Search Results for '("C'

[BakerAunt]

I wanted something crunchy to go with dinner on Wednesday, but the temperatures in the high 80s and the humidity did not inspire me to turn on the big oven. However, I decided to see if I could bake “Onion Parmesan Cracker Bread,” using an individual 10-inch Emile Henry pizza stone and my countertop convection oven. The recipe, by Rosemary Leicht of Bethel, Ohio was entered in the National Festival of Breads (2017) and appeared in King Arthur’s Sift (Fall 2017, p. 9). It may be on the KABC website. I followed the ingredients except for cutting the salt by 25%. My little pizza stone only accommodates a 10-inch, not a 12-13 inch rolled out cracker, so I divided the dough into five pieces rather than four. I found it easiest to roll one out, let it rest 5 minutes, brush on the egg white, sprinkle on the Parmesan, put it into bake (425F for 7 minutes—I lowered the temperature by 25F and cut the time by at least a minute, as I was using convection). While that one baked, I rolled out the next one. I was able to use my “cake lifter” to move the parchment with the cracker on it to the stone, and to remove it, then peel the paper off to reuse for another one. The process went fast and did not heat up my kitchen. The centers are not quite crisp. Next time, I will bake a bit longer. The cracker bread is delicious and went well with the quinoa salad we had for dinner.

[Mike Nolan]

I've concluded the fancy fluting on the edges is largely a waste of time and pie crust, in part because I'm terrible at it, but also because far too often most of that edge gets left on the plate. So I've been making simpler edges of late, and it makes the pie look better/cleaner, if simpler, too. (I still like doing a lattice crust for a cherry pie, though my wife prefers a non-latticed top.)

[BakerAunt]

We decided to leave town with our very sensitive dog to avoid the fireworks. Although our neighbors started with fireworks in the back on July 1, they stopped when requested and agreed to hold off until July 3 and 4 when we would be gone. Originally, we planned to leave early on the 4th, but then the chamber of commerce announced that 3 July would be the show, so we needed to leave early. We spent the evening of July 3 with one of my husband's cousins and his wife. This would be the year that Bloomington had more fireworks than they have ever heard before. (So much for the reported fireworks shortage muttered my husband.) We ended up turning a large fan on high and pointing it at the poor dog. (If a dog could be catatonic, she was.) Things went better on 4 July. My husband had made reservations back in the spring for us to stay at the inn at Spring Mill State Park, which was further away from towns and had a dog room available. We tried to walk her that evening, but somewhere, someone was shooting off something at 9 p.m., before it was even dark, so we got her back into the room, which is nicely insulated from noise, and she passed a peaceful night.

The good parts of the trip were that we were able to protect our dog, we had a great time with the cousins, and I was able to purchase another four pounds of the stoneground cornmeal produced on the Spring Mill working grist mill. These are now safely tucked in the freezer.

The bad part of the trip is the hot and humid weather made it not great for hiking, and we only got in a 30 minute hike this morning, which we had to end because the dog was getting badly overheated. We cooled her down in the inn hotel room before checking out and beginning the drive home. There is a reason we prefer fall and winter in the parks.

I miss being able to enjoy the 4th of July. The fireworks sound like a battle zone, and they go off all over the place. I can't enjoy the town parade anymore either because they are too fond of using all the sirens on every fire engine. I made the mistake of taking our dog once, and she and I both found the sirens painful to our ears. I have not gone to a parade here since that time.

[Mike Nolan]

I'm planning to make some sandwich rolls this week, I bought some pre-sliced beef and I plan to reheat it in broth to see how close it comes to Italian Beef (as suggested by Serious Eats), but I need a roll sturdy enough to handle being drenched in the jus.

[Mike Nolan]

We had steak with mushrooms and potato (baked potato for me, potato salad for my wife) for supper, along with some steamed broccoli. I had a hot dog and some potato salad for lunch, though.

[chocomouse]

BakerAunt, a word of caution about bird netting for the blueberries. For about 25 years, we used tobacco netting; until it wasn't big enough to cover the row (10 plants, 50 ft row) and we couldn't find more to buy. So we tried bird netting (and also used it on our cherry trees). The holes in the netting are big enough to allow the netting to slip down over the berries - so the berries and some leaves get tangled/caught in the netting, with the berries on the outside, easy to be reached by the birds! We ended up getting greenhouse shade cloth through a local nursery. It was cut to our specifications (it comes 18 feet wide, and we bought 70ft), the edges were bound with heavy tape, and grommets put in every 10 feet so we could stake it to the ground. Then my husband built a simple structure, using metal fence posts topped with slats to drape the netting over. The bushes are now 6 ft tall, so is the supporting structure, and I can stand up under it to pick. The shade cloth we chose lets 70% of the sunlight through it, and is what nurseries commonly use over their greenhouses in summer to limit the sunshine. We put the shadecloth up just before the berries ripen (will do it this week) and take it down to store in the garden shed as soon as we have finished picking. It was expensive, but has been an excellent investment. If you don't have so many bushes, maybe you could look at a craft or fabric shop for some kind of netting, or tulle, or ?? If your only option is bird netting, I highly recommend some kind of structure to keep the netting off the bushes. I'll try to post a picture of ours this week.

