I Am No Julia Childs

Never will I call myself Julia Childs. Hell, I have burnt spaghetti noodles on more than one occasion. I have wiped sauces from the ceilings, had explosions in the refrigerator,  scraped the burnt topping off many food items. When I lived in town I never even hooked up the gas in my flat and at one point I was Swiggy's number one food delivery client in Bombay. I could go on and on, but you get my point; I'm no Julia Childs. 

Had I been placed into quarantine in my home in Bombay you might find me writing food delivery reviews or doing the extreme opposite by scavenging my kitchen for anything eatable and posting photos asking if it could be eaten raw or not. But thankfully I am not stuck to survive on my own and have a good set-up where I am being fed regularly and fed very well. However, there are days where I have found myself venturing into the kitchen to entertain myself with performing chemistry experiments by baking. Baking is chemistry and anyone can follow a set of directions, right?

I have managed three recipes so far in the baking department.

1. Chewy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies - which was a team effort and took a lot of research on recipes for chewiness.
   
2. "Healthy" Banana Bread - to be honest, I had no clue there were so many recipes for banana bread. I didn't know where to begin. I grew up in Midwest America where you couldn't fit enough sugar and butter into your recipe and then topped it again with more butter once baked!
3. The Dalgona - the most basic 101 kitchen experiment of quarantine 2020. It was my first kitchen attempt as well. I was not new to whipped coffee, just new to making them. Okay, this is not baking, but I am throwing it in anyway for substance. 

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The Dalgona

Seriously people, if I can't mess this up, no one can. I have experienced a few small variations in making the dalgona coffee which can throw off the end results.  So allow me to enlighten you on these points. ​

• ​This might be the only drink in the world which makes instant coffee acceptable to consume. 
• Measure equal parts water, sugar and instant coffee. You can go lighter on the coffee if you aren't wanting it so strong. ​

I don't think there is one special recipe over the other on this drink. But I could be wrong. Likely I am. I am no Julia Childs. 

• The whisk you use can make a difference. We got more frothy results with a more open whisk. However, that was the day I also wondered, "how important is it really to measure the ingredients?" We got froth. 
• OAT MILK. OAT MILK. OAT MILK. I love my normal milk. I also will drink almond and coconut milk as well. But oat milk is the way to go with this. 
• You should probably have a rotating team when it comes to hand whipping if you aren't ambidextrous. One of those electric hand beater things also works.  

Outcome: By the end of this lockdown I will be a fully qualified barista. I can make froth and foam, coffees hot and cold. I have also learned to make espressos and americano's that don't come from a Nespresso machine! 

"Healthy" Banana Bread 

I don't think the words 'healthy' and 'banana bread' should ever be beaten, stirred or mixed together into one phrase. The bananas at this point are pure sugar and you add more of nature's purest sugar (aka honey) to make it more sweet. But, if you want to feel good about the calories you are feeding your sweet tooth I will go with it. Especially if it tastes good. So, I went on the hunt for a recipe with high ratings,  healthy ingredients I personally liked and this is what I ended up baking...

• The recipe came from Cookie + kate 
• I substituted milk for coconut milk because we didn't have normal cow juice. So I just guessed on what could possibly work that wasn't water.
• This is some damn moist bread when you use coconut oil!
• Oven issues - we have a gas oven which apparently you only need HALF the cooking time the recipe says. The top got burnt but was able to salvage it because I put parchment paper in the pan. So I flipped the bread (which was still giggly on the inside), turned the heat down 50% and covered to let the inside cook.
• Flour - the flour needs to be switched for something different. My expert baking sister told me to use rice flour instead of the flour the recipe suggested. 
• Always add more banana! Always. 
• I opted for the honey and not maple syrup for the added sweetening. Perhaps I am a honey snob, because my brother's bees produce some of the best honey ever. But I felt that the honey was weak on the flavoring.  Just my opinion...but what do I know, I'm no Julia.   

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Outcome: I would love to try this recipe again with the modifications of milk, flour, and more banana. I loved how moist it came out and everyone who tried it actually loved the flavour, I am just determined to make it better and master this damn oven no one has been able to bake properly from yet. 

RECIPE

The Best Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever!

I have never in my life baked a cookie so perfectly before! I must give credit though, because I probably would not have if there weren't three of us doing this baking experiment together. These were the most amazing oatmeal chocolate chip cookies I have ever had. We put a big effort into this kitchen project. From chilling times to convection or not decisions, proper moisture ratio, mixing and folding of the ingredients and the chilling of the baked cookie; we went all out. 
I started with researching recipes and I found the highest rated recipe which had been posted only 3 days previous and had a 5.0 rating. (Apparently this chick Averie is good. The recipe already has over 10k likes). I presented the recipe and we all agreed to give it a shot and this what I can say about it...​

• The recipe came from Averie Cooks. Do not deviate from the recipe. It is flawless!!!!
• We went fan free in the oven and opted to use the electric oven, not the gas one which burnt the banana bread. This was a smart decision. 
• One little deviation was as soon as the cookies were cool enough to remove from the tray we immediately sealed them up in a container and put them in the refrigerator. Who knows if this really makes them maintain their moisture, I am no Julia Childs. But what I do know is they were moist and chewy and delicious upon consumption. 
• An important side note for all cookie dough lovers...the dough tastes amazing. I eat raw eggs anyway (never gotten sick). This dough was just yum. 

Outcome: We will be making more. We are itching to make more, but don't want to go overboard by making cookies our staple survival meal. The recipe is perfect on every level and not to be adulterated. 

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RECIPE

In Closing 

Because I don't have an oven in my own home in Bombay, baking right now has been a novelty. I am certain I will not be immediately purchasing an oven as soon as I am allowed to go home either. However I am delighted with the results of my baking experiments so far: one perfect success, one which needs a little revising and the other you can't really go wrong. It has given me a little bit more confidence around the kitchen and I will continue to play around, have some fun and contribute to the flour shortage the world now has. On that note, be well and...Bon Appétit!