Christian Chefs Newsletter
February 15, 1999

OUTLINE:

Introduction
Christianity in the Kitchen - Resisting the Devil
Learning Subject of the Month - High Altitude Cooking (Part 1)
Featured Recipe - Indian Bread
New Job Listings


This month has been a very productive one for the Fellowship. It took a couple of months to get enough people for the exchange to work, but our Pen-Pal Program has finally gotten off the ground and is running well! This is just one of the free services our members are welcome to take advantage of. Our Job Listings section has been growing quickly as well, with numerous jobs made available to us from different restaurants and other food-service facilities. This service is enabling cooks and chefs everywhere to be able to expand their faith through working with other Christians in the industry. (Jobs posted here aren't always in Christian facilities or even with fellow Christians.)
The survey many of you completed (link via our homepage) about this Fellowship has informed us that a large percentage of you are seriously interested in helping us better this fellowship to God's glory. Starting this month, at the very bottom of this newsletter, we have a listing of positions needing volunteers. If any of these positions interest you, we ask that you pray about it before you e-mail us regarding filling the position. We want only what God wants in both your life and our fellowship. This is NOT a limiting list and if there is another way God has impressed upon your heart that you would like to help, please contact us and we'll be more than happy to discuss it, pray about it, and think it over.
A fair amount of progress has been made this last month in regards to starting local chapters of the Fellowship. Currently, we are looking at opening up groups in a few different counties in Southern California and a group in the Washington, D.C. area. If you live in either of these areas, please contact us and let us know if you'd be willing to attend these meetings. If you don't live in any of the areas listed above but are interested in attending a meeting or want to help start a chapter, please e-mail us for more information.

Pen-Pal Signup Form
/penpal.html

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CHRISTIANITY IN THE KITCHEN

RESISTING THE DEVIL

Is there ever a time in your life when you aren't having to resist the devil? Do you ever have "one of those days"? As everybody knows, Satan is continuously trying to interfere in our lives. For example, what chef of a restaurant hasn't had a day when everything went wrong: food purveyors being late, employees calling in sick, banquets with problems, and everything else that possibly can, is going wrong? Or, if you're a cook in the restaurant you work in, haven't you had a day when your boss is in a bad mood, or your job is made tougher and more stressful because everything seems to be going wrong?
I hate to say it, but it's a fact of life: Christian or not, you're going to have trials and tribulations of all kinds with evil influences trying to enter your life. Just take a look at Job's life. God allowed Satan to do every physical thing he wanted to try to make Job lose his faith. Job starts out in the book of Job being a very wealthy person with two sons and a large farm. Satan causes him to lose both of his sons, his house, his farm, all but a couple of his servants, and even his health. Two friends of his hear about this and travel to see him, wanting to help and cheer him up. When Job's friends arrive, they don't even recognize Job because of how beat up he was. Although Job obviously wasn't too happy about all that had happened to him, he still held onto his faith in God.
There's no question that these things sometimes happen to us (not always as badly as in Job's case), but what's important is how you REACT to your circumstances. Do you, as Job did, trust in God to bring you through everything, or do you just get stressed about it and try working through it on your own? Let's look at the outcomes of two possible reactions: In cases like those mentioned above, do you accomplish more when you get all stressed out? OR do you accomplish more when you remain calm because you trust that God will help you through all the challenges in your life? I'm sure you'll agree that if you do the latter, much more gets done. If you remain calm, you are able to start prioritizing, deciding what's more important, and what can be delegated and to whom. If you're the chef of the kitchen, how do your employees view your reactions? In which situation do you think your employees will have more respect for you? When they see that God is in charge and everything's running as smoothly as possible, or when you allow stress (from Satan's fiery arrows) to start rising in the kitchen and you start running around like a chicken with its head cut off? This works both ways: if you AREN'T the chef of the restaurant, what do your co-workers and your boss think when, by your actions, it looks like you can't trust God to take care of these things? Yes, I'm sure you've seen these things happen plenty of times, for everything can still run smoothly and calmly when God isn't in a person's life, as most of your co-workers probably aren't Christian (excluding camps). Without Him, everything CAN run fine, but inevitably the time comes in every kitchen when things start getting over your head, in some kitchens, more often than in others.
You can look at this just like you would in all the movies where none of the good guys can get too deep in trouble because Superman is always nearby. Well, having God in your life is infinitely better, especially once we're finished with the short 70 years we have on this world and are then allowed to continue our eternal life with God in Heaven. I don't know about you, but the one thought alone of the contrast between eternal damnation and eternal life really assures me that He is the right way to go, NO questions asked.
ONLY God can keep evil from entering into our lives through our faith in Him, yet He still commands us to not resist an evil person. Jesus says in Matthew 5:38 (NIV) "Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." We should also remember the currently popular phrase, "What Would Jesus Do?" and thoughtfully consider the answer. I can't imagine any of the torture that Jesus or Paul endured, happening to me, and yet, do you ever see either of them doing anything contradicting Jesus' above statement as recorded in Matthew? No, they lived this example at all times, and so should we. That's not to say that everybody will always be cheerful and free from sin, for it is human nature not to. Only through fellowship with God and other Christians can we avoid letting Satan into our lives this way.
As talked about last month, all things are possible through Christ Jesus. If, through Him, mountains can be moved and creation can be possible, I'm sure that He can assist you in all ways to prevent Satan from entering into your life. As James says, "Submit to God, resist the Devil and he will flee from you." (4:7, NIV). If you take nothing else from this article, just remember this one thing, that God does answer prayer. Prayer is the way God has provided for us to have a one-on-one conversation with Christ Jesus, bringing us into a close and intimate relationship with Himself, our true God and Savior.

