One item that I would not be without in a kitchen these days is an instant hot water tap. It's great for making tea or any dish or task that calls for boiling water, the water that comes out of the tap is at 185 degrees. (The only downside is that they wear out, we've replaced the one in the kitchen 3-4 times in 20 years, hard water might make that worse.)
We put a whole house filter in our house, a 5 micron particulate filter and an activated charcoal one, but we're on city water. Every time the plumbing folks asked us about a water softener, I told them: I don't add chemicals to water, I take them out!
There are whole house filters specifically designed for high iron (well) water.
We found out the hard way a couple of years ago that your water heater has to have an anode element designed for the chemistry of your water. The city changed its water chemistry a bit, and the hot water heater needed a different anode. We wound up replacing the basement dishwasher and then the input valve on the replacement unit several times before we figured that out, because there was this sludge that was collecting in the valve. It also caused at least one water heater replacement. Between appliance replacements and plumbing bills (plus $100 to have the state lab test our water, which was when we figured out the real problem), we probably spent more than $2000.
We have two sinks in our kitchen, one on the north wall and one on the center island. The original plan was to put in a standalone commercial pot sink (really deep, for washing things like stock pots), but that ran into aesthetic issues. But we did find an especially large/deep sink at a homebuilder show, made in Canada by Kindred. That was 20 years ago, since then US manufacturers are making bigger/deeper stainless steel sinks.
I recently read an article about a chef who designed the kitchen in his new restaurant around the 'pit' (the place where dirty dishes are taken and washed.)
Italian-Cook and Mike--You bring up a vexed topic in our house: the kitchen faucet.
Our house is on well water, and we quickly discovered, after ruining a load or two of clothes, that there is a lot of iron in the water, and it is hard water. The iron discolors. It also seems to corrode plumbing fixtures. I would not drink the water (and the dog we had would not drink it). My husband went on about that great iron taste but found that it did disagree with him. When we had the first remodeling phase done 3 1/2 years ago, we put in a water softening system, although my husband hated the idea. However, he insisted that the water to the kitchen sink cold faucet be "raw" water. Part of the reason is that he wants to be able to water plants. (He is a retired plant physiologist.)
As we plan the kitchen renovation, I have serious problems with the raw water at the kitchen sink, even as my husband complains that the soft water does not get the soap off of hands. I like the "stick shift" faucet, but that will not work with raw water in the cold. I'd not thought much about the pull out sprayer faucet. On the home shows, the people seem to want them just for show. However, I now realize that they would be very useful for cleaning pots, and I do plan on having a farmhouse style sink.
I've been suggesting to my husband that he needs a separate sink with raw water.
It strikes me as sort of a cross between a pie crust and a blitz puff pastry.
Kenji Lopez-Alt more or less disproved the idea that you can't get a flaky piecrust if you work the butter into small pieces, but his method requires some discipline. (Most good ideas do.)
The real key with piecrust is not to overwork it once the water has been added, that'll lead to a tough and definitely NOT flaky piecrust.
Whole wheat pastry flour is the only pastry flour I can find locally.
Wednesday afternoon, I tried another new recipe, "Dark Chocolate Brownies with White Chocolate Chunks," which appeared in Bon Appetit (August 1999). My only change was to line the pan with parchment paper. They are delicious--with great dark chocolate flavor--and would likely be even better with chunks of gourmet white chocolate, but I had some white chocolate Ghirardelli chips to use up. I'm saving the gourmet ones for another cookie recipe.
In the evening, I baked my Whole Wheat Sourdough Cheese crackers from the dough I put together last week. I found a container of frozen soup--Kid Pizza's mother's spinach and lentil soup--so the crackers will go well with them for tomorrow's lunch.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by
BakerAunt.
Thanks, Mike. That's good to know. I was happy with the least expensive of the Thermador stove hoods years ago when I bought the first range. It was not cheap (although prices have gone up), and it was powerful enough for any job I asked it to do (like venting out smoke when I burned something and the fire detector went off). After years of the conventional hoods they install in apartments, that Thermador hood was a revelation. I will likely go that way again.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.
We seldom use the grill or griddle on our 48" dual fuel range, but I have never regretted for a moment buying the big range hood. If you fry, if you have things spill on the oven floor, if you reduce large pots of liquids (like stocks), a high powered vented fan will be very useful.
And, no, they're not cheap.
Last week my husband and I were in Mishawaka, so we stopped by an appliance store with an excellent reputation. It also has a service department, so they service the appliances they sell. In fact, they will not sell an appliance that they are not allowed to service.
I looked at a DCS. The store only had a gas one on the floor and it was the 36-inch one. (It also was sold.) I also looked at the Thermador. The one they had out is a dual fuel. It, too, was a 36-inch. The sales representative was knowledgeable--very different from the surface oriented sales person at the store in Texas. I am now leaning toward the Thermador 30-inch dual-fuel Pro Harmony Range. I really like the star burners. It also has a larger oven capacity than the 30-inch DCS. I was happy to see that Thermador has gone back to knobs rather than the electronic readouts, which I suspect may have been a major issue in the earlier generation dual-fuel ranges they produced.
