Search Results for '("C'

[BakerAunt]

For my bonus daughter's birthday dinner, I roasted a chicken. I also made Pepperidge Farm Stuffing (blue bag) that I saved for this occasion, as it is her favorite, and she has not had it for a couple of years. We also had microwaved fresh green beans from the garden and homemade applesauce from the freezer. Dessert, of course, was the chocolate cake with the white chocolate cream cheese and butter frosting.

[BakerAunt]

I am so glad that you will soon have your new stove, Skeptic!

On Sunday morning, I baked Oatmeal Black Raspberry Muffins with black raspberries that I froze earlier this summer. I used an oatmeal blueberry muffin recipe that I like.

I also baked the King Arthur Fantastic Fudge Birthday Cake. I replaced the King Arthur flour with regular AP and the cornstarch with 2 Tbs. of barley flour. (King Arthur adds 2 Tbs. of cornstarch to tone down the gluten in their flour, so regular AP works well, and the barley flour was just to see how it comes out. I also replaced 2/3 of the oil with olive oil and added 2 Tbs. milk powder. I have changed the mixing instructions. I use my hand mixer to beat together the oil and sugar, then beat in the eggs and vanilla. I use my cake whisk to mix in the dry ingredients, then use it to slowly mix in the water. Finishing with my spatula. I find that makes for a more tender cake. Tomorrow, I will make a white chocolate, cream cheese, and butter frosting and assemble my bonus daughter's birthday cake!

[BakerAunt]

I had a busy day of baking on Friday in preparation for my bonus daughter and her boyfriend's visit. I baked an adaptation of Mumphy's Peanut Butter Honeys (recipe at Nebraska Kitchen). I had accidentally bought a no-stir peanut butter. It was the same company and the same design as the natural peanut butter I always buy, but I did not read the full label. So, I am using this jar for baking. For the adaptation, I replaced the flour with white whole wheat and used 3 Tbs. of avocado oil. I also added 1 Tbs. Bob's Red Mill milk powder. The cookies baked well, except that the second sheet, which I baked at the same temperature as the first sheet for the same length of time, burned on the bottom. My husband and I ate the evidence. The cookies came out well, but they are not as sweet as most peanut butter cookies, which I had noticed back when I baked the recipe some years ago with butter. I think that I might add a bit of brown sugar next time.

My second baking project was the Squash Whole Wheat Oat quick bread because I had part of a zucchini left to grate from the baking projects earlier in the week. I set aside a cup of the grated zucchini to use in Saturday's dinner and used the other two cups to make four loaves in my Nordic Ware 4-well loaf pan. I used cinnamon chips in the batter, and they stuck, so one loaf was a bit crumbly, but I was able to freeze the other three.

My final baking project was three loaves of my Oat Bran Whole Wheat Bread. I have been refining this recipe that I adapted from Peter Reinhart's Oat Bran Bread. I have felt the last few times that the finished bread needs to be a bit softer, so I increased the olive oil--which I had added to the original recipe--from 4 to 5 Tbs.--which made for a slightly softer dough. (The idea occurred to me because I baked Len's buns earlier in the week, and I compared the oil content of that single-loaf recipe with what I was using for a three-loave recipe.) The loaves came out beautifully, except that as I was putting them in to bake, one slipped slightly and got a bit of a dent on one end, which turned into a giant air pocket in the oven. We will eat that one first. As soon as I am satisfied with this recipe, I will post it at Nebraska Kitchen.

My husband helped me tackle the dishes from the baking and cooking, or I would have been up even later than I was.

[navlys]

I decided to make a turkey breast in my crockpot. I made the "Recipe Tin Eats" recipe before and it turned out great. Different crockpot different results. Even on low my crockpot cooks high. I know how all the newer pots cook high for safety reasons but no one ever got sick using my old crockpot. So my solution is to go to the thrift store and find an old crockpot (or slow cooker) or keep the cover to my present pot slightly ajar!

[Mike Nolan]

We had one of Diane's colleagues over for lunch today (it's a work-from-home day at UNL because 90,000+ volleyball fans will be on campus later this afternoon for a volleyball match in the football stadium, and they'll use up all the parking.)

So I made a zucchini tomato casserole and some epis using the extra dough I made the last time I made semolina bread. We had some of the chocolate buttermilk cake with the frosting from Texas chocolate sheet cake for dessert.

[Mike Nolan]

I was thinking of using the one at Rural Sprout (zucchini dill relish), but I might add some sweet peppers (and leave out the garlic).

I'm tempted to try one batch with dill and one batch with caraway. If they work well together, I could always just combine them afterwards.

Years ago, a family friend gave us her tomato relish recipe, a version of which I have posted here. The main ingredients are tomatoes, onions and sweet peppers. It is great on hot dogs.

[BakerAunt]

I made yogurt on Sunday. For dinner, I made Cherry Tomato Sauce with vegetables (green and yellow squash, yellow and purple bell pepper, and mushrooms) and mixed in the leftover roasted chicken from last night.

Mike--Are you going to use the Ball canning book recipe?

