Because vanilla has been plentiful for most of our lives, it seems to make its way as an ingredient into most dessert recipes. What I would like to figure out is when the vanilla (and how much of it) is essential, and when it is being added as force of habit. In the case of these scones, my husband thinks the lemon oil is too strong, although I find it ok; perhaps the vanilla would have evened it out, or perhaps I could have left both out.
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This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by
BakerAunt.
For breakfast, I baked a new recipe, “Blueberry Cream Scones [with Mint Sugar], from Ken Haedrich’s The Harvest Baker (p. 46). I did not use the optional mint sugar (my husband is not a mint fan, nor do I have any fresh mint on hand) or the glaze, as a good scone should be able to stand on its own! I made a couple of changes: I substituted in 25% barley flour for that much AP flour, I deleted the ½ tsp. of vanilla, and I used ¼ tsp. lemon oil rather than 1/2 tsp. lemon extract or 2 tsp. grated lemon zest, which I do not have. I have an old jar of vanilla sugar that still smells like vanilla, so I sprinkled some of it on top before baking, along with a bit of the KAF sparkling sugar. These are some of the lightest, most tender scones that I’ve ever baked, and they are heavenly. I followed Haedrich’s advice to freeze the blueberries overnight. I also mixed up all the dry ingredients the night before, covered the bowl and put it in the refrigerator, along with my pastry cutter.
I omitted the vanilla because, with the skyrocketing vanilla prices (and no end to it in sight), I find myself taking a page from the home front of the second world war when posters reminded motorists of gas shortages: “Is this trip necessary?” I try to apply that to recipes these days, “Is the vanilla necessary?” My only concession was that stash of vanilla sugar that I really should use up.
BAKERAUNT:
Good afternoon Marliss. I understand your concern about VANILLA prices going thru the roof these days.
My purpose in posting this information to you & other concerned members is I am hoping that it will help you archive your expected baking results without going over your monthly food budget.
Now then, some time ago Christopher Kimball of the food magazine fame conducted this test on his learned bakers. He had baked various recipes with pure vanilla & some with artificial vanilla. & had his bakers eat these various articles. He then asked which article had the real & or fake vanilla ....GUESS WHAT...they were not able to tell the difference.
And Soooo with this info why don't you all go to the .99 cent store & buy a jar or two of the artificial vanilla & see if you can tell the difference.
NUFF SAID !!!!
You all have a nice day now.
~KIDPIZZA.
For breakfast, I baked a new recipe, “Blueberry Cream Scones [with Mint Sugar], from Ken Haedrich’s The Harvest Baker (p. 46). I did not use the optional mint sugar (my husband is not a mint fan, nor do I have any fresh mint on hand) or the glaze, as a good scone should be able to stand on its own! I made a couple of changes: I substituted in 25% barley flour for that much AP flour, I deleted the ½ tsp. of vanilla, and I used ¼ tsp. lemon oil rather than 1/2 tsp. lemon extract or 2 tsp. grated lemon zest, which I do not have. I have an old jar of vanilla sugar that still smells like vanilla, so I sprinkled some of it on top before baking, along with a bit of the KAF sparkling sugar. These are some of the lightest, most tender scones that I’ve ever baked, and they are heavenly. I followed Haedrich's advice to freeze the blueberries overnight. I also mixed up all the dry ingredients the night before, covered the bowl and put it in the refrigerator, along with my pastry cutter.
I omitted the vanilla because, with the skyrocketing vanilla prices (and no end to it in sight), I find myself taking a page from the home front of the second world war when posters reminded motorists of gas shortages: “Is this trip necessary?” I try to apply that to recipes these days, “Is the vanilla necessary?” My only concession was that stash of vanilla sugar that I really should use up.
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This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.
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This reply was modified 7 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt. Reason: typo
We went out for lunch as the dough was bulk proofing, so it got a 3rd long rise rather than just 2 rises and it came out with a rustic exterior. I suspect the interior is going to have a lot of holes, too. But I"m sure it'll taste great.
This evening I made a batch of gluten-free Brazilian cheese rolls (they're made with tapioca flour) and we ate them with some left over marinara.
I’m in a rut with chicken recipes, which is why I shook it up last week with a new recipe, Caramelized Baked Chicken Legs. For this week, I found chicken thighs on sale at the grocery, so I turned again to the internet, and on a site, SweetCs designs (blogger Courtney O’Dell), I found “Baked Ranch Chicken Thighs.” It included a tip that for crisper skin, blot the chicken pieces with a paper towel. She used a 1 oz. packet of Ranch salad dressing mix. I used .8 oz. of Penzey’s Ranch dressing mix and increased the olive oil to about 2 ½ Tbs. I deleted the garlic, as I hear Mike Nolan’s lament: why is there garlic in EVERYTHING. (I suspect it is already in the Ranch seasoning.) Our verdict, after dinner, is too salty. Perhaps it works better with the packaged mix. Next time, I will brush the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle a bit of the seasoning on each piece of chicken, and I will use less.
