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[Mike Nolan]

Advance preparations:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter, cold, cut into small pieces
8 ounces whole wheat flour
8 1/2 ounces AP flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped but not too finely
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Combine the dry ingredients and add the butter, use your hands to squeeze the butter and mix it with the dry ingredients until it is sandy.

Add the raisins and walnuts.

Add the egg, orange juice and buttermilk and mix until just combined. (Do not overmix.)

Pat into a round shape about 9" in diameter. (It will spread a little while baking.)

Bake for 45 minutes. It should pass the toothpick test.

Note: Some people do their soda bread in a cast iron pan. This will give it a firmer bottom crust.

Best warm with a little butter on top.

This recipe does not keep well nor does it freeze well.

We've decided this recipe is a keeper and will probably make it more often than just on St. Patrick's Day. My wife took several pieces of it to her sister, she offered to take it off our hands any time we have too much of it around.

[Mike Nolan]

My mother made corned beef hash a lot, it was an easy way to feed 6 kids on a budget in a hurry. We'd take turns grinding the onions and potatoes for it.

I like a good kosher corned beef, my wife prefers pastrami. (If I could get Montreal Smoked Meat here, that's even better.)

The vending machines at college had excellent corned beef on rye sandwiches, I'm not sure if Sinai 48 products are even still available, they were bought out by another company some years ago.

I also like a good reuben. (Local historians claim that the reuben was invented in Omaha.)

I've got a brisket, I'm going to roast most of it and put part of it in a corned beef and cabbage soup. (My wife doesn't really like cooked cabbage, so I'm not making a large pot of soup.)

[Mike Nolan]

The soda bread we had in Ireland (at a bed and breakfast near Kilkenny) was fairly dark, a little on the sweet side and had raisins in it.

I took several recipes and combined them, I'm using raisins, walnuts, whole wheat flour, oatmeal, AP flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar, salt, buttermilk and a little orange juice.

Some recipes bake it free-form, others in a 9" skillet, I'm trying it free-form, we'll see how much it spreads. Smells good so far.

Followup: Tastes pretty good, too. A little crumbly, but that's normal with a soda bread, because you don't mix it enough to form much gluten. I'll post my recipe shortly.

[BakerAunt]

Remodeling and Renovation Update:

Dry wall went up last week, upstairs in the bedroom and study and downstairs in the kitchen. It was the expected mess. After they sanded and washed the walls, my husband and I primed the three rooms. (At some point, there is a downstairs bedroom to be done, but we have to wait until we can move stuff out of it into completed rooms.) We painted the kitchen, and then my husband repainted the ceiling--four times. We did not realize that eggshell paint is tricky, probably because there was so little light in the previous house where we used it, and those walls were textured. With the light shining in here at certain times of the day, every painting flaw shows. My husband got some advice from the paint store people today before he did the fourth coat. We have decided to use a different level of paint for the upstairs (and eventually the downstairs bedroom), although it will be the same color. It may not reflect the light as well, but we can live with that more easily than obsessing about the streaking.

The ash floor in the kitchen will be laid this week, and next week, the man who does the new floor, and the original Douglas Fir ones upstairs, will set to work. So, we have to complete the painting upstairs before a week from Monday. In the meanwhile, the exterior soffits are being installed on the outside of the house. The siding arrived ten days ago and is waiting to be installed.

The cabinets have arrived at the warehouse, so once the flooring is installed, they come next. There is then a three-week wait for the counter tops.

We are not going to be back in the house by Easter. Sigh.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I fed my sourdough starter on Sunday and made dough for a single recipe of my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers, and dough for a single recipe of a new variation, Whole Wheat Sourdough Buttermilk-Ranch Crackers. I only had enough Vermont Cheese powder for the single recipe, so I decided to experiment, since a single recipe never lasts long with my husband.

On Tuesday, I baked another batch of seeded crispbread.

