Lemon Meringue Pies - Dylan

First in the lemon filling there are very few ingredients, just eggs, lemon juice/zest, and some sugar.  This is cooked in a double boiler, which is when you have a pot with simmering water and a metal bowl above it that is being heated by the steam, which then evenly cooks the filling until it is similar to custard.  When it turns into custard, it becomes thicker and more like Jell-O rather than a liquid.

In a meringue a process called denaturation occurs.  (Who knows what protein is?)  It is a chemical that is found in meats, eggs, and other natural products.  In this case the protein that is being denatured is the eggs.  This is when proteins are broken down and then build back together stronger with something, in this case, sugar.  In this case certain proteins are changed physically by beating it. When they build back together they become stronger and more elastic making them grow to 8x the size of the original egg white.  It is then cooked at 375ºF to make all of the air bubbles expand and make it the fluffy meringue.

The overall presentation went well, most of the kids liked the food and they are all really engaged throughout the presentation.  To improve next time, I would have a sample of everything to show them before they were given the final product that I had made.  

R

Marigold Kitchen by Anabelle

I thought Marigold Kitchen was a really cool experience. Though I didn't love all the dishes, some were super tasty. The atmosphere also contributed to the entire vibe of the restaurant. Places that only serve a chef's menu are pretty rare and also hard to maintain. My favorite dish was the roasted carrots with parmesan puree, while the endives were definitely my least favorite.  I think Marigold did great job and I enjoyed the dinner.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies- Gianna and Erika

Reflection/How it went? :
For our final project, Gianna and I made Mint Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies. They were quite simple to make but the first couple times we tried they did not turn out as planned. The first part of the recipe was the mint cheesecake. The key to a good cheesecake is not over beating the batter. You cannot have too much air in the batter because air will cause the cake to swell in the middle while it is in the oven and then deflate while it is cooling, which leaves a depression in the cake. The first few times we made the mint cheesecake, we got swells after they were cooked because we still had air bubbles in our mixture. So, for our final try we decided to try to put the mixture in the fridge for a little bit so that the air bubbles would deflate as much as possible.

The second part of the recipe was the brownie mix. In chocolate there is a chemical called anandamide ("bliss") and it is a functional group. Anandamide makes people when happy when they eat it. It is also in our body produced by the brain, which helps decrease the amount of pain and depression in someone's mind. In the brain, the anandamide breaks down quickly, so the effect does not last as long, but within the chocolate they have other substances within that help deny the break down of the anandamide. The molecules stay within the body longer. Just like with the cheesecake mix, we had alot of air bubbles in the brownie mix so we put it in the fridge as well to help deflate the bubbles.

The last part of our cheesecake brownies was the homemade whipped cream we made. Cream has a high fat content, which can be whipped. When you whip the cream it creates air bubbles and the cream then becomes light and frothy. If you were to say, stop whisking, the bubbles would come out and the cream would become liquid again. The magic of whip cream is that it turns from a liquid to a solid. That's where whisking comes into play. The more you whisk, the bubbles are being whisked into the liquid and it starts to strip away the fat. This allows the fat to join with and create protective bubbles around the air pockets. This process is called emulsion, which is "air suspended in liquid held stable by fat". This is the reason why you need cream with a high fat content to create whipped cream.

Overall, our brownies turned out very well in the end after we fixed the air bubble issue. They rose the perfect amount and we basically half brownie and half cheesecake. The kindergartner's loved them!

Recipe :

Cheesecake-
1. 8 ounces of cream cheese
2.1/4 cup of sugar
3. 1 egg
4. 1/2 teaspoon of mint extract
5. 4 drops green food coloring
6. 1 cup mini chocolate chips

Brownie mix-
1.1/2 cup of flour
2. 1 cup sugar
3.1/3 cup dark cocoa powder
4.1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
5.1/2 cup butter melted
6. 2 eggs

Whipped Cream-
1.1/2 teaspoon of vanilla
2. 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar
3. 1 cup of heaving whipping cream

Preparation :
1.Preheat oven to 350F/180C
2.For the cheesecake, in a bowl, beat the cream cheese until smooth
3.Add sugar, egg, mint extract, and food coloring, and beat until smooth
4. Fold in the chocolate chips --> set aside in fridge
5.For the brownie, in a separate bowl, whisk the dry ingredients until combined
6.Add the butter and eggs and beat until smooth
7.To assemble, fill each cup of standard, lined muffin tin half full of brownie, then half full of cheesecake mixture
8. Bake 16-23 minutes
9. Enjoy!

