Grilled Pizza & Panzanella Salad with Chef Aaron Vandemark of Hillsborough's Pancuito

Aaron Vandemark, chef & owner of Pancuito in Hillsborough led the Home Fries Class on Saturday, July 17th.
Aaron gave the kids a list of ingredients and they went shopping, along with Shanna Bierman, for farm-fresh produce, herbs & cheese. When they returned, the chef showed everyone how to wash the produce, and then the Fries were assigned different kitchen tasks: slicing, grating and chopping.
For the Panzanella Salad, Aaron & the Fries first grilled focaccia bread dough, cut it into bit-sized pieces and combined it with smoked mozarella, sungold tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and red onion vinaigrette.
For the pizza, Aaron and the kids made a batch of dough in the stand mixer. It's really important when you make pizza dough to be sure to knead it or work it with the bread hook for 8 to 10 minutes. Kneading works the gluten proteins in the dough and acts as a binding agent to hold the dough together. Another reason to knead the dough is to create air pockets or bubbles inside the dough that allow the formation of carbon dioxide bubbles as the dough rises. These pockets give the dough a texture that is light and airy.
Once the dough was made, Aaron brought out a dough he had made the day before, so that it had been given a chance to rise and rest. The Fries portioned the dough out into individual pizzas and rolled them out. Each pizza was topped with whatever sounded good...there was a breakfast pizza with a local egg, arugula pizza with smoked mozzarella and even a chocolate pizza! The fun thing about pizza is that you can put anything on it that sounds good! Your imagination is the limit!
It was a delicious day at the Durham Farmers' Market!

A big thank you goes out to Chef Aaron Vandemark of Pancuito Restaurant in Hillsborough! We really appreciate that he took time out of his busy schedule to come over and teach the Home Fries Cookin' Class!


To learn more about Chef Aaron's restaurant, go to www.pancuito.com.

Home Fries Cooking Class Recipes 6/19/10

Basic Tomato Sauce

2 pounds fresh, sweet, mature vine-ripened tomatoes
1 large clove garlic, finely minced
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
freshly milled black pepper to taste
Directions
Cut out the tough area around the core of each tomato and cut the tomatoes into quarters lengthwise. Using your fingers, push out the excess seeds. Chop the tomatoes coarsely or cut them into fine dice. Place the tomatoes in the bowl in which you will serve the pasta.
Add the oil, basil, salt, and pepper to the tomatoes and stir to mix well. Allow the sauce to stand at room temperature while the pasta cooks.



Pasta Dough

1 C. Semolina
1 C. Durum Flour
2 each Eggs
1 T. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt
Water as needed

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl and form a well in the center. Place eggs in the center and slowly stir to bring together. Use water if dough is dry. Once combined need by hand. Let rest for ½ hour. Roll to desired pasta shape.



Justin Rakes
Four Square Restaurant
foursquaredurham.blogspot.com

Fresh Pasta, Fresh Tomato Sauce & Making Soup from the Leftovers

On Saturday June 18th, I was really excited. I was starting the second Home Fries cooking class.
The chef for the class was Justin Rakes, the chef at Durham’s Four Square. Today’s lesson was making pasta and tomato sauce and using leftovers.
We washed our hands, wrote our names on our cups and utensils, and each got our own recipe instructions. Then we started making pasta. The first step was learning the ingredients. Next was mixing flour and salt – we made a well of the dry ingredients and then cracked the egg in. The egg we used had a double yolk! We found out that the pasta we made needed to rest, then “magically” we had more pasta dough that was rested and ready to go. We all got a turn to roll out the pasta in the pasta machine, which I thought was one of the most fun parts. Then we split into two groups, one group started making tomato sauce, the other group cut pasta. We cut out noodles and little pasta called Orecchiette, in English that means “little ear”. We boiled the pasta, which we learned cooks faster than dry pasta and cooked the tomato sauce. We learned that if you make an X in the skin on the tomatoes then boil them for 10 seconds that the skins are easy to take off.

We ate our work and then we took the left over tomato sauce – put cream in it, took a hand mixer & blended it up… and then had Creamy Tomato Soup with toast and goat cheese. After we finished eating and cleaning up we got to check out some cookbooks that we could keep until our next lesson. I got out a book called, “Anyone Can Cook.” I had a lot of fun learning how to make pasta; I can’t wait to make it at home!

Contributed by Cordelia

A big thank you from the Durham Home Fries Cookin' Team to Chefs Justin Rakes & Scott Martin of Four Square Restaurant in Durham! www.foursquarerestaurant.com

Join Chef Justin Rakes of Durham's Four Square Restaurant on June 19th at the Durham Farmers' Market.
Chef Rakes will take the Home Fries to Brinkley Farm's produce stand, introduce them to the farmers, and show them how to pick out a good vegetable. Then, he and Sous-Chef Scott Martin will show the Fries how to choose the right knives for the job at hand, make a fresh pasta with tomato sauce and lastly, he'll show the kids how to make something new out of yesterday's dinner!
I've heard a rumor that he's also going to do a drawing to give-away a pasta machine!!
This one is going to be a lot of fun with many new skills to learn!
Class starts at 9:30 sharp. Saturday's class still has seven spaces available for kids aged 9-13 who want to learn how to cook with the pros!
See you on the 19th!

Check out Chef Justin Rakes and his restaurant at www.foursquarerestaurant.com.

