OUCH my hand.

Good evening all of my fellow readers.  I just wanted to share with you that it was not a very good day for me.  At 10 AM this morning I got attacked by the dough-hook attachment of a 6 qt. stand mixer and it was not a pretty sight.  My hand is black and about 2 times as big as it should be.  I did go to the clinic to get it checked out and after 14 ex-rays, a really nice plate of cut up heirloom tomatoes and cukes and a very nice Dr. ... there is nothing broken so I can go on with all my regular work at school and that is a very good thing as next week is Finals ...

Culinary Word of the day:  mazzard

I will however like to share with you what I was doing when I hurt my hand and maybe  you will feel a little bad for me.  I was not messing around .. I was doing my work that was assigned to me and that was:  Sauerkraut Rye Bread.   This was a recipe that I have been asking to make since we started school and today was the day but you know when you just have some off days and everything just isn't going right and you don't know how to fix it?  That was me today ... I don't know I got to school just like always but it seemed like it just wasn't going to be a good day ... I was covered with every ingredient that we were working with and my knife that I was using was dull but I was afraid to sharpen it ... what could happen then with a sharp knife ... probably nothing but it had me thinking and so this is how it was...

Sauerkraut Rye buns

I was following the recipe that I got from my brother Roger (who tried to make this on 3 different occasions) and never had success with it as he could not get it to rise so I was going to make it work if it was the last thing that I did today.  So, I always ready the recipe first and gather all of the ingredients and I read this over and over today as I told you I was just not that confident in how I felt today about everything for some reason.  So, come to find out that this is a recipe that you are suppose to use for a bread machine ... and do you think that the cooking school would let you use a bread machine?  I don't think so  .... I re-read it and I think that I have it figured out so I can use the same ingredients and make it regular so I am off and running.  I decide that you can still mix everything in the mixer with the "dough-hook" and then go from there regular with rising and finishing in the oven .. this is what I am thinking.  But, when I add all of the ingredents it is very wet.  Too wet and it doesn't resemble bread dough like you would know when you make homemade bread so now I am really getting curious and I have my nose right in the mixer and I am adding flour with my left hand and the mixer is on and I have to keep adding flour and more flour because it is still way to wet and I am not really knowing what to do next but keep adding flour and finally after almost 1/2 more flour than the origional amout that we put in it in the first place we were finally getting a ball forming but I decided that I needed to touch it to see if it was still sticky to the touch so I turn off the mixer (so I thought) but it is stopped because the dough is so thick and I stick my hand in the mixer to touch it and you have already heard the rest.  My hand is black and blue and swollen from the tips of my fingers to my wrist but to my surprise that is it ... nothing broken ... it is a miracle!

Sauerkraut Rye loaf of bread

The bread turned out fantastic and I am going to make it for my final.  It was picture perfect and even Chef Milos said it was the best.  Just like eating in Germany he said.  My thoughts exactly!

Culinary Word of the day meaning:

A wild sweet cherry native to Europe; the black-skinned fruit have a rich flavor and are often used for flavoring liqueurs in Central Europe; the mazzard is a particularly hardy species and it is often used as a grafting stock; also known as a bird cherry or gean.   That is pretty interesting right?

So the lesson that I learned today is that you can make regular bread with a bread machine recipe and the other lesson is to keep all hands and fingers out of the mixer while it is plugged in. I am old enough and experienced enough to know better but as I said I just couldn't figure out why the day was so off and now I know ... I was meant to sit in the Medical Center for the afternoon and meet some really nice people.

Well everyone, I am exhausted from all of the stress today.  I think that I am going to watch TV for a short while and then hit the bed and see if I can dream good thoughts for tomorrow.  Good night for now from 1HappyChef.  Have a really great evening and I will check in again tomorrow.