College Confessions from a Chemist's Kitchen

For those of you who don't know, I am graduating from college today with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. I am so very thankful to everyone who helped me get this far. Thanks to the Sunday Dinner group for keeping me sane and my kitchen busy. To my parents who supported me every step of the way, even when the steps led me half way across the country. To all of my professors for expanding my mind. And to those at the 11 am mass for expanding my soul. But most of all I would like to thank my research advisor Professor Timothy Warren. You opened my mind to new possibilities, you helped me find a place in a world I never thought I would fit into, and you taught me more in a year and a half than I could have ever imagined. Thank you.

And now that I have that off my chest, I have a couple of confessions, now that my diploma no longer hangs in the balance. It was me. Sophomore year, Henle Village, no fewer than three fire alarms. It was me, sorry. My kitchen skills have gotten better since then, not that the smoke detector goes off any less often.

It was me. All those missing samples in the glove box that turned up later in a broken vial grave yard. It was me, sorry. I am a klutz in the normal world, put me in space aged super thick gloves with a limited range of motion and we were all asking for trouble.

And finally, it was me. Remember that time in Orgo lab? The last experiment of the year and the fire alarm went off right at the critical moment in a timed experiment. The entire Basic Science Building had to evacuate. You all complained as we stood on the esplanade waiting for the all clear. Of course you do. My experiment was smoking, I had slammed down the fume hood window. It was me, sorry. I haven't caused an evacuation since, not that my lab mantra has changed. "At least I didn't blow anything up. At least I didn't blow anything up. At least I didn't blow anything up."

So for these, and any other sins I may have forgotten, I beg your forgiveness. But, at least I didn't blow anything up.

Photography Final

So, at the very beginning I talked about how this all started as a photography project that snowballed into an even bigger project. I also said I still hadn't finished my final portfolio. Well, here it is in all its black and white glory. The goal of this project was to show, in a single set of images, that the Chemistry lab isn't all that different from your average kitchen, and I think it turned out pretty well. Enjoy!

Yummy Yeast, aka Fabulous Finnish Cardamom Bread

So, as I am sure you've figured out, bits and pieces of my real life tend to bleed into this blog. My most recent trip into the heart of the Nation's Capitol lead me to the Library of Congress. I've lived in DC for four years now and never seen the pretty public part of the building. And here's what got me, there is science everywhere. The world's largest library LOVES science. There is a pillar representing it in the main reading room. Every major western power is attributed with adding something to Western Culture. America got science. There is ceiling fresco devoted to the eight major sciences that existed in the mid 19th Century (chemistry, physics, astronomy, mathematics, and more that I can't really remember right now, sorry). And, here's the coolest part there are putti (little Italian babies) on the main staircase. Each one has a profession, and the cook and the chemist are right next to each other. Yay, chemistry and cooking!

Cook

Chemist

So, on to our usual fare. Today's topic is yeast, yet again. Before we dive in I highly recommend that you read the last post to get the original skinny on these very cool microorganisms.

When you use yeast as a leavening agent in bread (the thing that makes dough or batter rise) you allow the yeast to expel CO2 as waste. The CO2 creates growing pockets of gas making the dough get bigger and bigger (and the ethanol that is also expelled makes it tastier and tastier). Yeast eats sugars and starches so the addition of potatoes, eggs, or sugar speeds up the rising process. Salt, hot water, and fats (butter, etc.) slow down the rising process. Easy enough. So, why should you let bread rise in a warm place? Think of yeast like a human being. When it is cold out, we all get sluggish, tired. We don't move a lot. As the temps get warmer we start to become more active, until at some point it becomes too hot and we stop working again. Yeast is the same way, too cold and it doesn't want to eat, too hot and it dies (like when you bake your bread). The other thing you have to worry about is the life span of yeast. When you aren't using a starter it is very difficult for the yeast to reproduce, so as time goes on the yeast begins to die off. If you let the dough rise too long in the first steps of a bread, it may not rise again because the yeast is dead. So, keep an eye on the dough.

I am a big fan of baking my own bread. I don't really know why, but it has something to do with the smell of fresh baked bread coming out of the oven. I made this slightly sweet bread as a special treat at Easter because, well, I love the flavor of cardamom and I had nothing better to do. I got the recipe from the Carmel Cookie (http://thecaramelcookie.blogspot.com/2010/02/finnish-cardamom-bread.html) and made a couple of small changes. First I increased the amount of cardamom, this is very lightly flavored. If you want a stronger cardamom flavor I would recommend adding a full teaspoon, because even doubling the amount to 1/2 teaspoon wasn't quite enough to really showcase the flavor. And second, I added a lemon butter glaze that just makes this bread. So here it is, my special treat.

