Skeptic--my large food processor (probably a 10 or 12 cup?) is a 30-year old Cuisinart. I like it for pureeing baked pumpkin. I also like it for grating zucchini or carrots for baking, which it accomplishes with no wrist fatigue and so much more quickly than I could grate it by hand. However, for a small amount, I would grate by hand, as the food processor is more work to clean. I like it for chopping cranberries for relish or baking. It's great for making a graham cracker crust. I have used it to chop almonds for cookies. The large processor does not do well with small amounts, so I have a small processor (about 2-cups) that I use for grinding oats when I need oat flour. It comes in handy for grinding oat bran, which makes the oat bran finer, so that the finished product is not dry. I even have a little 1-cup Cuisinart that I use for grinding powdered milk that is in granular form--or caked espresso powder. If my Cuisinart were ever to break, I would replace it. Once the house is remodeled, I'm going to try the pasta attachment my mother also gave me years ago, and which I've not used.
That said, I could get along without it, but I would prefer not to do so.
You have an excellent point about recipes that seem to require a specific piece of equipment. As this is the second Stella Parks recipe that "requires" a food processor, I'm wondering if her next cookbook will revolve around it. Len and I were able to bake her Maple Pumpkin bread using our mixers, and the breads came out great. I do have a fuzzy recollection that Peter Reinhart's latest wholegrain bread baking book uses this soaking technique, but I think he does the rest of it by hand. I'll check the book when I get home.
King Arthur Flour can be particularly irritating about not giving alternatives for baking dishes for some of their recipes, which then becomes an issue when they stop selling those dishes or pans. Usually, I can figure out a workaround that yields just as good of a result.
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This reply was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by
BakerAunt.
On Thursday, we made our yearly trek to Honeymoon Island, a state park that has a number of beaches, including one where dogs are allowed, as well as a trail from which people can see ospreys in their nests. Last year, every osprey we saw seemed to have a fish in its bill. The end of the trail was closed, as once again there is a bald eagle nest that can be seen from a distance.
Before going to the park, however, we made our pilgrimage to the National Bakery (founded 1925) in Tarpon Springs--the subject of this thread a year ago. This year we bought a long loaf of whole wheat bread, which we both like a lot. We bought a bag of anise-sesame biscotti for me, as I am running out of the low-fat items that I brought with us. I will limit myself to one per day, as I'm not sure what is in them, although I don't think they are butter based. My husband wanted to buy some Koulourakia, but he instead ended up with a circular cookie, which has what I think it an almond taste. (It is probably a good idea to ask for exactly what you want.) I looked longingly at the pastries but passed them by.
If you are ever in this area, do go to this bakery.
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This reply was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by BakerAunt.
I haven't cooked stuffing inside a bird in years. I will stuff a goose with a mixture of apples, lemons, brandied prunes and almonds (as recommended by James Beard), and I've done that with turkey and chicken as well, but that's to flavor the meat and the juices, not to eat.
I've deboned a chicken a few times, then stuffed it, but that doesn't really count, since it cooks much faster without the bones. It's also kind of fun to be able to just cut off a slice of chicken and dressing at the table. Some years ago I made a turducken by deboning both a chicken and a duck and partially deboning a turkey, that was a lot of work, especially the duck. Duck bones are large and long.
The chef who taught the course I took on deboning a chicken said that he used to have to debone Cornish game hens, he got to the point where he could do them in about 2-3 minutes each.
Today before I braved the outside for snow removal duties, I made brownies from a box mix (Ghirardelli's). I subbed half the oil with Greek yogurt, doubled the water to 1/2 cup and added a half cup of oats to it. That's how I usually do it, it has the texture of a cake when done like that, and since it has oats I tell myself it's now a health food. When I came back in the house, it smelled like chocolate heaven. Then I baked a batch of burger buns using part whole wheat and rye.
Really good idea! Only catch for us is there is no way my wife would allow a chicken to sit uncovered in our refrigerator, especially raw. I have watched her cook pounded-flat, boneless, skinless chicken breasts for over 45 minutes because she could still see some pink meat inside.
