-sized blending and mixing machines for producing baked goods.

You can also look into becoming a baker’s assistant if you have the experience and determination to do so.

4. Choose a specialty. Though you don’t need to make this decision as soon as you begin your training or apprenticeship, it helps to have an idea of the type of baking you’re most interested in. You can be an in-store, plant, or craft baker. Being a craft baker requires the most skill, and you can also work your way up to becoming successful in this field by starting off at a store or a plant. Here’s what else you should know about choosing what type of baker you want to be.

Plant or commercial bakers most often work in manufacturing facilities that make baked goods at high speeds. If you choose this route, you’ll need to learn to use high-volume industrial machines, ovens, and conveyors, and you must carefully follow instructions and schedules. There’s definitely less room for creativity in commercial baking than in craft baking.

In store or retail bakers most commonly work in specialty shops, bakeries, or grocery stores. They produce a smaller volume of baked goods for people to buy or to eat directly in the store. They may even take orders from customer, prepare special-order goods, and, depending on where they work, they may even serve the customers themselves.

Some retail bakers even own their own shops. In this case, they’ll need to not only make a variety of breads, pastries, pies, and cupcakes, but they’ll also have to hire, train, and supervise staff, as well as budget their supplies, set their prices, and manage daily production.

5. Consider getting certified. Though you don’t have to get certified to become a true baker, certification can help show that you have the knowledge and skills to work at a retail baking establishment. It can help you catch the attention of bakeries where you want to work, and it can help you stand out from the rest of the candidates. There are different areas of specialization that you can get certified in, which include management, retail sales, baking sanitation, and staff training. To become certified, you must meet a series of requirements, which are based on both your experience and your education, before taking an exam to prove your competence.

There are different levels of certification based on your level of experience. For example, to be a certified journey baker, you don’t need any formal education, but you do need 1 year of work experience. To be a certified baker, you need to have 4 years of work experience, and to call yourself a certified master baker, you’ll need 8 years of work experience, along with 30 hours of professional development training and 30 hours of sanitation coursework.

Part 2 Possessing the Qualities.

1. Be detail-oriented. Being detail-oriented is an incredibly important part of the job, even if you’re working as a commercial baker. You’ll need to closely monitor your baked goods to make sure that they don’t burn while being cooked to perfection. If you bake cupcakes or cakes, then you’ll need to have an eye for detail in order to decorate those cakes and cupcakes to perfection. You’ll also need an eye for detail in order to follow recipes and cooking instructions to perfection, or to tweak those recipes thoughtfully if you’re trying out something slightly different.

You’ll also need an eye for detail if you’re taking orders from customers so you know exactly what they want.

2. Be creative. Though you may think that creativity may be the last skill you need when it comes to being a baker, in fact, you may need to use your creative faculties to succeed in your career. If you work as a craft baker and create your own recipes, you may need your creativity to try something different, so you can keep your customers interested in your goods. You may also need your creativity if you’re missing a certain ingredient or two while still needing to cook a certain baked good or pastry, or if you want to fix a recipe where something has already gone wrong. Sometimes, the most important part of your job will lie in improvising, and you’ll need your creativity to make things work.

Of course, if you don’t work for yourself, you shouldn’t spend all day experimenting, or you’ll have an unhappy boss and many confused customers. However, if you have the means and the green light, then being creative can lead to some of your best discoveries.

3. Have strong people skills. You may think that bakers work in isolation, perfecting their craft as they make delicious treats. However, people skills are actually vital for most bakers. If you work in a retail store where you have to interact with customers, then you’ll need to have people skills in order to talk to customers, take their orders, and keep them happy with your store and your products. As you move further along in your career, you may have people working under you or you may even own your own bakery. If that’s the case, then you’ll definitely need those people skills in order to train, or even to supervise or hire your employees.

Even if you don’t have anyone working under you, it’s likely that you’ll be baking along with several other bakers. Being able to get along with your coworkers will make for a more pleasant work environment, and will make your work easier and more enjoyable.

4. Have strong basic math skills. Having a strong grasp of basic math is essential to being a great baker because you’ll need to understand math, especially fractions, in order to mix recipes, weigh your ingredients, or adjust your recipes to fit a given quantity. If you didn’t get formal math training in a high school or certification program, then it’s important to brush up on basic math on your own. Having these skills can make or break a recipe, and you don’t want to end up ruining a batch of croissants because you didn’t know how to multiply fractions.

If you were never an ace at math, don’t worry about it. You don’t need to learn calculus or trigonometry to make delicious baked goods. You should, however, learn how to add, subtract, or multiply numbers with ease.

Part 3 Going on the Job.

1. Wake up early. Though many bakers typically work a 40-hour workweek, they don’t normally work the 9-5 shift. In fact, many of them get up as early as two o’clock in the morning in order to prepare their baked goods for the morning shift. They’ll need to be morning people in order to get the job done, and sleeping in or getting tired in the morning is not an option, because this will be the most important time of your day. If you want to be a baker, then you have to be prepared to get up early to start preparing your recipes, mixing your ingredients, and making sure that your baked goods are cooked to perfection.

The good news is, since your working day will start early, it will tend to wrap up earlier than the evening. Some bakers are done working by the early or late afternoon.

2. Complete your daily tasks. Being a baker is about more than just cooking. When you go on the job, you will be required to complete a number of tasks, which will vary a bit depending on the type of baker you are and your place of employment. However, many aspects of the job are true for any baker. Here are some of the things you’ll be expected to do.

Prepare your equipment for baking

Weigh and measure ingredients for cooking

Combine the ingredients in mixers or blenders

Knead, roll, cut, and shape your dough

Place the shaped dough on sheets, molds, or pans

Set the oven temperature

Place your items in grills or ovens

Observe your goods as they cook

Apply toppings, icing, or glaze when your goods have cooked

3. Perform well under pressure. Baking is very time-sensitive, both in managing the time it takes to make each baked good, and in delivering your products to customers in a timely manner. Many bakers are often under pressure to create delicious goods while also producing them rapidly, especially when they have a large customer base. In order to succeed as a baker, you’ll have to be able to perform well in a time crunch.

One way to make it easier for yourself to perform well in a time crunch is to make sure that your work station and recipe information are organized. That way, you won’t waste time looking for something you misplaced.

Bakers have a higher rate of injuries than people in other professions because of the heavy and often hot equipment that they work with. You’ll need to wear protective clothing and keep your cool while being on the job in order to stay safe. You can let a time crunch affect your safety.

4. Stay physically fit. In order to be a baker, you must have both physical strength and stamina. You’ll need strength in order to carry the ingredients and equipment you’ll be using, such as heavy bags of flour, large baking equipment, and cooked baked goods. You’ll also need to have physical stamina because most bakers rarely sit down. You’ll spend most of the day on your feet while you prepare recipes, package your goods, check on your goods while they’re baking, or when you monitor your employees or chat with customers.

Being physically fit is an important part of the job. It’s important that you get your exercise and eat well to stay prepared for the daily rigors of the job.

