Final Meal (all dishes on here)

This is my blog for my final meal food. Our theme was Italian cuisine.





Main Dish: Lasagna Cupcakes 

The first thing I did was prep the cupcakes, so I started by cooking the ground beef. While that was on the stove top, I was cutting the filo dough into about 3 inch long squares and laid them in the bottom of the cupcake pan.

Next I sprinkled some mozzarella, parmesan, and ricotta cheese on the bottoms of the cupcakes. Then I added the cooked beef and added pasta sauce on top. I added the rest of the parmesan and mozzarella on top and then I saran wrapped it up and put it in the fridge for the next day to cook it.

The next day, I cooked the cupcakes, which was only 20 minutes long. When they came out I topped each one with some chopped basil for looks.

Since we served the final meal family style, we had to take them all out of the pan and onto a plate. The challenging part was that the filo dough was so thin, that the cupcake gave away and would break.

I later asked my dad about the final meal and he said his favorite dish were these so he liked them despite the appearance.

The cupcakes tasted so good! The cheese was gooey and the meat was super tasty too. I have had lasagna before and this tasted just like how my dad makes it! I was thrilled with that it tasted so good!

This recipe is super easy to follow and fast way to make lasagna and kids will think it's fun!





Side Dish: Parmesan Tomatoes

First, we cut the tomatoes into equal slices and laid them out on the cookie sheet.

Next we had to make the sauce for the top of the tomatoes. We mixed together in a bowl, mayo, Dijon mustard and spicy mustard.

Then we spread even coats of the sauce on top of the tomatoes.

Lastly, we put mozzarella and parmesan cheese on the sauce and then put it in the oven for 20 minutes or until the cheese was golden.

I asked Mr. Burke which dish did he like the most and he had to say the tomatoes. He loved the tastes how they all went together.

I personally hate tomatoes. Never eat them EVER!! But at the final meal I gave these a go because I had to, and these weren't that bad! The mustards and mayo all worked together and the cheese on top was so creamy and delicious!





Starch: Breadsticks

This recipe was super fast and I love how quickly you can make these yummy breadsticks!

The first thing I did was set the yeast. I had to take warm water and add sugar and the yeast then stir it till it's dissolved. Then you let it sit for 5 min.

After that, I added 4 cups of flour to the yeast, adding one cup at a time, and mix it all on medium high.

Once all the flour is together, you have a dough ball.

Next you want to have your melted butter and pour half of it on the cookie sheet.

Then you will take the dough and place it in the middle of the cookie sheet and start to spread it to the edges, evenly.

After it is all spread out, I poured the rest of the butter over top the dough and spread it around the whole thing. We then added the garlic powder and sprinkled that over the dough and added parmesan on top.

Then we let the dough rise in the oven for 10 min at 170*. Then you set the oven to 350* and let them cook for 15 more minutes.

When they come out, cut them int 5 rows up and down then down the middle horizontally.

These were absolutely amazing breadsticks. They were chewy, but soft. The seasoning was really good on the top of the bread.

I will definitely be making these again, because they taste good and they are quick to make!





Dessert: Cream Puffs

This cream puffs recipe took 2 days to complete.

Day one we made the shells to the cream puffs. We started off adding the butter in the sauce pan, the sugar, salt and water, over medium high heat.

Once all the butter is melted, we add in the flour, quickly stirring. You stir as fast as you can until the dough comes off the sides of wall and creates ball. After you make the ball, drop it into the mixer bowl and set for 2 min.

After that, you take 4 eggs, adding each one at a time, to the dough as it goes on high in the mixer for 5 min.

Then you will pipe out the dough onto the cookie sheet. We were only suppose to make 10, but instead we made 20 so we had small cream puffs. We had to but the batter into a bag and cut off one of the corners to squeeze out the batter. This made a HUGE mess!

Finally I successfully got the cream puffs onto the cookie sheet. I put them in the oven for 30 minutes. When they came out they looked flat.

I made the mistake of not leaving them out, but putting them in the fridge overnight, which made them soggy

Day 2 I had to make the cream. We started by whipping the heavy cream until it was thick, then we added powdered sugar and vanilla until soft peak forms.

The shells were very small and hard to fill, so we had to take the tops off and put cream there, then put the top on. Then we chilled them.

They didn't taste bad. I have had cream puffs before and because I refrigerated the shells, they were soggy and not flaky and crunchyish.

These were very challenging to make and I may not make them again.





Drink: Italian Soda

This was a really tasty drink.

We started by adding 1/3 full of ice, then we added in the sparkling water to the glass.

Next we added the cherry syrup and stirred it all in.

Even though this was easy to make, it was a really good drink and I would make this any day since it is so simple.





Overall

Overall I think our meal had ups and downs but I thought all of it tasted very good!

I set the table to an Italian theme, with a centerpiece and I was taught the proper way to set a table.

The guests that came said they had a very great time coming in at eating. They both loved our meal.

This class taught me a lot about cooking food and knowledge about the kitchen and I am happy I took this class.

:)