Day one hundred twenty four

A recipe to make perfect waffles.

We had second to the last day for the breakfast cookery. Our team made country style fried chicken and waffles. For me it was a strange way to serve it together, however it seems to be a classical American dish. The majority of people specifically asked for chicken and waffles on the same plate, some even asked to pour maple syrup onto chicken as well. I would prefer my waffles with whipped cream and berry coulis (and I had it for the breakfast).

Other teams made also interesting dishes: eggs benedict on polenta cake; corned beef hash; house cured picnic ham; crepes.

As per feedback we received the best dish for the breakfast was ours - chicken and waffles.

Chicken was marinated overnight in
buttermilk with old bay seasoning. Today it was removed from marinade, coated with seasoned flour, and deep fried. At the beginning we had high temperature of the oil (375F) and  chicken did not cooked well - the outside was almost burnt and inside it was raw. Then we reduced temperature to 325 F and it was perfect.

Waffles were not difficult, we just followed the recipe from our course guide.

Here is the recipe for waffles.

Our waffle-maker

Ingredients:

Milk 1/2 gal
Yeast 2 1/3 tablespoon
Butter 1 lb
Pastry flour 20 oz
Bread flour 24 oz
Salt 1/2 tablespoon
Sugar 4 oz
Vanilla 4 oz
Egg yolks 8 ea
Egg whites 8 ea

Method:

1. Warm milk. Add yeast and mix well. Melt butter. Add to milk. 
2. Combine pastry flour, bread flour, salt, and sugar.
3. Combine dry mix with warm milk mixture.
   
4. Add egg yolks and vanilla and mix. Let proof until it doubles in volume. Whip egg whites to
   soft peaks and fold into the batter. Use as needed. 
   
   

   

   Just made waffles

   We had to find right temperature on the waffle-maker. We had it low at the beginning and waffles was too soft without colour. As soon as we increased temperature we got nice colour, firm exterior and soft interior.
   
   Indeed the recipe is good, highly recommend to make it. Please keep in mind that the batter will keep rising, so keep it on the ice or in the refrigerator.
   
   The day today was busy. Right after class we had people from Marriott. They told us about their leadership program, how does it work and whom they are looking. I was able to speak with the lady responsible for this program in USA and Canada. It was an information interview, we agreed to get in touch after my externship.
   
   Another event for today was a lecture about gluten free flour mix which was made by people working in the French Laundry. It called cup for cup (cup4cup.com). Their statement is that you may substitute normal flour for the gluten free cup for cup without adding additional ingredients. I've got and example to try, will do. I hope it will work. The only thing that was strange for me is that they said do not think too much about texture, just enjoy the baked goodies. This is strange as it either a real substitution and there will be no difference in texture (very difficult) or not. I have to try for myself and see.