5. Be prepared for a unique schedule. In addition to waking up early, many bakers have a work schedule that is far from typical. Because baked goods are high in demand during holidays, many bakers will be expected to work on Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, or other holidays when people typically order more baked goods. They may also be required to work more on weekends, since bakeries are often at their most busy during these times. If they work at a commercial bakery that bakes continuously, then they may be subjected or required to work late in the evenings and on weekends.

This doesn’t mean that bakers work more than the average employee, but it does mean that they work different hours. In fact, 1 in 3 bakers worked part-time in 2012.

Desember 09, 2019

The Best Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe | The Best Homemade Pizza You'll Ever Eat.

The Best Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe | The Best Homemade Pizza You'll Ever Eat.

The problem with that dough, though, is that it is best when it has had some time to “age” in the refrigerator. And, well, while I am a stickler for a menu plan, I rarely stick to the order on my menu plan, often making what sounds the best on any given day instead of the actual meal planned for that day. And if I had endless refrigerator space, I’d keep some of that dough on hand always, but that’s not the case either.

So even though I adored that recipe, I knew I needed a recipe that could be made the same day. It would just work better for my family.

That’s when I tried a recipe from Budget Gourmet Mom (unfortunately, her blog is no longer online). It was the best pizza dough that I had come across. I made it many times, and claimed that it was my new favorite. But over the past couple of years, I have, at least in my opinion, perfected the method of making the best pizza you will have at home.

I don’t say this lightly. I’m not kidding you when I say I’ve made this recipe dozens and dozens of times.

The Secret to the Best Homemade Pizza Dough

The secret is in how much flour you add to the dough. This is where I get a little unconventional, because the ingredients are all pretty normal. But my #1 thing that I have said for years with bread making is that I think many times people fail and end up with dry, dense bread because they are adding too much flour. And when I thought about the pizza dough recipe from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day, I thought about how wet that dough was, and how I never questioned it because I always did the ingredients by weight and just trusted.

So where this recipe differs from most is the amount of flour and the consistency of the dough.

My #1 rule – less is more.

I have included step by step photos below to walk you through it, but the most important step is to not keep adding flour until the dough is not sticky anymore. Sticky means you are doing it right in this recipe. (See – told you this was different. This goes against pretty much every other pizza dough recipe out there.) Don’t be afraid about the dough sticking everywhere when you roll it out. It’s not quite as sticky after it rises, and you’ll use some additional flour to shape it and roll it.

This recipe might not come easy the first or second time you try it. It’s one of those recipes that might take a little bit of practice. But believe me – for the perfect homemade pizza, it’s totally worth it.

Tips for Making Homemade Pizza Dough
I know I’m already totally long winded here, but here are a few additional tips:

This makes 3 1-lb balls of dough. It’s a lot, but I usually make 3 pizzas (we’ll eat 2, and save the third for leftovers). Most recipes call for a 1 lb ball of dough, but in all honesty, we usually like our pizza a little more on the thin side. So I have halved this recipe and made 3 pizzas, or I will make 4 pizzas from this recipe. It is easy to halve, so feel free to do so. Also, not everyone’s mixer has the capacity to make this much dough. Use common sense.
I usually make my dough a couple of hours before I need it and just refrigerate the dough until needed. It’s a little easier to roll out when it’s not super cold, but straight from the fridge still works. I recommend making it within 24 hours, though, as the dough will continue to rise, even in the refrigerator.
When it comes to baking your pizza, I always recommend using a pizza stone. They are pretty inexpensive and make a huge difference. I bought mine at Bed Bath and Beyond for $20 years ago and have probably used it over 100 times and it is still going strong. I always preheat the oven for at least 30 minutes. I also use parchment paper when baking my pizza because 1) my husband doesn’t care for the cornmeal on the bottom of the pizza, 2) I’m terrible at transferring the pizza from the pizza peel to the stone. Parchment paper works well for me.
To bake the pizza, if you aren’t following a specific recipe, I’ll crank my oven up as high as it goes and bake each pizza for about 10 minutes.

How to make Homemade Pizza Dough

Whew!! That was a lot. 🙂 Here is the step by step – I hope you love this recipe as much as we do!

Start by combining warm water with your yeast and some sugar. It should start to froth up after a few minutes. If it doesn’t, toss it and start again. You water may be too warm or your yeast may be bad. Once it’s frothy, add in the vegetable oil.

Combine the salt and the flour, and start adding the flour to the mixer, 1/2 cup at a time.

Once you have added the flour, the dough will still look pretty wet and sticky. It will not pull away from the sides of the mixer by itself, but you should be able to scrape it down with a spatula. You may need to add a little bit more flour, depending on your environment, but don’t go crazy.

Most pizza dough recipes will say it should be tacky but not sticky – not this one. It should stick to your fingers still.

Grease a large bowl. I usually just pour some vegetable oil or olive oil in the bottom of the bowl, then scrape the dough out into the bowl. You will need a spatula to scrape the dough from the mixer bowl. Then using greased hands, turn the dough over to coat the outside of the dough in the oil.

Cover the dough with a towel or greased plastic wrap and allow it to rise until it is double in size. This usually takes about an hour, depending on how warm the house is. I will often put the bowl in the oven with just the oven light on, which tends to give it a good temperature for rising.

Sprinkle some flour on a work surface. Lightly punch the dough down, then turn it out onto the floured surface.

Use floured hands to start pulling the dough up and around, gathering the ends together and forming a smooth ball on one side.

Turn the ball over, so the top now is smooth.

Divide the ball into 3 equal portions. You can weigh them to keep them even, or I almost always just eyeball it.

Voila! Your pizza dough is ready for baking. If the dough is still a bit sticky when you go to roll it out, just sprinkle on a little more flour. I like to actually use my hands to stretch the dough instead of rolling it, which helps with any sticking as well. But you’ll be surprise at how not sticky the dough is at this point.

Use the dough to bake up your pizza with your favorite toppings!

Tools Used to Make this Homemade Pizza Dough
I use a bench scraper to cut the dough and to clean the flour off the counter. I love it!
I highly recommend a pizza stone for baking your pizza. It really makes a big difference in the final pizza!

Ingredients : 2 1/2 cups warm water, 1/4 cup sugar, 3 teaspoons instant yeast, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 6 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons salt.

Instructions.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the water, sugar and yeast. Allow the mixture to sit for a few minutes until frothy. Add in the vegetable oil.

In a bowl, combine the flour and the salt. Add the flour to the yeast mixture, 1/2 cup at a time, mixing well between additions. Continue adding the flour until the dough can be pulled away from the sides of the bowl with a spatula, but the dough will still be quite sticky. You may need to add in a little bit more or less flour, but the key is to remember that the dough will still be sticky and will stick to your fingers when you try to pull it apart.
Grease a large bowl, then scrape the dough into the bowl. Turn the dough to coat it in oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a towel and a let the dough rise at room temperature until doubled, about 1 hour.
Turn the dough out onto a well-floured work surface. Pull the dough around to the bottom, stretching it to create a smooth ball. Cut the dough into 3 equal portions. Each ball will be approximately 1 pound of dough.
Roll out the dough to use in your favorite pizza recipe, or refrigerate until needed. (I have refrigerated it for several hours, up to overnight, but the dough will continue to rise, even in the refrigerator, so I try to use it before 24 hours.
To bake, preheat a pizza stone in the oven as hot as you can go for at least 30 minutes. (I usually go between 475ºF and 500ºF.)
Prepare your pizza with your desired toppings and bake until the crust is golden, 8-10 minutes.

