[aaronatthedoublef]

My big adventures this week were banh mi sandwiches and a cross between kibbi and kofta. I need more work on the kibbi/kofta but it was a trial to see if my kids would eat ground lamb with allspice and cinnamon for spices. They were a hit despite the fact that I overcooked the lamb. I served them with broccoli cooked with the lamb over rice.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I made pizza this week. Not sure if that should be under cooking or baking or maybe both? We had friends over and so it was pizza for 10. Surprisingly the kids ate very little and I only made seven pizzas (each dough round is about 7 ounces).

Taking a cue from BA I made English muffins. This was a recipe from a class my wife gave me. It called for buttermilk and I substituted powdered because my family does not like the taste of buttermilk. The recipe also called for two TBLs of sugar which seemed like a lot so I cut that in half. I realized after the fact that this would make them rise more slowly. As a result I ran out of time on Saturday and let them finish rising in the refrigerator over night. These are so different from anything I've ever bought from the grocery store. My boys polished them off in a few days so I'll be making them again. Off course once I am a little more secure with the recipe I'll sneak in some white whole wheat flour and some flax meal.

[aaronatthedoublef]

My go-to rolling pin is a warped, but much loved, European model I have used for decades. It has crossed the US with me twice now. I wonder if it would work for something so thin and could I get the consistency.

[aaronatthedoublef]

BA, CWC, thank you for your replies.

CWC I wondered about clarified butter because I wondered in the milk solids were needed.

BA, so the baking soda is there to tame the acid? I've used it instead of sugar in tomato sauce for that.

[aaronatthedoublef]

BA,

Does baking soda still give your crackers a lift after several hours? What about double acting baking powder?

Also, how would clarified butter work compared to melted butter mixing with flour or cocoa to grease a pan? I have to admit I usually just use cooking spray but I've never made a bundt cake.

I made Jakes. This is a chocolate chocolate chip cookie recipe I made for my nephew many years ago. I used to make them weekly when I lived out west but I make them very infrequently since we moved east.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 2 months ago by aaronatthedoublef.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Could you create a makeshift griddle with sheet pans?

I used to have a 36 inch griddle that went with the rest of my range that was not supposed to be in a house (said so right there on the first page of the manual - "not for installation in residential settings"). That and the broiler are the two things I dearly miss.

But if I put two or three sheet pans inside each other and then put that on the gas burners could I use it as a griddle?

Or if BA put it on the would stove would that work?

Thanks

[aaronatthedoublef]

Thanks. This may be something where I have to trick my family for the ingredient to receive a fair tasting.

[aaronatthedoublef]

They said at the end of the custard show that the semi-finals were next. I did not realize this was a repeat but I am late to watching this so it was new to me.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Has it been shown yet? I thought there was at least one more episode before the finals. I just watched the meringue episode last night.

I wish they would make it more NasCar than Survivor in the scoring. It does seem nice that people seem to help each other rather than watching a competitor go down in flames.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I have not done this in years but when I worked at the bakery we used to caramelize sugar in a pan then shape it. We would cook it until it was fairly solid but still pliable (probably softball stage?) then pour it over things. We could make flats like Mike is talking about but we also bent it around bowls as it hardened. It is a cool way to serve ice cream in a caramel, edible bowl. Sometimes we would torch it to get the burlee'd effect and sometimes not.

As I said, I haven't done this in years.

[aaronatthedoublef]

There are a bunch of classes offered here through something called EdX. Most through Harvard and MIT. Many are free unless you're looking to be verified. And many also seem to be offered once a quarter or so.

There are some on WordPress if you're interested in that too.

I know what you mean about being busy. I've signed up for a Python class twice and I've yet to go past the intro.

But this time for SURE!

[aaronatthedoublef]

Interesting. It doesn't say how much intelligence is on the countertop and how much is in the cloud. Will your oven still work if your internet service is down?

Can you communicate with it directly or does your communication always have to go through the cloud?

Who on earth would bake a couple dozen chocolate chip cookies in an oven that size! 🙂

And I'm just getting started. What would be really neat is something that would keep the salmon chilled until it was time to cook it. So I could prep it and leave it refrigerated until it was time to start cooking it which could be automated or could be done via the app from my phone.

Back in the mid-90s I worked on a "Home of the Future". We customized a refrigerator but putting a computer in it including a 13 inch monitor in the door. You could read email, pull up recipes, and keep inventory on it.

Now you can buy that from Samsung!

There are already some 3D printers for chocolate making and such. But they are too expensive for the average person right now.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 3 months ago by aaronatthedoublef.

[aaronatthedoublef]

Depending on where products are made it may be cheaper to replace them than repair them. Sad, but true.

[aaronatthedoublef]

I haven't really worried too much. I keep using my recipe and just flip them when they are firm. But I wanted to check with the experts.

I did add a little white whole wheat flour this weekend to see if there were any complaints and everything was eaten. So it will be a little bit more healthful from now on.

Thanks

[aaronatthedoublef]

CWC, I agree with your point. I'm a couple of hours from their factory myself and I salute and want to support anyone who wants to manufacture in New England.

And to Mike's point, my wife would probably feel better knowing what I bring into the kitchen is food grade from a place that makes things for the kitchen.

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