Edible Schoolyard Journal » Joyce Lin-Conrad

Pretzel Party

Joyce Lin-Conrad — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 20:15:12 +0000

Several teachers were able to schedule their classes in the kitchen during these last weeks of school as an end-of-the-year celebration before summer break. In response to student request, we made soft pretzels with two 7th grade humanities cores on Wednesday and Thursday. It’s a wonderfully simple lesson, and a great way to demonstrate how much tastier a popular street or ballpark food item can be when made from scratch!

The dough consists of flour, brown sugar, salt, yeast, and water. We made it in advance to let it have a chance to rise before class, but gave out copies of the recipe, which students can easily make themselves at home. One particularly equitable student from each table group portioned out the dough, and we got to work rolling our individual portions out on the lightly floured table.

The most direct way to form a traditional pretzel shape is to roll the dough into a skinny rope, twist the ends together, and then flip the twisted end over to meet the other side of the circle. Both times, this was the shape I constructed, but the sheet pan quickly filled with far more creative pretzels–initials, braids, and coils of all sizes. Before baking, we boiled the pretzels in a baking soda and water solution for approximately 45 seconds. The alkalinized water is key, as it helps to create the perfect chewy texture. We then brushed the pretzels with egg wash and chose to sprinkle on one or all of our toppings: kosher salt, large sea salt, poppy seeds, and sesame seeds.

The pretzels took 10 minutes to bake in our convection oven at 450 degrees. We served them hot out of the oven with different styles of mustard and chatted about the summer and what to look forward to in 8th grade. We will be seeing the new 8th graders in the kitchen as soon as we return for the new school year, so it was a fun send-off and a great way to provide continuity for students and teachers alike in our Edible Schoolyard journey.

The board for pretzel day

Shaping the pretzels

One of the folded pretzels

One of the pretzels being boiled

Some pretzels coming out of the oven

Some people chose to dip their warm pretzels in mustard

Yum

A Simple Pasta Dough

Joyce Lin-Conrad — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 21:44:20 +0000

We now have 7th graders in the kitchen for a six-lesson rotation that focuses on life skills, a wonderful idea 7th grade humanities chair Julie Searle asked us to develop. Their first week back, the students learned to make a miso dressing and served it with a crudité platter. This week, they made fresh pasta dough, which they then rolled out and cut by hand. Though many students took the recipe home to make with their families, it was simple enough to memorize on the spot. We combined flour and salt on the table, made a well with our fingers, then cracked fresh eggs from our chickens into the well, and added extra-virgin olive oil.

Many students learned for the first time the acronym EVOO on the recipe. Later, one of them told me he was watching the game show “Cash Cab” on the Discovery Channel the night after class where the prize-winning question was “What is EVOO?” I was reminded of how broad a meaning “life skills” can have!

Once the well was made, we all marveled at how the white flour with the yellow eggs in the middle looked just like a giant fried egg. Using a fork (which reiterated how simple the recipe is to make with everyday kitchen tools), the students mixed together the eggs and the oil and then pulled tiny bits of flour into the wet ingredients as they swirled the fork around. The well method is a great way to ensure a smooth, pliant dough, and has been used for generations to make fresh pasta.

After kneading by hand, the finished dough was wrapped in plastic to let it rest for the next class. The students cut and cooked dough that was made by the class before them. We had some amazingly creative shapes, some of which had yet to be invented! The pasta cooked in salted boiling water for 60 seconds, and we served it with more olive oil, Meyer lemon wedges, chervil, Parmigiano-Reggiano, ground pepper, and shelling peas fresh off the vine. I hope we hear from the 7th graders many years down the road that they continue to make this delicious recipe for their family and friends.

The recipe

Making the pasta dough

Rollin out the dough

Cutting the pasta

Boiling up the pasta and getting ready to eat

The Central Kingdom

Joyce Lin-Conrad — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 20:37:03 +0000

This week, the 6th graders learned a traditional Chinese cooking method, stir-frying, using a traditional Chinese cooking pot, the wok. On the blackboard, we wrote the Chinese characters for the name China, which is transliterated as zhong guo and translates into “central kingdom.” The first character, zhong, perfectly depicts its meaning with a vertical line bisecting a horizontal box. The second character, guo, is the character for “region” surrounded by a closed border. It was a fun visual demonstration for the students of how the language differs from English in its written form.