I've been meaning to try something I saw to quickly roast a chicken. Spatchcock it. Then heat the oven to 350. While heating the oven to 350 heat a skillet (cast iron works best) on the stove with cooking oil in the bottom.
Season the chicken the way you like it. and when the oven is ready, turn off the heat and place the chicken in the skillet then place the skillet in the oven until the internal temp reads 155 (or you can go to 165).
It supposed to start cooking the chicken from the bottom before it ever goes in the oven and the spatchcocked chicken makes the whole thing cook faster. When I try it I'll report back the results.
Tonight we had beef and bean (left over refried beans from taco salad) enchiladas,rolled in corn tortillas,topped with enchilada sauce and cheese,baked for about 25 min. and I topped mine with a spoonful of sour cream.Quick,easy and good.
I hope this recipe on the Washington Post site isn't behind their firewall, it's an interesting approach to cooking a chicken. Basically you throw it in a pot, roast it for 30-45 minutes, add a bunch of water (and possibly some aromatics), cover and let it cook at 200 degrees overnight. I will be trying this soon.
See Overnight Chicken
While we wait to see if we actually get any snow tonight (the original forecast was 3-5 inches, it's been downgraded more than once already; we're getting some freezing mist but I don't think it's actually snowing yet), we had spaghetti and cheese toast for supper.
On Tuesday, I baked another recipe of the Easy Italian Honey Whole Wheat Breakfast Cookies. This time I again used ½ tsp. vanilla, but I only used 3 drops of the Fiori di Sicilia; I also baked the double recipe of Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese Crackers from the dough I made last week. As an experiment, I did not sprinkle them with Kosher salt. We will see if reducing the salt in this way works for us.
Thanks, Chocomouse. It's too late for this trip, but I'll check it out for baking when we get back. I've been buying my buckwheat flour (and much of my specialty flours and grains) from Bob's Red Mill by the case (four in a case), which reduces the individual package price. I wait to order from them until I'm buying enough for free shipping, and sometimes they run discounts.
Yesterday I made a very thin crust pizza. I normally add some whole wheat and rye to my pizza dough (about 40% total, give or take) but I have some KAF Italian style flour that is a little past it's best by date, so I'm making a push to use it up and used 100% that. The dough from that flour can be rolled out really thin. I topped it with some left over roast beef and thin sliced onion. It came out pretty good.
Today I will have the last of my left over roast beef with mashed redskins and broccoli.
We have a major building project going on here (a new sugarhouse) and I am trying to keep the construction crew warm and happy. I've made chili, bean soup, and today am making baked beans. I also made buns and Special K peanut butter bars. And, I made mushroom soup, for myself.
Tuesday's dinner was a stir-fry using leftover pork chops that my husband cooked last night (along with the drippings), buckwheat noodles, red bell pepper, broccoli; mushrooms, celery, green onion, and parsley. I needed to use up all the vegetables in the refrigerator.
This is what I do for pulled pork using pork shoulder in a slow cooker, but it should work in the oven as well.
Put the pork shoulder in a pot that isn't too much bigger than it is. Add a half cup of Worcestershire and then fill the pan with apple juice until the shoulder is fully covered. Cook (probably at 350) until falling-apart tender.
Actually so far the biscotti are holding up with only a few more crumbs when cut. I have done almond-anise, almond-coconut and chocolate almond. I did cut with a very good serrated knife
These are based on KAF cookie companion American Biscotti and I think the eggs are holding everything together.
Here is the basic ingredients with 1 cup of almond flour subsituting for 1 cup whole wheat in the original recipe
1/2 cup or 1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 large eggs
2 cups whole wheat flour -- sift before measuring
1 cup almond flour ( Bob's Red Mill, its slightly coarse like cornmeal )
2 tablespoons anise seed
2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
The coconut- almond biscotti
1 teaspoon coconut extract instead of the almond
1 cup coconut flakes -- toasted slightly
The chocolate almond biscotti
1 teaspoon vanilla instead of almond extract
6 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 10 tablespoons whole wheat flour instead of 2 cups whole wheat flour
( I put 6 tablespoons of cocoa into a 2 cup measuring cup and filled the rest with ww flour )
This is very good raw. I know its a health hazard but it is ...
