You might show her the KAF microwave lemon curd recipe, it's fairly easy to make and very good on scones. (I can't post the scones recipe my wife uses, though, because she got it from a caterer on the condition that she not distribute it.) Because it's very high in acid, lemon curd keeps well in the refrigerator, for at least a week, if it lasts that long! We have one Meyer lemon that is starting to ripen on our tree, I'll use it to make a small batch of lemon curd. (It looks like we're going to get at least a half dozen lemons next year, we've already had that many set fruit.)
However, don't try to double the recipe, it takes 4-5 times as long to cook and is more likely to get lumpy. I always strain it through a mesh, that way if you get any egg that overcooks, you strain the chunks out.
I've used Merlot for Boeuf Bourguinon, you should be fine. The key to good Boeuf Bourguinon is to not let the wine dominate the flavor profile, I find it works well to balance the wine with beef stock, if I use 2 cups of wine I use 2 cups of a good beef stock. (I make my own stocks.)
I keep several bottles of Lindermans Shiraz and Shiraz-Cabernet wine on hand, these are Australian wines that IMHO makes a very good Boeuf Bourguignon. (I've had it at several French restaurants, I think mine is better.)
The shiraz grape got a bad reputation a while back, but the wine writer for the Wall Street Journal recently reviewed several reasonably priced Shiraz wines quite favorably.
I've also used Merlot for coq au vin. Remember that both Boeuf Bourguinon and coq au vin originated as peasant dishes where the wine and extended cooking time were needed to tenderize a tougher cut of meat. (Coq au vin was traditionally made with an old rooster, but good luck finding one of those for sale, a capon is probably as close as you'll get.)
They say you shouldn't use a wine in cooking that you wouldn't drink. Well, I don't drink much wine at all, and I'm certainly not about to buy a $50 bottle of wine for cooking, but both Shiraz and Merlot would be similar to the house red wines you're likely to get by the glass at a restaurant.
For cooking with white wine, I will use a reasonably priced white Zinfandel or chenin blanc.
Hi,
There is a flour place out west - I think So Cal - that repackages KAF flours into five pound bags. I've purchased first clear flour from them as well as Queen Guinevere. I'll look to see who it is when I'm back home in my kitchen.
"Chopped" does make the microwave cakes look very simple and I can see how something would become rubber really quickly. But I have a five year old who likes to help me bake and who can use the microwave some (I don't let her take things out because they can be very hot) so if I can get this down she can help and be more involved in the process.
Thanks
If it makes you feel better, it looks like everyone got the one on April 1st (3 step dredge) right. I will admit to having used the wrong hand to do the next step too many times! My most common mistake is wanting to use my left hand (my dry hand) to flip the meat over once it has been put in the egg. One trick that seems to help me remember which hand is which is to put a disposable glove on my right hand but not on my left hand.
Tomorrow's quiz is on baking chemistry. Hopefully everyone will get it right.
I've made a few of them, the timing is very tricky, if you're not careful you wind up with half-cooked batter, but you can tell your guests it is a lava cake 🙂 , or an over-cooked rubbery cake. (They make it look so easy when they do it on 'Chopped'.)
It works best when it is small, which is why they're usually made in a ramekin.
I find the hardest recipes to get right are the 'brownie in a cup' ones. Not sure why. But you can cover up your mistakes with ice cream!
Today I baked another loaf of Oat Bran Banana bread by adapting (a lot) an online recipe. I forgot, however, to grind the oat bran in a food processor, so that may affect the texture. I'll know more after I slice into it tomorrow.
Most of the heavy syrups (molasses, glucose, honey, barley syrup, corn syrup) have similar weights per cup. Maple syrup tends to be a little lighter because it generally is not quite as dense a syrup, it depends on how much it's been boiled down.
There's also some variability to honey, but it is generally somewhat denser than maple syrup. Interestingly enough, while many sugar solutions, including maple syrup, are measured using the 'brix' scale, where the higher the number the more sugar is present, honey is measured in terms of the percentage of water in it, so the lower the number the higher the percentage of sugar.
This question was inspired by the candy-making class I took last weekend.
One of the optional items to bring was a scale, though the only ingredient in any of the recipes specified by weight was chocolate. We did have to measure corn syrup for each of the recipes we made, and as we all know, that's a messy job.
I seem to recall having read that CIA students start out by memorizing a lengthy list of weight-to-measure equivalents of various ingredients. (Michael Ruhlman's book, perhaps?)
Anyway, there will probably be future quizzes that deal with weight-to-measure equivalents for ingredients we all use frequently.
I'll have to look to see if I still have the ingredient list for the KAF glazing sugar. I just know that it dries smoothly, has a "clean" taste, and holds up well.