Recipe Notes.
*This makes 3 1-lb balls of dough. It’s a lot, but I usually make 3 pizzas (we’ll eat 2, and save the third for leftovers). Most recipes call for a 1 lb ball of dough, but in all honesty, we usually like our pizza a little more on the thin side. So I have halved this recipe and made 3 pizzas, or I will make 4 pizzas from this recipe. It is easy to halve, so feel free to do so. Also, not everyone’s mixer has the capacity to make this much dough. Use common sense. 🙂

*I usually make my dough a couple of hours before I need it and just refrigerate the dough until needed. It’s a little easier to roll out when it’s not super cold, but straight from the fridge still works. I recommend making it within 24 hours, though, as the dough will continue to rise, even in the refrigerator.

*When it comes to baking your pizza, I always recommend using a pizza stone. They are pretty inexpensive and make a huge difference. I bought mine at Bed Bath and Beyond for $20 years ago and have probably used it over 100 times and it is still going strong. I always preheat the oven for at least 30 minutes with the stone inside on a high temp. I also use parchment paper when baking my pizza because 1) my husband doesn’t care for the cornmeal on the bottom of the pizza, 2) I’m terrible and transferring the pizza from the pizza peel to the stone. Parchment paper works well for me.

Nutrition information provided as an estimate only. Various brands and products can change the counts. Any nutritional information should only be used as a general guideline. Nutritional counts do not include toppings.

Nutrition.
Serving Size: 1 sliceCalories: 138Sugar: 3 gSodium: 194 mgFat: 2 gSaturated Fat: 0 gUnsaturated Fat: 3 gTrans Fat: 0 gCarbohydrates: 25 gFiber: 1 gProtein: 3 gCholesterol: 0 mg.


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Juli 23, 2020

how to cook without a recipe with learning the basics

how to cook without a recipe with learning the basics

Recipes are a great guide for people learning to cook, but you don't have to rely on them if you have good kitchen skills. Practice making a few recipes until you've perfected them. Then, play around with small changes and substitutions. You'll learn how long it takes to make a dish, what seasonings you enjoy using, and how to make a meal out of leftovers. Over time, you won't need the recipe to create a perfectly original dish.



Learning the Basics.

Choose a few simple recipes to master. The more you practice a recipe or cuisine, the easier it will be to cook it from memory or make your own changes. Look through cookbooks, your family's recipe box, or at food blogs to find recipes that you'd like to try. Then, make the dish regularly so it always turns out the same way.

You might want to focus on a certain cuisine or type of food, such as pizza, pasta, or soup.



Cook with experienced friends and family. If cooking doesn't come easily to you, you might learn better by watching others cook. Although there are lots of cooking shows and food channels, find someone you know who's a good cook and ask to make something with them.

Cooking with someone will give you hands-on experience and you'll be able to ask questions as you cook. You'll also be able to taste the finished product!



Look for opportunities to experiment with cooking instead of baking. It's a little easier to cook without a recipe because cooking methods, roasting, boiling, or grilling for instance, don't have to be exact. Try to think of baking like chemistry class and realize that you can't simply leave out or eyeball important ingredients.



If you'd like to bake without a recipe, it's important to tweak something that you already know how to make really well. For example, make your favorite blueberry muffins and add cinnamon or swap raspberries for the blueberries. Avoid big changes, like leaving out the eggs or dairy.



Stock your fridge and pantry with staples. Pay attention to ingredients that you buy often and cook with every week. Try to keep these in your fridge or pantry at all times so you can always reach for a familiar ingredient to add to your meal.



For example, you might always keep pasta, tuna, beans, or marinara sauce in the pantry. Having these staples on hand would allow you to throw together a casserole, pizza, or soup.



Challenge yourself to cook more in order to improve. Frequent practice is the best way to learn cooking, with or without a recipe. Consider where you're already at with your baking skills and set a goal of cooking more or skill building. For example, you might challenge yourself to.

Improve your knife skills.

Cook 5 days of the week.

Cook a meal from a new cuisine.



Take a cooking class if you need more guidance. If you're still struggling to feel comfortable with cooking, check local community centers or cooking supply stores to see if they offer cooking classes. They may do classes on a certain style of food, such as baking bread, making pasta, or baking desserts.

Tip: Some community colleges may offer cooking classes. Ask the college if you can take the course without being part of a degree program.

November 04, 2019

how to easy make humitas

How to Easy Make Humitas. 

Humitas are a typical dish that come from various Latin American countries[1]. This corn-based recipe makes the most of its main ingredient, even using the cornhusks, and it's a great way to develop your culinary talent. In the following article, we'll show you how to make humitas that will surely wow your taste buds.





Ingredients.

5 ears of corn.

1 diced tomato.

1 finely chopped onion.

1 finely chopped red pepper.

1/2 cup milk.

1 tablespoon oil.

1/2 cup fresh cheese (optional).

1 pinch spicy paprika.

1 teaspoon basil.

Salt and pepper to taste.

1 teaspoon sugar (if you're making sweet humitas).

10 cornhusks (the leaves that surround the ear of corn).





Steps.



1. Make a corn puree. Peel the corn and set the cornhusks aside. Cut off the kernels and use them to make a puree.

You can use a grater to grate the corn by hand and thus make a puree.

Or you can put the kernels in a food processor and allow this device to turn them into a puree.



2. Season the puree. Put the mashed kernels in a bowl and add milk, basil, paprika, salt, and pepper. Stir the mixture for a few seconds until all of the ingredients are evenly mixed.

If you want to make sweet humitas, leave out the salt and add sugar in its place. Since the corn is already somewhat sweet, you don't need to add too much sugar to sweeten the mixture.



3. Sauté the rest of the ingredients[2]. In an oiled pan, sauté the onion and pepper. Once the onion becomes translucent, add the diced tomato and cook over low heat.

This mixture should be dry, so cook it over low heat until the juices have evaporated.



4. Prepare the humita filling. Add the sautéed ingredients to the corn puree. Stir well in order to create a creamy and uniform filling.



5. Fill the cornhusks. Place one husk on top of another, forming an X. In the center, place one and a half tablespoons of the filling.

Close the husks by making a small, firm packet so that the filling will not come out.

Tie the packet with the ends of the husks or with string.



6. Cook the humitas. In a pot, heat enough water to cook all of the humitas. Once the water has boiled, lower the heat and add the humitas one by one. Cook them for approximately 45 minutes.



7. Serve. When they are done cooking, remove the humitas and place them in a strainer. Let them rest for 5 minutes.

The humitas should be served warm, but not too hot, because your guests could burn themselves when opening the packet.





Tips.

The humita filling is delicious and can be used in a number of ways. For example, you can use it in empanadas, cannelloni, or even tarts.

You can give your humitas a special touch by adding different ingredients such as butter, green pepper, goat cheese, or anise. The only essential ingredients are corn, basil, and onion.

November 23, 2019

How to Pull Off Thin Hand-Pulled Lamian Noodles (part 1).

