Saturday, November 21, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
I tried the Four n' Friends Flatbread again. Still not the flavor or consistency we are looking for. I added 1&1/2 T of Zahtar and 1 t of salt and made the bread thinner. The flavor is bland, likely due to the thinner cake. The bread also baked unevenly. Next step more flavor, 3 T zahtar and 1 T salt. Then an even thinner bread with my pizza stone in the bottom of the oven in the cast iron skillet or a double bake.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Recipe Testing 11/15/2009
Four n' Friends Lower Fat Hummus (pending tasting by the other two friends)
1 can garbanzo beans, drained, liquid reserved
1/3 cup reserved liquid
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 Tablespoon Tahini
1 teaspoon minced garlic (2 - 3 cloves)
2 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 shake cayenne pepper
Put all ingredients into food processor or Vitamix and blend until smooth.
The verdict is in and this will be our "original" flavor hummus. Variations to follow.
I also tested the whole wheat dark chocolate chip cookies with and with out slivered almonds.
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, room temp.
1 t. vanilla
1 egg
Mix those ingredients together thoroughly and let sit for at least 10 minutes.
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 t. kosher salt
1 t. baking soda
12 oz. bag dark chocolate chips
Mix dry ingredients into sugar mixture. Then add chips.
The almond slivers were placed on top, crushed and coated, and crushed mixed in. The flavor of the almonds was not prominent.
Next recipe: plain chocolate chip with a concentrated espresso to bring out the flavor of the chocolate, thank-you Laurent. Almond added: toast almond slivers and add almond flavoring.
1 can garbanzo beans, drained, liquid reserved
1/3 cup reserved liquid
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 Tablespoon Tahini
1 teaspoon minced garlic (2 - 3 cloves)
2 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 shake cayenne pepper
Put all ingredients into food processor or Vitamix and blend until smooth.
The verdict is in and this will be our "original" flavor hummus. Variations to follow.
I also tested the whole wheat dark chocolate chip cookies with and with out slivered almonds.
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, room temp.
1 t. vanilla
1 egg
Mix those ingredients together thoroughly and let sit for at least 10 minutes.
2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 t. kosher salt
1 t. baking soda
12 oz. bag dark chocolate chips
Mix dry ingredients into sugar mixture. Then add chips.
The almond slivers were placed on top, crushed and coated, and crushed mixed in. The flavor of the almonds was not prominent.
Next recipe: plain chocolate chip with a concentrated espresso to bring out the flavor of the chocolate, thank-you Laurent. Almond added: toast almond slivers and add almond flavoring.
Recipe Testing 11/14/2009
"Farinata" is an Italian chick pea flatbread. I have made once before just out of curiousity and my mother-in-law. Donna is gluten intolerant and I thought Farinata could be something all the family could enjoy together because it is made soley of chick pea flour and could taste pretty good. This thought then grew into a larger theme regarding Four n' Friends. This food item could expand the populace of people who may seek out such an item, the gluten intolerant, diabetics, health conscious and foodies. I, personally, feel that our food items should not only appeal to people who enjoy good food, but those who have food limitations, as well.
I was an aerobic instructor in college for the YMCA and took many nutrition and fitness seminars during that time. I, also, was a pharmacist for thirteen years and have seen first hand the perils of being unhealthy and the many drugs used to treat those maladies and their side effects. I have researched many diets, Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers, Food Combining and Vegetarianism, as well. These five diet trends stick out in my mind, as I have adopted each one of them at some point in my life in order to, as a woman, maintain health and my figure, but mostly my figure. The main elements of all those diets float around in my head. I was trained at the French Culinary Institute and learned to love the French culinary arts and butter, cream and charcuterie. However, at home I do try to make dinners healthy in some way, even if it is just "all natural"; nothing processed and quality meat, produce and dairy (it justifies the butter and wine, right?).
