Thanks BA. Ms. Wilbur is pretty funny and it's definitely a useful take on the Instant Pot. I have an actual, honest-to-goodness, old fashioned pressure cooker that I have never, ever used (it was a gift). I really am looking for something that is, as the article calls it, a "hands-off cooker". My morning schedule is pretty crazy from 4:30-6:45. If I could put oats and water into the IP and have it handle that task I could just make lunches. As it is I make lunches while making breakfast preparing two sets of three meals.
A friend who is still in the honeymoon phase prefers the IP because it is not non-stick so it does better browning when he uses it for roasting. It would be a nice alternative to using our oven, and again, would be hands off. But, he is still in the honeymoon phase.
I may not be able to find a device that does multiple things.
The deli rye I've been making takes about three days. Based on advice from Mike I let it sit over night before even cutting into to it after it's come out of the oven (sorry if I've misinterpreted that). It seems to take a few days to really develop the flavor I am looking for. And I have not found place around here yet where I can buy rye with the same depth.
I think I can shorten the time some by doing the first rise all on the counter top and not in the refrigerator. I just haven't had time to experiment with that yet.
Many thanks for the good wishes! Some friends were in town, so after church, we went out to a late lunch at Guppy's, a restaurant in Indian Rocks Beach. I had a wonderful shrimp pasta with artichokes, sundried tomatoes, and asiago cheese, served with steamed green beans and almonds on the side. I also had the award winning Key Lime Pie, which was delicious, even though my husband reminds me that key limes were wiped out many years ago. The waiter served it to me with a birthday candle. It's been a rainy afternoon and evening, so there was no beach walking. I curled up with a mug of tea and finished reading Dashiell Hammett's The Thin Man. (If you are a mystery fan and have never read it, do so.)
I was looking at a KAF recipe for Westphalian rye bread yesterday, it's a 2-3 day recipe, with several very long rise periods (like 24 hours) and it bakes for 5 hours at 225 degrees.
There was only a tiny rimmed baking sheet in this kitchen, so we stopped at Tuesday Morning where I bought a 15x10 rimmed baking sheet so that I can do a sheet pan chicken and potatoes in the coming week. I would have liked the next size up, but I have to be mindful of packing the car for the trip home. The pan is Kitchen Aid, so it is nonstick and a good weight, not bad for $9.99. A foil pan would have cost $3.50, and I can use this one at home (and maybe take it with us on future trips).
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This reply was modified 8 years, 3 months ago by
BakerAunt.
Thursday night I made a kale Caesar salad from the Barefoot Contessa. I mentioned to one of the cooks at work that I was going to use pasteurized eggs. Turns out she has 25 Rhode Island chickens who lay tons of eggs - I started with 6 (3 days old) and will start bringing her my empty cartons - she has cartons for 18 and we don’t use that many on a regular basis. But I sure could taste the difference in the dressing which was more lemony than garlicky.
That's because your chocolate was not tempered. Heating chocolate higher than about 105 degrees causes the cocoa butter to lose all crystal structure, and when it cools a random mixture of various crystal states (alpha-1 through alpha-5) will form. Only alpha-5 is solid at room temperature. It might harden up some over time (a few weeks) because there's a sixth crystal state (alpha-6) that is also solid at room temperature but doesn't appear until chocolate sits for several weeks.
In the Star Trek episode, "The City on the Edge of Forever," Mr. Spock, stuck with Captain Kirk in the past in 1930s America, mutters: "I am endeavoring, ma'am, to construct a mnemonic memory circuit using stone knives and bearskins." I think of this phrase whenever I'm away from my kitchen and trying to cook or bake in one not equipped to my standards.