Seth & Craig's Home Fries Recipes - May 15, 2010

Appetizer Course: Cheese Spread
Goals: Learn to use a food processor, learn mincing herbs
Serves: 4 adults or 6 kids

Ingredients:
4 oz. cream cheese
4 oz. fresh local goat cheese
1/2 fresh lemon
1-2 ounces milk or heavy cream
1 T. finely chopped herbs such as rosemary, oregano, tarragon, thyme
Pinch Kosher Salt
Pinch Black Pepper
1 scallion, finely chopped
20 large croutons
Olive oil

Procedure: Blend cheeses, lemon juice and herbs with salt & pepper in a food processor until smooth. Add a touch of milk or heavy cream to help get the blade spinning. Remove to a serving bowl and garnish with scallions and serve with toasted bread croutons brushed with olive oil.

Salad Course
Goals: Leran to use an imersion blender; learn the vinaigrette ratio; learn to wash lettuce; how to dress a salad.

Ingredients:
2 oz. Olive Oil (2/3 cup)
1 oz. Vinegar (1/3 cup)
1 T. Herbs
Pinch Kosher Salt
Pinch Black Pepper

Procedure: Mix all ingredients in a small bowl, blend until smooth and creamy. Use just enough dressing to coat lettuce in a mixing bowl. Save remaining dressing in refrigerator for another day.

Entree Course: Quesadillas
Goals: Learn to use a chef's knife; learn to saute
Serves: 1 adult or 2 kids

Ingredients:
2 whole wheat flour tortillas
Olive oil
diced fresh vegetables such as
garlic
onion
scallion
zucchini
yellow squash
tomatoes
eggplant
Monterey Jack Cheese

Procedure: Dice vegetables evenly sized and saute until tender with olive oil, salt and pepper in a saute pan. Heat an electric griddle to 350 degrees. Brush the griddle with olive oil, then place one tortilla on griddle, cover tortilla with a small handful of cheese, then top with a second handful of cheese and place second tortilla on top. When bottom tortilla is golden, flip the quesadilla over with a little more olive oil until second side is golden. Remove from griddle and cut on cutting board like pizza and serve.

The First Home Fries Cookin' Class with Seth & Craig of Wine Authorities and Shanna Bierman, Volunteer Market Assistant, Extraordinaire

By 9:30 in downtown Durham, the sun was beating down overhead, temperatures creeping up to the high eighties, and there was hardly a parking place near the Farmer's Market. But this didn't stop the Home Fries, a team of ten kids nine through thirteen years of age with a love for cooking. Us ten kids trickled over, where we were handed a sheet of paper with three recipes by Seth and Craig of Wine Authorities. I was blinking sleep out of my eyes as we talked about when we had cooked, our favorites things to cook, our experiences in the kitchen, etc. Seth and Craig were then joined by another smiling face - Shanna. Shanna would be handling the cheese spread and bread station, Craig the salad station, and Seth the veggie quesadillas. We separated into 3 groups. My group--Sarah, myself, Cordelia, and Tatiana--headed to Seth and the quesadillas. Seth handed us each a veggie to wash. Zucchini in my hand, I rinsed the little bit of dirt there might have been on the green vegetable. There wouldn't be any pesticides or chemicals, so there was only a risk of dirt on the veggie. The veggies were chopped slowly and carefully as Seth explained the importance of knife safety--keep your fingers there, hold the knife like this, etc. Our veggies were soon ready to be sauted, and were tossed into the cast iron skillet with olive oil and a pinch of salt. The tortilla was added to the griddle with shredded cheese, then the veggies were added, then another layer of cheese was added(to act like glue) and then another tortilla on top. Golden color achieved, the quesadilla was cut and enjoyed. The heat was bearing down on us, but we were determined to continue our mission to cook. Water was being pumped from the water tank where we had washed the veggies. My group of 4 moved with determination to the cheese spread station. We would make this recipe better than ever, mixing local herbs, cream cheese, Celebrity Dairy goat cheese, and lemon juice to make a creamy spread to put on freshly-baked & toasted Polenta bread from Ron at Loaf. Herbs were chopped perfectly, cheeses mixed together, lemon juiced. I cut a loaf of bread which we "painted" olive oil on with a paintbrush(no worries, it was used soley for cooking). The bread was laid out carefully by the chefs, and stuck in the toaster oven with a reminder to "always use a oven mitt or towel to put or take something out of an oven." We waited hungrily as the bread toasted, sighing happily when it came out of the oven and spread the cheese on it. Biting down, it was the perfect flavor combination for the bread. We watched the people at the salad station, the final station we would visit. They mixed a vinaigrette: 2/3 a cup of olive oil, 1/3 a cup of vinegar, chopped fresh cucumbers, and cut local lettuces into bite-sized pieces. I watched eagerly but was crestfallen as I watched the time tick by. I knew I had to leave the cooking class--it seemed we had taken longer than expected. I bid farewell to our teachers, thanking them for the class. However simple cooking may seem, there is an complex, beautiful art to it.
Contributed by Maya Sugg

First Home Fries Cookin' Class This Saturday, May 15th!

Seth Gross & Craig Heffley of Wine Authorities will be the guest chef's at this Saturday's kick-off of the Home Fries Cookin' Class! Seth and Craig will be teaching introductory knife skills + sauté technique and cookin' up some fresh local recipes with the Home Fries class. On the menu this weekend are farm-fresh veggie quesadillas and a local goat-cheese spread with griddled freshly-baked bread from Loaf. It's going to be fun, fresh and delicious!
Class starts at 9:30 sharp. We'll be cookin' it up on the central lawn area of the Durham Central Park Pavilion, under our large tent. For those registered to participate, please be sure to wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before reporting for fun!
See you Saturday!