We had it with the last of the sweet corn and some green beans from the farmers market. We noticed last night that these green beans were tough, even after being microwaved for longer than usual. We chewed through them last night, but this evening, I put the leftover cooked ones in a skillet with some butter and sautéed them, along with some sliced almonds. We liked it.
Not much of anything happening in my kitchen this week. It's now two days in the 90s, very humid, and more tomorrow. I put together a trifle using half a lemon sheet pan cake I had in the freezer; I just had to sprinkle the cake pieces with raspberry cordial, and add layers of lemon pudding (sugar free, instant), blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries, and whipped cream.
I've made several breads with first clear flour since I brought home a 50 pound bag of it. I can't say I've noticed a huge difference in taste or texture, though the interior of the Vienna bread (and probably any 'white' bread) is kind of a dusty off-white.
What I have noticed though, is that the breads I've made with first clear flour seem to go moldy faster. Maybe it's just that time of year?
My son was telling me about some triple-fried potatoes at Morimoto's restaurant in Orlando. Basically they're pomme frites (twice-fried potatoes) fried a third time in duck fat and then served with a Peking duck sauce.
The KAF Honey Spelt Sourdough Bread has good flavor. It seems a bit dry to me, even though the dough was wet. I baked it in an Emile Henry long bread baker. I removed the lid at 25 minutes (recipe states 25-30).
I may experiment with refrigerating the levain, especially when the weather is hotter.
We're in the process of downsizing and I came across the Cameron smoker that I purchased 16 years ago. I think I used it a couple of times (not recently) and am trying to deicide if I want to keep it. The original wood chips have probably lost their flavor so I would have to buy more if I used it. Does anyone have one or can come up with a reason why I want to keep it?
The neighbors at the place next to ours also have a farm, so they brought us a bag of sweet corn yesterday. We will have it with boneless pork chops (my husband will cook) and the very last of our green beans--and this time I mean the very last, as he has pulled out the exhausted plants and will be planting a new batch.
Finally, one of the tomatoes is beginning its path towards redness. I have bacon, and will have great bread, on hand for that moment. Next year, my husband plans to start the plants earlier on our sun porch. We delayed because we had been told the contractor would start no later than March....(still waiting).
I found a not overly sweet zucchini muffin recipe, “Zucchini Muffins with Lemon Thyme,” in a cookbook, Herbs Love Tomatoes, Pepper, Onions and Zucchini, by Ruth Bass (p. 169). KAF recently featured a lemon-zucchini muffin recipe as well. I compared the two, and overall quantity of ingredients were about the same although ingredients varied. In addition to using lemon zest, the KAF recipe used regular milk rather than buttermilk, granulated rather than brown sugar, more baking powder. 4x the salt (!), slightly less oil, no ginger, and no lemon thyme.
After reading the reviews of the KAF recipe, I used Bass’s recipe as my base. I substituted half whole wheat flour, reduced the oil from ½ to 1/3 cup. I do not have lemon thyme. I considered using lemon extract, but I decided not to do so and to delete the ginger. I added ½ cup of KAF cinnamon chips from my stash (KAF sells something different now.). I baked these as six large muffins, in part because I realized that my regular muffin pans have yet to be unpacked. I sprinkled them with demerara sugar. I had used THE grease on the pan, and they popped out just fine. They are a bit flat on the top. Next time, I will add ¼ tsp. baking soda to offset the buttermilk; I'll leave the baking powder as is.
I baked these for a quick grab-and-go breakfast for tomorrow, as my husband and younger stepson need to leave here at 6 a.m. in order to drive to Michigan City, so my stepson can take the bus to the airport. He can also take one to have as a snack while he is waiting for his plane. If the taste is good--as the aroma promises--I will bake another batch tomorrow and freeze some, since I have leftover grated zucchini.
Next Morning Tasting Note: The muffins are very good, although slightly dense. I'll try another batch with added baking soda.
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This reply was modified 7 years, 9 months ago by BakerAunt.
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This reply was modified 7 years, 9 months ago by BakerAunt.
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This reply was modified 7 years, 9 months ago by BakerAunt.
Maybe we should freeze lemon juice while we can. Of course, that is no help for all the recipes that want fresh zest.
I also told my husband that we need to get a lemon tree that can grow in a pot here. (Well, we need to get one if the contractor ever starts and finishes our renovation. Sigh.)
I suspect that the California drought is also why broccoli prices have increased.
I baked my variation of Ellen's (once Moomie) Famous Buns on Thursday afternoon. My husband will grill hamburgers this evening. I made the recipe as ten buns, rather than eight, which are large enough for us. I usually use this recipe for rolls when we are traveling, so I look forward to sampling them with hamburgers. Added Note: I really like the softness of these buns with hamburgers.
I'm very pleased with my blueberry pie. I have started using all butter in my buttermilk crust rather than using Crisco and adding 2 Tbs. sugar to the crust for a fruit pie. Instead of brushing the crust with beaten egg, I've been brushing it with heavy cream. That gives the crust a lovely golden color, and it also seems to help with flakiness.
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This reply was modified 7 years, 9 months ago by BakerAunt.
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This reply was modified 7 years, 9 months ago by BakerAunt.