By Ira Krizo

If God is speaking to your heart about these things, and you need somebody to talk with, or if you have any specific prayer requests, please don't hesitate to e-mail us about your need and somebody from the fellowship will contact you as soon as possible.

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LEARNING SUBJECT OF THE MONTH

HIGH ALTITUDE COOKING
PART ONE
THE BASICS OF HIGH ALTITUDE COOKING

I have chosen to write on this topic because this is where I have the most experience. I must confess I felt kind of silly after telling you all what an "expert" I am, to find out I had very little "technical" knowledge after all. I realized you need formulas and basic rules for High Altitude Cooking. So we will learn together WHY I have been so successful for these 36 years of cooking at 5,000 to 8,500 ft. As I have researched this topic, I have become fascinated with the "technical" reasons this information I am about to give you works. Come along now, and learn with me.
There is less (or lower) air pressure at high altitudes because the blanket of air is thinner than it would be at sea level. As a result, at sea level water, boils at 212' F; at an altitude of 7,500 feet, however, it boils at about 198' F because there is not as much air pressure to inhibit the boiling action. Foods will take longer to cook because they are actually cooking at a "lower" temperature. We should be aware that "boiling point" is also directly affected by purity of the water and will increase in proportion to the water hardness. It should also be noted that because of the lower air pressure, boiling water "evaporates" much more rapidly, causing the need for more liquid in cooking at higher elevations. This decreased air pressure means we must make adjustments in some ingredients and cooking time and also temperature. We must make adjustments in some of our cooking techniques as well, such as candy making, deep-fat frying and canning. In general, no recipe adjustment is necessary for yeast-risen baked goods, although allowing the dough or batter to rise twice before the final pan rising develops a much better texture and flavor.
You will find that beyond a certain altitude some foods cannot even be cooked without a pressure cooker! For instance, dried beans. The boiling point of water at very high altitudes is simply so low that without a pressure cooker the water will just keep steaming off at a temperature that doesn't even begin to cook the beans.

Some changes we will need to make will include:

* water amounts (as we have discussed already)
* leavening (baking powder, baking soda, cream of tartar) expanding more
* yeast dough rising too rapidly and too high
* sugar solutions becoming more concentrated in frostings, candies, jellies and baked products
* faster evaporation of liquids in all cooking processes
* drying out of normal moisture in most food products

Upon visiting several cooking chat room archives looking for High Altitude information, I found one book mentioned over and over. It is called THE NEW HIGH ALTITUDE COOKBOOK by Beverly M. Anderson and Donna M. Hamilton. Published in 1980 by Random House, New York ISBN # 0-394-51308-8. I will be quoting a lot from that publication.

I am going to reprint exerpts from their first chapter entitled: WHY HIGH ALTITUDE BAKING AND COOKING ARE DIFFERENT. I am confident that after reading this, you will see why I am recommending this book to those of you dealing with these kinds of problems.

