KSFR reporter Mary Lou Cooper talks with Santa Fe Chef Johnny Vollertsen following a cooking class at the Las Cosas Cooking School where he serves as director. Vollertsen, who is affectionally known as Chef Johnny Vee, grew up in Rochester, New York. Prior to landing in Santa Fe, Vee cooked his way through New York City and Sydney, Australia. He is a cookbook author and recently curated the exhibit “Forks in the Road” at the New Mexico History Museum.
Chef Vee agrees that high altitude baking is more chemistry than art. He shared tips on baking “high” with KSFR listeners. Some key lessons are:
· Be sure your oven temperature is accurate.
· Measure ingredients precisely; don’t eyeball them.
· Keep ingredients like flour and sugar in airtight containers or in the freezer or refrigerator so that they’ll retain their moisture in our dry climate.
· Raise your oven temperature by 25 degrees but remember that you may need to shorten your cooking time because things will cook faster.
· Reduce baking soda and baking powder by 25%, as in by ¼ teaspoon for each teaspoon in a recipe.
· In sugary recipes like cakes and cookies, remove 3 tablespoons of sugar per cup.
· Generally, you need to add more flour which strengthens your dough or batter and gives it a better chance to rise and stay risen. Add 3 additional tablespoons of flour per cup in the recipe.
· When it comes to liquids in high altitude recipes, add 3-4 extra tablespoons for each cup of liquids specified.
Finally, Chef Johnny recommends that during the holidays you avoid stress by not trying to do everything on the same day. If you are preparing a special dinner, you may want to practice the menu ahead of time.
All of us at KSFR wish you a very tasty holiday!