Now that the 6th graders are experts in the kitchen, we challenged them with this lesson to expand on their knife skills by slicing each ingredient of the recipe into a long and skinny shape, instead of into the usual chunks. They also divided the vegetables into two categories: crispy/crunchy and soft/leafy. By cutting everything into a similar size and shape and by starting the crispy/crunchy ingredients first, we ensured that everything cooked evenly.

First, the students seared firm tofu marinated with tamari, toasted sesame oil, and red chili flakes in the hot wok. Next, after removing the tofu, they sauteed minced garlic and ginger until fragrant. They added the crispy/crunchy vegetables (broccoli, celery, carrot, rainbow chard stem, purple cabbage) and cooked them for a few minutes, followed by the soft/leafy vegetables (rainbow chard leaves and green onion). The tofu was tossed back into the work for a final mixing, and the whole stir-fry was seasoned with more tamari and sesame oil.

At the closing circle, we discussed what it means for Chinese to be a tonal language, and the students learned one word representing each of the four major tones: jiang (ginger), you (oil), and dou fu (tofu). Not surprisingly, 6th graders take to one of the more difficult languages to learn much more quickly than adults!

The Chinese characters for the name China written on the blackboard

Slicing the chard into bite sized pieces

Cutting the blocks of tofu into long thin strips

Then the tofu is cut into thirds

And finally the tofu is seared in a wok

Vegetable Curry

Joyce Lin-Conrad — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 00:36:08 +0000

The 6th grade humanities classes have returned to the kitchen for their spring rotation, which journeys through four great civilizations: India, China, Greece, and Rome. For their first lesson back, the students listened to Indian music and learned to make a vegetable curry. Many were surprised to hear that curry is actually a mix of spices that varies from region to region and doesn’t derive from just one plant.

The curry we made starts with toasting whole cardamom pods, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, brown mustard seeds, and black peppercorns over low heat until fragrant and the seeds start to pop. Those spices are then ground by hand in a mortar and pestle with turmeric and red chili flakes.

We sauteed spring onions from the garden with the ground curry, then added fingerling potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and rainbow chard together with coconut milk and vegetable stock. The finished dish was served over brown basmati rice, which soaked up the beautiful golden liquid perfectly.

Some of the curry spices on our spice table

Toasting the spices not only creates a more robust taste, but also made the whole kitchen smell like cardamom

Grinding spices with a mortar and pestle

Cooking the spices with spring onions from the garden

Cooking the curry

The finished platter

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

Joyce Lin-Conrad — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:11:06 +0000

On rare occasions, our class schedule allows us to see the same group of students on two consecutive days. This was the case this week with Ms. Rathwell’s ELL core – a mixed class of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders who are learning English as a second, third, or sixth language!

On Wednesday, each table made a frittata with Red Russian kale, romanesco, and herbs from the garden. To take advantage of our time together, we also made pickles to be enjoyed with the lesson on Thursday only 24 hours later. The students were amazed that pickles could be made so easily and in such a short amount of time. Many used a wavy knife to cut the carrots into fun shapes. We also tried both hot and cold pickling methods to see if we could discern a difference the next day.

Thursday morning the class learned to make tortillas and enjoyed a feast of black beans, handmade guacamole with cilantro from the garden, rice, and the deliciously tart, sweet, and spicy pickled vegetables. We proved that good things do come to those who wait.

Pickled Vegetables

3 whole garlic cloves
1 small red onion
1 bunch French Breakfast radishes
3 carrots
1 sprig marjoram
1 bay leaf
1 dried chili pepper

2 cups vinegar
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp kosher salt

Peel the garlic. Peel and slice the onion. Remove the stems and leaves from the radishes and carrots and cut into desired shapes. Place the garlic, onion, radishes, carrots, herbs, and chili into a quart jar. Place the vinegar in a saucepan, add the sugar and salt, and bring the mixture to a boil for one minute. Remove liquid from heat and pour into the jar. Seal, let cool, and refrigerate overnight.