On Wednesday, I baked the KAF 100% Whole Wheat Apple Cider Baked Doughnuts with Maple Glaze. I used white whole wheat flour. I reduced the sugar in the doughnuts from 1 ¼ to 1 cup. I reduced the boiled cider from ¼ cup to 1 tsp. (that stuff was far too strong when I followed the ¼ cup in the recipe, and it drowned out all other flavors). I reduced the vanilla from 1 ½ to 1 tsp. I cut the salt in half, from 1 tsp. to ½ teaspoon. I mixed these by hand, and I think it gave them a perfect cake doughnut texture. I glazed them the next day. I used the given amount of powdered sugar, but I used 4 Tbs. dark maple syrup instead of 3 Tbs., and I used 1 Tbs. of half and half. The glaze has held up well, and we will have the last two for dessert after Saturday’s dinner.

On Friday afternoon, I baked a loaf of Buttermilk Wheat and Barley Grape Nuts Bread. I substituted in ½ cup whole wheat flour, ½ cup barley flour, and used 2 cups bread flour. I used 1 cup buttermilk to soften the Grape Nuts. I used half special gold yeast and half active yeast (need to use up that bit of special gold). I cut the salt to 1 ¼ tsp. The dough took a little longer to rise both times, which worked out, since we got the call that my computer was ready and could retrieve it during the first rise. The loaf had good oven spring, and we cut into it for lunch on Saturday.

Early on Saturday afternoon, I baked the KAF Favorite Fudge Birthday Cake. I will make the filling and glaze and assemble it tonight. I’m off my game, in that I forgot to soak the cake strips; running them under water at the last minute is not adequate, and I had more doming than I would have liked, so I’ll have to trim one down before I split the two layers. If you are wondering why, with my usually strict adherence to a low-saturated fat eating plan, I am baking such a saturated fat bomb, it is because tomorrow is my husband’s birthday, and it is one of those significant decade birthdays. He pointed out that the two previous decade-turning birthdays had not been so great for him. So, four-layers of chocolaty delight it is, with three layers filled, and a ganache poured over the top and smoothed around the sides. I’m hoping some friends will help us eat it, or that my husband will consent to sharing some of it with the guys working on our house.

[BakerAunt]

For Sunday dinner, I made salmon and couscous with Greek seasoning.

On Monday, I made Tomato and Gigante Bean Bake (Pizza Beans) from Smitten Kitchen Every Day. I used giant lima beans from Bob’s Red Mill. This time I cooked 2 ½ cups dried. I always throw in the whole bunch of kale. I added browned ground turkey, because my husband prefers to have meat included. I cut the mozzarella from 8 oz. to 4 oz, and I cube it and sprinkle it on top. I don’t add salt, and this time I did not add the Italian seasoning. My husband prefers it that way, and I think it allows the flavors of the other elements to shine on their own.

On Thursday, I made a chicken-vegetable-soba noodle stir-fry. We used the last frozen chicken breast, which unfortunately was one of those rubbery ones. At least it was somewhat hidden by the vegetables: celery, red bell pepper, carrots, Baby Bella mushrooms, broccoli, and green onion. I had some defatted chicken drippings in the freezer which I used for the sauce.

Saturday’s dinner will be Salmon and Couscous, probably with Penzey’s Sunny Paris seasoning, with steamed green beans as the side.

[BakerAunt]

I'm catching up what I did not get to add during my laptop's being out of commission.

For dinner on Saturday, I used the rest of the rotisserie chicken to make a stir-fry with vegetables and bulgur (cracked wheat).

• This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by BakerAunt.

[BakerAunt]

I'm catching up on what I could not post while the computer was out of commission:

First, that applesauce cake is delicious and moist. It did not need the frosting, so I'm glad that I did not include it.

On Friday, I baked two loaves of English muffin bread, using the recipe in Bernard Clayton’s second edition New Complete Book of Breads (revised and expanded edition), pp. 52-53. I made a few changes. 1 reduced the yeast from 2 ¼ tsp. to 2 tsp., I reduced the salt to 1 ½ tsp. from 2 tsp. salt. I might reduce it an additional ¼ tsp. next time. I used 1/3 cup KAF special dried milk in place of the ½ cup nonfat milk. I substituted in 1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour in place of that much bread flour (flour is total 4 cups). I used only the paddle on my stand mixer. After the first rise, I tried using it to mix in the baking soda dissolved in 1 Tbs. of warm water, since the last time I made this recipe and tried doing it by hand, I was not able to eliminate the brown streaking that occurs in the loaf but does not affect flavor. However, I had no better luck in eliminating the brown this time. I have 7 ½ x 3 ½ -inch loaf pans, so I used those. The bread baked well and had splendid holes. I gave one to the friend who helped us with the house while we were in Florida, as he is an English muffin bread connoisseur, with a favorite bakery in Michigan that produces it. He was very impressed. I enjoyed my loaf toasted with light butter canola spread. For some reason, my husband prefers it untoasted--heresy, in my opinion.

