Quisadillas & Other Things



Cheesy quesadillas. Image from examiner.com; I forgot to
take a picture of my quesadillas, unfortunately.



Tortillas are super easy to make. Not a lot of ingredients need to go into them, except for flour and some levening agents as well as something fatty like Crisco, as well as water. All of the dry ingredients (plus the Crisco) need to be mixed together, and then water will be added last. In order to make a good tortilla, you have to be sure that the ingredients are mixed together very well. When you roll them out after, they need to be rolled out very thin because they double in thickness when they're put on a skillet. Here is the very recipe that we were provided with in class, as well as some background information on tortillas and different kinds of breads from around the world.

Tenderizing chicken, and other kinds of meat, is a smart idea if you're planning on cooking a tougher piece of meat. All the meats we eat are muscle tissue, and the least expensive meats come from parts of animals that are often used- more tender cuts of meat come from parts of the body that aren't used often. To make these tougher cuts of meat more tender, pound on them! Tenderizing them breaks up the muscles fibers a little bit, making the meat "softer." Esthetically, it also makes the cut of meat seem bigger than it really is.




The parmesan chicken with pesto noodles that I made.

 

Pesto sauce is traditionally made with basil and pine nuts (here is a recipe to a traditional pesto sauce). We made our pesto sauce with peas and walnuts, as well as several other ingredients. Pesto sauce is very easy to make. All it takes is a food processor. Put the garlic, peas, and other dry ingredients inside and "process" them until they're well mixed and there isn't any large chunks left. After that, put in the oil slowly and mix it in. Lastly, put in the parmesan cheese.

Kings of Pastry was about a group of men who were entering a competition in France to obtain a special collar. This collar means that they are a MOF, or a meillure ouevre de france. Essentially, they gain the title of a "master chef." It is a very high honor if one manages to obtain it. The film followed the preparation for the MOF as well as the competition.

I didn't have any opinion on pastry chefs before the film, and I still really don't either. I'm not a fan of making pastries myself, or of baking in general, so I admire those who can. . . however, it seemed that in the film those men were making many things that I would not consider a pastry, or really related to pastries. But I suppose someone in the culinary world has to know how to make lollipops and whatnot.