Friday, June 4, 2010

The origin of my blog name:

When I was in culinary school I had a friend who had a rather round belly and the two of us would laugh because he always ended up with frosting, flour, or whatever we were cooking that day smeared across his middle. I on the other hand have an unusually large chest for my otherwise almost boyish figure and found myself wearing remnants of what I had created across my chest. I have lost chef coats and some of my favorite tshirts to chocolate mousse and an assundry of other things I’ve decided to bake. You see I’m clumsy, I believe because I’m top heavy and just tend to run into things with the part of me that sticks out the farthest. Side note after a few too many cookies and croissants towards the end of my schooling I also ran into a whole row of chocolate cakes with my round behind. It was humiliating the school janitor had to find me a new chef coat and I had chocolate frosting on my caboose for the remainder of the day.

Although it’s 2010 and a woman has run for both president and vice president the culinary field is still dominated by men with one exception, pastry. This is a blog of my creations and adventures as I learn how to navigate the culinary world with cleavage. How I handled the men old enough to be my grandfather asking if they can lick the chocolate off my hand, or hearing my co workers talk about my body while I’m finishing up paper work in the office.. Being hit on by just about every guy (or girl) for that matter that comes into the back of the house. Fighting for the respect that any male chef is instantly awarded. This blog is for all of the female chef’s who have been called “baby,” “sweetie,” “sexy,” or “darling” by a delivery man right after you have stated your name and managerial title.

Here we go...

I'm moving out of my apartment in 3 weeks, yeah!!! Into my very first house, super excited! Unfortunately I hate to pack. To deal with some of the stress and in an effort to declutter I decided to bake. Because 1) it soothes my soul (i'm called the cranky chef jr. less and less these days) 2) the kitchen is the most over populated area of my house. I'm not kidding our wedding registry was 90% kitchen materials. Oh and did I mention I love costco and smoked gouda and the other day at costco I bought 3 # of it! Only to get home and realize that if you eat a lunch of smoked gouda you will never want to see or smell anything smoked again. So in an attempt to get rid of the gouda (which I love again) I made a turkey and smoked gouda roulade. To our delight as my mom helped me pack the aroma of baking bread filled the apartment.
The process of baking is so beautiful. I love that you take very plain looking ingredients, mix them together and in no time you have a beautiful and tasty work of art. In the midst of all the ugly brown boxes I now have two beautiful loaves of yummyness to share with my loved ones. Below is the recipe for the roulade:

Bread:

warm water (around 110) 2 c. (let your hot water run for a lil bit just don't use steaming water)
dry yeast 2 1/4 tsp. or 1 standard envelope
sugar 1 Tbs.
salt 2 tsp.
bread flour 5 c.-6c.
masa 1 Tbs. + more for dusting
melted butter 4 Tbs. (unsalted real butter)
roasted garlic mustard* 1 tsp.
turkey breast(thinly sliced) 1 lb.
smoked gouda 5 slices + 2 slices for the garnish
Fresh cracked pepper As needed

Pour the water over sugar and yeast to "bloom" in your mixing bowl.
Add the bread flour starting with 5 c. , masa and knead on medium speed with a dough hook for 3 minutes. The bread should start to come together in the shape of a ball. Add more flour if this is not happening.
Add the salt last and mix for an additional minute.
Remove the dough hook, cover the dough with a damp cloth and allow the dough to rise in a warm place for 45 min. until it is double in size. (I recommend a window sill, the top of your refrigerator, or the stove top if the oven is on. make sure the burners are off).
Once the dough has doubled punch it down and divide it into two loaves. Gently shake, pull and press the dough into a rustic rectangle(think of the guys that toss pizza dough in old movies). You can use a rolling pin for this step if you are careful not to "over flatten" the dough.
On one of the long ends of your dough lay the turkey out overlapping, top with this strips of gouda. Roll the dough up and pinch the seem together and make this the bottom.
Preheat your oven to 425. Allow the roulade to rise for another 45 min. until it has doubled it's size.
Brush with butter and gently top with foil. Bake at 425 for 10 min.
Bring the temp. down to 375 and bake for 20min. or until the bread is golden and sounds hollow when you flick it. Remove the foil and lay strips of the remaining gouda over the top. Set your oven to broil and watch it very carefully because this only takes a minute or two for the cheese to bubble. Remove the roulade form the oven and brush with the remaining butter and garlic mustard and sprinkle with fresh pepper. Enjoy!

*i used stone wall kitchens roasted garlic mustard