Culinary students began their fall cooking in the classroom by covering soup and pumpkin units during September and October that were led by teacher Vanessa Boyle.
The first unit students covered was the quick bread unit, which was then followed by the stocks, soups and sauces unit. Then, the pumpkin dishes with a chili cook-off occurred and finally, students focused on yeast breads.
Before baking, students began their year with a food safety and sanitation unit, in which all students were certified through ServSafe. This unit covered the necessary skills needed in the kitchen.
Every Tuesday and Thursday, Ms. Boyle provides students with the key aspects of each recipe and then students will watch a video that highlights the skills necessary to complete the recipes. On the other days, students prepare to cook the food.
Mason Gill (12) says, “Learning how to cook and prepare the food oftentimes takes just as long as the baking process. We spend a lot of time going over the recipes and skills before we cook.”
The soups, stocks and sauces unit covered a multitude of dishes that introduced students to important kitchen skills. In late September, students covered Italian wedding soup, butternut squash soup, potato chowder, french onion soup, manicotti with tomato sauce and baked mac and cheese.
They began with knife skills and the safety and practicality that allowed them to chop their vegetables. Then, they covered the importance of sauteing and caramelizing when preparing French onion soup. Another important skill was stock preparation which simmers herbs and spices in the soups allowing students to flavor and season each dish properly and finally, students learned the importance of pureeing food when creating the butternut squash soup and potato chowder.
The pumpkin unit, which occurred in early October, covered pumpkin chili, pumpkin pie and pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.
Kylie Snyder (12) says, “The pumpkin oatmeal chocolate chip cookies were my favorite dish to make because of the flavor. So far, the pumpkin unit has been my favorite because of its correlation with the fall season.”
To prepare the cookies, students followed the steps provided in the recipe. These included mixing the dry and wet ingredients, scoping the dough, refrigeration and baking the cookies.
Important skills that the culinary students highlighted shifted their focus to baking techniques. They learned the importance of custard preparation which requires a balance of cream and eggs to achieve a smooth pumpkin pie texture, while also utilizing dough preparation, when making cookies, to ensure proper rising. Finally, texture and flavor balancing were necessary for the chili’s rich flavoring.
Daylen Phillips (12) says, “The pumpkin pie was the best thing we made. It took some time to learn about, but the flavor and texture was what made it taste the best.”
Currently, students have finished off their seasonal unit, but have begun to dive into new recipes that include cinnamon rolls and soft pretzels.
