Occasionally I buy grass fed ground beef. Really can't say I can taste a difference but it is supposed to be healthier. I think I recall reading that grass fed beef is less likely to contain e coli. The higher e coli found in grain fed beef is because cattle evolved eating grass, and the grains are somewhat detrimental to their digestive system which causes it to produce more e coli (don't really know if that is scientifically proved).
Mike, I can't click your link because when I move my cursor there the box pops up showing who "liked" your post, lol. Even if I approach it from above.
For Tuesday dinner, I made a full recipe of the Cooks Country All-American Potato Salad. (Yes, that’s the third time I've made it this month.) I also tried a new recipe from Genius Kitchen: “Caramelized Baked Chicken Legs/Wings." I used six whole chicken legs. I also increased the ketchup and added a bit of brown sugar. After 50 minutes, I increased the temperature to 375F, and I roasted it for another 15 minutes. The recipe was a hit with my husband and younger stepson. It made a lot of sauce, which I’ve saved to use in another recipe. (Next time, I might just do a half recipe of the sauce.) We had found nice sweet corn and some green beans at the farmers’ market this evening, so we had those as well.
I baked blueberry pie squares for a party. (Averie cooks) I should have read whole recipe ahead of time as it said the squares are best made a day ahead to set up. I made them morning of. Anyway I did chill them over ice initially to protect my refrigerator and then in fridge. I cut them into squares and placed them in cupcake liners. Sweet but very good.
I realized yesterday that I am not going to get any more blackberries. The five weeks we had without rain hit them hard, and the critters started eating any ripe ones before we could get them. I seeded the blackberries I had, and the pulp came to ½ cup. I bought some frozen Dole strawberries (12 oz.) and mashed them up, which got me to 2 cups of fruit. (I reasoned that the frozen strawberries would have more flavor than the fresh, "red outside but unripe within" ones shipped from wherever to the store.) I mashed enough of the blueberries we picked to get to the 3 ½ cups of fruit I needed. After the jam maker finished its cycle, I stirred in the grated zest and juice of one lime before filling jars and processing. The yield was three 1-cup jars and one 1/2-cup jar jar. I refrigerated another scant ½-cup jar that we will go ahead and use. I tasted a bit, and the flavor is good.
Note: I have corrected the yields.
Note: For some reason the 1/2 cup jar did not seal, so that one has been refrigerated to be eaten soon.
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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.
To go with leftovers for Monday night’s dinner, I made a vegetable stir-fry of carrots, zucchini, snow peas, and mushrooms. (The snow peas and zucchini came from the farmers market.) I used grape seed oil and left the vegetables unseasoned. It went well with the leftover Sloppy Josephines and the freshly cooked sweet corn.
I also made a three-berry jam (details on the canning thread).
The farmer's market had lots of produce today that we used for supper: Locally grown artichokes (grown in Nebraska!!), saturn peaches, sweet corn, tomatoes and melons (2 types).
We picked up my younger stepson on Sunday in South Bend (change of plans) and did not get back until after 6, so I’m glad that I planned a quick meal for tonight. We had Sloppy Josephines on Wheat-Oat Flax Buns, with sweet corn and a few additional steamed green beans from our garden (that last plant is hanging in there).
I used the last of the first batch of blueberries (never fear, we picked another 9.5 pounds yesterday) to make the blueberry cobbler recipe my husband's mother always made. It's actually more of an eggless cake with a butter, blueberry, and sugar topping boiled and poured over it. I’ve been playing around with some of the details. This time I used ¾ Cup AP flour and ¼ Cup white whole wheat flour and reduced the sugar and salt as usual. I added a tsp. of lemon juice to the blueberry topping. We like the results.
After dinner on Saturday, I baked Wheat-Oat Flax Buns (my variation on the KAF recipe) to use for dinner tomorrow. My younger stepson is coming to visit for a week and will take the train from the airport to Michigan City where we will pick him up. I want a quick and easy dinner (sloppy josephines), since travel plans can be disrupted. The last two times I baked the recipe, the buns came out a bit dry and not as light, so this time I reduced the AP flour by 2 Tbs., but the dough still needed an additional 2 Tbs. water. They had nice oven spring and look great.
Always great to hear from you, Cass.
I've been told there is a coal-fired pizza oven at restaurant in the Minneapolis area, built by a transplanted New Yorker, but I haven't found specifics on the name of the restaurant.