How to Pull Off Thin Hand-Pulled Lamian Noodles  (part 1).

By TIM CHIN.

Hand-pulled noodles are notoriously difficult to make, let alone master. But with the help of science (and some nutritional yeast), they're easy to make at home.
If you’re a fan of Hong Kong cinema, you might be familiar with the 1997 action comedy Mr. Nice Guy, starring Jackie Chan. In the film’s opening scene, Jackie is on live television, standing at a flour-dusted table, stretching, twisting, and pulling a piece of dough into fine strands of noodles, a process the TV host can only describe as alchemy. “When I first saw [that movie],” recalls Luke Rymarz, a software engineer and hand-pulled noodle enthusiast based in San Jose, “I thought, ‘Oh cool, special effects. That’s neat.’ And then I realized that hand-pulled noodles were actually a thing. And I thought, all right, time to figure out how to do this.”
Luke spent the next year experimenting and documenting those experiments, blindly tinkering his way toward a passable recipe for lamian. Lamian translates to “pulled noodles,” and specifically refers to the thin variety famous in China. “At the time—this was 12, 13 years ago—there was hardly anything on the internet in English, or any information about it. All of my experience is [based on] the little bits I could glean off of Google translate. And just making dough, over and over again, for hours.”
Like Luke, I have spent the last few years learning how to make lamian. I first encountered these noodles at a tiny hole-in-the-wall lunch joint in Montreal. A rail-thin cook was throwing, twisting, pulling, and generally manhandling a mound of dough nearly the length of his body. Within seconds—after a few nimble flicks and plenty of flair—he created hundreds of strands of noodles. He tossed the noodles in a boiling cauldron of water, reached for another log of dough, and repeated this dance for the remainder of my meal—no hesitation, no breaks, not even a paltry sip of water. Talk about a real dough-slinger.
Of course, this guy made pulling those noodles look easy, even natural. It’s neither of those things. In fact, I’m willing to bet that anyone who has ever tried to make thin pulled lamian at home, with no prior experience, will tell you: It's hard. Recipes and videos exist online, but there’s a swamp of conflicting information, most of which leads down a treacherous black hole teeming with Reddit neckbeards, disgruntled YouTube commenters, and holier-than-thou Chowhound geeks.

Pulling noodles is something I never imagined pursuing. The technique seemed unattainable, unapproachable, reserved for masters of a time-honored and mystical craft—certainly inappropriate for home cooks. But as luck would have it, while working at my last test kitchen job with Sasha years ago, I was assigned to learn about pulled noodles in all their forms. After slurping virtually every pulled noodle Boston had to offer, I set about developing recipes. Lamian sat squarely among them. But after almost 50 tests, I still didn’t have a working recipe. Even building on the work of people like Luke, my method was fickle, riddled with inconsistencies, and difficult to replicate. The recipe never saw the light of day.
Time passed. I tried, here and there, to tinker with my formula. I watched videos. I spent hours reading archived forum posts from the furthest reaches of the web. I reached out to family members to help translate texts. I tried interning at noodle shops (the owners of which either shunned me or swore me to lifelong secrecy). I reached out to Luke for guidance. I was determined to figure out a recipe that would work for the home cook—no special equipment, no advanced noodle degree, no secret ingredients, no secrecy required.
Then I had a breakthrough. And it all came down to understanding gluten.

How Hand-Pulled Noodles Are Typically Made.
The de facto Mecca of pulled noodles is Lanzhou, the capital city of China’s Gansu Province. The city is the birthplace of Lanzhou beef noodle soup, a dish that’s inspired the creation of over 35,000 noodle shops across China. You can even attend one of a handful of noodle-pulling schools, with programs ranging in duration from a few days to a few years. There, students learn the ins and outs of making lamian, always by hand, starting from mixing and kneading dough all the way to pulling and cooking. In order to be certified, students must pass a final exam: Roughly twenty minutes to produce nine varieties of noodles of different sizes and shapes.

The process is simple: Wheat flour, water, salt, and sometimes an additive are mixed and kneaded until a pliable dough forms. This kneading stage takes anywhere from 15 minutes to over an hour, depending on the formula and the practitioner. The dough is stretched, doubled over, twisted, and stretched again, and this process is repeated until the dough can be stretched easily to arm’s length. The dough is then rolled in flour or oil and pulled into thin strands. The key to success is repeatable extensibility—or the ability to stretch the dough over and over without it breaking or tearing—which, as we’ll see, defies many of the commonly understood laws of gluten.

Sometimes additives like fat, alkalis, or other ingredients are incorporated into the dough to improve texture or to facilitate extensibility. The most common and traditional additive is a mysterious powder called penghui, which is derived from a desert plant called penghuicao (halogeton). The plant is roasted and processed with potassium carbonate and packaged as a commercial powder. Minute quantities of penghui are mixed with flour, resulting in a dough with ideal extensibility and chew. One source claims that the addition of penghui transforms the dough to putty, allowing the cook to stretch the dough seemingly at will.

The problem? Unless you or someone you know lives in China, finding penghui isn’t easy. And seeing as I didn’t feel comfortable asking people to import a sketchy white powder across international borders, I was left to find other ways to develop that all-important repeatable extensibility.

Gluten’s Role in Dough: Beyond the Basics.
To fully understand my noodle journey, it’s useful to know a bit about dough, and specifically gluten. If you’ve ever dealt with a dough in your life, you probably know something about gluten. Simply put, gluten is the protein matrix (basically a molecular web) that forms when wheat flour is mixed with water. Gluten is what gives wheat flour dough its structure and properties: The stretch, the texture, the snap, the stickiness, and flow.
If you’ve delved a little deeper, you might also know that gluten comprises two protein molecule units: glutenin and gliadin. The larger glutenin molecules are mainly responsible for the strength and elasticity of a dough. Look at them closely enough and you'll see they are kinked, linear, and chain-like, and have many sites for bonding with other glutenin molecules.
Smaller gliadin molecules, on the other hand, are said to contribute to the extensibility of a dough. They are spherical (or “globular”), have less surface area, and have limited capacity for bonding with other molecules.
Together, these two proteins are what give dough its viscoelastic properties—meaning it can simultaneously flow (viscosity) and be elastic.
Before going any further, let’s also define elasticity and extensibility—both of which are important to understanding noodle-pulling.

Elasticity.
Elasticity refers to a dough’s ability to return to its initial position after deformation. If you stretch a dough and it snaps back to its original shape, that dough is said to be elastic. Elasticity is important because it gives dough both structure and integrity. Without elasticity, a bread dough wouldn’t hold its shape or have any chew. Similarly, without elasticity, a noodle dough would fall apart if stretched too far, and likely disintegrate when cooked. On the other hand, a dough with too much elasticity would tear under too much stress, like a rubber band snapping.
Elasticity is the result of those large, chain-like glutenin molecules bonding together. Mixing, kneading, and resting dough all encourage this bonding. The more bonds between glutenin molecules, the more elastic a dough becomes.
(In some circles, dough nerds like to distinguish tenacity from elasticity. Tenacity is the property of a dough to resist a stretching action or deformation in the first place. You might encounter this phenomenon while trying to shape or stretch a low-hydration bread dough, for instance. For our purposes, this distinction is not too important. But the more you know, you know?)