I've cooked in a variety of kitchens at places we've rented, but the current one has set a new low. It is good that I had planned simple meals (and no baking), and it does inspire creativity. I discovered that with a microwave that has a mind of its own and no instruction booklet--and no dishes in which to cook in a microwave--one can steam broccoli and green beans by bringing a pan with about an inch of water to a boil, putting the vegetables in a plastic colander over the water, placing the lid over them in the colander, turning off the heat, and allowing to sit while making the rest of the dinner. Next time, I'll bring the steamer insert for the rice cooker--which I am very glad that I brought along.
We escaped the snow and are spending time in Florida. Today, we headed off for Honeymoon Island State Park, but first we drove on to Tarpon Springs and went to the National Bakery (established 1925), where my husband's family always stopped when he was a boy. We came away with a bag of large, twisted Koulourakia (my husband's favorite), a bag of large anise biscotti (my favorite), and a wonderful loaf of white bread, baked as a boule, which the man at the counter put into a brown paper bag. It has the crisp crust and the wonderful open crumb interior, and we ate at least a quarter of the loaf at dinner, swooning with every bite. We hope to get back to the National Bakery at least once more before we head home. Prices are reasonable--I paid $12 for the cookies and bread. It's cash only, no credit cards.
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This topic was modified 8 years, 3 months ago by BakerAunt.
Good advise Mike.
I dropped them a note and they said they will replace the damaged cans. In regards to the "best by" dates, they had this to say,
"In addition, in regards to your mention of "best by" dates, in lieu of expiration dates, we print "p-numbers" on our packages. You can see this on the package's label, just below the scannable barcode. This number tracks the entire life of the product, and provides more information about the item than a conventional expiration date. The one draw back is that customers cannot easily identify when a product is no longer fresh! (I apologize - we're definitely working on changing that!)"
So, I am satisfied with their customer service at this time.
I bought peanut butter stuffed pretzels, I used to get those from Nuts on Clark at Chicago's Union Station when I would go through there and haven't seen them anywhere since. They are just as I remember them, glad I bought a bag. Also tried the dark chocolate covered Brazil nuts, those things are great but I am a huge Brazil nut nut. There are a few other items I haven't sampled yet but everything looks good in the package and I'm sure they will be fine.
Today I made cinnamon rolls using the almond filling as the filling (I used a slightly expired can I already had, not one of the dented cans), sprinkled with a fair amount of cinnamon. I use KAF whole wheat pastry flour and oats in the dough. Came out pretty good, but as you can see, I have difficulty making them a uniform size.
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Fun link for a Monday: Ugly Cakes!
I am not sure if my favorite is the Sponge Bob Square Pants (which I thought was a Minion) or the hedge hog. It's close...
Plan to make a double batch of KAF's Soft Cinnamon rolls for a work meeting on Tuesday. Probably will be baking again towards the end of the week.
On a different topic, just found out that KAF has stopped carrying my favorite Love N Bake Almond Schmear (love to use it in place of cinnamon filling for the cinnamon rolls) and have found that Nuts.com carries that product. Has anyone purchased anything from Nuts.com?
This week did a little bit more cooking. Made ham & bacon fried rice, pan fried tri tip steak strips (really burnt pan and needs to cook longer than 6 min) - tried it a second time in a George Foreman grill and better results with that. Mid-week we had sautéed zucchini with chicken and mabo tofu. Last night made beef pot roast served over rice.
My only cooking this evening will be to make a rice blend in Swanson's no-salt chicken broth in the rice cooker. (I may add a few spices to it.) We will have it with steamed broccoli to accompany a rotisserie chicken.
Tonight I'm roasting a half-chicken with sage, rosemary and thyme seasoning. I'll probably throw the other half of the chicken in the stockpot tomorrow for soup. (It was a big bird, about 7 pounds.)
I'm no longer sure there's much point to searing the outside of a roast before cooking it. It doesn't "hold in the juices" as was incorrectly stated by German chemist Justus von Liebig in 1847 and then repeated for the next 150 years. All it really does is make sure that the outside is more well-done than the rest, and I'm far from convinced that's a good thing.
