Search Results for '("C'

[Mike Nolan]

Jeffrey Hamelman's book, Bread, will have a 3rd edition out in 2021. I've been making several recipes out of his book (I have the original edition), and his front matter section on the stages of making bread is something I read every few months.

[BakerAunt]

Last year I experimented with creating a maple cookie, low in saturated fat, using an Italian Breakfast Cookie recipe I had found, and using maple syrup in place of honey. It was ok. On Wednesday, I tweaked the recipe further, using maple sugar in place of regular sugar, using ¾ cup white whole wheat flour with ½ cup AP, and adding 1/8 tsp. maple extract. I used Halloween Nordic Ware Cookie Stamps on balls of dough, scooped out with scant 2 Tbs. dough (Zeroll #30), which gave me 11 cookies. I refrigerated the stamped cookies (took the impression well) for 30 minutes. I baked at 375F for 10 minutes, turning halfway through. The cookies needed an additional six minutes to be crisp on the bottom. We had a couple for dessert tonight, and the maple flavor comes through. These are not as sweet as most cookies, but we find them satisfying.

On Wednesday, I also made another batch of Maple Granola, and this time I had a stash of raisins, hidden from my husband to mix in after the granola baked.

[Mike Nolan]

I tried unmolding my chocolate covered cherries today, 18 of 28 came out of the mold more or less intact. Not a great average but probably not bad for my first try. (Most of us had trouble unmolding our chocolates in Chocolate School, too, I think because we overfilled them and the filling stuck to the mold.) But I haven't done much chocolate work lately and those are skills that need practice, I think my chocolate was properly tempered but not quite hot enough.

Now I need to wait a week or two to see how well the centers liquefy. (I made some with invertase in the fondant and some without, the latter should have more of a creamy center rather than a liquid one.)

The maraschino cherries I have (from Sams Club) are way too big for the mold, I wound up cutting them in half and even then they didn't fit well. I need to find some smaller cherries. I may try hand dipping some, then the mold size doesn't matter.

[Mike Nolan]

When I made a version of them back during time of the thread on the old BC, I also thought they were pretty good. We don't make dinner rolls very often, though, so I haven't gotten back to these, since I can't find the right kind of stamp.

I sent a link to photos of both the metal and the plastic rosetta stamps to my son, maybe he can figure out how to make one on his 3D printer. (He recently made bannetons for rising dough.)

A combination of a Kaiser roll stamp and an apple corer might work, but I've never bought a Kaiser roll stamp. The metal stamp is interesting because it doesn't cut into the rolls along the outside, only in the center. That might help create an air pocket, I suppose.

[BakerAunt]

Today I baked Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from dough I made up last week (or was it longer?)

While I like my quartz kitchen countertops, one drawback is that they are white with specks, and sometimes it is difficult to see where the parchment ends against the countertop. The parchment also slides while I'm rolling out the dough. A more serious problem is that when I put a metal baking sheet on the counter, after transferring the dough to cut into crackers, the rubbing of the metal on the quartz leaves black marks that I have to rub off. I had been moving the baking sheet to the dining room table, a not so efficient solution.

Today, I had a brilliant idea. A long time ago--back when King Arthur carried unusual and useful baking items, I bought what they called a "tagliere," or Italian kneading board. I had to look up the name to write this post and discovered that is actually the word for cutting board. What I have is a spianatoia or kneading and pastry board. It is made of wood--my husband says either maple or birch--with a lip on the underside in front that pushes against the counter and a backsplash 2 1/2 inches high. The dimensions are 24x16 inches. I used it a lot for kneading breads, hooking it on the edge of my kitchen table, although I then had to scrape off the flour that stuck. After I discovered Silpat mats, I tended not to use it. The kneading board has been sitting in the kitchen area of our garage apt., and I was thinking a few weeks ago that I wish that I could find a use for it.

I sent my husband to fetch it, wiped it off, then discovered it is a perfect fit for my kitchen peninsula. I rolled out the crackers on parchment on it, and I did not have the sliding, and I could see where the parchment ends. As an added bonus, the 3/4 of an inch I gain made it much easier to roll out the crackers--much less bending over and so much more comfortable. I've found a place to store it between the cabinet and my wooden rolling cart. I am so pleased.

[Italiancook]

BakerAunt, I enjoyed reading your post about your Rosetta Roll experiment. I doubt I'll ever try them, but it's good to have your learned comments in my brain just in case. I'll look forward to finding out if the rolls you cut tomorrow are hollow.

Sounds to me that finding the Rosetta Roll stamp is similar to finding a chittara in Italy before the days of Amazon. Prior to going to Italy, I subscribed to an English language magazine about Italy. There was an article about making pasta using a chitarra (sp?). I cut out the picture and tucked it into my wallet. We had no luck finding one in that country.

