GRAINS



Chef Corr demonstrates how the German monks held their arms in prayer and used the design for their pretzels.

 The children are really becoming chefs (look at that mise en place!)
and enjoying all the new and fun activities.

Michael Jackson on the wii. at the Lab School!

Today the campers learned all about grains, the foundation food.  There are many kinds of grains--wheat, corn, rye, barley, oats, buckwheat--and some are whole and some are refined.  The whole ones are better for you and whole means having at least 3 grams of fiber per serving.  The campers tried three kinds of supermarket bread--white bread, white wheat, and brown whole wheat--and were surprised to learn that the white wheat had more whole grain fiber--4 grams--than the brown whole wheat--2 grams--and many liked the taste better.  Read those labels! And don't' trust what they say on the front without looking at the nutrition label.  3 grams of fiber per serving is best.

Next there was a demonstration about how to make homemade bread--it was not hard at all!  The temperature of the water is most important for the yeast.  The yeast likes to be nice and warm, like between 90 and 115 degrees.  Yeast must love Louisiana summers!  When the yeast is foamy you add the rest of the liquids (they can't be too hot or the yeast will die and the bread won't rise.  We saw that today.) and then mix that into the flour and salt.  The dough had to rise, then be shaped and then proof in the pans (rise again!) before baking.  Homemade bread is not fast food!

Then the campers learned how to shape the bread and also how to take some of the dough and roll it into a long snake and twist it into a pretzel.  Monks in Germany invented pretzels and they shaped them like they looked when they said their prayers. 

We made many loaves of bread and many grain based dishes, including whole wheat penne with mirliton and pecans, grits with kale and Cajun shrimp, oatmeal cookies, and two snack mixes--Mexican and Puppy Chow.  The campers enjoyed sampling all the grain dishes and barely had time to clean up before it was time to leave.  March on, campers!

Chop Chop!

Today they cooked their own lunch for their groups.

After learning all about how to sharpen and to handle a knife, today the campers cooked their own lunch for their groups.  Everyone made a stir fry dish, and most made rice--though a few opted for noodles.  Remember the basics of cooking rice--2 cups water to 1 cup rice.  And a little salt.  Sure is easy!  We had shrimp, chicken and beef stir fry dishes all around the room.  We were so sorry to not use the big woks that Chef Tonya found at the restaurant supply store, but a new wok has to be seasoned and there was no time --or exhaust system--for that.  We made do with large saute pans.  A couple of groups made a salad as well.

The campers heard all about etiquette, and practiced it during lunch.  Etiquette means having good manners and caring more about the other person's comfort.  It is something that we will always keep in mind here in the Foods Lab

Herb Workshop and Taste Bud Tune Up

The little campers got them some herbs to grow at home.

Senior Research Associate Mila Berhane did an herb presentation on Monday morning for The little campers, right under the shade of the live oak in front of Pinkie Thrift Hall.  After hearing all about the various types of herbs--mints, basils, oreganos, and lemon flavored herbs--the campers got to choose their own to re-pot and take home.  Not the big bay plant though~that was just for show.  But the bay leaf sure reminded everyone that it was Monday and red beans and rice would be on the stove in many houses in Baton Rouge and the beans would be flavored with bay leaf. We sampled some herb infused water and found that it tasted light and delicious!

Next we moved into the foods lab for a Taste Workshop, complete with a palate tune up.  Citric acid is sour!  All 10,000 taste buds on everyone's tongue agreed! The campers learned how to mise en place their soup and salad recipes that they were cooking for themselves that day.  An hour or more of hasty chop, chop, chopping and lunch was served in teh dining room next door. 

This cooking camp is finally getting fun!

Nutrition and your Health

Dr.Johnson talk to the campers about the importance of eating healthy.

Friday--One week down already! Dr. Glenda Johnson showed a Powerpoint to stress the importance of making wise choices even if you do choose to go for fast food.  Sometimes you have to!! Just not every day and when you do--choose the right thing!

 

Whole Foods Tours, Wednesday and Thursday

The bus ride was fun!