I've also heard that permits for new coal-fired pizza ovens in NYC have been routinely denied for many years, and most if not all of the coal-fired ovens in NYC were built before the 1940's. (This is a tangent, but the Poilane family opened a bakery in London a few years ago and had to get a special permit to build wood-fired ovens like the ones they use at their bakeries in Paris, because London fire codes don't permit large wood-fired ovens.)
I ate in a hotel restaurant in Dallas a few years ago where the menu bragged about the 1100 degree gas-fired appliance (I think they called an oven) they used to cook steaks. I thought their steaks were mediocre, and their pizza was even worse, though I don't think they used the 1100 degree heat on them.
NPR’s The Salt had an interesting article on why brick ovens are superior for pizza:
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/07/23/630544154/pizza-physics-why-brick-ovens-bake-the-perfect-italian-style-pie
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BAKERAUNT:
Good morning. I read your article with much interest. Thank you for posting it.
I cannot help myself but I must reveal to you as an ENGLISH COLLEGE PROF. in the photo caption the word "SIMULTANEOULY"
is written. The proper word to be used is "CONCURRENT".. I WILL complete the sentence "IN CONCURRENT FASHION.
MIKE:
The coal fired ovens in Manhattan (New York, New York) As you already know were put in place during the very early 20th century. They reach as high as 1100 degrees.
Here is a tidbit no one writes about when these pizza's are baked in such hi~heat. the HYDRAYATION level must be increased due to the quick evaporation of the water....that is if you expect a crispy pizza crust.
Here is another tidbit about PIZZA:
Much has been written about "DOUBLE OO" Italian flour for pizza baking,
("OO" denotes the fineness of the flour milled) It's gluten strength is at approx. lower bread flour range...11% / 12% range. You should be advised that in employing this flour it does not do what is promised UNLESS you bake this pizza at or above 725, degrees. It is best you use either un~bleached bread flour or KAF AP flour for your pizza. To make a better pizza you can employ some SEMOLINA flour but not more then say about 1/3rd total.
YOU'LL HAVE A GOOD DAY NOW.
~KIDPIZZA.
Sunday morning breakfast during this blueberry season was Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins. The recipe is on the KAF website. (Interesting note: it's eggless.) I made them as 6 large muffins in my USA pan. However, I cut the sugar to ½ cup and the salt to ½ tsp. and added 1 Tbs. flax meal. For the topping, I use a half recipe of the topping that came with the blueberry muffin recipe on my Texas-sized USA: 1/3 cup light brown sugar, 2 Tbs. flour 1/8 tsp. cinnamon, and 1 Tbs. unsalted butter at room temperature. (I made their muffin recipe once, and they were so big and dense that, while delicious, I was too full to eat lunch later, and they were too sweet.) I used the Grease, and the muffins released perfectly.
Finally, our area is getting some good rain. On Saturday afternoon, I baked our favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe. It started out as “Nutritious Poppin’ Fresh Cookies,” from Pillsbury cookbooklet #30 (published over 25 years ago). The “nutritious” is because the recipe includes 2 cups of old-fashioned oats. I’ve varied it over the years to increase the nutritious component, although I’m well aware that in the end, they remain cookies. I now substitute some white whole wheat flour for some of the AP and add ¼ Cup flax meal. I used some of our supply of pecans from Texas. I baked the cookies as a treat for my husband. He developed a rash last week from some kind of bite, and since he works in the woodlands, where there are plenty of deer, he is being treated for Lyme disease as a precaution.
Thank you for the information Chocomouse. We did pick earlier this year, since we now live here. Usually we would have been picking either this week or the next.
We will have to go back and pick more!
The pie was less tart today, maybe because it had now cooled completely. (We cut into it just shy of four hours out of the oven.)
My husband planted our two blueberry bushes out front this morning. He's put cages around them to keep the little critters out and he has spread coffee grounds around to deter the deer.
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This reply was modified 7 years, 9 months ago by BakerAunt.
I think I found the perfect chicken satay with peanut sauce recipe. I was going through " stuff" trying to declutter (not very successfully) and came upon the Holiday 2011 edition of the Baking Sheet. I just happened upon the satay recipe and gave it a try. The peanut sauce and marinade were both excellent. Another keeper I'm afraid.
I tried using lime zest rather than lemon zest in a blueberry pie, and added 1 tsp. lime juice. I don't know whether it was this particular batch of blueberries or the lime--and I am tending toward blaming the lime--but the filling was tarter than usual. I'm not sure that I will try adding lime when I am canning blueberry pie filling. (Maybe I should sneak a bottle of gin into the house?) 🙂
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This reply was modified 7 years, 9 months ago by BakerAunt.
