OK, so I am thirteen now, I guess I have breached the threshold of adolescence. I don't know if I should shout for joy or cry like a baby. Sometimes I do a little of each. I guess with growing up comes more responsibilities. At least that is what my mom and dad tell me. For a while now, my mother has been trying to encourage my "culinary skills"...unfortunately I would rather write a cookbook than read one. (If I ever do please, Buyer beware! I can't guarantee good results).
I don't know how my mother does it. She can look into the looming refrigerator and pull out a variety of seemingly odd ingredients only to throw it into a pot and make a scrumptious meal. On the other hand, I have had too many cooking disasters to count. From over inflated muffins, to rock hard biscuits.(and those were from a can)...Oh the shame of it all. I once made spaghetti soup...it was completely accidental. (No one mentioned I was supposed to drain the pasta BEFORE adding the sauce.) Never assume a beginning cook knows what they are doing. To put it simply, I think cooking is completely overrated...and it just adds to the mess of things. It's like two jobs in one (cooking and cleaning), three times a day...sigh....Rachel Ray...I know I have watched hours of your cooking show, and never once have they worked out for me. I guess I can now join the club of "the domestically challenged". I am the type of girl who likes to know "why" something happens. This annoys my mother to death, because it is like having a three year old (which she already has). Knowing this about me, she decided that perhaps if I knew the "whys' and "hows" of cooking, I might take more of an interest. It was intriguing, but it didn't work. I still hate cooking, though I will make an occasional grilled cheese sandwich if I absolutely have to. I actually had to write a paper about what I learned. I thought I would share it with you all, because quite frankly, I have nothing very exciting to share with you this week, except this. I guess you could say, it is Cooking with Chemistry...That sounds freakishly alarming in the same sentence. Chemical reactions in our food? Well, it happens. Chemistry is all around us. So here is the paper I wrote after a Saturday morning of "culinary chemistry".
COOKING WITH CHEMISTRY
Saturday Breakfast with Nora Gunter
Chemistry is all around us. Sometimes we use it without even knowing. For example, have you ever been making pancakes in the morning and wonder why they turn out so light and fluffy? Well, today I am going to explain why.
Okay, Here are our ingredients:
We need flour, baking powder, salt, eggs, cooking oil and milk.
These ingredients all have a purpose, but mostly they are used to give the pancakes flavor, ad are inactive ingredients used as a binding base for the "chemistry magic", to work it's wonders. Store bought pancake mix is easy to use, but if you have none on hand and are making pancakes from scratch it is important to add the ingredients in the amount the recipe calls for, Unless you want to win the weirdest pancake award. For example, if you add too much flour, you are going to end up with hard, stiff pancakes. (Trust me. I know.) People expect pancakes to melt in their mouths, not break their bicuspids. (Thankfully, no bicuspids were injured in the making of this project. Whew!) If you add too little flour, well, you could end up with crepes...which are delicious...but flat and rubbery, NOT light and fluffy. Then there is the baking powder, which is the most important ingredient of all. Too much, and you will have a mushroom cloud instead of a pancake, with a hint of bitterness...again...personal experience too painful to speak of, but I will talk more about baking powder a little later.
OK, now we get to the fun part!Do I hear any interjections of "HOORAY", "YEEHAW", or "YIPPEEEEEE!!!!? Hmmm...I didn't think so. Oh well, on with the show.
When making pancakes first, you will want to mix the dry ingredients together:
(Hint: in chemistry, this is called a mixture because, theoretically we could still separate the ingredients from one another and they would be unchanged.) (I'll bet you didn't know I knew that right? )
First, we have the two cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and four teaspoons of baking powder. Then, we whisk it slightly until the ingredients are combined. See any "chemistry magic" yet? Yeah, I don't either. Be patient it is coming soon.
Next, we will combine (in a separate bowl from the dry ingredients) the two eggs, oil, and milk. (A.K.A. the WET ingredients).
After that, add the bowl of wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients. NOTICE ANYTHING???
If you look closely you will notice that as soon as the dry and wet ingredients meet there are a lot of bubbles that form on the top. This is because of the Guest of Honor....Drum roll....Yep, you guessed it. It is baking powder.
We asked Baking Powder, "Just how do you do it?"
He replied, "I must admit I have always had and effervescent personality. I can't help myself. Whenever H2O and I get together, it's like a party every time. Some people just have that chemistry...You know!"
We couldn't get him to tell us the secret behind his bubbly, however he did leave us with this parting message..."Eat your heart out baking soda!".
What that means..? We may never know.
What our sources did find out is that baking powder is the combinations of sodium bicarbonate (a base) and a combination of sodium aluminum sulfate and calcium acid phosphate. (Both weak, solid acids). When baking powder comes into contact with water, (or in the case of our pancakes, milk) and acid-base reaction occurs causing the release of carbon dioxide gas...resulting in bubbles suspended within the batter. (Once this chemical reaction occurs this "mixture" is now defined as a "compound" because the components in it cannot be separated without another chemical reaction to do so)...fascinating...if you are a zealous chemistry buff...(I'm not).
Once the wet and dry ingredients are in the same bowl, you must stir it. When stirring it the batter it is important not to over stir it, because with every stroke you release the carbon dioxide gas inside the batter. The more bubbles that remain in the batter, the better. Small lumps are a pretty good sign that you have not over mixed.
We also found out that most baking powder is "double acting". This means that one acid is used to release hydrogen ions while resting at room temperature and then another acid is used to release even larger amounts of hydrogen ions when the compound is heated... (In this case by our HOT griddle).
With the mixing and measuring out of the way you can now start cooking your creation. Get a frying pan or a griddle and let it sit on the stove burner for a few minutes to preheat. You can put a little oil on the pan if you don't have a nonstick pan. Note: It is probably better to let an adult do this if you are not and experienced cook. We would not want anyone to burn their fingers...(I know about burned fingers also by personal experience. NOT FUN!!)
When the oil starts to fizzle or when a drop of water dances on the griddle it is ready. Pour the pancake batter slowly onto the griddle.
The sizzling sound is like music to the ears. After a time you will notice the second acid releasing its bubbles from the heat. (Lives up to it's name "double acting".)
When the edges begin to turn gold brown and you see bubbles on the surface you know it is time to flip the flapjacks..
Voila!!!
Breakfast is served, with syrup, milk and a side of chemistry. It is a perfect Saturday Morning breakfast.
**Note** A special thanks to my research staff, and also to my unfortunate taste testing brothers. They were lucky...this time....
Also, please disregard the date on these photos...my mothers is still trying to figure out how to set the correct date on the camcorder/digital camera...She insists she can figure it out herself...Parents...eye roll... Love 'em tons.
Well, there it is. In case anyone is wondering the original paper had pictures along the way, but I haven't figured out the ins and outs of the blog world yet, and I am not sure how to post the pictures I wanted to. I suppose that to perserver with my journey of cooking would be the right thing to do. One must not lose hope...even over something like cooking.
I love Emily Dickinson's poem
Hope is the Thing with Feathers
by Emily Dickinson
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chilliest land
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.
I hope you all keep your fingers crossed for me and a little prayer in your hearts for me. If ever we invite you over, I promise I will not cook on that occasion. If ever you see a cookbook entitled the Jewels of A Juvenile Junkfood Junkie...Buyer beware...you have been warned.
Peace to all of you in blog land,
Until next time...just call me Nora.
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