Extensibility.
Extensibility is defined as the ability of a dough to stretch. For a pulled noodle dough like lamian, extensibility is crucial. In general, the more compact and spherical gliadin protein molecules contribute to extensibility because they move freely within the gluten matrix. They do not bond in the way that the larger glutenins do.
The balance between elasticity and extensibility determines how well a noodle dough fares. In general, the ideal noodle dough has high extensibility and just enough elasticity to retain its structure and chew.

Bonds Between Gluten Molecules.
The last and most critical concept—the one that most people gloss over—has to do with bonding between gluten molecules. Both glutenin and gliadin involve disulfide bonds. For gliadins, these bonds occur within single molecules to stabilize their spherical structure. But for glutenins, disulfide bonds (a.k.a. disulfide bridges) can occur between their larger, chain-like units. These bonds are strong, and they’re believed to determine the elasticity of a dough. In other words, the more disulfide bonds there are between glutenin units, the harder a dough is to stretch.
Think of a single glutenin molecule as a train with several train cars hooked together. Now imagine a second train on a parallel track with chains joining it to the first train. Those chains are disulfide bonds. That’s basically what occurs between glutenin units, but in multiple directions and multiple orientations, forming a complex, strong web that is difficult to break.
Luckily, these bonds can be broken.

Testing.
Trial 1: Hand Mixing, No Additives
By certain accounts, it was possible to pull noodles through sheer force of will and a little elbow grease. Apparently, you could even do it without additives. This was the first strategy I tested years ago: I mixed flour, water, and salt, and kneaded until the dough came together. I kneaded, tore, and stretched the dough further until I could get some semblance of extensibility. On average, this process took anywhere from 40 minutes to over an hour of sweaty, rage-inducing labor. At best, I could get the dough to stretch a couple times before tearing. At worst, I was stuck in dough purgatory, cursed with a dough that refused to relax and tore at the slightest suggestion.
I tinkered with hydration, flour type, and salt concentration. I tried no less than 35 times. But no matter which formula I used, I couldn’t readily produce a dough with repeatable extensibility. I did have some success with low-protein cake flour, which seemed to relax after persistent kneading and twirling, but I was still nowhere near pulling passable noodles.
One source recommended an overnight rest after initial mixing. In theory, this extended rest allows the dough to hydrate and gluten to develop fully, and relaxes gluten enough to facilitate stretching (a familiar phenomenon if you’ve ever made fresh egg dough pasta). There is also some enzymatic breaking of disulfide bonds, which contributes to extensibility. At first, this technique seemed promising. I could stretch the dough a few times easily. But after a few more passes, the dough eventually snapped back and tore in my hands. I still wasn’t producing enough extensibility.
If hand-mixing didn’t work—or wasn’t feasible in a sensible amount of time—then how else could I get an extensible dough?

Trial 2: Really, Really Aggressive Kneading.
The second strategy I found involved kneading a dough in a stand mixer for an extended period of time. The logic here was that aggressive, sustained kneading weakened the gluten network sufficiently to produce a plastic dough with low elasticity and high extensibility. (Initial mixing and kneading develops gluten to a point, producing a decidedly un-stretchy, elastic dough. But excessive kneading beyond that point could actually weaken the gluten network.) More precisely, those strong disulfide bonds could be broken mechanically; with sufficient force over time, enough bonds could be broken to produce a dough with repeatable extensibility. And instead of the back-breaking work of stretching and kneading by hand, a stand mixer could accomplish this more efficiently and in less time.

Anecdotally, this logic made sense to me. I remembered spotting a giant Hobart mixer at that noodle shop in Montreal, whirring away, kneading dough for the entirety of my meal. I even found interviews of noodle chefs in which they admitted to using large bread mixers to meet the demands of a large operation. In the most extreme example, I found a recipe that recommended kneading a dough for nearly two hours in a stand mixer.
And you know what? This method definitely worked. After two hours of kneading in a KitchenAid, I found this “over-kneaded” dough to be pliable, extensible, and similar to silly putty in texture. There was very little elasticity. Just a few minutes of stretching and twirling later, I was able to pull some respectable noodles.
But I still wasn’t satisfied. After all, I couldn’t justify the risk of burning out the motor of a pricey stand mixer just to make some noodles. I didn’t want to leave legions of would-be noodle pullers with $300 paper weights. Plus, two hours is a criminally long amount of time. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
Fortunately, there exist recipes with more moderate kneading times. The most popular of these comes from Luke Rymarz himself. The key feature is a 12-minute kneading time in a stand mixer, followed by another 15 minutes of stretching and twirling by hand. “I was doing it all by hand initially,” he says. But one day, after posting his recipe online, he was invited to demo his technique at a nearby cooking school. The instructor prepared his dough in a huge industrial mixer. “When he gave me that dough, I went, ‘Holy cow. This is amazing. This is the best dough.’ It was warm, it had a nice texture, it was like clay. Very pliable.”
Up until that point, Luke’s recipe was the closest I had come to successfully and consistently pulling noodles within a reasonable amount of time. The resulting dough was pliable, extensible, and fairly easy to pull into thin noodles. But the technique still had some disadvantages: The cooked noodles lacked the chew and structure I was after; the recipe required very specific brands of flour; and the technique demanded extensive stretching and twirling for success, despite all that time kneading in a stand mixer. The recipe had too many variables, and took too long to make. It was inconsistent. Most of all, I wanted a simpler method that didn’t rely so heavily on machinery. “I’ve repaired my stand mixer probably four or five times,” Luke warns. “So it’s not a great option for the home cook.”

Trial 3: Alkali Madness.
Since I couldn’t rely on machinery, I turned toward uncharted territory: additives. Using penghui was out of the question—I just couldn’t get my hands on any. But could there be any substitutes?
Popular opinions online suggested that it was the alkali in penghui that changed the texture of the dough and made it extensible. In reality, adding an alkali to a dough just made it tougher and harder to stretch. According to Luke, who tried every possible combination of kansui (a popular alkali solution used in ramen noodles), baking soda, and baked baking soda (sodium carbonate), “it helps with texture, and gives you a better chew, but it makes it harder to pull.”
I found his observation to be largely true. I tried adding baking soda and lye water in varying concentrations to a working dough recipe, kneading by hand and stretching until I could stretch the dough. As the concentration of alkali increased, the dough became increasingly difficult to stretch—in many cases tearing under stress.
If adding alkali wasn’t relaxing a noodle dough, then what was it doing, and how? This study suggests that the addition of kansui increases disulfide bond formation between glutenin units. More disulfide bonds mean more elasticity, and more elasticity means more chew at the expense of extensibility. Long story short, it appears that adding alkali makes pulling noodles harder, not easier.

to be continued .

Agustus 02, 2020

How To Make Homemade Fresh Mozzarella.

How To Make Homemade Fresh Mozzarella.

by EMMA CHRISTENSEN.
Knowing how to make your own mozzarella is a dangerous thing. Knowing that at any moment, should the desire present itself, you could whip up your very own ball of creamy mozzarella, still warm from the whey whence it came? Yes. Very, very dangerous. Here’s how to do it.