Near the end of our journey, we were in a town square. I pulled out the picture and went up to a woman whom I thought was Italian. I showed her the picture and asked in English where I might find one. She gave no hint she understood English, but she motioned for me to wait. She walked into a door at the opposite end of the square. She returned with a chitarra. In Italian, I asked her how much it cost. She walked away from me and went back in the door at the other end of the square. We stood staring at the door and window unsure what to do. It looked like the place was a residence and not a store. We finally decided it was a gift. Yes, I made pasta using it, and it was fun. It's used for cutting the pasta.

I'm waiting for a pan of Oatmeal Coffee Cake to cool so I can cover it for the night. It's for breakfast.

[BakerAunt]

Well, I didn't get the hollow center, at least not in the four we had tonight, although I did serve the ones at dinner with less design. I'm hoping the one that has more of the design, which I will cut for lunch tomorrow, will have a hollow, but I think that I need more practice with the stamp. Here are my notes from the first attempt. Pictures will have to wait.

Rosetta Rolls (Notes on Baking)

On Sunday, October 25, I mixed up the biga at 8 p.m. I followed Cass Avona’s suggestion to use half King Arthur AP flour and half Bob’s Red Mill Artisan Bread flour. (The recipe states “unbleached bread flour, preferably high gluten.) I used the metric weights for ingredients. I put it in a 2-quart dough bucket, lightly coated with olive oil (no specific oil was mentioned). It was to rest in the container on the counter for an hour before refrigerating, but it was rising so fast (house temperature about 74F) that I moved it to the refrigerator after 35 minutes. When I checked it an hour later, it was at the top of the dough bucket on the lid. I oiled a 4-quart dough bucket and moved the dough to it for the overnight time in the refrigerator.

On Monday, October 26, shortly after noon, I put the biga in a bowl, added the water (70F) and broke it up with a spatula until most of the water was mixed in. As my 7-quart stand mixer does not do well with small amounts of dough, I used the Zo bread machine to mix and knead. The recipe states a Kitchen Aid mixer on speed 4 for 10-12 minutes until smooth and elastic, and that is equivalent to what the bread machine does. I stopped the bread machine 16 minutes into its cycle, which after the initial mixing of several minutes, should give the correct kneading time, and the dough was smooth and elastic. I put it into a 2-quart, lightly olive oiled, dough bucket.

This rise is to be for 35-45 minutes (at 70-74F kitchen). I put it on the dining area table, which is a bit warmer than the rest of the house but registering at 67F. Bread machines do add some heat in the mixing, which I hope will give the dough sufficient warmth. Due to the coolness of the room, I gave it an extra 10 minutes, for a total of 55 minutes.

I patted the dough into a rectangle that would make it easy for me to divide it into twelve pieces. Forming the pieces into balls was initially difficult, as the dough is slightly tacky. As I worked, I found it best to take a piece and start folding it in on itself with one hand, while holding it with the other hand. The directions call for an unfloored countertop; I used my Silpat mat. Using the stamp will take some practice. I found that it helps to flour it. It also helps to pick up the resting ball of dough and move it before stamping (less sticking). It is still tricky getting them onto the silicone turner, so that they can be put, stamp side down, onto a floured baking sheet. (I wondered about using parchment but decided to follow the directions exactly. I might, next time, try putting the ball of dough on a wide silicone spatula and stamping it on that before moving to the baking sheet. I discovered that I needed to press down the rosetta stamp completely into the dough. I finished at 2:10 p.m. and put the baking sheet, covered in saran, in the refrigerator for the required 3-8 hours. My plan is to bake them after the spaghetti squash lasagna that I am making for dinner, as the oven will be close to temperature and can be heated up to 500F from there.

I was able to flip over the rolls with a silicone spatula when I took them out of the refrigerator after about five hours. The design was not that distinct, and on a some it did not show up at all. After a 20-minute rest at room temperature, the pan went into the oven. I used the third rack up. They had nice oven spring and after ten minutes had developed good color, so I removed them. (The directions say 10-15 minutes but best when lightly baked.) We each had two with dinner. Neither had a hollow, but they do have a lovely light texture and delicious taste. I will try one that has a bit more of the rose design at lunch tomorrow and see if it has any hollow area. I will do some reading about how to best stamp them before I give the recipe another try.

[cwcdesign]

I made Deanna’s (from the BC) Sour Cream Chocolate Cake with Penuche Frosting to take to work tomorrow for a coworker’s birthday. We always liked it and I hadn’t made it forever. Had to get some powdered sugar from work as I didn’t have enough and I substituted whole milk Greek yogurt for the sour cream since that’s what we use now. I also used double dark KAF cocoa powder and oil for the unsweetened chocolate.

