I baked a new recipe for Saturday breakfast: Buckwheat and Hazelnut Muffins, from Bernard Clayton's Complete Book of Small Breads, pp. 160-161. I made the recipe as written but reduced the salt from 1 to 1/2 tsp. I think that they could do with less leavening. The recipe called for 2 tsp. baking powder and 1/2 tsp. baking soda and uses buttermilk. Not only did the muffins rise rather high and tip outwards in a couple of cases (and no, this oven has no convection fan), but they have a slightly bitter aftertaste. Next time, I will reduce the baking powder to 1 tsp. and see if that gives a more mellow flavor. The other alternative would be to reduce the baking powder to 1/4 tsp., but I want the buttermilk flavor.
Added Note from Next Day: The muffins are actually very good at room temperature with a light smear of butter (well, Land o' Lakes butter/canola oil spread). I did not notice the aftertaste this time, but I will still reduce the baking powder by 1/2 tsp. to start.
I also baked the Soft Barley Cookies this morning from the dough I made last night. I used KAF's yellow sparkling sugar on them.
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This reply was modified 8 years ago by
BakerAunt. Reason: added information
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This reply was modified 8 years ago by BakerAunt. Reason: added information
Today we had left over pork roast. I made a simplified Sauce Robert (I used beef stock instead of demi-glace.) It didn't come out as thick as a Sauce Robert, nor did I expect it to, since it didn't have any starch to act as a thickener, but the taste was close enough to the classic version I made two weeks ago that it went very well with the pork.
Next time I roast a chicken, I'm going to try a classic hunter's sauce, or Sauce Chasseur (mushroom sauce), with the rest of the demi-glace concentrate.
So many gadgets - I love them! I couldn't live without my cookie scoops, they handle so many tasks. The bench knife is a must for bread and roll making. My palm peeler allows me to do many cooking chores painlessly in spite of arthritis. Microplane zester/grater is well frequently used. Love the French pin, so lightweight and easy to manipulate on a narrow kitchen counter. But my absolute favorite gadget (or maybe it is more than a gadget, maybe it's better called a "tool") is my Escali scale.
Now -- how about a thread titled "Kitchen Gadgets I Never Should Have Bought" ?
I'm currently down to a single taster, other than me, who would take a dim view of too much repetition of a single baked good--although it took some nudges to get him away from Grape Nuts bread all the time. I did try out some new cookies at Christmas, and the recipes were good enough to mail to my twin nieces and their parents.
KAF's Spring 2018 issue of Sift came out the last week of March, and this time I ordered it immediately, since last time (Holiday 2017) they ran out, I had to have my sister in California hunt it down for me, so I had to pay full price and shipping. After all that, I was not that impressed with the holiday issue, although for people baking vegan, it had some great desserts. The spring issue looks much more promising with some great looking strawberry recipes (strawberry sweet rolls!), as well as a selection of breakfast recipes from Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen. I have one of her cookbooks and may buy her new one. I also like to read her blog and try some of the recipes there.
I noted that the current issue of Bake from Scratch also has a lot of strawberry recipes, but their recipe often ask for ingredients that have to be specially purchased.
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This reply was modified 8 years ago by BakerAunt.
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This reply was modified 8 years ago by BakerAunt.
I have doubles of some kitchen tools, since we had the two houses for six years, and I did not like carting various items back and forth. That comes in handy, as when the one pastry cutter had one of the rungs break. I tossed it and moved on to the second, heavier one.
I have a collection of rolling pins--and not a one of them is a French tapered rolling pin. I have a heavy maple one that came from Williams-Sonoma many years ago. I still like it if a heavy dough needs to be rolled out, but I've stopped using a rolling pin on bread dough. Most of the time, I use a long, even diameter rolling pin, along with my pastry wands, to roll out sugar cookies, crackers, and pie crusts. I have a Joseph Joseph one that is much shorter and has different sized rings that screw in on each end; it can work for doughs that are not that wide (and it was the back-up pin at the house). I also have a Knackebrod pin for marking Swedish crispbread. I have a long 1/4 inch wooden one (one of those KAF regrets), I have my mother-in-law's small wooden one. A friend gave me her mother's glass one--can be filled with ice water for rolling out pastry, although I've never used it. I have a small springerle pin (another KAF splurge back when they were a heck of a lot less expensive) that I keep meaning to try. I THINK that is all.
