I ran across this book earlier today:
How to Bake Bread
The Five Families of Bread
by Michael Kalanty
The five families, for those interested (as I was)
are:
Lean Doughs
Sweet Doughs
Soft Doughs (including pizza)
Rich Doughs
Other (such as focaccia and cornbread as well as some pizza variants)
Here's a synopsis of the book: Synopsis
The author has a second book coming out in a few days (How to Bake MORE Bread) that deals with wild yeast breads.
Other than using KAF gluten-free flour and adding a little additional Xanthan gum, I didn't change anything. (I'm not sure I needed the extra Xanthan gum, the batter came out rather thick, I probably should have added a bit more buttermilk to thin out the batter a bit, though I'm tempted to add another egg next time, which I think would make it more brownie-like.)
It did seem to take a little longer to bake.
IMHO, the real secret to this cake is to put the frosting on low heat after mixing it and pout it on the cake while the cake is warm. I aim for both the cake and the frosting to be between 130 and 140 degrees when I frost it. This causes the cake to compress a bit, but that makes it seem richer.
Thursday night dinner was Sloppy Josephines (I think that I've posted my recipe here), served on leftover Wheat-Oat Flax Buns, with steamed broccoli on the side.
Wednesday evening, I baked bran scones, using as my base recipe Deb Perelman's recipe for Jam-Bellied Scones, which appears in KAF's Sift Magazine (Spring 2018), p. 52. She did cute ones, with half the dough cut into 8 circles, with jam put into a center depression, then another 8 circles from the remaining dough put on top and sealed with egg wash. Someday, I may try them that way, but I decided to make plain ones that I could do more quickly. So, I calculated the area of eight 2 1/2-inch circles, then worked out that I could make two 5-inch circles with the same area. I cut each into four wedges, then spread the wedges out on the baking sheet and baked for about 22 minutes, a little longer than the recipe specified.
I had one this morning, and they are delicious, in spite of being a bit plain, with a nice light texture. If I want jam, I can always split them and add it. My other change was to use 1/3 Cup light brown sugar rather than the specified 1/2 cup dark brown sugar. I will definitely add these to my scone repertoire.
Tonight I made two Texas Chocolate Sheet Cakes, a full sized one (13x17) and a smaller one (10x10) using gluten-free flour, both for my wife's office's end-of-the-school year pot luck.
The GF one looks like it came out OK, but I won't know for sure until my wife brings a piece home with her tomorrow.
Mexican Casserole
3/4-pound hamburger scrambled with 1/2 cup onions,drain any grease
In small pot heat 10 0z.can mild enchilada sauce,10 oz.of picante of sauce and a small can of green chopped chili peppers (if you like heat you can put pickled jalapenos if I use them I only use 2 or 3 slices from a jar.)The chili peppers are not hot.If you use jalapenos you don't need green chili peppers.
1 & 1/2-cup sharp cheddar cheese grated
about 8-10 corn tortillas quartered.
In a 2-qt.casserole lay enough tortillas to cover bottom,spread 1/3 meat mixture,spoon a little sauce,sprinkle lightly with cheese,do this 2 more times ending with cheese on top.Bake in 325*-350* oven for around 30 min.We just eat this with bread and butter and I like a dollop of sour cream.
I've had my eye on the Maple Cookies that Chocomouse made last week (thank you Chocomouse) so I made them today. I cut the brown sugar in half and added a half cup of white chocolate chips. When the dough was mixed I thought it was a little too thin so I added a quarter cup of hazelnut flour (from KAF) (and thank you BakerAunt for the link). I used a number 40 disher to portion them and got 25 cookies. I only baked 6 tonight with the rest residing in the freezer for later. Even after reducing the brown sugar in half I find they are plenty sweet for my taste. Overall, the cookie is pretty good, will make them again.
