What are you baking the week of October 7, 2018?

[Mike Nolan]

No baking for me yet this week.

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[BakerAunt]

For Sunday dinner, I made Pizza Margherita. This is the third time I’ve baked it this year, probably because we still have nice tomatoes from the garden. I went back to the crust I developed the first time with semolina and durum wheat flour, rifting off KAF’s sourdough pizza crust recipe and their directions for Pizza Margherita. This crust seems to be able to hold up to the tomatoes. I did, however, make sure to slice them thinly, and I set the slices on paper towels to draw off juices before I put them on the pizza. We had it with small bowls of lentil soup.

Quick Note: I made it in a half-sheet pan. I noted that KAF suggests, when baking pizza in these pans, to spray with a cooking spray, and THEN drizzle with olive oil. As I've occasionally had a bit of sticking, I followed that tip, and the pizza did not stick at all.

As I had the sourdough starter out, I decided to set up for waffles for breakfast tomorrow. I started with the KAF recipe for High-Fiber Sourdough Waffles, then like my friend Wonky, proceeded to make “a few changes.” ? (We miss hearing from you, Wonky.) I've never seen any reason to buy KAF's "Hi-maize flour, and so one change led to another. I used ¾ cup KAF AP flour, 1 cup white whole wheat flour, ½ cup quick oats, ¼ cup buckwheat flour, and 2 Tbs. flax meal. These are mixed with sugar, buttermilk, and 1 cup starter and allowed to sit overnight. When I make them in the morning, the recipe has a 4 Tbs. butter or 4 Tbs. oil option; I’ll use oil but reduce the oil to 3 Tbs., which is what the substitution chart I found suggests.

I'll add a note to this post tomorrow reporting on my experiment's result.

Promised Note: The waffles did not come out very tasty. In the end, I need some butter in my waffles. I added a bit more milk and 1 tsp. vanilla after tasting the first one, but that only made them tolerable under maple syrup. I froze the extras. I think that eating a single square with jam might be the way to use them up, like a variation on toast.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by BakerAunt.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by BakerAunt.

[Mike Nolan]

I'm making honey wheat bread today.

[BakerAunt]

On Monday, I baked two loaves of my Buttermilk Barley-Whole Wheat Grape Nuts Bread.

[skeptic7]

I make Boston Brown Bread from the recipe in KAF 100 year cookbook. I made it in my slow cooker -- does this count as baking? Its basically boiled/steamed in a hot water bath. I was surprise at how heavy and dark the bread tasted. The molasses flavor is overwhelming. Since it was going to cook for such a very long time I added some yeast to hopefully make it lighter. Its still very dense.

I ate some as a snack, and then I decided to be traditional and warmed up some canned bake beans for supper and ate that with the bread. The texture isn't bad but it still has a very overwhelming almost caramel flavor.

• This reply was modified 6 years, 2 months ago by skeptic7.

[BakerAunt]

I've found that, for me, a little molasses goes a long way. When I baked Bernard Clayton's Dark Grains Bread for the first time, the 1/4 cup molasses came front and center--even with 70% whole grains. My husband didn't mind it, but for me it was overwhelming, although after a couple of days it mellowed. I switched it out with honey after that time, and I prefer it.

I have a steamed bread mold that I bought from KAF a couple of years ago. My idea is to try it in a pot on the wood stove. I have a recipe (somewhere) that came out of the catalog. It's probably this one (out of several) on the KAF site:

https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/traditional-boston-brown-bread-recipe

I'm pretty sure that 3/4 cups of molasses would be far too much for me. One person who commented on the recipe replaced half the molasses with honey for that reason.

There is also a crock pot recipe at the KAF site for Boston Brown Bread baked in four 1-pint canning jars.

[chocomouse]

I have 2 loaves of sandwich rye bread rising this morning. I used to make steamed brown bread years ago in a stainless steel utensil holder, but haven't made it for ages. Not sure what recipe I used, but I'm pretty sure it is in my old-fashioned, hard-copy, 3 x 5 card recipe box! 'Tis the season for it; I think it would be good with bean soup or chili.

[Mike Nolan]

Boston Brown Bread is heavy and very molasses tasting, try it with some baked beans.

It was intended as a replacement for the protein in a meal, incidentally.