[Mike Nolan]

I've got some zucchini that I need to shred up and use, I'm thinking of making one or two batches of the zucchini relish (sans garlic).

[BakerAunt]

For Saturday dinner, I roasted a small chicken, which we had with the rest of the sweet corn and leftover cherry tomato, green beans, and goat cheese salad. Our grocery sometimes has leftover uncooked chickens that were not needed for rotisserie chicken and sells them at a discounted price (99 cents per pound). I have found that these chickens are particularly delicious.

[navlys]

I make chocolate peanut clusters for my husband. I usually use white chocolate(from TJ's) dark chocolate and milk chocolate melted together. I found these Hershey cinnamon chips that were over due for use . I threw them in the mix. They really do not melt. I had to smush them on the side of the pan. Sometimes being frugal does not pay off. I guess they taste ok according to hubby.

ps: I used Sara Moulton's tip to squish the parchment paper to make it easier to set it on the cookie sheet. It works.

[Mike Nolan]

I may have to try the zucchini relish, but without the garlic. I've got a monster I picked the other day, nearly 5 pounds. Tomorrow may be a good baking/cooking day, the high is supposed to be in the mid 80's with rain possible. Today it hit 102, about 4 degrees above the forecasted high. (I also need to make more semolina bread tomorrow.)

Tonight we had burgers on the grill, with some 4 bean salad and some potato chips.

[BakerAunt]

Cherry Tomato Sauce with Vegetables and Rigatoni serves 4-6

Marliss Desens created this recipe as a mash-up of Kenji Alt-Lopez's "Fast and Easy Pasta with Blistered Cherry Tomato Sauce" and Deb Perelman's "Roasted Cherry Tomato Pasta." Kenji cooks the tomatoes on the stove-top, as opposed to Deb who roasts them in the oven. He used whole cherry tomatoes, but I found them easier to cook when halved, and I mince the garlic rather than slicing it. Deb gave me the idea for using balsamic vinegar. It sets off the sweetness of the cherry tomatoes perfectly. While neither added vegetables, I like a high proportion of vegetables to pasta. Meat or beans could be added. Basil, oregano, and parsley can be added, if desired.

8 oz. rigatoni or pasta of choice

About 3 cups to 1 quart of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil

Note: Use whatever vegetables you have. Here is a great combination:
Large green onion, sliced, or chopped onion
Red bell pepper
8 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 yellow squash, cut into half-moons or quarters (depends on size)
1 zucchini, cut into half-moons or quarters (depends on size)
Olive oil
Dash of balsamic vinegar
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

In a 3-4-quart pot, bring water to boil. You will want to add the pasta and about a tsp. of coarse salt about 10 minutes before the sauce and vegetables will be finished. Be sure to boil the pasta for one minute less than the time given on the package, as it will continue to cook when added to the sauce.

In a 4-quart sauté pan with deep sides, add a generous amount of olive oil in the center. Add minced garlic. Turn on medium heat. When garlic becomes fragrant (about 30 seconds), add the cherry tomatoes. Cook, stirring with a high-heat spatula as needed. It will take about 10 minutes for the tomatoes to get juicy and the juice to start to thicken. Add a little of the heating pasta water if needed to prevent sticking.

While the tomatoes cook, in a separate skillet, sauté onion and bell pepper. Add sliced mushrooms, and more olive oil if needed. Add the chopped squash, and more olive oil if needed, and sauté until lightly cooked. Once tomatoes have collapsed into a jammy sauce, add the vegetables and a dash of balsamic vinegar.

When the pasta has cooked, reserve about 1 cup of water when draining. Add pasta to the sauce and stir. Add just enough pasta water to make a smooth sauce. Grate some Parmesan cheese over the top and stir. Grate additional Parmesan over individual servings.

[BakerAunt]

For Sunday dinner, I roasted a small chicken. We also had Cherry Tomato Sauce with Vegetables (yellow squash, green squash, mushrooms, red and purple bell pepper), and Rotini the recipe that I wrote about the week of August 6. As we were eating, I thought that it did not taste as good as I recalled. Then, I realized that I had forgotten the splash of balsamic vinegar and added it. The balsamic vinegar makes all the difference! We also had the last two ears of sweet corn.

I have posted the Cherry Tomato Sauce with Vegetables and Rigatoni.

Earlier in the day, I made yogurt.

[Mike Nolan]

I had a steak and baked potato tonight. (Diane is spending the weekend with her cousin in western Nebraska, where it's even hotter than Lincoln. We hit 104 today, and they're calling for 100+ through Thursday, with 108 on Monday, I hope that's an over-estimate!)

[Mike Nolan]

I developed a buttermilk rye bread years ago, it is good but a bit dense, the buttermilk may be a factor in that, though many rye breads are also somewhat dense.

It may be that the acid in buttermilk is stronger than that in a teaspoon of vinegar (like in the double-crusty bread) or that there are other things in buttermilk that impact the structure of the bread.

If this is a sweet dough, an osmotolerant yeast might work better.

Hopefully time will resolve this for you.