Alternate method: Simply whisk the vinegar with the salt and sugar until dissolved, then pour cold into the jar. Seal and refrigerate overnight. (In the head-to-head competition of hot vs. cold, we found no discernible difference between the two methods.)

Our chalkboard showing the students what was in store for the second day in the kitchen

Rolling the masa to make tortillas

The tortilla press we used to flatten the masa balls

Cooking the tortillas

Our beautiful pickles

The spicy and sour pickles ended up being a very popular component of the meal

The delicious meal

A Trip to Spain

Joyce Lin-Conrad — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 19:51:59 +0000

Though it was hard for all of us to come back on Monday from a relaxing, two-week winter break, we had a new grade level waiting for us in the kitchen upon our return. 7th graders bring a different kind of energy to the classroom, and Esther and I can only marvel at how many inches they’ve all grown since the last school year. For their first class back, the students are making a black-eyed peas dish from Ghana that includes red onion, coconut milk, greens from the garden, and at least ten different spices.

On Thursday, we weren’t able to see our regular 7th grade students due to a writing assessment and instead went on holiday in Spain hosting two Spanish classes, one specifically designed for native speakers. Though a standard kitchen class has the students broken up into three tables with each table preparing the same dish, this time each table made its own tapas recipe and prepared enough food for the entire class.

My table made a refreshing salad of sliced avocados, supremed red grapefruit, grapefruit-balsamic-mint dressing, and toasted pepitas. Esther’s table prepared patatas bravas by roasting red fingerling potatoes and made fresh aioli with eggs from our chickens by hand. Many students couldn’t believe it when they learned that mayonnaise was as simple as an egg yolk and olive oil and loved the deep color of the aioli as compared to a store-bought product.

Mr. Geiken, the Spanish teacher, led his group in shelling and then frying almonds and marinating olives (picked in the ESY garden and brined by students in November) with thyme, marjoram, garlic, and citrus zest. Everyone delighted in the variety of dishes we had to enjoy, learned new vocabulary (almendras, toronja, aderezo), and engaged in heated discussions about which plate was the tastiest.

Making grapefruit supremes

The finished salad

Almonds in their shell

Shelling the almonds in the mortar and pestle

Almonds transformed!

A Special Breakfast

Joyce Lin-Conrad — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:17:22 +0000

This week, the 6th graders entered the kitchen to find at their tables a mysterious looking grinder and ten little bowls, each labeled with the name of a whole grain or seed. Their task for the class: to grind, cook, and savor their own hot, multi-grain cereal. The grains we use vary from class to class, but a typical recipe includes hard wheat berries, flax seeds, jasmine rice, oats, rye, farro, long-grain brown rice, millet, buckwheat groats, and richly colored Wehani rice.

The students each pick a grain, record the initial volume, place the grain into the grinder, and then crank its handle clock-wise until all the grain flows through. (The flax seeds go into the cereal whole, and one lucky student at each table grinds the millet by hand in a mortar and pestle, as the seeds are too small to go into the grinder.) We ask the students to notice the fragrance released by the act of grinding. Many agree that ground buckwheat smells just like toast with peanut butter!

Post-grinding, the students record a plus, minus, or equal sign depending on whether they think the volume of their grain has increased, decreased, or stayed the same. After writing down their guess, they measure the actual volume to determine whether their hunch was correct.

The finished dry cereal is cooked in boiling water for approximately ten minutes and sweetened with either brown sugar or maple syrup, depending on which ingredient each table prefers to use. (A close vote is often accompanied by intense lobbying.) Everyone enjoyed the cereal with or without milk, regardless of the time of day, and we had enough left over to send students off with bags of dry cereal to make again at home.

All of the grains in the bowls, ready for student selection

We found out that buckwheat groats even taste good raw

First we measured the product before ginding

Then we ground it up by hand

Everybody tasted, stirred, and seasoned

And then we all ate the delicious sweet grain cereal

Knife Skills

Joyce Lin-Conrad — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:42:13 +0000

In their second class after the kitchen orientation, the sixth graders baked pan de muertos in honor of Dia de los Muertos. The sweet, brown sugar-encrusted rolls were formed into the shape of each student’s choice, to commemorate someone who has passed on. By far one of my favorites was a mini-loaf in the form of a hamster. As they waited for the bread to finish baking in our convection oven, the students wrote a message on a piece of brightly colored paper about what shape they chose and who their bread memorialized. The notes were then rolled up and placed into a memory wall we displayed in the kitchen along with our Day of the Dead altar!

