Search Results for '("C'

[BakerAunt]

Happy Birthday, Swirth! We just arrived in northern Indiana this evening. We had clear weather driving across Illinois (through Urbana-Champaign). Here it is dry, so the rain did not come this far north.

[Italiancook]

1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup sugar (I use half sugar and half white Splenda)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 medium mashed ripe bananas
1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cocoa

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and vanilla, beating until thoroughly combined. Blend in bananas.

Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt to creamed mixture. Mix well.

Divide batter in half. Add cocoa to half. Spread into a greased 13 x 9 x 2" pan.

Spread rest of batter on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes until tests done. Cool before cutting.

Freezes good.

[Mike Nolan]

This is the best reference I've found on what various types of egg washes (and a few alternatives) are best for:
Egg Wash Table

[Mike Nolan]

Like many folks, I've been through a variety of oil sprayers over the years, ones from Tupperware and Pampered Chef are similar and both are prone to clogging.

A few months ago I got an EVO oil sprayer, and so far it has performed quite well, no clogging and it puts out a fan-shaped spray of oil which works fairly well when oiling the top of bread dough.

These come in two sizes, I got the smaller ones. (One has canola oil in it, the other has water.)

[Mike Nolan]

I've looked at the larger (14x18) baking steel griddle several times, when I'm not using it for baking I think it'd be on the countertop as a platform for doing things like cutting meat and chicken. (I wish we had put in a stainless steel countertop next to a sink for easy sanitation.)

[Mike Nolan]

Bob's Red Mill is now selling a gluten-free flour mix in 5 pound bags. We've been using Domata GF flour (or mixing our own), but the Bob's Red Mill is considerably cheaper than Domata.

The package says it has sweet white rice flour, whole grain brown rice flour, potato starch, whole grain sweet white sorghum flour, tapioca flour and Xanthan gum.

• This topic was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by Mike Nolan.

[Mike Nolan]

I always use semolina flour for pasta. Recently I've been ordering it from King Arthur, as the local coop stopped carrying it in bulk. Bob's Red Mill also makes a semolina flour and so does Hodgson Mill, though I haven't seen it on local shelves for a long time.

I've been tempted to order durum wheat berries and mill my own pasta flour, but haven't found a supplier yet. (25+ pounds of durum wheat would last me years.)

KAF is also where I get pastry flour, as the only stuff available locally is whole wheat pastry flour. Although GM unbleached makes a decent pie crust, I prefer a softer flour for most pastry.

[BakerAunt]

There is no way people will be able to eat this stuff fast enough to make a dent.

In northern Indiana, and some other states, the invasive plants are reed canary grass that overruns wetlands and is often seen growing by the side of the road, non-native cat tails, garlic mustard, honeysuckle, and bittersweet. I've also seen the wrongly named "Tree of Heaven" (which comes from the other place).

[Mike Nolan]

Pork tenderloin has almost no fat in it these days, if there's any meat that has been bred to meet consumer preferences, it's pork!

A pork sirloin roast should have more fat on it. Boston Butt has a lot more fat, but has to be tied (or cooked in a net) or it falls apart, IMHO it's best for slow cooking and turning into pulled pork.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by Mike Nolan.

[Mike Nolan]

Yes, I make the dough in the KA mixer. I put in the dry ingredients, egg and oil, then dribble in water until it forms a dough.

I divide the dough into balls no more then about 4-5 ounces each. That way I'm not trying to handle a sheet of pasta that is 10 feet long. Use the slowest setting on the mixer. Start on the widest setting (1), put the dough through the rollers a couple of times, folding it in between passes, then move on to the next ball, but without the folds. (I drape the rolled out dough on cookie sheets on the counter, hanging off the edge.)

Then move up to setting 2, and start over. The book says to go to setting 4 or 5, I find 4 is plenty thin and I've been known to stop at 3.

I've got really thick countertops (butcher block) and most clamps won't go that wide, but I've been known to use a bar clamp from the shop, the kind that you can squeeze tighter work nearly anywhere.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by Mike Nolan.
• This reply was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by Mike Nolan.
• This reply was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by Mike Nolan.

[LauraVA]

Hi, Italiancook...

