Folding Phyllo

I remember the second half of the 3rd quarter from last year.  The weather isn't the only dampening thing in life, and you can sense struggle in many people's lives.  But the students themselves stay resilient in a way too, looking for more to do.  A student quietly requested another silent class, his tone sounded like he wanted "to get things done."   Another mentioned the bastilla we had made at the beginning of the quarter.  I love how the students really do seem to know what the next step should be.

We folded a variety of phyllo triangles:  a spanikopita filling (spinach & feta), a sweet potato samosa like filling & classic baklava "mini" triangles.  It was very satisfying to see the number of triangles that resulted.

The next day we baked them off and enjoyed our samplings, with more than enough to share.

Avglemeno Soup, Phyllo Triangles, Apple-Fennel-Radish Salad

Ingenuity

I grew up here in San Francisco on those barbeque pork buns.  They had already become a grab and go option in Chinatown and on Clement Street, and most of my students are familiar with them too.  It turns out that making the dough is pretty easy, once you have experimented a little with yeasted breads.  The night before we planned to roll and fill the dumplings I suddenly realized we needed 3/4 inch rolling pins, having only one I had found for rolling small amounts of pasta. It was late in the evening, no way to get to an open hardware store.  So I looked in the storage closet and found a welcome volunteer:

The carpenter side of my husband was very proud.

The next day went well, as we rolled and steamed the buns (filled with a mushroom/tofu/ginger filling).  They rounded out our "Pacific Rim" meal:

Chicken Adobo over Rice, Sauteed Choy with Peppers, Steamed Vegetarian Bao, Individual Egg Custards

More soon, as we get into the fourth quarter there are several projects ahead beyond our classroom cooking that will be fun to share!