I've also noted that KAF seems to have less and less of what I need. I still order semolina and durum flour, but I may try Bob's semolina next time I run low. I use it in bread baking, although I hope to do some pasta once I have my new kitchen. KAF is the only place where I can find the special dry milk. I like their espresso powder, but I'm using it less these days because of eating less saturated fat. Whenever I need yeast, I buy it bulk from KAF. (I'm currently about to start the second container of the 2 lbs. I bought last year.) I bought the KAF membership, so I get free shipping over $20 or $25 (cannot recall which at the moment). It's an ok deal, but it was better when I could order 25 lb. bags of the AP flour. KAF says it stopped shipping those because of the high level of breakage. It is no longer a good deal to buy most flours from them, although I have difficulty finding white whole wheat locally. (Bob's, alas, was out of it when I placed my recent order there.) KAF is also my source for parchment paper. KAF is also the only place where I can get first clear flour. (Maybe I should have let you get me that 50 lb. bag, except that I don't know where I would have put it during the house construction. 🙂 )
For every $60 spent (can add up over time), KAF gives $10 in Baker's Bucks to spend on another order.
It probably makes sense for me, at least for this year, to have renewed my KAF membership, but I may reconsider when it comes up for renewal in the fall, especially given their various shipping specials.
I saw that, but I don't need either semolina or pastry flour right now. (And they're out of the small bags of white pastry flour, the 25 pound bag isn't eligible for free shipping.) But I'll keep it in mind for when I need to order more.
I can order a 50 pound bag of semolina for about $55, including shipping, from another supplier. I may check with the local Sysco office to see what they stock at some point. (My former neighbor is the head of that office, the last time I checked they still allow walk-in orders.)
Mike--Bob's Red Mill has a 25% off special right now. Free shipping if you order over $59 (after discount). Cases are ok, but not 25 pound bags.
About the only things I order from King Arthur any more are their white pastry flour (because locally I can only get whole wheat pastry flour) and semolina. They had their $3.14 shipping sale on March 14th, and I couldn't find $31.40 worth of things I wanted.
I can get semolina from other suppliers at a lower per pound price, but only if I buy 25 or 50 pounds at a time, and that's several year's worth for me, though my wife has been willing to have me make pasta more frequently lately because it doesn't seem to spike her blood sugar as much as other carbs. I may start ordering it by the case from Bob's Red Mill, especially when they have one of their reduced/no shipping charge offers, since none of the local stores carry it, though they carry a number of other Bob's Red Mill items. I used to be able to get Hodgson Mill semolina, but I don't see any of their products locally any more.
Is what you're looking for confectioner's sugar without the cornstarch in it? That's hard to find in the USA, even in bulk through restaurant and bakery supply houses. While Kitchen Krafts has one that uses maltodextrin instead of cornstarch, it's still terribly pricey.
On Sunday, I experimented with making a lower-saturated fat version of the KAF Apple Cinnamon Bars. I replaced the 6 Tbs. melted butter with 4 ½ Tbs. canola oil. I replaced ½ cup of the flour with ½ cup barley flour and added 2 tsp. flax meal. I reduced the brown sugar from ¾ to ½ cup, which I have done in the past, or else these bars are much too sweet. I went ahead and used 1/3 scant cup of cinnamon chips, since I have them and want to use them up, but like all chips, they have lots of saturated fat. I made a half recipe of the glaze, which is plenty for this recipe, but I modified it by deleting the butter and using 1 Tbs. of half and half instead of water. The bars are delicious, but they are more like a cake than I recall from previously baking them.
Note: I used KAF glazing sugar. I bought it a while ago. KAF does not seem to sell it anymore. Instead they sell their own glazing mixes. Sigh. I will need to find another source for glazing sugar.
On Sunday, I baked a new recipe, Rye Bites (Schuastabuam) from Stanley Ginsberg’s The Rye Baker (pp.225-226). I’ve given up biscuits due to following a low-saturated fat dining plan, and I wanted something to have with the stew other than cornbread, which we had recently. These are rye rolls made with 2/3 medium rye flour and 1/3 bread flour. After the dough is mixed and kneaded for 8-10 minutes, it is divided and shaped into 24 small buns, allowed to proof for 35 minutes or so, then baked. They can be made in under two hours. My only change was to use active rather than instant yeast and to proof it first. My one mistake was not following the direction to put the oven rack in the upper-third of the oven. I thought with my particular oven the middle would be fine, but I had a bit of burning on the bottom of the cooked rolls—not bad, but I think that the rolls would also have been a bit softer had I done so. (This oven is also difficult for temperatures over 400F, so I may have had it a bit too hot.) However, they made a nice accompaniment to the stew, and my husband ate four of these cute little buns. I think these would make good party sandwiches. I had two for lunch today with tuna salad spread on them.
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This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by
BakerAunt.
I've got it set so that the next day's quiz should be released at 12:30 AM every day. (Central time.)
Once you have the lavash, which we can buy at the grocery, making a lavash pizza is easy. This is a 14" diameter lavash. (I've made lavash a few times, the trick is to get it rolled out really thin so it gets crisp.)
I put the lavash on a big sheet pan, I start with some chunks of havarti cheese, add some shredded mozzarella, then I put on 1 small can's worth of mushrooms and about 6 artichoke hearts that have been quartered. I didn't have any fresh tomatoes today, otherwise I'd have sliced it into thin slices and put them on as well. (The picture below is from one I made a few weeks ago.)
I throw it in the oven at 425 degrees for about 5 minutes to get everything warm, then switch to the broiler for a few minutes to brown the cheese a bit. We use a pizza cutter to cut it into six pieces.