Finnish Cardamom Bread with Lemon Glaze

Bread

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon dry activated yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1/2 cup + 1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 cup skim milk

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 t salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

4 1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup butter

1 beaten egg (for brushing)

granulated sugar (for sprinkling)

Mix yeast, warm water, and 1/2 teaspoon sugar until yeast dissolves. Set aside. Heat milk in a saucepan over low heat until small bubbles appear along the edges. Cool slightly. Add beaten eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, salt, cardamom, and 3 cups flour. Beat well. Add butter, beat well, Add yeast mixture. Add remaining flour in three additions. Mix well. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic (~10 min). Place dough in an oiled bowl. Cover and let double (~1 hour). Punch down and let rise again until doubled (~45 min). Divide the dough in half. From each half, roll three ropes 12-18 inches. Braid the ropes into two loaves. Place on a greased baking sheet. Let rise until doubled (~1 hour). Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush loaves with the beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 25 minutes, or until the loaves sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

Lemon Glaze

Ingredients

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup butter

1-2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Melt the butter. Add vanilla. Whisk in powdered sugar. Add enough lemon juice to achieve desired consistency. For the bread it should be liquid enough to pour, but stiff enough to stick to the loaves. It took me about 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice to achieve the right consistency. Generously pour over the loaves. This glaze recipe is enough to glaze both loaves of bread.

Fun Fungi, aka Prosciutto Pizza with Pizzaz

I love making pizza. It is so easy to make from scratch and the combinations are endless, so you can always use up whatever is in your refrigerator. The key to a good pizza is in the crust. And the key to a good crust is in the yeast.

Yeast is a single celled fungus that has been used for thousands of years as a leavening and fermenting agent. It feeds off of sugars and creates carbon dioxide and alcohol as waste. When you let bread dough rise the waste builds up creating more and more alcohol. Which gives it that very unique bread taste. The longer the bread is allowed to rise the more flavorful it becomes. But, the yeast produces less and less carbon dioxide, so after you punch it down the bread may not rise all the way again (more about yeast as a leavening agent later). It is a bit of a trade off in bread making so watch that dough! Pizza dough, on the other hand, doesn't really need to rise all that much. The flavor is all that matters, so you can just let it set for days in your refrigerator and let the yeast just do it's thing.

Yeast is very important in biochemistry and biology. Because it is a simple single celled organism it is very easy to study how proteins and enzymes work, and is a model for the study of larger organisms.

This is my favorite pizza. It is the perfect combination of salty and sweet and it just makes me happy. I got the recipe from the Pioneer Woman (if you haven't checked her out you need to, she is a down home kitchen goddess, http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking) and she has never steered me wrong. Other fabulous combinations I've tried are roasted tomato and eggplant, BBQ chicken, and tomato basil, but you can let your imagination run wild. This crust lends itself to anything and everything.

Caramelized Onion and Prosciutto Pizza

Pizza Crust

Ingredients

1 teaspoon instant or dry active yeast

1-1/2 cups warm water

4 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 olive oil

Sprinkle yeast over 1-1/2 cups warm water. Let stand for a few minutes.Combine the flour and salt. Drizzle in olive oil and mix well. Pour in water/yeast mixture and mix until a soft dough forms. Coat a separate bowl with olive oil. Place dough in and roll to coat (this keeps the dough from sticking to anything and from drying out). Cover with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 24-48 hours.* Makes 2 crusts. Drizzle a baking sheet with olive oil. Take half the dough and stretch as thinly as possible onto the baking sheet.

*The other option is to let the dough rise in a warm place for a couple of hours and after it's allowed to rise either using immediately or placing in the freezer for up to 6 months.

Pizza Toppings/Assembly

Ingredients

1 pizza crust

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 lb prosciutto

Mozzarella Cheese

Parmesan Cheese

Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan on medium heat. Add brown sugar and stir to dissolve. Add onion and cook until very soft and browned. Slice mozzarella and place on pizza crust. Add caramelized onions. Add prosciutto. Grate parmesan cheese all over. Bake 15-17 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Enjoy!!!