Cooking project for B-school

[chefmd]

Dear egulleters,

 

I need help.  My son has a project in B-school that is food related.  Chopped style to be more specific.  

His group needs to create a dish that includes kale, lemons, and here comes the challenge: Jiffy mix and Peppermint candy.  Food can be savory or sweet, cold or hot.  It can include other ingredients as long as the cost does not exceed 30 dollars per ten boxes of Jiffy.

 

Judges will include prof's wife, executive chef of The Steak House in town, executive chef of the school's food system, and (possibly) a top exec of Jiffy.

 

I do not bake and I do not use mixes.  Two strikes out of three  Need Help Desperately.  Deadline is Monday, no pressure.

[Kerry Beal]

He's a little old for you to be doing his homework for him isn't he?

 

Ok - I'm picturing a roll up of sorts.  So the kale is chopped finely - made into a biscuit dough with the jiffy mix, rolled out into a rectangle - then the peppermint candies are ground up and sprinkled over the rectangle along with the grated lemon rind and sugar.  Rolled up like cinnamon roll, then cut into slices and baked.  Lemon and mint go well together so it might not taste completely horrible.

[heidih]

Since savory waffles are all the rage now I would do a buttermilk waffle with the kale (cooked down and squeezed and amped up with roasted garlic and lemon zest) sauced with a lemon heavy slightly minty sweetish sauce. Emphasizing the savory of the waffle with some cheese like pecorino. 

[chefmd]

I never did home work with him when he was little.  Part of it is that I was a very young mother and part of it was that he never did home work until now.  Never mind, I will discuss that with my Therapist.

 

Great idea.   Can you help with proportions?  Baking is very scientific, need precise advice.

[Lisa Shock]

Green Crepes & Ham?

Ok, think pesto, which in some regions has chopped mint leaf in it. So, get some parsley, garlic, and some walnuts and chop finely, add the lemon juice, parmesan and a little of the crushed candy.

 

Figure out how to make crepes with the mix, as a bonus you can steam some kale, puree it and add to the crepe batter along with some lemon zest. Cook some kale (with salt & pepper), drain well. Heat some ham slices, cut into strips. Fill crepes with kale, ham and pesto, serve warm.

---

 

I was looking at the Wikipedia entry for mint sauce, there may be ideas there.

 

I was also contemplating a sauerbraten, the lemons and mints for the marinade, but, I suspect you'll lose due to the 3 days marination.

[Kerry Beal]

Ok - so looks like the proportions for their cinnamon rolls are - 

 

Rolls

• 2 cups "JIFFY" Baking Mix
   
   
• 2/3 cup milk

Combine baking mix and milk. Blend well. On floured surface, knead 2 - 3 times. Roll out to a 15” x 8” rectangle.

 

I'd probably add about 1 cup of finely chopped kale to the baking mix before adding in the milk.  

 

Smash half a dozen or so of the peppermint candies finely, grate the rind of one lemon and mix with maybe 1/4 cup of sugar.  

 

I'd probably spread about 1/4 cup of soft butter on the rectangle up to about 1 inch of the long edge, sprinkle the buttered area with the candy, rind and sugar, wet the 1 inch strip that has no butter on it and roll from the other side.  Cut into 1 1/2 inch slices, place in pan sprayed 8 by 8 inch pan and bake at 425 for 15 to 20 minutes.  

 

First test will tell you if the kale might need cooking first - I'd try to remove any rib bits in the kale and use only the leaf part.  

[chefmd]

Kerry,

 

Now we are talking.  Will test drive this tomorrow.  Also thinking about Jiffy crackers and kale dip.  Any ideas?

[Kerry Beal]

Having trouble picturing the mint in there though.  

[chefmd]

Not sure if Peppermint candy tastes like mint. It is like the fifth taste (umami): the thing in itself.  I feel somewhat violated having that and Jiffy mix in my house.  Things we do for our children, adult or otherwise.   I only care that final product tastes good, it is my son's job to come up with marketing spin.  Will bake tomorrow, can not guarantee that final product will be fit for consumption.