Somewhere I have a spaetzle cutter, and one day I will use it!
A #8 scoop makes a pretty big meatball, probably bigger than what I make by hand.
I was thinking a #40 or even a #60. I like them large, too, but my wife wants them a lot smaller.
I bought a spaetzle cutter a couple of years ago for about $15, it works in seconds, and as long as you rinse it right away it is easy to clean. These days I probably make spaetzle more often than I make spaghetti.
A spiralizer is the sort of gadget I'd probably use once or twice, at most. (But I don't have a fryer, so I'm not sure I'd use it at all.)
I don't understand the fascination with the French tapered rolling pin, either.
I used to weigh my meatballs because I want one meal to be the same as the next. But recently I bought half cup size disher for that purpose, (a number 8). I like it, makes it easy.
A while back, I saw lemon juicers on ATK or Cooks Country, they liked the Chef'n so I bought one. It's awesome. I also have a watermelon slicer that's more effort then it's worth. It has cutting edges on two sides and in the middle bottom so you just run it through your watermelon half and it produces a watermelon wedge. The problem is the edges are pretty dull so it doesn't do a very good job.
A few years ago I bought a Kitchen Aide Spiralizer. That's probably my biggest gadget regret, it just takes up shelf space and I don't use it.
Vollrath makes commercial grade heavy duty (and heavy weight, too) pieces, for years you could only get them through restaurant supply houses. It has been pleasantly surprising to see that they haven't gone to a cheaper grade product for home use.
I also adore my cookie scoops. I have the four sizes of Zeroll that KAF sold, as well as some odd sized ones from my shopping days. I have two bench knives and a variety of plastic bowl scrapers, and also Two German made hard orange plastic ones that are great for leveling ingredients. I have an all metal pizza cutter that I adore, and which works better than any of the various small ones I have. I use my pastry cutter all the time, as cleaning the food processor seems too much work. I also grate cheese by hand.
And then there are my "onion glasses," that keep me from tearing up when chopping very strong onions.
The best baking sheets I've found are Valrhona (I think that is the name). I bought mine from cooking.com before they were bought out and closed down. They are thick and heavy and do not warp. Sometimes cookies take a little longer on them, but I do not have to worry about the bottoms getting too brown.
Correction: Actually, I think the name is Vollrath. They also make an excellent high heat spatula.
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This reply was modified 8 years ago by BakerAunt.
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This reply was modified 8 years ago by BakerAunt.
About ten years ago, my husband had a colleague visiting from Israel, so with the help of a friend, I put together a meal that would follow the Kosher rules. I made salmon and couscous, we used disposable plates and plastic cutlery, raw small carrots, and I bought some biscotti that were marked Kosher. David, who had been at a conference before stopping off on his way home, said that it was the first hot meal he had had in weeks. (The conference did not offer Kosher options.)
I don't know that I could keep up on the rules all the time. Of course, if one is raised with them, it probably becomes second nature.
One more Passover story, this one involving Maxwell House Coffee:
https://www.marketplace.org/2018/03/30/business/wonder-why-maxwell-house-makes-passover-haggadahs-youre-not-alone
I'm a tool/gadget junkie, but I'm getting more selective, probably because I'm running out of space.
My wife has been complaining about the size of my meatballs (too large) so I've been looking at meatball shapers. This one caught my eye, but so far I've resisted ordering it: Meatball Master I may just try a #60 cookie scoop first.
I got a Thermapen a year ago, and it's the best digital thermometer I've tried.
