I should have posted this information earlier. Oxo, which makes all kinds of kitchen tools, is having a 20% off sitewide sale, which ends tonight.
I ordered and received their set of silicone roasting racks, and I also ordered a round silicone roasting rack, and a thin spatula-spoonula. (I threw in the last one to get free shipping, but it should be useful in cleaning out the last of the mayonnaise from jars.)
I bought the silicone racks because it is difficult to clean the metal rack on which I roast chicken pieces, even when I spray it with non-stick spray or rub it with oil.
I've been reading and hearing stories about the farmers and animal people who produce for restaurants and schools. They suddenly have food that they cannot sell, and a lot of it is being dumped (milk) or plowed under because they cannot afford to pick it without having a place to sell it.
I wish that there were a group assigned to try to deal with diverting some of that waste to people in need, not to mention to the groceries. I know that it is complicated to try to change supply lines, and there will be lost food, but I worry about how it will impact us over the months ahead, and if it will make it more difficult for the restaurants to re-start.
I've done the cut and paste, but some recipe sites make it so difficult--only allowing you to catch a certain amount of text at a time (and I think BA is one of those annoying ones)--that I usually give up and just print.
Epicurious--which I think BA took over--actually does a pretty good job with printing.
What I would like is for my printing program to allow me to edit then print. I'd get rid of the ads, and the annoying lists I don't need, and save paper and toner.
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This reply was modified 6 years ago by
BakerAunt.
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This reply was modified 6 years ago by BakerAunt.
I'm not sure ANY recipe site gets printing right (and my own site is currently a good example of how NOT to do it), and most seem to waste at least one page at the end, but theirs is one of the more annoying ones.
I find if I want a printed copy of a recipe I found online I often tend to do a cut and paste into a word document and only print what I want.
Bon Appetit's "Basically" email had an interesting recipe for Cinnamon-Date Sticky Buns:
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/cinnamon-date-sticky-buns?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=ba&utm_mailing=BA_BASICALLY_041120&utm_medium=email&bxid=5c93032824c17c329bff212e&cndid=44882808&esrc=10x10_sweeps&utm_campaign=BA_BASICALLY_041120&utm_term=BA_Basically
It is nice to see a recipe that does not require copious amounts of butter. I do think that the instructions are somewhat on the fussy side, and if I give this recipe a try, I might simplify. I would likely use a bread machine rather than a food processor, but the recipe developer is likely assuming, correctly, that more people might have a food processor than a bread machine. I'm not a fan of the folding, although I know that it often serves an important purpose. I'd use a 10-inch round pan rather than a cast iron skillet, and I'd grease with Crisco instead of using oil.
I won't be trying it for a while, as I don't have the Medjool dates (and I have a good supply of Hot Cross Buns), but I'll tuck the recipe into my future baking pile.
One thing that I hate about Bon Appetit affiliated recipes is that they are not environmentally printer friendly. It forces you to print the equipment list, whether you need it or not. At least I can adjust the page range so as not to print the last page which has no recipe information.
Acids in cookie doughs cause the proteins in the flour to firm up more, producing chewier cookies. The acid would also react with the baking soda, increasing rise.
I've seen some cookie doughs that use cream of tartar (or baking powder) for similar reasons, but lemon juice should also pair well with the chocolate.
Fat Daddio makes an 11x11 pan, either 2" or 3" deep. Not sure what stores carry them but they're available on Amazon. They're anodized aluminum. (I'm not a big fan of coatings on pans, but anodized aluminum pans aren't as bad as the 'non-stick' ones.)
I've looked for stainless steel 11 x 11 pans, haven't found any yet.
My Hot Cross Bun recipe makes sixteen, and I bake them in an 11x11 inch pan that I bought from King Arthur years ago. I wish that I could find that size of pan again, since I sometimes do a blueberry Hot Cross bun in the summer, and I've discovered that the acidity in the blueberries takes the finish off the pan (it's not a non-stick). I had a similar occurrence with apples in an apple cake in my USA pan.
I used a simple glaze (the one from my Cinnamon Roll recipe) this time, except that I used Half and Half instead of milk. It worked very well. I ate one tonight, and my husband, who was out eradicating invasive plants in his woods, was hungry and ate two.
Back when we were in college, a local pizza place (Gullivers, on Howard Street at the north end of Chicago) made the best pizza bread I've ever had. There was nearly always a long wait for a table, and diners would put in one if not multiple pizza bread orders while waiting, and sometimes finish them before a table opened up.
The restaurant changed hands some time around 1980, and I've been told the new owners changed the pizza bread recipe to make it cheaper, and many people stopped buying it. (Evanston also went 'wet' around then, so there wasn't as much reason for Northwestern students to travel to Chicago to order alcohol.)
I like making pizza with sandwich rolls, but I've done it with baguettes as well. I haven't tried it with Challah yet.
I, too, made Hot Cross Buns today, two 8" pans of them, 16 small rolls (1.5 ounces each) per pan. I'm going to call our neighbor and offer them one, but won't feel insulted if they decline.
Doubletree hotels (part of Hilton) has released its chocolate chip cookie recipe, see cookie recipe.
The ingredients aren't that surprising, though there is a bit of lemon juice and a pinch of cinnamon.
My brothers and their families and I are going to try to have a virtual Passover sedar tomorrow. I have no idea what it will look like and I am not certain why we did not think of this years ago. But whatever happens it will be fun with my family.
I will probably make macaroons and may try my hand at macarons. Maybe some time this week I will also make a flourless cake. Mom always made a Passover sponge cake with strawberries and whipped cream. But no bread this weekend.
Hag Sameach (which is not really the right greeting but I cannot remember the right one) and Happy Easter to you all.
We had cornbread and bean soup for dinner. I added 1/2 tsp of Penzey's Salsa & Pico seasoning (thanks BakerAunt; we both had the name incorrect!) which improved the flavor a lot. Interesting that I had used all the same spices in the soup that are in the Penzey seasoning, except no jalepeno or cilantro. Adding the 1/2 tsp was perfect.
I am baking corn bread, the sweet "northern" kind. Although it is not really sweet; I use 1/4 cup of sugar (sometimes honey or maple syrup) to go with 1 cup stone ground corn meal and 1 cup flour.
Pastrami is IMHO harder to make than corned beef, because it has to be smoked and it generally uses a spice rub, too. A former business partner of mine lived in NYC for a while and got hooked on pastrami from Katz's Deli on Houston. (That's the one in "When Harry Met Sally".) He'd order a whole pastrami from them and pig out on it for a week.
I tried making some Montreal Smoked Meat a few years back, it is kind of an offshoot of pastrami, it wasn't quite as good as the stuff we had in Ottawa, but it was pretty good. If I had a real smoker it would probably have been better, but all I've got is a wood chip tray for my gas grill. I made it from some brisket.
A friend of ours it talking about opening up a food truck in a few years to do BBQ. I've been working with him some on menu planning issues. He's got a good smoker, I might try making some more MSM and have him smoke it for me.
