Search Results for '("C'

[chocomouse]

I made Anadama bread today. I'm going to work my way through a new (to me) cookbook, Secrets of a Jewish Baker.

[Mike Nolan]

I'm planning a stir fry with pea pods and (probably) broccoli

[cwcdesign]

Last night I had baked oatmeal for dinner because I couldn't think of anything else.

This afternoon I made Crockpot Chicken and Andouille Jambalaya (no shrimp in mine). This is a recipe I got from the internet in 2014. I don't know the source because I lost the second page. We really like it because one thing the author did was to leave the rice out until everything else is cooked. Then you measure the liquid in a cup and add enough water to make 4 cups, make the rice on the stove and add back into the crockpot. I tried something different today as well. The recipe says to cut up the chicken breasts and sausage and mix with the other ingredients. This time I put the boneless chicken breasts in whole and the sausages cut in half. When the chicken was done (I use my ChefAlarm) and it was time to take the liquid, I took out the chicken and sausage, cut them up and added back to the pot. I will do it this way going forward and the chicken was more tender. I will be putting some in the freezer tomorrow.

[BakerAunt]

Wow! Almost everyone was baking bread of one kind or another today.

On Sunday, I baked Pompanoosuc Porridge Bread, a recipe from King Arthur (back when they sold Pompanoosuc porridge), which I have modified. The original recipe was baked in their bread bowl, but I found the dough was too much, and it was hard to get the center baked. I next tried the bottom of my Emile Henry long baker, but it was too long to allow for a higher rise. I then turned to a 12 x 4 x 2 ½-inch Kitchen Aid loaf pan, but I felt the sides were too low for adequate support. Last December, King Arthur featured a cream-colored Emile Henry loaf pan with scalloped edges that is 11 x 4 ¾ x 3 ½ inches. That seemed the right size, so I bought it. This loaf pan is perfect for this amount of dough, and a loaf with lovely rise. However, it stuck in a couple of places when I turned the loaf out of the pan. I think that is due to the ceramic being thinner than most of the Emile Henry that I own. Also, this recipe has higher hydration (one of the reasons more side support is important), and those breads can stick to ceramic no matter how well a pan is greased. Next time, I will grease, then coat the interior with farina before putting in the dough.

[cwcdesign]

I made 2 loaves of English Muffin Toasting Bread which I have not made in forever. I also made the dough tonight for No-Knead Harvest Bread - the one with pecans, cranberries & golden raisins that gets baked in the long baker (or similar baking vehicle) I will bake it in the morning.

Very cold here all day but it's starting to warm up - it will feel like 29 tonight as opposed to 9 last night. The full moon is beautiful tonight

[BakerAunt]

The Ankarsram has an arm that can be positioned from the side of the bowl to the center, so there is nothing to tilt, which takes up less room when in use. I loosen the arm and allow it to rest back from the bowl when the mixer is not in use.

The largest batch of bread dough I have done so far is the Whole Wheat Oat Bran Bread, and that has about 8 cups flour plus 2 cups oat bran and 1/2 cup flax meal.

I used the mixer today to make Pompanoosuc Porridge Bread. (I'm not sure the recipe is still at King Arthur, as they no longer sell the Pompanoosuc porridge, although they may have the recipe made with steel-cut oats. This bread has about 4 cups of flour and 1/2 cup of the porridge, which is cooked up to one cup. The Ankarsrum did an excellent job with the smaller amount of dough--something my 7-qt. Cuisinart could not handle well. I did not need to hold back any flour; indeed, I needed to add 2 Tbs. Kneading time is longer at about 12 minutes, but I do not mind that.

I will write up the recipe with my changes and post it sometime in the next couple of days.

[Mike Nolan]

We're having fish (orange roughy and salmon) for supper, with steamed broccoli.

[aaronatthedoublef]

The scone talk is interesting. I've always used bread flour for mine. I've always wanted to try pastry flour for the lower gluten content, like BA, but my family likes them so much I am reluctant to tamper too much with the recipe. I go between powdered and liquid buttermilk based on what I have on hand. Sometimes I use raisins (when I want to make them "healthy") other times chocolate chips but that's about it.

On the toque front - I took a bread class at the CIA yesterday and they gave us aprons and toques. I gave Violet the toque and she wore it most of the rest of the night. It turns out the only reason she didn't want to put her hair up was because she was lazy and didn't want to go upstairs to find a hat or rubber band! Go figure.

[BakerAunt]

When my 7-qt Cuisinart stand mixer stopped working in November 2025, I replaced it with an Ankarsrum mixer in December. There is always a learning curve with a new mixer. I have never used a Kitchen Aid, so I cannot compare it to the mixer that resides in most kitchens, but I hope this thread will be helpful to people who either own an Ankarsrum or are considering whether to buy one.

I bought my mixer from Pleasant Hill Grains, and it arrived very quickly on Christmas Eve, although I did not start using it until the next week. You can read about the mixer at various sites and there are YouTube videos available, some from Ankarsrum. The mixer's bowl turns rather than having the motion from the top. The bowl is nice and wide, so it is easy to monitor as your mix. It has a roller arm, which gets positioned for kneading depending on how much dough is being kneaded, and a scraper that rests against the bowl. Initially there is some need for adjusting dough, but it is easy to do with the wide bowl.

The liquid ingredients go into the bowl first, and that includes the oil, although I wait until I have the other liquid ingredients (including proofed yeast) mixed before adding it. With my old mixer, I usually mixed in the wholegrain flours, let the dough rest for 15 minutes, then added the salt and any bread flour. However, with the Ankarsrum, it seems to be best to mix all the flour and dry ingredients together--holding back about 1/2 cup of flour, and not to do the resting period.