[Kerry Beal]

Looking online for combinations of lemon and mint - we come up with 

 

• Mangoes+black pepper+lemon+mint

Lisa's crepe idea with some combination of those might work.  

[Lisa Shock]

You could make a quick bread, kale bread, similar to zucchini bread. Here's a ZB recipe. I would cut the kale into chiffonade strips and substitute that for the zucchini. Obviously just substitute one baking mix brand for another. Substitute raw sugar or brown sugar for the white sugar (it's a bit tastier.) Eliminate the vanilla, and instead of cinnamon and nutmeg, use pumpkin pie spice.* Add 1 tsp of lemon zest and 1 tbsp lemon juice. And, add 1 crushed candy. Maybe eliminate the nuts, as much as I like them, you may face allergy issues, plus it shortens the recipe.

 

You can bake this batter in large or small loaf pans, make as a muffin, or drop into hot oil and deep fry for doughnuts.

 

Normally, I don't use pre-mixed spices like the PPS. However, you'll probably do better in a competition with a shorter ingredient list. Also, apparently PPS is in season right now.

[chefmd]

Thanks Lisa Shock.  Quick bread is a great idea.  Kale quick bread.  Yum.

[natasha1270]

Do you have a juicer? Kale, apple, lemon is a popular juicing combo with ginger so maybe some kale, apple, lemon, ginger, mint fried doughnuts?

[Thanks for the Crepes]

chefmd,

 

Good luck!

 

I'm sorry I'm not as creative or brilliant as Kerry Beal or Lisa Shock.

 

Only on egullet could anyone come up with viable ideas that might accidentally work with those incongruous ingredients. I'll keep thinking on though, albeit rather queasily. 

 

I hope your son comes up with a winner, but I have to say, this is a Toughie, with a capital T.

 

Is it permissible to have 2 separate components? Maybe one with Jiffy mix and kale, and cheese or other ingredients, and one with Jiffy mix, lemon and crushed peppermints. That seems to have much more chance of success.

 

Any other stipulations or limitations that might allow him to remain in or get out of the box his prof seems to have put him in?

 

(I had to Google B-school too.)

[Ann_T]

I'm assuming since, unlike the show  CHOP,  where the contestants are not given advanced notice of what ridiculous ingredients they have to work with , that the student was expected to do some research.

 

He  made use of two very good sources available to him -  his mother and eGullet.  What is wrong with that?    

~Ann

[chefmd]

I am very sorry to cause such a negative reaction.  I was just going to have some fun cooking and exploring areas that I am not familiar with such as baking.  My son and I will cook with the above ingredients, he will NOT use any of the dishes that we come up with in the competition but rather use that as practice.  He IS working with group as well.

 

Again, thanks everyone for brilliant suggestions.

 

I am reading a lot of posts on this forum by chefs and amateurs alike asking for  help and that what gave me an idea to start this thread.  He is not in cooking school, their project will be mostly judged on marketing/business aspect and food is just icing on the cake.  Give me a chance to cook, to read about food, to communicate with like minded people and I am happy.  

[Smithy]

chefmd, please let us know what you two come up with and how they taste. That combination of ingredients is mind-boggling enough that you could have some very funny failures - but there may be a surprising success, too. I'm looking forward to reading more about the cookery that results from this.

[Shelby]

I'd love to see a picture of the final dish  

[chefmd]

Will post tonight.  I am planning to have fun and make mess.

[chefmd]

So we baked crackers.   Jiffy mix with peppermint candies used as sweetener and lemon zest for flavor.  Baked kale sprinkled on top.   Not terrible.  Really not terrible. 

 

I pulverized candy in Ninja single serve and it came out smelling very minty.

 

Can not find rolling pin, ashamed of myself.  Used a bottle of nice wine.  Now bottle has bits of dough, I guess it will not be served to anyone other than family.

 

Baked in Cuisi Combi since main oven had chicken roasting in it.  

 

Made mess in the kitchen, feeling tired.  I can cook multi course dinner and smile all the way but baking for some reason tires me.  Measuring the ingredients, flour (or Jiffy mix) flying everywhere, multiple containers dirty at the same time...  

 

Tomorrow will make quick bread.