Search Results for '("C'

[kimbob]

Adopted a little dachshund mix dog from our local SPCA the end of August. We had to put mom's last dog (14 yrs old) to sleep in March (awful thing to have to do) and I told her and my husband NO MORE DOGS!! So what did I do? Kept looking at the spca website and adopted an adult dog. Years ago I bought the bone shaped cookie cutters from kaf plus their mix. Mom's dogs didn't like the kaf mix at all. Decided to try baking Shorty some peanut butter pumpkin treats which were really easy and the recipe only had 4 ingredients-- pumpkin, peanut butter, eggs, water. They're not rock hard and he likes them. Anyone bake treats for their pets?

[cwcdesign]

They probably weren’t that direct. Marketing department was going to put up the sign - might not be til tomorrow AM.

Got a text from my manager (not Chef) asking me to let her know if I wanted to pick up hours in another location if they were looking for people while we were closed. Really?!? I don’t think so.

Thanks for all your prayers - Chef’s husband tested negative today

[cwcdesign]

I hope you’re better soon, Joan

Re caramelized onions. Lora Brody has a recipe for making caramelized onions in the crockpot with 3-4 pounds of Visalia or other sweet onions and 1 stick of butter in a 4-quart crockpot. If you have a larger crockpot you can double the amount of onions, but don’t need to increase the butter. Cook low and slow for 12-14 hours (they turn mahogany colored) And, yes you can freeze them.

[Italiancook]

Thanks for the pearl sugar link, BakerAunt. It gave me an, "Oh my" moment. My pearl sugar completely coated the centers of the muffins. Around the edges, it was sprinkled properly. I put the sugar directly on the batter, so the sugar adhered to the muffins.

I agree with the writer of the link that cardamom goes great with citrus. When I make Oatmeal Coffee Cake, I use cardamom even though it's not in the recipe and the orange flavor comes from orange oil (KABC).

[cwcdesign]

Our market (where I work) is closed for 10 days as a proactive preventive measure. My chef who has been very careful was in close contact with someone in another department for a meeting (more than 15 minutes) because of her exposure she’d been sent home as was our manager. Chef tested positive. We think the rest of us will be fine as we weren’t in close contact since the exposure. My temp was negative this am as was the rest of our team. I will be reaching out to HR on Monday to see what I need to be doing re testing. I will continue to monitor my temperature.

[Mike Nolan]

I've never tried to keep them in the freezer, but French onion soup freezes very well, so I suspect caramelized onions would, too.

I make French onion soup using chicken stock instead of beef stock, it makes the onions the star. (Besides, commercial beef stock is often heavily over-salted.) It is also a more traditional way of making it, French onion soup is a peasant dish, and peasants couldn't afford beef, but they often had a few chickens.

[Italiancook]

That's good to know about the Vidalia onions being too sweet for caramelization for a savory soup, Mike. I don't like them to start with, but now you've saved me from buying a big bag of them at Sam's. Thanks. But don't get me wrong -- I enjoyed the finished onions with my steak even though they were made with yellow onions. So did my husband, who claims to not even like onions.

It's interesting you mention a lid. I debated whether to use a lid. But the Food Network Kitchen article and video didn't use a lid, so I did not. The article said to leave the pan of onions alone for 15-20 minutes. I went with 15 but next time, I'll let it cook for 20 minutes before stirring. Altogether, caramelizing the onions stovetop (glass stovetop) took 40-45 minutes, but my meal timing was off. The steak turned out to be thicker than I had anticipated. So my onions cooked longer and became a deep, deep brown. Not off-putting -- actually pretty and still tasty.

I don't make French Onion Soup, but I've heard on Food Network that caramelized onions will keep for a few days in the refrigerator. Somewhere I read they can be frozen, although I wonder if they lose flavor in the freezer. So it's good to know how to do a large batch in the oven. Thanks, Mike. I'm now sold on caramelized onions.

[Mike Nolan]

When I caramelize onions for French onion soup, I use regular yellow onions, they're plenty sweet. I did a batch with some sweet (aka Vidalia) onions once, they were really too sweet for a savory soup after caramelization.