Field Trip to Whole Foods in Baton Rouge!  Two days of bus trips with half the campers at a time gave everyone the low down on the most popular grocery store in America today.  Special thanks to the tour guide there for spending a couple of hours with the campers and showing them what goes on in the marketplace.

Heat Transfer

Today campers learned that this camp isn't called "The Basics" for nothing!  We started slow, with Video Flash Cards that showed cooking methods and a discussion about temperature and heat transfer.  We cook food to make it safe, to make it more digestible, and because soon we will be making the food more interesting! Who wants to live on raw fruits and vegetables all the time? (Some people do!) Cooking can make food more interesting. Mise en place was gone over and over and Chef Corr even demonstrated how to do the mise en place for today's demonstration recipes. Very basic chicken breast cutlet and raw broccoli were used to illustrate the various types of cooking methods--roast, boil, steam, poach, microwave and stir fry--and the campers sampled them all.  While many asked for hot sauce or ketchup, it was interesting to see how the products turned out with the different methods. It's a first step!  Next week we will introduce seasoning and flavoring and move more toward the type of cooking that tastes good. After the cooking demo the campers learned about the special day that it is today  World Environment Day! We had a discussion about the benefits of recycling and composting and some camper families do that already.  If you have a garden you want to save your compost so your vegetables will have more natural nutrients.  "Going Green in Red Stick:  A Green Living Guide for Baton Rouge" were handed out to each camper and counselor and will go home as a resource guide for the families. Then Ms. Debbie and Ms. Crystal came in and took everyone's numbers, measuring height, weight, arm span--all sorts of numbers for the study. Data, data, data--that's what a study is all about. The campers were escorted to the Lab School for lunch and for physical activities with Mrs. Marshall, who had a new fun toy to roll out.  Late in the afternoon was refreshment time and today's was a fresca like the one served at the parent's orientation meeting, only it had fresh blueberries, watermelon, ice and a splash of water.  Cold and refreshing on a 97 degree afternoon!  Tomorrow and Thursday--field trip to Whole Foods for half the campers at a time. And one of those days Chef Tonya will be Making Groceries!

Test, Test, Taste!

Photos courtesy of David Long, Jr., official photographer for the program.  

Day One of Cook Like a Chef! Cooking Camp at SUBR was sur un rouleau! Mrs. Fields checked in the campers at the Lab School and then counselors Jada Harris and Trevor Pickney escorted them to the foods lab in Pinkie Thrift.  The 10 minute walk seemed to energize the group of 25 campers, 10 to 14 years old in a wide range of sizes.  Looks like there may be more boys than girls!  Trevor took a count.  Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Re'shonsi Smart and Derika Allen were getting their ducks in order, make that paperwork in order, for the in itial 3 surveys that asked questions about how the campers felt about food and cooking.  They are about to do a lot of it! But first, Chef Corr went over some of the notes in the manual about food preference.  We choose different foods for lots of reasons! Maybe the campers will learn some new reasons to choose different foods in a few weeks.  We talked about how to "think like a chef" and also learned how to properly wash your hands before cooking or eating.  Measuring techniques came next--not all cups weigh the same!  Even of flour!  We discussed the disappointing news that a large box of movie theatre plain popcorn can contain up to 1047 calories, and then we learned how to make healthy homemade popcorn and season it up a bit with Italian seasoning.  Lots of campers preferred plain salt, of course, but at least they tried it. Chef Tonya read everyone the riot act because she really wants to maintain order in the lab so that everyone can hear and participate fully. She WILL NOT stand for any shenanigans!  But the campers will soon be too busy to be goofing around; they will be learning to Cook Like a Chef!

Around noon Mrs. Fields collected everyone to go and have lunch at the Lab School and Da'Nethia Burton helped escort the troops.  There was a whole program in store for them in the afternoon physical activity part of the camp with Ms. Marshall who had lots of tricks up her sleeves.  She kept them movin, movin, movin for the afternoon.  Around 3:30, after lots of tiring games, Chef COrr broke out some Blueberry Bliss, the featured smoothie of the afternoon. This icy blue drink was made of bananas, blueberries, almond milk, almond butter--and cinnamon!

The campers "blissed out" and soon it was time to pack it up for the day.  See you tomorrow, campers!