Biscuits and Fruit Platter. Breakfast Week. October 2011

Here is our final Fruit Platter. When creating your design try to create one that is not symmetrical but with even cut fruits. You can always use the scraps of the fruits in some way. We opted for putting them piled up in the middle. 

I just adore oranges, especially organic ones. Their flavor is so intense, sweet and sour, it makes my body happy at any time.

"A nice fruit tray is the mark of a good chef." 

First wash all your fruits, peel them and cut them into evenly large pieces.

Hint: Pineapple peal makes a delicious tea when boiled. It can be served hot or cold with whole cloves, fresh mint leaves and ice.

One of the most delicious treats we made were Chef's Country Biscuits. In this recipe as usual we mixed the dry ingredients together and then we cut in the chilled butter and mixed it to form lumps. The lumps should look the size of peas. Now add the milk mix a touch more. Don't overwork this dough, it should look broken.

Now transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Fold it exactly 3 times. No more, no less.

Cut in squares, so that you use all the dough and place on paper lined sheet pan on a high heat preheated oven. Remove when tops are light golden.

Let cook for 20 minutes before serving it so that gluten relaxes. 

Hint: When cutting the butter, instead of cutting with two knives, use an oven rack and pass the whole 1 pound of chilled butter through the rack. You will cut it all at once. With a bigger quantity of butter you can also use a mixer to mix it. 

Lets talk a bit about Flours.

When working with different kinds of flours you should know what it is made of, examples:

Cake Flour-6-8% Protein/Gluten

Pastry Flour-7-9.5% Protein/Gluten

All Purpose Flour-9.5-12% Protein/Gluten

Bread Flour-11.5-14% Protein/Gluten

Whole Wheat Flour-13/14% Protein but only 6% Gluten

High Gluten Flour-13.5-14.5% Protein/Gluten 

Vital Wheat Gluten-40-85% Protein/Gluten (added to flour to increase gluten content such as rye, whole grain and specialty flours).

When making a Whole Grain Bread, the bran particles of the whole wheat flour cut through the gluten strends in the dough and makes it a heavier crumb. That is why we should add additional gluten, with a portion of Vital Wheat Gluten Flour to make the final baked bread light and tender.