Will wanted to make sure I’ll bring a piece home for him

[Mike Nolan]

Your stew should be fine, just about any red wine works. I like to use a shiraz, an underappreciated wine. I always make spaetzle for it, Grizzlybiscuit's recipe is posted here, I believe.

Spaetzle is sometimes fried after it is cooked, but we seldom do that.

However, if you want really decadent spaetzle, make Julia Child's pearl onions braised in beef stock (the onions go in the stew) and fry the cooked spaetzle in the sauce from the onions.

I've never made the cauliflower rice, my wife isn't fond of cauliflower (and not all that fond of rice, either, she prefers noodles.) I may have to try it some time to see if she recognizes it as cauliflower.

I've seen it served on couscous.

[Italiancook]

Len, the pizza looks delicious! Mike, the snow looks refreshing. I love snowy winters, except for the shoveling.

I made Boeuf Bourgignon (sp?) for tomorrow's dinner. My husband drank the wine for it, so I had to use an Italian dry wine substitute. I hope it turns out okay. The house smells delicious. I'm going to serve it with a salad and cauliflower rice from the freezer. But I've never before used cauliflower rice, so I don't know if that's a good idea, or if I should change to noodles. Any cauliflower rice users who can guide me?

[Mike Nolan]

If you can't upload them, email them to me (nolan at tssi dot com).

I did try one recipe for rosetta rolls, and it was pretty good, but not having the right stamp they didn't really have the right shape. (A Kaiser roll stamp is close but lacks the circle in the middle.)

Net searches for a supplier for rosetta roll stamps were futile, as I recall, though there was a supplier in Italy, though shipping, customs and other issues would have been challenging even before the pandemic.

[BakerAunt]

I am in the midst of a long baking project. Cass and I talked about Rosetta Rolls, and he asked if I would be interested in baking them. There was a long discussion about these Italian rolls on the King Arthur Baking Circle. (I think that discussion did get transferred to Nebraska Kitchen under the threads category.) To my knowledge, no one from the BC or NK ever tried baking them. Cass sent me a recipe from Il Fornaio and Italian Independent Bakers, and he generously sent me a real Rosetta stamp. I made the biga last night. Today I added the additional water, flour, salt. I decided to knead in the bread machine, but to cut it off after about 12 minutes. The dough is now on a short ferment in a dough bucket on the dining room table. After it is divided, shaped, and stamped, it will spend 3-8 hours in the refrigerator before baking. I'll report back later today.

I have taken a couple of pictures and will take others along the way. Whether I can figure out how to upload them to Nebraska Kitchen remains to be seen.

[Mike Nolan]

Here's a variant on this recipe that I've been using in a 4x4x13 Pullman loaf pan. The idea of using a pre-ferment is one I took from Jeffrey Hamelman's Semolina bread recipe.

Pre-ferment:

6 1/2 ounces semolina
6 1/2 ounces bread flour
12 ounces lukewarm water
1 teaspoon instant dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar

Stir and allow to sit for 60-90 minutes, it should be very bubbly by then.

Add:

6 1/2 ounces semolina
6 1/2 ounces bread flour
(It helps to add this flour in several steps to avoid a flour cloud.)

4 tablespoons Carnation malted milk powder
2 teaspoons salt
4 tablespoons melted butter
1-2 ounces cool water

Knead until it passes the windowpane test. Dough should be slightly tacky but not sticky.

Bulk rise 60 to 90 minutes
Shape and put in greased Pullman pan
Allow to rise for at least 60 minutes. (I leave the lid off for the first 45 minutes, putting the lid on when I start the oven pre-heating.)

Preheat oven to 375.

Bake for 15 minutes, rotate, bake for another 10 minutes, then remove lid and bake for 10-15 minutes until internal temperature is 200 or higher.

Remove from pan and cool completely before slicing.

[BakerAunt]

On Saturday, I baked Bernard Clayton’s Dark Grains Bread, with some tweaks of my own. I used molasses, as he specifies, because honey, which I have substituted in the past, is more expensive. We have a good local person from whom we buy it, but I try to reserve it for eating (mostly my husband puts it on his oatmeal), and I use it sparingly in recipes. I really miss trips to T.J. Maxx, Ross, and Big Lots where I could buy a German honey that I would use in baking. This bread sometimes has more rise than at other times. I might try some gold yeast as part of the yeast next time.

Note: We cut it at lunch the next day. While it is a firm bread, it is not a dense loaf, so the rise is what it should be. The taste is terrific; the molasses blended in well.

[Italiancook]

I still haven't made the Tuscan Coffee Cake. I need to make the preferment around 8 P.M., but can't start the bread until 10 or 10:30 A.M. I'm thinking (fretting) that 14 hours is too long for the preferment. Does anyone have any insight on this?