I find that it helps to increase the water for bread dough mixed in the Ankarsrum by 1-2 oz.

The dough is mixed on speed one, then kneaded on speed 2. The kneading period, at least with my wholegrain breads seems to be 8-12 minutes. The mixer is designed to mimic hand kneading, so I think that is why it takes longer than in my other mixer, but so far, it seems to me to give bread with a softer texture. I may be necessary at the start to "help" the mixer start kneading, and to adjust the arm. If dough starts to go out of the bowl, the arm gets moved more toward the center of the bowl.

The mixer comes with a dough hook for low hydration breads or mincemeat. I have not tried using it yet.

I will discuss in future postings the two breads that I have made with it so far: Whole Wheat Oat Bran Bread and Rustic Sourdough Wholegrain Bread in a Cloche and describe the adaptations I needed to make to the recipes.

[BakerAunt]

Whole Wheat Oat Bran Bread
Marliss Desens adapted this recipe from "Oat Bran Bread," in Brother Juniper's Bread Book, by Peter Reinhart (pp. 102-104). It makes two very large 9 x 5 loaves or three medium 8 x 4 loaves.

4 cups (511 g) whole wheat flour
2 cups (241 g) oat bran (whirl in a food processor after measuring and before adding)
½ cup (61 g) flax meal
2 cups (247 g) bread flour (Bob's Red Mill Artisan)
¼ cup (37 g) special dry milk

1 ½ Tbs. active yeast
6 oz. water (108 F) [Note: for Ankarsrum use 8 oz]

3 cups buttermilk
1/3 cup honey

2 cups (247 g) bread flour [Note: for Ankarsrum, hold back at least 47 g]
1 Tbs. salt

1/3 cup olive oil

Stir together the first group of ingredients in medium bowl. Put buttermilk and honey into stand mixer bowl. Place warm water (rinse off honey spoon in it) in small bowl, add yeast, agitate with fork, and let proof for 5 minutes. Add proofed yeast to buttermilk and honey. Mix with paddle. Add first group of dry ingredients. Mix with paddle on setting 1 initially, then setting two to combine. Cover mixer with towel and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, stir together the remaining bread flour and salt.

Add flour and salt mixture to mixer bowl. Mix on setting 2 for a short period until mostly combined (it will be a very thick dough), then switch to the dough spiral on setting 2. It may be necessary to adjust the dough to help incorporate some of the flour. With mixer running, drizzle in olive oil around edges of bowl. Using setting 3, knead for 7 minutes. Check dough. It will likely need an additional two minutes. It is done when windowpane can be pulled.

Let dough rise in a covered, lightly oiled, large dough bucket for about 1 ½ hours or until nearly doubled. When dough is ready, empty bucket onto a Silpat mat, briefly degas, then weigh and cut into three equal pieces. Shape each into a small oval. Cover and let rest for 5 minutes. Grease three 8 x 4-inch loaf pans. Shape dough into loaves. Allow to rise for about 1 hour. It should crown the pans by about an inch. Preheat oven to 375 F, about 20 minutes before end of rise.

Put bread into the oven and DROP temperature to 350 F. Bake for 40 minutes, until bread reaches 195 F on digital thermometer. Cool on rack.

What I changed: I replaced wheat bran with flax meal. I replaced 2 cups of water with additional buttermilk and increased the water by 2 oz. I replaced 4 cups of bread flour with 4 cups whole wheat flour and replaced ¾ cup brown sugar or ½ cup honey with 1/3 cup honey. I added the special dry milk. I reduced the yeast from 2 Tbs. and the salt from 1 ½ Tbs. I added 1/3 cup olive oil, which keeps the bread soft longer. I prefer to bake it as 3 smaller loaves rather than two very large 9 x 5-inch loaves.

[BakerAunt]

My cake (Bischofsbrot) came out very well. It's a delicious way to celebrate my 70th birthday.

[Mike Nolan]

I use canola oil (or a mix of oils) in my honey wheat bread as well. I tried it with butter a few times, didn't like it as much that way. But I make some other breads where butter is definitely the right option for the fat.

[BakerAunt]

Aaron--You mentioned that you are looking at a Wolf stove. That is what I got, and I still love it after seven years. I chose dual fuel, so gas burners with electric oven. A two-thirds sheet pan just fits. If you get the Wolf, go for the red knobs!

I did not get the Wolf hood. We have low ceilings, and it would have been far too powerful. The sales rep who helped us recommended another, which was also a lot less expensive. We went with another Amana refrigerator with freezer drawer on the bottom. (Our 25-year-old Amana is in the Annex kitchen.)

[BakerAunt]

On Tuesday evening, I baked Bischofsbrot, which is a firm cake with walnuts, regular and golden raisins, dark chocolate chips (72% cacao this time), and maraschino cherries, of which I put in extras. I make it with half barley flour and half King Arthur AP flour. I replace the 6 Tbs. butter with ¼ cup avocado oil plus 2 Tbs. buttermilk. It bakes in a 12-inch long, narrow loaf pan at 300 F for 90 minutes. For the first time, I used the Ankarsrum for something other than bread and employed the plastic bowl and the whisks. I will write up the details for those interested in how the mixer works. I will say, however, that I continue to be impressed.

[Mike Nolan]

I have a chef's beanie (and short hair, what there is of it), but I wear it because it keeps me from sweating on the food. I won't wear a toque because I don't think I've earned the right to wear one.