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This afternoon, I baked Gingerbread Biscotti, using the recipe from The Smitten Kitchen blog. I had baked it once before, back in November or December. I felt that the ginger did not come through strongly enough, so this time I tweaked the recipe by reducing the vanilla from 2 tsp. to 1 tsp. and adding a dash of cayenne pepper (the key to a great molded gingerbread recipe that I have). I again used light brown rather than dark brown sugar, and I used 1/4 tsp. fine sea salt rather than 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt.
I also changed how I mixed the wet ingredients. I first whisked the two eggs, then whisked in the brown and white sugar. I then gradually whisked in the melted butter, and finally the vanilla. That made it easier to combine.
As usual, I stood the biscotti up on the second bake, rather than doing them flat and turning them over. I let them bake for 16 minutes. My husband does not like them too crispy. They definitely smell more gingery this time, and the bit I tasted before the second bake had more ginger flavor.
I found some leftover (3 mos.) frozen meatballs, an Italian sausage and a block of good parmesan cheese. So I sautéed onions and peppers with a little oil and added some vodka and a jar of marinara sauce. I then threw in the meatballs and sausage with some Italian spices and let it simmer a while. At the end I added a Tbls. of half & half and served with shredded parmesan. Lots of kudos came my way.
I just remembered this. About 5 yrs. ago (or maybe more) I was testing recipes for Cook's Illustrated. One of the recipes required a potato ricer so being the good little tester I went to Williams Sonoma and bought one. I don't remember what it cost nor do I remember ever using it again. I had to quit testing though because it became too expensive and time consuming.
I'm making pizza tonight. Topping will be ground chicken. Homemade sauce.
I don't know if I mentioned this before, but a while back I bought some KAF Italian style flour. I've been using that in my pizza dough (along with some semolina, white whole wheat and a touch of rye) and that has really made the dough easy to handle. Virtually no snap back when stretching or rolling it out.
It's an overcast Tuesday, not too cold, as with a high of 60F earlier this afternoon. I baked Walnut (or Pecan) Pumpkin Squares, a recipe I adapted from one in the L.A. Times years ago, and that I've posted on this site. We will have it for dessert tonight and the next couple of days.
I also have Wheat-Oat Flax Buns (from the KAF site) on their second rise. As usual, I substituted in 3/4 cup of buttermilk for the water and soak the oats in it first, and I and used 1/4 cup of water rather than orange juice. I always use a whole egg, rather than using the yolk in the bread and brushing the buns with egg white, as I don't use a topping. I added 2 Tbs. of special dried milk, which I'm trying to use up. I reduce the yeast to 2 tsp. I decided to reduce the salt from 1 1/2 to 1 tsp. I've previously reduced it to 1 1/4 tsp. We will use these for dinner sandwiches with the leftover salmon patties, and then use them for lunches. This recipe is a favorite because it makes small, light-textured buns, and we like the wholegrain taste.
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This reply was modified 8 years ago by
BakerAunt.
I decided to mix things up so I found an old gourmet recipe that I had saved for chicken satay. The recipe called for “white vinegar so I used regular distilled white vinegar . When I tasted the peanut sauce it was too vinegary so I added more peanut butter. Well while stirring (over heat)I noticed the sauce separating and I tried to remove some of the oil. Not my best moment or meal.
Sunday dinner was Maple-Glazed Pork Roast, a favorite recipe of mine from Cook's Illustrated (March/April 2003). I make it without the spices. Usually I make this recipe for Easter every year, but I could not find a pork tenderloin at the grocery that week, only the overpriced, small, seasoned Hormel ones. Last week, the store finally had what I wanted, so the "Easter" dinner happened today. I made mashed potatoes to go with it, and we also had peas.
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This reply was modified 8 years ago by BakerAunt.
The Chewy Maple Cookie is from Taste of Home. I add about 1/4 cup of flour and get the perfect chewiness. I also use only pure Vermont (ours) maple syrup, the "robust" version, what used to be labeled "dark" or Grade B - no extract or flavoring. I've added pecans once, but we like them best without nuts. Be warned -- the recipe makes only about 30 two-inch cookies!