Back to the Farinata. I got the recipe from "Cucina Italiana", no. 13, September/October 2009:
2 cups warm water
1-1/2 cups chick pea flour
1-1/2 fine sea salt
6-1/2 T extra virgin olive oil
ground black pepper
Whisk chick pea flour into water and let stand at room temp. at least 2 hours or overnight. Put 8-inch cast iron skillet in oven and preheat oven to 500 degrees (my note: wait an additional 10 minutes after oven says temperature is reached to ensure all of oven is heated, not just the air). Skim foam from batter, then stir in salt and 2 T oil.
Take skillet out of the oven and swirl in 1-1/2 T oil to coat.
I was an aerobic instructor in college for the YMCA and took many nutrition and fitness seminars during that time. I, also, was a pharmacist for thirteen years and have seen first hand the perils of being unhealthy and the many drugs used to treat those maladies and their side effects. I have researched many diets, Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers, Food Combining and Vegetarianism, as well. These five diet trends stick out in my mind, as I have adopted each one of them at some point in my life in order to, as a woman, maintain health and my figure, but mostly my figure. The main elements of all those diets float around in my head. I was trained at the French Culinary Institute and learned to love the French culinary arts and butter, cream and charcuterie. However, at home I do try to make dinners healthy in some way, even if it is just "all natural"; nothing processed and quality meat, produce and dairy (it justifies the butter and wine, right?).
Back to the Farinata. I got the recipe from "Cucina Italiana", no. 13, September/October 2009:
2 cups warm water
1-1/2 cups chick pea flour
1-1/2 fine sea salt
6-1/2 T extra virgin olive oil
ground black pepper
Whisk chick pea flour into water and let stand at room temp. at least 2 hours or overnight. Put 8-inch cast iron skillet in oven and preheat oven to 500 degrees (my note: wait an additional 10 minutes after oven says temperature is reached to ensure all of oven is heated, not just the air). Skim foam from batter, then stir in salt and 2 T oil.
Take skillet out of the oven and swirl in 1-1/2 T oil to coat.
To make "Four n' Friends Fatbread" I added 1 T Zahtar to batter and omitted the salt. I did not measure the oil. I baked flatbread at 450 degress, not trusting my oven. I used less batter to coat the skillet to make it thinner, baked for the same amount of time and used salt on top instead of pepper. We will test the flavor with hummus I am testing Sunday.
At this point, the flatbread needs to be thinner and no salt on top. That's it until the tasting with Four n' Friends (no added fat) hummus.
The beginning 11/12/2009
This is the start of four friends creating a food business together. Mee-ryung Lee-Dallet is the master mind. I, Pamela Ewald, will be the food master. Stephen Ewald will be legal. Laurent Dallet will be consultant, for now, as he is very talented in food, as well.
It started November 12, 2009, well, actually before that with a hatching of an idea, but that day was the true brainstorming efforts of me and Mee-ryung. We sifted through web-sites of catering and gourmet food. We brainstormed what our products should be and what name we would conduct business under. Mee-ryung had been researching books and web-sites before we worked together.
What we came up with was a working name, For n' Friends, our starting products, healthy cookies, unique flatbread and hummus. We also decided on kitchen space, delivery mode and testing recipes and recording them. This last point is a bit of a labor for me. I am notorious for not writing my recipes down. I cook like my Granny, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I do consult recipes, especially if I am working with items I have little experience with, but I always make them my own. I found writing down ingredients and quantities tedious. Now, it has to be a priority in order to allow reproducibility. I have also never blogged before. I am marching into new territory in more ways than one.
It started November 12, 2009, well, actually before that with a hatching of an idea, but that day was the true brainstorming efforts of me and Mee-ryung. We sifted through web-sites of catering and gourmet food. We brainstormed what our products should be and what name we would conduct business under. Mee-ryung had been researching books and web-sites before we worked together.
What we came up with was a working name, For n' Friends, our starting products, healthy cookies, unique flatbread and hummus. We also decided on kitchen space, delivery mode and testing recipes and recording them. This last point is a bit of a labor for me. I am notorious for not writing my recipes down. I cook like my Granny, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I do consult recipes, especially if I am working with items I have little experience with, but I always make them my own. I found writing down ingredients and quantities tedious. Now, it has to be a priority in order to allow reproducibility. I have also never blogged before. I am marching into new territory in more ways than one.
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