[cwcdesign]

Happy 4th everyone!

Will tried smash burgers on the baking steel on the grill last night and they came out really well. Thin patties, but still juicy. We used his toasted sourdough for buns and topped with fresh tomatoes and arugula and lettuce (from his indoor pots). We tried using his con quest sauce, but we think that sliced cheese would work better in this. Fresh beans from the garden and sweet potato fries rounded out the meal.

[BakerAunt]

Wow! Great garden, Len!

Our tomato plants started blooming this week, and we have some teeny tomatoes starting. The pepper plants are blooming as well, and the two kinds of squash are getting ready to bud. My husband thinks we may have beans by next week. For some reason, the snow peas are not producing as rapidly this year. The black raspberries on the front terrace continue to produce, so I should have enough for a second batch of jam next week. Some of the blueberries have ripened--we have snagged three but critters (probably birds) have grabbed the others before we can pick them. I am buying bird netting for next year.

[BakerAunt]

Hmm--I thought that I had posted the Oil-Buttermilk-part whole wheat pastry flour crust that I have developed over the past three years, but I cannot locate it. Would you like for me to post it Skeptic? I've not tried it with a top crust; for the pies I bake these days, I use a single crust and sometimes a streusel topping (a bit of butter in the streusel and avocado oil for the rest of the fat).

[Mike Nolan]

We had a lavash pizza with the usual ingredients (tomato chunks, artichoke hearts, mushrooms) plus some Canadian bacon.

[BakerAunt]

This is what I have, Chocomouse:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Ball-FreshTECH-Automatic-Jam-Jelly-Maker/19611667?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&wl13=1479&adid=22222222420449455996&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=501107745824&wl4=aud-1272570811843:pla-293946777986&wl5=9016235&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=local&wl12=19611667&wl13=1479&veh=sem_LIA&gclid=CjwKCAjwz_WGBhA1EiwAUAxIcXa7iyqVcQBI7kJju-NZ29rp6ZPXIi1qC6EGE7klzLmmhy2-mAvw7hoCO5EQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I bought mine at a sale from Chef's Catalog (I miss that company). Not having to stand over a hot stove stirring makes it worth my while. I still need to put the jam into jars and process it with a large Ball electric kettle (the one that just heats water, not the fancy electronic canner they also make which has too many bells and whistles).

[chocomouse]

Dinner was egg salad sandwiches, on the last loaf of bread in the house! Now I'll have to bake tomorrow, heat wave or not.

I've never heard of a jam maker, but will look that up. I rarely make jam, because my husband doesn't eat it and I don't need it. If I'm really wanting some jam or need it for a special recipe (like those Apricot Oatmeal Bars, made with any kind of jam), I'll make a batch of refrigerator jam, which is almost as good.

[BakerAunt]

Dinner on Thursday was stir-fry, using the leftover pork, soba noodles, carrots, celery, green onion, red bell pepper, a small yellow bell pepper (from our garden!), mushrooms, broccoli, and snow peas (also from our garden).

[BakerAunt]

On Wednesday, I baked Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from dough I made last week.

People who were on the King Arthur Baking Circle may recall my quest for a koulourakia recipe (aided and abetted by Robin Woban--I miss her). My husband remembered eating them from a Greek bakery in Florida. I did eventually find one that he liked and that was also a hit with his cousins, who recalled them as well, when I took the cookies to a family reunion.

However, those cookies were butter based, and butter has become a very teeny part of our diets. I was pleased that Elena Paravantes included an oil-based koulourakia in The Mediterranean Diet for Beginners (p. 178-179).

On Wednesday, I baked these cookies, which are made small and include cinnamon and a cinnamon sugar coating. I made one change in that the recipe calls for 1 ¼ cups AP flour and I used ¾ King Arthur AP and ½ cup white whole wheat. To measure out the dough, I used a Zeroll 100 scoop (she said a teaspoon of dough) and that worked well. I ended up with 28 as opposed to the 30 stated, so that is fine with me. I baked them the full 15 minutes using my heavy baking sheets and baked on the third rack up. We each had three of the little cookies for dessert tonight. They are crunchy and sharp with cinnamon flavor. They will not be mistaken for the traditional Greek cookies, but these would be a pretty cookie on a cookie tray—something hard to achieve when not using butter. I will bake them again. I might try all white whole wheat flour next time, as I have had success with it in other cookies.

[BakerAunt]

My husband pan-cooked pork for Tuesday dinner. I roasted cut-up red potatoes tossed in olive oil and Penzey’s Mural Seasoning. For the vegetable, I had bought a cauliflower at the Farmer’s market, so I made “Sheet Pan Cauliflower with Parmesan and Garlic,” from The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook for Beginners. It was my first time roasting cauliflower tossed in olive oil. I replaced the minced garlic with garlic powder, since the fresh garlic would burn at high temperature. The Parmesan I sprinkled on it after it came out of the oven did not melt. Next time, I would put the pan back in the oven with the Parmesan for a few minutes after adding it. I did not get the caramelization because I used parchment paper. (I am not willing to clean up a sheet pan. My husband had seconds, so I would make it again if I get another good cauliflower at the farmer’s market.