Spaghetti Alla Vodka

Gluten is a protein present in the flour of the dough which causes the dough to stick together. If we over-knead the dough, it would become tough and clumpy. The flour molecules are starches, which when placed in the boiling water, absorb the water, making the outside 80-90% water and the center 40-60% water, since the outer protein network breaks once it absorbs the water. The onions and garlic brown due to the Maillard reaction, which is a result of the sugars in the garlic and onions breaking down. 
Overall, our presentation went well. The kids really enjoyed the pasta. Initially, the kids did not want to try the sauce with pasta; however, after their classmates tried it everyone else wanted some. One kid said the sauce tasted like "goodness". To improve our presentation, we would have cooked the pasta at the start, since it took longer than usual to cook the large amount of pasta. 

Pasta Recipe
3 cups flour 
5 eggs
Olive Oil 

• http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/friday-night-dinner-pasta-alla-vodka/
• 1 pound Pasta
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• 1 whole Medium Onion, Chopped Finely
• 2 cloves (to 3 Cloves) Garlic, Chopped
• 3/4 cups (to 1 Cup) Vodka
• 1 can (About 14 Oz.) Tomato Puree
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• 1 pinch Red Pepper Flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon (to 1/2 Teaspoon) Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
• 1 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions, being careful not to overcook.

In a large skillet over medium heat, add olive oil and butter. When butter is melted, add in chopped onion and garlic. Stir and allow to cook for two minutes. Pour in vodka. Stir and cook for three minutes. Add in tomato puree and stir.

Reduce heat to low and stir in cream. Allow to simmer, being careful not to overheat. Stir in red pepper flakes, salt and pepper.

Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of pasta water in case sauce is too thick. Add cooked pasta to the sauce, tossing to combine. Splash in a little water if it needs it. Stir in Parmesan cheese.

Pour mixture into large serving bowl. Garnish with more Parmesan cheese.

Eat it out of the serving bowl. Faint. Repeat as needed.

Cannolis- Luca and Anabelle

We made Cannolis with fresh ricotta cheese and homemade shells. For the filling we made the ricotta by bringing the milk, heavy cream and salt to a simmer (not boil) and then adding 1/2 cup of white vinegar. When the milk it heated it becomes foamy on the top and the milk becomes thicker. When you add the vinegar it binds the proteins of the milk together and leaves the left over liquid that was in the milk to settle on the bottom. For the shell we combines a 1/2 cup of white wine, and Tbsp of sugar, 2 cups of flour, a 1/4 tsp of salt, a 1/4 tsp of cinnamon, 2 Tbsp of butter and an egg yolk. We flattened the dough to a millimeter and rolled it around a stainless steel rod. You them put it in the fryer that is filled with canola oil and heated to 360 degrees. The dough quickly forms a thin crust which prevents any access oil from entering the food. The oil left inside of the dough cooks the remaining interior, resulting in a crispy shell. After removing it from the hot pipe, we let it sit to cool before filling it. The filling was made from the ricotta mixed with powdered sugar, vanilla and chocolate chips.
Everything went well in the recipe. The only problem we had was the shell sticking to the stainless steel rod. We quickly discovered that you needed vegetable oil to be sprained on the rod in order for the dough not to stick. Another thing that we could have done was leave the cheese to drain for longer. Because we were short on time, the cheese didn't have time to form into its typical smooth texture.

As you can see, the 1st grade class that ate our cannolis liked our homemade shells more than the shells we had gotten at the store.

Mac n' Cheese Science

The sciency part of making mac n' cheese is the sauce. The sauce requires a specific temperature range for it to mix properly. When we add flour to hot butter the long chains of glucose in the flour are broken apart by the hot water from the butter. Now the smaller chains of glucose are floating around in the oil. When we add milk to the sauce the glucose chains clump up again, but in the process they also clump to the water and milk now in the sauce, giving it a creamy texture.