[chocomouse]

Yup, baked beans, hot dogs, and brown bread are a traditional Saturday night supper here in New England. Lots of protein, relatively cheap, and a very hearty meal.

[skeptic7]

I used up the last of my rye flour for this recipe, otherwise I'd be tempted to repeat it and leave the molasses out completely. This is nearly three times the amount of molasses I would use in gingerbread. i don't have hot dogs on hand currently, but I am going to try the bread with pork chops and baked beans. What sort of vegetables do New Englanders eat with Boston bread and baked beans?

[Mike Nolan]

Historically, I suspect the people who ate Boston Brown Bread and baked beans wouldn't have had access to many vegetables in cold weather.

[wonky]

Thank you you for the shout-out BakerAunt. I also miss reading and posting, but life keeps getting in the way.
We have had several open houses at my Dad's farm. We are taking sealed bids, and the bidding will continue until October 15th. We do have a reserve, so are sure all the bids will be serious. We will get together in the evening of the 15th, open the bids, and notify the winner. Then it will be on to the final paper work with the attorney...blah, blsh, blah.

I have been very ill for over two weeks, and like most all of us "medical people", we make the worse patients. It started out with swollen lymph node and painful jaw and shooting pain to my ears. Of course, I took the "it will go away" road. It did get a little better pain wise, but then I got a horrible cough which I attributed to bronchitis, which I have had before. I could't sleep due to the cough, and the horrible head ache and spent most of the night sitting up on the edge of bed hacking up a lung. My ribs hurt so much, I ended using the husband velcro back brace to try to get even a little relief. My two dogs, who were trying to sleep in their beds on the floor next to my side of the bed, were very confused. Oh, yeh, my husband was not overly impressed either. Then a couple of days ago, I started with the chills and 101.5 temp. Okay...time to call the doctor. When he listened to my logs he was aghast, ordered a quick chest xray, and low and behold...some very serious water soaked pneumonia ridden lungs. He wanted me to go the hospital for IV antibiotics but I refused that you know "us medical people know better." He finally relented, and perscribed 2 weeks of Augmentin, an Albuterol inhaler and some nice little steriods. I have follow up xrays in a week, and then in another week. Sooooooooo That is my story, and I am sticking to it.

Needless to say, I have not done any baking, but if I feel even a little bit better tomorrow, I will have to do the WW bread for the day care.

Baker aunt...your pizza sounds wonderful, and I am looking forward to trying that when I am feeling a little better Hmmmmmm....do you think I will have to change anything. Love you girl, we are baking sisters from different mothers.

[Joan Simpson]

We've been getting ready for the storm Michael,not much baking.I did bake 2 loaves of Banana bread today,kept one and gave one to my sister.

[chocomouse]

Skeptic, New Englanders generally don't eat anything else with that meal (except maybe a pie), just the beans, hot dogs, and brown bread. Not what we today would call a healthy meal! During the winter years ago, their vegetables were those that stored well, such as potatoes, winter squash, turnips, rutabaga, kohlrabi, carrots, and then later on they canned lots of vegetables and fruits. Today, of course, many people in New England no longer eat that meal, but "mature" people often continue the tradition. Until about 10-15 years ago, the local VA hospital's Saturday night menu was beans and hot dogs, and the older veterans, who made up the majority of the hospital's patients, looked forward to that meal all week!

[BakerAunt]

I know this will be anathema to the New Englanders, but what about substituting maple syrup, rather than honey, for the molasses? Would it go with the rye flour? I can't do a beans and hot dogs dinner because my husband will not eat most dried and then cooked beans (lentil, lima beans, and black-eyed peas seem to be the exception), and currently I'm staying away from hot dogs (saturated fat and sodium). I'd still like to try steaming bread on the wood stove.

Wonky--Take care of yourself! You may be a "medical person," but you are not indestructible, and you have been under a lot of stress these past few months, so it is no wonder your resistance is low. (If you read my thread on lowering saturated fat, you will find that, although I am not a "medical person," I, too, will question my doctor about treatment. 🙂 That's not a bad thing.) I need my baking sister to inspire me!

Joan--I was thinking of you and Bev today with the news about the hurricane and the expected rain. Stay safe. And if there are other members and readers of this site in the danger zones, please take care.

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