The salesperson told us that DCS and Thermador have the best record for not needing service calls. If I could, I would buy the 36-inch, but I know that 1) I'm dealing with a small kitchen area, and 2) I rarely need that much oven space. It would be nice when baking three cake layers or if I wanted to bake more than three loaves of bread at a time, but I do not do that often. I also have access to a second electric range in the apartment (now dubbed guest house) over our garage. It's just a short walk across the backyard if I ever have two different items that need baking at the same time. There is a third, biggest consideration: It would cost an additional $2000. While Thermador is offering a "buy 2, get dishwasher free" deal, that will not be of use to us, as my husband and I will not have a dishwasher. Most of my china is older and would not tolerate the caustic soaps, and I'd rather have the storage space for dishes and pans. (I will be able to store specialty pans in the guest house kitchen.)
I was shocked at how much range hoods cost. While I do not need the high powered one, as my range will not have a grill or griddle, even the least expensive Thermador hood still costs a lot. (I'm also not into designer hoods as focal points.)
Now I need to think about the refrigerator. I was going to get one with the French doors on top, but I've learned from friends that these have problems because of the closing mechanism on those top doors. The seal is likely to be better with the traditional wide door.
I will need to think about location in the kitchen area. I'll be starting a kitchen remodeling thread, so I will take up that subject when I do.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.
Wednesday morning was a perfect time to try a new scone recipe, as the weather was quite cool overnight. (The old c.1970s avocado-green stove works fine, as long as I set the temperature 25F degrees lower, but it does heat up the kitchen.) I baked Whole Wheat Scones, from a special Irish edition of Bon Appetit (March 1993), p. 113-1114. The recipe is from Parliament House. Instead of baking powder, it uses baking soda and cream of tartar. It is half whole wheat, and I decided to use the KAF Irish Whole Meal flour, since I discovered this summer how light it is in scones. These have no add-ins and use 1/4 cup of sugar. I followed the directions and cut the two rounds into quarters, so they made large scones. I had intended to put butter and jam on a large scone for breakfast, but it was so delicious, warm and plain, that I ate it without any additions.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.
My instructor at pastry school said that she preferred the cultured/European butters at the table, but in the kitchen she tended to use ordinary sweet-cream butter, with one exception. She thought the cultured/European butter made better tasting croissants so she recommended using it in laminated doughs. She didn't think it made much difference in pie crusts, and having done some testing with both Pflugra and Kerrygold, I agree with her.
The percentage of fat is a function of how heavily the butter is pressed after it has been churned. Obviously, the more liquid (mostly water) they press out, the higher the butterfat. Of course, this reduces the yield somewhat, so it affects the price.
Another option is to make your own cultured butter, which has other advantages, as you also get creme fraiche and true buttermilk. (The challenge is coming up with a culture innoculant.)
To get out of my lunch rut, on Monday, I cooked up a cup of tricolor pasta, left over from some other recipe, then rinsed until cool. I combined it with a rinsed and drained can of low-salt black beans, a small chopped red onion, some chopped tomato, and some chopped cucumber. (This was a "what's on hand in the refrigerator" dish.) I softened 1 Tbs. of Penzey's Italian Dressing mix in 2 Tbs. water. I mixed it with 3 Tbs. red wine vinegar and 3 Tbs. olive oil, and a tsp. of sugar, tasted it, then added another Tbs. of red wine vinegar. I tossed pasta salad in the dressing. I had a serving with grated parmesan on top. I have leftovers for the next few days, and it is all mine because my husband does not like cucumbers or black beans.
One of my favorite scientists was Robert Ballard. Dr. Ballard made it his mission (besides oceanography) to engage kids. I heard him talk and he said when he was a kid scientists were cool, not nerds, and reminded everyone that Indiana Jones was a scientist.
Honey is a combination of several sugars, mostly fructose and glucose, but not in the same ratio as table sugar (sucrose.) The more glucose there is in honey, the more it is prone to crystallize.
Fructose has a sweetness index a bit higher than sucrose, glucose is a bit lower than sucrose, so most sources will say that pound for pound sugar and honey have the same amount of sweetness. A honey that is high in fructose will taste just a bit sweeter, though.
Honey is denser than sucrose, which is why it has slightly more calories by dry measure, 64 calories/tablespoon compared to 48 calories/tablespoon for sugar. But by weight, honey is not quite as caloric, 304 calories per 100 grams, as compared to 387 for sucrose. (However, some sources report the caloric numbers differently, and there's an inconsistency in them that I haven't reconciled, that's a project for another day and thread.)
Honey is also about 17% water, which may or may not impact a recipe.
For a small amount like a tablespoon of honey, I'd just take out a tablespoon of sugar, I don't know that I'd bother adjusting the amount of water.
This recipe came out of the romance novel "The Mysterious Gift", by Kathleen Creighton, I've modified the recipe slightly.
Cream together until fluffy:
3/4 cups unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar (7.1 ouhces)
Add and beat until smooth:
2 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
In a separate bowl mix together (or sift together)
2 7/8 cups bleached AP flour (11 ounces)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until smooth.
Chill overnight.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
On a well-floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick (or slightly thinner) and cut into shapes. Scraps can be formed back into a ball, chilled and rolled out again.
Transfer cut shapes to parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 9 to 9 1/2 minutes, until edges are starting to show signs of turning brown. Cool for at least 5 minutes before trying to loosen or transfer the cookies. When they are cool they can be coated with icing. They will last a week or longer if stored in a sealed container.
I tried to find my sun cookie cutters without success. They are probably among the boxes in the storage shed. I then decided to bake the Soft Barley Sugar Cookies in KAF's Whole Grain Baking. Instead of white coarse sugar, I'll use yellow coarse sugar. That will make a sun, and taking a bite will make an eclipse of sorts (except that the eaten part will not be coming back).
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This reply was modified 8 years, 8 months ago by BakerAunt.