BAKING

High altitude has the greatest effects on baking. In baking recipes, each ingredient bears a definite relationship to the others, and the quality of the finished product depends on a delicate balance of ingredients achieved through the proper quantity of each.
The reduction of atmospheric pressure at high altitude allows leavening agents (air, steam and carbon dioxide) to expand more than at sea level. Air can be controlled most easily, simply by not overbeating egg whites. Carbon dioxide and steam, however, get their volume from given weights of their respective sources and depend on existing atmospheric pressure and temperature. One teaspoon of baking powder at 5,000 feet produces 20% more volume than at sea level. Bread rises faster and must be watched. At 5,000 feet, steam expands to an approximately 20% greater volume than at sea level, causing popovers to puff out too rapidly and thereby lose their steam. Cakes rise excessively, which stretches the cell structure and makes the cake coarse-textured or, worse, breaks the cell walls, causing the cake to fall.
It is important to have a correct ratio of sugar to the other ingredients. Liquids evaporate more quickly at high altitudes, and if a solution contains too much sugar (or not enough liquid) it will become overly concentrated during baking, weakening the cell walls of cakes, desserts, quick breads or cookies.
Shortening, like sugar, can be a problem for the high altitude cook. Too much in a rich cake batter will weaken the cell structure. The substitution of margarine for butter or high-grade hydrogenated or emulsified shortening can noticeably affect the texture in cakes as well as produce an inferior taste.
At high altitude, liquids work in two contradictory ways. On the one hand, their rapid evaporation rate creates the problem of overly concentrated sugar solutions. On the other, they offset the dryness of flour, dilute sugar concentration, dissolve and evenly distribute the other ingredients. Because the high altitude air is a thief of moisture, batter requires a greater proportion of liquid than at sea level.
Unless the cook uses extra-large eggs, the batter will be less stable and the final baked product will not be moist enough. Some cakes, especially angel food and sponge, require a greater number of eggs than at sea level.
Furthermore, unless oven temperatures are increased in baking cakes, yeast or quick breads, the batter will not "set" before the air cells formed by leavening agent expand too much.
When baking casseroles or roasting meats, standard oven times and temperatures will fail to produce satisfactory results because the boiling point of water in the foods themselves will never exceed 202.6' F. More cooking time and/or higher temperature may be needed.
When baking yeast breads, the cook must carefully watch that the dough does not rise more than double its bulk. Because dough rises faster at high altitudes, flavor doesn't have time to develop. Punching down the dough twice will improve flavor as well as texture.

I have also been talking to some of my friends who live up here in the high country and one of them gave me the following little "table" she uses at 10,000 ft. elevation:

BAKING ADJUSTMENTS FROM MATI:
Use less sugar, 3 Tbsp per cup
Use less flour, 2-4 Tbsp per cup
Use less fat, 2-3 Tbsp per cup
Use less baking soda and baking powder, 1/8 tsp. per tsp.

Next month I will cover COOKING: Some common problems of cooking at High Altitudes; 'BOILING POINT OF WATER FROM SEA LEVEL TO 14,000 FEET' (a table); 'HIGH ALTITUDE OVEN TEMPERATURE CHART' (Fahrenheit and Centigrade); 'HIGH ALTITUDE FACTS ABOUT THE ELECTRIC SLOW COOKER'; 'HIGH ALTITUDE FACTS ABOUT ELECTRIC SKILLET AND WOK COOKERY'; 'HIGH ALTITUDE FACTS ABOUT MICROWAVE COOKERY'; and 'HIGH ALTITUDE FACTS ABOUT THE PRESSURE COOKER': Using the Pressure Cooker at High Altitudes.

By Diane Boone

About the Author:

I am now retired after working 24 years at High Altitude Camps and Conference Centers and serving as a Cook Supervisor with the "low-land" Sheriff's Department for 10 years. I no longer call myself an "expert" in High Altitude cooking after reading this book. I just praise the Lord, He honored my heart and allowed me to be His Girl in the Kitchen and all my baked goods turned out fine. He showed me to do the things I am telling you about in these articles. (Before I read the book :-) I am now your Fellowship Southern California Representative and will, Lord willing, be visiting your Christian Camp this summer if you are in CCI.