Compounding the dangerousness of homemade mozzarella is the fact that it comes together in about twenty minutes. You warm the milk with some citric acid (not as scary as it sounds), add the rennet to separate the milk into curds and whey, heat it again, knead stretch knead, and then you have mozzarella. It’s basically magic.

Don’t be scared off by the citric acid and the rennet. Both things sound like something Batman might encounter on a bad day in Gotham, but they are actually normal, everyday ingredients.

Citric acid is just a powdered form of the same mouth-puckering acid found in lemons and limes. It’s added here to help acidify and coagulate the milk. Rennet can be found in both tablet or liquid form, as well as in vegetarian or…er…non-vegetarian versions. Its job is to set the proteins in the milk and form solid, stretchy curds.

Both citric acid and rennet can usually be found at a good grocery store or food co-op. If you’re having trouble tracking something down, however, take a look at the links below for places to buy the ingredients online.

When it comes to milk, almost anything goes: whole, 2%, skim, cow, goat, raw, organic, or pasteurized. The only rule is to avoid milk that has been ultra high temperature (UHT) pasteurized. This particular method of pasteurization denatures the proteins in the milk to the point that they lose their ability to fully solidify into curds. Be careful when buying organic milk as many brands are UHT pasteurized and the packaging doesn’t always indicate this. If your mozzarella ends up looking like soupy cottage cheese, try switching to another brand of milk.

Ready to make some mozzarella? Let’s do this.

INGREDIENTS.
1 1/4 cup water.
1 1/2 teaspoon citric acid.
1/4 rennet tablet or 1/4 teaspoon liquid rennet (Not Junket rennet, see note below).
1 gallon milk, whole or 2%, not ultra-pasteurized*.
1 teaspoon kosher salt.

EQUIPMENT.
5 quart or larger non-reactive pot.
Thermometer.
8" knife, off-set spatula, or similar slim instrument for cutting the curds.
Microwavable bowl.
Rubber gloves.

INSTRUCTIONS.
Prepare the Citric Acid and Rennet: Measure out 1 cup of water. Stir in the citric acid until dissolved. Measure out 1/4 cup of water in a separate bowl. Stir in the rennet until dissolved.
Warm the Milk: Pour the milk into the pot. Stir in the citric acid solution. Set the pot over medium-high heat and warm to 90°F, stirring gently.
Add the Rennet: Remove the pot from heat and gently stir in the rennet solution. Count to 30. Stop stirring, cover the pot, and let it sit undisturbed for 5 minutes.
Cut the Curds: After five minutes, the milk should have set, and it should look and feel like soft silken tofu. If it is still liquidy, re-cover the pot and let it sit for another five minutes. Once the milk has set, cut it into uniform curds: make several parallel cuts vertically through the curds and then several parallel cuts horizontally, creating a grid-like pattern. Make sure your knife reaches all the way to the bottom of the pan.
Cook the Curds: Place the pot back on the stove over medium heat and warm the curds to 105°F. Stir slowly as the curds warm, but try not to break them up too much. The curds will eventually clump together and separate more completely from the yellow whey.
Remove the Curds from Heat and Stir: Remove the pan from the heat and continue stirring gently for another 5 minutes.
Separate the Curds from the Whey: Ladle the curds into a microwave-safe bowl with the slotted spoon.
Microwave the Curds: (No microwave? See the Notes section below for directions on making mozzarella without a microwave.) Microwave the curds for one minute. Drain off the whey. Put on your rubber gloves and fold the curds over on themselves a few times. At this point, the curds will still be very loose and cottage-cheese-like.
Microwave the Curds to 135°F: Microwave the curds for another 30 seconds and check their internal temperature. If the temperature has reached 135°F, continue with stretching the curds. If not, continue microwaving in 30-second bursts until they reach temperature. The curds need to reach this temperature in order to stretch properly.
Stretch and Shape the Mozzarella: Sprinkle the salt over the cheese and squish it with your fingers to incorporate. Using both hands, stretch and fold the curds repeatedly. It will start to tighten, become firm, and take on a glossy sheen. When this happens, you are ready to shape the mozzarella. Make one large ball, two smaller balls, or several bite-sized bocconcini. Try not to over-work the mozzarella.
Using and Storing Your Mozzarella: The mozzarella can be used immediately or kept refrigerated for a week. To refrigerate, place the mozzarella in a small container. Mix a teaspoon of salt with a cup of cool whey and pour this over the mozzarella. Cover and refrigerate.

RECIPE NOTES.
Adapted from New England Cheesemaking Supply Company.

Making Mozzarella Without the Microwave: Instead of microwaving the curds to make mozzarella, warm a large pot of water to just below boiling (about 190°F). Pour the curds into a strainer and nestle the strainer into the pot so the curds are submerged in the hot water. Let the curds sit for about five minutes. Wearing rubber gloves, fold the curds under the water and check their internal temperature. If it has not reached 135°F, let the curds sit for another few minutes until it does. Once the curds have reached 135°, lift them from the water and stretch as directed.

Milk for Mozzarella: Almost any milk can be used for making mozzarella: whole, 2%, skim, cow, goat, raw, organic, or pasteurized. Pasteurized milk is fine to use, but make sure that it is not ultra high temperature (UHT) pasteurized. The proteins in UHT milk have lost their ability to set into curds.

Melting Homemade Mozzarella: I've found that homemade mozzarella doesn't always melt as completely as store-bought mozzarella, especially if I've overworked the cheese and it has become very stiff. If you're planning to make pizza or something else where melting is desired, use a whole-fat milk and make extra-sure not to overwork the cheese. It can also help to grate the cheese rather than slice it.

Using Junket Rennet: Junket rennet is less concentrated than other kinds of rennet and isn't ideal for making cheese. If this is all you have access to, try using 1-2 whole tablets to achieve a curd.

Using Leftover Whey: Making mozzarella leaves you with almost 3 1/2 quarts of whey! You can use this whey in place of water in bread recipes and other baked goods, mix it into smoothies, or add it to soups.

Agustus 12, 2020

how to make almond flour or meal

How to Make Almond Flour or Meal.

Almond flour and almond meal have a good role in baking recipes. Both ingredients are not only gluten free but also high in protein. Almond meal is also one of the parts to make almond paste. Baked goods get that rich nutty taste with almond meal, and many recipes that require breading may benefit from almond flour as a substitute. Luckily, making almond flour or meal is quite fast and very easy.

Method 1 Almond Flour.

1. Take any amount of blanched almonds, preferably sprouted. Any amount of almonds will do because the ingredients start and end with almonds. Nifty! Why blanched almonds for almond flour? Blanched almonds are simply almonds without their outer skin. These make for a more uniform-colored flour and a more even taste.

In order to blanch almonds, boil them for about a minute or two, uncovered. Use a cloth or your hand by rubbing the skin off or removing nut from the shell. Completely dry the almonds before using, as the water will make it into butter.

Why sprouted? Sprouted almonds simply mean almonds that are soaked overnight. They are easier for the human body to digest, making your overall experience more pleasant. Specifically, sprouting takes away toxic enzyme inhibitors so that the enzymes your body deploys during digestion can do their job.

