DFM 352

Menu ProjectFinal Project: Mediterranean Food

Cassie Berg12/13/2012

Menu Project DFM 352 Cassie Berg

My partner and I chose to make a meal that we have never created before. We chose to

make a Mediterranean inspired cuisine so that we could learn a few new cultural foods and

flavors. Being in the dietetics major, fresh and healthy foods were an important deciding factor

when choosing our menu. We wanted to emphasize fresh vegetables, bakery and lean meats. We

actually made two colorful salads instead of just one because the cucumbers and tomatoes we

bought at the market were so fresh and crunchy. In addition to the salads, we added an additional

vegetable dish as a roasted vegetable medley for even more color. We roasted them to enhance

the natural nuttiness that this type of cooking adds to the vegetables. Roasting also retained some

crunch and texture by keeping them al dente. We also decided on ground lamb as the protein.

The ground lamb was naturally sweet and buttery. We mixed the meat with some herbs and

onions and baked it with some Mediterranean spices like cinnamon and allspice which brought

some warmth and enhanced the sweetness of the lamb. To go with these foods, we chose to

make homemade pita bread for a different texture and to soak up some of the flavors. The pita

had a chewy exterior and was pillowy inside. We used it as a tool to each the lamb and the

salads together. It gave the other foods almost a creamy taste. The colors, textures and tastes

made our meal a healthy and delicious choice.

The two salads were cucumber and tomato, and cucumber yogurt salad. We cut the

vegetables into uniform, bite sized pieces. Both salads had an acidic component of lemon. The

cucumber yogurt salad had lemon and yogurt as an acidic ingredient. This helped the vegetables

retain color. We ate these two salads right away, so the vegetable pieces were still crunchy.

Over time the acid would cause the cucumber to become wilted and soggy. This is why it was

imperative that we made and mixed the salads right before serving them. Next time, I will add

less yogurt to the cucumber yogurt salad because it seemed more like a sauce than a salad.

Menu Project DFM 352 Cassie Berg

The roasted vegetables we made had a similar preparation as the salads. The vegetables

were also cut into bite sized pieces, but did not have any acidic or alkaline compounds added

while roasting. The natural sugars in the vegetables caused them to brown and caramelize. We

wanted the vegetables to retain some texture and color so we did not cover them because the

natural acids can discolor the food and change the texture. Some of the cauliflower should have

some of the tough outer skin on the stem removed. Roasting the cauliflower made the stem a

little difficult to chew, though this was probably my favorite dish of the whole meal.

For the starch, we chose to make pita bread. Sugar and yeast were mixed together in

lukewarm water. The water and the sugar activated the yeast, making it ready for the flour and

salt. The bread dough was very wet and difficult to knead by hand because it was so sticky. It

kept sticking to the table surface when I was trying to mix the dough by hand. I had to keep

adding flour for proper consistency. This took a lot of time, not only mixing but also rising and

shaping the dough. After the dough was thoroughly mixed and a gluten window was able to be

pulled from it, the mixture had to rise for roughly 30 minutes in a warm spot. This was critical

for creating CO2 bubbles within the bread so that it would be fluffy and pillowy rather than

dense and flat. This recipe should have called for less water in my opinion so mixing would be

easier; more water could have been added during the mixing process. The pita was our guests’

favorite part of the meal.

Finally, for the protein, we chose to make baked lamb kafta. We mixed the lamb with

herbs and onions, forming little meat patties. We then lightly fried the meat patties in a skillet

and placed them in a casserole dish when done. We layered sliced potatoes and carrots on top.

A tomato sauce with cinnamon and allspice was poured over the whole dish. Once baked, the

mixture became watery, therefore, essentially boiling the meat and potatoes. Additionally, the

Menu Project DFM 352 Cassie Berg

potatoes were not fully cooked after baking for the suggested amount of time. This is probably

due to the fact that they were sliced ¼ inch thick. The potatoes should have been sliced very thin

on a mandolin which we did not have access to. The meat however was very soft and tender

from the slow cooking process in the tomato sauce. The meat was sweet and juicy. Lamb is a

lean meat with little sinew and connective tissue, making it very tender. It did not need to be

ground, however, the recipe called for ground lamb. Perhaps it would have made a more

interesting dish if made with lamb steaks instead.

We applied some of the principles learned during lab in most, if not all the dishes we

prepared. The citric acid we used in the salads allowed the vegetables to retain their crunch and

structure. The potatoes we sliced and cut did begin showing signs of enzymatic browning so we

placed the slices in a bowl of cold water. As we learned from lecture, lowering the storage

temperature can slow or inhibit this process. We also used some of the techniques from lab while

working with yeast. We understood the importance of activating the yeast with sugar and

lukewarm water. We also used salt to keep the dough from fermenting and turning sour. The

dough also required lots of agitation and kneading until a gluten window could be pulled. This is

also a technique we learned in lab.

Our guests evaluated each menu item fairly and honestly. However, they both were not

educated on certain cooking techniques and critiqued certain items such as the salads, based on

their own flavor palates. While they enjoyed the diversity, colors and textures of the menu

items, their distaste for the salads was not any fault of our own cooking techniques. This being

said, their suggestions and descriptions of flavor were honest. This allowed my partner and me

to understand what areas of improvement are necessary to advance our cooking skills.

Menu Project DFM 352 Cassie Berg

Some of the knowledge I gained from class helped fine tune what I already knew about

cooking. For example, I baked bread several times before class began. However, I did not know

that, when kneading by hand you can tell the dough is ready to be proofed once you can pull a

gluten window and the dough looks like soft leather. Previously, I mixed the dough until it

looked uniform, which resulted in very dense bread. While baking the pita bread, I made sure

that the dough looked and felt correct according to the principles I learned in lab. This made the

bread soft and fluffy as it should be. We also made sure to add the acid to the salad just before

serving. As was taught to us in class, while acid causes most vegetables to retain their structure

and texture, over time it can make the vegetables wilt. When I tried the salad the next day, it was

slightly soggy and the vegetables were sitting in watery juices. This is why it is important to keep

dressings on the side until just serving. I will take the skills learned during lab and apply them to

my home life as well as my profession in the dietetics field.

The experience we had cooking this meal for our guests assisted in applying our

knowledge learned in class so that we could create a new and exciting meal. Making

Mediterranean food allowed for a diverse menu with several different cooking techniques. The

diversity of the food helped review what we learned in lab and allowed us to learn a new cuisine.

By learning a new cuisine and applying the techniques learned in class, this project allowed us to

showcase this knowledge.

Menu Project DFM 352 Cassie Berg

Menu

Protein Dish:

Baked Lamb Kafta

Ground lamb mixed with onions and herbs, baked with a medley of potatoes and carrots, topped with a cinnamon and allspice tomato sauce

Vegetable Dish:

Roasted Vegetable Medley

Cauliflower, eggplant, zucchini and yellow squash, roasted and seasoned with Mediterranean spices like oregano, thyme, paprika and garlic

Starch:

Pita Bread

Fluffy pita bread made from yeast dough, using white, unbleached flour

Salad Dishes:

Tomato Cucumber Salad

Tomato and cucumber slices, dressed with lemon, mint and garlic

Cucumber Yogurt Salad

Cucumber slices, dressed with minced onion, garlic, mint and plain Greek yogurt

Menu Project DFM 352 Cassie Berg