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FEATURED RECIPE

INDIAN BREAD

Ingredients:
3 Qts/2.8 L - Lukewarm Water
2 lb/900 gm - Brown Sugar
4 oz/115 gm - Salt
1.5 lb/680 gm - Bran
3 lb/1.36 kg - Whole Wheat Flour
2 lb/900 gm - Hi-Gluten (Bread) Flour
4 lb/1.8 kg - All Purpose Flour
4 oz/115 gm - Powdered Yeast
As needed - Melted Butter

Total Dough Weight = 19lb/8.6 kg
Small loaf scale at 1lb-3 oz /540 gm Yields 16 loaves
Large loaf scale at 1 lb-12 oz/790 gm Yields 10 loaves

Procedure:
1) Use large Hobart mixing bowl for largest batch and small mixing bowl for smaller batches.
2) Install mixing bowl and dough hook onto mixer.
3) Put lukewarm water in large mixing bowl.
4) Add all other ingredients and start mixer on slow speed.
5) When ingredients are well incorporated then change to higher speed.
6) Mix until dough pulls completely away from sides of mixing bowl.
7) Remove dough hook, cover dough with cloth to rise.
8) Let dough rise until doubled in size. Punch down dough and let rise again.
9) Place dough on baker's bench and scale to desired size.
10) Shape into loaves, and put into desired pans.
11) Put into proof box and let rise until doubled in size.
12) Bake at 375 degrees until done. Bread should be browned on all sides.
13) Brush with butter and remove from pans to cool.

Submitted by Mark Lilley, Mount Hermon Christian Conference Center Assistant Food Service Manager

This Indian Bread recipe is a great all-purpose bread. We have served it here at Mount Hermon Christian Conference Center for many years and it has always been a favorite. We have used it for rolls, sandwich bread, regular loaves and round loaves. Hope you enjoy it.

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JOB LISTINGS

If you would like to submit a job listing, you can either post it yourself or you can e-mail the information to us. Please state all important information in your message, including your location, type of job, if it's year-round or seasonal, what type of experience is required, and anything else you feel is necessary. Listed below, and available for your viewing in our forum, are the jobs that have been submitted to us this month. We've been informed that some people who are receiving this newsletter (particularly through Juno e-mail) are unable to view these listings. Those of you so affected can e-mail us and we will e-mail you with the details on all the jobs. Anyone unable to access our forums can e-mail us and ask for more detailed instructions on how to enter them.

**
Location: Missouri - Camp Barnabas
Dates: May, 1999 through August 15, 1999 (some other dates available if wanted)
Position: Kitchen Manager/Cook AND Cook
Contact: barnabas@mo-net.com, visit 'www.campbarnabas.com', or call (417) 476-2565
Other: Offering Salary plus room and board

**
Location: Rindge, NH
Position: Food Service Manager
Contact: InterVarsity at Toah Nipi
129 Old Ashburnham Rd.
Rindge, NH 03461
(603) 899-5464
Resident Manager
Ron Chapman
Other: This position reports to the Director of Operations, enjoys responsibility for planning, purchasing, preparing and serving appealing, nutritious, enjoyable, economical family-style meals and snacks for up to 180 persons. Business background preferred.

**
Location: New York City - Jews For Jesus
Position: Someone to prepare meals for our street evangelists who will be sharing the gospel with the Jewish people and others on the streets of Manhattan.
Contact: Lori at Jrsigirl@aol.com or call (415) 864-2600, ext. 125
Other: Room, board, and a salary will be provided for the person's service.

**
Forum/Message Board
/forums.html

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Due to the budget server currently hosting our domain name, our website is sometimes inaccessible or very slow. We apologize for the inconvenience. It will be remedied as soon as we have the finances to get hosted elsewhere. Also, please note that for this month only, due to personal circumstances, replies to e-mails may take a couple of weeks. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

If you have a friend who would like to be added to our mailing list, we welcome his/her e-mail address, but we ask that you please FIRST personally inform them that they will be hearing from us. If you would like to be removed from our mailing list, please send an e-mail to the address below, with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject column.

God Bless,
Ira Krizo, Director
Christian Chefs Fellowship
ChristChef@aol.com
http://www.ChristianChefs.org
AOL Buddy list name = "Christchef"
ICQ number = 15520005

Note: To view our archived newsletters, please go here:
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Volunteering Opportunities Available:

Writers for the newsletter
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- Recommendations for good Christian and Culinary websites to feature
- Other Articles (open for suggestions)
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