2. Once dry, place any amount of almonds inside a food processor, coffee bean grinder, Vitamix, or blender. Again, it doesn't matter how many almonds you use. It's probably better, however, to err on the side of fewer almonds, as almond flour has a relatively short shelf life — 3 to 6 months in the fridge and even less outside.

3. Pulse until you get a fine, grainy consistency. This usually takes anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute, perhaps longer depending on your pulsing apparatus.

If you want finely textured almond flour, be sure to pulse the almonds a little longer. Be advised, however, that pulsing the almonds for too long can result in almond butter.

4. Use immediately or label and store in a chilled place. Unused, room temperature almond flour can become rancid when it oxygenates for too long.

Method 2 Almond Meal.

1. Place any amount of sprouted almonds in a food processor, coffee bean grinder, Vitamix, or blender. While there is no official difference between almond flour and almond meal, the unofficial difference is that flour contains blanched almonds and meal contains almonds with the skins still intact. Therefore, if you decide to make almond meal or have a recipe that calls for meal, it may be preferable to make it using whole, sprouted almonds instead of blanched, sprouted almonds.

2. Pulse the almonds in the food processor for less time than you might have making almond flour. Almond meal is generally (again, unofficially) supposed to be coarser than almond flour. If you pulsed your almond flour for 45 seconds, only pulse your meal for 30 seconds.

3. Use immediately or label and store in a chilled place. Unused, room temperature almond meal can become rancid when it oxygenates for too long.

Tips.

A great penny saver is to use the almonds to make almond milk first (1 part almonds to 4 parts water in a food processor). Strain the liquid out with a cheesecloth and put the milk aside then dry the pulp afterwards. This is then milled down to meal or flour

Avoid blending it too long or else you may get a paste-like butter.

To get the best results out of the almonds, try sieving the mixture. Remove any non-grinded bits and re-pulse until grainy.

Desember 13, 2019

How to Substitute Vegetables for Grains

How to Substitute Vegetables for Grains.

Giving up grains and eating vegetables as a substitute can be difficult. Grains are tasty and play a huge part in the average Western diet. Whether it's having bread on your sandwich, serving rice with your stir-fry or having pasta for dinner, grains are a big food group that can be hard to replace. However, many people are now moving away from grains at the advice of some diet plans (like the Paleo diet) or just to improve their overall diet. Some people restrict carbs in their diet as research has shown this helps with weight loss. Now there are tons of recipes and ideas on how to cut back on grains and replace them with more nutrient-dense foods like vegetables. Try using some of your favorite veggies to help reduce how many grains you eat on a daily basis.

Part 1 Swapping out Grains for More Vegetables.

1. Use vegetables to replace breads or wraps. If you normally pack a sandwich or pick up a wrap as a meal, it can be hard to think of ways to have a "sandwich" without the bread; however, there are a variety of vegetables that you can use instead.

An easy swap for bread or wraps are lettuce leaves. Many types of lettuces are cup-shaped or have large leaves which makes them great for rolling up sandwich fillings.

Choose lettuces like butter lettuce cups, iceberg lettuce, cabbage leaves, collard green leaves, kale or Swiss chard. These lettuces are big and will hold a decent amount of fillings without ripping or the items falling out.

In addition to a lettuce wrap, you can also make opened faced sandwiches with vegetables like grilled portobello mushrooms or sliced and baked sweet potatoes.

Once cooked, you can top your mushroom or sweet potato slice with your favorite sandwich toppings and serve. Use a fork and knife for this type of sandwich.

2. Swap in vegetables for pizza crust. Another item you can use vegetables in is for pizza crust. You can skip the carb and calorie heavy flour-based crust and use a vegetable instead.

Just like with open faced sandwiches, you can also use grilled or roasted portobello mushrooms as a pizza crust. Fill with a little tomato sauce and top with cheese or other toppings, like broccoli and onion.

If you want a more crust like pizza, try using cauliflower. Once grated and cooked, you can mold the cauliflower into a flat circle and top with sauce and cheese.

3. Make rice out of vegetables. If you normally have a side of rice with your dinner, consider using grated vegetables instead. It's a great way to decrease your carbohydrate intake.

One very popular swap for rice is cauliflower. By swapping in this low-calorie vegetable, you save yourself about 150 calories per serving.

Use a food processor to grate and finely chop the cauliflower. It should be similar in size to rice or couscous. You can use this in any recipe that calls for rice.

Another vegetable that you can use as a substitute for rice are parsnips. These look like white carrots, but when grated and finely chopped also serve as a great rice substitute.

4. Use vegetables as pasta. If you love a big bowl of pasta or a cold pasta salad, you'd be happy to know there are plenty of vegetables that can be substituted in place of noodles and macaroni.

One great tool to help you make a variety of vegetables into a spaghetti or linguine shape is a spiralizer. There are a variety of variations of this tool, but they all help turn veggies (or fruits) into spaghetti.

Great vegetables to try in your spiralizer are butternut squash, sweet potatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, beets, or cucumbers.

These noodles can be quickly boiled or steamed or eaten raw depending on what the recipe calls for.

If you like a baked pasta dish like lasagna, try using eggplant, red peppers, zucchini or yellow squash in place of the noodles. Slice length-wise into long, thin planks and layer with sauce and cheese.

Another option is to make your own gnocchi with either sweet potatoes or pumpkin. There's little to no flour in these and they're full of a nutrient-dense squash.

5. Bake with nut or bean flours. Outside of items like rice, pasta and bread, there are foods that use grain-based flours. Whether it's cakes, cookies or muffins, many foods contain flour.

Baked goods and pastries can still be enjoyed if you're following a low- or no-grain diet. Substitute regular wheat flour for nut or bean flours.

Many different nuts and beans can be ground into a fine flour-like consistency. You can use them in a variety of baked goods. You can try: almond flour, cashew meal, garbanzo bean flour and fava bean flour.

The proportions of other ingredients may change when you use these types of flours. Make sure you follow a recipe to help get the end product turn out correctly.

You can also use coconut flour, though this is fairly high in calories.

6. Use vegetables in place of chips or crackers. If you enjoy having crackers or chips as snacks, you can use vegetables as a swap for these flour based treats. Make your own using vegetables at home.

Many types of chips and crackers usually contain some sort of flour which makes them a grain-based food.

If you like crunchy, salty chips, trying make chips from kale. Washed, dried and baked in the oven, kale becomes crispy and light.

You can also use raw vegetables in place of chips and crackers. This is especially good when you have a dip like hummus or ranch dip. Both are great with raw vegetables.

If you want a more chip-like consistency, use starchy root vegetables instead. Thinly sliced, vegetables like beets, sweet potatoes, parsnips and carrots turn into crispy chips when baked in the oven.

Part 2 Using Vegetables in Place of Grains.

1. Try spaghetti squash marinara. A great option to try if you love spaghetti and meatballs is using spaghetti squash instead. This vegetable, when cooked, shreds into spaghetti-like strands and makes the perfect pasta replacement

To cook a spaghetti squash, carefully slice the squash in half lengthwise. Drizzle with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Place the squash cut side down on a baking sheet and roast at 400°F (204.4°C) for about 40 minutes or until fork tender.