I thought my presentation went well overall. I described the breakdown and reformation of the molecules like taking apart and building lego. I think this helped the kids to understand atoms and molecules a little better. I would have liked to also talk more about how the sauce requires a specific temperature for the reactions to occur. It is like goldilocks where the temperature needs to be not to hot or cold but just right.

Link to the recipe (thanks to Parisa): http://carnaldish.com/recipes/pasta/grown-up-bacon-mac-and-cheese/#.WHPIabYrJE4

Lee Lee McNeil- Liquid Nitrogen Peppermint Ice Cream

Peppermint Ice Cream w/ Liquid Nitrogen

Recipe/Inspiration: 
Ingredients:

• 4 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups whole milk
• 2/4 cup and 1 tbsp granulate
• 14 egg yolks
• 4 tsps of McCormick Peppermint Extract
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 2 cup crushed candy cane (peppermint)

Steps:
1) In a Medium bowl bring cream, milk, and 1Tbsp of sugar to boil. In a large bowl, whisk together remaining sugar and egg yolks. When milk begins to boil, lower heat. 

2) Slowly add hot milk into the yolk mixture, 2/4 cup at a time, whisking to distribute heat. Once all milk has been added, transfer mixture back into the pot. 

3) Stir over low-medium heat until mixture reaches "nappe consistency" or 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and peppermint extract.

http://www.thelittleepicurean.com/2014/12/peppermint-ice-cream.html

Liquid Nitrogen Instructions:  

4) Wear proper safety gear which includes gloves and googles. Pour in a little Liquid Nitrogen to cool the ice cream mixture, then quickly mix the peppermints in and start slowly pouring more Liquid Nitrogen.

5) If ice crystals start to form, still continue and keeping pouring Liquid Nitrogen until the ice cream feels thicker and like ice cream texture. 

6) When it's thick and creamy from the Liquid Nitrogen and hard to mix, you're ready to serve! Serve quickly so it doesn't melt and enjoy! 

https://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/liquid-nitrogen-ice-cream/ 

Science Behind the Freeze:

During this recipe, I first combined basic ingredients into homogenous mixtures by applying force through mixing and stirring with a whisk. Next, I heated the milk and cream, which then caused the more creamy texture and fats of the milk to surface because of the evaporation of the water in the milk. This makes the milk more flavorful and creamier for the finish product. Then I combined the milk with the eggs by applying the force of a whisk and then I reapplied the mixture to the heat. The heat applied to the eggs killed the bacteria that was present in the eggs, lessening the chance of Salmonella, or food poisoning. The egg yolk also emulsifies the mixture because of its amino acids, creating a more united product. After everything is mixed and cooked, the Liquid Nitrogen is poured onto the ice cream mix. The Liquid Nitrogen process of freezing the ice cream is known to be the best way to make ice cream because it is quick and prevents the formation of ice crystals, which form when something is frozen slowly. The Liquid Nitrogen has a boiling point of -195.8 degrees Celsius or -320.4 degrees Fahrenheit, meaning that when the Liquid Nitrogen is exposed to air, it immediately begins heating up and changing phases to vapor. Water vapor is released and that is the reason steam appears. Liquid Nitrogen itself is extremely cold, so when it is poured onto the ice cream, the heat energy from the ice cream is taken by the Liquid Nitrogen, causing the ice cream mixture to cool down quickly. Since the Liquid Nitrogen is super cold, the energy from the mixture  is lost very quickly, resulting in the quick freeze of ingredients and formation of very small ice crystals, creating the creamy texture. In addition, the reason that small bubbles skid off of the ice cream mixture is due to the Leiden Frost Effect, where the surface the Liquid Nitrogen touches is so hot compared to its temperature and boiling point that droplets sit atop a thin layer of vapor like a protective sleeve. 

References:

http://www.neilequipment.com

https://www.reference.com/food/happens-heat-milk-c4ef9e3deeef7fc0#

https://www.exploratorium.edu/cooking/eggs/eggscience.html
http://www.medicaldaily.com/pulse/liquid-nitrogen-wont-freeze-your-hand-immediately-you-still-shouldnt-try-it-312886