On Saturday, I baked a loaf of Malted Wheat Flakes and Buttermilk Whole Wheat Bread, using that basic recipe with which I’ve been experimenting. The malted wheat flakes do not behave the same as the other rolled cereals I’ve used (barley, oats, mixed grains) in that they do not soak up the liquid as readily. As a result, I had to add nearly ¼ cup of flour, and I did some additional kneading after it finished kneading in the bread machine. I did two stretch and folds before final shaping to strengthen the structure. The loaf came out well. Next time, I use the malted wheat flakes, I’ll reduce the liquid.

[Italiancook]

I buy my chicken from a meat market, because they sell ones without hormones and (I think) without antibiotics. They're pricey, but for medical reasons, I need to avoid the hormones and the antibiotics. So when I check-out and pay, I write it up as a medical expense. Fortunately, they're still selling a good product.

I ordered chicken breasts at a different meat market for the first time. I didn't specify that I wanted them from a 3-1/2 pound chicken. I ended up with meat weighing 14-16 ounces each (my guess). I had never before seen such large chicken parts. They were for the slow cooker, so they worked out fine and tasted normal in spite of their size. I didn't know beforehand that chickens were allowed to grow so big.

[Mike Nolan]

For those of you who have been waiting for KAF to have a shipping charge sale, from now until tomorrow evening (3/14) the shipping charge on any order over $31.41 is just $3.14.

[Mike Nolan]

If you Google 'pasta shape chart', there are several posters of pasta shapes. (I've seen them on the wall in Italian restaurants.)

Popcharts makes some interesting charts, I have one that has a picture of every bird that can be found in the USA, over 700 of them. The only problem is some of the pictures are so small that you almost need a magnifying glass to see them.

[Mike Nolan]

The WSJ has an article on the problems with chicken breasts. In addition to the 'woody breasts' problem, they're now seeing chicken breasts that fall apart, looking like spaghetti strands.

Researchers aren't sure what causes these problems, but they seem to be related to the selective breeding over the past 40 years that has increased the rate at which chickens put on weight. Today's chickens are at 6.3 pounds in 47 days.

Some restaurants have started purchasing smaller birds, which seems to reduce complaints. (I know when I buy chicken breasts, I buy the package that weighs the least these days.) Costco is building a chicken operation in Nebraska, but they don't let their birds get huge.

The article might be behind the WSJ's paywall, but here's a link:
ast-Growth Chickens Produce New Industry Woe: ‘Spaghetti Meat’

[Italiancook]

"So many recipes, so little need for food!" Chocomouse, you made me laugh out loud. Thanks for the true humor.

My largest group of recipes is (?are?) Breakfast. That doesn't include Muffins -- they are a separate category. Next largest is Bread, and I don't really like bread. I eat it with pasta and non-meat soups. Otherwise, I steer clear of it. The Breakfast recipes will probably all be tried . . . eventually. I'd like a variety of good breakfast recipes so I can serve different breakfasts to overnight guests.

Mike gave me an idea. I may need a third binder for the online recipes I've tried and liked.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by Italiancook.

[Mike Nolan]

The lasagna is pretty tasty, fairly mild (by design.) My wife says it doesn't have enough mozzarella cheese, and something in it turned soupy, which has happened before. Could have been the spinach/ricotta filling or the fresh mushrooms, I suppose. My wife thought I might not have drained the noodles enough, but I don't think that's the case, I wrapped them in dishtowels to drain and almost couldn't peel some of them off afterwards.

We'll be eating leftover lasagna for a while, I made a 9 x 13 pan.

[Italiancook]

Finally, after over a year of good intentions, I have organized my online recipes. I bought sheet protectors and 2 binders from the office supply store. I arranged the recipes by category, Beverages to Soup. I placed 2 recipes in each sheet protector. As soon as I finish with this break, I'll complete my project by putting the soups in order. Then, I'm never again (I hope), print off another online recipe.

• This topic was modified 7 years, 1 month ago by Italiancook.