I just fill up a pot with sliced onions (a 5 pound bag just about fills up a 12 quart stock pot), cover it, throw it in the oven at 350, and stir it every half hour or so for 4-6 hours That give me about 2 inches of perfectly caramelized onions for soup. No sugar or oil needed. If you do it on the the cooktop, then I do recommend some oil or butter to help disperse the heat and keep them from burning, on a very low heat, with a lid. You can also use beef or chicken stock as a braising liquid, in which case the oil/butter is optional.

Sometimes we intentionally char some of the onions, it adds a complex flavor.

Something I don't do often is make grilled onions, which are also essentially caramelized onions, but done without a lid so they don't get soggy and stay a bit firmer. But they are excellent on hot dogs and burgers. (In some parts of Chicago, it just isn't a Chicago Dog without grilled onions.)

[chocomouse]

Thanks for that information, Joan. I'm going to try it after my next grocery shopping trip.

Our dinner tonight was ribs on the grill (it got up to 72* this afternoon!!), brussels sprouts, and buttercup squash.

[BakerAunt]

For dinner on Friday, I made black-eyed peas, starting by soaking them overnight. I cooked them today with a ham hock. Once they were done, I removed the ham hock, took off the meat, and put it back with the black-eyed peas. I added 1 ½ tsp. Penzey’s dried onion. I cooked brown rice separately in my rice cooker. I sauteed celery and some garlic in grapeseed oil in larger pot, then added the black-eyed peas and the rice. I snipped some parsley and mixed it in, then added freshly ground black pepper. It is delicious, and we will have at least three more meals from it.

I've found that it is better to cook the rice and the black-eyed peas (or any bean) separately, then combine with the vegetables, as there are differences in the cooking times.

I was pleased to find smoked ham hocks for 99 cents per pound. The usual price in our store is $2.99 per pound, which is pricy for what is usually considered a less desirable cut. I froze a second one to use later for pea soup.

[Italiancook]

I made blueberry muffins for breakfast and the freezer. The berries were tart, so I put Swedish Pearl Sugar (KABC) on the tops before baking.

[chocomouse]

Joan, I love pimento cheese (but born and raised in Vermont!) and have tried making it several times, never successfully however. Just didn't taste right. I think Southern ladies must have a secret ingredient. And the stores around here seem to stock it only at Christmas time; I don't understand why because I've never seen it on Christmas menus.

I'm going to join ItalianCook at BakerAunt's table!!

[BakerAunt]

On Wednesday, I roasted the first of two “peanut” pumpkins and pureed it in my food processor after removing from the skin. I froze three (15 oz.) containers, and set aside 4 oz. to bake into pumpkin biscotti later in the week.

For Wednesday’s dinner, I made a sauce by sauteing mushrooms in olive oil, then sprinkling a bit of flour over it. I added some chicken stock, and some leftover evaporated milk, a package of frozen broccoli florets, and the rest of the roast chicken, along with freshly ground black pepper. I mixed it with some cooked noodles, and we grated Parmesan atop our serving. Bonus: There is enough to have it again tomorrow.

[BakerAunt]

On Monday, I baked the All Purpose Buttermilk Maple Bread recipe that I first baked this summer. Based on the previous bake, I used 4 cups whole wheat flour, 1 cup Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Bread flour, and ½ cup KAF high-gluten flour that I want to use up. The whole wheat is my substitution. I cut the salt to ½ tsp., and the yeast to 1 ¾ tsp. I added 2 Tbs. flax meal. I let the Zo do the kneading. It was cool in the house, so the first rise (in the 4-qt. dough bucket) took 2 hours. The second rise went an hour and 25 minutes. The bread had excellent oven spring, and I was glad that I used the 10x5 loaf pan. I checked it at 40 minutes, and it needed an additional 5 minutes to get to 194F.

Note: I was already planning to bake this bread before Skeptic posted about the maple syrup. 🙂

[BakerAunt]

I also don't like rectangular containers, as it is easier to get the dough out of a rounded one.

I also have a 1-quart rising container, although I've yet to use it for dough. It was from KAF (before they were KABC) and has the nice older logo.