This week, the sixth graders finally got to use their toolboxes. The students learned about the difference between paring knives, chef’s knives, and bread knives, and that we have special green and white cutting boards that are reserved for garlic and onions. The dish they prepared was a heavenly sautee of garlic, dinosaur kale, and collard greens, finished with a little soy sauce and sesame oil. Some students had the chance to peel and mince garlic, while others stripped the greens of their stalks and then cut or tore the leaves into smaller pieces before cooking. The wonderfully fragrant end result served over a bed of brown rice and quinoa was so popular that almost everyone asked for seconds.

The memory wall on the Day of the Dead altar

Collard greens in our garden

Dinosaur kale

The finished greens over brown rice and quinoa

The Sixth Grade Kitchen Orientation

Joyce Lin-Conrad — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 22:59:40 +0000

We can truly feel autumn in the air now as the sixth grade math/science classes finish their eight-week introduction to the garden. The students, who will return to the garden in January, will spend the rest of their time before the winter recess exploring the kitchen classroom with their humanities teachers.

On their first day in the kitchen, the sixth graders meet Ms. Cook and Ms. Thomas, then fill out a short hand-written survey:

1. What is something you already know how to make by yourself?

2. What is the most unusual vegetable you have ever eaten?

3. What is your favorite and least favorite chore in the kitchen?

4. What is something (not a dessert) that you would love to learn how to make?

5. Please tell us one interesting fact about yourself.

On the backside of the survey, there is space for each student to write and draw in more depth about one of his/her favorite fruits or vegetables. We receive many delightful and illuminating responses. (The students are small, but their personalities are big!) One student wrote: “Mangoes are my favorite fruit. They are so good, especially dried mangoes. I could eat one million mangoes because they are so yummy. They taste like heaven.” Another wrote: “My favorite fruit is the tomato, because you can make salsa with it. Another reason I like tomatoes is because they taste good plain. Also, I like tomato sauce. One more reason I like them is because they have a lot of vitamins.”

Ms. Cook teaches the students to line up quietly outside the kitchen door before class, to store their things in cubbies, to put on an apron, and to wash their hands before the opening chefs’ meeting. She takes the students on a visual tour of the convection oven, the recycling and composting area, the cooking stations, the storage cabinets, and the spice table. Ms. Thomas introduces them to the flat-top griddle, the metro shelving, the bussing station, the refrigerator, the piano, the washing machine, and our industrial-strength dishwasher. The students have a chance to marvel at all the wonderful new things to look at and ask questions about tools or other objects they have never seen before. After a garden snack and a closing reflection, the sixth graders are ready to begin cooking on their next visit!

A flag from Alice hanging above the dish station

The aprons students wear during class

The bussing station

Dried strawflowers decorating the piano

2009 ELL Dinner

Joyce Lin-Conrad — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:58:04 +0000

On Monday night, members of the Edible Schoolyard and King Middle School staffs hosted a dinner in our kitchen for students in the English Language Learner program and their families. Earlier in the school day, ELL students prepared in class a garden salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, summer squash, bell peppers, and fresh herbs to contribute to the spread. They made a refreshing watermelon-lime agua fresca, filled vases with fresh-picked garden flowers, designed and drew a large welcome banner, rolled utensils in napkins, and set the table. They also created bookmarks for their families with pertinent school phone numbers and contact information.

We gathered around 6:00pm and shared a meal of chips and salsa, oven-roasted padron peppers, the salad, enchiladas, rice and beans, tomatillo salsa, the agua fresca, and freshly baked lime-pepita cookies. Needless to say, no one left hungry!

Administrators and teachers from the school mingled with King students, their siblings, and parents – some of whom have attended the ELL dinner in previous years. Families received information in English and Spanish about how to access school services and how to join an advisory committee for parents of ELL students. It was a lovely evening for all, and we look forward to hosting the dinner again next year.

The padrons coming out of the oven!