Allow the squash to cool to room temperature. Once cool, use a fork to shred the flesh of the squash. It should come out easily and naturally fall into little spaghetti strands.

Toss the cooked squash with warmed marinara sauce. Serve with your favorite meatballs and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

2. Make a cold cucumber noodle salad. If you enjoy those cold soba noodle salads with peanut dressing, you'd be surprised at how well cucumbers do in this salad. Spiralized into spaghetti shape, they make this salad delicious.

Start by washing and drying a cucumber. English or hot house cucumbers are the best as their skin is tender and the seeds are small.

Spiralize the entire cucumber and slice "noodles" into manageable pieces — about 6 –10 inches (15 – 25 cm) in length.

Place the "noodles" in a bowl and toss with your favorite peanut sauce or dressing. Stir to combine.

Add in 2 cups of diced chicken, 1 cup of steamed broccoli florets, 1/2 cup of thinly sliced red peppers, 1 cup of steamed snap peas and 1/2 cup of diced green onions.

Toss everything to combine. Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to chill thoroughly. Once chilled, serve and enjoy.

3. Make cauliflower rice. If you love rice, you might want to try making cauliflower rice instead. It's very low-calorie and low-carb and very easy to make.

To start, roughly chop up a whole head of cauliflower. Leave only the florets and discard the woody, tough stems.

Put half of the cauliflower in a food processor. Pulse until the cauliflower breaks down into couscous or rice sized pieces. Set aside and process the remaining cauliflower.

To cook your cauliflower rice, add in a tablespoon of olive oil to a large skillet. Heat over medium high and add the cauliflower. Cook for five to eight minutes or until tender.

You can also use your cauliflower rice raw if you'd like. This is a great idea if you want to do a cold salad.

4. Bring a Mediterranean kale wrap for lunch. If you enjoy having a sandwich or wrap for lunch, consider swapping out the bread for a big piece of leafy kale. It's high in vitamins and minerals and makes a great sub for a wrap

Start by washing and drying a large kale leaf. If it has a thick, woody stem, take a paring knife and carefully remove it. This won't taste good in your wrap.

Spread on about a 1/4 cup of your favorite hummus topped with 1/4 of a sliced avocado.

Top with 2 tablespoons of feta cheese and a 1/4 cup of thinly sliced roasted red peppers.

Drizzle on your favorite salad dressing if desired (like a balsamic vinaigrette). Wrap up the fillings tightly and slice your wrap in half. Enjoy!

Part 3 Eating Grains in Moderation.

1. Decide what "moderation" is for you. Even if a diet you're following suggests avoiding all grains, having these foods occasionally is still appropriate. You don't have to avoid these foods in order to have a balanced or nutritious diet.

If you eat large quantities of grains, eat them on a regular basis or choose items that are highly refined, this isn't a overly healthy choice.

However, having grains (even refined grains) in moderation is appropriate and healthy, as they provide energy and nutrients. If you want to include some grain-based foods every now and again, decide what your definition of moderation will be.

For example, will you only have grains one or two times a week? Or will you have one serving per day?

Stick to your definition of moderation to keep these foods in check and make sure you don't overdo it.

2. Stick to appropriate portion sizes. One thing that is very important to do (with any food) is to measure the appropriate portion. This will help you stick to eating a moderate amount of grains.

When you plan to have a serving of grains, make sure to measure the portion size. This will help keep the total calories and carbohydrates in check.

Even if you choose a whole grain or a dish that is very nutritious, eating too much of it can cost you too many calories or carbohydrates.

For grains, measure out 1 oz or 1/2 cup. If you're having rice or pasta, measure the food after it's been cooked.[

3. Go for 100% whole grains. In addition to eating grains on occasion and making sure the portion sizes are appropriate, it's also a good idea to choose the most nutritious type of grain.

If you're going to splurge and have some bread, rice, pasta or another baked good, choose a nutritious option. That way, you're at least getting some nutritional benefits when you eat it.

The most nutritious types of grains are 100% whole grains. These are minimally processed and contain all parts of the grain (the bran, germ and endosperm). These are high in fiber and other beneficial nutrients.

Refined grains are much more processed and the nutrient containing parts of the grain — the bran and germ — are removed during processing.

Stick to 100% whole grains only. Try items like: brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, barley, millet or farro.

Tips.

Swapping in more vegetables for grains is a great way to increase the total amount of nutrients you're eating everyday.

Although this can help improve your diet, eating 100% whole grains is a OK and a nutritious addition to your diet.

There are a ton of recipes available to help make this grain-free recipes taste great. Try a few to see what works best for you.

Refined grains are quickly digested into simple sugars and then absorbed into the blood system. This can cause blood sugar levels to go up.

April 08, 2020

how to make southland cheese rolls

How to Make Southland Cheese Rolls.

A cheese roll is a snack food, mainly concocted in the South Island of New Zealand, consisting of a cheese-and-onion filling rolled up in a slice of bread. It is very simple to make and only takes approximately 30-45 minutes to prepare and toast. This recipe produces 8 rolls.







Ingredients.

150g cheese, preferably edam, cut or grated into small portions.

5 tablespoons of evaporated milk, also known as unsweetened condensed milk.

1 tablespoon French onion soup mix (powder only).

1/4 medium sized onion, a little less to be sure.

8 slices of white bread, removing crusts optional.

Butter (amount is optional, not much is needed).



Steps.



1. Combine grated cheese, evaporated milk, chopped onion and soup mix powder in one medium sized bowl. Mix until mixture has a thick consistency, like very thick porridge.

Ensure that the mix is not too watery. In that case, add a little more onion, cheese and soup mix.

Use a wooden mixing spoon. Use it to mix firmly and break bits of cheese.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Between 150-200 is ok.



2. Lay out the slices of bread. Make sure they are put on a flat, clean surface and are evenly spread out.



3. Spoon the filling on top of each slice. Using a tablespoon is convenient. Spread out the mix once placed on the bread using the back of the spoon.

Add little by little to ensure each roll has enough filling each.

Avoid spreading right to the edges as it may melt and spill while cooking.



4. Roll up each slice. Press firmly.

Use a toothpick to keep the rolls in shape. Stab it inside, close to the top.



5. Spread butter evenly on top of each roll. This allows the bread to come out crispy and tasty.

Avoid using excessive butter.



6. Position the baking paper on the baking tray. Position each roll evenly on the paper.

Make sure the oven is preheated.

Double check to see if everything is in order.



7. Open the oven cautiously. Use oven mitts or a towel.

Lift the tray into the top shelf, preferably.

Position it right in the middle for the best results.



8. Allow to toast. Check every minute or so for progress.

Remove from the oven once the bread looks perfectly browned and any straying cheese is cooked.

Allow to cool.



9. Serve fresh. Remove the toothpicks.

Storing the rolls can be done, but the product will not have its original flavour and texture.



10. Finished.



Tips.

Make sure the oven is preheated. It is best to preheat the oven before doing anything.



Warnings.

Make sure the rolls are checked on! They might burn if not.



Things You'll Need.

Wooden mixing spoon.

Regular tablespoon.

Large or medium bowl.

Knife and cutting board.

Grater (optional).

Oven or griller.

8 toothpicks.

Flat baking tray.

Baking paper.

November 22, 2019