Not knowing what part of the country you're in, or whether you're in the city, or a rural area, here's a couple of ideas...

If you live in a rural/farming area, check to see if anyone specializes in heritage pig breeds,

Hi, Italiancook!...I have no idea where in the country you are, or whether you're in the city, or a rural area, but here's a couple of ideas...

If you have access to a local farmer's market, find out if anyone locally breeds heritage breeds of pigs, and if they sell directly to consumers. We have several farms in our area (South central VA), that are both organic farmsteads, and specialize in heritage breeds of farm animals, be it pigs, cattle, sheep, poultry, etc.

Also, are you familiar with larding needles? They're used to insert strips of either pure fat, or bacon directly into the body of a roast. I remember my Mom using them, as a child.

My mother used to make a pork roast like you're describing. I know exactly what you mean. I grew up in South Florida, and have eaten way more than my share of either Cuban roast pork, or Caribbean roast pigs. I don't eat nearly as much meat as I used to, but it would be really hard to pass up some lovely roast pork...lol!

Well, hope that helps a bit...

Laura

[Mike Nolan]

We made a batch of gluten-free cornbread.

I've bookmarked the Anna's Swedish Butter Cake recipe in Susan Purdy's book.

We went to a wedding today and the cake (from a local supermarket's bakery department) was definitely not a WASC or even something like the 'elegant white cake' in the KAF Baker's Companion. I was thinking of trying another 'blondie' version of the Texas Sheet Cake, but maybe I'll try the Swedish Butter Cake instead.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by Mike Nolan.
• This reply was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by Mike Nolan.

[BakerAunt]

On Thursday, I made three large batches of Chex Party Mix for my stepdaughter and her roommate's graduation parties. My only notable cooking endeavor was Saturday's dinner for my husband and me. (It has been a week of leftovers and a dinner out.) I roasted two large chicken breasts on a half-sheet pan lined with parchment. I surrounded them with an assortment of vegetable--small potatoes, zucchini in long slices, halved mushrooms, carrot pieces, and red bell pepper. I drizzled it all with olive oil, then sprinkled on rosemary, sage, thyme, salt, and pepper. It came out well, and we have leftovers for another meal.

[BakerAunt]

On Thursday, I baked Peanut Butter Honeys, a cookie recipe that Mumpy posted on the Baking Circle. I used half white whole wheat flour, and dropped them with my tablespoon scoop. It made 25 thick little cookies that are not too sweet. My husband and I both liked them a lot. They stay soft.

On Saturday, I set out to bake my stepdaughter's graduation cake for her party tomorrow. The first recipe did not end well, maybe because I am using the Wilton mini-tier pans, and there may have been too much batter for the pans, or I did not bake them long enough, since the two smaller ones (5 inches and 6 1/2 inches) fell in the center. The larger one (about 7 1/2 inches was fine--until a copy of Sift slid down on top of the cooling cake and left a very large dent. After a certain amount of screaming and stomping, I relegated the smallest one to our dessert tonight, and I froze the other two for future use as chocolate trifles. I then pulled out the recipe I should have used all along, since I know it will fit those pans: Susan Purdy's Anna's Swedish Butter Cake--chocolate variation. I used Double Dutch Process cocoa, and this time, I substituted in 1/2 cup of buttermilk. The three layers came out well, and I think that the buttermilk was the key to getting the taste I wanted. I also used Gold Medal flour to get a more tender cake, and I used the Baker's sugar (extra-fine). I'm about to do a second recipe so that each tier will be two layers. Tomorrow it will be frosted with a white chocolate-cream cheese frosting. It's her favorite cake--because of that frosting, so I want the cake to be worthy of it, and I think it finally will be. (I make it for her birthday every year).The decoration will be simple: some little items from her school will be the cake top decoration,

• This topic was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by BakerAunt.

[Mike Nolan]

I think you can also expect changes in this site, both in terms of how things work and what tools are available. (I'm not really happy with the current layout, so I might not stay with BBPress, the forums package I'm using, but if that changes all existing content should be migrated over.)

And don't forget there are other sites out there, Zen's, RandyD's, etc.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by Mike Nolan.
• This reply was modified 9 years, 10 months ago by Mike Nolan.