I must have a half dozen bench scrapers, some all-plastic. some all-metal, all of them get used frequently.
The crank on our Mouli broke, and since they're no longer in production (and scarce on Ebay), I've been trying to come up with a workaround. It did the best job grating cheese for a souffle.
When we were in Canada a few years ago, I got a nutmeg grinder made by the Microplane folks, it works very well but isn't very sturdy, so don't drop it.
By far my favorite gadget is my Bamix Gastro stick blender. It isn't cheap (around $200) but it has lasted me for quite a few years, and the lesser ones seldom lasted longer than a year. It has a long stainless steel handle so you can blend soup right in the pot, then just rinse it off in the sink.
I've got several mandolins, but most of the time I wind up just using a knife. For delicate knife work, I prefer a bird's beak knife.
My wife has hosted Pampered Chef parties, but has decided they are too much work. (And she's a former Tupperware dealer.)
I came across this article on Pampered Chef in the modern age:
https://www.bonappetit.com/story/pampered-chef-party?mbid=nl_nl20180404pm_recipeoftheday&CNDID=44882808&spMailingID=19568731&spUserID=MTUxNzk4ODA4MTg3S0&spJobID=1203426249&spReportId=MTIwMzQyNjI0OQS2
It spurred me to think about the role of kitchen tools and gadgetry in the kitchen. I've never been to a Pampered Chef party, but I have been pulled in occasionally by KAF with some tools that are great (Thermapen, dough whisk, baking "shower" cap covers) and some that did not live up to their promise, which has led me to be more selective there by remembering that they are in the merchandising business. When I can browse the kitchen section of T. J. Maxx, Ross, and Tuesday Morning, I am in heaven and more willing to try some of these gadgets because they are marked down.
I enjoyed using my egg slicer (Norpro) yesterday for my casserole, and it made neater slices than I could with a knife. Pastry Wands revolutionized my rolling (of course you can make your own with slats from the hardware store). I love my Emile Henry long baker and my baking stone. When it comes to paring apples or potatoes, give me my Zyless peelers!
On the other hand, I've never understood garlic peelers, as it is quite easy to push down on the clove, loosen the skin, and pop it out. And then there was KAF's bagel shaper, to which the bagel makers on this site said WHAT?!!
What are some of your favorite kitchen gadgets? What are gadgets that make you wonder why anyone would buy them?
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This topic was modified 8 years ago by BakerAunt.
This works on a small scale in the microwave, too. I still have a few hot cross buns from last Friday, I spray the top and bottom lightly with water, put them in the microwave for 20 seconds, and they're nice and soft. (Let them cool for a minute or two, though, the raisins can get quite hot.)
I've done it with stale hot dog buns, too. (Those I often wrap in a paper towel.)
Today I baked another improvisational loaf of bread. I've been playing around with Antilope's Vienna Bread recipe for some time now, substituting in buttermilk and experimenting with different whole grains. The loaf baked very nicely in my Emile Henry long baker (ideal for 4-5 cup loaf). As it was coming out of the oven, my husband came down the stairs--which lead directly into the kitchen--and the dog walked into the kitchen and sat, waiting. I explained to her that it does have to cool--and put it where she cannot get at it. Obviously, the aroma is good!
I also managed excellent slashing this time after adjusting the razor blade in the lame, and paying attention to make sure that I was using the edge of the blade.
I look forward to cutting into it tomorrow.
I enjoyed this interview with a recipe developer and cookbook author:
https://www.marketplace.org/2018/04/03/life/what-its-be-cookbook-writer?utm_campaign=Marketplace+Midday_20180404&utm_medium=email&utm_source=sfmc_Newsletter&utm_content=That%20escalated%20quickly
If I can get to a bookstore one of these days, I'd like to look through her cookbook in order to decide if I want to buy it.
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This topic was modified 8 years ago by BakerAunt. Reason: fixed spelling error in title
